[Support the agent in their espionage mission. Time remaining: 86 hours 28 minutes.] Unlike my initial worries, nothing noteworthy happened inside the tunnel—just a long, monotonous march. At least there hadn’t been any unexpected problems. Is that really a good thing? After all, combat was what helped me grow. A part of me found the lack of battles a little disappointing. Well, that isn’t that big of an issue. I felt confident that, once we reached Kalin, plenty of fights would naturally come my way. My idle contemplation reached an abrupt end as another fork in the path appeared ahead of us. Much like the last few forks, Langley stepped forward to guide us. “We’re almost there.” Her tone makes it seem is the final fork. Phew. I nodded silently. As expected, the underground journey had taken us about four hours. If Parein hadn’t been blindfolded, we probably could’ve shaved off thirty minutes to an hour. Finally! I am so ready to get out of this musty place. Walking through the tunnels for four hours had made one thing clear: the passage was quite old. It wasn’t just the damp, stale air; the worn-down walls displayed their age. I wondered how much time had passed since the beastfolk had built this tunnel. Some of the other passages we had passed looked much newer and better constructed, and the fact that this one hadn’t been reinforced recently worried me slightly. Well, it does make sense. If this tunnel has managed to stay hidden from other organizations for this long, the Beastfolk Alliance probably couldn’t—or didn’t—have the manpower needed to finish it quickly. It looked like the tunnel had been crafted over a long period by a trusted few mole beastfolk. Or perhaps, a single one had dedicated their entire life to carving it out. That realization made me reevaluate the weight of Langley's decision to reveal this passage to us. Even if Parein was blindfolded, the simple fact that he knew of its existence almost guaranteed that it would be found. Despite that, she had agreed to take this path simply because of one word from Ryun. Is there some kind of flora-fauna connection between the ents and beastfolk? I smirked at the thought. Not even a minute later, we reached a dead end, and as I prepared to confront Langley, she pressed her hand against the wall. Just like when we first entered, the creaking of mechanical gears echoed as the wall slid open, revealing another cave. Something unexpected awaited us, however—a massive bear was staring back at us. “Wuuuh?” The bear blinked in confusion, clearly caught off guard by the three figures suddenly intruding into its territory. Langley froze as well. “Huh?” she murmured dumbfoundedly. Her hesitation only lasted a moment, and as expected of a trained agent, her hand instinctively moved toward the dagger at her waist. Well, no need for me to step in. I quickly assessed the situation and decided to let Langley handle it. Impressively, even blindfolded, Parein could tell something was off. “Wh-what’s going on?” he whispered tensely. I tapped his arm lightly, signaling him to stay quiet. He sucked in a deep breath, shoulders tightening. Contrary to my expectations, however, Langley didn’t draw her dagger. Instead, she kept her right hand at her waist while stretching her other palm toward the bear. It reminded me of a scene from that dinosaur-taming movie I had seen back on Earth. “Wuuh?” The bear tilted its head to the left, as if trying to understand what Langley was doing. If it weren’t fully grown, it would have actually looked kind of cute. Langley’s lips moved, but I couldn’t understand what she was saying. She wasn’t chanting a spell, and the tower wasn’t translating it for me. That immediately clued me in to the fact that it wasn’t a structured language. Given that Langley was a beastfolk, she could probably communicate directly with animals. “Wuuh,” the bear grumbled deeply, then turned and lumbered deeper into the cave. Thankfully, it looked like they had reached an understanding. Langley let out a quiet sigh of relief and turned back to us. Inspecting her expression closely, I could tell that it was sincere and she hadn’t expected the bear. Maybe that was why, for the first time, I felt like she wasn’t a bad person. “He just ate, so he was in a good mood. I’m glad we didn’t have to fight. Let’s move.” Without even waiting for a nod or signal, Langley turned around and briskly continued forward. She was in a hurry, probably to avoid any unnecessary trouble with the bear. I grabbed Parein’s arm and picked up the pace. As we neared the tunnel exit, I let Awareness run free. One hundred meters, one hundred fifty. Two hundred... My senses didn’t catch any signs of intelligent beings. I turned to Langley and asked, “Is this—” Although I had almost said tunnel, I caught myself at the last second, remembering that although Parein had likely figured out what was going on, there was still the slightest chance he had remained clueless. “Does this kind of thing happen often?” Langley shot a sidelong glance at Parein. “Who knows?” She clearly didn’t want to reveal anything more than what was necessary. My question hadn’t been critical, just idle curiosity, so I let it go with a nod. Langley smoothly shifted the topic. “We’re in Kalin now. Let’s stay cautious, and from here onward, we move as discreetly as possible.” As if he had been waiting his entire life for this, Parein asked in a voice filled with hope, “So can I take off the blindfold now?” [Support the agent in their espionage mission. Time remaining: 86 hours 11 minutes.] Of course, Parein hadn’t been allowed to remove his blindfold yet. He would easily be able to pinpoint its location if he were allowed to see the terrain outside the exit. Therefore, under Langley’s orders, he had to spin in circles again and wander around aimlessly for a while before he was finally allowed to remove it. Naturally, I maintained my role as a skilled mercenary, ensuring that there was no one approaching us in the meantime. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on ɴoᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt Parein let out a long sigh after spending hours blindfolded. “Haah, finally.” Under the faint moonlight, he blinked a few times. Then, after glancing at Langley with a displeased expression, he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. Now that he appeared to be in a slightly better mood, he casually asked, “So, this is Kalin?” He seemed to have used the walk through the tunnel to compose himself. I had been worried that he would keep sulking even after we arrived in Kalin. Thankfully, he had returned to acting like a proper operative. Still, I couldn’t let my guard down just yet. At this point, it was too late for him to back out, but he clearly still wasn’t happy with the situation. If he harbored too much resentment, he could become a liability later. Langley sensed the shift in tone and calmly answered, “That’s right.” “What information do you have?” “What kind of information?” “The target’s location.” “I don’t know. I was told you had that intel. The Wing informed you, didn’t they?” Parein turned his gaze to the night sky, narrowing his eyes. “I was just cross-checking.” His brow furrowed instinctively as he tried to gather his bearings. Even after some time, though, his expression remained tense. With how faint the starlight was and how far we had traveled underground, he was likely struggling to pinpoint our exact location. Parein turned to Langley. “Where exactly are we?” “We’re in the Delail Forest, southwest of Kalin.” “Tch. That’s farther away than I’d like. We need to head northeast.” “Northeast? The target is hidden in the Pangril Mountains?” Parein nodded firmly. “We have to get going. Now. With Nameless here, we can finish this before dawn—if luck is on our side.” He shrugged, then continued with an infuriating air of nonchalance, “As always, I’ll take point and handle navigation. You keep an eye on our surroundings. Kwon, you step in if anything goes south.” “Okay,” Langley replied, and I just gave a slight nod. After Parein turned away and began walking, Langley’s ears twitched, standing more erect, and her nostrils flared slightly. Her skill in infiltration was likely thanks to the enhanced senses she possessed as a beastfolk: keen hearing and an acute sense of smell. I expanded Awareness as well. Between my heightened perception and Langley’s animalistic instincts, nothing would approach us unnoticed. Still, I couldn’t afford to be complacent. If there are beastfolk on our side, that means there could be beastfolk working for the enemy as well. Without Shadow Veil concealing us, there was always the possibility that someone’s sensory range exceeded mine and was already tracking our movements. Still, I didn’t intend to activate it. I was committed to limiting my skill usage for now. We hadn’t been walking long when I sensed movement at the very edge of my perception—two figures, lingering rather than passing through. Kalin was under lockdown, so these weren’t villagers. They had to be members of the Ears of the Empire. I was about to speak up when Langley whispered, “One o’clock. Two individuals.” Her skills couldn’t help but impress me. Although she had been a fraction of a second slower than I, her instincts were razor-sharp nonetheless. Parein, leading the way, nodded slightly and subtly adjusted our course. Stepping more cautiously, he also lowered his posture slightly. I followed suit, keeping my footsteps light. Parein whispered to Langley, “Are they heading our way?” “No. I noticed them before they could sense us. They’re just patrolling the village outskirts.” Parein nodded and lowered his stance even further, adopting a slow, deliberate gait. We pressed forward in near silence. The Ears of the Empire had spread themselves widely around Kalin, forcing us to constantly adjust our route. Our tension never waned. We doubled back, paused, and occasionally even concealed ourselves within the underbrush, waiting for an opportunity to advance. Time blurred as we continued our careful approach. At last, the Pangril Mountains loomed in the distance. From the moment Langley had mentioned the mission, I had anticipated a fight, and it seemed like the time was now upon us. The Ears of the Empire were moving far more aggressively than Black Butterfly had predicted. Other intelligence agencies had caught wind of the disturbance as well, and instead of forcing the Empire to retreat, they had reinforced their presence, weaving a nearly impenetrable web of surveillance. The nearer we drew to the Pangril Mountains, the more tightly wound Parein and Langley became. It was impossible to accurately estimate the enemy’s numbers. Regardless, there were only three of us. I had confidence in my own abilities, but these two moved with the quiet resolve of those who had accepted that death was a possibility. Whether the mission succeeded or failed no longer mattered—they were committed to their respective causes. A strange sense of familiarity crept up my spine, a whisper of recognition stirring in the back of my mind. I turned toward the horizon beyond the trees. It felt oddly familiar. Not in the vague way that trials sometimes felt familiar. No, I had seen this exact sight before. Something tugged at the edge of my memory, flickering just out of reach. The forest didn’t seem familiar, but the outline of the mountain ridges against the horizon stirred something within me. As soon as I grasped the connection, the memory resurfaced. The demonic ant nest. That is it! This is the ant nest! I had been here on the forty-second or forty-third floor, I didn’t remember exactly at the moment. Although the tower hadn’t summoned me outside of the nest, it had brought me right to the entrance, with light spilling in behind me. I had attempted to step outside, only to find I couldn’t. Even if leaving hadn’t been possible, the skyline had been visible beyond the invisible barrier. This was where I had completed a hidden mission and learned how to use Aura for the first time. A fiend had been defending a cocoon that, once I destroyed it, revealed a demon’s embryo. Didn’t I earn around fifty thousand achievement points for that? Ha Hee-Jeong had mentioned that the creature inside had likely been the ultimate boss of the sixtieth to sixty-ninth floors. After four floors starting from the sixty-sixth had collapsed soon after, her theory had been confirmed. The puzzle pieces clicked into place. The sixty-fourth and sixty-fifth floors were a precursor to the hellscape that Ha Hee-Jeong had described. Since I killed the demon, I wonder what this trial will have me do. If I had failed to uncover the hidden mission over ten floors ago, the fiend and its creation would still be here. Then, if the demon had been allowed to hatch, a catastrophe would have befallen Kalin. The original sixty-fourth floor would have likely ordered me to investigate that looming threat. Of course, I couldn’t guarantee that, but regardless, I knew for sure that the ant nest existed in this world. Wait. Do we even need to go all the way there? I had slaughtered the demon inside the cocoon. If the Ears of the Empire had found anything, it would only be its remains. There was no need for us to confirm it ourselves. No, I couldn’t dismiss the possibility. They could be trying to repurpose the demon’s corpse, much like how dragon’s scales and bones were excellent materials. A sharp whistle pierced through the silence. The high, shrill note cut through the stillness of dawn. Parein and Langley flinched while I snapped my head toward the source of the sound. It came from over a kilometer away, beyond my sensory range. Focusing my mana into my eyes, I caught sight of a lone figure staring in our direction. Their gaze felt unnatural. A beastfolk? A new one? As the thought crossed my mind, Parein and Langley immediately drew their daggers. The whistle had sent a ripple through the environment, and the forest stirred as distant voices responded. Parein cursed under his breath, “Fuck.” He scanned the surroundings warily. Langley turned to me, her expression tense. “What do we do? Do we pull back?” Parein was also glancing at me from the corner of his eyes, awaiting my decision. I met their gazes evenly before shaking my head. “No. We push through.”