"What are you going to do?" Samael asked, his face clearly full of confusion.
But Serelith ignored him. She immediately jumped onto the serpent's body. Once she got there, she took out her dagger and completely cut off the mucus fins on the monster's back.
"Hey, be careful! Don't let the remaining poison hurt you!" Samael shouted in warning. But the girl was still engrossed in her activity.
Serelith even slid down, holding on only to her dagger as it continued slicing the fin off the serpent's body—from top to bottom.
When she reached the tail, the girl immediately jumped down, holding the long fin in her hand. "Don't worry, this poison isn't dangerous once the serpent is dead."
"If that's the case, why are you taking it? Isn't it useless now?"
"It'll definitely be useful later, just not now." The girl stored the fin in her inventory, and the object instantly disappeared from her hand. "Let's find a place to stay!"
---
After walking for several hours, the two stopped at a place that looked like an old campsite. The ground had no grass growing on it, and it still felt slightly warm.
"Serelith, I think this is a good place to stay for the night," said Samael.
The girl, who was walking ahead of him, immediately looked around and examined the place. She glanced here and there before coming to a conclusion. "Even if it's not good, at least we still need a place to stay, right?"
Samael only nodded. He then took off his back scabbard and set it on the ground. "I'll look for something we can use as bedding."
Once Serelith nodded, the man immediately left her alone in the middle of the forest. Not wanting to waste time, Serelith also went deeper into the forest to look for firewood.
After collecting a full bundle, the girl set it up like a campfire and sat in front of it. She picked up two medium-sized stones and rubbed them together slowly but quickly.
"Hahh!!" the girl complained when the fire she wanted still didn't appear, even after all that effort.
"I wonder how people here can stand living like this?" Serelith muttered softly, until her face suddenly lit up as if remembering something. "Ah, I forgot. They're all NPCs, they don't have to struggle like this. After all, every move they make is always the same."
"Speaking of NPCs, is Samael also an NPC? But I can feel emotions from him. Could he also be a player?"
The silence of the night made Serelith's feelings a mess. The gentle breeze slowly brushing against her skin brought a slicing ache—memories of her real-world life.
Her mind drifted to the day she had a big fight with her father. That day, as usual, she was playing Shardrealm, using her mage avatar who had already finished the game thirty-seven times.
"Great! Serena, don't you know that your mother has been hospitalized again? And you're just relaxing here playing that childish game!" Theo—her father, a middle-aged man in a black suit—shouted right behind Serena.
She ignored her father's words, focusing even more intensely on the large screen in front of her. Annoyed at being ignored, Theo finally lost control and forcefully yanked the computer, smashing it to the floor until it shattered into small pieces.
Serena's heart felt like it had been struck by a massive block of concrete. This wasn't the first time Theo had been angry, but never this badly.
So the girl chose to stand up, her emotions in chaos, and faced her father directly. "Why did you do that? You're angry at me? Frustrated? You hate me? Then what about me—the daughter you abandoned for more than fifteen years just to marry that witch?!"
"SERENA!!"
SLAP!
The girl's face was thrown to the side as a strong slap landed on her left cheek. It felt hot, stinging, and spread all the way to her ear. Before she realized it, warm clear tears were already streaming down her face.
"Your father never taught you to be disrespectful toward others. Lydia is your mother. No matter how she treats you, it's disgraceful to call her by such filthy names!"
Serena saw her father's face turn completely red, the veins in his neck bulging. Even so, Serena wasn't afraid. She actually let out a small laugh, though it was still accompanied by tears.
"You never taught me anything—so how could I have learned bad manners from you, right?" With a bitter laugh, Serena then walked away toward the window—ignoring how her body bumped into the furniture in her room several times.
It seemed Theo's heart had already hardened, untouched by any emotion even after seeing his daughter's condition. "Take care of your mother at the hospital tonight. If you do anything I disapprove of, I'll no longer consider you my daughter."
"Do whatever you want, and I'll do whatever I want."
Tears once again flowed down her face as someone gently tapped her shoulder. Her trance broke, and the girl's awareness returned to the present.
Her surroundings turned back into a dark forest, and before her stood a man looking at her with concern. Serelith couldn't take her eyes off Samael.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt? Did the last battle leave injuries on you?" Samael asked one question after another, giving Serelith no chance to answer.
Before it could go any further, Serelith's delicate hand stopped him. "I'm fine. Just… a little sad."
Samael's reaction was no less worrying than Serelith's. The man looked at her with regret and immediately lowered his gaze. "It's my fault. I failed to protect the Leader. I failed to protect our Guild. Forgive me, Serelith."
"Hey, it's okay. We have a lifetime to rebuild our Guild. I'm grateful you're still alive and told me everything. If not, I might've never known what truly happened."
Because in this life, I never wanted to return to the real world. Even if I have to risk my life to survive here, at least I'm doing it happily and by my own will, she thought to herself, of course.
Samael nodded, then stepped back, showing a large rectangular wooden board. "I couldn't find a proper bed, but at least this can keep you from lying directly on the ground."
"I actually prefer soft and luxurious beds, but maybe sleeping on a board like this will improve my endurance." Without any disgust, the girl walked over and lay down on the wooden plank under the starlit sky.
A faint smile formed on Samael's handsome face before he turned toward the campfire. Using his magic, he summoned a flame from his hand and lit the wood. "Rest well, Princess Serelith."
The next morning, Serelith woke up when a scream echoed into her ears. She immediately opened her eyes and sat up in a panic.
"Samael!" she shouted.
Scanning her surroundings, uneasiness filled her heart when she didn't see the man who had been with her last night. She quickly got off the board and began circling the forest around their campsite.
"Samael! Where are you?!"
Instead of getting a response, her own voice bounced back to her. Frustration welled up in her chest, swirling together with anxiety and confusion.
For a moment, Serelith looked down at her appearance—still wearing the same skin she had when she defeated the two bandits yesterday. Closing her eyes, she focused her mind, and her entire body was engulfed in a dark purple light.
In that instant, her skin reverted to the one she wore when she first arrived in this place.
"I thought I heard Samael scream… but why did he disappear? What really happened to him? There's no way he would just leave me. I saw his sincerity with my own eyes," Serelith muttered. She leaned her head against a large tree nearby. "If that's the case, then he must be in danger. Something must be targeting him. Could it be… those traitors?"
"System," Serelith called softly.
[I can't help you. I'm only a tool and can't reveal too much information to players. If I do, every player's journey will become too easy, without any struggle.]
"You're right."
Regret surged in her chest. Why didn't she wake up earlier?
"I just felt like someone finally cared about me. But now, even this world won't let me be happy. Then what's left for me?" Her body slid down, sitting on the dirty ground, her eyes blank.
But after several minutes, something else within her began to rise. Instinctively, she wiped away her tears, stood up, and shook her head slowly. "No. If fate challenges me, then I'll fight to win. What's the point of crying and drowning in sadness like this? I'm in a world where only the strong survive."
Her gaze straightened forward—nowhere in particular, but forward nonetheless. "Samael, it's not that I don't care about you. But to free you, I have to become stronger, right? Wait for me, Samael. I'm sure you'll be fine until that time comes. You promised to rebuild the Assassin Guild with me."
She clenched both gloved fists, then turned around to leave the forest. Serelith had only one goal—to finish this game. She didn't know what kind of game this was, but one thing was certain: no game could defeat someone whose life had already been toyed with by fate.
She didn't know how long she had been walking, but eventually she managed to leave the forest and find a dirt path. It wasn't a city yet, but at least Serelith knew she was no longer trapped in darkness.
As her feet walked along the fairly wide path, something rang sharply in her ears, followed by a glowing board appearing in front of her.
[New Mission Loaded!]
[Form a party of at least five members!]
[If successful, you will receive a rare item, 125 gold coins, 80 stat points, and a rare treasure!]
"Party?" Serelith furrowed her brows as she read the system message. "System, can't I move alone? Even if my level is low, I can handle things myself."
[I'm not forcing you. But aren't you tempted by the reward?]
A click of annoyance escaped Serelith's lips as she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Ever since I got here, why do you always have to be so annoying?"
[I'm only following the orders that are part of my programming.]
"Fine, fine. I'll take the mission."
Just then, the sound of galloping horses reached Serelith's ears. Ignoring it, she simply stepped aside from the middle of the road and walked along the edge.
But unfortunately, the system sound returned, followed by another flashing board in front of her.
[Double Quest! New Mission Detected!]
[Kill the Prince inside the Carriage!]
"Wait, what?!"