The Maid of the Sleeping Palace

A fifteen-million-won bounty for the Maid of the Sleeping Palace mission. It was far too massive an amount to refuse. Of course, after taxes and the agency taking its thirty percent cut, I wouldn't be pocketing the full fifteen million won, but it was still a fortune.

"Oh yeah! Let's go!" Just thinking about the money brought a massive grin to my face. I mean, think about it. I could make a living just by playing games. Haha. Hahaha!

Ugh. Clearing it in under ten attempts, though... Is that even possible? I'd have to try to find out, but the pressure was undeniably immense.

Fifteen million won isn't pocket ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠change. Because of the sheer size of the bounty, I was going to give it my absolute all. But imagining the aftermath of a failure made a sigh escape my lips. The disappointment would be crushing. It might even break my spirit.

Well, whatever. Just clearing Rowen in ten attempts will bring in sweet, sweet views. Of course, that was assuming I actually got my ViewTube channel up and running. To do that, I needed to find a thumbnail artist and an editor as soon as possible.

Right now, I'm just cutting out the copyrighted parts and uploading the VODs myself, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but I need to start managing the main channel properly. A lot of people discover streamers through ViewTube. It really is the best platform for pulling in new viewers. I also need to hire a dedicated moderator for my channel.

Jeong-o was practically dying trying to manage Miho's and Nina's channels on top of everything else. Right now, an agency-assigned moderator was handling my chat, but I really needed to recruit a dedicated mod just for my stream. There were way too many trolls. Back when I was playing Prtherna, I had to ban nearly a hundred people. Since I was going to keep doing gaming streams, it would be best to secure a moderator early.

"Alright, shall we get the game started? Oh, let me shrink the chat window a bit!"

Back to the Watcher's Outpost. I woke up in front of the green flame that had manifested in the center of the outpost.

So this is the save point. Once you defeated a boss or reached a designated location, a Lantern of Illusions would appear. Sitting down in front of it fully restored your HP, but it also respawned all the monsters in the area.

"Whoa. What a mess." Stepping away from the Lantern of Illusions, I looked around. The walls and floor were webbed with cracks, and some sections of the wall had completely crumbled. It was an absolute ruin. Yesterday, I had been too busy fighting Rowen to properly take in my surroundings, so I figured I'd take a leisurely look today.

"Everything is completely trashed. Even the walls are cracked."

"I think Rowen got absorbed by me after he died. There's no corpse left. Looting corpses is the best part of these games, right?"

Ah, right. I was an idol! The thought of fifteen million won had blinded me, making me slip out of character for a second.

"But come on, corpse looting is the best."

Maintain an idol's poise? Pfft, please. Right now, I was the girl knight, Riu. I didn't know anything about that. Besides, the idea that idols should only speak in sweet, pristine words was so outdated. As long as I didn't use heavy profanity, I was going to speak my mind without walking on eggshells.

"Anyway, I'm trying to loot as much as I can... but are these things I'm picking up actually items?"

"Hey! They let me pick them up, so I thought they were herbs or something. Hahaha. Guess not."

What a letdown. I had been diligently gathering things that looked somewhat important, only for them to be useless junk. The moment I realized the grass that looked like medicinal herbs was just background fluff, I tossed them aside.

"Ah. So that over there is an actual item?"

"Is this similar to Lawrence's Lantern?"

"Oh, thank you for the thousand won! So the flowstone is a consumable."

It seemed that while Lawrence's Lantern automatically refilled whenever I rested at a Lantern of Illusions, the flowstones were strictly one-time-use items.

"Ah! Thank you for another thousand won! So it can be upgraded."

The more healing options, the better. Right now, Lawrence's Lantern would go out after just three uses. I'd have to farm a ton of Liberation's Flowstones to use as backup healing items.

"I really hope a weapon drops soon, though."

The Broken Straight Sword given as my starting weapon had snapped in half during my duel with Rowen. The buckler strapped to my left arm was also practically scrap metal now. Once durability hit zero, things just broke completely. What a trash masterpiece of a game!

"Well, it doesn't look like there's anything else to loot here, so let's keep moving forward."

Passing the outpost, a building came into view in the distance. That was likely the next area. I needed to get over there, but... there were quite a few party crashers in the way, weren't there?

"Uaaah..."

"I want to wake up... I don't want to wake up... Save me..."

"All of this... is just... an illusion..."

Vagrants wielding broken swords were muttering gibberish, while drooling wild dogs glared at me from behind them.

"Hup!"

I dashed forward light on my feet, slicing through the vagrants and dodging the wild dogs' lunges, picking them off one by one.

I could see the monsters' movements clearly. How they were going to swing their swords, where they were going to strike—I could read all of it.

This is easy. Had I partially awakened something within myself during the fight with Rowen? Even against multiple enemies, I didn't feel pushed back at all. If anything, I was completely overwhelming them.

Hunting down the mad vagrants consumed by the nightmare ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and the crazed wild dogs, I pushed forward until I reached a three-story stone building. In the center of the circular structure was a Lantern of Illusions, and beside it sat a slumped woman.

It didn't look like there was anyone else here besides her. I suppose I should talk to her to progress the story, right?

"Can I hit her from behind?"

"Ah, she's a friendly. Excuse me!"

As I cautiously approached, the woman, who had been hanging her head, slowly looked up. She had a melancholic face, an eyepatch covering her left eye, and messy, dark brown hair spilling over her shoulders. She gave off the distinct vibe of someone who wasn't entirely sane.

Her title and name hovered above her head.

"You are... Ah. Again. It has begun once more."

Natalie lamented the moment she saw me, burying her face in her hands. Seriously, why does everyone treat me like the plague wherever I go?

"Very well. So be it. If this is a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠destiny from which we cannot escape... If we are doomed to repeat this horrific nightmare for eternity... I shall aid you. So that this fate may reach its end as swiftly as possible."

Natalie, the maid, offered a prayer from her slumped position. I waited for a while, thinking she was going to give me something, but she just kept praying.

Glancing at the chat, I realized I had to initiate another conversation. What a high-maintenance NPC. Apparently, if I talked to Natalie and offered her the Dreams I obtained from hunting monsters, she would level me up. Let's talk to her again.

"Uh, excuse me?"

"Will you delve deeper into the dream?"

"Yes."

"Very well."

With the Dreams I currently possessed, I could only level up once. It looked like I'd have to farm some Dreams if I wanted to raise my level properly in this game.

"Is there any way to travel to other areas?"

"Your destination must be the Holy City of Belag. There is a way to get there."

"Oh!"

It seemed Natalie was not just a level-up NPC, but also served as a guide of sorts.

"You must go through the sewers beneath this place."

"The sewers?"

"Yes. Once you pass through the sewers, you will be able to enter the Holy City of Belag."

Since the Lanterns of Illusions allowed for fast travel once activated, I could just push through the Sewer to reach the Holy City of Belag, and only return here when I needed to level up.

So this Sleeping Palace is basically the base camp. It was likely the safe zone of the game.

"Let's go check it out!"

My goal for today was to defeat the second boss of From the Nightmare. That second boss was bound to be in the Sewer.

Doug, the Corrupted. Ruler of the sewers. King of the rats. If I could take him down...

I'll make fifteen million won.

Gripping my Broken Straight Sword tightly, I headed toward the entrance of the Sewer. I was going to beat him, no matter what. Even if it killed me, I would do it. I was absolutely going to clear this in under ten attempts. Just you wait, my fifteen million won.