Act 3: Arktera, the Northern Continent (Part 2)

Quests with a regression condition each come with one major advantage and one major drawback. The advantage is that you don't have to watch the story fall apart if you fail. The drawback is that success requires a ton of attempts.

"Doesn't look like we'll clear it today..."

The time it took to clear regression quests varied wildly from person to person. Some lucky folks finished in a single day, while the unlucky ones might spend a full week grinding just that one quest. And right now, the enemies were rampaging in the perfect environment, plus this massive variable called demon energy—it was bad enough to call the situation a nightmare. If anyone else had run into this quest, they'd probably be asking after the designer's mother.

"Sigh... What can you do? Gotta push on."

There was no backing out now. I couldn't switch quests at this point, so with a deep breath, I pressed forward. First stop: that black smoke rising in the distance, which I figured marked a village.

.

"Cough, cough!"

"Mom... don't be sick..."

"When the hell's that kid coming back..!"

Sure enough, I'd arrived at a village, just as expected.

"Um... excuse me?"

A middle-aged man approached me. His face looked seriously grim.

"...Ah, I'm... an adventurer."

"...This place is dangerous. All sorts of plagues are going around... and we're short on food too. If you're adventuring, try somewhere else..."

"No, I'm here to help. I'm fine, so let me. I've got plenty of supplies."

"...We won't turn that down. Thank you. Really... thank you..."

The man bowed repeatedly, tears streaming down his face.

'People are still dying nonstop. Gotta hurry.'

"Any place around here to cook?"

"Yes. The fire's not great... but it should do."

"Lead the way. Let's put out the fires first—literal and figurative."

.

"Alright, plenty to go around—line up nice!"

I was scooping soup from a massive pot and serving it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the villagers. Thanks to daily grinding on my cooking and recipe skills, my culinary game had reached a solid level.

"Haa... so warm..!"

"Mom... it's yummy..."

Good thing I'd stocked up generously. With a recipe that stretched few ingredients into a lot of soup, I was filling their empty bellies.

"...Thank you so much."

"No biggie. We help each other out."

"Unnie! One more bowl for me!"

I smiled at the little black-haired girl who scampered up with her empty bowl and ladled her some more.

"Hehe... thanks, unnie!"

Just like that, I'd charmed the villagers' hearts and leveled my cooking skill to boot when footsteps approached from afar—multiple sets crunching through the snow. I frowned, focusing mana into my eyes.

"...Huh? It's Marian unnie!"

The kid slurping soup set her bowl down, grinned brightly, flung open the door, and bolted out.

"Marian unniiii—!!!"

'For real.'

Saintess Marian ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked no different from Season 1. Golden blonde hair, silver-white eyes, refined features, and those enormous..."

Ahem.

Marian topped the charts for bust size in Lost World. Anyway, as the black-haired girl charged over, Marian smiled and welcomed her.

"Lena, be careful. You'll hurt yourself if you fall."

"Hehe... Marian unnie can heal me!"

Then her eyes met mine.

"...And you are?"

"Sorry, late intro. Name's Noel. Adventurer here on business."

"Ah, you're the one who..."

Marian nodded, meeting my eyes again. The wariness from before had eased a bit.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Marian—embarrassing as it is, they call me the saintess."

She glanced around the village, then spoke to me again.

"You've been taking care of the villagers. Thank you so much."

"If it's not too much to ask... could I request your help? Other villages are in dire straits too. I'll repay you several times over later."

I nodded with a smile, and Marian finally relaxed.

"Then... let's treat the patients here first before we go."

.

"Ugh... Saintess..."

"Just a bit longer... you'll feel better soon..."

Marian channeled holy power into a man being corroded by demon energy, her eyes tinged with sadness.

"Can't holy power fully cure the demon energy corrosion?"

"...Yes. It can slow the progression or improve it slightly, but to fully heal, we have to destroy the medium causing it."

The medium—demons capable of manifesting demon energy. But Gluttony wouldn't let them die easily.

"...Tricky."

"It is. We've been trying to thin out the demons, but right now, corrosion and supply shortages take priority."

I checked the quest window with a heavy heart.

People were dying somewhere even now. I had to turn this around fast.

"...Let's go. Treatments are done."

I joined the paladins' ranks, and we set off with Marian.

.

"Fuck! It's mine!"

"Let go or I'll kill you!"

"I'm staaarving!!!"

The situation was worse than I'd feared. People fistfighting over a single piece of bread. Eyes bloodshot, spewing curses. No exceptions. This was the fifth village.

"...Please."

The paladins moved to separate them, and I headed into what looked like a restaurant.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Hic... p-please... spare us... we got no food..."

The door creaked open, revealing a scarred woman huddled in the corner, trembling.

"Easy now. Mind if I borrow your cooking tools?"

"Y-yes? But we got no ingredients..."

"I brought some. Could you help a bit?"

"Y-yes! Th-thank you!!"

The restaurant lady and I got to work boiling soup for the crowd.

"Haa... what a relief..."

Soon, folks were eating my soup and coming back to their senses one by one.

"Haa... haven't had soup in forever."

"Sorry about earlier—lost my mind..."

"Haha, no worries. I get it."

With things calming down, I sank into a chair with a long sigh. Marian approached.

"Thank you. Truly."

"No problem. That's why I came."

Marian smiled softly and nodded.

"...Aren't you tired?"

"...Hehe, this much is nothing for a saintess."

Lies. Back in Season 1, when I hit 'Trust' affinity, Marian opened up to the player.

I looked at Marian with worry in my eyes, and her own—unless you looked closely—trembled faintly. But her smile remained saintly and compassionate.

"...I see."

"From what we've scouted... the 'medium' is probably up there."

"...That peak?"

Marian pointed to the towering snow mountain.

"Yes. I felt dangerous energy from the summit."

"...Better hurry then."

Not much time left—we had to rush. I'd already burned through half my cold resistance potions too. If Yuria hadn't hooked me up generously, it'd be rough.

.

The village closest to the snow mountain was the worst of all we'd passed.

"...Most of them are dead."

Bodies littered the streets; maybe 20 survivors, half already dying from demon corrosion.

I glanced at Marian.

"..."

As expected, she looked anguished, on the verge of tears.

"...Let's save who we can first."

Slap!!!

Marian smacked both her cheeks to snap out of it. Her pale skin swelled red, showing how hard she'd hit.

"Saintess!!"

"...I'm fine. Needed to clear my head."

Her eyes cooled. After aid efforts wrapped, the expedition stood at the mountain's base. Steep as hell—the summit invisible from below—but the slope wasn't impossible.

"...Let's head to the top."

Then an orange quest window blocked my view again.

***

***

For a while, only the crunch of snow underfoot echoed among them.