He Drew from His Inventory, Prepared in Advance...

He drew from his inventory a single item he had prepared in advance.

A Mythic-grade consumable, and one that more than lived up to its rank.

The Penalty Remove Injection could erase even a penalty imposed by the System itself. That was why Yujun had been able to kill his own teammate, Lotheren, without a moment's hesitation. He was not the sort of man to do a thing like that with nothing to fall back on.

Leonhard and Erger flinched.

"You killed him, then?"

"Yes. He attacked me."

"...R-right. You did well."

All that remained was the Ruler of the Labyrinth.

The Ruler seemed to have resigned himself. He had abandoned any thought of resistance and simply waited where he stood. Even if he tried to move, he was already caught in the snare of Space Domination, and there would be nothing he could do about it.

"Human. You are strong. I acknowledge it."

"Thanks."

"To think you would use a weapon that precious as bait. Impressive."

"It's mine anyway."

Any item bound by the Stone of Permanent Ownership could be warped back into his possession whenever he wished—into his inventory, or straight into his hand.

Yujun sent the Absolute Sovereign's Sword into his inventory. The blade the Labyrinth's Ruler had been gripping vanished in the blink of an eye.

"I see... So that is why you could throw your weapon away without the slightest reservation."

"You didn't actually think I threw it so I could give it to you."

Yujun closed the distance at an unhurried pace. Space Domination alone was not enough to finish the Ruler off—proof enough that the Labyrinth's Ruler was far stronger than Lotheren had been.

Watching Yujun approach with sword in hand, the Ruler closed his eyes.

"End it quickly."

"You're not really going to die for good either, are you?"

"...You are well informed. Yes."

"Figured."

Shhk!

Yujun swung. There was no need to waste breath explaining his attack power. The Ruler's head came off in a single stroke.

Level's not going up again, huh.

So long as they paid him properly in points, that was enough. He had cleared the level 10 objective, which meant he would receive the maximum score the first goal could grant.

A hologram window rose at once.

"Ooh, I got that Legendary title. I didn't even do anything... and I was credited with the achievement, too."

"The same goes for me."

Erger and Leonhard broke into bright smiles. They had to be wondering what sort of windfall this was.

Looks like I'm the only one who got a Mythic title. Good.

If those two had walked away with Mythic titles as well, it would have turned his stomach. Even he possessed only a handful of them.

The achievement reward and the title's effect suited him very well. Curses were already the thing he found most troublesome.

Two million points, is it.

That part left him mildly dissatisfied. Set against what he had gained in the first event, the score was rather thin.

He cracked open the Legendary item box, and a Legendary-grade gauntlet came out.

Tch. And who am I supposed to stick this on.

Yujun clicked his tongue.

The second event was not over yet.

What mattered was clearing as many objectives as possible. Even so, picking nothing but low-level goals would be inefficient. The points on offer would be incomparably worse than a level 10 objective.

Level 10 objectives only. No exceptions.

It would not be easy, but Yujun had the means.

The objectives lined up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠before them once again.

"So we keep going as three?"

"We can't add anyone, can we. And there's the golem... Tapagol, too."

Yujun answered Erger, then caught himself.

"Ah. Right."

He had forgotten Paranet. He had dismissed the man before coming to the second event.

Yujun summoned him at once.

Fwaaash—!

A magic circle bloomed across the ground, and Paranet rose out of it.

"Master!"

The moment he appeared, he swept a look around and cried out.

"What?"

"What is that golem? I have an ill feeling about this."

"A summon."

"Surely not yours...?"

"It is."

"Th-that is absurd! You would keep a summon other than me?!"

"...What?"

"Was I not enough for you?!"

"What are you even saying?"

"What do you mean to do with that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠puny little golem? Will it be of any help to you at all?"

"Yeah. It has been."

"...It is still a golem! Too dull-witted to understand a word said to it."

"Talked just fine, though."

"...It speaks? A golem?"

"Wild, right? But it does. It's small like that now, but once a fight starts, it gets way bigger than you."

"...Oh, come now. Nonsense. Where in the world does a golem like that exist."

"I didn't think there was one either. Turns out there is."

"..."

"What?"

"You are joking."

"Why would I joke with you?"

"You have, from time to time."

"Have I? Anyway, I'm not lying. That Tapagol is stupidly strong."

"You cannot mean you have even granted a name to that lump of stone...?"

"Yeah."

"And what of me?"

"You already had a name."

"...That is true, but."

Paranet's face crumpled as if he might cry.

Was the mere existence of another summon really something to be that miserable about? He seemed entirely sincere.

"Of course I favor you more."

"T-truly?"

"Obviously. Have you ever seen me lie?"

"Yes! All the time!"

"See? But I'm not lying now."

"Is that so."

"Trust me."

"U-understood!"

Yujun turned toward his teammates.

"We've gained one. That makes five of us."

"...What if there's an objective that requires four players?"

"Then we skip it."

"And if the objective's name doesn't say so? We could get stuck halfway through."

"We won't get stuck."

Not so long as he had his inventory.

Faced with that confidence, Leonhard and Erger had nothing more to say. If he said so, it felt as though it had to be true. Whatever the objective, he looked as if he would clear it. Had they not already seen it with their own eyes? He had finished a level 10 objective with ridiculous ease.

The two of them had thought that even finding the way would be an ordeal. Instead, by a method they never could have imagined, he had pinpointed the Ruler's location in an instant, summoned a guide golem, and reached the Ruler in a single bound.

The power the Labyrinth's Ruler possessed was beyond measurement, and Yujun had quite literally toyed with a being like that—handling him as one might a child, using his own weapon as bait all the while.

The shock that struck Leonhard and Erger was beyond words. Erger especially. He liked meeting the strong. Fighting them was good, but simply watching and broadening his experience felt like a great help to his own growth.

And yet.

That human is insane.

Had there ever been a human—no, a player—stronger than this on the Continent? He had never set foot in either place, but he doubted a search of the Demon Realm or Heaven would turn one up.

They were on a different level. In actual rank Yujun stood lower than they did, but if raw strength was the measure, that was another story. Martial power was not decided by rank alone.

I heard he's a first-year player. Honestly, seeing it right in front of me makes it hard to believe.

Perhaps it was harder precisely because he was seeing it up close.

In any case, ending up on a team with him can only be called good luck.

"What are you staring at?"

Yujun spoke under the weight of Erger's gaze.

"Ah, it's nothing. You're just impressive."

Erger delivered a line that would have made anyone flush, without so much as a change in his expression. Yujun ought to have grown used to looks like that by now, but he turned his head away all the same.

"What will you take for the second objective?"

"I'll have to look and decide."

A hologram window hung before his eyes, and within it were hundreds—thousands—of objectives. All he had to do was choose one he liked.

There was no room for deliberation. He meant to take a level 10 objective, no matter what.

Two level 10 objectives. He could choose only one. Every time an objective was cleared, the list reset and new ones appeared, so taking both was impossible.

I could probably clear either one.

Hunting players would be a nuisance, but with enough time it was doable. The objective to reach a designated point would not be difficult either, not if he made use of the guide golem, Tapagol. In his judgment, it was the easiest of the lot.

The second one's better. As expected.

Just as Yujun moved to select it—

"Huh?"

Yujun could not take his eyes off the hologram.

"Level 11?"

"I-I can see it too."

"I see it as well... It says it has been newly unlocked."

In that case—

No need to pick a level 10 objective anymore.

A level 11 objective had been unlocked, and Yujun was not the man to choose anything lower in a situation like this. He was not competing with anyone. He moved for one reason alone: to take as many points as he could.

"Don't tell me you mean to select the level 11 objective?"

"Obviously."

Yujun answered Erger without pause.

"I thought as much. Let us go at once."

Erger followed now without a word of complaint, turning on Yujun a gaze brimming with trust.

"I will help however I can."

"You do that."

"The same goes for me."

"Yeah, yeah."

Yujun answered offhandedly. He was wholly occupied with finding the level 11 objective.

Let's see... It ought to be at the end.

But no matter how he searched, the level 11 objective was nowhere to be seen.

Where is this level 11 supposed to be?

He had checked every last entry, and it still was not there.

Don't tell me the System baited us.

The System lying made no sense.

"Everyone, check."

"I, for one, do not see it."

"I don't see it either."

"Hm. Then there's a good chance the level 11 objective is hidden."

"What? Didn't it say it was unlocked?"

"It said it was unlocked. It never said we could pick it right away."

Yujun glanced at the time, and his face hardened.

"There's a time limit, so we'd better find it fast."

Finding the level 11 objective had become the objective. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠An ironic turn, but the gap between level 11 and level 10 could not be dismissed as a single step. The System had promised an enormous additional reward.

So he had to find the level 11 objective, no matter what.

The question is how it's hidden.

Yujun stood where he was and thought it through.

The System definitely wouldn't claim something exists when it doesn't.

He turned his attention to the world around him. There was no reason to search only inside the hologram. A clue might be hidden in the terrain, or in some object.

He began scouring the surroundings with a hawk's eye.

"Paranet. Tapagol. You two look for something as well."

"Understood."

"Yes! Leave it to me alone! I shall find it faster than that lump of stone, without fail."

"Sure. Please actually do that."

Time was short. He could not leave the search to his summons and teammates alone.

Yujun decided to bring his inventory into it as well.