Traces of Demons
“Demons, huh... Yeah, dream demons are usually classified as demons in most games and fantasies.”
RaSe seemed to be no different.
Carpe furrowed his brow slightly at the heavier story than expected.
“I saw them once in the Ruana area too. Demons.”
To be precise, it was in the Wind Cave of the Ruana region.
There, demons had been laying the groundwork for an invasion of the human realm, and the leaked demonic energy had corrupted the wind spirits.
It was fully resolved now, but back then, it had been a massive incident that even startled Marquis Chris, the lord of Ruana.
“You said it back then, right? Unless it's a special quest, don't clash directly with the demon realm until level 200 or higher.”
Cheonma's voice echoed in his mind.
“Is the Ruana incident connected to this one?”
“Hmm...”
Traces of demons had been found in the beach city and capital of the Lunderia Federation.
The only common thread between the two incidents was 'demons,' but Carpe had a gut feeling they were connected somehow.
“Well, following the quest should reveal it eventually. For now...”
After checking the loot, Carpe examined the old bag that had held the chieftain's belongings.
There might be another trap item besides the dream demon, so this time he dumped the contents out without reaching in by hand.
“Scrap metal and junk... nothing useful... Huh?”
Among the spilled items was one peculiar object.
Or rather, to be exact, it wasn't an object.
It was the corpse of a small animal.
“What's this?”
“Oh yeah? Ah, now I get it.”
The squishy thing Carpe had touched when he first reached into the bag.
That must have been the demon realm rat.
And touching it had triggered the trap, sucking him and his retainers into the dream. No doubt about it.
“No way a demon realm rat just randomly ended up in the chieftain's bag.”
The dwarf chieftain had probably been murdered by the dream demon—or whoever summoned it.
And that someone had no intention of stopping at just killing the chieftain.
Hiding the rat in the bag was proof.
“They planned to wipe out anyone tracking the chieftain's traces too. If dwarves had found this instead of me, they would've fallen to the dream demon.”
Carpe nodded and asked Cheonma,
“Do dream demons appear when other players find the belongings?”
There were no demonic traces no matter how hard you looked; it was just a simple fetch quest.
Cheonma muttered, “This is pure speculation, but...” before continuing.
“You know this too, but Epic or Mythic quests usually come with massive stories. They can even alter the world based on the player's choices. Take the Magic King-related quests, for example.”
“True.”
Carpe nodded.
He himself had advanced the 'elf' race's appearance through the Magic King quests.
But that couldn't be allowed.
RaSe was a game, after all.
If one player could arbitrarily toy with the game world, who would play it?
RaSe was famous for its endless freedom, but as a game, it needed boundaries.
One such safeguard was the 'forced event.'
An event where the avatar moves automatically, progressing a fixed story, rather than following the player's free judgment.
Carpe had experienced it several times already.
“What? So me getting pulled into the dream demon's dream was a forced event?”
“... It kinda makes sense, but also not.”
He already knew Unlock didn't work during forced events.
When Gillian was battling the Black Wing at the border fortress, Carpe couldn't move due to a forced event.
And he distinctly remembered that even Unlock couldn't break that restraint.
“But for a forced event, nothing major happened in the dream, right? Opening boxes as a required story beat?”
“It's really ambiguous.”
“Yeah.”
“Oh man, the happiest ever. Wanna do it again.”
Because the master was happy!
Carpe let out a hollow laugh at Cheonma's absurd hypothesis.
“...AI with god-tier skills. Even reads the master's heart. GodUnlock. Absolute god.”
“Yeah, probably.”
Carpe shrugged and shelved the debate.
No point agonizing over it now; answers wouldn't come from head-scratching.
“Anyway, better keep the demon realm rat.”
“Kinda weird, though. Don't corpses in RaSe all turn to ash and vanish?”
“Fair point.”
Carpe stowed the demon realm rat corpse in his inventory and approached his retainers.
They were chatting amiably, but unlike usual, Mirage and Gillian were fidgeting awkwardly.
“Phew. Good work, everyone.”
“You worked hard as well, my lord. A battle truly worthy of the Magic Fist Lord title.”
“Magic Fist Lord... Every time I hear it, it feels too grandiose.”
“Nonsense. It suits your stature perfectly.”
Magic Fist Lord was the second job advancement for Magical Fist Lord.
He was usually called Magic King's Heir, so he rarely heard it, but Tina mentioned it occasionally.
And every time, Carpe got a bit embarrassed and changed the subject.
Same as always.
“What were you talking about?”
“Oh, we were discussing our dreams. I asked what dreams the others had, but they won't tell me.”
“...Really?”
Carpe turned to look at Mirage and Gillian.
Mirage was sweating bullets, and Gillian was blatantly looking away, coughing repeatedly.
“Mukhyang was honest. We should plant more acorn trees in the Room when we get back.”
“That's fine, but... what about Tina? What'd you dream?”
As he spoke, Carpe grew curious too.
He'd witnessed the others' dreams firsthand, but hadn't properly checked Tina's.
He'd just approached her carriage, called her name, and the dream shattered.
“My dream, my lord? Hmm...”
Tina narrowed her eyes slightly before answering.
“To be honest, I don't remember well.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. Dreams are volatile. I recalled bits right after waking, but now it's fuzzy. Ah, but one thing I remember clearly.”
“O? What's that?”
“You cleaving the heavens with your True Heaven-Earth Overlord Fist. It was truly awe-inspiring. I'll never forget it.”
“...”
“Beyond that... It felt nostalgic, so probably a good dream. Sorry for not meeting expectations, my lord.”
“Nah, if you don't remember, you don't.”
Carpe nodded, and Mirage and Gillian chimed in vigorously.
“Y-Yeah! I don't remember mine either! Just that it was fun!”
<Y-Yes indeed! Dreams are volatile, after all!>
“Kyu?”
“...Sure, let's go with that.”
Carpe exited the dungeon first.
Before other quests, he needed to report to the dwarves.
The dwarves were hiding in a cave not far from the mine, and Mukhyang remembered their scent, making it easy to find them.
“Ugh... As expected, Chieftain...”
When Carpe returned the remaining medals, Gis swallowed a sob.
But he quickly composed himself and bowed to Carpe.
“Truly grateful, Apostle. You retrieved the belongings in our stead.”
“Just doing what needed doing.”
“Never dreamed it'd involve demons. Is this the dream demon's trace?”
“Yes. Recognize it?”
Carpe showed Gis the black orb from capturing Keaas.
Gis pulled out a monocle, equipped it, and examined the orb closely, but...
“Hmm... I can tell demonic energy lingers, but not where it leads. Demons aren't my expertise.”
“I see.”
“But I know someone who might. I'd go myself, but circumstances prevent it... Could I ask you, Apostle?”
“Of course. I'll uncover the truth to the end.”
And at that moment, the alert appeared again.
Epic Quest Updated
Having completed the first phase, Carpe re-entered the mine dungeon.
Carpe delved back in and achieved his original goal.
Acquiring silver mythril and the enhancement solution!
The dungeon was challenging, but with enough time, he completed all quests.
And now.
Carpe had returned to Fergus's forge.
“Oho. This should suffice. My benefactor.”
“...Meaning?”
“Yes. We'll proceed with enhancements now. Not just +12... but +13 too.”
“Love you, master.”
The moment of enhancement had arrived.
The 10-Star Player's Lucky Draw