"Damn it. Am I late?" Dorian muttered in frustration.
He had just arrived at Garlun Village in the early morning. He had ridden his horse as fast as possible, but along the way, something unexpected happened. He was ambushed by bandits. That took time, and on top of that, he had to tend to his injured horse.
When he finally reached the village gate, Dorian frowned. He dismounted and walked slowly into the village. His eyes scanned the surroundings. The atmosphere was eerily quiet.
"Damn it. Looks like I really am late."
He walked carefully, glancing at each house one by one. But there was no one there. Every house was silent. That only made Dorian more anxious. Especially when he reached the village square—he could smell blood. His instincts told him something terrible had happened.
Still, he refused to give up hope. He kept walking until he finally saw a house with light coming from inside.
Dorian quickly walked toward it. When he arrived, relief washed over him as he saw that there were still some villagers inside.
"Thank goodness. I thought I was too late," he let out a long sigh.
"You are late," someone remarked.
Dorian turned toward the voice. He saw a young man sitting casually on a chair, his gaze coldly fixed on him.
The young man stood up and walked toward Dorian. "I don't know who you are, but can you help me?" Crowne asked.
Dorian stayed silent for a few seconds. He looked at the villagers of Garlun. Their faces were filled with fear, but there was also relief in their eyes.
After that, Dorian shifted his gaze back to Crowne. He felt something unusual about this young man, but he couldn't quite tell what it was.
"Help?"
"Help me distribute these treasures to the villagers! But don't you dare take a single portion. If I see you doing it, I will kill you," Crowne threatened.
Dorian was stunned by the threat. He was the guild master of the Adventurer's Guild. A man highly respected—no one ever dared speak to him like that.
Hearing those words made Dorian slightly annoyed, but he went along with it. He wanted to understand what exactly had happened here.
"Alright," Dorian replied.
The village of Garlun had finally calmed down. The old woman's corpse had been buried, along with the bodies of villagers who had failed to become Wendigos.
Those corpses were found in the underground cellar of the village chief's house.
When Dorian saw that, he was shocked. What had happened here was far beyond his expectations. He felt deeply guilty for realizing it too late. His heroic spirit was stung to the core.
"Who are you?" Dorian asked.
There was no answer. When he turned to the side, Crowne had already walked far away from where he had been standing.
He was carrying a man slung over his back. Dorian could only stare in confusion.
"Who is that young man?"
After a while, Crowne disappeared from sight, already far away.
Not long after, a villager approached Dorian. He recognized Dorian, since he had come to Garlun Village before with several adventurers.
That villager recounted what he had seen from his own perspective—about the attack of strange creatures, the old woman's death, several humans turning into monsters, and so on.
Dorian already knew the gist of the story, but this time he got a slightly more detailed version. From the villager's words, Dorian also learned that the young man he had just met was the adventurer tasked with handling the Garlun Village mission.
"He defeated more than a dozen Wendigos all by himself?" Dorian muttered in disbelief. "But… he doesn't feel strong at all."
Crowne did not leave Garlun Village immediately. He went to the old woman's grave and prayed for several minutes. Only then did he turn and start walking away.
"I'm sorry," Crowne said softly.
As he walked, he sensed a familiar presence behind him. A presence that was warm. That alone made him feel relieved.
He continued on until he finally left Garlun Village. This mission was a success. A good start.
Sraassh!
Suddenly, a woman appeared and walked beside him. She quickened her pace, turned to face Crowne, and walked backward in front of him.
"Master, what will you do after this?" Jörmungandr asked.
"I'll return to the Adventurer's Guild, take on another mission, and raise my rank," Crowne replied.
"Isn't that boring? Why don't we just cause some chaos? Isn't playing the villain much more fun?"
"If you want to do that, go ahead! I won't stop you—it's impossible anyway. I just want to level up right now."
"Ehhm…" Jörmungandr looked disappointed. She rubbed her chin and tilted her head toward the sky. "You're kind of boring, Master, but…" she turned her eyes back to Crowne, "I like it."
"Can you stop walking backward in front of me? It's getting annoying," he complained.
Jörmungandr stopped, leapt lightly, and sat on Crowne's shoulders. She swung her legs repeatedly like a child, pressing her chest against his head while glancing left and right.
"Master, how about you…"
Tringg!
[New Mission Acquired!]
[Locked Mission: Tame 50 Beasts! (Cooldown: 70:00:00)]
[Reward: 99,999 Market Points, weapon, artifact, and random skill.]
Crowne smiled when he saw the new mission. This was what he had been waiting for. The rewards were much greater than he expected, but the mission itself was a little more difficult.
Not because he would struggle to tame beasts, but because finding 50 beasts willing to be tamed wasn't something that could be done in a single day. He also didn't want to just pick any random beasts.
"…tame a few beasts?" Jörmungandr asked.
But Crowne didn't hear a word she said. He was too busy opening his system interface. He still had the 99,999 Market Points from the previous mission.
He wanted to buy something, but all day he hadn't found anything truly interesting. With thousands of options, it was hard to choose.
"Master, are you listening to me?" Jörmungandr whined.
She shook his body back and forth, making Crowne stagger slightly, but he still ignored her.
Crowne rubbed his chin. "Isn't this interesting? An impenetrable armor."
He nodded repeatedly. At first, he wanted to buy it, but he canceled the idea. He kept scrolling, looking for something more appealing.
Without realizing it, two hours passed. Jörmungandr had grown extremely bored. She kept tapping Crowne's head over and over.
"You're annoying," she grumbled.
"Ah, I think this is a good idea," Crowne said.
Jörmungandr tilted her head. Then she leaned forward, staring at Crowne's face from above. She watched him intently for a long moment.
"What is it?" Jörmungandr asked. "Did you find something? More useless stuff?"
Crowne was just about to press the 'buy' button, but before he could do it, he suddenly felt surrounded. When he closed his system screen, dozens of bandits had already encircled him.
"Hand over all your valuables!" one of the bandits threatened.