He stepped forward and pushed the door open, only to pause.
'This isn't the Apple Store…' Seth thought a question mark appearing above his head. His eyes fixed on the scene before him, a dense forest stretching where shelves and displays should have been. The reason he had come here was simple: to loot the Apple Store for its goods.
Seth's hand shot up in an instant, fingers closing around the arrow that had halted mere inches from piercing his forehead. He stared at it with a calm, raised eyebrow before applying a slight squeeze, the shaft snapping apart in his grip as if it were nothing more than a twig. His gaze shifted immediately to the direction the attack had come from, tracking the faintest movement of the figure who had already begun to change position, blending back into the shadows.
{Name: [Evelin Moonlight]
Race: [Dark Elf]
Talent: [Moonlight Archer (B-tier Talent)]
Title: ????
Tier: 2 Tier (59/25,000 XP)
Combat Power: 130
===============
Skills: [Moon Light Arrow (?/?)], [Moons Eye (?/?)], [Moon Arrow (?/?)], [Rain of Arrow (?/?)], [Passive Healing (?/?)], [Bow Block (?/?)], [Shadow Step (?/?)].
She's strong,' Seth thought, narrowing his eyes as he studied her elusive form. In his camp, someone with a B-tier talent carried a combat power of around seventy at the same stage. Yet this woman's had double that amount. That made even Seth Stunned—it was unexpected, and in truth, impressive enough to be shocking.
Just as the second arrow left the bowstring, Seth's figure vanished. In the very next instant, the elf found herself ripped from her perch, hurled from the tree with a force that left her wide-eyed, completely stunned by the overwhelming speed she hadn't been able to follow.
Seth landed lightly after her fall, his movement fluid, and in one swift step pressed his foot down firmly across her neck, pinning her with effortless dominance. He crouched, his gaze sweeping over her carefully. She was undeniably beautiful—so much so that even his sharpened mind wavered for a heartbeat.
Long, silken hair framed her face, a rich light-brown shade, while her flawless skin was a beautiful caramel. Her pointed ears only heightened her otherworldly allure, and her silver eyes gleamed like polished metal, sharp yet striking. Her figure, too, was a perfect balance, neither excessive nor lacking, a harmony of elegance and strength.
But Seth forced his wandering thoughts back into order. The beauty before him wasn't the real point of concern—the true question still lay behind him, with that strange door he had stepped through.
"I didn't come here looking for problems," Seth said, his words smooth, almost casual. "But you attacked me without cause. So now I'll ask once—where exactly am I? Who are you? And how does a door from my world lead to this place?"
The elf froze. His calmness unsettled her more than if he had shouted. She opened her mouth, then clamped it shut, silver eyes narrowing, refusing to speak.
Seth exhaled slowly, his expression unchanged. "If you stay silent, I'll bring my people here in numbers. Together, we'll strip this place bare before you even realize what's happening. That door isn't common knowledge, which means an attack would hit you completely off guard." His voice didn't rise, yet every word pressed down like iron.
He leaned forward slightly, foot still pinning her throat, and added, "Or maybe I should keep things simpler. Capture you. Bind you. Break you until you betray your own kind."
Her body stiffened at the words, her pupils contracting sharply. For the first time, her composure cracked, and Seth could see the flicker of fear she tried to bury.
"How can I trust you won't turn on your word if I answer you?" she asked, her voice carrying a thin edge of unease as Seth's threats echoed in her mind.
"Why would I ever lower myself to lie to an ant?" Seth replied, his words cold, dismissive, and without hesitation. "You think too highly of yourself. I don't need soldiers. I don't need an army. I alone am enough."
His tone wasn't loud or emotional, but the arrogance in it was clear, a quiet reminder of the side effect his wish had burdened him with. That natural arrogance was always there, lingering under the surface, and though he usually kept it tightly in check, moments like this let it bleed through in his words.
"That doorway over there is a gateway to our world," the elf admitted softly, her voice careful, almost reluctant. "Another planet in the vast universe."
Seth gave a small nod, acknowledging her words with quiet approval. His eyes flicked back to the doorway for a moment, weighing the information, before he turned his focus back to her. He paused in thought, letting the silence stretch, and then finally spoke.
"So, tell me—what's the highest tier your world has reached?" His lips curved faintly into a smile as he continued, "My world only awakened mana a month ago. We're still new to all of this."
The elf stared at him in disbelief, her silver eyes widening. The calm way he said it didn't match the overwhelming strength she had just witnessed. For someone who claimed to have trained for barely thirty days, his power was far beyond reason, and that truth left her stunned.
"I don't know," she admitted, her voice low, almost hesitant. "It's different from forest to forest… but ours is counted among the strongest. Our king has already reached tier six."
Seth let out a small sigh and rolled his eyes at her words. To him, the statement carried little weight.
"What you're really saying," he replied evenly, "is that this forest is actually one of the weaker ones. Which means your king probably hasn't even reached a true tier six. At best, he's sitting at tier five." A faint smile tugged at his lips as he added, "That would put his combat strength somewhere around one hundred thousand."
The elf's expression shifted again, her surprise showing through despite her efforts to remain composed, while Seth raised an eyebrow as if amused by her reaction.
"I went too high? Ten thousand?" Seth asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied her face. The way she stiffened made it clear he was close, and that unease betrayed more than her silence did. His grin widened as if he had just locked onto the right answer.
"200 thousand, then? Now that's a number," Seth continued, his voice carrying a calm amusement. "That would make him over a hundred times stronger than me as I am now." He leaned in closer, his smile never fading. "So here are your two choices. You tell me everything you know, every detail you're holding back… or I torture you until you break. I can give you a fate far worse than death, and only when I'm satisfied will I let death take you."
The elf trembled, her body shaking—not from the threat of pain, but from the terrifying realization that she might already have revealed enough to put her entire kingdom at risk.
"Such strong loyalty…" Seth mused, his voice calm yet cutting. "So that's the angle I should take, isn't it? I'm guessing if I used a transformation skill, disguised myself as an elf, and launched an attack on a nearby dungeon, the results would be… interesting. If I ran back here afterward, the blame would fall squarely on your people." His lips curved into a faint smile as he continued, "Imagine it. Two dungeons clashing with each other, wearing each other down, while I sit back and wait. Then, when both sides are weak, I step in and take everything for myself. Not a bad plan, wouldn't you say?"
The elf's body shook at the suggestion, silver eyes widening in pure horror at the possibility.
Seth leaned closer, his tone soft, almost gentle, but the weight of his words was suffocating. "So, here are your two options. One—you answer my questions, every single one, honestly. In return, you'll be allowed to walk away, return to your home, and deliver your report to your king. Two—I break you apart for the information I want, and if that doesn't work, I'll simply drag a dungeon against this world and let the chaos do the talking."
He smiled as if he had given her the most generous offer possible. The dark elf trembled, tears streaking down her face as the choice crushed her spirit. In the end, broken by the threat, she chose the first option.