William checked his loot. Once again, he had obtained a piece of aura and a useless sword. This time, there was no epic-grade potion, which disappointed him but did not dampen his motivation.
"At least the shoes are nice," he thought.
They resembled classic sneakers but had a sturdier texture. He especially liked the green and red stripes on them.
Additionally, they were comfortable to wear and fit his current level better than his previous shoes.
[Hollow Grief Shoes Sv13 (Epic) SET1/8]
[Speed +5% (+20% SET1/4)]
William happily put on the shoes.
Joseph gathered the entire team again and left a few people behind. William and Marcus were in this group again.
Marcus was tired. William could tell from the way he was sitting and his dirty clothes.
He could have sworn he wanted to go to the city of hope and take a shower as soon as possible.
William then helped set up camp again, and about two hours later, the new team arrived and took their place.
After that, everyone who had been fighting rested all afternoon and night.
No one complained, no one said they were tired.
This was because everyone, young and old, had leveled up.
Most of the citizens of Hope City were now level 5 or higher.
This would help them in their future endeavors.
There was even a 12-year-old child whose strength was undeniable. At his age, he could easily carry large rocks.
Of course, no one wanted him to do anything, and they even tried to prevent him from working, thinking that he could hurt himself.
They still couldn't get out of the protective mode they had in the old days.
The night passed nicely. People sold what they had obtained from the bosses, and everyone bought a few bottles of alcohol and had a big party. Tomorrow, they would kill the last field boss, and after tha,t the cycle would continue.
William and a few others cleared the open dungeon before the party and received their rewards.
William obtained the second piece of the set in this way.
[Atredeus' Armor Lv1 (Epic) SET1/8]
[Defense +5% (+20% SET1/4)]
The armor had a purple sheen, with green, jade-like lines growing upward and merging at the neck, forming a sun-like symbol. The part up to the shoulders was a little thick, which made William look bigger when he wore it.
William thought he understood the set equipment completely. Four pieces of armor for defense, two pieces of jewelry for various functions, and most likely two weapons.
William wondered what would happen when he collected all eight pieces of the set.
Of course, there was also the matter of the Aura piece. The explanation was clear, but he was always curious about what the enhancements would be.
When they returned, they found themselves in the middle of a big party. Even the soldiers on duty at the watchtower were drinking, but in moderation.
William took his beer and stood next to Elura and Austin. They talked about the future and the little bug in Elura's belly.
Later, Elura introduced William to a few single girls.
After the catastrophe caused by Aron, Jared, and Tobey, there weren't many women left.
After a while, under the influence of alcohol, William and Marcus started a competition to show off their muscles. After a while, the entire shelter entered into a power competition. Especially arm wrestling.
They made a table out of a huge rock and used it as a competition arena.
After a while, William completely lost his senses. He took hundreds of expensive drinks from the system and literally bathed in them.
It was a sight to behold. He hadn't drunk or socialized this much since high school. He was completely drunk and couldn't see where he was walking.
The next day... it was a disaster.
...
William woke up with unbearable pain in his head.
He found himself buried in the soft bed.
He got up, rubbing his head, and then, rubbing his eyes, noticed someone standing at the edge of the bed.
He could see that she was wearing military pants and now had a T-shirt over them.
"Fuck!" William slowly raised his head and looked at the figure by the bed, his eyes widening in shock.
William felt as though he were witnessing thousands of people being slaughtered at the same time.
The person sitting on his bed, getting ready to leave, was Eliza.
By the time William cursed, Eliza had finished getting dressed. She turned and kissed William on the forehead.
Then she smiled at the frozen William and left the room.
As soon as she left the room, Eliza leaned against the door and took a deep breath.
Then, making sure no one saw her, she went to the training area.
Once again, she was ready before everyone else, but she couldn't stop thinking about what had happened yesterday as if it were happening right now.
Eliza hadn't drunk much yesterday, just a glass or two.
She had watched William from a distance.
She had watched Elura introduce William to a few girls. She had watched William join in the party. She had watched him make people laugh nonstop.
She was jealous of those girls.
She had been watching William for a long time, and she didn't think she felt any attraction toward him, but that was until yesterday.
When she saw William like that yesterday, she couldn't control herself.
William talked to her while he was drunk, hugged her, kissed her, and then she took the already half-conscious William to his room. At first, she didn't want to do anything, but she couldn't take her eyes off William's sword, which seemed to reach the sky.
So she listened to the "devil," as she put it.
Was she regretful now? Yes.
Because Eliza also liked Marcus, but she couldn't let go of her old pride because she was a soldier with a lower rank.
She knew that Marcus also had feelings for her, but she had never seen him make a move.
That's why, especially under these circumstances, any relationship was secondary to her.
Eliza was helping people with their training when she saw William come out the door.
He was wearing a pair of pants and a T-shirt.
She pursed her lips and wanted to continue what she was doing, but she couldn't resist William's gestures and finally gave up and went over to William.
Marcus was also in the training area.
He had slept alone last night and had rushed to the training area as soon as he woke up.
He saw Eliza go to William and frowned, but didn't read anything into it.
William and Eliza came to William's room.
"What happened last night?" William asked. He wanted an answer. Because even though it wasn't a problem that Eliza had taken the first time, he wanted it to be at least a little sober.
Eliza turned her head away, unable to look William in the eye.
"What happened happened. There's nothing we can do about it. I think we should forget about it."
William frowned.
"The last thing I remember is us dancing in the square. How did things progress from there to here? I know what happened has happened."
"We were both very drunk, and I don't remember anything after that." Eliza lied.
William didn't buy it.
"If that's how it is..." William approached her and tried to kiss her, but Eliza pushed him away.
"No, we can't do this. It was a one-time thing, it happened, and it's over."
William stood leaning against the door, and Eliza left the room with her head bowed.
"I understand." William shook his head.
"I wish I had been a little more sober." He hit his head. "Did I really need to drink so much?"
William stopped thinking about it because there was nothing he could do.
He would continue on his way. Today was the day to hunt the third boss, and he wanted to get to the trial tower as soon as possible.
He didn't attend morning training.
Instead, he had a long breakfast and then went to the meeting point.
Joseph had arranged everything early again.
There were a lot of low-level people in today's group, and the goal, of course, was to raise their levels.
The large weapons were loaded onto the back of the trucks, and they set off.
This time, the boss was behind the tower, about twenty miles to the east. This boss was very important because they could open up the eastern part of the country.
The eastern part of the country consisted of large cities with millions of people, perhaps the only places where many survivors could be found.
Their connection to the ocean made these cities very important because they wanted to know what was happening on other continents.
The inhabitants of Hope City did not want to spend their lives only in Hope City, especially Joseph.
As a soldier and a general, he wanted to take the lead when it came to controlling the country and regaining its former glory.
Everyone jumped into the trucks and set off.
The field boss in the east was a little far from the city of Hope, so it was noon by the time the convoy arrived.
When William saw the tower up close, he began to feel impatient.
He knew the first two floors, but he was curious about the upper floors and the limits of his power.
He was also curious about the rewards.
Since there wasn't much to do and there was nothing to entertain people like social media, people had become much more hardworking.
William was the best example of someone who adapted to this quickly.
Except for the first few days after the catastrophe, he had hardly stopped and focused on improving himself even in his spare time.
The thing he worked on the most was improving his weapon affinity index.
This was a more difficult statistic than expected. All he had to do was train with his sword, but even though he felt like his twin swords were an extension of his limbs, he couldn't earn many points. This was despite the fact that he could earn 100 times more experience points.
Finally, they arrived at the boss's area.
This time, the field boss was in the middle of a flat area. The parallel mountains to the west were gone, and the geography became flatter as they headed east.
Unless you went to the easternmost part of the country, the area was mostly flat and desert.
The drought that began thirty years ago had completely engulfed the center of the country, but fortunately, the coastal areas received more rainfall than normal and became more fertile, and the excess water from the mountains here was enough to feed the inland areas, albeit little by little.
William looked at the creature, which was nearly three meters tall.
It looked like a normal human, except for its oversized hands and feet.
This time, it didn't have a club in its hand.
William nodded when Joseph said that the creature's weapons were its fists and kicks.
Although this creature was smaller than the others, it surpassed the other two in terms of pure strength.
Each punch was powerful enough to leave a crater several meters wide in the ground.
Fortunately, Marcus and Mick's shields were still shining with unwavering strength.
When the attack began, only two people were able to get close to the creature: Mick and Marcus. Everyone else had to retreat.
Even William had to switch places with Mick when he wanted to attack because the creature was so large that they could have accidentally hurt each other.
For example, sharpshooters like Kim couldn't target the Field Boss this time. They risked hitting their own teammates.
So they focused on the high-level zombies in the back.
William just smiled at the situation and stepped in to engage the Boss in close combat instead of Mick.
To be honest, he was almost injured this time because the creature's kicks were faster than he had anticipated.
Fortunately, its skin wasn't thick enough, so when the creature attacked, it only met a smaller reaction when he raised his sword.
Throughout the entire battle, William only took one direct hit. It was a solid punch to the stomach.
Although he was knocked back a few meters and left a deep crater where he fell, this attack caused the creature to die faster because it had managed to anger William.
"Congratulations, you have killed Necromarax General Velkrin the Dreadling!"
"EXP +23,729"
"Dreadling Aura Fragment x1 obtained!"
"Rare Healing Potion x1 obtained!"
"You have obtained a Calming Candle x1!"
"You have obtained a Sagebind Staff x1!"
"CP +58,213"
"Ley Pool +20% for 1 hour!"
This time, the loot wasn't very satisfying. So he dedicated himself to hunting down other zombies and clearing the area.
Finally, he reached Level 19.
It was a great feeling. He gave all the points he could again and felt filled with power.
"I think I can defeat Bloatfather on my own; it just takes a little time," he thought.
William didn't wait this time. As soon as the area was cleared, he left immediately and headed for the tower alone. He needed some entertainment to relieve his fatigue.
The entrance to the tower was empty; no one had been stationed here, and there wasn't any extra manpower to spare.
William saw a few camping tools scattered in front of the tower and set up a small camp.
He placed his staff and excess items here.
He took a moment to look at the items he had earned.
[Calming Candle]
[A candle that emits a calming scent when lit. Emotional Stability +5%]
"Useful," William muttered. He left the candle at the camp and took his first step into the tower.
He knew what the first two levels were like, so he wasn't very excited. He just thought it would be more fun to fight something other than zombies.
When five creatures appeared in front of him, he couldn't help but look at them with interest, but when he saw that all five creatures looked the same except for their stories, he swung his sword horizontally once, and all five creatures were cut in half.
Then they turned into beams of light and disappeared.
William then advanced to the next level.
Here, he saw Lyra Solara, whom Joseph had mentioned.
The woman made a strong impression on him.
"She must have had the charisma to conquer worlds when she was alive."
Lyra roared and charged, and William dodged the attack by stepping aside.
He responded to her next attack with his own sword.
"Clang!"
William's crossed sword clashed with Lyra's long sword.
"Come on, talk to me!" William whispered.
He desperately wanted Lyra to speak to him.
He wanted to know about her life, especially about the system and the future, but the only response he received was Lyra's ear-piercing roar.
After the roar, William took a few steps back and then dodged Lyra's charging attack.
"Come on..." William stepped aside to avoid the incoming sword strike.
"Talk to me. Lyra? Don't you want to know who killed you?"
Lyra didn't respond. She continued swinging her sword.
She prepared for a shield strike and stepped forward.
William threw a solid punch at the incoming shield.
A dent formed in the metal shield, and Lyra frowned and stepped back.
"I think you're curious too. Do you know what Veritas said about you?"
The moment William said this, he noticed a change in Lyra's expression.
But it was only a slight change. Lyra didn't seem to have regained consciousness because she was still insisting on attacking.
"Come on, Lyra! You were killed by your own son, and your soul is now trapped in this tower forever! Talk to me!"
William shouted at Lyra.
The matter of her soul being trapped was just a bluff to him. He had no knowledge of souls, only a few insignificant details about Lyra appearing in the tower after her death, as Joseph had told him.
However, William's words attracted the part of Lyra's soul that was still fighting deep within her consciousness.
Lyra suddenly stopped but then continued her attack.
"I can't control my body, but I can speak. Hurry up and tell me, I can't hold on much longer."
William smiled upon hearing this. He had managed to get Lyra to speak. He hadn't thought it possible to communicate with anyone else in the tower besides Lyra. He couldn't let this opportunity slip away.
"You first. Tell me, where is Solaria? What kind of battle did you fight, and why are you here in this tower?"
"Hmph!" Lyra lunged forward and thrust her sword straight ahead.
"Ding!" William responded with his own sword and took a few steps back.
"These are things you don't need to know. Just be patient. You'll learn when the system is fully operational. You'll be faced with so much information that you'll get tired of it. You'll give up trying to learn and just try to get on with your life."
Lyra lunged forward and made a downward slashing motion.
William stepped aside and kicked Lyra's sword.
"I understand, but could you give me a hint?"
Lyra swung her sword sideways, panting, and William dodged again.
"Adapt to the system. The system is not your enemy. Take what you can get, don't worry about what you can't. Don't care about statistics. When the full version arrives, you'll understand what I mean, and finally, DON'T TRY TO LEARN THE ORIGIN OF THE SYSTEM!"
With these words, Lyra launched a powerful attack, sending a shock wave from her body toward William, but he had already jumped back dozens of steps.
"Now tell me, what happened to Solaria? My time is limited!"
Hearing this, William realized that he couldn't waste any more time. He had enough information, and in return, he told Lyra what Veritas had written.
"According to what is written, your brother stabbed you in the back, and Solaria was destroyed after your death."
Lyra froze for a moment.
When she heard these words, she didn't know what to do and opened her eyes wide.
"My… My world…"
Then she frowned.
"I don't have a son!" Lyra shouted.
"I don't know, that's what it says in the explanation." William dodged Lyra, who threw herself at him, and stepped aside.
Lyra's face was shaking constantly. It was as if she was fighting with herself inside her head.
"Something's going on, definitely... something's happening... saints... is he referring to saints?"
Lyra's voice was shaky, her expression angry. She was clearly struggling to speak.
"No."
"Raaaaghhhhh!" Lyra lunged at William with an angry expression.
At that moment, William saw the light in Lyra's eyes go out, the dull golden glow slowly disappearing.
"I'm sorry, Lyra. I don't know what's going on, but it looks like you've fallen victim to some kind of conspiracy." William tried to stall for time and talk some more, but it was useless.
The light in Lyra's eyes had completely faded.
He couldn't talk to her anymore. So he didn't waste any more time and finished the job by plunging the sword he had just acquired into Lyra's heart.
William felt bad for a few seconds.
It was the first time he had killed a human other than zombies and creatures.
For a moment, he even convinced himself that Lyra was human and that he had killed a human.
But then he meditated and got rid of those thoughts.
Lyra was already dead, and William convinced himself that she was just a fake body created by the system.
But he could live with the death of such a person.
William didn't know if he was ready to kill a human being yet, so he would have to wait and see. He decided not to think about it, as he couldn't simulate the emotions he would experience when that day came.
It was best that way.
Not to think about it...