"That's right, D-856. You really do have a good memory, kid. I only said it once back then, and you remembered it."
Giving Habib a thumbs-up, Lin Dong raised his glass toward him from afar.
But Habib didn't seem interested in drinking with Lin Dong. Instead, he turned to Mo Wu—the same person he had seemed displeased with at first—and revealed a faint smile. After lifting his glass in greeting, he brought it to his lips.
One shouldn't slap a smiling face.
Mo Wu picked up the so-called Monster Milk on the table and took a small sip.
Spicy…
From his mouth down through his throat, an intense burning sensation spread all the way downward, then seemed to gather into a blazing ball of energy that shot straight into his head.
Yet Mo Wu's expression did not change.
Only his quickening breath and the accelerating flow of blood through his lungs revealed that he was already using Sun Breathing to break down this so-called Monster Milk.
Ignoring Mo Wu's little movements, Lin Dong continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
"That's basically how it works. Since the number of reincarnators in Paradise is impossible to count, Paradise split itself into countless parallel lines to sort and house them. Every parallel line is a branch of Paradise."
"Of course, reincarnators of different strength levels are also assigned to different lines. We're in D-856. As far as I know, this is one of the weakest groupings. There probably isn't a line ranked lower than ours."
"That's why this street looks so run-down. Our level of strength makes it hard enough just to survive in the reincarnation worlds. Who has time left to bother with renovations?"
Lin Dong laughed loudly, as though he weren't one of those weak reincarnators himself.
Mo Wu nodded and took another sip of the painfully spicy Monster Milk, his right hand tightening slightly around the wooden mug.
It was blunt.
But it was real.
Because they were weak, even Paradise looked down on reincarnators at their level?
He couldn't help recalling the line he had seen earlier when checking his own status panel in the Demon Slayer world.
Barely capable of self-preservation in this world. One of Paradise's small fry.
Paradise's small fry… huh?
Taking a slow breath, Mo Wu thought for a moment before asking his next question.
"What exactly… is a class?"
This time Lin Dong answered almost instantly, as though he didn't need to think at all.
"There are a lot of classes. The most basic are Adventurer and Pioneer."
"Pioneers are the most dangerous. After being chosen by Paradise, they get sent to completely new worlds—worlds Paradise has never recorded before. That makes them the most dangerous, because Paradise can't provide much information on them."
"And newbie reincarnators of that type have to go through so-called solo instances. On the surface, it looks easy enough—no one else interfering with you."
"But in reality, it's full of hidden killing intent. According to reliable statistics, the death rate for Paradise's Pioneers is as high as ninety-nine percent. And Pioneers only get a class advancement mission after completing three final world missions. Only then can they get rid of the Pioneer class and escape from endlessly being thrown into new worlds."
"Of course, Paradise compensates them for it."
"After completing main and side missions, Pioneers receive something called Pioneer Points, while ordinary Adventurers receive Adventure Points."
"The biggest use of those points is strengthening your body, talents, skills, and so on."
"And in terms of enhancement, one Pioneer Point is worth ten Adventure Points. On top of that, at final mission settlement, the Paradise Points a Pioneer gets are usually several times what an Adventurer would earn."
"That's why Pioneers are so strong. If they survive just two worlds, they're often already stronger than Adventurers who've gone through seven or eight."
He had spoken so much in one breath that even Lin Dong's mouth was getting dry.
He snapped his fingers.
This time, without needing any instruction, the bartender called Modi merely nodded, and a large mug of yellow beer fizzing with bubbles appeared instantly on the table.
Gulp… gulp…
After taking several big swallows, Lin Dong stared directly at Mo Wu and finally asked the question he had been holding back all this time.
"So—what class are you?"
On the surface, Mo Wu remained calm and relaxed.
But after hearing all that, a storm had already exploded in his heart.
Pioneer… Adventurer… then why the hell am I a Dreamer?!
"Pioneer."
Mo Wu lifted the wooden mug and took another measured sip, doing his best to reveal nothing unusual.
"I see…"
Lin Dong nodded. It was impossible to tell whether he believed him or not. Instead, he simply asked another question.
"How many worlds have you been through?"
Mo Wu didn't answer right away.
He only kept drinking from the wooden mug.
The atmosphere inside the tavern grew heavy. The only sound left in the air was the repeated gulping from Mo Wu's throat.
Even Habib and the others stopped whispering among themselves. They quietly pricked up their ears, focusing all their attention on Mo Wu and Lin Dong.
"One world."
"Habib, put recruitment on hold for now."
The cold mechanical voice of the armored man came from beneath his mask, casually taking back what he had said earlier.
"Good luck."
Lin Dong raised his glass toward Mo Wu, then drained the entire mug of beer in one go.
"At least you came out early. Earlier than certain so-called cautious cowards by several worlds."
Lin Dong laughed. When he said coward, his gaze drifted toward Habib.
"Someone was so scared that when I tapped him on the shoulder, he nearly ran for his life. If I weren't strong enough to stop him, he probably would've gone back into his safe house and hidden there until death."
Habib took a deep breath but didn't flare up. Instead, he picked up a glass and drained it, ignoring the faint smirks forming on the mouths of his teammates.
"You've got one last question. Ask."
Watching Habib's reaction, Lin Dong smiled again and turned back to Mo Wu.
"What happens if a mission fails?"
Draining the final spicy drop from the wooden mug, Mo Wu asked in a low voice.
He had noticed it back in the Demon Slayer world.
The missions Paradise assigned only ever mentioned the rewards for success. Not a single word was said about what happened if you failed.
Of course, given the situation in that world, failing in the face of a horde of demons had basically meant dying. That was the advantage of survival missions—if you lived, you succeeded.
But Mo Wu still wanted to know.
Outside of survival missions, what punishment came with failure?
Could it really be the classic answer?
Erasure?
"Nothing."
Unexpectedly, Lin Dong gave an answer Mo Wu had never considered.
Nothing?
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Most Paradise missions don't have a time limit, so there isn't really such a thing as failure. Even if special circumstances cause you to fail, you won't be erased."
"At worst, you just can't return to Paradise."
"You stay in that world for the rest of your life."
"Don't think you're that important. The one thing Paradise never lacks is people. Or geniuses."
Lin Dong gave a bitter smile, then continued.
"But I can give you one piece of advice. If you die by accident, make sure you die cleanly. Don't leave behind even a scrap of your soul."
"Better total annihilation than ending up a walking corpse."