Chapter 57 -57-Arriving at Dawnstar City

Chapter 57: Chapter57-Arriving at Dawnstar City

John closed the panel in satisfaction.

His magical burst damage had improved once again.

The Darkstar Longbow had also filled the weakness in his ranged physical offense.

For summoning, he had the Thorn Sprite that was about to hatch.

For stealth and assassination, he possessed the Faceless Shadow Mask, Silent Fang, and Void Shift.

His combat system was becoming increasingly comprehensive.

In the distance—

Rudy led the surviving soldiers in finally driving away the Dark Realm monsters that had lost their commander.

The scattered enemies began fleeing into the wasteland.

The human army reclaimed the canyon entrance.

Rudy did not pursue them.

Standing among the corpses covering the ground, he looked toward John, who was leaning against a boulder while examining his loot.

His gaze was exceptionally complicated.

This young Otherworlder had been sent to the front lines by the city lord as a suspect.

Yet moments ago, the two of them had joined forces and achieved the world-first kill of a Lv50 Legionbreaker-Tier Boss.

Rudy strode toward John.

Before John could say anything, Rudy grabbed his right hand.

He clasped it tightly between both of his own.

His scar-covered face rapidly turned red.

His lips moved several times, yet he could not form a complete sentence for a long while.

John lowered his gaze.

A muscular man nearly two meters tall was holding his hand, his face flushed bright red as his grip grew increasingly tight.

No matter how he looked at it, something seemed wrong.

"Captain Rudy."

"If you don’t let go soon, the people around us may misunderstand our relationship."

Rudy seemed not to hear him at all.

He took a deep breath and finally shouted the words he had been holding back.

"With you joining the front lines, humanity has hope!"

His voice was thunderously loud.

The nearby soldiers turned their heads one after another.

Rudy released John’s hand, stepped back half a pace, and gave him an exceptionally solemn military salute.

"On behalf of the escort force for this expedition, I offer you our highest respect!"

"Without you tearing open the enemy formation from behind, at least half of these recruits would have died."

"Selena would also have continued hiding beyond the army’s formation and hunting down our commanders one by one."

John rubbed his numb hand.

When they first met, Rudy had treated him as a suspect who needed to be escorted under guard.

Now, judging by the way Rudy looked at him, the man seemed ready to swear brotherhood with him on the spot.

The change in attitude was almost painfully realistic.

Rudy waved toward the rear.

One of his personal guards approached carrying a heavy money pouch.

The Sunset City military emblem was embroidered across its surface.

When the pouch was placed in John’s hand, the crisp sound of gold coins striking one another rang out.

[Ding!]

[You successfully protected the expeditionary recruits during the Dark Realm ambush and assisted the escort force in repelling the enemy!]

[You have completed the B-Rank Hidden Quest: Escort the Recruits!]

[Quest Reward: 1,000 gold coins!]

[Quest Reward: 1,000 EXP!]

[Current EXP: 6,710/10,500!]

One thousand gold coins.

Converted into real-world currency, that was one million dollars.

John weighed the pouch in his hand, his expression somewhat strange.

He had merely seen Rudy taking all the monsters’ EXP and decided to charge into the horde to farm some for himself.

Along the way, he had casually killed a Legionbreaker-Tier Boss.

He had not expected to receive an additional Hidden Quest reward.

This expedition had only just begun, yet he had already earned more money than most people could make in an entire lifetime.

"Are all frontline quests this generous?"

Rudy laughed heartily.

"You earned it."

Several nearby soldiers wore complicated expressions.

When they had been cleaning the battlefield earlier, Rudy had maintained a stern face and ordered everyone to move faster.

The moment he turned toward John, however, he smiled as though he had finally found a long-lost brother.

The favoritism was written all over his face.

Rudy patted John’s shoulder again.

"Return to the formation quickly."

"Dawnstar City is not far from here."

"We should reach it as soon as possible, before the Dark Realm sends another force to intercept us."

With that, he turned around to reorganize the surviving soldiers.

The wounded lying across the battlefield were carried onto transport wagons.

The identification tags and weapons of the fallen were collected and stored together, while their bodies were temporarily left where they lay.

The escort force did not have time to bury them.

Only after Dawnstar City dispatched a follow-up unit would their bodies be returned to the Human Realm for burial.

...

At the center of the expeditionary force—

The NPC recruits and Luna Wolf players had gathered inside a temporary defensive perimeter.

White_Bear stared enviously at the Server-Wide Announcement that was still flashing before him.

"Captain."

"Look. He got another world-first kill."

"I should’ve followed him earlier."

Horus raised a hand and punched him.

Bang!

"You were actually thinking about attacking a Legionbreaker-Tier Boss?"

"Take a look at your current level first."

White_Bear covered his head.

"The Dark Realm monsters from earlier were only around Lv20."

"A Boss that appeared with them couldn’t have been higher than Lv30, right?"

Horus could not be bothered to explain.

"Read the announcement yourself."

White_Bear opened the system records and carefully counted through the information.

[World-First Kill Target Level: Lv50.]

He stared at the number for a long time.

"Holy shit."

"Level fifty?"

Horus remained expressionless.

White_Bear checked again.

He had not accidentally read an extra zero.

Nor had he mistaken twenty-five for fifty.

Most players at the current stage were still struggling around Lv10.

Endbringer had already gone off to achieve the world-first kill of a Lv50 Legionbreaker-Tier Boss.

It was as though the two sides were not even playing the same game.

White_Bear remained silent for a moment before slowly closing the panel.

"Captain."

"I don’t want to play anymore."

Horus scratched his head.

"You think I want to?"

"We’re only here because the higher-ups gave us this assignment."

White_Bear lowered his voice.

"Do you think this game has cheats?"

Horus turned to look at him.

"You know better than anyone whether cheats are possible."

White_Bear sighed.

"Then how exactly did Endbringer do it?"

Horus sighed as well.

"You think I don’t want to know?"

The two stood at the edge of the crowd with their heads lowered.

An indescribable sense of defeat spread between them.

John happened to return to the formation from the rear.

He looked at the two men, both of whom appeared to have lost all hope in life.

"What happened?"

Horus raised his head.

"Nothing."

White_Bear also forced out a smile.

"We were discussing life."

"Did you reach a conclusion?"

"No."

"Then take your time."

Carrying the Void Staff across his shoulder, John continued toward the rear of the formation.

White_Bear watched his departing figure.

"Captain."

"What level is he now?"

"Twenty-seven."

"I still don’t want to play anymore."

"Shut up and keep moving."

...

After leaving Sunkenlight Canyon, the terrain ahead consisted entirely of flat wasteland.

The expeditionary force’s speed increased noticeably.

Although they encountered several more scattered groups of Dark Realm creatures along the way, none formed a large-scale threat.

Before the enemies could even approach, the scouting cavalry and mage squads eliminated them.

Two hours later—

A black wall stretching across the entire horizon gradually appeared within everyone’s field of vision.

[You have discovered the Special War Zone: Dawnstar City!]

[Title "Forerunner" activated!]

[Until you complete the exploration of the Dawnstar City region, all damage you deal is increased by 20%!]

The Luna Wolf players raised their heads one after another.

At first, they could see only a faint black line.

As the distance narrowed, the outline of the entire city gradually became visible.

Dawnstar City was completely different from Sunset City.

Sunset City possessed prosperous streets, towering structures, shops, and vast residential districts.

Dawnstar City contained no decorations whatsoever.

Its outer walls were constructed from enormous dark-colored stone blocks and stood more than a hundred meters tall.

The surface was covered in arrow slits, cannon ports, and magical formation patterns.

Large sections bore black stains left behind by the corrosion of Dark Realm energy.

Some portions of the walls had clearly collapsed before being hastily repaired with stones of entirely different materials.

There were no fields outside the city.

No villages.

Nor were there broad roads intended for merchant caravans.

As far as the eye could see, there were only trenches, barricades, traps, and intersecting defensive fortifications.

At regular intervals stood war towers covered in runes.

The entire city resembled a colossal stone beast crouching upon the wasteland.

Its sole purpose for existing—

Was war.