"A guild achievement badge?"
Kurose Akira stared at the badge floating midair before his eyes and fell into thought.
The badge gleamed with a silver-white luster. Engraved upon it was the side profile of a woman, several small hearts encircling her silhouette.
Akira felt a flicker of surprise. He hadn't expected the hidden quest's reward to be a guild achievement badge—and the bonuses it provided were actually quite solid.
Still… what exactly did +10 Desire mean?
Well, at least it wasn't a debuff.
Akira didn't dwell on it any longer and closed the achievement badge interface.
Seeing that night had already fallen, he told Ivsha to return to the church. He himself was also preparing to remove the VR headset and log out of the game.
Before leaving, however, Akira deliberately checked the trading marketplace.
Of the nine Nun Talismans he had listed, six had already sold. It seemed most players found the price acceptable. As for the private messages from buyers, he didn't open a single one—out of sight, out of mind.
"Hm? There's another private message?"
Akira suddenly noticed a message that hadn't come from the marketplace, but from… a friend?
He immediately opened the chat panel and checked it.
The message read:"You around? I've used up your Flame Gem. When do we trade again?"
"Oh?"
Akira was a little surprised. The player who had rented his Flame Gem had finally resurfaced.
Seeing that the other party was currently offline, Akira left a reply:"Let's trade tomorrow morning. I'll come find you then."
After leaving the message, he logged out.
"Whew…"
Akira removed the VR headset and let out a long breath.
Although Ivsha's character quest was complete, he knew deep down that things were far from over.
Baron Noda had only been a chess piece on the board. The one truly targeting Ivsha was a certain kingdom princess lurking behind the scenes.
This was only the beginning.
That said, with Edis in the picture, things should remain stable for now.
"Shower. Sleep."
...
The next morning.
School, home, game—launch!
"Mr. Akira~ I want it~"
The moment Akira entered the guild, Ivsha came toward him with light, eager steps.
"Ivsha, there's a lot we need to handle today."
Akira quickly cut off her train of thought, steering her attention back to work—for the sake of the guild's development, and for the sake of his own physical health.
"Alright~ I'll listen to Mr. Akira."
Ivsha didn't seem disappointed at all. On the contrary, she looked full of anticipation.
As if she enjoyed the occasional rejection—something that only caused the desire in her heart to swell even further.
Akira glanced at the time. It was ten in the morning, game-time. Before long, he would need to head to Sunset City.
There were two reasons for this trip.
First: the location of the special commission required to raise his evaluation from F+ to E-rank happened to be in Sunset City. Now that Ivsha had completed her ascension, this special quest could finally be scheduled.
Second: Lady Natasha had invited him to afternoon tea—an invitation that was difficult to refuse.
But before that, he needed to buy back the Flame Gem.
Akira opened the chat interface and saw that the player named "Red" had already replied.
Red: "Okay."
"I'm online. Let's trade."
Akira sent the message and received a reply almost instantly.
Red: "Come over."
[Player 'Red' has initiated a trade with you.][Your offer: 70 Silver Coins][Their offer: Flame Gem][Confirm trade?]
"Confirm."
[Silver Coins -70][Obtained item: Flame Gem (Rare)]
Red: "Just a heads-up. This item can reduce fire damage, but it also absorbs your own fire magic. It has a durability limit too—by my estimation, fire spells from a mage with over 1,000 mana can shatter it."
"Got it. Thanks."
Akira thanked him sincerely. He hadn't expected the other party to be this considerate.
A fire mage with over 1,000 mana…
That would mean at least level 40 or 50, and with no shortage of quality either.
As the thought crossed his mind, Akira took out the Flame Gem. It would be perfect for dealing with the Flame Cocoon in the special quest.
"Ivsha, Loserine—let's go."
Gripping the Flame Gem tightly, Akira headed toward the teleportation array.
Just as he was about to step into it, a voice suddenly called out.
"Master! Please take me with you!"
"Hm?"
Akira turned his head and saw the Demonic Spirit Doll—the one Emily had given him—calling out to him.
"You want to come too? Sure. Let's go together."
Akira didn't mind bringing it along. He walked over, picked up the doll, and placed it into his inventory.
"Thank you, Master~"
White light flashed, and Akira arrived once more in Sunset City.
After several days away, the city felt… different.
The atmosphere was tense. There were noticeably more soldiers patrolling the streets than before.
"I can feel it~ A witch's aura~"
The Demonic Spirit Doll suddenly shouted excitedly.
"You can help me find the quest target?" Akira immediately asked upon hearing that.
This quest didn't have an exact map marker—only a vague indication that the target was somewhere near the center of Sunset City.
"Mhm." The doll nodded. "I'll guide you, Master!"
Under the doll's guidance, Akira entered the underground through a cellar entrance.
Once below, a tangled network of sewers unfolded before him. After passing through them, the space ahead suddenly opened up, and Akira couldn't help but freeze in astonishment.
Beneath Sunset City… there was a massive underground complex.
Its scale rivaled that of a small city.
Rather than a dungeon, it felt more like a city-defense installation—fortifications built to shelter civilians during wartime.
"I can't believe there's an underground city beneath Sunset City…"
Akira murmured in disbelief as he stepped forward.
The underground city was completely deserted. Rats and insects scurried everywhere, and piles of abandoned weapons and armor lay scattered about.
"Ow! That hurts!"
Suddenly, Loserine clutched her head and cried out, her face contorting in pain.
"Loserine, what's wrong?!"
Akira's brow furrowed as he rushed to her side.
Loserine was already undead—by all logic, she shouldn't be able to feel pain.
Unless…
…the pain was coming from her soul.
"Memories… my memories are surging… tearing apart…"
Loserine bit her lower lip and forced the words out.
"Your memories…?"
Before Akira could finish speaking, Loserine suddenly broke into a run toward a distant direction.
"Loserine!"
Akira immediately gave chase.
Something in this underground city was clearly triggering her reaction.
When he finally caught up to her, Akira was struck dumb by the sight before him.
"This…"
At the very center of the underground city lay a vast field of ashes.
And in the middle of those ashes, a massive Flame Cocoon throbbed violently, waves of raging fire rippling outward as if ready to incinerate everything around it.
[Flame Cocoon: Quest Target! A mysterious lifeform suspected to be created by a witch. Something like a fallen lifeform appears to be sealed inside?]
Akira narrowed his eyes, trying to peer through the cocoon and discern its true nature.
The attempt seemed to work—faintly, he could see something lying within.
A… butterfly?
[Demonic Phoenix Butterfly (Epic)][Level: ?][Race: Insect-type Demon Creature][Skills: ?][Taming Probability: 0.1%]