EDEN — Chapter 11 (Part 1)

Chapter 11.

~Sword of Tiog~

“Tiog, the god who loves peace and protects justice! But peace cannot be kept with gentleness alone. The time will surely come when strength is necessary. Through you, the god wishes to prepare that power. Following that will, let us seek out another holy relic.

Completion Condition: Tiog’s Sword (0/1)”

It was the day after I-eon completed the Divine Arrangement quest. When he logged into Eden, Tiog, who had been waiting for him, once again brought him into the realm of the gods. A presence stood firm in the completely white space. The face wasn’t clearly visible, but the long white wavy hair reaching down to the ankles showed that it was the Tiog he had met before.

She greeted I-eon with a voice noticeably warmer than during their first meeting.

[Thanks to your efforts, all of the strength has been gathered. You’ve worked hard.]

[Now only the true form, the sword, remains.]

[But I prepared it not in the shape of a sword, but as an unrefined stone.]

“Why?”

[Because it will ultimately be used on the surface.]

[The power the divine realm can exert on the surface is distinctly limited. If I were to forge a sword using only that power, it would fail to fulfill its purpose and break.]

[The nature of the surface is another god in its own right. I must combine nature’s power with mine to create the strongest sword.]

“I heard that when strengthening the scabbard, you had to remove nature’s magic….”

Hadn’t Jude said that after receiving Rania’s gold? I-eon was about to feel wronged, wondering if it had all been for nothing, when Tiog, reading his thoughts, let out a small laugh.

[The scabbard is meant to be that way. It is a vessel that holds divinity until it meets the sword. The purer it is, the better.]

Tiog’s continued voice carried a faint tone of bitterness.

[In truth, during the Divine–Demonic War, I wanted to prepare the sword in advance. It was a war Nox started without warning….]

[I granted a revelation to the greatest blacksmith of that era, but that was my mistake. He didn’t have the strength to endure the journey required to find the unrefined stone.]

Just looking at what I-eon went through searching for traces of light made that clear. There was no way a blacksmith NPC, not even a player, could endure something like that.

[I only ended up sacrificing a talented man for nothing….]

[Follow his trail. I believe that you will be able to accomplish what he could not.]

[I have already prepared someone else to refine the stone.]

[Then, until the day we meet again….]

The light spreading from Tiog dyed the sight before him white. I-eon, who had been drifting through the divine space in soul form, was now being sent back to the surface. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again.

-A new quest has been created.

~Footsteps of the Predecessor~

“Long ago, when the Imperial damage from the Divine–Demonic War was severe. McCreich, known as a once-in-a-century genius blacksmith, received Tiog’s revelation and attempted to forge a powerful holy sword. But one day, he suddenly vanished…. Now the time has come to complete the mission he could not. Let us pursue the traces of McCreich.

Completion Condition: Tiog’s Sword Stone (0/1)”

McCreich’s trail ended in a port city on the eastern continent. Since it was something that happened long ago, I-eon wondered if anyone would even remember him, but thanks to the innkeeper who had been running an inn in the same spot for thirty-five years and who had an excellent memory, they fortunately didn’t have to turn the entire city upside down. He couldn’t remember all customers, but McCreich had stayed for over two weeks, and they got along well enough to talk like friends, which helped.

I-eon and Raham ordered a whole table of food and drew the story out of the innkeeper.

“Back then, I had no idea he was such a big deal. I heard even the emperor had to wait his turn if he wanted to commission a sword from that man. Anyway, he was the sort who never bragged, not even a little.”

“What did he say when he left here?”

The elderly man stroked his faded beard, digging through old memories.

“He said he was heading somewhere he could avoid the demonic race…. He told me his hometown village, where his forge was, had been ruined because of them. I heard he rented a small boat that a captain sailed alone, but who knows where he went…. If he wanted to avoid the demonic race, maybe somewhere like a temple.”

But back then, temples and priests were the demons’ primary targets. Only temples large enough to have temple knights avoided major losses. The Great Temple would have been the safest, yet Artenor, the High Priest, had also never seen him….

After a moment of thought, I-eon asked the innkeeper:

“Did the captain who sailed with him come back?”

“How would I know? I don’t even know which ship it was.”

Still, talking with adventurers coming and going was a kind of pastime for him, and he remained kind until the end.

“If you head toward the harbor, there’s a big guy named Max. Ask him. Almost all the sailors are under his management.”

After thanking the innkeeper, they headed for the harbor where ships of all sizes were moored. Asking around among the sunburned workers led them to a tavern with a worn-out sign. Even before entering, booming voices and loud laughter spilled out. The innkeeper hadn’t been exaggerating about how these people partied day and night.

As they walked through the wide-open door, they saw exactly what they expected, dark-skinned men downing drinks in broad daylight and shouting loudly enough to make one’s ears ring. The loudest among them was a large middle-aged man sitting against the inner wall, likely Max. I-eon didn’t hesitate and headed straight to him. All the men gathered around the table turned their gaze sharply toward I-eon.

“Max?”

“…That’s me, but who are you?”

“I came because I have something to ask.”

The man, whose rough beard made him look even more intimidating, scanned I-eon quickly, as if evaluating how much he could squeeze out of him. As expected, he smirked and raised his bushy eyebrows.

“For free?”

I-eon had to promise to pay for Max’s group’s drinks before he could speak with him properly. After hearing the situation, Max raised his voice with an incredulous expression.

“Listen, knight. You think you’re the only one who’s lost someone at sea? And what? Seventeen years ago? I was only eighteen then, just a brat.”

“…….”

“With that face, you’re telling me he’s thirty-five?”

More than anything, I-eon shut his mouth in surprise at Max’s appearance, and Max, assuming that meant he had intimidated him, grew even more triumphant.

“What’s got you so shocked? Well, I guess it makes sense. There’s no war these days, so you wouldn’t see people dying all that often.”

He really could take pride in anything. I-eon ignored the condescending look and narrowed his brows.

“Then you really don’t know where he went?”

“Nope.”

“I’m canceling paying for your drinks.”

“Hey, wait! You can’t just give and take it back!”

Max shot to his feet, shouting. If this had been a ploy to squeeze more money out of I-eon, that would’ve been easier to handle, but he genuinely didn’t seem to know anything. Well, it had been seventeen years. Even if someone had kept a record in a logbook, that amount of time made it nearly impossible to trace, so it was only natural that he…

“Hmm… Hey. I think I might know.”

The one who threw him a lifeline was one of Max’s companions. A man with faded brown hair met I-eon’s eyes and gave him an awkward smile. He was the only one among them with a small frame and neat clothing.

Max, who had been huffing over losing his free drinks, immediately slung an arm around the man’s shoulders.

“Right! Rosie’s been doing administrative work for our guild for twenty years now.”

“Seventeen, to be exact…. But yes, it was my first day as operations manager, so I remember it pretty clearly.”

He said the wind had been a bit strong that day, but not enough to make launching a ship difficult.

McCreich had been the first person to set sail. He arrived even earlier than the sailors who were known for moving at the crack of dawn. Rosie, who had also come early, chatted briefly with him while he waited for his captain.

“A blacksmith? Then shouldn’t you be heading to Limbert?”

“I plan to go to the Eastern Continent.”

“…The Eastern Continent?”

Back then, the Eastern Continent was still an unknown land. Any attempt to get close was blocked by some mysterious force covering the sea, turning ships away. Adventurers claimed it was the power of the dragon god, Gaha, known only through legend.

Rosie glanced at the small boat the blacksmith had supposedly rented.

“Then wouldn’t it be better to borrow a bigger ship…? No, wait, you can’t even enter that land in the first place.”

“Which is why everyone refused. That boat was the only thing I could manage to rent.”

“Do you really need to take such a risk just to forge a sword…?”

With such a tiny vessel, coming back alive would already be a miracle. Rosie couldn’t make sense of it, but the blacksmith had answered calmly, with a strangely serene air.

“No land on the continent is safe from the demonic race during war. And I am simply fulfilling the mission entrusted to me by Tiog.”

“…….”

“Even if I cannot complete it with my own hands, it must be the will of the god.”

There was such unwavering conviction in the man’s eyes that Rosie couldn’t bring himself to stop what he still believed was a reckless attempt.

After quietly listening to everything, I-eon asked the question the innkeeper had been unable to answer.

“Did the captain ever return?”

“He came back.”

Rosie added quietly.

“Alone.”

“…What about McCreich?”

“According to what the captain said back then, he was lured by some strange singing during the voyage, and when he came to his senses, he was already returning alone.”

He hadn’t believed the captain’s story, but with no evidence and with McCreich being someone he had only spoken with briefly, he hadn’t pressed further. Max, who had been chatting loudly with others the whole time, suddenly cut in, proving he had listened after all.

“There’s a legend of sirens in the sea. A few people have had weird experiences for real, but who knows? Maybe he killed the guy himself and just blamed sirens for it.”

The conclusion was that they didn’t know McCreich’s whereabouts, whether he was alive or dead. The only clue they got was the Eastern Continent. After thinking for a moment, I-eon turned his body slightly. Raham, who stood silently at his side despite the curious glances around them, met his eyes.

“Have you been to the Eastern Continent?”

“Yeah.”

“So I’m the problem…. I’ve never been.”

Even though the Eastern Continent had been opened for two years after the dragon race update, I-eon had never set foot there. The first time going required breaking through the sea route by ship. Without personally passing the dragon race’s gate and earning acknowledgement, scrolls and teleport magic were useless.

He never imagined the Tiog main storyline would send him all the way to the Eastern Continent. As he frowned and struggled with that thought, Max, who had once again been listening even while pretending not to, jumped at the opportunity.

“Looks like you need a ship. Since you’re paying for the drinks, I’ll cut you a deal. How about a ship with beds and five crew members?”

Max probably thought he was recommending something reasonable for two passengers sailing that far, but Eden’s ordinary ships were painfully primitive by modern standards. I-eon shook his head, then offered the one thing Max would definitely welcome.

“Do you have a magic-powered ship?”

* * *

Ah, this is nice.

I-eon and Raham had unfolded sunbeds on the deck and were enjoying the leisure of the open sea. The ship they were on was powered by magic, giving it a smooth and steady ride, barely affected by waves. It was the kind of ship only nobles usually rode, so ordinary NPCs never got the chance to experience it. But from a player’s perspective, renting a magic-powered ship around fifty meters long was cheap enough. So whenever sailing was required, everyone chose magic-powered ships. Some people who enjoyed hyper-realistic fishing rented rocking ships on purpose, but those were exceptions….

Since magic replaced many crew functions, only five people total, including the two of them, were aboard. The blue sky and horizon beyond the parasol looked like a piece of art. I-eon happily sipped freshly squeezed fruit juice as the sea-scented breeze brushed his face. Wanting to fully commit to the vacation mood, he had even made Raham change into swimwear.

“This really feels like a trip…. How much would a yacht like this cost in real life, seriously.”

It was such a far-fetched idea he’d never even dreamed about it, but experiencing something like this made it feel far better than he expected. Raham smiled at his dreamy mumbling, finding it adorable.

“Want me to buy one for you?”

“No!”

I-eon answered almost reflexively, bolting upright. He repeated several times that he was only curious and absolutely did not want one. Hopefully it was a joke, but the odds were far greater that it wasn’t. He practically hammered the warning into Raham’s head, and Raham nodded. Believing the message had gotten through, I-eon lay back on the sunbed.

In the middle of the sea, every sound was so peaceful that sleep crept up on him naturally. He lay there lazily, gazing at the clear sky until he drifted off. What woke him later was a hand shaking his shoulder. I-eon flinched, then slowly opened his eyes. Instead of the blue sky he remembered before falling asleep, a familiar face filled his vision.

“I-eon. Wake up.”

“Mmm… Why?”

It seemed he’d slept quite deeply because both his body and mind were heavy with drowsiness. He sat up slowly under Raham’s gentle touch, stretching and yawning before fully coming to his senses. Only then did he finally register the situation.

“…What the hell?”

The dazzling clear sky and sparkling sea were gone, replaced by a gloomy scene straight out of the end of the world. Stunned, I-eon stood up, and Raham gently rubbed the back of his head. Despite thick black clouds, lightning, and winds strong enough to rival a typhoon, he alone remained perfectly calm.

When I-eon stared at him expectantly, waiting for an explanation, Raham spoke.

“I was watching you sleep, and I ended up dozing off too…. Then I woke up because I heard singing.”

“Singing? Sirens? Why would a rare monster show up…”

Only then did he notice he had an abnormal-status immunity buff. Raham must have cast it right after I-eon woke up. I-eon looked around the eerily quiet deck, so empty compared to the now-chaotic weather.

“What about the crew?”

“They got hit by a siren charm and lost their minds, so I put them to sleep.”

There was no way ordinary NPC sailors could resist a mental charm. With the captain unconscious, the ship wasn’t moving at all. Even if they woke the sailors and applied immunity buffs, he doubted they’d know how to escape this situation.

I-eon opened the system window, planning to search the official forums, when Raham, uncharacteristically hesitant, wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“I-eon.”

“Yeah?”

“There’s a ship over there.”

“What?”

Here? In this situation? Out of nowhere? Doubting his ears, I-eon turned in the direction Raham pointed, and sure enough, there was a ship. A huge one, large enough to fit dozens of their own ship inside it.

But its appearance suggested it had gone missing at sea for a hundred years.

The entire hull was decayed and worn, its skeletal frame exposed, emanating a sinister black aura that seemed to draw in the ominous atmosphere around it.

It was a ghost ship drifting across the sea.

I-eon’s eyes trembled slightly. Whether the siren had dragged them into the ghost ship’s territory or lured them into entering, he didn’t know, but since they were already inside, they wouldn’t be able to leave easily. This weather anomaly was also likely caused by the ghost ship, which meant they would have to deal with it somehow….

As he stared blankly at it like he was denying reality, he felt a gaze beside him.

“Are you scared?”

Given how many times he had shown weakness toward ghost-like beings until now, it wasn’t unreasonable to ask. With a sour expression, I-eon turned away from the grotesque ship.

“It’s a ghost ship… so ghosts are going to show up, right?”

“They will.”

“…Does this ship not have something like a cannon?”

If possible, he just wanted to blow it up from afar instead of approaching it. His face was so serious that he looked ready to turn the entire cabin upside down in search of one, and Raham let out a soft laugh. I-eon glanced at Raham’s calm demeanor. Would that guy even flinch if something suddenly jumped out? The ghosts might find him boring and avoid him altogether. He envied that kind of steel heart… just a little.

“I’ll go.”

“By yourself?”

“Wait here.”

Raham spoke casually as he prepared for battle. The words were honestly so welcome that I-eon almost shoved him forward immediately, but a tank had his pride. How could he let a healer go alone? Biting his lip, I-eon finally changed out of his swimsuit and into armor.

“I’m going with you.”

As he declared it firmly, Raham met his eyes quietly.

“But I-eon is scared of ghosts.”

“I’m not scared, it’s just… they jump-scare you, that’s all.”

“Hmm.”

The slight curve in Raham’s eyes clearly said, Are you sure?, but I-eon ignored him and urged him to hurry up and summon the dragon.

They mounted the bone dragon and approached the ghost ship. When they rose to the height where the deck came into view, they saw skeletal sailors holding weapons. Judging from their clothing and the state of the ship, it seemed to have once been a pirate vessel. As they drew closer, the skeletons near the railings recognized them as enemies and swarmed forward. The ones holding swords and axes weren’t a problem, but the crossbows and ballistae were. The first arrow that flew struck the bone dragon’s ribs and rattled loudly. Skeletons here, skeletons there, chaos everywhere.

Once they reached a good altitude, Raham circled around the ghost ship. The monsters reacted quickly and rushed back and forth as they followed the dragon. After circling once or twice, the mobs clumped together, and I-eon prepared to jump.

“I’ll go first and test their level.”

“Okay.”

When the dragon returned to the front of the ship, I-eon kicked off the ribs and leapt downward. His target was the area with the highest concentration of mobs. Gripping his shield tightly, he activated his shield reinforcement skill. Adding the force of his fall, he aimed to strike heavily from the very first blow.

Boom! The shield slammed down, sending bone fragments scattering everywhere. Rising quickly, he swung his sword in a wide arc, and skeletal mobs crumbled like dominoes. Even as he kept swinging, I-eon sent a message to the party chat with a puzzled expression.

[They’re weak. They just die.]

[Yeah?]

[Yeah. I’ll finish up quick.]

Most of the mobs had already been gathered beforehand, so clearing the deck didn’t take long. After finishing off the last one, I-eon headed toward Raham, who had been waiting nearby. He was standing in front of the door leading into the cabin. The old, handle-less door creaked as it moved with the wind.

Ah, I don’t want to go in there…. Maybe I should just let him go alone, I-eon thought, but before he could decide, Raham pushed the door with his staff. The rusted hinges snapped, and the rotted wooden door fell backward. A dark hallway, as black as the throat of a giant beast, stretched ahead. Raham stepped inside first, then looked back. Seeing I-eon’s unwilling expression, he laughed quietly.

“Want me to hold your hand?”

“…It’s not that bad, okay?”

Grumbling, I-eon pushed Raham’s back, telling him to stop talking nonsense and go. He didn’t need his hand held, but he wasn’t confident enough to take the lead either.

Raham shrugged and strode forward. I-eon followed behind him. Even though the sky was covered with dark clouds, it was still daytime enough that they could see, he had just thought that when bang! a loud sound echoed and everything went black. Too startled even to scream, I-eon reached out blindly and grabbed onto a familiar piece of clothing, clinging tightly. A strong arm wrapped around his shoulders as if to tell him to calm down.

“What… what the hell.”

“The door closed.”

“You’re the one who broke it earlier!”

“I did.”

His voice was perfectly calm, without a hint of disturbance. He even pressed a soft kiss to the top of I-eon’s head as he clung to him like a koala. It was absurd, but oddly it helped settle his nerves, and the pounding in his chest returned to a steady rhythm. Without realizing his left hand was still being held, I-eon pulled out his Flame Sword from his inventory. Ever since starting the main story, he had been using it more as a torch than a weapon.

He never expected Eden to have this many dark places…. At this point, he should probably prepare an actual flashlight-like item.

When he activated the sword’s light function, the pitch-black interior brightened, and dark shapes scattered away from the illumination. Luckily, they were cockroaches, not ghosts. Standing slightly behind Raham, I-eon stepped carefully. His nerves were so tense that he felt like he needed to talk just to stay grounded.

“This is the problem with virtual reality. You can create all the ghosts you’d never see in real life, and it just stresses people out. Also, when did we start holding hands?”

Raham glanced back, surprised.

“You’re not scared of this stuff outside the game?”

“Well, I mean, unless I go out of my way to watch horror movies or visit some haunted attraction, I don’t run into it. I just don’t like jump-scares, that’s all.”

And ghostly things almost never had normal appearances. On top of that, unlike people or monsters, they had no physical form, so there wasn’t much you could do about them. That was what irritated him the most.

I-eon grumbled all the way past the small cabins until they reached a dead end. Seeing what looked like the captain’s quarters ahead, he stopped talking. Nothing had happened so far, but he was sure something was inside. He started mentally preparing himself before opening the door, then shook his left hand impatiently as it was still being held.

“Let go now.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? We don’t know what’s inside, so we need to be ready to fight.”

“You’re holding your sword.”

“No, this isn’t a three-legged race. How am I supposed to fight like this…”

Before I-eon could even properly complain about the ridiculous remark, Raham opened the door. As I-eon lifted his arm to force their clasped hands apart, Raham left a light kiss on the back of his hand instead. The seductive expression he made as he glanced up with only his eyes drew an involuntary, breathless laugh from I-eon. He even forgot the door had opened for a moment, but at least nothing jumped out at them.

In the end, I-eon gave up on freeing one hand and entered the captain’s cabin side by side with Raham. The windows, large and small, made it brighter than the hallway, so I-eon switched weapons. Despite the ship’s rotten exterior, which looked on the verge of collapse, the captain’s room was in surprisingly good shape, though cluttered with all sorts of items. I-eon looked slowly around the spacious interior. Because they were still holding hands, Raham trailed right behind him, but that kept I-eon from feeling nervous.

“I thought a boss monster would appear… so what are we supposed to do?”

He wondered if he should look for clues like in an escape room, and was rummaging across the desk with his sword when it happened. A mummified corpse lying face-down on one side of the desk suddenly reached out and grabbed the blade. Because it was covered in dust, I-eon had just assumed it was a prop placed for atmosphere, but now he stared wide-eyed at the hand gripping his sword. Wearing more ornate clothing than the small fry on the deck, the mummy trembled as it lifted its head. Red light flashed in its shriveled, cracked face.

[I am… hungry….]

“Ugh!”

Startled by the horrifying sight, I-eon swung his sword without hesitation. Thud! With a noise like someone being struck by a blunt weapon, something shot across the room and hit the wall before falling limp. The mummy, now missing its head entirely, wobbled and collapsed onto the floor.

-“You” have defeated the Captain of the Ghost Ship with your final strike.

-The sea grows calm.

“…Huh?”

It was a perfect headshot, but the one who swung the sword, namely I-eon, just stared blankly, slow to process the situation. As he looked down at the mummy that had probably died ages ago, laughter echoed behind him. Raham finally let go of his hand and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, whispering into his ear.

“That was cool, darling.”

“Hh…!”

Startled by the ticklish feeling, I-eon covered his ear defensively and glared at him. Raham’s annoyingly handsome face was right there, smiling.

“It moved out of nowhere, so I just… swung. I didn’t know what it was. What kind of boss dies in one hit?”

“Ghost ship bosses only go up to level 100 or so.”

“Really?”

At that level, Raham could’ve handled everything alone. I-eon had insisted on playing the tank only to embarrass himself…. Either way, now that the weather anomaly was gone, they should be able to resume sailing. Sunlight streamed through the window as the dark clouds dispersed, lighting the room. But the gloomy, eerie atmosphere of the ruined ship still lingered, and I-eon didn’t want to stay any longer. He grabbed the arm draped over his shoulders and tugged Raham toward the door.

“It’s over, so let’s go.”

“Okay.”

They passed through the still-dark hallway and broke down the door that had slammed shut earlier. The calm sea greeted them, as if the thunder, lightning, and raging winds had never happened.

Humans really do need sunlight to survive. Feeling a fresh appreciation for nature, I-eon turned to look for their magic-powered ship. As far as he remembered, it had stopped directly in front of the ghost ship, but strangely, only the distant horizon was visible.

“What? Did the ship move?”

With such strong winds, it could have drifted out of alignment. Without worrying too much, I-eon climbed onto the bone dragon Raham summoned. Leaving the dreadful ghost ship behind, they ascended into the air, and the vast ocean spread out beneath them. The calm, rolling blue waves looked like they could carry him anywhere.

…And apparently, the magic-powered ship he’d rented had already vanished over those blue waves.

“……”

“It disappeared.”

“……”

“The sailors woke up and ran away, looks like.”

Just as Raham said, if the ship couldn’t be spotted from this height, not even as a dot, then they must have come to their senses and escaped immediately, or gotten charmed by the siren again. They hadn’t even been inside the ghost ship long.

I hired the wrong sailors… I-eon lamented deeply as Raham opened the mini-map and zoomed out. The map was nothing but blue ocean until he zoomed out several times, revealing a small patch of green. Enlarging it showed a fairly large island. I-eon, now sitting in front of Raham, leaned in to look.

“An island? We’re going there?”

“If someone lives there, we might be able to borrow a ship.”

In Eden, unlike the real world, people often lived and thrived even in remote places humans could barely reach. Most weren’t human, but an island of that size had promise. It would be a waste of time to start all over again after coming this far.

When I-eon nodded, the bone dragon flapped its wings and took off. It would have been nice if they could ride the dragon all the way to the Eastern Continent, but it would disappear once its summon time ended, dropping them straight into the ocean. And unlike when they flew over the desert, staring endlessly at deep blue water might make him dizzy…. I-eon leaned further back into Raham’s arms supporting him.

Thanks to the dragon’s speed, they reached the island in about ten minutes. It was far larger and greener than expected. From the outside, the thick forest made it unclear if anyone lived there, but people usually lived safely near the center, so it was still possible.

The bone dragon flapped its massive wings and landed smoothly on the soft white sand. Jumping down from the tall creature, I-eon immediately checked the mini-map. He wondered if the system might treat this place as a proper region and load a detailed map.

Unfortunately, it still only showed sea and land.

After dismissing the dragon, Raham approached I-eon.

“The map didn’t update. Should we just ride the dragon and fly further inland? The trees are tall, but….”

Since the island was large, it would definitely be faster to return and come back later than to walk it on foot, was what I-eon would have said, but he never finished. Something suddenly exploded nearby, followed by a cloud of smoke, like tear gas, surrounding the two of them in an instant.

“…?!”

Instinctively covering his nose and mouth, I-eon saw Raham pull out his staff. But the smoke was so thick that even Raham, standing right in front of him, appeared blurred. Before they could respond to the sudden ambush, an overpowering wave of sleepiness washed over them.

-Status ailment removed.

A system message popped up, Raham must have used a skill. They probably needed an immunity buff too, but the smoke’s effect had been too fast. I-eon fell asleep as though fainting.

When a player is forced unconscious for safety reasons, they automatically wake after a maximum of ten minutes. After sleeping the full duration, I-eon opened his eyes to the familiar face hovering right above him. He remembered everything clearly, so why was this guy looking so comfortable?

Raham, who had offered his own thigh as a pillow and had been stroking I-eon’s head lazily, leaned down.

“You’re awake?”

“…What are you doing?”

They had clearly been ambushed the moment they reached the island. It didn’t look like Raham had simply wiped out the attackers and then relaxed, because the place they were in was far from normal. It was a cramped wooden cage like an animal pen, and ropes lay discarded on the floor. It was clear they had been captured and dragged here by the attackers.

Sitting up, I-eon took in the bare floor and Raham sitting comfortably beside him, and let out a short laugh.

“You got caught too? That’s unexpected.”

He half-teased him, since Raham had seemed like the type who would slip out of anything, but Raham nodded without hesitation.

“I woke up a little earlier.”

“How’d you wake up before me? And you already untied the ropes too?”

“Yeah.”

No wonder his limbs were all free despite being kidnapped. And the wooden bars, so flimsy that a single sword swing would shatter them. For kidnappers targeting adventurers, the setup was laughably sloppy. If they didn’t want to get destroyed in return, none of this made sense.

As I-eon tapped the bars, Raham called out to him.

“What?”

“Did you get a quest?”

“A quest? Not rea, huh?”

Without thinking much of it, I-eon opened his quest window, and his eyes widened. There was a title in his Mainstream Sub-Quest section that he had never seen before. It must have been created while he was unconscious. Reading it made his expression twist.

~Treasure of the Barbarians~

“An unknown island discovered by chance. A tribe living here has preserved the ways of the ancient past, untouched by the outside world. If you earn their favor, might they offer you a special gift?

Completion Requirement: Barbarian Favor 500 or higher (0/500)

Reward: ???”

“Barbarians…?”

Sure, the cage wasn’t exactly modern, but why was this in his mainstream quest tab? I-eon flipped back and forth between quest tabs, then asked Raham:

“Did you get a quest too?”

“Yeah.”

“I think mine bugged. The barbarian favor quest is in my Main tab.”

“They want you to raise their favor?”

I-eon answered absentmindedly with a yeah, then slowly turned to Raham as something dawned on him. Raham, sitting relaxed with one knee up, smiled at him the moment their eyes met.

“…What quest did you get?”

Seeing that smile, I-eon somehow knew immediately, his quest being in the Main tab was no glitch.

Letting go of the easily breakable bars, he stepped close and jabbed Raham in the side, urging him to be honest this time. Raham didn’t seem to have intended to hide it in the first place and answered right away.

“Massacre the barbarians.”

“…….”

Of course. It looked like the hidden routes for Nox and Tiog were intertwined. If his side was about forging the sword, then the other side would almost certainly be about interfering with that process. In the latest update video, Nox had openly radiated suspicious energy. The barbarians’ treasure was definitely related to Tiog’s sword.

But really, ordering a massacre out of nowhere? What a rotten personality. I-eon looked at Raham with an awkward expression.

“I have to raise their favor.”

“Then raise it.”

“But your quest says to massacre them.”

Raham answered as he gently traced I-eon’s ear with the hand that had been stroking his head earlier.

“I’m not planning on getting in your way. I haven’t killed anyone the whole time, right?”

“…So your quest kept popping up? Telling you to interfere with me?”

“Yeah.”

The casual nod made I-eon let out a faint laugh. They had completed every main quest together, and Raham had never shown a hint of it. It was both ridiculous and oddly impressive. Not that he doubted Raham. When they first met, he had wondered if Raham had some ulterior motive, but now they were lovers. And as he’d said before, if Raham could find enjoyment in the game, I-eon was willing to take a metaphorical backstab or two. It was just that Raham didn’t seem interested in betraying him at all.

Which made the situation with the demon god almost comical. Who would have imagined that two people on completely opposite paths would end up like this?

“But is it okay not to do your quest? Isn’t it a main quest?”

I-eon asked with a small laugh, and Raham laughed as well.

“It’s not mandatory, so it’s fine.”

“In that case, well….”

No need to overthink it, he’d just focus on raising favor. Nodding comfortably, I-eon froze when he heard voices murmuring from afar. The kidnappers had returned. He straightened his posture, preparing to face them. Raising favor was a matter of time, so that wouldn’t be too hard. But if the tribe was extremely closed off or cannibalistic, that would be a serious problem.

The sounds grew closer until people finally appeared. Clothes made of stitched leather, ancient-looking ornaments, weapons carved from bone and stone. They were a true primitive tribe. Because the cage was low, they bent their backs to peer inside, and upon seeing the two captives, they began talking noisily among themselves. Their incomprehensible language made I-eon frown.

“What is this? Am I supposed to increase favor using gestures and body language?”

What were they supposed to do when they couldn’t even speak the same language? He took back the thought that this would be easy.

Through the crowd gathering like they were viewing aliens, a man appeared. He was dressed the most elaborately, likely the chief. He examined I-eon and Raham, then gave orders to the men around him. When he pointed his spear at the ropes lying on the ground, realization struck. If they had stayed tied up, the tribe might have felt less threatened, but they hadn’t thought that far.

Following the chief’s orders, the men opened the cage and entered, tying their wrists again. I-eon glanced back and sent Raham a small thankful signal for allowing himself to be tied without resistance.

Once the ropes were secured, the men led the two out of the cage. They didn’t have weapons on hand, but relying on a single rope to restrain adventurers meant they had no idea what kind of beings players were. Surrounded by spear-wielding men who urged them forward with threatening jabs, I-eon noticed that everyone in the tribe had gathered to watch.

Moving in the direction they were prodded, I-eon sent a party message.

[Are we getting dragged off to be burned at the stake?]

[Possibly.]

[I’m joking. No way they’d really do that, right?]

A soft laugh tickled his ear.

[I-eon.]

[Yeah?]

[I won’t get in your way, but…]

He could easily guess what that trailing sentence implied. If the tribe really did attempt an execution ritual, they would have to worry for the tribe’s safety instead. And there were no guards here to chase them for killing NPCs.

[Okay. I get it. Just hold on a little longer.]

Though Raham was already holding on as best he could.

But the barbarians proved him right in the worst possible way.