Since time was limited, the moment he received Kael's nod of approval, the man immediately took him and Hans to meet the remaining members of his party.
It was a party of 4 people, including the leader - the one who talked to Kael at first, 2 girls, and a young man, probably a little older than the two of them.
At a glance, Kael could judge that this was not the strongest party, but it was still enough to survive in the Deadly Forest.
They had 2 melee fighters, a ranged shooter, and a supporter - who could both heal and buff teammates.
Perfect. All the necessary positions were filled.
For that reason, he would no longer have to worry about his life or death in that forest for the time being.
"Oh, by the way, Kael, where did your friend Hans go? Why isn't he here?" The leader, Godfrey, spoke up.
"I don't know where he is either." He shrugged helplessly.
He wasn't telling a lie.
Just now, while Kael was still trying to get acquainted with the rest of the party, Hans had run off somewhere, and until now, he still hadn't returned.
"…Or maybe that guy ran away out of fear?" Emelia, the party's melee fighter, asked.
'Does this bitch know what the hell she's talking about?' He thought sarcastically.
That's Hans Varun, the main character of the game Tower of Glory!
He was the kind of person who would never back down no matter what the situation was, even when he was about to die.
And now, she was saying that he had run away? Because he was scared?
However, before Kael had a chance to speak up and clear Hans' name, he had already returned in time.
"Sorry everyone, I just went to buy some necessities for the journey so I didn't pay attention to the time. I'm sorry if you guys felt uncomfortable!"
He was currently covered in sweat, and his breathing was much more rapid than usual, proving that he had run at full speed to get back here.
At first, the remaining four members still looked at the main character with reproachful, unpleasant eyes, but when they saw his sincere demeanor, their moods had softened somewhat.
"Alright, it's fine. Since this is our first time working together, I'll let this go." Godfrey spoke up, making the atmosphere a little more peaceful.
"Thank you very much, Leader!" Hans bowed his head even lower than before, causing anyone who saw him to feel moved.
"Since there's no more problem, shall we enter the forest now?"
With that, the captain turned around, followed by the remaining three, and at the very end were Kael and Hans.
"Hey, what did you buy just now? Why are you so late?"
"…Well… you'll know when the time comes. For now, let's focus on the problem at hand."
***
The moment he stepped out of the safe zone, Kael finally understood why everyone feared the Deadly Forest so much.
Although it was morning and the sun was still high in the sky, for some reason, this forest made him feel strangely cold and gloomy.
It felt like he was walking in the depths of darkness.
That wasn't all.
Sometimes, Kael felt as if there was a ghostly voice belonging to a demon whispering into his eardrums, as if attempting to charm him.
Pulling him to a place where he could never return.
The air here wasn't the most pleasant either.
No matter how tightly Kael covered his nose, the disgusting scents, like the smell of blood and decaying corpses mixed together, still made their way inside.
There was no other way, he could only get used to it.
Meanwhile, the four people in front didn't seem to care much about these matters.
Of course, they were experienced people.
Then, he shifted his gaze to Hans.
"Hey, are you okay? You're a little different from usual."
Despite Kael's question, the protagonist didn't say anything. His eyes were sharp and serious, only staring at the four people in front, not paying any attention to Kael who was walking beside him.
It was like… he was on guard.
But why?
***
A few hours later.
It was strange.
Everything was really strange.
"Do you feel the same way, Hans?"
"Yeah."
The Deadly Forest should have been a place filled with many dangers, but, for some reason, even though the party had been traveling for so long that the sky was about to change color, they had only encountered exactly 3 Tower Creatures.
Worse still, there was no blood or traces of battle anywhere.
This indicated that the Tower Creatures in this area were not dead yet.
But they were nowhere to be seen.
There was only one reasonable answer.
In this was an existence that even the Tower Creatures did not dare to approach.
…How strong could that existence be to impose fear on others?
And even if it were real, could this party become its opponent?
Absolutely not, because it must take at least a few Rankers to kill it.
Thinking of this, a shiver ran down Kael's spine.
'…I hope I'm wrong.'
…That's right, he was definitely overthinking! Right?
Because if it were real, the major Guilds would have already started to subjugate it.
Just like that, without knowing when, darkness had engulfed more than half of the forest, and up until now, they still hadn't been able to find any other Tower Creatures.
***
11:58 PM
Only after making sure that all the other members had truly entered the land of dreams could Kael leave his sleeping bag and walk towards Hans, who was on guard.
"It's time to find that temple, Hans."
In the game Tower of Glory, in the near future, the main character would definitely find that place.
But most importantly, most of the credit was not due to luck, but to the Ability he had: [Night Eye].
Of course.
If finding that temple was largely dependent on luck, then Kael would never risk his life to enter the Deadly Forest.
Hans Varun gradually stood up, brushing off the dirt and dust stuck on his butt.
At the same time, the color of his eyes changed, becoming yellow, like the sunlight at dawn.
[Night Eye] was activated.
"Alright Kael, what should I do now?"
Kael took out his phone, realizing that in a few seconds, a new day would begin.
And that was also when they appeared.
Since it was only for a moment, they couldn't waste this opportunity.
3 seconds.
2 seconds.
1 second.
00:00 AM.
"Alright Hans, look around this place. If you see a ghost, or a spirit, then notify me, and follow it. That spirit will lead us to that temple."
Following his command, the protagonist started spinning around without any suspicion.
But then, after only 4/5 of the way around, he froze, as if he had seen something that should never be seen.
"What's wrong? Did you see that spirit?"
"..." Hans remained still, not moving even a finger.
It took him a while to come back to his senses.
But… his complexion had changed quite a bit.
It had become paler, more fearful.
"Be careful Kael. We're being watched."