Seeing the look on Chen Le's face, Lia couldn't help but feel she needed to pay attention to him.
"What is it? Did you get an order?" she asked after handing a mana core to her horse.
"Yeah, but…" Chen Le scratched the back of his helmet, forgetting he hadn't taken it off yet. "I'm a bit confused. It says 'Danger Route' here, and I'm worried I won't be able to finish it. Even orders without that line are already overwhelming for me, even with Co-Op."
Lia sighed and crossed her arms. "Don't worry. If your order has the words 'Danger Route' in it, headquarters will always grant you and your mount a buff."
"Buff?" Chen Le frowned.
"Yes. Either your mount will get double speed, or you as the Rider will be given a temporary skill. Just accept it—the pay is good, and you're still new. You need lots of Upgrade Points if you want to take higher-tier orders." Lia explained carefully.
"Ah… fine. But can't I exchange some mana cores first?"
Lia sighed again, like a tired teacher still answering an eager student's questions. "You have to accept or decline the order first. If you accept, you must complete it before exchanging anything. If you want to trade now, then you'd better decline." She stroked her horse's head, which looked lively after being fed a few mana cores.
Hearing that, Chen Le grew a little excited—especially after Lia's explanation about buffs. Game-like scenes flashed through his mind before he refocused on his scooter and pressed the [ACCEPT] button.
The portal appeared again in front of him. Chen Le twisted the throttle lightly and entered, leaving Lia standing there without saying goodbye.
"How rude!" Lia huffed.
As soon as Chen Le's scooter emerged from the portal's light, his eyes were hit by a completely different scene.
Not a dirt road, not a dark forest—
But a modern checkpoint.
Glossy black floors, glowing metal walls, and transparent glass panels covered in scattered digital letters. It felt like a futuristic airport, only quieter, filled with the hum of machines.
"Whoa… this is like… a space station?!" Chen Le gawked from his scooter seat.
Light footsteps approached. From behind a counter emerged a female attendant—with pointed, gray-furred ears. Cat ears that twitched on their own, as if hearing sounds that weren't there. Her uniform was snug, and a glowing digital badge gleamed on her chest:
[Staff ID: Felinara | Premium Handling Division]
"Welcome, new Rider." Her voice was flat yet sweet, echoing slightly. She placed a glass tube on the front desk. "Here's your package."
Chen Le awkwardly got off his scooter. Inside the tube, a pale green slime was fast asleep—but strangely, it wore a miniature noble's cloak and a tiny golden crown that bobbed whenever its gooey body rippled.
Chen Le's jaw dropped.
"Premium? So it's like… a high-class slime?"
Felinara only blinked slowly. "You'll have to be careful. This one… has status."
Chen Le swallowed hard and hurriedly opened his cargo hold. He had never properly seen its inside—during his first delivery, he'd rushed; during his second, Alvara's head had refused to fit. But now, as he lifted the lid, he finally saw what lay within.
It was no longer an empty space.
A swirling violet vortex spun inside, like a miniature black hole mixed with plasma. Flashes of lightning flickered within, devouring the surrounding shadows.
Chen Le shuddered. "The hell… what is this, bro?"
Carefully, he placed the glass tube inside.
The moment it touched the vortex, the slime tube was swallowed—yet it didn't fall. Instead, it hovered neatly, as if resting on invisible racks inside that strange space.
As soon as it settled, purple light crackled around the scooter. The modern checkpoint floor trembled lightly, and a new portal opened right in front of Chen Le. Light spun into a circle, ready to swallow him toward his next destination.
Chen Le instinctively jumped back on his scooter. "Nice, done. I'm off—Goblinian City, here I come!"
Just as he was about to rev the throttle, a calm but firm voice stopped him.
"Wait."
He turned. Felinara was standing closer now, her tail swaying gently, her ears stiffening as though hearing something far away.
"You haven't received your buff from headquarters. You can't pass through a Danger Route without it."
Chen Le blinked in confusion. "Buff? Oh right… Lia mentioned that too."
He glanced at the swirling portal, then back at Felinara. "But… will it take long?"
A blue panel appeared again, this time with a glowing claw symbol.
[Danger Route Buff – Initializing…]
[Estimated Time: 00:01:30]
Felinara looked at the panel, then at Chen Le again. "Wait. Just ninety seconds. If you enter now without the buff, your soul could corrupt—and you'd become a False Rider."
Chen Le's hand slipped off the throttle, shocked. "False Rider? What's that?"
Felinara sighed, gazing at him calmly, as if used to clueless rookies. She lowered her head slightly, her tone flat and cold.
"False Riders are just like you. Souls who chose to work rather than lounge in the Paradise Garden, striving to deliver. But when they took the Danger Route… they failed. Some were ambushed, some were badly injured and never completed their deliveries."
Chen Le froze, his throat dry.
"They didn't die," Felinara continued. "Their real bodies are still out there in the world. But their souls… got stuck on their last route, broken. The chance of purification is nearly zero. Which means… their bodies remain in a coma forever, without a whole soul to return to."
Chen Le trembled, his voice cracking. "So if I fail… I'll—"
"—become a False Rider," Felinara cut in coldly. "Not dead, not alive. Just an empty shell wandering the routes, carrying a failure that will never end."
The blue panel before Chen Le flickered, displaying a short text:
[Database Updated: False Rider]
[Status: Corrupted Entity – Encounter on Danger Route: Very Rare]
Chen Le's skin crawled.
[Danger Route Buff – Initializing… 00:00:59]