Daytime—
At the entrance of the village, several villagers stood gathered together. In front of them stood Yuki, carrying a bag on his back.
Some of the villagers spoke sadly.
"Why are you leaving, kiddo?"
"Yeah… stay with us a little longer."
Yuki looked at them apologetically.
"Sorry… but I can't stay here forever. I still have missions I need to complete."
He paused slightly.
Then silently thought to himself—
Hm… this is probably the first time someone other than Mom and Dad worried about me this much.
Not even my friends did.
Brief memories flashed through his mind—
Lior constantly giving him orders.
Precious training him mercilessly and forcing him through endless hard work.
Shai acting romantic with Nimi.
Pretty taking care of him sometimes… though not that much.
Yuki looked back at the villagers with a soft emotional smile.
"These five days with all of you were really fun…"
His smile became gentler.
"But I have to go now."
At that moment, a fat middle-aged man stepped forward. From his appearance alone, it was obvious he was the village blacksmith.
Two or three villagers followed behind him.
When they stopped in front of Yuki, the blacksmith spoke.
"If you're leaving… then at least take this small gift with you."
Behind him, several villagers carried equipment in their hands.
One held armor.
Another carried a sword.
The blacksmith pointed toward the armor first.
"This armor was made using the fur and teeth of those werewolves. Maybe it's not as durable as iron armor… but it's still useful."
He handed the armor to Yuki.
Yuki accepted it gratefully.
Then the blacksmith continued.
"And this sword—"
He lifted the blade slightly.
"It was forged from the claws of those werewolves. Their claws were incredibly sharp and strong."
He smiled proudly.
"So this sword is lighter and sharper than a normal iron sword."
Yuki accepted the sword carefully.
"Thanks for this sword… it really is much lighter than an iron one."
He swung it lightly through the air.
"Wow… it's really easy to use!"
His eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Thank you!"
The blacksmith laughed warmly.
"It's nothing that special."
But Yuki shook his head.
"No, really…"
He then pulled out his old iron sword.
The blade was covered in deep cracks, almost completely destroyed.
"This sword was about to break anyway… so I really needed a new one."
The blacksmith looked confused.
"Then why didn't you tell me? I would've made you another sword earlier."
Yuki immediately became awkward.
"W-Well… actually…"
He looked away nervously.
"I thought you'd get angry after seeing what happened to the sword… so I didn't say anything…"
The blacksmith stared at him for a moment—
Then suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha!"
He patted Yuki's shoulder.
"Kiddo, swords are meant to be used. One day every sword breaks eventually."
His smile remained calm and wise.
"Some break early. Some last longer. That's all."
The tension slowly disappeared from Yuki's face.
A genuine smile finally appeared.
He looked directly at the blacksmith and nodded.
"Then… I'm going now."
Kanechi and the others waved toward him.
"Bye, Yuki!"
"Come visit us again someday!"
Yuki began walking away while waving one hand in the air.
A relaxed smile rested on his face as he looked back at the village one last time.
Some time later—
Yuki continued walking through a vast deserted land.
While walking, he stared at the floating system screen in front of him.
"Hm… so now two tasks are complete."
His expression became serious.
"Two out of one hundred."
Then he sighed slightly.
"At least tasks still get counted even when the system screen is hidden."
But moments later, his expression darkened again.
"The real problem is the last mission…"
He scrolled all the way down the system list until he reached the hundredth task.
Then he read it aloud slowly.
"100th Task: Free this world from Illman."
The same words glowed silently on the screen.
Yuki crossed his arms while thinking.
"So… who exactly is Illman?"
"A demon king? Some evil ruler trying to control this world?"
He shrugged.
"Well, whatever. I'll find out when I defeat him."
Then he scrolled back upward—
Only to suddenly stop in the middle of the mission list.
His face twitched with irritation.
"What the heck are these missions?!"
The screen displayed things like:
GO ON A DATE
BUY SOMETHING FOR YOUR LOVER
Yuki immediately shouted toward the sky in frustration.
"PRECIOUS!!! WHAT KIND OF MISSIONS ARE YOU MAKING ME DO?! DAMN YOU!!"
Still angrily cursing Precious, Yuki continued walking across the empty land.
Meanwhile—
Deep inside the ravine near the village mountains—
A mirror-like crystal floated in the darkness.
Standing before it was a strange humanoid creature made entirely of teal-colored liquid.
Its body had no clothes or details.
Only two glowing red circular eyes existed on its face.
The liquid being stared into the crystal and spoke.
"Boss. The villagers killed all the werewolves."
The crystal suddenly reacted.
An image appeared inside it—
An old man with a massive black beard emerged on the other side.
Long red horns curved from his head.
His sharp white teeth and glowing golden eyes gave him a terrifying appearance.
Black hair flowed behind him as he spoke calmly.
"I see."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Then those villagers are no longer useful to us."
"You may proceed."
The liquid man nodded.
"Yes, Boss."
Then he paused.
"But… I saw a kid among them. Someone I've never seen in that village before."
The horned old man became serious immediately.
"Who is that child?"
"I don't know," the liquid man replied. "If you want, I can investigate him."
The old man nodded once.
The liquid being smiled slightly.
"As you wish, Boss."
"That kid already left the village. I'll follow him and report everything back to you."
The image inside the crystal vanished.
Then the liquid man absorbed the mirror directly into his body—
And disappeared into the darkness.
Some time later—
The village had become a nightmare.
Houses burned everywhere.
Farms and streets were engulfed in flames.
Blood covered the ground.
Villagers' corpses lay scattered throughout the destroyed settlement.
The only sounds remaining were the crackling of fire and the heavy smell of blood in the air.
Then—
Within the silence—
A cold voice echoed.
"Where is that kid?"
Among the dead bodies stood the liquid man.
He held a surviving villager tightly by the throat.
The villager trembled violently.
"A-Ah… h-ha… w-who?!"
The liquid creature's red eyes glowed brighter.
"The kid who left this village earlier."
Its voice became cold and dangerous.
"Tell me where he went."
The terrified villager immediately screamed—
"S-SAMARU CITY!!"
Instantly—
A sharp liquid blade emerged from the creature's body and pierced straight through the villager.
"AGHH—!"
Blood splattered across the burning ground.
The liquid man smiled.
Even his smile looked unnatural and red.
"Haha… haa…"
Under the crimson sunset sky—
The entire village continued burning to ashes.