Floor 3, the edge of the Forest of Vacuity, an NPC stronghold called "Forest Inn."
Although it's just a simple supply point, for the Moonlit Black Cats who just experienced a life-or-death situation, even the smell of cheap ale is heaven.
"Cheers—!"
The wooden table clattered as it was bumped. Keita held up his glass, his face glowing with the flush of surviving a disaster.
"To our survival! And to our benefactor, Mr. Ye You!"
"Cheers!"
Tetsuo, Sasamaru, and Ducker all responded in turn.
Ye You sat at the far end of the long table, holding a glass of juice, and didn't blend into this frantic atmosphere.
These guys are way too lax.
The shadow of almost being wiped out just now seemed to have vanished, replaced by a blind optimism of being "lucky."
"Mr. Ye You, we really owe it to you this time."
Keita put down his glass and leaned in with a sincere look, "If you hadn't stepped in, we definitely..."
"If I were you, I wouldn't be here celebrating right now."
Ye You interrupted him, "Your teamwork is absolute garbage. The tank can't hold aggro, the DPS can't find their positions, and you haven't even planned the most basic escape route. Next time you run into an elite mob, are you planning to survive on prayers?"
Keita's smile froze on his face, and Tetsuo's hand holding the glass also stopped awkwardly mid-air.
"Well... we'll practice hard..." Keita defended himself, sounding a bit lacking in confidence.
"Practice?"
Ye You sneered, his gaze passing through the crowd and landing on that shivering figure in the corner.
Sachi.
She wasn't drinking, and she didn't join the celebration. She shrank into the shadows of the corner, holding a cup of hot milk with both hands.
If this problem isn't solved, no matter how good the gear is, this team is bound for disaster.
"I'm going to get some fresh air."
Ye You stood up and, ignoring everyone's attempts to make him stay, walked straight toward that corner.
Sensing someone approaching, Sachi suddenly looked up. Seeing it was Ye You, she instinctively tried to shrink into the corner.
"Why are you hiding?"
Ye You pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down with a broad stance, "Afraid I'll eat you?"
"N-No..."
Sachi's fingers nervously twisted the hem of her clothes, "It's just... I'm too useless. If I hadn't held everyone back just now, everyone wouldn't have..."
"You really are quite useless."
Ye You mercilessly twisted the knife.
Sachi's face instantly went pale, tears welling up in her eyes, as if they would overflow at any second.
"But."
Ye You changed his tone, pulling the [Mantis Arm Scythe] that had just dropped from his backpack and tossing it onto the table. The sharp serrated edge bit into the wooden table with a dull thud.
"In this game, being useless doesn't mean you deserve to die. As long as you don't want to die, there's a way to survive."
Sachi stared blankly at that hideous weapon, then looked at Ye You.
"I... I'm terrified of dying."
She finally spoke the truth in her heart, her voice trembling, "Every night when I close my eyes, I dream of myself turning into shards and disappearing. I want to hide in the Town of Beginnings, but... but I don't want to leave everyone."
A classic case of ambivalence.
Fearing both death and loneliness.
"Then learn to kill."
Ye You leaned forward, his eyes staring intently into the girl's eyes with an oppressive intensity, "Or rather, learn to kill monsters. When the weapon in your hand pierces a monster's heart, fear turns into pleasure. It's biological instinct."
"I... I can't..."
"Whether it works or not isn't up to you."
Ye You stood up and looked down at her. "Meet at the Labyrinth Area entrance at five tomorrow morning. If you don't come, I'll kick you out of your spot in this team. Trust me, Keita will listen to me."
This was, of course, a threat.
But for someone with a weak personality like Sachi, sometimes intimidation is more effective than encouragement.
After saying that, Ye You turned and left, leaving the girl with only the sight of his back.
[Ding!]
[Special Quest "The Lost Black Cat" Phase One complete.]
[Evaluation: Devilish whispers. Successfully planted the seeds of fear—the "must get stronger" mindset—in the target's heart.]
[Phase Two initiated: Death Trap.]
[Quest Description: The Moonlit Black Cats have obtained a treasure map pointing to a hidden room in the Labyrinth Area.]
...
Early the next morning.
The fog in the Forest of Vacuity was heavier than usual, with visibility less than five meters.
When Ye You arrived at the entrance of the Labyrinth Area, that blue-haired girl was already standing there.
Sachi was wearing that thin leather armor, her hands tightly clutching a short spear and a buckler.
"Right on time."
Ye You commented flatly.
"Mr. Ye You!"
Keita and the other guild members also came running up from behind, each of them clearly not having slept well last night.
"We've discussed it!" Keita said, panting. "Since Mr. Ye You is willing to coach Sachi, we want to join in too! We don't want to be dead weight anymore!"
Ye You glanced at them.
"Suit yourselves. But let's get one thing straight: don't blame me if you die."
Since everyone was here, it was time to start.
The so-called special training was actually very simple.
Ye You took them directly deep into the Labyrinth Area and found a mob spawn with an extremely high refresh rate.
"Sachi, stand in front."
Ye You pointed to the very front of the party. "Tetsuo, put your shield away. Today there are no tanks, only DPS."
"W-What?!"
Tetsuo's eyes widened. "No tank? Then won't Sachi have to face the monsters directly?"
"Correct."
Ye You crossed his arms, leaning against a withered tree. "Only by facing death head-on can you learn how to survive. Monsters are coming. Get ready."
Hiss hiss hiss—
Three [Corrosive Poison Spiders] dropped down from the tree canopy.
Sachi's body went stiff.
"Thrust!"
Ye You's voice rang out coldly.
Sachi subconsciously thrust her short spear out, but her movement was distorted, weakly brushing past the spider's leg hairs.
"Too slow! Thrust again!"
The poisonous spider spat out a glob of venom, and Sachi clumsily raised her shield to block, her durability dropping a huge chunk instantly.
"Don't close your eyes! Look at it! That's experience points!"
Ye You didn't step in to help, just kept pressuring her with words from the side.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
One hour.
Sachi went from panicky screaming at the start to mechanical swinging later on, until she finally could accurately pierce the monster's compound eyes.
Though her movements were still clumsy and her body was covered in wounds, she didn't shrink back.
"Puchi!"
As the last poisonous spider fell, Sachi slumped onto the ground, gasping for air.
Her HP bar only had the last 10% left, sitting in the dangerous red zone.
"Not bad."
Ye You walked over and tossed her a bottle of high-grade recovery potion, "Barely qualifies as getting the hang of it."
Just then, Keita suddenly pulled out a piece of parchment excitedly.
"Mr. Ye You! Actually, we heard some news at the tavern yesterday!"
He pointed to a mark on the map, "I heard there's a hidden treasure room on this floor that has a Guild Creation Order! If we can get that, we can officially form a guild, so even if we can't afford a house, we'll have a home of our own!"
Ye You looked at the map.
The location marked on it was exactly that trap room in his memories where countless players were buried.
Has the nightmare that should have originally appeared on the twenty-seventh floor appeared early on the third floor because of the butterfly effect?
Akihiko Kayaba, you really have a sick sense of humor.
"Treasure room?"
Ye You narrowed his eyes, hiding the cold glint within, "Since it's a hidden room, there's definitely danger. Are you sure you want to go?"
"We're going!"
The one who answered wasn't Keita, but Sachi, who had just scrambled up from the ground.
She tightened her grip on the short spear in her hand, her gaze firm, "I want to get stronger. I want to... I want to help everyone get that token."
Ye You looked at her.
"Alright. Then let's go."
...
The deepest part of the Labyrinth Area.
This was a hidden passage behind the rock wall.
The surrounding walls were covered in glowing moss, casting a green glow over the passage.
"It's just ahead!"
Ducker held the map and excitedly pointed at a stone door at the end of the passage, "The coordinates match perfectly!"
It was a heavy stone door carved with intricate patterns, a sliver of golden light leaking from the crack.
Greed is the original sin.
Keita and Tetsuo picked up their pace almost subconsciously.
"Wait."
Ye You suddenly reached out and stopped them.
[Crisis Sensing] was frantically sounding alarms in his head. That red warning line almost completely filled his field of vision.
"What's wrong?" Keita asked, confused.
"Something's wrong with this door."
Ye You drew the Mithril Alloy Sword from his waist, the cold glint of the blade appearing exceptionally piercing in the dark. "It's too quiet. Since this is a treasure room, why isn't there even a single guard at the door?"
Everyone was taken aback.