Chapter 545

“Do you have the qualifications to carelessly kill challengers?”

The raccoon’s question with the blue ring.

The nearby different races thought that raccoon’s head would burst and die at any moment, but that didn’t happen.

“Glup.”

Instead, only the rabbit’s throat soared higher into the sky.

The rabbit, maintaining a brief silence, forced a smile.

“I… I’m not sure what kind of power you’ve used…? To have a celestial contract even before the start.”

“Answer the question you’ve been asked.”

“Ha! How arrogant. Do you think I won’t be able to act just because the Celestials are protecting you?”

The threatening power from the rabbit’s hand was once again felt.

A raccoon that jumped out without fear could be easily dealt with.

But.

“Can you?”

Koo-ruung…!

Immense power began to be felt from the raccoon wearing the blue ring.

The standoff of power continued, and eventually, the rabbit lowered its hand as if to take a step back.

[Scared]

[Not fighting?]

[Scared?]

[Like a tutorial fairy ㅋㅋㅋ]

[If you kill them all, won’t it break instantly?]

[Raccoon ㄷㄷㄷ]

“…It seems you’re under the protection of quite a high-ranking individual. Yes, challengers who don’t listen can be killed once. So, my actions aren’t problematic.”

“Didn’t you say you’d kill more?”

“That’s… tsk. It’s fine. Anyway, it seems to have quieted down.”

The rabbit turned its head as if it couldn’t win.

Things got out of hand, but the venue quieted down according to his wishes.

“Now, as you all saw, as you climb the tower, you too can receive the protection of the Celestials like that raccoon. You are all… Ah, really. Do I need to control my words?”

“……”

“Our challengers are so weak that the great ones are offering sponsorships to you. Isn’t that nice?”

[Sponsorship?]

[Fr, it’s a tutorial celestial thing ㅋㅋㅋ]

[Open sponsorship!!!]

[Let’s try to kill the rabbit]

[Wow, haven’t heard of sponsorship in ages]

[Lily is basically celestial level, right? ㅋㅋ]

[Now that I think about it, it’s been a while since we opened sponsorship]

“More than sponsorship, just your viewership is enough gratitude.”

Now, they had enough money without needing sponsorship, and most importantly, receiving sponsorship would mess up the broadcast.

If sponsorships were opened for just five minutes, they’d have to spend hours saying thank you.

Of course, there were quite a few viewers desperate to contribute, but it was an unavoidable sacrifice for the bigger cause.

“I want to jump in…”

Leo, panting and seemingly about to dash out, couldn’t sit still.

“Just hang on a moment.”

“I feel like we could go right now…”

“I’m curious about that raccoon. Please wait a little longer.”

The rabbit or this tower could be dealt with quickly.

But my purpose was to uncover the information about that raccoon wearing the ring.

To do that, we first need to keep an eye on the raccoon’s movements.

“Is it not good?”

“Child, it’s great—!”

“Right? But to get support, you’ll need to prove yourself, right? Trying to get something for nothing is just a thief’s mindset. Now! Let’s stop talking and get started!”

Woah!

A message appeared before me, Leo, and everyone else.

It was a slightly different form of message than the usual Deoen’s system.

[Floor 0 / Survive or Hunt]

Mission / Survive for 7 days or defeat 100 monsters.

“Oh, a quest window!”

“Pretty simple.”

Survive or hunt.

It seems like they’re not giving anything too difficult for the first challenge.

Seven days is a bit long, though.

The rabbit placed a pile of iron weapons right in the middle of the various races, glanced at the raccoon, and then left without a word.

Suddenly, only a pile of weapons and various races remained in the clearing.

As many of the different races looked on in confusion, the raccoon picked up an iron sword from the pile and disappeared into the forest.

“What’s going on!”

“Everyone, come over here!”

“Can we just take them?”

“I’m scared… I want to go home…”

“Status window! Status window!”

“Let’s follow the raccoon! He looked strong!”

Each person picked up weapons or gathered with others of their same race.

Among them, the ‘humans’ clustered together, glancing over at me, but since it wasn’t serious climbing the tower, they had no intention of following.

“Is it really starting now?”

Leo’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

When I nodded, Leo quickly became one with the wind spirit and moved somewhere.

Then the wind blew, and Leo appeared again, covered in something.

“Huh? What are you doing…”

“Done.”

Ding!

[Someone has passed the tutorial for the first time!]

[An additional reward will be given to the first challenger to pass.]

[Passer – Leo]

“Huh?”

Already?

[?]

[???]

[Ha ha ha ha ha]

[What’s up with Leo lol]

[? Didn’t he just disappear?]

[Did he catch 100 already?]

[I was wondering what he was up to]

[Great Leo]

[Ah, can’t help but be the first lol]

“What? Did you catch them already?”

“Yep! If you catch them fast, there are first-time rewards, you know. It’s a national rule. A national rule.”

Leo nodded with his arms crossed, humming along.

Judging by his status, it seems he just did a spirit ascension and took a lap around the forest.

He wasn’t hunting by attacking but rather colliding.

In that moment, I felt bad for the monsters that were hit by Leo’s traffic accidents, but the raccoon was happily transforming and glowing blue.

He was in a deep thought.

“Oh, going to the 1st floor. 1st floor.”

“I’ll follow soon.”

“Okay. Hehe, hurry up!”

Leo vanished with blue particles, leaving only me and the wide-eyed alien race behind.

“Well then, let’s go.”

To meet the raccoon.

■

“…What’s this?”

Somewhere in the forest.

The raccoon, who was busy hunting goblins, frowned at the ‘trace’ that had ‘passed’ before him.

It looked as if something had torn through the air, and all the goblins in its path lay dead.

Judging by the size of the trace, it didn’t seem like a large race…

“…Was there someone else who was ‘chosen’ besides me?”

No way.

That ‘existence’ certainly bestowed power upon our clan, but the choice here was only for oneself.

No other chosen ones exist.

“Then is this the fractured power of the deities here? But how could such power come from just the 0th floor—”

Ding!

[Someone has cleared the tutorial first!]

[An additional reward will be given to the first challenger who passed.]

[Passer / Leo]

“…!”

A passing message.

Someone took the first reward that I was supposed to claim.

This wasn’t the first trial.

The raccoon, chosen to save his clan, had already faced countless hardships, and the ‘first reward’ should have gone to him.

Therefore, it was something he felt great indignation about, but oddly, he became calmer instead.

The recent message solidified the identity of this trace.

“…There is another chosen one.”

Did that existence speak falsely?

No. That existence is great, and truly great.

Even if they don’t cast their gaze, there’s no ‘value’ in lying to mere beings.

This was something even that existence couldn’t have anticipated—an intervention by someone of equal or greater stature.

Who could it be? Who on earth could have caused this?

A moment of fear surged within him.

He had given up everything for his clan and had only pursued strength, but it was possible because he could see the sky.

If another sky were to arise above the current one, what would be the meaning of all he had done until now?

‘What on earth should I do…’

“You seem to have many worries.”

“…!”

Surprise!

The raccoon instantly activated the power given to him by that existence to the maximum.

Undulating golden currents and the brilliantly shining blue ring.

The shabby iron sword in his hand was infused with massive power, but soon enough, he had to release that strength.

“…Rika?”

Because the being who shouldn’t be here had appeared.

■

“Rika?”

If it’s Rika, isn’t that the name the raccoons misidentified me with?

Aren’t the raccoons misunderstanding my name?

Some raccoons know me and some don’t, so I thought maybe, but I never expected even this raccoon to know.

“So that means it’s been a really long time.”

Given the situation, this raccoon seems to be quite high-ranking among the raccoons.

For it to know from this point, before it gains full power, at least means that ‘Rika’ has existed for thousands of years.

Moreover, judging by the fact that even the low-ranking staff knows, that existence must have been active until recently.

[Rika?]

[Why do you keep calling Lily Rika?]

[Huh?]

[?]

[Is there a connection between Lily and the raccoon?]

[The raccoon has been calling Lily Rika for a while, seems to be related to their job?]

[Seriously?]

[Let’s just call her Rika then, lol.]

[Did you say that just by looking at her face?]

“Rika. Why are you here?”

“Who is Rika?”

“…? I’m asking why ‘The Agent’ is here.”

“The Agent? What are they supposed to be doing?”

“…Do you really not know?”

“No.”

So who is Rika?

The raccoon made a mischievous expression, then suddenly looked startled and its blue ring flickered.

After staring at me for a while, it finally let out a sigh.

“What the… Was it just a coincidence? That’s ridiculous. How can you look so identical…”

“Who the heck is Rika?”

“Before that, who are you?”

“I’m Lily. I suddenly fell into this place and followed you because I saw you wielding some amazing powers.”

“…Do you also have some of that amazing power?”

“A little?”

I raised my hand and summoned a faint holy aura.

Right now, it’s pretty suppressed, at a level worse than 3rd grade, but I can release the suppression whenever I want.

Seeing my power, the raccoon muttered to itself… and nodded.

“Surely… since you resemble The Agent, you must possess such power. If so, The Agent’s arrangement? No, she doesn’t interfere…”

“Excuse me, could you answer my question?”

“Oh. Sorry about that.”

Cough!

“The Agent is the one who conveys the orders of the Great Being. They are made up of several, one of whom is a woman named Rika, who looks exactly like you.”

“Who is the Great Being?”

“I don’t know.”

“?”

“I still don’t know, even from that perspective. I just move at the behest of the orders for the revival of my clan, I wasn’t given the qualification to know the existence.”

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