It only took an hour for Beatrice to reach her parent's guild, Twin Hydra. Named after the monsters that destroyed a country from southeast Asia. They thought it was going to be a good name as it represented them, they were a pair, and if one of them falls, the other does his or her best to help.

Their Guild House was large, but this only made it look even more empty. They initially thought that by picking a place near Taizhou Academy, they would be able to recruit future explorers, talented System Holders.

​​

But the truth of the matter is, most of the graduates from the Academy always choose the more popular guilds, and the ones that apply for their guild rogue System Holders, most with dubious backgrounds.

But they too left. Beatrice's parents were not able to sustain the needs of their members as they couldn't get good Portals. The main reason is that they were stationed in the city, near the Academy where a lot of guards were stationed and any Portals that might come out would be instantly cleared by High-Level System Holders.

And since they didn't have any source of Crystals, they have been struggling to pay for the Guild House for more than 2 years now. Mistakes upon mistakes, her parents made. And now, it's pretty much only them.

And another truth was that Beatrice lied to Harvey and Van. She wasn't here to help her parents, no. She wasn't even here for the Guild House or to visit them, because her parents weren't even here in the first place. All she did was change her clothes and leave as soon as she was done.

With a sigh, Beatrice took one final glance to her parent's Guild and continued to walk further to the city. After another 30 minutes of walking, and Beatrice reached a huge clearing in the city, where lots of people were gathered.

The previous quiet scenery was gone, replaced by the cheers and roars of almost a hundred people. Their voices overlapped.

Beatrice remembered the first time she visited this place, the noise almost drowned her.

"We need one more! We need an Enhancer-type with high VIT!"

"Looking for a party!"

"A Rank-F Portal just popped out 2km away from the city!"

This place is where Rogue System Holders go to form a party to explore a Portal. Those who did not attend the academy, and those that didn't belong in a certain guild. In short, they were Free Explorers.

Was this gathering illegal? Not quite. There were too many Portals appearing every day, and the official guilds won't be able to clear all of them. Add to the fact that most of the Top Guilds were not really interested in clearing every Portal that pops out randomly, once could say Free Explorers were even needed.

However, since they do not officially belong to any guilds, altercations between them and lower-ranked guilds were quite common, with official Guilds always forcing them to give up the Portal.

Yes, the Explorers' main goal was still to save lives and prevent another Portal Calamity from happening again. But still, one can't deny that it pays well.

And Beatrice… Beatrice has been going here for a few days now. She thought that she was in 2nd place, she thought that she only needed to surpass Van in order for her to be at the top.

But ever since they came back from Victoria's, no… Ever since Beatrice saw Harvey blocking Edward's advance head-on, she knew… She knew that Harvey had been hiding his true strength all along-- or maybe he just didn't have the chance to show it.

It made sense, though. Harvey might fool around most of the time, but he was still a Lauder. He was still a son of one of the wealthiest families in the country. He would have an almost unlimited access to resources and Crystals.

Beatrice won't be surprised if he was the highest-leveled freshman in the Academy.

First, it was Van, and then Harvey… and Victoria might be hiding her skills too. She is the granddaughter of the strongest Enhancer in the world.

Beatrice was surrounded by abnormally strong people. If they weren't here… she probably would be at the top.

"...", Beatrice quickly shook her head. This was no time to be thinking of these things. She needed to do what she always does best. Work hard and practice… until she surpasses all of them.

The number 1 spot must belong to her. And so, she must get stronger, no matter the cost. If she graduates as the number 1 student in her batch and joins her parent's Guild afterward, their guild would surely rise.

That… that was her only goal.

And so, taking a long and deep breath, Beatrice once again stepped inside the world of Explorers.

***

While Beatrice was risking her life in the Portals, Van was lying in bed. He was currently looking at his System Window, or more specifically…

[Souls Collected: 2]

There were two Orange Flames in the shape of a human, one of them was the red-haired man with the disgusting 4 arms, Lucas, and the other was the first man he killed, Desmond.

He had been putting it off for almost a week now… but he really did kill someone. In a single day, he had taken the lives of two people.

Van could not help but close his eyes as he released a sigh. It wasn't really his intention to kill the two of them… it just… happened.

"Well…", Van let out a whisper, "That's life, I suppose", he then pointed his finger towards the one that died first.

[Please choose where to send the Neutral Soul:

The Fields of Punishment | Asphodel Meadows | Elysium ]

A Neutral Soul? Van could not help but squint his eyes. His father was a Dark Soul… but to think the two were Neutral. Could that actually mean... that they were decent people?

Van shook his head. It's not like it changed anything, he thought. They still harmed Andrea, and for that, they deserved to be punished.

[Send the Neutral Soul to the Fields of Punishment?

Yes | No ]

And without even batting an eye, Van chose 'Yes'. But then his eyes widened in surprise as another window popped out.

[Are you sure?

Yes | No ]

"..."

Was this option here before? Van placed his hand on his chin as he let out another long breath. He collapsed after he sent his father's soul to the Afterlife, so his memory was a bit hazy, but he was sure that this option was new.

However, after a few seconds of deliberating it, he still pressed 'Yes'.

[Successfully sent a Lv. 14 Neutral Soul to Fields of Punishment]

"Good..."

[EXP Gained: 9157]

[Base Lv. Up!] x 3

[System Lv. Up!] x 2

"Hm…", Van could not help but nod as he saw the numerous windows that popped out in front of him. He was about to point towards Lucas' soul, but before he could do so, his vision started to shake uncontrollably, and soon, all he could see was darkness.

"!!!"

And after a few seconds, a wave of pain suddenly penetrated his head. "Khh!", Van quickly rolled on the bed as he grabbed his head. Gritting his teeth to refrain himself from making any noise. The pain, however, was too much for him to bear as he let out a cry of pain.

"G… Gaaah!"