Monika hummed to herself as she followed behind the Golden Crow Merchants’ guards. They were dressed in thick cloth and leather armor with metal plates covering their vitals. Khrx walked alongside Monika with Lorin on his other side. The two women were holding his hands like mothers watching over their child. Behind the Golden Crow Merchants, four Tribish men were marching in formation: their swords at their waists and shields strapped to their arms. Over their green military uniforms, they were wearing the metal plates they had purchased not too long ago.

General Jackson, who was at the head of the Tribish, frowned. “I’ve thought it over for a while, but should the child really be coming too? The quarry’s a dangerous place. We lost one of our men to a giant lizard just the other day. Wouldn’t it have been better to leave him at our city with your husband?”

“Nonsense,” Monika said, not even turning around to face the general. “The safest place in the world is right by my side.”

General Jackson’s expression darkened. “Then why did you leave your husband behind saying it was too dangerous?”

Monika coughed and scratched her neck. “The place by my side has very limited space.”

General Jackson sighed and shook his head. He had hired the Golden Crow Merchants to clear out the quarry, costing him the group’s combined wealth. Earning money was a lot harder than anticipated, with the system’s quests only providing achievement points. If it weren’t for the fact that they had cleared out a primitive NPC tribe’s camp and occupied it, they wouldn’t have had any money at all. Or a place to settle for that matter. Hopefully, the investment would be worth it. If the Renchf could hire NPCs to clear out a quarry, then he could do it too. The mage seemed promising too. The biggest issue with fighting the giant lizards was their thick skin. Their shoddy swords barely did any damage, but magic shouldn’t have an issue. If only he could bring some guns from reality….

“Lady Akinom,” the guard at the head of the group said. “We’ve arrived at the quarry.”

Monika nodded and walked to the front of the group with Khrx and Lorin, the guards parting to let them through. They stood at the edge of a pit that looked like an inverted plateau. A road spiraled down the sides of the pit, hugging the rock walls, leading to the bottom. Caves dotted the walls along the road, and scratching sounds echoed through the air along with chewing and snuffling. The sun was setting, casting a long shadow over half the quarry, but purple lights on the quarry walls illuminated the darkness. “That’s a lot of runestones,” Monika said, a faint smile on her lips. She faced the general. “Even a wagonful is like a drop of water in the ocean, don’t you think?”

“Please, remember the deal we agreed upon,” General Jackson said, his face hardening. “We already paid upfront and agreed to give you a wagon’s worth of runestones.”

Monika laughed. “A deal’s a deal,” she said. “The sun’s setting soon. We’ll start in a few hours.”

“You’re not going to wait for day?” General Jackson asked, furrowing his brow. In reality, the streets were always lit up even at night. But in [Resolution], when night fell, the world was engulfed in total darkness. There were no moons or stars in the sky, and it wasn’t possible to see one’s own hand in front of their face. The quarry’s ground was unsteady, filled with indentations and ledges. Fighting in that type of environment with only a few torches as light sources was asking to die. Especially when their opponents were lizards that were twice their size.

“Don’t tell me four grown men are afraid of the dark,” Monika said, the corner of her lips curling upwards.

The Tribish soldiers’ expressions turned ugly, but none of them spoke, turning towards their general instead. “It’s not that,” General Jackson said. “We don’t have much experience fighting in the dark. Well, we do, but only if we have our goggles…, but we don’t.”

“Lizards are cold-blooded,” Monika said. “They turn sluggish at night. You can wait for the sun to rise, but my men and I will be finished long before then.” She turned towards her guards. “Let’s make camp for a few hours. No need to fight on an empty stomach.”

The Golden Crow Merchants backed away from the quarry and set up a campfire on a nearby hill. General Jackson gritted his teeth and followed after them. Monika sat in front of the fire with Khrx sitting in her lap, her hands playing with his ears and hair. “General,” she said, smiling as the man took a seat across from her. “Where exactly did your men come from? I’ve been wondering. Two hundred people is quite a lot.”

General Jackson scratched his head. “I guess you could say we came from all over the place,” he said. “It’s hard to explain.”

“I have nothing else to do but listen,” Monika said. “Did the gods send you? Our little merchant group has been meeting all kinds of strange travelers. They look completely out of place with strange clothes, odd skin tones, and hair colors.”

General Jackson raised an eyebrow. “Odder than that child in your lap?”

Monika pursed her lips. “There’s nothing odd about Khrx,” she said, handing Khrx a cookie she pulled out of her bag. He munched on it without a word.

General Jackson exhaled through his nose. “Mm. Well, I guess you could say we were sent by the gods,” he said. “There’s lots of us. At least four billion.”

“…That’s a lot,” Monika said, a wrinkle forming on her forehead. “What’s your purpose in coming here?”

“That’s classified. Secret of the gods and all,” General Jackson said. “Sorry.”

“Hmm, interesting,” Monika said as she petted Khrx’s head. “Then I won’t pry.”

Khrx sighed as he finished his cookie. He rubbed his stomach and leaned back while closing his eyes, sticking his legs out. He stretched his arms out to the side and yawned. Maybe Luke wasn’t such an asshole for forcing him to play this game. How long had it been since someone last pampered him? The last time someone treated him to a meal was probably over 800,000 sleep cycles ago. The last time he held another person’s hand was even longer ago than that. Sure, he had Fufu, but … she was Fufu. Who cares if Monika and Lorin treated him as a child? Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing. Being adorable was a nice change of pace; instead of screaming and running from him, people screamed and ran towards him. Besides, Monika’s cookies were delicious. They didn’t scream and squirt blood everywhere when he sank his teeth into them. They let themselves be eaten peacefully and tasted much better too.

Monika smiled as Khrx curled up into a ball, snuggling his head against her stomach. She stuck her tongue out at Lorin’s bloodthirsty gaze and laughed as the angel stood up while drawing one of her swords. The fallen angel spread her wings and flew up, flying off into the distance with the setting sun behind her.

General Jackson stared, but he didn’t say anything. There were too many things about [Resolution] he didn’t understand. He was a general of Great Tribain’s Special Forces, but he wasn’t a gamer. Why had the prime minister put him in charge?

A few hours later, Monika nudged Khrx awake. Khrx yawned and smacked his lips a few times before wiping at his eyes with his onesie. “How many years passed?” he asked, his eyes still half-closed.

“You slept for a few hours,” Monika said.

“Where’s Lorin?” Khrx asked, turning his head. A floating screen caught his attention instead.

[Your companion, Lorin, has accepted a quest from the Sun God.]

[The Sun God is still weak, having only received one sacrifice. He requires more blood to contend with Jax. Give him offerings!]

[Rewards: A blessing from the Sun God.]

[Current Progress: 78/150 players sacrificed.]

Khrx stared at the screen and scratched his head. Maybe there was something wrong with his understanding of the Rokean language. He dismissed the screen, but there was another one behind it.

[Lorin has slain xXHunterXx. Gained 32 Achievement Points.]

And another one behind that.

[Lorin has slain Sniper420xyz. Gained 2 Achievement Points.]

…

[Lorin has slain ImAPoorCollegeStudent. Gained 8 Achievement Points.]

…

[Lorin has slain JetFuel. Gained 10 Achievement Points.]

…

[Lorin has slain SteelBeams. Gained 47 Achievement Points.]

Seventy-eight messages of slaughter. Khrx blinked and opened up the leaderboards. He was in 857th place with 486 points.

“Eh!?” General Jackson rose to his feet. He was speaking to a floating rectangle that Khrx couldn’t see. “You died!? How? …What do you mean you don’t know?”

Khrx cleared his throat. He nudged Monika. “Let’s go clear out the quarry.”

Monika scratched her head. “We’re going now, General Jackson,” she said as she rose to her feet. Her guards rose as well. “Are you coming?”

General Jackson ground his teeth together as he dismissed the call. The most important thing was accomplishing the task the prime minister assigned him, capturing the quarry. Mysterious deaths could be solved later.