"What is this place?"

Ark took a look at his surroundings.

Darkness so thick, couldn't see an inch of the area surround him.

"If it was a Warp, it shouldn't be that far away..."

The distance you could move with a Warp was just 200 meters. Furthermore, it was a spell that couldn't designate a coordinate. It just randomly moved you anywhere in the vicinity. Nevertheless, the reason why it belonged under the category of Advanced Spells was because if a Magician used Warp, they demonstrated enormous power.

There were many cases where a Magician with weak defense was attacked by an approaching fighter before he could utter a spell. He would then use Warp, which had a short cast time. The distance wasn't much, and the coordinates couldn't be designated either, but it was the most useful spell for getting behind a disconcerted fighter.

There was an immense difference in the survival rates of Magicians who didn't learn Warp and Magicians who did.

'Anyway, seems like I've survived thanks to it.'

As Ark wandered around, he soon discovered Haverstein, who had collapsed in the area.

"Viscount, please come to your senses!"

The weakly trembling Haverstein opened his eyes.

"It's Ark... You survived. What a relief."

Haverstein mumbled with a dull voice.

"Please come to your senses. You can't become weak. Don't you have to carry out your father's revenge?"

"You're wrong. Even if I listen to your words... strength... doesn't come out... The soldiers have suffered too... Even my father's revenge... I couldn't even protect my son... Pathetic... Cough!"

Haverstein jerkily vomited blood. Soon afterward, he grabbed his silver necklace, ripped it away, and pulled it out for Ark.

"Ark, my son is strong... Without a doubt, he will grow up strong... Tell this to that child... 'I'm sorry I couldn't protect you... And be sure to protect your son...' Tell him... Can you promise me... that you will live and tell him...?"

"I understand."

- You have acquired Viscount Haverstein's Blood-stained Silver Necklace.

"Thank you..."

The weakly trembling Haverstein's arm fell limply. Then his body slowly became transparent.

Ark softly clenched his teeth. The body was disappearing. Though it was nothing new, with this scene, he was once again reminded of the fact that NPCs are not human. Nevertheless, his heart was sorrowful.

Although he was an NPC, he was someone Ark had cared for in his own way. Ark had sincerely nursed him. Seeing someone like that disappear before his eyes flooded him with an indescribable mixture of emotions.

Then the sound of rolling drums rang in his ear.

'Ah, that's right. Damn, if Haverstein dies then the quest is a failure, right?'

For it to end in failure after suffering so much... But exploding in anger would be futile.

A dead person doesn't disappear. The NPCs were also the same. The one and only point that differed from reality, was that when NPCs died a person who could perform their role in their place would soon appear. No, was reality like that too?

While Ark was having those thoughts, the quest window opened.

Ark's eyes widened.

"Oh? What?"

The quest has been updated.

Secret of the Slate III -> Deliver the Keepsake to Viscount Haverstein's Son

Viscount Haverstein's death was predetermined; though it's regrettable, you can only accept it. However, he has left his will that you, who he trusted, deliver the keepsake to his son. As his will prescribed, you must escape the ruin and deliver it to his son in the castle.

Note, if you die starting from the time you receive this quest, the keepsake will disappear and you will automatically fail the quest as well. In the case of failure, you can suffer penalties from the item related to this quest, so be careful.

Difficulty: +E

Surprisingly, the quest was still not over.

'Wait, after all the quest didn't say that I absolutely had to kill Debra.'

New World was a game with a high level of freedom.

The quest was the same as well.

It was the same as going into the ruin by badgering Haverstein. The objective of the quest could fluidly change following the user's choice. If Debra had been defeated, then Ark would've received a reward and it would end like that. Even in the case that it couldn't be defeated, there was room left for another choice.

'That's right. Since the goal was to find the secret of the ruin, rooting through the entire ruin and meeting Debra was already enough to complete this quest. Then this quest is yet another branch.'

Because this was a quest that could only be received with a certain amount of accumulated intimacy with Haverstein.

"Anyway, it's a relief, but what do I do 'bout this? Since they've hammered the nail on not letting me use tricks..."

Ark muttered with an annoyed voice.

In any case, it was difficult to leave the ruin again by himself. So as Ark read the explanation, he had considered whether he should kill himself.

When a user dies, he would awaken at the registered supply base.

The last place he had registered was Jackson Castle. Although his stats would be cut, he was now used to restoring stats.

If all he had to do was restore the stats and turn in the quest, he'd be able to complete in a +E rank quest.

Now he thought about just giving up on the quest. However, he shook his head.

It was a quest that had come linked several times. Who knew how large the reward would be? Also, his feelings weighed into his decision.

If possible, he wanted to fulfill Haverstein's last request.

'He was an NPC who wasn't fond of many people anyways, so I should try to do as much as possible. Getting the item penalties worries me too...'

Because he hadn't properly understood one simple message in Harun Village, there had been a time when he had suffered horribly.

If something seemed suspicious, it was good to be on the cautious side.

'Then, where do I have to go now anyways? Seeing as he gave me the quest, there seems to be a way out... well, there's nothin' I can do but try moving for now.'

Ark pressed his hand to the wall with one hand and walked in the dark.

It was the simplest way to escape from the labyrinth.

There was a small passage on one side of a round, circular space. When he followed that passage to the end, a wide space appeared yet again.

It was when he had encountered that kind of space three times. He suddenly heard the sound of something moving quickly in the dark. As Ark stopped walking, a red light abruptly flashed in front of his eyes.

- You have been attacked. -5 Health.

'It's an enemy!'

Ark rapidly drew his sword. Simultaneously, he heard a slithering sound in the entire cave. It was not the sound of one or two people. In the next few moments, was suddenly pounced at. Although he didn't take any heavy damage, he his Health was being steadily sucked.

If this enemy could cut his Health that fast with 5 damage, then there were probably about a hundred of them at the very least. With that many piled up, even if his opponents were Mice, it was a dangerous situation. When his Health was about a half, Ark jerked his head up.

"Spirit of the Cat!"

Nyaaaaa~!

The sharp cry swept through the cave. In that moment, the stream of mindless attacks just ended.

'Are they caught in paralysis?'

Ark quickly raised his sword to finish them. Unexpectedly, hundreds of pairs of yellow eyes bobbed up in front of him. They were eyes glinting with bloodthirst. The cave became chilly.

'Damn, they weren't paralyzed. Did it fail?'

The Intermediate Spirit of the Cat paralyzed mice with a 100 percent chance. But when used against small monsters, there was a 50 percent chance of failure. In the end, that meant it was 50/50 chance, but it had unfortunately gone and tripped on that chance.

On top of that, the mana consumption of the Intermediate Spirit of the Cat was 100. If he used it once, he couldn't use it for 10 minutes until his mana was completely restored.

While Ark was writhing in distress, the eyes slowly came closer.

All of sudden, he heard a sharp voice.

"Stop. He's not an enemy."

At the same time, the danger disappeared as if he were dreaming. Even until then, he had only seen the yellow eyes of his opponents. Ark had thought that was because of the dark. But the area where the eyes were became hazy, and a form he could distinguish, even in the dark appeared.

"Ca-cat?"

What was surrounding Ark was a swarm of about a hundred cats. Cats of every variety that could be found in the encyclopedia of life, even cats he'd never heard of were mixed in.

"Hm, how is it that you used a skill of the Meow?"

Then he suddenly heard a voice right in front of his nose. When he turned his head, a girl was ramming her nose into Ark and sniffing. Ark stumbled back in astonishment.

'A girl? But what's with those ears and tail?'

As Ark examined the target, his eyes widened.

The appearance of the person who was prodding him with her nose was undoubtedly a girl. Her face was pretty and the body shape pressing above the tightly clinging leather clothes was splendid as well. But there were pointed ears hanging atop her head, and around the back of her buttocks, there was a long, gently swaying tail.

She was like a woman in a cat costume that occasionally appeared in mature content magazines.

As the girl stared at him with round eyes, she abruptly opened her mouth.

"I'm Jana. You?"

"Uh? I-I'm Ark."

"I'm just askin' just in case, but you're a human, right?"

When Ark nodded with a dazed expression, Jana spun around.

"I didn't know a human would really come... anyway, follow me."

Ark didn't know how to respond and was vacantly apathetic.

'Well, since there doesn't seem to be any hostility."

In the end, Ark put away his sword and followed that woman's pendulous tail.

Cats followed closely all around him. The sight of the cats holding their heads high and marching, as if they were escorting a prisoner, made the tension in his body crumble away all at once, and laughter bubbled out.

After walking about 30 minutes, a space diffused with hazy light appeared.

About fifteen people who looked like Jana were gathered in the center of a space teeming with a hundred cats, and an elder of enormously large stature was sitting in the middle.

Her being large was one thing, though that didn't mean she was packed full of muscles. It meant she had a tight figure, like an ad balloon.

Of course, there were cat ears and a tail attached to her too.

'The hell, what is this? Cosplay land? Is that what this is?'

In New World, Beast was also a race that users could choose. However, normally a Beast was made based on a wolf. He had never heard of a cat race.

In that time, Jana approached the elder and whispered something.

The elder asked with a slightly surprised expression, "Come quickly, stranger. I am the elder of the Meow; they call me Hassan. Is it true that you used a skill of the Meow?"

"Skill of the Meow?"

"The heroic cat's strength that completely dominates mice."

'So she was talking about the Spirit of the Cat.'

"Yes, is there some kind of a problem?"

Ark's voice was slightly unfriendly.

He'd suffered from Debra, Haverstein had died, and he had been beaten here after struggling in a cave in the middle of nowhere. Though this wasn't as bad as reality, he was beginning to feel slight pain even within the game. So even for Ark, there was no reason for good words to come out.

However, Hassan opened his mouth again as if that didn't matter.

"Where did you learn that skill?"

"I learned it when I received the title."

"Title?"

"It is a title called Mouse Master."

"Mouse Master!"

Hassan's eyes widened. His ears and tail also sprang up. He was exactly the picture of a fat cat in shock.

That wasn't all. The people and cats that had gathered in their surroundings also stared at Ark with wide eyes.

"Since ancient times, the title of Mouse Master was only bestowed onto a valiant one who killed a Black Bear Mouse. But the Black Bear Mouse is already a race that has become extinct. What's left is Debra's henchman. Even so, if you received the Mouse Master title... are you saying that you killed Debra's henchman?"

"Debra's henchman? I'm not sure, but it's true that I killed Black Bear Mouse."

"Are you telling the truth? Th-then didn't you see the slate there, by any chance?"

"Are you talking about this?"

Ark pulled out the slate without much consideration.

It was an item that had already served its purpose of opening the door to Debra's chamber. But Hassan ogled the slate with deeply moved eyes, rushed to embrace Ark, and rubbed him with his balloon-like body.

"You came, you finally came! I knew you would come! Truthseeker!"

"What are you saying? What's wrong? What's a Truthseeker again?"

There wasn't a man out there who would be happy with this elder attacking him with his whole body.

As Ark grimaced and pushed her away, Hassan scratched his head with a slightly sheepish expression.

"Ah, I was a little excited and made a fool of myself. Okay, that's right. You probably don't know the situation properly yet. Of course you don't know. But don't worry. Because I'll slowly explain it to you."

Hassan returned to sit in his chair again and began speaking.

"As you can see, we are Maban, Beast. Even among them, we are the honorable Meow who serve the Cat Sage. The ruin above us was originally our temple. However, Debra suddenly appeared dragging along monsters, and it was snatched away from us. Then, fearing our strength, the bastard imprisoned the rest of us in a place like this."

"Imprisoned? You were imprisoned here?" Ark asked with a dumb expression. Then did that mean this place was a prison? The place he had flown to riding the opportune Warp to was a prison?

Then didn't that also mean there wasn't a way out?

In any case, Hassan continued. "To be safe, Debra, fearing we might escape the prison, entrusted the key to his henchman and went and sealed it in a faraway wilderness."

At that moment, Ark was shocked into attention.

"Key? Then this slate..."

"Yes, that slate is the one and only key that can open all the doors in the temple. And the Black Bear Mouse you defeated was definitely the henchman who ran away with the key."

Ark's face brightened. If that was the case, now it wasn't even a problem to find the way out. He could afford to be relieved.

"I clearly grasp the situation. However, I can't understand."

"What do you mean?"

"I have already fought with Debra once. It was close to invincible, an absurdly powerful bastard. But for that kind of guy to fear your strength and imprison you, and even seal the key far away is something that I can't understand?"

At Ark's words, Hassan's face filled with pride.

"That's because we are descendants of Hero Maban."

"Hero Maban?"

"Oh, you don't know?"

A disappointed look flashed over Hassan's face.

"Hero Maban was one among the 7 heroes who saved the past continent from crisis. In other words, shall we say he was one of the strongest warriors in the continent? And we are the tribe who has served that Hero Maban since long ago. Well, that's not the only reason why Debra fears us..."

Hassan, who darkened at the mere thought of Debra, bared his teeth slightly.

"Since long ago, warriors have revered that Hero Maban and have followed his footsteps. The Meow call those people Truth-Seekers and are entrusted with the role of guiding them to the right path. But in order to become a Truthseeker, there is a stage that one must pass first."

"A stage one must pass?"

"Yes, Hero Maban is the hero the Meow worship. To see whether one is qualified to follow his footsteps, one must first receive the Meow's test. Its first stage can be passed by killing at least ten thousand of what can be called the Meow's natural enemy, Mice. Only when that is possible can one be said to have begun the first step as a Truthseeker."

'Ten thousand Mice!'

That was the task he had finished as a quest he'd received from Harun Village. But he had never dreamed that it might be the path to becoming a Truthseeker.

"But that's not all. To receive recognition as a true Truthseeker, one must topple what the Meow can call their greatest enemy, the Black Bear Mouse. With that, as friends of the Meow whose hearts are filled with hatred and anger towards mice, you were able to receive the qualification to step into the path of the Truthseeker. That's why you were able to learn a skill of the Meow."

Hassan spoke out with a serious expression.

At first, the Meow and the cats had shown interest in him with sparkling eyes. But they must have become bored quickly, because they were stretched out and yawning as they pleased. Seeing this, it seemed that cats understood the phrase "however they pleased." Anyways, Ark roughly understood the situation up until now.

"That's why I knew that a Truthseeker like you would appear in front of us one day. Since the Black Bear Mouse left in the outside world is none other than Debra's henchman."

Thu-thu-thump.

When Hassan's words ended, the information window popped up.

- You have untangled all the complicated secrets of the ancient relic Mysterious Slate.

Intelligence has increased by 10, Fame has increased by 100.

You have acquired a new stat.

Knowledge of Ancient Relics (+10): New knowledge of researching ancient relics has come into your hands.

New World is a continent that guards many legends and secrets that haven't been uncovered yet. By collecting an ancient relic, it has become possible for you to discover this world's hidden secrets, one by one.

This kind of knowledge will provide yet another branching quest for requests that have been entrusted to you, and depending on the situation, it will help you receive a greater reward. Stat distribution is impossible, and if you acquire an ancient relic or discover a hidden truth, the stat will increase.

'Oh, what's this? There's this kind of bonus too?'

Ark's jaw dropped. Because he had already inwardly set his heart on a combat-related profession, it was a shame the bonus stat was the unnecessary Intelligence, but wasn't it free anyway? On top of that, since he had gotten fame as well, he felt like he could fly, he was so happy. But the messages didn't end there.

You have obtained information about the ancestor of the Meow, Hero Maban.

With this, you have taken the first step as a Truthseeker to following the footsteps of the legendary warrior, Hero Maban. It is possible to job change to Dark Walker, the unique profession of a Truthseeker.

If you change your profession, it will become possible to learn the inherent skills of a Dark Walker. In addition, as a profession characteristic, there are also cases where you cannot learn some common skills.

Would you like to change profession?

'So there is even a related job change with the Secret of the Slate quest!'

Ark's heart thumped wildly.

This was one of the hidden professions he'd only heard about!