There are zombies everywhere.
I don't see any people in any of the houses.
I wonder if everyone in the fishing village turned into zombies.
That is highly likely.
Well... What to do?
I never thought I'd run into zombies while trying to find the Palace of the Dragon King.
Hm... Should I just burn down the whole village?
But if there is anyone left alive...
Cayna!
I know.
A Butler, a Ghost Ship, a Ward, and the Palace of the Dragon King
Wh-Whoa, hold on a sec!
I'm human! Don't attack!
All right.
Level 430. She's definitely a player.
Quolkeh Human
Are you the one who caused the tragedy here?
No way! We got trapped in this fog, too, and we were trying to figure out what to do.
"We"?
Yeah, my buddy's nearby.
Hey, wait. You're...
Why do I feel like I've met her before?
We met at the Adventurers' Guild in Helshper.
Oh, that's right. So your buddy's the dragoid you were with in Helshper?
Yeah, him. I'll take you to him.
If you lead me into a trap, I'm going to blow this whole place apart.
What the hell kind of threat is that?!
Also, you can't blow this place up. There's a survivor.
Huh?
A storehouse...
Missy?
Exis, someone got in here after all... my dear.
Er... It's the adventurer we ran into in Helshper.
She's probably a player. She may even be stronger than... me, my dear.
You seem to be talking differently all of a sudden.
Sh-Shut up, dear. There's just a lot... going on right now.
Such as what?
You've got some nerve trying to attack another species, lizard.
Er, I was just trying to confirm something...
That sword, your strength...
I can't see your level, so you must be higher than me.
Meaning you must be Cayna!
Xxxxxxxxxxx?
Dragoid
Unfortunately, I don't know anyone with a name as unique as yours.
You probably won't recognize me in this form, but Exis is my second account.
My main one is Tartarus.
Tar...tarus?
Tarta...
Tartar Sauce!
Tch. I knew you were going to call me that.
Oh, it's been forever! Tartar Sauce!
Yep, you're Cayna, all right. I'm impressed you're still alive.
This is Cayna. She was in the Cream Cheese guild with me.
When Tartar Sauce was in the guild, he was a scrawny player who mostly used magic.
And that's why I created another character, a strong dragoid fighter.
Oh, I see.
Well, shit... I mean, I'm Quolkeh.
If you belonged to Cream Cheese, are you also one of those OP Skill Masters?
Yup.
Man, thank goodness you didn't kill me earlier... my dear.
Quolkeh, are you actually a guy?
W-Well, you know. Stuff happens.
So when did you end up in Leadale?
About two months ago.
That's pretty recent. We've been here two years.
What brought you to this village?
I'm looking for the Palace of the Dragon King.
The Palace of the Dragon King?
It's a Guardian Tower.
And it's here?
Probably. What are you two doing here?
We're here on a quest from Helshper... my dear.
A quest?
They said there weren't any fish coming in to market from the sea,
so we checked out a different fishing village first.
But there was no one there.
So we kept going south, and when we got to this village...
There was this strange fog and zombies everywhere.
Apparently, if you touch the fog, you turn into a zombie.
A fog?
It might be because we're players, but we're fine.
Then we were attacked by former villagers.
We killed many, but they kept coming, so we came here
because we didn't have the foggiest idea what to do.
I see what you did there.
What?
Nothing. Never mind.
We took shelter here and found a survivor... so, yeah... my dear.
You can probably stop trying so hard to sound feminine.
You sound way more awkward than you think.
So, where's this survivor?
Right over there.
Her name is Luka.
Luka...
Wh-What the hell is that?!
It's my Li'l Fairy.
Li'l Fairy?
Opus gave her to me.
Or maybe I should say he left her in my care.
Opus?! That stupid asshole's in this world, too?
I haven't run into him, so I'm not sure if he is or not.
Who's Opus?
An idiot we got stuck with.
A stupid asshole who always got us into trouble.
Oh, I see...
Well, anyway... Even if we try to get her out of here,
she might turn into a zombie if she touches the fog.
So the cause of the fog must be a monster or something.
Getting rid of that will probably be the quickest solution.
Yeah.
Well, we'll just do that. You keep an eye on her, Cayna.
I'll go, too. You can use all the help you can get.
Yeah, but...
We shouldn't leave her all alone, either.
Then let's do this.
Why do you have two of those?!
That's just how much I played the game.
You damn shut-in.
I'll take that as a compliment, thanks.
Sorry, I have no idea what you two are talking about.
Oh, sorry.
This is something you get after you play the game for 10,000 hours.
T-Ten thousand hours?!
And since she's got two of them, she's played at least 20,000 hours.
Shut-in confirmed.
Members of Cream Cheese sure are something else.
Your level of shut-in is, like, on another level.
Now I'll be able to summon a butler or a maid.
And you're going to have them watch over this little girl.
Correct. But I wonder if I should summon Cie or Rox.
If at all possible, don't summon that maid.
Huh?
Okay, then.
It's been too long, Master.
I have come in response to your summons.
Your every wish is my command.
Hey, Roxilius. How have you been?
I'm not entirely sure how to answer that question.
Where's Roxine? You weren't together?
I have no idea where that failure of a cat is.
I see.
This is Roxilius, my wonderful servant.
I am Roxilius, the werecat butler.
I have much to work on, but your wish is my command.
R-Right...
Nice to meet you.
We're gonna go take care of some monsters.
Could you look after this little girl named Luka?
Yes, as you wish.
I, Roxilius, shall protect Miss Luka.
All right, let's go.
Wait. Village, fog, and zombies?
Kee, search for quests that match those words.
I'm pretty sure I've seen this before.
Understood.
We have a hit.
Thanks, Kee!
I figured out what quest this is.
Huh?
In order to clear this quest, we need to defeat the boss.
The boss is the Ghost Ship and the pirate captain named Terror Skeleton.
All right, let's get to cleaning all this up.
Miss Luka, that's my...
Poke, poke. Tail? So fluffy.
Now, let's begi—
So, what are we supposed to do?
I think we just need to set the Ghost Ship and the pirate captain on fire.
You don't hold back, do you?
Better than letting some other village fall prey to them.
Well, yeah...
Look.
Well, let's do this thing.
If we don't defeat the pirate captain at the core of the Ghost Ship first,
he'll continue to use the souls of the villagers who got turned into zombies
as fuel to infinitely revive.
Meaning it'll be a never-ending battle.
Ah, so it's that kind of quest.
All right, then.
In that case, Cayna and Quolkeh, take care of all the small fry.
Got it!
I'll take care of the boss!
Here we go!
I have no idea what you're saying!
Take this, Terror Skeleton!
He did it.
That was fast.
Well, considering the difference in levels, what did you expect?
This is gonna be a pain to report to the guild.
What's gonna happen to the fishing village? It's just gonna be a ruin now?
Well, no one will want to live in a village that got wiped out for some reason.
I'm sure the kingdom can take care of that.
Yeah.
Heigl, we avenged you.
You had a companion?
Not exactly a companion, but a summoned beast.
We were suddenly attacked in this fog, and he ended up disappearing.
I thought you were talking about a person!
Don't make things so confusing! What got defeated?
A centaur, level 250.
I'm pretty sure you'll be able to summon him again after ten days!
Well, yeah... So anyway, what should we do about Luka?
Well, she might want to stay here.
Isn't it dangerous for a kid to stay here alone... my dear?
Why don't you sit?
I humbly decline, as I am an on-duty butler.
Master...
Oh, did I wake you?
Are you okay?
You can sleep a little longer if you want.
Here you are.
Cayna's offered to take you in. What do you wanna do?
Do you want to stay in the village alone or come with us instead?
I see.
We can be a family. We don't have to rush things. We can take our time.
Okay. Sorry, Luka.
I need to take care of something real quick. Wait here with them, okay?
Okay...
Keep an eye on Luka for me.
Indeed! Even if it costs me my li—
If something did happen to you,
Luka would have to witness whatever tragedy that is!
Protect Luka, no matter what, without dying. Okay?
Y-Yes, ma'am.
She's already doting on the kid.
So...
Why did you summon a blue dragon?
I can't swim, so I thought I'd have the dragon take me there.
I see.
Okay, I'll be back.
There's the Palace of the Dragon King.
Go see if there's a mermaid village around here somewhere.
Now, then...
I wonder if that's this tower's core.
Hup.
I'll share some of my MP with you.
Finally, the third one.
I've still got nine more... Man, this is gonna take forever.
Excuse me, are you a guest?
Oh, are you the Guardian... here?!
That's not an enemy. That's not an enemy. That's not an enemy.
That's not an enemy. That's not an enemy. It's an ally...
A-Are you the Guardian here?
Oh, yes. I'm the Guardian of Skill Master Number Six.
I-I see. I'm Skill Master Number Three, Cayna.
I came here to activate the tower.
I'm sorry I'm not Liothek, but you'll just have to settle for me.
Oh, it's fine. I figured my master would not return here again.
Does this mean you're my master now?
S-Sure, I guess.
Okay.
Thank goodness it's not sticky or slimy.
Thanks. I'll happily accept.
You can get more details from Wall Face back at my tower.
Okay.
How'd it go?
I see. I guess we won't find it that easily.
Okay, friend requests accepted.
Friends List
Shining Saber
Cohral
Quolkeh
That finally makes four players.
I only have you and Quolkeh.
Well, I'm sure you two plan on wandering around more than me, right?
If you run into anyone, let me know.
What are you going to do?
Well, now that I've got a foster family,
I'm gonna take it easy in the village near my tower.
Village?
There's a place that takes good care of me.
If anything happens, send me a friend message.
Okay, got it.
Hey.
Take care.
See you later.
O-Okay...
All right, I'll send you back to Helshper.
Exis, Quolkeh, be careful out there.
Same to you.
See you later, Cayna.
I'm sure those two will be fine, and we'll probably run into them again sometime.
Mm...
Okay, Luka. Let's go.
I'll show you around the royal capital of Felskeilo and the village, too.
There's a little girl named Lytt back at the village.
I'm sure you'll be great friends.