It wasn't just Kael; other players were quickly discovering the problem.

  “What’s going on? Why isn’t the teleport nexus working?”

  “Huh? Let me try… yeah, you’re right. It says ‘insufficient energy’.”

  “Holy crap, are we trapped in here?”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. The orcs have us surrounded outside, and the nexus is dead inside. What are we supposed to do?”

  “Hey, that steward over there, Malcolm, seems to have a quest.”

  “He says we can recharge the nexus with something called [Essence]. What’s that?”

  “Apparently, it drops from the monsters outside.”

  “The monsters outside? Are they insane?”

  “Fuck that. We couldn’t beat those orcs even with ten stacks of the Sunfire Bell.”

  “The system wouldn’t give us an impossible quest. There has to be a way.”

  “Right, let’s go take a look. Maybe there are some weaker mobs we can handle.”

  “Okay, I’m in.”

  Kael, of course, already understood the situation. He also knew there was another, more critical problem: a teleporter didn’t just need power, it needed a connection to another nexus.

  The Blackwind Brotherhood had taken Starlight Village by force. Stonehaven, which had supplied the nexus’s power, cut the link—and now Starlight was left to fend for itself.

  So, even if they solved the power issue, how were they supposed to re-establish a connection?

  Kael was stumped.

  Finally, he smacked himself on the forehead and muttered, “Right, I’ll go talk to the Chieftains.”

  He made his way to the former Chief’s house, now designated the [Starlight Village Command Hall], but found that none of the three were present. When Kael asked a nearby guard, the man replied, “The Third Chieftain is assisting with the First and Second Chieftains’ recovery. They are not to be disturbed.”

  Frustrated, Kael realized he was on his own.

  Just then, his stomach rumbled loudly. He checked the time and saw it was already past nine in the evening. He opened his friends list, intending to log off with Lila, but saw she was already offline.

  After logging out, Kael came downstairs from his room just as Gable was walking in from outside. Lila was nowhere in sight.

  “Gable, have you seen Lila?” Kael asked.

  Gable sighed, a troubled look on her face. “Miss Whitmore went home. She asked me to tell you that she wouldn't be coming back for a while.”

  Kael was stunned. “What? Why?”

  Gable opened her mouth, then hesitated. After a moment of silence, she said, “It’s not my place to speak about my employer’s affairs. But I believe, Kael, that you would be wise to pay attention to the local news.”

  Puzzled, Kael immediately pulled out his phone and began scrolling through the top headlines.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  [Mordant Financial Heir Suffers Massive Stroke—Can Caleb Mordant Survive?]

  [Prognosis Grim for Mordant Scion, Sources Say 'Vegetative State' Likely]

  ['Fiancée' Lila Whitmore Photographed Weeping at Caleb Mordant's Bedside]

  [Edmund Whitmore, Patriarch of Whitmore Group, Declares: 'The Wedding Will Proceed as Planned']

  The blood drained from Kael’s face. He never imagined that his confrontation with Caleb Mordant would literally cause the man to have a stroke. But what shocked him even more was that Lila’s father was still forcing her to marry him.

  So, in the end, a daughter’s happiness meant nothing compared to a corporate merger.

  Just then, Maria placed a steaming plate of food in front of him. “Miss Whitmore ordered this for you before she left. Please, enjoy.”

  Kael stared down at the braised short ribs, his favorite dish. He had only mentioned it once, in a passing conversation. She had remembered.

  He clenched his jaw, a fierce resolve hardening in his eyes.

  Don't worry, Lila. I won't let them force you down that path. I swear it.

  He looked up at Maria. “Could I get two pints of beer, please?”

  Then, he picked up a rib and tore into it with a vengeance.

  By the time he finished, it was past ten o’clock. Sleep was the furthest thing from his mind. He logged back into the game.

  There was one more thing he had to do: he needed to get the Sunfire Bell to Elon as quickly as possible.

  In truth, selling the Sunfire Bell had been Kael's plan all along. This artifact was powerful, yes, but he knew from his past life that its wielder would inevitably be cursed by the ancient gods.

  To avoid having his Luck stat plummet to -3 again, the safest bet was simply to sell it.

  He went to the mail post and tried to send the item. As expected, the system returned an error.

  Path is obstructed. Delivery failed!

  It seemed he’d have to get out himself.

  The east gate was out of the question; it was completely blockaded by the orc army, cutting off access to the Eastern Forest, The Abandoned Mine, and the Shadowcrag Mountains. His only option was the west gate.

  While the village itself had changed, the layout of the surrounding area remained the same. The vegetable gardens and farmlands just outside the west gate were still there, as were the distant river and mountains. There was just one small difference—the entire area was now teeming with monsters. Level 20+ Gnolls, Quilboar, and Ironfang Pups swarmed the fields.

  Clearly, this was the new designated zone for players to level up and farm for Essence.

  As Kael stepped out of the west gate, he saw a party of players returning, their faces beaming.

  “Haha, we’re gonna get rich!”

  “I know, right? The XP here is insane, the drop rates are amazing, and every single mob drops Essence.”

  “Yeah, it’s just a little crowded.”

  “Who cares? There are so many mobs you don’t even have to compete for them!”

  “Hey, Captain, did that elite you killed really drop level 20 blue gear?”

  “Duh, you saw the stats yourself, didn’t you?”

  “I thought the system was screwing us over, but this is actually a massive gift.”

  “Totally. Aside from being trapped, this place is way better than the outside world.”

  “Haha, once the Chieftains are back on their feet in a few days, we’ll be able to come and go as we please.”

  “Yeah, I wonder if the Fourth Chieftain… oh! Good evening, Fourth Chieftain!”

  Kael smiled and nodded at the group as he passed them.

  Kael moved swiftly toward the river. Countless players greeted him on the way; at first, he smiled and replied, but soon there were so many he could only offer a continuous nod. There had to be at least ten or twenty thousand players in the western fields, yet the vast landscape didn't feel crowded at all.

  As he walked, Kael cleared the mobs around him. Just as the other players had said, every monster dropped Essence. Thanks to his Lucky Bonus, he quickly collected nearly 200 units, with qualities ranging from 5 to 10.

  By the time he reached the riverbank, the monsters were now level 25 and higher. Only one party dared to grind here—a group of familiar faces. It was Hazel, Rena, and their friends.

  From a distance, Rena spotted him and waved enthusiastically.

  “You’re out here grinding too?”

  Hazel, who was tanking a mob at the front, quickly turned her head.

  “Mr. Dawnbreaker! Good to see you!”

  Kael waved back. “You guys keep at it. I’m just passing through this way.”

  “Passing through?”

  The others looked from Kael to the sheer cliffs ahead, wondering where exactly this “way” of his was.

  Hazel grinned knowingly. “I know! You’re going to follow the river downstream, right?”

  That was where she had first partied with him.

  Kael shook his head. He wasn’t going downstream this time. He was going upstream.

  As they were talking, a loud bellow interrupted them. Kael turned to see that a Level 28 Ironhorn Bull boss had just spawned nearby.

  Rena’s eyes lit up. She looked straight at Kael and said with a hopeful smile, “Dawnbreaker, how about you help us kill a boss before you go?”