The soft crunch of snow echoed beneath his armored boots as Red walked slowly along the frost-bitten trail that led back toward Silverhaven. His breath rose in steady clouds, but he paid it no mind. The black cloak over his obsidian armor fluttered gently in the wind, tattered at the edges from battle, though not a single scratch marred the man beneath it.
Behind him, the battlefield lay silent. A great icy scar across the tundra where the Ice Beast had fallen, a hulking monster of fang and frost that had slain three Gold-rank parties over the last moon. Now it was gone, its corpse buried beneath a mountain of shattered ice and sword slashes. All that remained was its rarest drop: a single glowing flower.
In Red's gauntleted hand, the Ghost Orchid glimmered faintly. Pale purple with crystalline veins, it pulsed softly with magic, said to bloom only from the death of ancient monsters.
He didn't look at it again. His eyes, cold and dark as the void, stared forward.
Silverhaven's tall gates loomed ahead. Lights from the sprawling adventurer capital began to bleed through the thinning fog. Red's pace never changed. Neither fast nor slow. Just steady. Measured. Silent.
The Adventurer Guild of Silverhaven was already lively despite the early hour. Adventurers of all ranks crowded the guild hall's tables, trading rumors, showing off equipment, or complaining about yesterday's dungeon failures.
The moment Red stepped in, the atmosphere changed.
Laughter quieted. Heads turned.
"...Crap. He's back already?"
"That was the Ice Beast quest, right? Didn't that thing wipe out a full Silver party last week?"
"...No way he soloed it... again... right?"
"He always does."
"He makes the rest of us look like fools..."
The murmurs swelled, voices low but full of envy and awe. Red ignored them.
He walked straight past the bustling crowd toward the far-right counter, where a stack of scrolls towered precariously beside a woman with curled black hair and piercing amber eyes.
Sophia, the guild receptionist, didn't look up right away. She never did.
"Quest report," Red said flatly, placing the Guild Seal and the Ghost Orchid on the counter.
"You're late," she said, flipping through reports with sharp precision.
"I'm not," Red replied flatly, placing the Ghost Orchid gently on the polished desk.
Sophia finally glanced up. Her expression didn't change, but her voice softened slightly.
"...Confirmation accepted. Ice Beast, eliminated. Drop verified. Quest complete." She stamped the guild ledger with practiced speed.
Receptionist Sophia: "Reward, 6 Gold, 600 QPS. Vault deposit as usual?"
Red nodded.
Sophia handed him a parchment. "New postings are up. But don't expect anything easy. The board's full of trash unless you enjoy babysitting nobles or punching bandits."
Red turned his gaze toward the Mithril-ranked Quest Board, mounted high on the eastern wall. Several adventurers already stood near it, some studying the postings, others glaring toward Red, pretending they weren't envious of how effortless his completions seemed.
Because unlike them, level 60s, maybe a handful reaching level 90, Red was Level 999.
The system didn't show it. Only he could see the number when he checked his status screen. The world around him ran on caps and limits, designed for NPCs. But Red? He had broken through every ceiling.
And that made him terrifying.
His eyes scanned the new quests.
Wyvern Hunt – Auroria Mountains (Gold+)
Curse Cleansing – Sylvera Gravefields (Silver–Mithril)
Emergency Bounty: Baphomet Slaying – Reported near Tsumigusa
His gaze lingered on the last one.
Baphomet. A true nightmare-class entity. Even for Mithril parties, it was the kind of quest that meant casualties. It required strategy. Preparation. Luck.
Just as Red was about to step forward to claim it
"We'll take this one."
The voice rang out sharp and clear.
Red stopped mid-step. He turned slightly.
At the counter stood five figures clad in coordinated black-and-red armor. The Cold Clouds party. Mithril-ranked. Elite. And leading them...
Akane Hiromoto.
She stood tall, armored in black plate etched with crimson roses and golden accents, a majestic red cape flowing behind her. Her long, obsidian hair was tied neatly behind her head, a single rose-shaped pin blooming just above her ear. In her hand, a massive red greatsword rested effortlessly against her shoulder.
Red's eyes locked on hers.
Crimson. Beautiful. Focused. Distant.
He didn't move, but inside, his thoughts stirred.
There she is again.
The one NPC he couldn't ignore.
He wasn't sure when it started. Maybe it was her voice during one of her pre-battle speeches. Maybe it was her design, flawless, elegant, dignified. Or maybe it was something stupid like the way her red cape fluttered dramatically on windy cliffs.
But in this world of scripted personalities and routine dialogues, Akane felt real.
To Red, she was special.
And right now, she was making a mistake.
"Baphomet, huh?" Red said quietly, his voice low enough to draw attention but calm.
Red: "You'll need anti-magic seals and frost resistance gear. His phase two has a dark-pulse AoE, kills casters first."
Akane turned to face him.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then she smirked.
Akane: "Thanks, but we're capable of handling our own battles."
"We don't need advice from someone who hides behind a helmet all day," she replied coolly.
Her party chuckled behind her. Yori, the sharp-tongued mage, rolled her eyes. "Didn't he solo-slay a rock last week or something?"
Phoelyna, the healer, smiled politely but said nothing.
Red didn't respond. He just stood there.
Her crimson eyes were sharp and focused as ever, scanning the quest details one last time before handing it to the receptionist.
Her voice was smooth and commanding.
Akane: "Cold Clouds, registering for the Baphomet Hunt. Departure within the hour."
"Registered," Sophia replied. "Return alive."
Akane nodded. "We Will.."
With a salute to the receptionist and a nod to her team, she turned. "Cold Clouds, let's move!."
And just like that, the party exited the guild hall, confident, unprepared, and walking straight into danger.
Red stood there for another few seconds. He rarely interfered in other party quests. He never had reason to.
Until now.
Ten minutes later, Red was moving again, silent as a shadow, following the Cold Clouds from a distance. He wasn't there to steal the quest. He wouldn't interfere unless necessary.
It's a personal quest anyway, he told himself. A "Story Flag." I unlocked it last patch...
That was the excuse he told himself every time.
But the truth?
He wanted to watch her.
She wasn't just another NPC to him.
She was the character that first caught his attention when he played the game years ago. The one he always picked to party with when doing campaign quests. Strong. Commanding. The rose in her hair. That full black armor with crimson trim. The long red sword, the way she moved…
If she were real, he might've proposed by now.
He knew it was stupid. She wasn't real.
Except… now she was.
At least, in this world, she felt real.
And that made everything worse.
He just... liked her that much.
By dusk, they had reached the outer rim of Tsumigusa, a haunted, mist-laced village with skeletal buildings and ghostly wails echoing across its broken wells.
Just past the abandoned chapel, the lair waited: a crumbled shrine surrounded by jagged stone pillars.
And from within, emerged the first wave.
"Enemies incoming!!!" Akane called out.
Six beasts bounded from the shadows, horned, fanged, bipedal nightmares wielding rusted axes and clawed shields. The minions. Baphomet's children.
The battle began instantly.
Cold Clouds fought with admirable rhythm. Hiro loosed arrows with calm precision. Yori hurled fireballs with rapid incantations. Nadia flanked and slashed, disappearing into the smoke. Phoelyna's healing circles kept the frontline alive as Akane charged straight into the largest of the creatures with a fearsome cry.
Red stood atop a broken tower, arms crossed, watching every movement.
"...Sloppy on the left. Formation gap," he muttered.
Red: "Yori's nearly out of mana... Hiro's losing his rhythm... they'll be tired before phase two."
And then...
The ground shook.
The stone altar cracked.
A massive horned shadow rose from the shrine's dark heart.
A giant scythe gleamed in the dusk light.
From the darkness of the ruined cathedral, the beast stirred.
Baphomet.
Tall as a two-story house, black horns curling from its monstrous skull, cloak of rotted fur flaring as it stepped forward.
Eyes like void. A jagged scythe in one clawed hand.
Its hooves cracked the stone floor as it emerged, slow, deliberate.
Akane's team turned. Eyes widened.
A low growl echoed across the ruins.
The true fight… was about to begin.