The fame they thought was confined to Exodia 1 had, quite openly, extended into Exodia 2.

And by watching Bellatris, who until now had been categorized as non-combat personnel, they came to realize something they hadn't understood before.

Combat-type Whitevalley were terrifying.

'Their level isn't even that different from ours…'

The two didn't allow a single hit from their opponents, and every strike they delivered landed flawlessly. A display of skill that bordered on artistry.

How could that be possible?

Honestly, it felt like watching monsters.

Ed, in particular, had his eyes fixed on Millie.

"So you really were Clarke."

Considering they already accepted Jhin as 'Kyle', it was even more ridiculous to deny that Millie was Clarke.

But perception didn't always match experience.

To them, Millie was still more of an idol singer. The image of Clarke, armed to the teeth and coldly commanding, felt far removed.

Not to mention, wasn't Clarke originally a middle-aged male character? The contrast in image made it hard for him to naturally accept Millie as a member of Whitevalley.

And yet, the truth was undeniable. It could only be believed.

Then Ed said,

"…From today on, Millie is my favorite."

"Same here."

"Ahem…"

Could the flight of a single bullet stealing someone's life be so beautiful? Her innocent, adorable face stood in sharp contrast to the cold precision with which she dispatched enemies — like a warrior goddess from myth.

She had always been popular, but now there was something almost mystical about her.

"Ed…"

With that, the battlefield quieted.

And then, someone cried out in desperation.

"S-Save me! I'll tell you everything if you let me live!"

Jhin, his sword still dripping, looked down at the man who had surrendered. The man had gone deathly pale, both hands raised high.

"I surrender! I surrend—"

But before the words could even fully leave his mouth, Jhin's sword had already pierced his heart. The man coughed up blood, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"Why… I surrendered… Why?"

"Don't surrender."

Jhin's voice was ice.

"You don't even deserve that right."

The man's heart gave out, and his body slowly crumpled to the ground. So cruel and cold was the act that the others around him could only click their tongues in disbelief.

Even Adonis frowned slightly and said,

"It would've been nice if we let him live. The intel he could've provided might've been valuable."

But Jhin shook his head.

"No. Whatever he said would've been a lie."

"…And how are you so sure?"

"Because he's a wraith."

By then, Jhin's eyes were flickering with blue flames. He could see the soul still smoldering above the corpse.

[Activating skill, 'Spirit Sight (A)']

The eyes that see souls.

To Jhin, the color of this man's spirit was unmistakable. A cursed, ominous black — like it had been burned from the inside out.

'You don't just become a wraith.'

Jhin had previously separated the souls stored in the Goblin's Crown into two categories: 'benevolent' and 'malevolent.' The ones deemed malevolent were typically so wicked that they had become goblins themselves.

Most had committed unthinkable sins — patricide, cannibalism — things that pushed their souls into true darkness.

So it stood to reason: this man's soul was no different. A lifetime of evil acts had led him here.

Could someone like that really offer honest information?

'Ridiculous.'

Besides, Jhin didn't need his cooperation anyway.

'Souls are bundles of memory.'

He stretched out his hand.

At once, the Goblin Ring on his finger flared up with blue fire, and a jet-black soul erupted from the corpse.

Adonis, watching from the side, let out a small sigh.

"This is…"

[Activating exclusive skill of equipment 'Ring of the Goblin King':

'Goblin's Summons']

The soul had been brought into the physical world.

And once summoned like this, the soul couldn't disobey the owner of the ring — Jhin.

He asked,

"Tell me everything you've done so far."

"I…"

The wraith slowly began confessing his sins. And the longer he spoke, the more evident it became why he had been labeled a 'wraith.'

He kidnapped people from the real world and handed them off to goblins — that was just the beginning.

Sometimes he lured monsters into survivor groups just to watch the chaos. Sometimes he smiled while stabbing comrades in the back.

An absolute degenerate.

Jhin waved his hand irritably to silence him. There was no need to hear every gruesome detail.

"Tell me what you've done in this dungeon."

"Assassinate Jhin. Eliminate the Arc's players…"

"A shame you didn't succeed."

But the wraith wasn't done. Even as Jhin sneered, it continued, expression blank.

"And we are to kill the NPCs."

"…What?"

Jhin stepped forward at once.

"Explain that."

"Our plan is primarily—"

And then it happened.

Bzzzt!

The wraith's form glitched and sparked violently. Though it opened its mouth to speak further, no sound escaped.

['Goblin's Summons' has been forcibly cancelled by the system.]

The wraith vanished into nothing.

Jhin narrowed his eyes.

'…System interference?'

There was only one likely reason.

A skill.

'There's still someone here.'

He whipped his gaze around, alert.

[Activating skill, 'Flow Sight (A)']

"…Did they get away?"

But even that revealed something useful.

At the very least, someone was hiding in enemy territory — someone his 'Flow Sight' couldn't detect.

'An opponent with an S-rank skill…'

Whoever they were, one thing was clear: someone comparable to Whitevalley was in play.

After swiftly stabilizing the survival camp, Jhin made a decision: they would move out immediately, leaving only a minimal team behind.

Originally, the plan had been to gradually hunt monsters while gathering intel, using the survival camp as their base.

But the situation had changed — drastically.

'We're way past worrying about Nazoral now.'

They'd just discovered that the Company had infiltrated this dungeon. That changed everything. No matter how taxing it might be, Jhin now felt an urgent need to push forward and engage in the dungeon strategy himself.

'Tch. This is exactly why the Company is always a damn problem.'

Every time they got involved, it felt like some unspoken time-attack challenge got tacked onto the dungeon conquest. The only place he'd been able to focus entirely on combat — and combat alone — was the D-rank dungeon he'd cleared not long ago, City of the Dead.

That had been a good time.

Monsters had been exterminated to the last, and the leveling was smooth as silk. The memory came flooding back, and he found himself longing for it.

'Ah… diving straight into a C-rank dungeon like this is risky.'

Charging into a C-rank dungeon without a shred of intel? That was nothing short of reckless.

Unlike lower-ranked ones, C-rank dungeons couldn't be cleared just by being strong. You couldn't brute-force your way through them even if your level was high.

What mattered now… was information.

From C-rank onward, knowledge became the key.

Gathering as much intel as possible and minimizing unforeseen variables — that was the most important aspect of conquering a C-rank dungeon.

But now, with the Company interfering, that already-tight process had been doused in gasoline and lit ablaze.

'They're trying to kill the NPCs, huh…'

If that fire wasn't snuffed out fast, it was going to become a full-on explosion.

'And we've got enemies even Soft skills can't detect.'

He didn't like the feel of this one bit.

From behind, Ed spoke.

"Jhin."

"Yes?"

"Um… about what that guy said earlier. I wasn't hearing things, right? He said 'NPC'?"

Nearby players perked up their ears at the word. Ed looked hesitant as he continued.

"So… are there really NPCs in this dungeon?"

Jhin narrowed his eyes and scanned the faces focused on him. Most of them were newcomers, not experienced players.

He nodded.

"Yes. This dungeon has NPCs."

NPCs — Non-Player Characters.

Artificially intelligent entities created by the system to provide players with quests and content. In short, fictional characters.

Jhin glanced around, assessing the fresh-faced players from Arc.

"Let's take this moment to run a quick check. How much do you all know about C-rank dungeons?"

"Just the stuff that's online, more or less…"

"Then, do you understand why the Company would try to kill NPCs?"

Ed answered, his voice lacking conviction.

"...To sabotage the dungeon strategy?"

Jhin shook his head.

"No. From C-rank onward, even the Company doesn't interfere with dungeon clearing like that. They don't cause dungeon breaks easily, either. Why do you think that is?"

Everyone just looked at him, puzzled. Even some of the higher-level players were now paying closer attention.

Jhin shrugged and explained,

"As you probably know, C-rank dungeons can't be cleared by just killing monsters."

In Exodia , every time a dungeon's rank increased, it underwent major changes.

When moving from F-rank to E-rank, it expanded.

From E to D, it evolved.

"Expansion" meant the dungeon's physical scale grew.

"Growth" meant its traits and structure solidified — it began forming its own ecosystem.

Like how the E-rank dungeon Crumbling School turned into a full university campus, or the D-rank dungeon Phantom Train developed a unique identity complete with signature monsters.

"From C-rank onward, you're given choices."

And that's where information became critical.

The more knowledge you had and the better you understood the dungeon, the easier the conquest would be. That's what defined a C-rank dungeon.

It was also why Jhin had raised an eyebrow when Hartt insisted on blindly heading east.

Getting spotted by lizardmen and jumping straight into combat wasn't exactly the best method for gathering intel.

Ed nodded, seeming to get the gist of it. But some confusion still lingered on his face.

"...So why did the Company try to kill the NPCs?"

"I told you. Choices are given."

And just then—

Jhin heard something.

A noise, not far off.

He'd expected this. If they headed in the opposite direction of the lizardman stronghold in the east, they were bound to run into something eventually.

After all, NPCs must have been fighting the lizardmen for some time now. So wherever they had made their home, it had to be away from the lizardman territory.

Jhin murmured,

"We have to make a choice, too."

When they reached the source of the noise, he signaled for the players to hold their breath and remain quiet. They peered across a clearing.

There, a group of people were locked in battle with lizardmen.

Ed whispered,

"No way…"

Shhhk!

Thud!

"Don't back down!"

"Lay down your life! Protect Lady Karin!"

At the center of the clearing stood a single figure. Around them, warriors formed a ring, holding spears tightly, guarding them from all sides.

The lizardmen pressed in, desperate to break through.

The humans resisted with equal resolve.

Their choice stood right in front of them

.

[A new quest has been discovered.]

Quest – Choice

Type: Scenario

Difficulty: C

Condition: Assist '?' in completing their rule over the dungeon

Time Limit: None

Reward: Favor of '?'

Failure: Conquest of the dungeon by '?'

Choose carefully. Depending on who becomes 'Master of the Dungeon,' the players themselves may be endangered.

[A choice has been presented.]

Assist the Horn Tribe and slay the 'Lizardman Warrior' monsters.

Assist the Lizardmen and slay the 'Horn Tribe Warrior' NPCs.

The dungeon's progression would now shift depending on which option the players selected.

To put it simply: the Company no longer interferes in dungeon conquests.

In fact, they actively work to clear them.

And the reason for that was simple.

'Because there are choices now.'

Monsters in D-rank dungeons and below had no real will of their own — they existed only to fight. Clearing those dungeons was straightforward: kill the boss monster, and it was over.

But from C-rank onward, things changed. The appearance of elite monsters gave rise to a new order within the dungeon.

Monsters had started to function almost like NPCs.

Naturally, the Company's objective — unsurprising, in hindsight — was to support the monsters and help them conquer the dungeon.

"Whatever their reason, we're intervening."

"...Which side?"

"The NPCs, of course."

Without hesitation, Jhin surged forward and swung his sword.

The Lizardman Warrior, noticing his approach, lunged with a piercing spear strike, its presence radiating lethal force.

A Lizardman Warrior — easily level 120 or higher.

But Jhin deflected the attack cleanly and carved a deep wound into the creature's chest.

Bang!

A shot rang out — Millie's bullet struck the Lizardman clean between the eyes.

That was the signal.

The Arc players burst out from the underbrush, perfectly synchronized.

In an instant, the Lizardmen found themselves sandwiched between the Horn Tribe NPCs and Arc's assault team.

"...Reinforcements!"

"Waaaaah!!"

Cheers erupted from the NPCs, and their morale surged. The Lizardmen, in turn, doubled down on their aggression.

The tide of battle was shifting.

Jhin barked out orders quickly.

"Adonis, Millie— draw their attention as much as you can. Make sure they don't figure out how many of us there really are."

"Leave it to me."

"Got it."

At the same time, he signaled to a group of players still concealed in the brush — the lower-leveled ones, who couldn't even damage the Lizardmen properly.

Glorified porters, really — but even they had a role to play.

"WAAAAH! DOWN WITH THE ENEMY!"

"YAAAAAAAH!"

They shouted from the undergrowth.

It was nothing but noise — meant to intimidate.

But it worked. The Lizardman Warriors visibly flinched.

Just as planned.

'C-rank dungeon monsters have intelligence.'

That intelligence made them annoying to fight, sure — but also exploitable.

As the saying goes: the more you know, the more you see.

'Monsters under D-rank don't really feel fear, but…'

C-rank ones could think. They could assess their surroundings — and they could realize when they were outmatched.

So if you could convince them that countless reinforcements were waiting just beyond the trees…

'You could crush their morale.'

And that was exactly what happened.

Despite their superior numbers, the Lizardman Warriors began to falter. They pulled back, visibly shaken.

Jhin didn't let up. He activated Soft skills and scanned the battlefield.

Among the monsters, one stood out — stronger than the rest.

An elite. The Lizardman Centurion, commanding the others.

[Activating exclusive skill of 'Blade of Master of Chaos's Resentment':

'Frostbite']

From the hilt of the blade surged a biting chill — the surrounding air plummeted below freezing.

He charged.

Lizardmen fell like wheat under a scythe as he cut a direct path forward. With his current stats, even high-level warriors posed little threat.

Their morale was already broken.

The Lizardman Warriors grew timid in his presence, giving him a clear line to his true target.

Jhin exhaled deeply, gauging the distance.

[Activating skill: 'Power Focus (F)']

KRRAAAAAK!

With a thunderous strike, his blade slammed into the crowd — and the nearby Lizardmen scattered like fallen leaves.

He sprinted through the chaos, moving so fast the frost trailing from his sword left a streak in the air.

He reached his target.

Clang!

The Lizardman Centurion managed to block the blow.

No wonder. An elite C-rank monster wouldn't fall easily.

[Elite monster 'Lizardman Centurion' is startled.]

[Status effect 'Staggered' applied — movement speed reduced.]

Jhin spun, striking again.

Once more, the Centurion blocked him. Jhin clicked his tongue.

'...Shallow.'

But still.

"You're easier than I thought."

His attacks grew fiercer, more relentless — a storm of swordplay that forced the Centurion to retreat.

The creature fought back.

A reptilian swordsman with near-level-150 stats — this wasn't an opponent to underestimate.

But Jhin was unfazed.

He didn't feel remotely threatened. Even without donning the Goblin Crown, he was holding his own effortlessly.

This thing wasn't even worth wasting a Peculiar on.

'There's a reason I power-leveled in City of the Dead, lizard bastard.'

"Kieeek…! You filthy human…!"

At last, the Centurion couldn't hold out.

It dropped its sword.

That's when the real bloodshed began.

"KIAAAAAAH!"

He slashed its legs.

Its chest.

Its shoulders.

He severed its wrist — then cut its chest again, carving its entire body into ribbons.

The hide, once thick and battle-hardened, was now in tatters.

As blood pooled and trickled onto the earth, the noise around them began to die.

The battlefield stilled.

None of the Lizardman Warriors dared to breathe too loudly. Even the NPCs and Arc players were struck dumb.

They had just witnessed the absolute humiliation of an elite monster.

Jhin drove his sword through the Centurion's heart.

Then, calmly, he spoke — as if addressing someone who wasn't quite dead.

"When are you going to stop hiding in there?"

The Lizardman Centurion's eyes twitched.

"You were the one watching me back at the survival camp, weren't you?"

Within its pupils, a faint magical shimmer trembled.