CHAPTER 89: REGULAR DAY

"Nash! Nash! Nash! What happened? Can you hear me? Nash, wake up!"

Earlier, while Camilla was telling a story, Nash had fallen into a daze.

At first, she didn’t think much of it. But when Nash closed his eyes, she felt a gloomy aura radiate from him.

She repeatedly called out his name in worry, but got no response.

Thinking it had something to do with the Virtual World, she began to panic.

Fortunately, after a few seconds, Nash came back to his senses and replied.

"Nothing, I just thought of something," Nash said with a smile.

"What is it? Tell me, maybe I can help?"

Although Nash was smiling, Camilla sensed sadness in his voice.

"Nothing really..." Nash shook his head, not wanting to talk about it.

"If you say so." Seeing that Nash didn’t want to open up, Camilla stopped pressing.

"Anyway, how’s the weapon I gave you? Did you receive it?"

"Hmm, the sniper was just right. Coupled with the armor, my safety on Earth should be guaranteed."

"That’s good! With those weapons, those Void Commanders shouldn’t be much of a threat to you."

Knowing Nash’s capabilities, Camilla was confident nothing would happen to him.

"How about the Dark Plane? What shelter are you in?"

"I’m in the Lantern Shelter." Not wanting her to worry, Nash had to lie.

Telling her the dark beasts weren’t very strong quickly eased some of Camilla’s concern.

With the topic changed, Nash soon forgot the earlier gloom and chatted with Camilla about their daily life.

After about an hour, Nash got ready to say goodbye, needing rest from his hectic schedule for tomorrow.

"It’s time to say goodbye. I still have to rest for tomorrow."

"I see. It’s good to have a regular schedule." Camilla nodded, not wanting to push him.

As they stood up, Nash sensed Camilla had something she wanted to say.

"Are you going away for a long time?" he guessed.

"Hmm, the academy issued a six-month mission," Camilla nodded with a sigh.

The real reason she called, despite the time, was to say goodbye.

Not being able to see each other for half a year made her a little reluctant.

"It’s just half a year. We still have a long way to go. It’s too early to be sad," Nash said with a comforting smile.

"What do you mean? Are there even sadder things ahead?"

"Maybe? I don’t know~"

"You! Anyway, while I’m gone, you better be careful. If I see you missing an arm or a leg, I’ll beat you up."

"Don’t worry, I take my life seriously. Just take care of yourself."

"Hmph! You better be..."

After a bit more chatter, the two said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

Back in reality, Nash slumped into bed, hoping sleep would erase the worry he carried through the day.

---

The next day, as the sun rose, Nash felt reinvigorated.

"What a good day~"

Walking outside, he quickly began his daily training.

While training, his mind operated in the runic space, integrating details about the dark beasts he encountered in the Dark Willow Forest.

He focused especially on the Carrion Beetles. If he could respond to their attacks automatically, things would be much easier.

Unfortunately, because of their overwhelming numbers, Nash had to stay cautious and consider every dangerous situation.

As a result, after about six hours of physical training, he still hadn’t finished inputting all their data into the [Combat Module System].

Passing by the training facility, he noticed it was nearing completion.

"Good morning, Chancellor Nash!" Michael greeted.

"Good morning, Chancellor!" the elite talents echoed.

"No need to be so formal, I’m just passing by. Looks like the training facility is almost finished," Nash nodded as he observed the construction.

"It’s thanks to the manpower you arranged, Chancellor. It should be complete in about five or six days."

"That’s good. Keep it up. I want to use it as soon as possible."

---

After finishing his training, Nash cleaned up and headed to the Dark Plane.

Arriving at the Black Willow Shelter, he replenished his supply of willow paste.

With more funds on hand, he bought eight units at once, giving him more time to operate in the Dark Plane.

Venturing deeper into the Dark Willow Forest, Nash encountered new varieties of dark beasts.

Taking his time, he studied their movement patterns and habits, planning to integrate everything into the [Combat Module System] later when he had time.

He also made sure to gather herbs with high void saturation rates.

As for herbs with low saturation, he left them behind.

Fortunately, in a few days or at most a week, he expected to earn enough merit points to buy a proper storage device.

To save up those merit points, he even scaled back his training.

Although his progress would stagnate this week, once he bought that storage device, his income-generating ability would increase by two or three times.

Soon, while deeper into the Dark Willow Forest, Nash encountered a massive swarm of Carrion Beetles numbering over 500.

Fortunately, although he had only partially uploaded their data into the [Combat Module System], it was more than enough.

Facing hundreds of dark beasts, Nash didn’t back down. He dashed forward to meet the swarm head-on.

With the [Combat Module System] assisting like a god, it didn’t take long to wipe them out.

He didn’t even need to activate the [Overloading Module] or the [Overclocking Module] to defeat them.

Satisfied with his power, Nash continued deeper, planning to scout the entirety of the Dark Willow Forest.

Of course, knowing how dangerous it could get, he moved with extreme caution, checking everything before every step.

---

After about seven hours of hunting, Nash harvested roughly 1,500 merit points from the dark beasts.

Although it was 25% lower than what he usually earned in the Silver Forest, it was only because he was still unfamiliar with the area and hadn’t fully integrated the data of the new dark beasts into the [Combat Module System].

Once he got used to the terrain and the danger, Nash could go on a full rampage, killing every dark beast in sight.

For now, he focused on gathering herbs to make up for the lower harvest.