Before Luke could dig deeper into the thought, a loud voice cut through the air:

"There they are—my two star rookies!"

Angelica appeared, tossing an arm around both Luke and Allison with far too much energy for the dark conversation they'd just been having.

"Come on. I've gathered a few people. We need to talk."

They followed her to a large tent. Inside, a group of young faces waited—all around the same age. Likely other recent arrivals.

Paul and Jonathan stood nearby, flanking Angelica as she moved to the front of the group with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"First off… thank you," she said, bowing her head slightly. "For standing your ground and protecting the Haven."

Some smiles flickered through the group.

"But," she continued, her tone growing firmer, "today wasn't just about bravery."

She looked each of them in the eye.

"I know it might seem, at first glance, like a lot of people here have given up. Or gotten comfortable. But today… you saw why."

She paused.

"It hasn't even been a full month since you arrived, and you've already been through enough to understand. The invasions are real. Sometimes brutal, like today. Sometimes quiet—without even a system alert. Being in the Safe Zone only protects us from the Midnight Wardens. The other threats? They're everywhere. And the smart ones... they plan."

Allison raised her hand—calm, thoughtful.

"Then why not organize a joint expedition with Bastion? Not the whole camp—just, say, two hundred people. We search for the mechanisms, clear a path to the castle. Work together."

A few heads nodded. On the surface, it sounded like a solid plan.

Jonathan stepped forward, voice steady.

"None of us don't want to go home," he said. "We all stare at that castle on the horizon and feel the same thing. Hope. Desperation. But reaching it? And finding those mechanisms? That's not just hard. It's near impossible."

Paul crossed his arms, tone colder.

"Let's say we pull it off. Let's say we gather two hundred fighters and move out." He met Allison's gaze directly. "You think Bartholomew will leave Bastion exposed? He has more to worry about than monsters. He has to worry about us."

He let that sit.

"If most of his force leaves… Marshall and the Renegades will know. They always know. You think Bastion's still going to be there when he returns? If Bartholomew lets his guard down for one second... they'll take it from him."

Silence.

Heavy. Thoughtful.

The plan that once seemed obvious now felt like a trap laid by reality.

Chessboard logic. Not hero's logic.

Angelica stepped back in, and her tone changed—sharper, harder.

"And let's say we do march out with an army of two hundred. Do you know how loud that would be?" She looked around the tent.

"The beasts would come. So would the orcs. And at night?" She shook her head.

"You think you can hide two hundred people from the Midnight Wardens?"

No one answered.

"You can't."

Her eyes glazed for a moment—lost in something remembered.

"And in the ruins of the Wild Zone, once the sun sets... they rule. The Wardens walk freely. Not one or two. Dozens. They patrol. They hunt."

She inhaled slowly.

And for the first time since they met her—

Her voice wavered.

"In the past… we tried."

Angelica's voice cut through the room, softer now.

"There was an expedition. Me and a few others from the Haven. Back then, we were the most determined. The ones who wanted out of the tutorial as fast as possible."

She lowered her gaze.

"It didn't end well."

Beside her, Paul stepped forward, picking up the weight of the memory she couldn't carry aloud.

"The Haven was born from that mission," he said. "Built around one goal: getting out."

His voice didn't waver—just dropped like a hammer.

"But you won't see anyone from the original crew walking around camp anymore."

He paused.

"Only two of us are left. Me and her."

The air inside the tent grew heavier.

Like fog made of silence.

"That's why we trust Bartholomew," Paul continued. "He has the best-trained soldiers in the Safe Zone. Maybe he's ruthless, but he keeps order. More importantly—he still sends teams into the Wild Zone. He's still searching for the mechanisms."

Angelica stood at the front of the tent, her gaze sweeping across the group.

"There's one more thing you need to know," she said, voice heavy. "A major obstacle. Bigger than monsters or missions."

The room grew quiet.

"Even if, by some miracle, you make it all the way to the castle… you still won't be able to enter. Two reasons why."

She raised a finger.

"First—there's the rule. You can't enter unless the seals are broken. That means activating the mechanisms."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Then a second finger.

"And second… there's a barrier."

Luke blinked.

That part—he hadn't heard before.

"A barrier?" Henry asked, frowning.

Jonathan stepped forward.

"If you head straight toward the castle—and you're lucky enough not to die on the way—you'll hit it. A wall. Massive. Unnatural."

He glanced at Angelica, then back at the group.

"I saw it once. Took a small team. It was reckless—one of ours nearly lost a leg to swamp-crocs before we even got close. But I saw it. Towering. Wide. Like a fortress wall made of solid energy."

"What's it like, exactly?" Allison asked.

"We didn't get close enough to examine it," Jonathan said. "But from a distance, it looked… like a shimmering wall. Unreal. Like something the System built just to mock us." Paul crossed his arms.

"I touched it once," he said. "Didn't hurt. Just… blocked everything. Solid as stone."

"Did the System say anything?" Luke asked.

Paul nodded.

"A message popped up the moment my hand touched it. Said: 'Access Denied. Gate Locked. Requires Activation of Two Mechanisms.'"

Silence fell.

Each of them processing the weight of that message.

"And whether we like him or not… Bartholomew is our best shot." said Angelica.

No one spoke.

There was nothing to say.

The meeting ended shortly after.

Many of the newcomers thanked Angelica, Paul, and Jonathan. Some left in quiet reflection. Others with grim determination etched across their faces.

Everyone understood now.

This wasn't a tutorial.

It was a survival test.

Outside, the bells rang through the early light.

6:00 a.m.

"The Midnight Wardens are back in their holes," Johnny mumbled. "Time to get back to work."

Luke and Allison walked in silence down the dirt path to their tent.

They entered.

Closed the flap behind them.

Allison let out a sigh. "What a night…"

"I don't even feel tired anymore," Luke replied.

The two sat in silence, each lost in their thoughts.

Then Allison spoke—calm, focused.

"That meeting was important. We learned a lot." She looked at him. "But I think I realized something else."

Luke turned, listening.

"This place," she said. "It's designed to push us. Constantly. It forces conflict. Forces choice. Risk and reward."

Her voice sharpened as her thoughts gained momentum—like she was fitting pieces together in real time.

"The missions the orb offers, the supply chests that appear only at night—when the Midnight Wardens are patrolling. None of it's random. Even the Invasion Event… it's not just to kill us. It's to keep us moving. To keep us on edge. And in the process… to make us stronger."

Luke nodded slowly, processing.

"So what are you getting at?"

Allison gave a half-smile.

"It's a system," she said. "A game. Built on logic. On balance. Risk and reward."

She tilted her head toward the tent's entrance.

"The bells just rang. And what happened?"

Luke didn't have to think long.

"The Midnight Wardens retreated. Went back to wherever they hide."

She nodded.

"Exactly. If this were a truly impossible death loop, those monsters wouldn't have rest cycles. They wouldn't respect the Safe Zone's boundaries."

A beat passed.

The pieces started to align in Luke's mind.

Rules.

Patterns.

Allison continued.

"They say Bartholomew and his soldiers stormed Bastion when it was still crawling with a Midnight Warden, right?"

Luke nodded.

Then, silence.

And in that pause—

It clicked.

Luke looked at her, eyes widening.

"You think… the hiding spots of the Midnight Wardens might be the mechanism sites?"

Allison nodded slowly, her gaze locked on his.

"Maybe Bartholomew didn't fight a Warden just to claim Bastion. Maybe… he invaded a Warden's resting ground to activate a mechanism."

Luke froze.

"…You might be right."

"All this talk about risk and reward," Allison said, her voice low but steady. "What if the fact that the Wardens go out at night... isn't a curse?"

Luke looked at her, confused—but listening.

"What if it's an opportunity?" she continued. "While they're out patrolling, their dens—their strongholds—might be unguarded. Maybe even the mechanisms are left behind."

Luke sat down slowly, gears spinning in his mind.

"If that's true… then the remaining two mechanisms are hidden inside Warden dens. Somewhere deep in the Wild Zone."

She nodded. "Which means... to activate them, we'll have to invade the lairs of the most dangerous enemies in the entire tutorial."

Silence fell.

Luke narrowed his eyes.

"But what about the Lords? Where do they fit into all of this?"

Allison paused, then answered carefully.

"They're the daily challenge. They're what keeps the survivors distracted. Occupied. Busy fighting to survive. They control the territories, send out raids, and make sure we don't progress too fast."

She glanced at him.

"But they're also our greatest source of experience. Our biggest 'risk-reward' mechanic. They exist to make us stronger."

Luke nodded slowly, absorbing it.

"Without them, no one could get strong enough to even consider challenging a Midnight Warden."

Then his gaze sharpened.

"But I noticed something else."

"What?" Allison asked, already sensing where this was going.

"When the Orc Captain died... the orcs retreated."

She blinked.

"Pack behavior," she murmured. "Alpha falls... the rest scatter."

Luke looked at her dead-on.

"So what if we kill the Lord Orc?"

Her eyes widened as the pieces fell into place.

"If we take out the true leader... we break their chain of command. Disrupt their hold over the Wild Zone. That would give us breathing room—to move, scout, maybe even find the Warden dens."

She folded her arms.

"It would be nearly impossible. We'd have to enter orc territory, push through their entire army, and kill the strongest one of them all. They'd know what we were planning long before we got there—marching in with a group of people would draw attention immediately."

Luke shook his head.

"We don't need an army."

Allison raised a brow. "Then what do we need?"

His expression turned razor-sharp.

"An assassination."

He gave her a faint smirk.

"That's what assassins do. We don't fight armies. We walk through them. Reach the top. And remove the king. No leader... no kingdom."

Allison let out a breath of amusement—half laugh, half disbelief.

"You make a strong case, Mister Blood Demon," she said. "Now all we need to do is find the Lord Orc... and come up with a completely suicidal plan to kill him."

She grinned, just a little.

"Still better than sleeping in tents for the rest of our lives."

The conversation ended there.

But Luke's eyes drifted back to his system.

The new mission that had appeared the moment he killed the Captain Orc:

*Assassination Contract (Exclusive)*

Objective: Assassinate the Lord Orc. The Lord Orc hides deep within the forest, near the mountains, in the final orc settlement at the base of the ridge. He spends his days enthroned in savage grandeur, commanding raids against tutorial participants.

Your elimination of a Captain Orc has marked you as a real threat to his dominion.

Requirements: - You must go alone. - Bringing allies will cause the Lord Orc to relocate.

Reward: (???)

Alone…

Luke stared at the screen, mind ablaze.

A grin slowly crept onto his face.

Time for one Lord... to hunt another.

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