A fog shrouded the farm that never saw daylight all year round. On both sides of the road, wheat stalks as tall as two people rubbed against each other in the wind, producing a fine rustling sound.

The ringing in Edin's ears gradually intensified. He pressed his throbbing temples, his knuckles turning pale from the force.

A kind of nonexistent whisper echoed in his mind, as annoying as the sound of chains dragging across slate.

Edin's steps unconsciously slowed down. As he staggered, he noticed that his companions had already walked more than ten steps ahead, their figures about to be swallowed by the swaying sea of wheat...

In a trance, a warmth like a stream suddenly swept over his back, and a pale golden halo spread from his shoulder and neck to his entire body.

The incessant buzzing vanished in an instant. Even if it was only temporary, it brought Edin immense comfort.

"Are you okay? If you're feeling unwell, you should tell me sooner!" A freckled face blocked the drooping wheat, and the priest gently lifted the staggering Edin.

Shaking his gradually clearing head, Edin disengaged from the slightly ambiguous posture.

"Sorry, it's my problem, thank you so much, Fan…"

The name was on the tip of his tongue but got stuck; what was the priest's name again?

The priest seemed not to notice this, just smiled and said, "We're teammates, come on, we're falling behind them."

Yes, they couldn't fall behind!

The Abyss required more teamwork than other Undergound Cities.

He quickly caught up and found the two standing before a barn door.

The thief was trying to pick the lock, the warrior looking at them and scolding, "Why are you so slow? Is this kid holding us back?"

The warrior glanced at Edin, but the priest stepped forward and said, "It was my fault for the delay, I'm very sorry."

Seeing the priest took the responsibility, the warrior said no more and waited quietly for the thief to pick the lock.

Clack—

"Got it!"

With the thief's whistle, the barn door swung open, the decayed oak door latch making an unpleasant gnashing sound.

Upon entering, everyone was stunned by the sight before them—a barn full of gold coins!

The thief's deerskin boots sank into the pile of gold coins. He picked up one and examined it closely: "Gold coins of the Ancient Kingdom! We hit the jackpot!"

The warrior and thief pounced on the gold coins, picking them up in handfuls only for them to slip through their fingers.

"Hahaha! This must be the treasure of this level!" The warrior dumped out his backpack, stuffing it full of gold coins.

The priest was more restrained, but excitement flashed in her eyes too.

Only Edin, the newcomer, stood dazed at the barn entrance, not knowing what to do.

"What... what are you doing?"

In front of Edin, none of the gold coins they spoke of could be seen, only a barn full of grain.

Buzz—

The ear ringing started again, and when he looked up, the grain disappeared, replaced by a warehouse full of gold coins.

The warrior's backpack was already filled with gold coins, no more room for anything else.

"Something's wrong, this is wrong, it's a trap! Get out quickly!"

Edin desperately shouted a warning, but the warrior and the thief ignored him, solely focused on collecting their "gold coins."

The priest seemed to fare better, at least hearing Edin's warning, but her first instinct was to turn and cast [Remove Curse] on her two completely sunken teammates.

Her instinctive kindness caused her to miss the chance to escape.

Rotted-smelling straw claws swiped across Edin's front as one scarecrow after another emerged from the wheat fields on either side.

Edin was forced to keep retreating, narrowly avoiding capture several times.

When he had retreated far enough, he looked back to see the scarecrows had already crowded the barn...

He should save them... at least he should go back and save the priest...

Even though he thought so, his feet were bounding along the path they came.

Auditory hallucinations appeared again, and this time no one was there to dispel them; could he still escape?

The surroundings grew darker and darker. Edin reached out, trying to pull away the darkness covering him—

"Hmm?"

The rough curtains were suddenly pulled open, the summer morning light poured like hot milk, the glaring light making his eyelashes flutter.

Edin reflexively raised his elbow to shield his eyes, moving his body to sit up, leaning against the wall.

The back of his head rested against the cold wall tiles as he pressed his palms on his throbbing temples, as if this could squeeze the remnants of the dream out from his mind.

The exhaustion after a nightmare made him feel like he had been beaten in a sack all night.

As his peripheral vision swept across a strange woman beside him, her chestnut hair spread over a crumpled pillow.

What did he do last night?

Right, the mushrooms!

He picked up the half pack of green mushrooms left beside the bed and threw them into the trash can with disgust.

"Damn sleep aid."

He only got them because he heard they aid sleep, and aid it did, but by making him have such dreams!

A nightmare that hadn't plagued him in fifteen years was brought back by a couple of lousy mushrooms.

To think he planned to rest well to recharge his spirit before the Underground City, yet waking up left his spirit worse off.

He had 5 days anyway...

Edin buried his head back under the blanket.

"That priest... what was her name again?"

-----------------

In the Adventurer's Guild.

Mira Belle tossed the bounty collection records onto the table, the girl who worked the night shift stood by the desk.

"Who is this Hou Sailei and Hou Seter? When did we have these two in the Diamond Level Adventurers? Didn't you find these names odd when filling the form?"

"But... but they both had guild ID cards..." The girl was a bit aggrieved, having followed the rules.

"Never mind..." Mira Belle waved her hand, dismissing the girl from her office.

In truth, she knew it wasn't the girl's fault; for a Level 56 Illusionist, duping an ordinary girl was a piece of cake.

Even if she was there instead, she might not have been able to see through it.

It just irked her how troublesome these adventurers were.

First, the Beigong Squad sent themselves to die out of overconfidence, and now there was this overconfident Edin attempting to do a team task solo.

But what if he died?

Would she have to issue yet another S Level eradication mission?

Mira Belle flipped through Edin Clar's records page by page, her eyebrows raising higher with each page.

Judging by his history, this guy actually wasn't doing it for the first time.

He liked taking exploration missions, whether solo or team-based, using Illusion Technique to bluff through team tasks.

Given his high task completion rate, and even in failure bringing back much useful information, it seemed other branches tacitly allowed this?

Moreover, he has never been seriously injured.

Oh...

Except once.

As a novice, he experienced a team wipe in the Scarecrow Abyss, being the sole survivor out of a team of four, cursed with the loss of taste thereafter.

Afterward, he changed his range of activity, never going back to the Scarecrow Abyss, instead roaming between other Underground Cities, until after the Demon Tide, he came to Dumb Wind Town.

Seems like a capable guy, and since there aren't many Diamond Level adventurers in Dumb Wind Town right now, he might as well give it a try.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.