Candace's smile faded a little as she continued.

"He took a heavy hit protecting civilians," she said. "Nothing life-threatening, but it damaged his core. The healers said he needs a few days of rest."

Mike frowned slightly. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Yes," Candace replied. "He'll recover fully. Jordan is tougher than he looks."

Mike nodded. "Good."

"I would have taken you to meet him," Candace continued, "but he's being treated at the Mercer family estate. Outsiders aren't allowed there."

Mike waved his hand lightly. "It's okay."

"You can mingle with the others until evening, or leave and come back for the banquet," Candace said.

Mike glanced around the hall. "I'm not interested in talking. I'll be leaving."

Candace then looked at Lily.

"I also want to go back to the Origin World," Lily said.

Candace nodded and escorted them back to Jordan's mansion.

When Mike entered, he froze slightly.

Misty was smiling, sitting on her father's lap, happily eating pudding. There was no fear in her eyes—only her usual bright expression.

"She's fine now," his father said calmly. "As I said, children forget things easily."

Mike nodded in relief.

"Brother!" Misty suddenly called out, waving her hand excitedly. "Where's the Empress? I want to ask her how to become an empress!"

She was talking about Roselia, the Vampire Empress.

"She's right here with you," Mike said.

From Misty's shadow, dark smoke rose and gathered, forming into the beautiful figure of Roselia.

"I'm here with you, little pea," Roselia said gently, patting Misty's head.

Misty immediately slapped her hand away. "I'm a princess, not little pea!"

Roselia laughed softly. "Of course, of course."

The way she pouted only made her look even more adorable.

I'm glad she's fine, Mike thought quietly as he watched Misty laugh again.

"Where is Lily?" Lily's father asked, looking at Mike. "I thought she went with you?"

Mike shrugged casually. "Halfway back, she stopped at a big clothing store and dragged Candace with her. She said she'd return home later."

Both Mike's father and Lily's father smiled knowingly.

"Your mother and my wife also just left to prepare for the evening banquet," Lily's father added.

Mike nodded. "That makes sense."

"I'll rest in my room for now," Mike said. "I'll go back to the Origin World since I still have nine hours left."

They nodded in understanding.

Mike returned to his room, closed the door, and lay down on the bed.

Taking a slow breath, he activated the system.

Moments later, his consciousness shifted—

And he logged back into the Origin World.

Mike stretched his body and groaned.

"Argh… my body feels stiff," he muttered. "I didn't know an avatar body could get this stiff if you leave it unused for too long."

He began moving his arms and legs, slowly exercising. It felt like he had slept for far too long, and now his body refused to cooperate.

After a while, the stiffness eased a little.

He went downstairs, grabbed something simple to eat, and then sat down, thinking.

"Alright… what should I do now?"

Mike tapped his finger lightly. "I just need few more levels to reach 300. Okay—let's reach level 300 and prepare for the Rank 3 promotion quest."

With that decision made, he opened the Adventurer's Guild interface and searched for a suitable dungeon for leveling.

Soon, one caught his attention.

"Bone Ash Ant Hill," Mike read aloud. "What a creepy name."

He opened the details.

Bone Ash Ants—powerful fire-type ants that burned their targets to ash and used crushed bones to build their nests and create gem-like structures.

Mike clicked his tongue. "That's nasty."

But his eyes moved to the drop list.

"Hmm… fire and ash affinity," he murmured. "I like that."

The dungeon also dropped some decent equipment and materials.

"This will do," Mike decided.

As he prepared to enter, a thought crossed his mind.

"I wonder when Melina and her maid will return…"

In another city, inside a quiet mansion filled with magic tools and strange devices, Melina paused in her work.

She frowned slightly.

"…Did someone just think about me?" she murmured.

After a brief moment, she shook her head and returned to her research.

Back in the Origin World, Mike stepped forward.

"Alright," he said calmly. "Time to grind."

And with that, he entered the Bone Ash Ant Hill dungeon.

It was a Rank 4 dungeon, but for solo awakened like Mike, its real difficulty was closer to a Rank 6 dungeon.

First, the entire dungeon was inside a massive ant hill. It was so large that it could take years to fully clear.

Second, every living creature inside was an ant.

That meant it was Mike versus the entire dungeon, unless he happened to find other awakened inside.

When Mike entered, he appeared inside the safe zone.

The place was crowded.

"So these are the essentials for this dungeon…"

"Hey, buy a heat-erasing cloak!"

"Heat Erase Cloak for sale! Only 1,000 gold each!"

Many people were shouting, trying to sell items.

Mike listened carefully.

Camouflage and stealth items were usually low-level and not very useful—but in this dungeon, they were extremely valuable.

Bone Ash Ants had poor eyesight, but their heat and heartbeat detection was terrifying. They hunted mainly by sensing body heat and heart signals.

Even simple black cloaks that erased heat signatures became god-tier items here.

Mike looked at the stalls calmly.

"Good thing I don't need those," he muttered.

With his abilities, stealth wasn't his main concern.

He could simply call Cryace to lower his heat signature—but why bother?

It's better if they all come at me at once.

Mike smiled as he stepped out of the safe zone and entered a tunnel-like road carved through the ant hill.

"Hm… so which way now?"

He stopped.

In front of him were five paths.

Three tunnels stretched forward.

Above his head, there was a hole in the ceiling—large enough for an ant to crawl out at any moment.

And finally, there was another hole in the ground, leading straight down.

"It would've been much better if there weren't other awakened inside," Mike muttered, scanning each path. "I could've just flooded this entire place with poison and farmed tons of EXP."

His gaze settled on the hole in the ground.

He raised his hand and tossed a Fireball inside.

Three seconds later, it hit the bottom.

"This depth should be fine."

Mike jumped down.

He landed right in the middle of five Bone Ash Ants.

"…Ah? Hello."

The ants froze for a split second—then screeched and charged at him.

"Dimensional Step."

Mike vanished.

Behind the ants, five Death Lords emerged from shadow.

Without hesitation, they lunged forward, attacking the Bone Ash Ants all at once.

The tunnel filled with screeches, cracking bone, and bursts of dark mana.

Mike watched calmly.

"This grind is going to be fun."

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