Victor's eyes shone with greed as he saw the glowing objects.
With careful, measured steps, he crept toward the corner of the straw hut, sparing a quick glance at the big monkey.
Still asleep.
Maybe it wasn't just luck—maybe the monkey was just that much of a deep sleeper. Even after all the chaos outside, it hadn't moved once.
Maybe something unnatural was happening to it. He wasn't certain.
Taking no chances, Victor crouched low, his attention fully on the pile of treasures.
Among them, his stolen dagger was there.
Not just that—a few more glowing treasures, including a shiny sword.
'Nice.'
Not wanting to push his luck, he quickly moved to transfer the items to his inventory.
— [ Error! Storage Space is insufficient. Please remove some items or upgrade your inventory. ]
Victor frowned. "I can upgrade my inventory? How?"
No response.
'I guessed as much. This system never answers when I need it to.'
With a sigh, he removed the useless bones from his inventory, making space for the four treasures while keeping the shiny sword in his hand.
[ Basic Steel Sword ]
[ Grade: F ]
[ Attack: 10 ]
[ Durability: 50 ]
With the sword in hand, he stepped out, the crude wooden door letting out a slight creaking noise.
He glanced back once more and saw that the large monkey was still sound asleep.
'Ancestral brother, you have failed your duty. Goodbye!' he mused before slipping out of the nest.
Waiting outside, the two monkey cubs stared at him with wide, fearful eyes, their tiny bodies trembling.
"What? You two wanna get out of this hellhole and explore the world?" he teased.
The cubs frantically shook their heads as if they could understand him.
Victor grinned. "Oh, so you're smart, huh? Don't worry, I'll be your savior and take you out of this forest."
Without waiting for their approval, he scooped them up and slung them over his shoulders.
"Hold on tight, little buddies. If you fall, you die," he warned, casting a glance at the cubs now clinging to his shoulders for dear life.
They were clearly unwilling passengers, but their fear of falling overrode any protests.
Victor grinned to himself as he leaped down from the nest, landing with a solid thud.
Victor landed with a thud, his boots kicking up dust as he stabilized himself.
The two monkey cubs clung tightly to his shoulders, their tiny claws digging into his shirt in fear.
"See? That wasn't so bad," he chuckled, patting one of them lightly. "Now, let's get out of here before your big brother wakes up and realizes he failed at life."
The cubs let out small, frightened squeaks but didn't resist.
Victor smiled. "Good boys."
Without wasting another second, he dashed toward the meeting point with Kierra, his new loot secured and two unwilling sidekicks along for the ride.
Even after running for a while, the big monkey still didn't wake up.
"Just who put you in charge of guarding the treasures?" Victor chuckled softly before continuing in the direction Kierra had gone.
After another ten minutes of sprinting, he finally spotted her in an open clearing, a circular patch devoid of trees.
Kierra stood there, her chest rising and falling with exhaustion.
But Victor's attention was drawn to the ground, where the bodies of the monkeys were slowly disintegrating into nothingness.
His grip tightened on the cubs, and without thinking, he covered their eyes, shielding them from the cruel sight of their fallen kin.
For a moment, he paused.
Were they doing the right thing?
Were these creatures just NPCs… or something more?
Or was he just too soft-hearted for this new world?
He had never killed anyone in his past life.
Fighting undead skeletons was one thing, but slaughtering living, innocent creatures was entirely different.
Kierra glanced at him curiously, unable to understand the emotions flickering across his face.
"What made you pause, Raizel?" she asked, stepping forward.
Victor snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head. "Nothing, I was just… surprised that you actually killed them."
Kierra gave him a strange look.
"You shouldn't feel pity for them, Raizel. You don't know how cruel the inhabitants of this world are. You haven't seen the cruel side of the Supreme Game yet," she muttered, her tone turning serious.
"The cruel side?" Victor echoed, not fully grasping her meaning.
Kierra shook her head. "You'll understand in time. For now, focus on getting to level 10. That would be the wise choice."
"Anyway, what's your level, Raizel?"
"My level?" Victor was still confused by her halfhearted statement, but he decided to shrug it off for now.
"Level 6. What about you?" he answered honestly.
Kierra smiled strangely.
"Level 6, huh. That's good. As for me, I'm at level 8. By the way, do you have any innate spell that lets you run faster? I noticed your speed earlier. You're quite fast. No ordinary level 6 could move like that unless they foolishly dumped all their attributes into Agility. Am I right?" she said, her expression confident.
It never even crossed her mind that Victor might have a Class—let alone a Forbidden one at that.
Players with Classes were incredibly rare. Only the privileged and those from ancient bloodlines usually awakened them, and even then, it depended on their lineage and sometimes purely luck.
"Level 8 with a mage class… That's incredible!" Victor feigned surprise.
He didn't want to reveal his Class yet. Just the existence of it was shocking enough. If he wanted, he could stop her magic just by getting close enough…
One spell alone was already that powerful, and he had yet to unlock more from his Class.
How strong would those spells be?
The thought alone was exhilarating, that he could barely contain his anticipation.
But he wasn't about to reveal his secret to a girl he had only met yesterday.
For all he knew, Kierra could be lying about her true level and Class, testing him while staying cautious herself.
Kierra, oblivious to his thoughts, was clearly proud of the admiration in his voice.
Then, suddenly, her expression turned sharp.
"Okay, now take those treasures out."
Her eyes burned with curiosity, and a hint of distrust.