>> Bona’s and Xuanyi’s roles and dynamic garners your interest <<

>> You have decided to invite the pair to the Kamag group <<

---

“Bona, Xuanyi, do you have a moment?”

Outside the corridor leading to the capsule rooms, I called out to the two girls near the back of the line.

Bona’s head perked up from my voice, turning in my direction, with Xuanyi following her immediately after.

“What is it?” Bona asked.

“Well—” I began,

“Is this about what Exy told you?”

However, Xuanyi guessed my intentions and interjected.

“…Ah, yes, it is.” I nodded at her.

“To get straight to the point, I was wondering if you two would like to join us on Kamag. From what I’ve heard, there’s going to be a lot of action with the Trials and all, and I think I could use your help.”

Turning to Bona,

“You’ve been researching about stuff in the forest, right? I don’t know if Kamag’s mechanical wildlife would be in your field, but maybe you can learn something about them, too.”

“Hmm,” She pondered my suggestion. “I don’t know…”

The three of us went silent for a few seconds.

…Is that a no go?

“We’ll think it over, KC.”

Xuanyi came in and concluded our discussion.

“Thanks for the invite, either way!”

We parted ways soon after, them leaving for their own stations and me for mine.

There was only one capsule set up in my assigned room, the same one I’ve been using all this while; it was a little lonely, but I understand the precaution of not letting me share a room with any of the members.

I get the whole place to myself, after all.

I placed my loose items and valuables in a locker in the corner of the room. Bringing a phone into the capsule would bring would only break the time dilation effect at most, but I didn’t want to have valuable game time taken away because of a simple distraction.

Wasting no time, I got settled in the VR capsule and focused my attention on the lights in front of me.

The login screen, as usual.

The neon cityscape in the background, under a starlit sky. I paid attention to the music that played, while waiting for the synchronization process to complete.

“Luckitty-cat,”

A strange choice for a title BGM, but okay.

Selecting the chat window tab, I typed in my message to the player group.

You: Have a great session, everyone 😆

For a few moments, no one answered. Just as I thought the chat function might be broken,

Yeoreum: Thanks, KC 👍

Dayoung: We’ll see you at the end of the day 😊

From the looks of it, they’ve settled on Nadeum.

I was concerned for Dawon’s group before, seeing that Exy, Seola, Soobin, and Yeonjung would be with us. Three of the most musically inclined members choosing not to help with the EP had me plenty worried, to be honest.

Now that Dayoung and Yeoreum were there, I can at least be a little reassured.

Eunseo: See you all soon!

Soobin: 👋

“Alright,”

The light in front of my eyes brightened, indicating that the session was about to start.

“Let’s do this.”

An endlessness opened up below the floor of the capsule—

…!!

—And the blinding ray of light enveloped my body in freefall.

---

[Day 3, Morning]

I awoke in a sitting position, rested by the wall of a ship’s interior space. Made out of three sections, the space was similar, but not identical to that of mine.

The casual fit I wore to Dreamscape.Net was nowhere to be seen, replaced by the casual outfit I had on back in Day 2.

…Right, my suit should still be in the washing machine.

“I should take it out soon.” I muttered.

“Morning.”

A calm voice caught my attention, and my eyes turned to the rear of the ship. Four people were stretching their bodies, moving around in the crew quarters area.

It was the owner of the ship we were on, the Harmonious 09, who greeted us.

“Morning, Xiao.” I answered.

“How long has it been?”

Luda asked, rubbing her face as she got up.

“Let me check,”

On the other side of the room, Meiqi pulled out her system window and searched up a local page.

“…Two weeks, I think.” She reported.

“Two weeks, huh?” I pondered.

Considering that about a month had passed since the second session, that wasn’t too bad. Did the devs reverse the time dilation when we’re not in-game?

“You ready for today, KC and Luda unnie?”

Dusting away the spacesuit she wore, Eunseo asked us.

“I think so.” Luda answered.

“It’s a shame that you won’t be joining us, though.” I followed.

She shrugged, while the other two with her nodded their heads.

“We still need to find the Kera, after all.” Chengxiao explained. “Gilbert wants us to tell their people here about what happened to Guinness.”

“I see, so they’re in Torfalmein?” I deduced.

“Yup.” She nodded.

“The two of us are here as witnesses, so I think we can tell the story properly to them.”

Meiqi added.

That’s good, I nodded.

After we got ready, Chengxiao saw us off as we left her ship, setting back down on Kamag soil.

“I’d really like to have seen Guinness myself, at least once.” Eunseo lamented. Shooting Meiqi and I a glance, “You know, before you two broke him down for parts.”

“He asked us to.” I argued. “And that’s not exactly a situation appropriate for pictures, you know.”

“I’m sure the Kera have his photos and mementos too, Eunseo; you’ll get the chance to see him.” Meiqi consoled her.

I guess so, she cheered up hearing her words.

“I’ve already seen a few Magna here and there, myself.”

Luda spoke up.

“With Memphis and this entire planet in tow, I think I’m set for the day where robots are concerned.”

“Fair enough.”

Walking from the Harmonius 09’s wing towards the front,

“Anyways,”

I stood before the ship, my eyes sweeping over the Virtuous 08 and Indomitable 10 on either side of it. This arrangement made Xiao’s spaceship the centre of the three, lined up in the clearing.

“You’re leaving now, aren’t you?”

The owners of the two other ships nodded.

Alright then, I returned the same gesture.

The three of them split up, Meiqi and Eunseo going to their respective ships and Luda going over to my side.

“Stay safe, KC, Luda unnie.”

Outside the door of her sleek red ship, Meiqi advised.

“Like I said, the Trials won’t be too difficult for you. Still, it won’t hurt to be careful.”

“Got it.” I replied.

“Just get in touch if you need help, okay?”

Eunseo said, pulling up the ladder to her large, weathered ship after she climbed up into it.

“Don’t worry about us, Eunseo.”

Luda flashed them a grin. I held up the ‘OK’ sign as well.

After we waved to each other, the two women entered their respective ships, and the three spacecrafts began to start up their systems.

*WHIRRR*

“…!!”

Their engine ers roared out in concert, sounding as different as they looked.

Now that I’m watching it from out here, ship takeoff does make a lot of noise, doesn’t it?

I’ve seen ships fly off the ground before, but not this close.

“I’ll be over there, KC!!”

Luda pointed to where our own ships were parked, shouting through all the noise while covering her ears.

“Okay!!”

Replying to her, I stayed in my current position to take in the full force of their takeoff.

The Virtuous 08, Harmonious 09, and Indomitable 10 all flashed all sorts of lights as they lifted off the ground, as if warning everyone around them of the intense forces involved in this process.

…!!

The gusts of wind coming from the ships felt toasty brushing against my body, reminding me that it was the middle of the day here in Deusrust.

…Or, you know, that the air from the ship exhausts was actually very hot.

Mechanical buzzes sounded as the ships retracted their landing supports, storing them in latches lined at the bottom of the hulls.

Then, wailing their exhausts at a deafening volume, a flood of warning lights flashed—

*BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM*

—And the three ships blasted to the skies in succession, causing tremors to ripple around the landing zone.

“…And there they go.” I saw them off.

If this was real life, people will already be scolding me for endangering myself and getting too close to such a high-powered vehicle in operation. Without such risks in this world, I could be as near to them as I want, relying on the Hazard Shield to take in all the damage.

The shapes of the spacecrafts quickly shrank as they flew away from us, turning into indistinct dots as they soared into the horizon of the barren, dry landscape, away from Arbosienn.

“…”

Taking the experience in, I looked around the landing area, as well as the town of Deusrust beside which it was located.

“Right.” I reminded myself. “The spacesuit.”

I hurried over to the Wandering 14 to change my clothes.

---

After checking the state of my ship’s crew quarters, I pulled out the orange spacesuit from the washing machine and shook it out, checking that the synthetic material was dry.

Setting it aside, I then took off my clothes and put them through the laundry, after which I moved to the bathroom to take the first shower of the day.

Wonder where the water comes from.

Perhaps I should get the ship looked at soon, see if stuff needs maintaining or not.

Drying myself off with the towel laid on the bed, I put on the spacesuit and set it to calibrate to my body.

Turing my arm to feel the fabric of the suit snug against my skin,

“Should be done.”

Opening the inventory window, I went to a section of the storage space where a paper shopping bag was placed.

Peering inside it,

I still have a set of casual clothes unworn, but I’ll set them aside just in case.

Having the inventory space to store spare clothes was convenient, really. Of course, it was nothing compared to upwards of six complete weapons and entire crates of material stored in the same area, but still.

“Hmm?”

I was just about to leave the ship when a notification came onto my system.

‘Voice Chat Session Invite’

Following the link, I entered a chatroom with one other participant, and,

“KC?” A soft voice sounded in my ear.

It was Luda, the host of the room.

“What is it?” I replied.

“Look outside!”

“Huh?”

Following her instructions, I opened the exit hatch of the Wandering 14 and stepped out onto the ship’s left wing.

“What the…”

A single blue light fell from the sky a distance away from Deusrust, leaving a trail of smoke as it flickered.

In the opposite direction of Arbosienn, the dissipating trail looked like it came from the ground, somewhere in the swathes of barren land away from civilization.

“That’s a flare, isn’t it?”

Luda’s question reached me through the communications system.

“I think so.” I replied. “Does someone need help?”

Wait…

“That’s Jina and Memphis, isn’t it?”

A trace of panic crept up in her voice as she came to the same conclusion I did.

“Likely.” I agreed. “They did say they were going to be hunting in the wilderness while waiting for us to come back.”

“Should we go there?”

“Let’s fly our ships, Luda.”

“Got it.”

Going back into the ship, I moved over to the cockpit and dropped down onto the pilot seat, preparing it for takeoff. Through the window, the lights from Luda’s Observant 06 beamed as dust scattered away around us.

“Here we go!”

Gradually pressing the capacity of the ers, I lifted the Wandering 14 off the ground. Then, with a strong snap, the boosters blasted it up above the ground and away from the clearing.

As the buildings of Deusrust became smaller and farther away, I looked for the flare from before.

Turning my ship around in a wide arc, my eyes swept down around on the sun-beaten plains below me. In such a sunny day, it proved difficult to see where the blue light was.

The shape that crossed my path instead was the manta ray-like shape of Luda’s ship, heading to my right.

“This way, KC. Follow me.”

Luda informed me, using the active voice chat function instead of our ships’ communication systems.

“Alright, lead the way.”

Steering the Wandering 14 to trail behind the Observant 06, I followed Luda’s directions as we flew away from Deusrust.

It didn’t take along before she sought out the location from which the flare was likely to be fired. Before we could reach it, however,

“…What is that!?”

“Woah…”

Both of us exclaimed, one after the other, as we witnessed the scene unfolding on the ground below us.

Hundreds of elephant-like creatures ran through the stretches of dry, run-down land in a herd, each one of them almost half the size of our ships. The animals kicked up huge clouds of dust behind them as they trampled, but the ones further behind pushed through as they kept up with the ones leading the herd.

The stampede of footsteps reached me in low murmurs this high up in the air, indicating just how loud these beasts were.

And, of course,

“Look at the size of their joints!”

All of them were of mechanical nature, layered sheets and shafts of metal in place of flesh and bone. Cogs and driven pistons powered the movement of these heavy creatures, barely distinguishable on their limbs from our altitude.

“This is insane.”

I’ve seen all sorts of robotic animals in comics and movies growing up, but ‘being here’ and seeing these mighty beasts run, really made them feel alive and real.

The voice channel between us remained silent, both its participants completely speechless at how intense the spectacle was.

After a few moments,

“Wow, that was an experience.”

Luda quipped, her voice still airy from breathlessness.

“Yeah, it was.”

I answered. Reminding myself of our situation,

“Have you found those two, Luda?”

“Hmm…”

In front of me, the Observant 06 dipped closer to the ground, decreasing its altitude and velocity to quiet down the noise from its jets.

Unlike Luda’s alienly silent ship, the Wandering 14 would still make a lot of noise at that speed, so I kept my current flying height while slowing down to match her pace.

“They should be around here, just past where the herd is turning…”

From this high up, I also helped her look around for signs of people. Remembering Chengxiao’s advice, I the active targeting system in my weapons to use their heat-seeking sensors.

I’m only using the sensors on their own, of course: What kind of person would shoot their newfound allies?

Ignoring all the reticles that pointed to the beasts, I waited for anything out of line to show up.

*BEEP*

“There they are…!” Luda’s voice sounded in my ear.

Looks like she and my ship found our targets at the same time.

Following the crosshair corresponding to their position on my HUD, I turned off the targeting system and squinted at the specks of brown down on the ground.

Can’t see it like this.

“Can you zoom in on that point, Wandering?”

The system beeped in response to my voice command and brought out a window, showing a zoomed view of the area.

Amongst a pit dappled with boulders, two shapes cloaked in brown barely stuck out from the terrain. As my ship enhanced the footage, I could see one of them waving in our direction.

In the very small opening in those ragged robes, their faces could be seen: The face of a Human smiling through her frosted complexion, and the metallic, red-eyed head of the one who calls themselves an Ilyid.

Heaving a sigh, I couldn’t help but say this to myself:

“We’re back, you two.”

---

Luda flashed the lights of her ship, telling the two people on the ground that we’ve seen them.

In response, the waving figure pointed to a direction a little to the left of our travel. In the direction of her arm, a basic encampment occupied a small area of flat land, its facilities far too simple to serve an overnight stay.

Base camp?

“Let’s go, KC.” Luda suggested.

“Right.”

Following Luda’s lead, we picked a place not too close to the campsite to land, so that the wind won’t blow anything away. As we moved, I thought of activating the ship external audio system to talk to the two on the ground, but for some reason decided against it.

They won’t hear me this high up, anyway.

I set the Wandering 14 to land after Luda, as usual. Standing up from the pilot seat, I headed to the exit hatch and rested my hand firm on the handle, ready to push it open.

Dropping down from this height is definitely possible, but I’d rather not damage the Hazard Shield more than I have to.

Thohiri was an emergency, to be clear.

After checking that the spacesuit on my body was working fine, I opened my inventory and arranged my arsenal and tech so that it was easy to switch them out as necessary.

It didn’t take long for the Observant 06 to land, and my ship quickly set itself down on the ground soon after. Not restricted by the necessary protocol in landing zones, the touchdown process was satisfyingly quick.

I braced myself as the impact shook the hull, then told the Wandering 14 to power down as I opened the exit hatch.

Kamag’s arid afternoon weather assailed my senses, but I jumped off the ship without waiting to get used to the environment.

Without shade or cover around, apart from a few oddly-shaped rocks here and there, the barren wilderness of Kamag was sweltering to bear. However,

“There we go.”

The Hazard Shield soon responded to the weather, cooling the air around me and filtering out some of the intense sun rays.

Walking over to Luda’s ship, I waited for her to come out. Then, the sound of depressurization hissed from the front, and—

“Hers opens up at the cockpit, huh?”

The front windows of the Observant 06 parted, and Luda’s figure carefully lowered herself out of it.

Putting my voice communication function on standby,

“Ready?” I called out to her.

Exposed to the strong afternoon sun, her eyes shut tightly as she waited for her Hazard Shield to adjust itself.

“What did you say?”

Luda replied with her own question as she walked over.

“I said: You ready?” I repeated myself.

“Yep.” She nodded. “Let’s see what Jina and Memphis are up to.”

Using the base camp as a landmark, we inferred the direction of the two people and set out to join up with them. Despite the relatively flat land of the region, mounds, boulders, and the occasional metal wrecks blocked our view. We had to move closer to be able to spot anything among the rubble.

After a few minutes, we finally came across the pit Jina and Memphis were in.

“Hum.”

My eyes darted around the place.

A bit quiet, isn’t it?

Making eye contact with Luda, the two of us nodded to each other and prepared ourselves.

“Guys…?” I called out, projecting my voice around the rocky depression.

What looked like a piece of metal suddenly moved, and both our eyes darted in its direction.

…!!

A metal hand jutted out from behind a stone, gesturing for us to get down.

Without saying another word, both of us lowered our bodies onto the ground, and everything went silent again… That is, except for a very slight gnashing barely audible over the sound of wind that blew over the region.

Let’s move.

I signed to Luda, before crawling in the direction from where the metal hand showed itself.

We turned the corner of the stone—

…!

And came face-to-face with two people, who had their backs against the other side.

My expression lit up as I recognized their faces, and I greeted them with a smile and a wave.

Heyy~, Luda did the same as soon as she caught up.

Despite having her cheeks reddened from the heat, Jina beamed at the sight of our faces and beckoned us over.

As we moved to her side, Luda and I turned to look at Memphis, and the three of us nodded to each other. I also held out my hand and bumped fists with them, the wiry metal on their knuckle warm against mine.

“I’m so happy you came…!”

Jina whispered as she gave Luda a hug, making no doubt a relieved face to her fellow Human.

“The flare was from you, wasn’t it?” Luda asked.

Jina nodded in response to her question.

“I saw Chengxiao and the others’ ships fly away from Deusrust, and I thought that you two would be back, too.”

Drawing a breath,

“Even though it disrupted our hunt for a bit, I had to send the signal out and hope you notice it!”

“That was risky, Jina.” I pursed my lips. “I was just finished taking a shower when you fired the flare; if it wasn’t for Luda, I wouldn’t even know where you are!”

“Hehe,”

She rubbed the back of her head, covered by the hood of her Kelvin coat.

“But you’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”

Hearing her words, Luda only shrugged while I let out a sigh.

“Now,”

Turning to Memphis,

“Fill us in on the situation.”

I began.

“…You’re hunting one of those giant herding beasts, aren’t you?”

Luda also went silent, paying full attention to the Ilyid.

“That’s right.” They nodded.

Pointing a finger up, they gestured us to keep quiet and listen to the wind.

“The metallic grinding sound, right?” I described what I heard before. “Is that from them?”

“Your arrival here was a windfall for us, to say.”

Memphis explained that the flare Jina fired had scared off the herd of mechanical beasts, but the arrival of our ships brought them back here.

“Sammad Felleans,”

The name of the elephant-like creatures left their vocalizer.

“Aggressive when they’re cornered; not beasts anyone can take on alone.”

“We’ve been teaming up with other hunters to take down some of Kamag’s native fauna these past few days.”

Jina added, hugging what looked like a long, technical hammer close to her.

“There’s only one other person with us today, though: A Feran, stationed on the other side of the Fellean herd.”

Feran, Fellean… That shouldn’t be too difficult to remember, I hope.

“He was dismayed at Jina’s decision regarding the flare, but our explanation helped him understand that your help will make the hunt a lot easier.”

“You’re already expecting us to help, Memphis?” I showed them a wry face.

“Do you not want a part in this hunt, KC?”

The Ilyid responded to my question with their own.

“…You sure know a lot about us Humans, don’t you?”

I grimaced, admitting that taking down such a menacing beast was indeed a thrilling prospect.

All the fights from Day 2 must have awakened such an appetite inside me.

“So, what’s the plan?”

Sat between Jina and me, Luda’s eyes focused on Memphis, who had explained the situation thus far. From her gaze, I could tell that she was eager to take it down, too.

“We’re in the middle of isolating one of the Felleans from the rest of the herd,” They began. “The metallic gnashing sound we hear is from that very beast.”

“Kalasia’s watching over the rest of the herd; he’ll send us a signal as soon as there’s enough distance between them and our target.”

That’s the name of our Feran friend, Jina pointed to the metal box in her other hand; it seems like they’ve been using that portable receiver to communicate for this operation.

“At the right moment, we shall lead the beast to this hole, preventing its quick escape and concealing its struggle from the others.”

The Ilyid continued, gesturing around the pit in which we hid ourselves.

“Still, the Fellean should be slain as quickly as possible, before it can call for help.”

The two of us nodded.

Prolonging the battle will introduce a lot of unknown variables, too.

“Calm your spirits and we shall prevail, KC, Luda.” Memphis assured us.

“We can do this, you two…!” Jina added.

“We’ll do our best.” I answered.

“All that’s left is to wait for the signal, right?”

Luda drew a deep breath, calming herself down.

The Human-Ilyid pair nodded, and none of us spoke any more.

Silence returned to our surroundings, the dry winds of Kamag interrupted only by the constant grinding sound coming from our target.

Several minutes passed without event, and the three people around me inspected the weapons they held to pass the time.

What Luda armed herself with was the harpoon we got on Nadeum, though the Positron Scattergun also hung from her shoulder. She also had a gray-lavender layer of clothing wrapped around her body, protecting her from the elements alongside the Hazard Shield.

By contrast, Jina gripped still the handle of her machine hammer, while Memphis ran their fingers down the string of… what looked like a bow?

A varied party we have here.

Should I use the Pulsar Beam Saber or Spined Rake for my secondary weapon? I know I’ll be maining the Fahrenheit’s Ovation for this hunt; with Luda and Memphis handling ranged combat, the obvious thing to do was help Jina out in the melee side.

I stared into the open inventory window, mulling over the choices—

*SSKKKTTT*

Static blared out of the receiver Jina held before I could decide.

“Wha—”

I dropped everything I was doing and got the Ovation ready to switch out.

“It’s time.”

The rest of us nodded in response to Memphis’s words.

A thin voice, close to the screech of a panther, came from the metal box’s transducer:

“…None of the herd is looking, Jie: Now’s your chance!!”

---

“Here we go…!!”

Heaving out a breath, it was Jina who acted first.

The Human rose from her position and brought the head of the long hammer to her side. She activated the weapon in her hands, running its machinery and caused the entire weapon to quake.

What is she doing…?

Motioning for us to stay away, she took a few steps back from the wall of the pit around us, and then,

“Hrngh!!”

Running towards the earthen wall, she bore the entire weight of the hammer on her limbs, and swung it with all her might!

The moment the pointed end of the hammer met the face of the wall—

*BBOOOMM*

A mechanism in the head released, and shockwaves spread out from the impact point.

*RUMBLE*

Cracks spread out outside of the hole in front of us, propagating forwards in the direction of the metal grinding sound.

The moment the land started to give way,

“Now!!” Jina shouted.

Immediately after, Memphis rushed outside the width of the collapsing wall and jumped out of the hole, their bow already nocked with a metal arrow.

“Follow after me!” They ordered.

“…Right!”

Luda trailed after the Ilyid, leaping out of the pit using the rubble as stepping stones. The harpoon in her hand and the dust coat brushing against the wind gave her the appearance of a hardened ranger, and the determined gaze in her eyes definitely completed the look.

Returning to my senses, I looked for a way out to follow those two. As Jina pulled out the hammer from the disintegrated earth, I went over to a suitable spot, tapped the side of my shoe against the ground, and—

*BOOM*

Stomping my feet as hard as I could, the jet module launched myself into the air with full capacity.

Up above the ground, the scene of the fight I was about to enter unfolded before my very eyes:

A region of land gave way beneath the thick feet of a long-snouted, gargantuan metal beast, plunging it into a landslide that headed towards the hole where we were. To either side of the collapse, Memphis fired one arrow after another into the gaps between its joints, while Luda stuck on a harpoon stuck on its back, pulling it towards the depression as hard as she could.

Just before my feet reached the ground, a figure of spotted yellow and brown came towards us from the distance, holding a white, curved spear in its hand.

“Looks like the Feran’s here too…!” I said to myself.

Rolling forward to lessen the impact of the landing, I ran towards the Sammad Fellean thrashing within the falling rocks and jumped straight onto it.

Pulling out the Ovation,

“…!!”

I transformed the charged shield into its axe form and drew it in an overhead arc with both hands, swinging it down on the hulking animal’s face.

*CRUNCH*

A strong clanging sound rang out from the point of collision around the area. I scowled from the disorienting chord, apologizing internally to the others unfortunate enough to hear it.

The Fellean also froze its movements from the shock, though not as much as I expected it to. Making use of the opportunity, I vaulted over the beast with the Ovation, using the momentum from the flip to push it in the hole’s direction. Pulling the axe out, the motion landed me within the rubble of the collapse, while our target slid away from me.

I wriggled my way out of the pile of rocks and climbed out to join back up with Luda, who had released the harpoon bolt from the launcher she held.

“What was that all about?”

She said, taking my hand and pulling my body out of the crevice.

“I dunno, just moved without thinking.” I shrugged. “Gotta get that first strike, you know?”

“Sounds about right.” She sighed.

“Was that you, KC?”

Memphis called out from the other side of the landslide, themselves just barely standing from shock. It seems like the disorienting effect hit them hard as well.

“Yeah, sorry.” I did a one-handed apology gesture to them.

As we ran back towards the pit,

“What was that sound, Mem?”

A snarl reached us from the opposite direction. Soon after, the owner of the voice appeared: A leopard beastman who joined up alongside the Ilyid.

“One of our newcomers’ weapons, Kal.”

Memphis answered, gesturing with their head in my direction.

“Are you fine, yourself?”

“No real issue, probably because I was further away.”

The Feran called Kalasia looked over to us, staring silently for a moment before returning his attention back on the path. Having already stored the Ovation away in my inventory space, I would understand the doubt in his eyes.

The moment we reached the edge of the depression,

*THUMP*

The sight of the Fellean’s temple hit by the head of Jina’s hammer greeted us.

“RRRGGGHHH”

However, without the mechanism to assist the overheated weapon in its attack, the impact was much less devastating, and the beast recovered its stance almost immediately.

“Uh oh.” She let out a whimper.

The Fellean squealed and slammed its heavy, metal-plated snout onto the Human, causing the ground to shake around them.

*BBOOOMM*

“Jina!!” Luda yelled.

Without wasting time, Memphis ran around the edge of the hole, switching out their arrows to fire. Kalasia leaped into the fray, pointing his spear in the beast’s direction.

“I’m going in!”

Beside me, Luda took out her Barnacle Whip and rushed forwards without warning.

“Damn it.”

I thought about joining the two of them, but decided to assist Memphis in suppressing the Fellean from afar instead. Someone will have to distract the beast while the two people come to her rescue.

Holding the Bitter Howl in my arms, I ran around the pit in the opposite direction from Memphis, and aimed the sonic weapon at the beast inside the crater.

This far from the creature, I wasn’t sure if it would have as strong of an effect. However, if I could distract it for a moment, Luda and Kalasia would be able to run in and pull Jina out.

The Sammad Fellean saw the two of them approach and flailed the snout around like a gigantic whip, barely missing either of them by a hair.

Timing the beast’s motions, I fired the Howl at it at the end of its swing. However, raging from its fury, the elephant-like metal lifeform ignored the Howl’s soundwaves and continued unleashing its barrage of attacks at the two people.

Kalasia leaped out of the way, while Luda dipped her body right between the Fellean’s legs, avoiding its goring advance.

That was a very close one, Luda…!

And then,

In the section of the pit where the beast was before, the figure of a Human in a blue coat appeared from among the fallen debris, a hand reaching over trying to find a hold and get up.

On the other side, Luda wrapped the Barnacle Whip around one of the beast’s legs, restraining it while Kalasia harassed its body with his spear.

“What are you two doing!?”

Hearing my voice, Luda looked at me and pointed in Jina’s direction with her head. Looking at the strength of the metal lifeform and the strain in her whip, I could tell that they won’t be able to hold it back for much longer.

Was she telling me to get Jina out?

From this distance I don’t know if I’d be able to make it in time!

On the other hand, Memphis is already doing their best pelting the Fellean with arrows, trying to keep it distracted; helping them using the Sver-Mod crossbow wouldn’t do a lot to alleviate the situation either.

“Ah, screw it!”

Casting my doubts aside, I slid down into the pit and sprinted towards Jina as fast as I could.

On my way there, Luda’s voice rang in my ear.

“Quickly, KC!!”

She had reactivated our voice channel, urging me on.

In the very next moment—

“RROOOAARRR—!!!”

*BOOM* *CRASH*

The hulking beast swung its limbs in one giant motion, pulling on Luda’s whip and hurling her entire body into Kalasia, sending them both crashing into the wall of the pit.

“Luda!!”

“Kal!!”

Memphis and I both screamed.

I kept myself calm and focused on running towards Jina; that amount of force won’t take out her Hazard Shield, and Luda’s fought far nastier monsters before.

However, just as I reached the Human’s prone body, the Fellean caught sight of me. Despite the others’ efforts to keep it occupied, it saw its new target and turned to charge in my direction.

Damn it.

Among the fragmented rocks, Jina grimaced in pain as she struggled to get herself up.

Helping her leave the place will take too much time!

Even if I shielded her with the Ovation or my Hazard Shield, I wasn’t sure whether they will protect her from the weight of the Fellean crushing down on our bodies. either.

“RROOOOAARRRR!!”

The metal beast spared its targets no moment to think, trampling its way towards us in rage.

Looks like I’ll have to risk it after all…!

Switching out the Ovation still in its axe form, I pulled it behind me,

“Huff,”

Concentrating on the wheel in my mind,

“Rrraagh!!”

I slammed the blade of the weapon down on the ground, dialing the needle all the way to the left.

*WHIRR*

The Ovation cried as the entire length of the blade turned frost-white, stalagmites of frozen air propagating from the glowing blue weapon towards the charging Fellean.

*CRACKLE* *SCRCH*

The trail of icicles blazed forward, unwavering in the direction of the raging metal beast. Then,

*SHINK* *STAB*

The ice stakes pierced the underside of the lifeform’s body from the ground,

“AAOOOOOUUUUU—!!!”

And the beast screamed from the painful, frigid cold.

However, the ice spikes weren’t enough to deter the rampaging beast from its advance. Its hulking form continued to run towards us, knocking down all the other icicles in its way. It ignored the bits of ice that stuck onto its face, focusing only on taking us down.

In the face of the crisis, I hardened my resolve—

“…!”

—Pulled the still-frozen Ovation from the ground—

*RUMBLE*

—And moved in the direction of the incoming Fellean.

“KC!!” Memphis called out to me from outside the pit.

“What are you doing!?”

Luda’s voice rang in my ear, sharing the same concern.

Drawing a breath,

“I’m setting the monster up for you, Luda.”

I whispered to her through the voice channel.

“What…?”

The Sammad Fellean lowered its head, ready to meet the blade of the Ovation at our clashing point. Following its predictions, I kept the weapon in its axe form while trudging towards it.

Then, at the very last moment, I swung the Fahrenheit’s Ovation upwards into the beast.

I swung the Ovation upwards, pulling the blade up from the ground and driving its sharp edge, once again, into the face of the metal beast.

“…!!”

With gravity against the motion of the swing, however, the force of the impact was nowhere as strong. Ignoring the blade dug into its face, the metal beast struck my entire body out of the way, pulling my hold on the Shaen-made weapon free. My body smashed into the hard surface of a boulder, and the shock of the impact rattled my mind.

“Come on..!!”

However, scrambling to retain consciousness, I kept my mind focused on the Ovation’s mental dial.

“…NOW!”

I ordered it to activate the cyan lifeforce channels at full capacity once more.

Obeying my command, the blade froze over in a split second.

“!!!”

The ice that bloomed out of the Ovation crawled onto the Fellean’s face, and, in an instant,

*CRACKLE*

*CRREAAKK—!!*

Numerous glacier spikes protruded out from everywhere on its body, especially on its head and where the ice pierced its belly before; using the existing bits of ice on the Fellean’s face and underside, the Ovation grew a giant frost crystal that covered its entire body.

“GGRRAAAAAAAAOOOO—!!”

The pain of hundreds of ice spikes skewering its body, and the burden of additional weight, together dragged the Fellean down into the ground.

The moment its movements slowed to a halt,

“Do your thing, Luda!” I shouted.

“Take cover, KC!!”

Her voice reached me immediately after.

Not a second later, a cluster of glowing blue charges arced towards the struggling body of the Sammad Fellean.

*BOOMBOOMBOOM*

The relentless blasts from Luda’s hydropump grenade launcher shook the entire battlefield as they subjected it to wanton destruction.

…

The tremors made it difficult for me to get up from the ground, and the trembling of my limbs didn’t help either. Through blurred vision, however, a familiar metal shape protruded into my view.

“That was a reckless act, KC.”

Memphis’s metal figure appeared, their arms pulling mine over their shoulder as they helped me up.

“…What about Jina?” I asked them.

The Ilyid showed me a calm expression, motioning with their eye in her direction.

Following their gaze, I found the Human in the distance, feebly standing on her feet clutching the hammer close to herself. To her side, Kalasia supported her form with his own upright body.

The Feran made eye contact with us and shouted,

“The beast is on its last legs, Human!”

Hearing his words, I turned to the source of the since ceased explosions and saw Luda approaching the broken and tattered form of the Sammad Fellean, wailing weakly in the middle of a hole-riddled ground.

“Luda.”

I spoke to her through the voice channel.

“…!!”

The sound of her trembled breathing leaked through the communications system.

This really isn’t easy to get used to, is it?

Like all the monsters we fought before, the massive, mechanical beast was still just another creature trying to survive in this world. The pain it suffered was as real to itself as ours were to us.

“I’ll finish this.”

Not waiting for her to answer, I used the wheel of the Ovation one last time.

*VVOOOOMMM*

The axe form of the charged shield, embedded in the lifeform’s face, seared a brilliant red-white through the ice, firing scorching heat much more intense than the rays of the afternoon sun.

Running its red lifeforce channels at full capacity, the weapon enveloped itself in fire as it melted through the Fellean’s head and burned through what remained of its life.

Through the beast’s death throes, I heard Luda draw one final breath over the voice channel, then—

*THUMP*

A single blue charge tumbled onto the ruined head of its dying form.

*BBOOOOMM*

An explosion later, the Sammad Fellean was put out of its misery.

The pistons and gears of the metal beast expended their last, and silence returned to the debris-littered pit.

---

Luda and I joined back up with Jina, while Memphis and Kalasia left the perimeter of the pit. Looking for other threats that may have strayed into the area, they said.

“What happened back there, Jina?”

Setting the wielder of the hammer down onto a clearing, Luda asked her.

“…The ignition for the Ditherer jammed right after I struck; I couldn’t start its drill bunker in time.”

Reflexively gasping from the lingering pain, she explained that the battle would be over much earlier if not for that hiccup.

I took the hammer off of her hands and laid it beside her on a nearby boulder, not forgetting to read what came up on its system description.

‘Ore Ditherer’

…It’s a prototype asteroid drill?

The system explained that drills strong enough to dig through asteroids were seldom this small, and that hundreds of iterations of this particular design have been made without a successful breakthrough.

“!!”

My eyes widened when they read the phrase at the bottom of the text.

The inventor’s name: Jung Jin-ah.

“What’s wrong, KC?”

Luda saw my surprised expression while she helped Jina tend to herself.

“…Did you design the Ore Ditherer, Jina?”

I asked her the question I already knew the answer to.

Applying a medical solvent onto her bruises, the pale-skinned woman nodded.

“It’s still a work in progress, but I have hopes for it… How did you know the Ditherer’s full name?”

I stayed silent, unsure of how to answer.

“Either way,” She continued, “This version had worked so well, not failing even once over the last few months or so.”

Why would it fail at such a critical moment…!?

The Human bit her lips, her eyes teary from the injuries.

Luda and I looked at each other, figuring out what to do next. Was there a medical facility in Deusrust? Was it possible for her to recover quickly, or at all? Will it interfere with the Trial and hold her back?

Waiting for Jina to finish patching herself up, I moved over to the dead Sammad Fellean and recovered the Ovation from it. Despite being bombarded by Luda’s grenades, the weapon sustained practically no damage.

You can see the difference in grade here.

Dusting off Kamag’s soil from the charged shield, I morphed it back into the shield form and put it away, feeling fortunate that I owned such a potent weapon.

On the other hand, Luda approached the body of the metal beast itself, activating the Resource Reticulator around her head and analyzing the mineral composition of our hunt.

Before long,

“All clear on our side.”

Memphis and Kalasia returned back to us.

“It looks like something else alerted the Fellean herd, luring them away from our position.” They reported.

“That’s good to know,” I sighed. “Don’t know if I can handle even a bunch of those beasts.”

“Let’s carve the body, then.” Luda suggested.

Jina’s eyes, however, stared in our direction, seeming to ignore all our words.

“…Is that a resource reticulator, Luda?” She asked.

“Uh, yeah.” Luda replied. “Why?”

“Only the senior mining heads in Fetu get to use them,”

Jina continued, using the long handle of the Ditherer to help herself up.

“Are you a prospector yourself…?”

“Ah, no.” The member beside me shook her head. “This was… something I picked up in my travels.”

Luda used the excuse of salvaging to hid the players’ login bonus system from her.

“I work as a plant technician in an energy transporter in the Turi-Nur system, by the way.”

“Wait, you can be an explorer while keeping a day job?”

“Ah, yes, well it’s a bit of a special circumstance in my case really…”

Glad that’s out of the way, I thought something was going to happen.

Leaving Luda to chat with Jina, I met up with the other two people.

“That was a bit grisly, wasn’t it?”

Kalasia sighed, crossing his arms.

“I was wondering the same thing; hunts aren’t usually this messy, are they?” I asked.

“With thorough preparation and coordination, we can control much of the risk.” Memphis explained. “Had Jina’s weapon worked as we intended, the blow on the Fellean would have staggered long enough for my zapper arrows to take effect.”

The hunt would end right there and then, with us restraining it.

“Unlike Memphis, I don’t really preach the idea of fate, destiny and stuff like that.”

The Feran wiped his whiskers.

“But I have to thank you two for your help; you really came at the right time.”

“No problem.” I replied. “We’re happy to be part of this.”

The three of us joined back up with the other two. After everyone got ready,

“Now that there are five of us, how should we split the haul?” Kalasia began.

“As usual: Two mantles, two hydraulic pumps, four locomotive pistons each, with up to ten cogs and propellant cases between us.” Memphis suggested.

Even with two additional people, the Fellean should provide enough for us, they explained.

However, looking at the body of the metal beast,

“That’s not even a third of its body,” I argued. “What are you going to do with the rest?”

“They will return to Kamag’s earth and nature.” Kalasia stated.

“Any more and it’ll be too heavy for us to bring back to Deusrust, anyway.” Jina added.

Ah.

So these people didn’t have inventory spaces, either.

“Any objections?” The Ilyid looked over everyone.

“None from me.” The Feran shook his head.

“I’m fine as well.” The Human nodded.

“Well, we’ve only dropped by to see how Memphis and Jina were doing in the first place,”

I looked at Luda to see what she thought, and it didn’t look like she had any problems with the distribution as well.

“You two were the ones who felled the beast; it’s only right that you receive a portion of the spoils.” Memphis assured.

“Alright, we’ll be happy to accept.” I agreed.

With that settled, the three of them brought out various equipment and began to work on the body of the Sammad Fellean.

Nodding to each other, the two of us also joined in the dismantling process, using our all-purpose tools.

“Speaking of which,”

Luda spoke up in the middle of disassembling a joint.

“Hmm?”

“I don’t see your ships anywhere, are they hidden?”

At her innocuous question, Memphis stayed silent while the other two people showed bitter smiles.

“None of us have had the privilege to own an independent deep-space personal craft, unfortunately.” Kalasia pointed out.

“O-oh,” Luda realized what he meant. “I’m sorry.”

“Everyone starts somewhere.”

The Feran waved his hand at her.

“I treat it as rite of passage for early-career explorers, really: Amassing enough money to buy a spaceship for ourselves.”

So don’t worry too much about it, He reassured.

Wait,

“Then, how are you going to get back to Deusrust?” I asked.

Pulling out one of Memphis’s arrows from the Fellean’s torso, Jina answered.

“We’ll just walk back there. It’ll take some time, but unless something freaky happens we’ll reach the outpost well before nightfall.”

“Walk!?” Luda exclaimed.

“Yeah, not many of Kamag’s wildlife venture close to the cities, but they’re not too far out either.”

Besides, traveling on foot makes for good exercise, the Human smiled.

“Hmm.”

There were definitely timing problems here: Even disregarding the other members that should be here soon, we still only have one day left in this world.

Therefore,

“Can’t you just ride in our ships back?” I suggested.

“Yeah, I thought that was the plan?” Luda followed up.

“Ah, no, we didn’t dare assume that you were going to let us on…”

Jina waved both her hands in front of her.

“We have only met two weeks ago, so it would be presumptuous of ourselves to impose on your continued generosity,” Memphis added. “We’ve traversed these grounds several times now, so it would not burden us much to return on our own.”

“It’s fine, or rather,”

I arranged the specified carves from the creature and sorted them by type.

“I want you all to get on: We’re meeting up with the others very soon, and we don’t want to delay the Foundation Trials any further.”

“The others…!?” Jina gasped.

“Yep, the others.” Luda grinned. “They’re all Human women, too.”

“Oh, I can’t wait!”

Clear excitement in her eyes, she quickly finished her portion of the dismantling process and stood up, brushing hair away from her face.

“What are they like, Luda?”

“Calm down, Human.” Kalasia reprimanded. “You’re injured, remember?”

“Ah…” She realized her own state and sunk back down.

“We will finish before long, Jina; it is ill manner to let their friends wait, after all.” Memphis chuckled.

“It’s good to have you checked back in town, too.” I added.

“Right.”

Before long, we obtained what we needed and split the parts among ourselves, according to the agreed proportions. Because of our contribution, Luda and I were given the majority of the cogs and propellant cases as well.

After we finished, the five of us went back to the site near where our ships landed. We waited for the three of them to pack up, and headed for the landing area.

We settled on having Memphis and Kalasia join me on the Wandering 14, while Jina will fly in Luda’s Observant 06.

“See you in Deusrust, Luda.” I waved to her as we got on.

“You too.” She nodded back, pulling Jina up into the opening on her ship’s cockpit.

I welcomed the two people into the Wandering 14, then closed the exit hatch behind us.

“Thanks for the ride, Human.”

Kalasia nodded as he rested down on a seat in the weaponry room along with Memphis.

“No problem.” I nodded. “It’s KC, by the way.”

“I’ll be in your care, KC.”

The Feran responded with the same gesture.

The takeoff process went by without a hitch, my ship departing after Luda’s as usual. Setting our route back to Deusrust, I let the Wandering 14’s automatic guidance do its job and left the pilot seat.

I wanted to rest a bit in the crew quarters and look at the loot from my hunt, but the Ilyid stopped me before I could.

“What is it?” I asked them.

“If it is no burden to you, KC, I would like to trade for your propellant cases.”

The mechanical lifeform requested.

“Uh, I mean, I can just give them to you if you want to, right?” I offered.

“I need them for the maintenance of my body, but I will not take away your riches for them.”

“Ah, alright then.”

Taken aback by the Ilyid’s request, I thought about what to get from them. It didn’t look like they had much on them, and that bow seemed to be the only weapon they had.

“The Fused Arc?”

Memphis saw my eyes lay on the large bow on their back.

“If you insist on having this bow, it will have to wait until I find myself a new one.”

“Oh, no, I don’t mean to…”

My words trailed off as I tried to find something to get from them.

Hiring their talent as a mercenary could be an option, but I don’t know how long we’ll be walking on the same road.

My mind went back to the bow, and at once an idea struck my head.

“How about some of the zapper arrows you talked about before?”

Memphis pondered over my offer for a few seconds, then nodded their head.

“Very well; those are easier to part with.”

The Ilyid slid out the quiver from their shoulder, then dug into it with an arm.

What they pulled out, however, wasn’t an arrow; holding a small rectangular vessel in their arm, they opened it up to reveal a clear yellow liquid inside.

Before they could reach for what was definitely one of their arrows,

“Is that it? The zapper… coating?” I interrupted them.

“That it is.” Memphis affirmed. “Would you like a vial of it instead?”

“That’ll be great, thank you.” I nodded.

I was planning on examining the arrows to see how they were made, anyway. Getting the coating itself will only make it easier.

“I don’t carry any spare flasks with me, so you’ll have to provide your own for it.” They pointed out.

“Ah, sure.”

I thought about rummaging through the ship’s storage area, but ended up crafting the vial from the materials in my inventory instead.

Giving the clear plastic container to the mechanical lifeform, I watched as they poured about half of the liquid into it.

We then exchanged our wares: All the propellant cases I got from the hunt, for the vial containing my portion of the coating.

“You have my gratitude, KC.”

Memphis made a slight bow.

“No problem, thanks for this as well.”

I held up the vial to them.

Done with the trade, I walked over to the crew quarters, closed the partition door, and hopped onto the bed. Largely ignoring the casual conversation between Memphis and Kalasia, I studied the vial of coating in my hand.

‘Trinb Zapper Coating’

Designed to be a broad effect paralysis-type tranquilizer, it worked on all sorts of creatures, biological, mechanical and others. The catch was that it wasn’t particularly effective on any one of them.

Still, the fact that my systems can’t analyze its components…

Either the compound’s grade was too high, or its ingredients were unknown in the first place.

“Well, if I don’t know what something is,”

Bringing out a holographic window, I typed the name of the coating into the address field.

“I can just search it up.”

I spent the rest of the journey reading up on the coating and its manufacture, after which I got distracted with learning trivial information about the planet of Garfo-Trinb.

---

The Wandering 14’s alert for arrival to Deusrust beeped, returning me to my senses.

A dedicated notification system for the crew quarters meant that I could look into the status of my ship without ever leaving the bed.

Anyways,

I stood up, straightened my hair, and walked back to the cockpit. A notification came up on my system, but I ignored it as I greeted the two passengers in the weaponry room.

“We’re here, KC.” Kalasia nodded to me, already standing up.

“And I would guess that your friends are, too?” Memphis tilted their head.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Look outside.” The mechanical lifeform indicated.

“What is…”

I went silent the moment I looked out the window.

Our arrival to Deusrust coincided with that of four other spacecrafts, all of them different in size and shape from one another.

“…Oh, what timing!”

Belatedly opening up the window linked to the notification, I saw a message from Luda in our private chat room.

Luda: The girls are here, KC!

You: Yeah.

Sending my reply, I squinted at the exteriors of those four ships. The numbers, painted on different parts of their hulls, gave the identity of the pilots away: 01, 02, 05, and 13.

Taking the pilot seat, I used the console to initiate the Wandering 14’s landing process, then browsed to the main chat group on a window.

Yeonjung: We aren’t late, are we, Luda unnie?

Luda: You arrived just in time, actually 👌

Luda: We were worried that we were going to make you wait.

Exy: I reached Malia first, then waited in orbit for the others to come.

Soobin: We had to get Exy unnie out of trouble for loitering outside the planet 😂

Seola: Exy is doing Exy again today 😩

You: Hello~ 👋

Joining the conversation, I found out about the landing queue between the six of us: I was second in line, with Luda being first. After that would be Exy, Yeonjung, Soobin, then Seola.

You: Speaking of which, I was wondering about what you said earlier.

You: How did you convince the admittance division to land in Deusrust instead of their chosen outpost?

Exy: What do you mean, KC?

Yeonjung: Ah, I understand what you’re asking.

Yeonjung: We warped straight above Arbosienn using the Nexus star map, and their reception rules merely stated that newcomers could only land their ships in an outpost.

Luda: So it didn’t have to be a specific one?

Yeonjung: That’s right.

Ah, I see.

That way, people taking the Foundation Trials can choose to land near their destination and save time on traveling.

Seola: What were you doing in the meantime, Luda? Cruising around?

Luda: Do I look like someone who enjoys doing that, unnie? 😂 Though that does sound kind of cool.

You: We’ve just got out of hunting this huge, elephant-like metal beast. It’s pretty wild, the fight almost went out of control.

Yeonjung: Oh, what’s it like? 👀

Before I could answer, my ship notified me that it was ready to land.

Instead,

You: I’ll tell you once we meet up on the ground.

You: Got some people to introduce, after all 😉

Dismissing the chat window, I let the Wandering 14 carry on with the touchdown process and got up from my seat. Checking my inventory, I joined up with Memphis and Kalasia, and the three of us waited by the exit hatch.

*THUD*

The impact of the landing echoed throughout the ship, and its systems powered down soon after.

“Who are those people?”

Kalasia asked me about the four newcomers.

“Do they know about us, KC?” Memphis added.

“They’re people I know, Kalasia.” I answered. “I told them about what we did, and I’m sure they’re looking forward to meeting you too.”

A non-Magna mechanical lifeform and a leopard Feran…

I chuckled; knowing the girls, that alone will get them talking for at least half an hour.

“Let’s go.”

Closest to the hatch, Kalasia opened it up, and the bright afternoon of Deusrust shone down on us once more.

We jumped down from the wing and headed straight for the automated immigration station. Getting our entry approved, we met with Luda and Jina, who were waiting right outside the arch.

Standing beside them, we waited for the ship after us to land.

“Why am I so nervous…?” I asked Luda.

I’ve already seen them many times in real life, and this is only the first time we’ll meet in the game.

“Me too, KC.” She replied. “Eunseo and the rest would have given me the same feeling in Day 2, if you told me they were coming that is.”

“Oh, heheh.”

I stuck my tongue out in apologetic laughter.

“Fellow explorers…!”

To her right, Jina could barely contain herself.

With a clean sound, the ship numbered ‘01’ set itself down in the landing area, right in front of the Wandering 14. Shaped like a giant, black hawk,

“That’s pretty cool.” I muttered.

The spacecraft folded its wings away, and a figure dropped down from the rear. In a peach-orange spacesuit with red highlights, the woman stood still on the ground, taking in the heat of the afternoon.

That’s a neat color scheme for a suit.

It reminded me of their past seasons’ greetings, come to think of it.

“Over here, Exy unnie!” Luda called out to her.

The woman turned around and raised her eyebrows when she saw us.

I pointed to the automated station and told her about the process, and she passed through it without issue.

“Glad to finally see you, Exy.”

I reached my hand out to her. She returned her own, and we greeted each other with a good handshake.

“You too, KC.”

The same scene repeated three more times for the other members:

Yeonjung materializing out of her mutli-ringed, almost abstract ship, in her grey and blue suit;

Soobin jumping off her diminutive, landing-pod like spacecraft, wearing one in red and pink, and;

Seola setting herself down from a rather elegant, wide-winged ship, the black and grey fabric snug against herself.

As we left the landing area for the town of Deusrust,

“What in the world is your ship all about, Yeonjung!?” I exclaimed.

“Just when I thought I’ve seen it all…” Kalasia sighed.

“It’s from another dimension… I think?”

Its pilot shrugged, unable to explain herself.

“Her name’s the Limitless 13, by the way. I call her the Ring for obvious reasons.”

“What about yours, Luda?” Soobin asked. “I know that Seo-ri—no, Seola unnie’s ship, is the Resplendent 02, but I haven’t heard the others yet.”

“We told you so many times already, Soobin!” Seola sighed. “Even this morning in the car, remember?”

“I’m hopeless with car names, unnie!” She retorted.

Car names…

I held back from making my own retort. Instead,

“Mine’s the Wandering 14, Soobin. How about everyone here introduce their ship?”

“Sure.”

A few moments later, I ended up with a list of the six ships’ names and types.

• Dauntless 01 / Nightstrike
• Resplendent 02 / Soarer
• Relentless 05 / Prober
• Observant 06 / Mrikem
• Limitless 13 / Vkct’aam (Veuk-tam?)
• Wandering 14 / Shuttle

As expected, the crazier-looking ships had the weirder names.

“Also,”

I looked at the three NPCs, who had not joined in on our conversation, even when we reached the town centre. They probably had stayed silent during the trip out of consideration.

“You’ve already gotten to know each other just now, right? Guess you don’t need me to introduce yourselves, then.”

Between the landings of our ships, there was plenty of time for everyone to talk to one another, certainly enough for Jina to calm down and interact with the other girls.

“Um,”

However, it was that aforementioned Human that raised her hand.

“Hm, what is it?”

“…If you don’t mind telling me, what had brought everyone to Kamag and the Trials?”

“Oh.” I responded. “Hmm…”

Everyone thought over her question.

To the four newcomers, Jina’s query could be interpreted as why they chose this planet instead of Nadeum. It was also, however, an opportunity to know more about Memphis and the rest.

“Well, I need to meet up with a Magna assembler to complete… something, in my possession.” I began.

The three of them had already seen the Ovation in action, but I still wanted to hide the fact that Magna composites were involved in its manufacture.

“In my case, I’m here to look at the technology of the Magna.” Yeonjung stated.

Me too, Luda chimed in.

“I’m accompanying Seola unnie,”

Soobin shot the other person a glance.

“She’s here because there are some things she needs to get under control, to say the least.”

With the attention on the entire group on her,

“…It’s complicated, I’ll explain it when we have time.”

Seola held both her palms up in defense.

“Every one of us has their own secrets to keep,” Memphis concluded. “We will pry no more, Seola.”

“Yeah, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” Kalasia shrugged.

Lastly,

“I was supposed to be here earlier, ahead of the trade conference in Dergenaff.” Exy explained. “Well, some things happened and now I’m here a week late.”

“Ouch.” I winced.

Even with the time dilation in the game server changed in between sessions, logging out still cost her that task.

Nonetheless, that should be all of the players done.

“How about you three?”

I asked them the same question.

“What do you seek here on Kamag, so to say?”

“Um,” Jina answered first. “I’m here to learn how the Magna make their mining tools… I think?”

“You think?” Yeonjung raised an eyebrow.

“It’s, a little embarrassing to talk about, so…”

Seeing the Human’s words trail off,

“Jina wants to improve the design of the hammer on her back.”

Memphis came to her rescue. Putting a finger on the ‘chin’ of their head,

“As for me… I am here to seek a path back to prominence.”

“Prominence, huh?” I tilted my head.

“That is correct: I seek to reclaim what I have lost.”

For some reason, those words were spoken in a solemn tone, and their red eye stared at something none of us could see.

However, this was only for a moment, and the Ilyid quickly returned to their usual friendly attitude.

“It is a difficult path to travel, but I will find a way.” They let out a laugh.

“Hope you make it.”

I nodded to them before turning to Kalasia.

“Me?” The Feran pointed to himself.

“Well, it’s in my people’s blood to roam and wander, and being an adventurer was my dream anyway.”

Kamag is just another stop in my journey, he laughed.

As everyone returned to their own conversations, Luda found the Trial Hall and led us inside.

Still,

Everyone’s here for a different reason, huh?

I thought to myself.

Whether it’s me, the girls, or the NPCs; all of us had our own agendas to complete.

---

At the single counter to the back of the open-air hall, the Magna handling the Trial registration was a different one from last time.

The trio of hunters waited for us at the side, while the six of us queued to sign ourselves up for the Foundation Trial.

However, Luda and I remembered about what the previous Magna said about submitting our finished forms, so we left the queue to put them on the left side of the desk. The enclosed space opened up right after, taking the paper slips into itself.

“We’ll wait for you over here.”

I told the other four, pointing to the table where the three other people were.

“Alright.” Yeonjung held up the ‘OK’ sign back.

We joined up with Jina and the rest, waiting for the four of them to finish. Before long, it was their turn, with Soobin the first to go.

At the same time,

“Hmm?”

A notification came up on my system. Bringing it up,

“Oh!”

It was a call from Bona!

Answering it,

“Hello~!”

I waved to the person on the other side of the window.

“Morning, KC.”

She smiled that gorgeous smile of hers back.

“Is that Bona unnie?”

On the opposite chair, Luda asked.

Yeah, I nodded.

From the looks of it, she was at the pilot seat of her own ship, which was traveling in outer space.

“What did you call me for?” I asked her. Then,

“Wait, don’t tell me…!”

“That’s right.”

She adjusted something on the window of her ship console. Coordinates appeared alongside the diagram of a planet: Kamag.

“We’re here, Xuanyi and I.” Bona announced.

“You two made it!”

I replied, unable to stop smiling from glee.

From the console of the ship,

“They’re on Deusrust, right, Bona?”

Xuanyi’s voice could be heard.

“That’s right.”

She answered her. Then, turning back to me,

“Exy and Luda are there with you, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, they are.”

I brought the window to Luda, to get her in the frame of the video call.

“Hello, Bona unnie~” She waved into the window.

“We’ll be in your care today, KC, Luda.” Bona stated. “Let’s hope Arbosienn has something in store for us.”

“See you soon, Bona unnie~” Luda grinned.

“You too~”

Bona returned a flying kiss, directed at her.

The call ended soon after, and we smiled at each other, knowing that two more members are going to join us on this world.

“Bona unnie did a lot of Academium stuff the last two days, and Xuanyi unnie's apparently really strong in a fight!”

Luda told me excitedly.

“I can’t wait to see them!”