Previously…

Sky turned out to be Nako as her mentor, Ace, revealed her identity. They stumble across the relic that they had been searching for so long but instead of granting their wish, Ace was struck down by the guardian. As the temple dungeon is in shambles, Ace pushes Nako away and she finally returns to her sister's arms…

***

“Minjoo, how’s Nako?”

A worried voice chimed into the medium sized room where a battered looking girl with a wide scar across her face is lying unconscious. Another girl with long, wavy hair turned her head towards the door, watching another anxious looking woman with darkened lines under her eyes is still standing at the door while waiting for some positive answer.

“Unnie, it seems that Nako is in a comatose state. Even my healing spell didn’t work on her.”

Minjoo uttered the most excruciating fact that made her eyes teary. She might usually banter with Nako on a normal occasion but when she sees her beloved sister's bizarre state, she couldn’t help but feel some stabbing pain inside her fragile heart.

“Is there anything I can do to bring her back to normal?”

Eunbi replied but in almost whisper-voice as she is also slowly drained by the unfortunate chain of events before her sisters. At first, she is positive that she’ll be able to track them down without much difficulty but when the situation suddenly worsened, she is at lost in what she needs to do next. the leader cursed herself for not being able preventing her sisters whom she regards as her dear family from being hurt.

“Eunbi, please don’t be too harsh on yourself.”

Another reliable voice snapped Eunbi from being spiteful at the sudden turns of events. She threw a brief glance at Chaeyeon who was equally exhausted as her. If there’s anything fortunate, they are already away from Destine and completed their request. The destruction of the temple-like dungeon caused some uproar at the adventurer guild but they can’t afford to tell anything about the sudden collapse of the new dungeon. The only lead they have is Nako, who is actually inside the dungeon to witness any incident that caused the place to turn into shambles.

“Chaeyeon, I really don’t know what I should do next. What if Nako didn’t wake up?”

Chaeyeon can feel a pang inside her chest as Eunbi is choked with her tears. Of course, three of them had tried every possible remedy to ensure Nako is back on her feet again but the brain of their group seems to need more time before regaining her consciousness again.

Nako… Please, come back to us.

All they can do after working their off is clinging onto a silver thread of miracle to bring back the resourceful girl to them. Chaeyeon clasped her hand, praying with all her might to be able to see her sisters again after being separated for a long time that felt like forever.

***

Flashback (Three months ago)

A certain petite girl dragged her feet towards a tavern, feeling beaten up after facing a long day. Nako slides herself onto one of the stools at the counter while ordering some refreshments for herself. It’s been a total of 90 days since she last departed with her sisters, a group of 12 girls named IZ*One. No, it’s not like she willingly breaks apart from them without any apparent reason. For months, Nako already gathered a few clues in finding Eunbi again but she didn’t dare to let her sisters be exposed to some unknown dangers and thus, she decided that it’s good for her to venture alone.

Nako thought that maybe things will be just fine as her sisters are quite close to each other. Heck, they even promise to keep close contact with each other but then, those are just words. It’s been exactly three months since she lost contact with them. At first, she tried sending them some messages but didn’t get any reply at all. As she also didn’t have much time to ponder about their well-being, Nako assumed that they may be too busy in tracking Eunbi too.

“Sora, I’m tired.”

As much as Nako tried pushing away her loneliness, she couldn’t help but feel sluggish after spending too much time alone. She thought that she might be missing her sisters but it seems like it’s not the case. There’s some weird feeling lingering inside her heart, questioning her effort to search for Eunbi. What if she just wasted her energy and Eunbi is really gone?

“Nako! Snap out of it!”

Hearing Sora’s voice instantly brings Nako back to reality as she blinks her eyes a few times. She sighed deeply as she patted her slime familiar which had an alluring sky blue color, a rare variant in this Wizland.

“Sorry, Sora. Maybe I’m just too exhausted.”

Nako is about to leave the tavern after having her fill but some chatters manage to catch her attention.

“Y’know about the new dungeon in Destine?”

“The deadly forest? what about it?”

“Nasty, some of my fella trying to go there and never coming back after a few weeks!”

“Isn’t that place just a few minutes' horse ride from here?”

“That’s the crazy part! His party is an A rank but they didn’t report back to the guild!”

“Even A rank couldn’t pass through the Dead Forest, huh?”

“Forget about having your wish granted or whatnot! That place isn't an ordinary one, I tell you!”

“Granting some wish? Are there some genies or what?”

“Boy, you never heard about a new dungeon able to grant any of your wishes? Hah! Then it’s too early for you to set your foot there!”

“I prefer to live rather than sacrificing myself to prove that myth to be true.”

Rowdy laughter filled the tavern as those adventurers kept on chattering among themselves. They might just talk about the new dungeon like it’s nothing to them but not for Nako. She can feel her heart is beating out loud again, a rush of adrenaline pumped inside her whole body as she finally sees a glimmer of hope again. Will the dungeon grant her wish to see Eunbi again? Or shall Nako ask for the dungeon to heal Chaewon’s curse? The older Kim once told Nako about some weird inscription on her body whenever she is overwhelmed by her emotions. Nako thought that it might be some unknown curse casted on Chaewon and she made a promise to help the older girl overcome that curse.

“Yosh, it’s decided that we’ll go there, Sora!”

Nako grinned at her reliable partner while immediately making haste preparation to embark on her new mission, investigating a new dungeon in Destine!

***

“So this is Destine, huh?”

Nako is in awe upon stepping at the infamous forest. She can feel some eerie aura emanated from the accursed place but she braced herself to initiate her investigation. There’s nothing to stop her from searching for any possible clues in reuniting her and her sisters again. However, things didn’t go exactly as she planned as Nako soon lost her sense of direction and grasp of time upon entering Destine. Her skills are being limited by something and thus, rendering her almost useless. At that point, Nako realized that she had been relying heavily on her skills alone, neglecting her training in real combat.

“I learned it the hard way, huh? Alright, let’s just do this!”

Despite all difficulty thrown at her, the petite but high-spirited girl didn’t give up and instead, took the opportunity to reinforce herself. She isn’t sure about her period inside the deadly forest but before she knows, Nako suddenly stumbles upon a mighty looking pyramid. She stares in awe at the majestic building as she never had a chance to see a real pyramid back on Earth.

Welcome to Giz dungeon, explorer!

“What the fudge? This is the so-called dungeon?”

Call it a lucky encounter or whatnot, Nako can feel a sudden surge of power entering her body as she stepped closer towards Giz dungeon. Her heart races again as she realizes that her skills are back upon finding this place, making Nako waste no time to send a sketch of Destine towards the Adventurer Guild, ensuring them that she is still alive after spending an indefinite amount of time within Destine. She also reports the finding of the new dungeon and asking permission to explore the place alone as it will take a hefty amount of time to wait for reinforcement due to confusing terrain and topography of Destine.

“Nako, be careful. I sense something malicious from inside.”

“Malicious? Suspicious. Thanks for the warning, Sora.”

If anything, Nako felt she was blessed to have Sora as her partner. Some may snickered at her for having a slime as familiar as they deemed it as a weak creature which is easy to be defeated but they’re wrong. For Nako, there’s no perfect partner suitable for her aside from Sora. She is familiar, able to multiply into thousand clones and able to change its nature by will. Sometimes, Sora can be a metal slime and other times, her partner can even be a light slime, a rare form of slime exists in this world. So, she pays no heed to people’s mockery as they already proved themselves as insecure to Nako and Sora’s ability to surpass them within a blink of their eyes.

“I’ll be in your care again, partner.”

“Me too, let’s do our best, master!”

After revitalizing for a bit, both of the reliable pairs entered the dungeon with careful steps. Nako almost leaped in her place when she heard some notification ding inside her head. It’s been awhile since she heard that sound and thus, she is unaware of her trembling hands upon checking her mailbox. Upon clicking on the newly appeared message, suddenly another elaborated content of that message appeared in front of her eyes, making Nako frown upon reading the whole thing.

Congratulations!

You’re now eligible for a special quest. Clear this dungeon to receive your reward. Beware of the inhabitants within this dungeon!

~Unlimited time to complete~

“What the heck is this?”

She never heard such a thing appear upon exploring a newly formed dungeon. As she pondered about the message, she heard a rumbling noise coming from her back and as soon as Nako turned her head, she was taken by surprise seeing a spiky boulder rolling towards her.

“Shoot, let’s run Sora!”

Thanks to her small stature, Nako is able to fit herself in a narrow hole formed at the wall and escapes the dire situation. She didn’t expect that the boulder would come out of nowhere, making the sharp girl analyze her peculiar situation for a bit more.

“The special quest did mention some inhabitants in this dungeon. Don’t tell me?”

When Nako is about to find her answer, some chattering can be heard across the wall, making the girl conceal herself in a haste. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw a herd of intelligent looking humanoid monsters as well as humans draped in hoods, wearing a weird mask walking through the place while carrying something like an altar.

“Are you sure this will bring our lord back?”

“What if the owner of the Holy Sword comes and attacks us?”

“It’s alright, some sources already find a match for the Holy Sword. It’s pair, the Cursed Sword is as good as its counterpart.”

“You mean that we’ll have the Cursed Sword on our side soon?”

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