The World After Leaving the Hero’s Party

Chapter 9: Omen – 1

Even in a game world, the moon set, and the sun rose. As always, the dawn brought forth by the rising sun from the east bestowed its grace upon the kingdom, sparing neither the royal palace nor the slums where beggars dwelled.

A new day was beginning.

Laborers, though weary of it, lifted their heavy bodies for work, as they always did.

The same was true for the palace maids. No, they started their day even more diligently than the sun that dispelled the night sky.

Of course, it was no different for me.

“Sage? You’re already awake?”

“Yes.”

The place prepared for me was a building reserved for esteemed guests within the royal palace. Only guests deemed valuable by the royal family were allowed to use this building—and currently, I was the sole occupant.

This meant that, for several days now, I’d had this wide and luxurious garden all to myself. But having exclusive access didn’t mean I was doing anything particularly special here.

I was far too busy accumulating achievements, after all.

So, there was only one thing I did in this garden. It was something I’d done daily since adapting to life as a Sage in this world.

Morning meditation.

It wasn’t as if I particularly enjoyed sitting still. But there was one reason I practiced meditation every morning.

It was to function as a Sage.

Being able to use all skills meant that, like other classes, I had to train to enhance my abilities.

No matter how much of a veteran I was, this game emphasized growth.

If I wanted to survive and return to reality unscathed, I couldn’t neglect training.

Meditation was especially effective for increasing the potency of magic skills, so I rose early at dawn to practice it.

“What would you like for breakfast? If you’d like, you could dine with the princess…”

When the head maid asked politely, I shook my head. Building rapport with the princess over a meal wouldn’t be a bad thing, but something more important needed my attention.

“I have matters to attend to outside today.”

“I see… Then, um, might I ask where you’ll be going? His Majesty and the princess may be curious…”

“Just tell them I’m off to take care of something important.”

I recalled the moon I’d seen earlier, at dawn.

I had noticed a subtle change in the red moon—a sign of Hardcore Mode.

Though I had managed to delay it during the main storyline, it was finally time to prepare for an unavoidable event.

“The princess may be disappointed… But I understood.”

I smiled at her.

There was no helping it, even if she’d be disappointed.

The event was essential not only to earn an achievement but also to obtain Sage-exclusive equipment.

Ignoring it could lead to a death toll easily surpassing tens of thousands.

In The Seeker of the Eight Stars, battles were primarily fought in fields and dungeons.

Of course, some battles occurred in other places during specific events, but most took place in those settings.

The fields were nearly unrestricted in terms of participant numbers. Minimum parties could consist of two people—or one, if someone was skilled enough. It wasn’t uncommon to see groups with mercenaries, armies, or adventurer squads tackling field objectives.

But dungeons were different.

Dungeons strictly limited the number of entrants. For instance, if a dungeon had a limit of three, only up to three people could enter.

Furthermore, unless the team was wiped out or successfully completed the dungeon, no one else could enter. Though the lore attributed it to divine blessing or world rules, it was essentially just a balancing mechanism.

Still, since I was now in the game world, I had no choice but to follow those rules. This dungeon was no exception.

This dungeon, known as the “Toad Dungeon,” was the same.

Annoyingly so.

“Yaaah!!”

A female warrior in bikini armor swung her double-edged axe down onto a monstrous toad with dozens of tentacles sprouting from its back.

With a hideous scream that could only be described as a “Kweeeek,” the monster fell, and a Lizardman archer in the back drew his bowstring.

“Hiyah!”

With a spirited shout, the arrow transformed into light and embedded itself into the exposed, green brain visible through the split skull of the fallen creature.

“Kwueeeek!!”

Despite its shattered head and an arrow lodged in its brain, the monster didn’t die. Instead, it began reshaping its tentacles to resume its assault.

Eyes wide, the female warrior in bikini armor shouted out.

“Living tentacles! This must be paradise! Do you know how much one of those things goes for?!”

Flushed with excitement, she charged toward the tentacles, while a hail of arrows rained down behind her. The Lizardman’s multi-shot pierced each tentacle, severing them one by one, and with each destroyed tentacle, the warrior let out a pained scream.

“Noo!!”

Despite her cries, every tentacle was pinned by arrows. As the dungeon boss finally fell silent, the warrior glared at the Lizardman with crazed eyes.

“You should’ve left at least one!”

“Whatever.”

The Lizardman archer flicked his tongue, which was forked like a snake’s, as he pounded his long tail on the ground.

The warrior pointed her axe at him.

“You bastard.”

“Whatever.”

“Is ‘whatever’ all you can say?”

“Whatever.”

“Hey, Sage! Back me up here! You know how much those intact tentacles would fetch in the back alleys!”

I understood both her frustration and the Lizardman’s indifference.

But there was something I needed to say to them first.

“Stop stepping on the floor, you trashy rodents.”