“That’s it.”

Taesan sheathed his sword. Lee Taeyeon, who had been staggering to keep standing, lost his strength and collapsed.

“Ugh…”

“My arms won’t move.”

Kang Jun-hyuk, like Lee Taeyeon, groaned as he lay sprawled on the ground.

“Is it over?”

“You can’t even move anymore, so we’ll stop here. Continuing doesn’t seem like it would change anything.”

Using recovery potions would restore their physical strength, but not their mental stamina. After more than three hours of sparring, they were reaching their limits.

“Phew.”

Both Kang Jun-hyuk and Lee Taeyeon sighed in relief. The spirit, however, seemed quite displeased with this.

“Idiots. Do you think it’s common for a strong person to offer teaching for free? You should be trying to recover and continue fighting, but your spirit is already broken? Truly weak.”

“Well…”

Kang Jun-hyuk closed his mouth. They all knew it too well.

Every battle was a life-threatening struggle. Gaining a way to become stronger without risk was indeed a special privilege.

“But next time…”

Today was no longer possible. Kang Jun-hyuk’s head hit the ground.

“Tsck.”

The spirit clicked its tongue in disapproval but didn’t say more, knowing that pushing them further when they’d reached their limits would be futile.

Kim Hwi-yeon, who had been quietly observing, muttered to herself.

“They really have become stronger.”

Surprise was evident on Kim Hwi-yeon’s face.

“They were about the same as us after the last return…”

Having fought alongside them, Kim Hwi-yeon knew well the capabilities of Lee Taeyeon and Kang Jun-hyuk.

They were clearly strong, but not impressively so; that was the level of Solo Mode.

She had thought Solo Mode was not much different from Hard Mode, especially because Kang Taesan was an exceptionally outstanding case.

However, this fight had shattered that perception.

The movements of Kang Jun-hyuk and Lee Taeyeon were clearly beyond her level. Taesan said,

“There’s not much difference at the beginning. But as time passes, the gap widens, and eventually, it becomes unbridgeable.”

In fact, by the third or fourth return in the previous world, Lee Taeyeon had significantly strengthened beyond Hard Mode.

“Do you want to try?”

Taesan waved his sword. Geum Jung-geun’s eyes sparkled.

“Is it okay?”

“I’m not planning anything serious today, so I don’t mind.”

“Then I’ll take the liberty.”

Geum Jung-geun drew his sword.

• –i •

“I’m tired…”

The next day, Lee Taeyeon and Kang Jun-hyuk walked with exhausted faces. Geum Jung-geun wasn’t much different. They were not in a condition to fully exert themselves.

However, facing the monsters was not a problem. Most of the creatures that appeared now were easily manageable by those in Hard Mode or above.

“Eek!”

“Block them!”

But it was different for the Easy and Normal Mode players. They had to give their all even to handle a single monster.

The time invested in taking down one creature meant they could not defeat many. Most of the monsters were being dealt with by the Hard Mode players and Taesan, Lee Taeyeon, and Kang Jun-hyuk.

‘It was like this before too.’

It was a limitation inherent to Easy and Normal Modes. Over time, the gap would only widen.

Taesan cleared his mind and dealt with the monsters.

Afterward, the routine was the same: advance while dealing with monsters, find a suitable building for rest, and at night, train with Lee Taeyeon, Kang Jun-hyuk, and sometimes Geum Jung-geun and Kim Hwi-yeon.

The more they practiced, the better their movements became.

Three days later.

They were able to reach Yongin City Hall.

“We made it!”

“Hooray!”

The sight of the city hall outline made everyone embrace each other in joy.

“Everyone! We haven’t arrived yet! Don’t let your guard down!”

Lee Taeyeon shouted, trying to calm people down, but joy was evident on her face as well.

They had arrived earlier than expected, and only a handful of people had died along the way.

It was all thanks to Taesan.

Whenever monsters appeared, his quick actions ensured that those who didn’t flee in terror or sneak away at night were safe.

“Thank you, Taesan!”

“Thanks are unnecessary. Let’s go inside.”

“Yes!”

Kim Hwi-yeon smiled as she ran ahead.

“Wow.”

“It’s huge!”

Yongin City Hall was much larger than Anyang City Hall, with a vast ground and various buildings enough to comfortably accommodate everyone.

At the entrance, a guard saw the group and panickedly drew his weapon.

“Who goes there!”

“We’ve come from Anyang… Wait, aren’t you Baek Un?”

As Kim Hwi-yeon tiredly spoke, she recognized the man. The man called Baek Un looked surprised.

“Hwi-yeon noona?”

“You were here too?”

“Yeah. Were you here, noona?”

“Yeah. Lucky you, being in Yongin means you didn’t have to move.”

Kim Hwi-yeon sighed deeply. Baek Un smiled wryly and sheathed his weapon.

“Just a moment. I’ll call the king.”

“The king?”

Kim Hwi-yeon looked puzzled, but Baek Un didn’t answer and quickly went inside. Shortly after, a man with a sports haircut and a stern face appeared.

Seo Jang-san! You were here too!”

The sports-haired man was surprised to see Kim Hwi-yeon.

“Kim Hwi-yeon? Is that you?”

“Yeah! It’s great to see you!”

Kim Hwi-yeon spoke cheerfully. They seemed quite familiar with each other.

However, Seo Jang-san’s face was mixed with pleasure and unease, though he quickly hid it so that no one but Taesan noticed. Seo Jang-san grinned and extended his hand.

“Nice to meet you. Welcome to Yongin.”

“Uh…”

“Why are there so many? How many are you?”

Seo Jang-san’s face fell as he looked at the massive procession. It was an unimaginably large number.

“About twenty thousand.”

“…Twenty thousand? How?”

Seo Jang-san was flustered. Such a number was beyond his comprehension. Kim Hwi-yeon smiled and pointed at Kang Taesan and the others.

“Didn’t I tell you in the labyrinth? I had some exceptionally strong people in Solo Mode with me. They’re the reason.”

“Oh…”

Seo Jang-san’s face wavered.

“The ones often mentioned in the community, those people?”

“Yeah.”

“That explains it…”

An uncomfortable sensation flashed across Kang Jun-hyuk’s face before Seo Jang-san could make further comments.

Seo Jang-san clapped his hands.

“You’ve had a hard journey. The quest isn’t over yet, so rest until then. I’ll show you around.”

“Okay! Everyone, come on in!”

The people cheered as they entered the city hall grounds.

As they moved inside, Kang Jun-hyuk grumbled.

“Why were they staring like that?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Didn’t you feel it, noona? It was like they were looking at something bothersome.”

Kang Jun-hyuk had expected them to be happy. The Earth had turned into hell, and he had the power to significantly affect survival.

But Seo Jang-san’s gaze towards him was like that towards a nuisance.

“I… I don’t know. Maybe you’re mistaken?”

“It was too clear to be a mistake. Didn’t you feel it, hyung?”

“Maybe.”

Taesan spoke languidly, seemingly unconcerned, which caused Kang Jun-hyuk to frown.

“Was it my imagination?”

“It wasn’t.”

“See? You saw it too, right?”

Taesan changed the subject.

“Rest for now. Aren’t you tired?”

“…Yes, I am tired.”

Kang Jun-hyuk rubbed his eyes. The journey here had been filled with fighting monsters and training with Taesan, which had drained him mentally.

“I’ll go rest for a bit.”

“I’m going to meet some people. Are there other Solo Mode players here?”

Kang Jun-hyuk moved tiredly, while Lee Taeyeon, filled with anticipation, went his way.

Taesan also started to move. There weren’t many people in Yongin.

Counting them all, there were about ten thousand—a smaller number than average.

And the expressions of the people wandering around were of two kinds.

Most were dark and gloomy.

A very few were confident and seemed happy.

A stark contrast.

“Ah, Taesan.”

Kim Hwi-yeon met him with a bright face.

“What have you been up to?”

“Just listening to some information. About the number of people, the ratio of Hard Mode, stuff like that. I found out where the food storage is. Wanna go see?”

Taesan nodded.

The food storage was located underground at the city hall. Inside were countless canned goods and instant noodles.

Kim Hwi-yeon murmured as she inspected each item.

“Except for the canned goods, the expiration dates are a bit iffy.”

“The expiration date is just for retail. You can still eat stuff like noodles even six months past that.”

“Really?”

Kim Hwi-yeon’s face brightened.

“Then that’s good. With this amount, we can eat for a while.”

“Probably not. We’re not the only ones. More people will keep coming.”

“If we take those people into account, it will indeed be insufficient.”

Kim Hwi-yeon bit her lip. There were twenty cities in the southern part of Gyeonggi Province. The current number could multiply tenfold.

“That many won’t come, but food will be short. We’ll need to prepare slowly.”

After checking, they stepped outside. Kim Hwi-yeon spoke in a cheerful tone.

“Still, it’s a relief. With Jang-san here, it should be manageable, right?”

“You know each other?”

“We talked a lot in the labyrinth. He’s one of the strongest in Hard Mode, known for his cool judgment and widely trusted, although a bit extreme.”

Kim Hwi-yeon, Geum Jung-geun, and others like them were Hard Mode players of a similar level. That was Seo Jang-san.

“A bit extreme?”

“Sometimes his words can be harsh, but if everyone speaks up, he’s willing to reconsider. It shouldn’t be a big problem.”

“Maybe.”

Taesan knew. He knew what Seo Jang-san had done in the previous world, how many people he had led to their deaths.

But that was a tale from another time. It wasn’t something they would accept now.

Kim Hwi-yeon would find out soon enough.

A day passed. There were three days left until the special quest was cleared.

Those wandering around realized something strange.

“There’s no one from Solo Mode.”

Lee Taeyeon spoke with a troubled face.

“Not even one.”

“Maybe they all died? Honestly, it’s hard for anyone but us to survive.”

Most Solo Mode players were weaker than Easy Mode players. For them to survive on Earth, considerable luck was necessary.

“Or maybe there was no one in Yongin to begin with. There aren’t many Solo Mode players.”

“Is that so?”

Lee Taeyeon reluctantly agreed, but that wasn’t the only odd thing.

Walking through a park, Kim Hwi-yeon fiddled with some documents with a puzzled look.

“The numbers for Easy and Normal Mode are too low.”

It was somewhat expected. The monsters on Earth could be defeated by Hard Mode players, but not by Easy or Normal ones.

But even considering that, the numbers were too low.

Given the absolute numbers, the proportion should match, but compared to Anyang, it was only one-third.

“And…”

Kim Hwi-yeon turned her gaze, puzzled.

The players of Yongin knew about her. Seo Jang-san had told people she was the administrator from Anyang and to treat her well.

“…they seem to be avoiding me weirdly.”

After that, the people of Yongin tried not to meet Kim Hwi-yeon’s eyes.

As if looking at her carelessly would bring punishment, like peasants who must not look at nobility, they bowed their heads and shrank away.

And all these people were from Easy and Normal Mode.