However…

[3. Refuse (Selected)]

[I decline the quest.]

Anytng immediately refused.

The reason was simple. Most of the party members had a negative disposition. Forcing them wouldn’t yield efficiency.

If the Master refused, the heroes could also know.

The research level reached a certain level and heroes could observe this type of system messages.

“Open your eyes.”

Kishasha said.

Priasis, who had opened her eyes, looked at Kishasha with a desperate expression.

“Is it really impossible?”

“I’m sorry, but the risk is too great for us. We can’t afford to protect humans and lose our own kind.”

The quest rewards were specified in the quest message.

‘Experience points and gold. And…’

Bonus stage.

It was a rare opportunity. Kishasha knew that there would be rewards if she completed it, but she refused.

‘It’s a significant risk.’

As a party consisting of minority races, it was not easy to replace a lost member.

Priasis’s shoulders trembled.

“…Understood.”

Priasis rose weakly.

Her eyes followed the procession of refugees. On one side of the main road, a massacre was already taking place. The elderly, the children, and the weakest ones died first.

“I’m still the same, I still can’t do anything.”

Priasis let out a bitter laugh.

“We’ll also be in danger here soon. Let’s move on.”

Kishasha turned her back.

The goal was the northern street where the door leading to the desert was located.

They left the area around the oasis and entered the street.

Enemies appeared immediately. They were lizardmen, monsters in the form of bipedal lizards. Their white scales were stained with human blood.

“Ugh!”

As soon as the lizardmen saw the party, they glowed with yellow eyes and charged.

The curved sword in his hand danced.

Thud!

Kishasha’s punch sent a lizardman’s head flying, but that wasn’t all.

Lizardmen appeared all over the street, but a significant crisis did not occur.

Kishasha’s party easily slaughtered the monsters. There were many of them, but they were scattered throughout the village. Furthermore, their goal was not Priasis. They were simply killing everything in sight.

“…”

As Priasis looked at the corpses of humans scattered on the street, she couldn’t help but shake her head.

Kishasha’s party continued forward, paying no attention to Priasis’s words or actions. I followed them from a few meters behind, keeping the layout of the street in my head. Where the shortcuts were, and where there were a few lizardmen.

‘The difficulty isn’t too high.’

It was clear that the monsters were rampaging.

However, they didn’t pose a significant threat. The third party easily made their way to the northern gate.

“Seems like an easy mission.”

The difficulty of Pick Me Up’s missions was random. Sometimes, there were missions that were unbelievably difficult, while at other times, missions that seemed too easy would appear. Compared to the difficulty I had encountered so far, the 25th floor was undoubtedly very easy.

Escaping with the NPCs was the only goal.

The lizardmen didn’t swarm them all at once.

High-level boss monsters didn’t appear either.

“But…”

If the ‘Pick Me Up’ missions weren’t random,

If there was a hidden meaning behind each mission.

Then there was only one possibility for this mission to exist.

‘It’s a stepping stone for conquering the 30th floor.’

I followed the third party with quick steps.

At the northern gate, Kishasha half-transformed and started tearing lizardmen apart. Her ears protruded from her head, and her tail swayed in response to her movements. It seemed that transformations of that kind were also possible.

I sat on the debris of a broken building.

The party that dealt with the lizardmen was escaping through the northern gate, but I had no intention of following them. I had already seen everything there was to see. The 25th floor ended here.

[Stage Clear!]

[‘Kishasha (★★★★)’, ‘Lacari (★★★)’, ‘Nishazu (★★★)’, ‘Daruma (★★★)’, ‘Nandio (★★★)’, Level Up!]

[Reward – 200,000G]

[MVP – ‘Kishasha (★★★★)’]

Sure enough, as the stage’s clear message appeared, the background gradually became blurry. The village buildings scattered into the sand. Then, the bodies of lizardmen and humans turned into light and disappeared. And then.

Pop!

I found myself back in the rift of time and space.

[Record Playing Complete!]

[‘Han (★★★)’ has gained experience on the 25th floor.]

[Regeneration stone consumed.]

Shadows moved.

Three broken mirrors stood tall.

‘It’s a branching subquest.’

There are various types of subquests.

But what appeared on the 25th floor was a branching type. Among numerous quests, it had a unique feature. That was.

[Tips/About Subquests 2]

“Branching subquests that appear during missions can be retried. This is unrelated to clearing the boss stage. However, you cannot obtain already acquired clear rewards.”

A timely explanation message came up.

Iselle seemed to be trying to inform Anytng of the recent events.

The rewards for the subquest were experience points and gold, as well as an increase in NPC affection and the opening of a bonus stage.

Experience points and gold could be given to other heroes or Anytng. But what was most important was the latter.

In the bonus stage, there was a high likelihood of information about the next floor.

Above all, what I was most curious about was.

The concept of NPC affection was a bit vague, but.

‘That mission.’

I’m going to do it.

Click.

I firmly secured my sheathed sword to my belt and left the rift.