Obviously, finishing everything here seemed to be a little difficult, because his old ass hadn’t done anything in ages. Rael and the others recognized that.

On the other hand, Renoir didn’t even know where to begin.

But then again, it seemed like he had something in mind as he turned toward Rael and nodded.

“What do you say we do some clean up?”

“Care to elaborate?” Rael replied.

Renoir chuckled.

“The Abyss Realm is something I haven’t cleaned up in ages. There are a few portions of my mana in there, so if I clean it up, I might find it.”

“Wow… I wish I had some bullshit power-ups waiting for me in some cool place like that too,” Rael said.

“It’s not a bullshit power-up. Who do you think powers the Abyss? Mind you, the Abyss is a very effective inventory space, since it is nigh infinite. I use it to store some of my stuff. Oh, and also, there are some natural hot springs in that place if you look hard enough,” Renoir replied confidently.

Although Rael didn’t know what he was even talking about, he just sighed and nodded at him.

“I’m not going back in there, so I’ll just wait here. Do whatever you—And~ he’s gone. Welp.”

It seemed like Renoir had no intention of even letting Rael finish. Though it wasn’t like it mattered much. After all, once he was gone, the first thing Rael did was scan the area.

It really was just the back end location of the Far Lands. There wasn’t much around aside from other small houses and villages. There were people in some, but it was rather abandoned.

Since he had no intention of mingling with others, though, Rael went ahead and closed his eyes, trying to find one connection in particular. Since he had found Gaia, he also thought he could find Nyx.

But clearly, them being in two separate realms somehow messed with the connection, since he could never establish a clear connection to speak with her.

“You know, I’m getting a pretty bad feeling about this,” Rael said.

Gaia raised a brow.

“Why?”

“It’s just a hunch. I’m pretty sure something bad’s happening out there. Any way to see when Renoir would be back?”

“I can try messaging him,” Alune chimed in.

Rael nodded.

“Do that if you can. I’ll try messaging someone as well.”

Of course, Rael tried every contact he had, and sadly for him, no one answered. That was because none of his messages actually went through.

But right as he was about to lose all hope, something he couldn’t have expected in a million years happened.

<Karina: Hello. Something happened back in my world… I’m sorry for being gone so long.>

Karina?

Rael remembered her very clearly. She was one of the women who had won access to the Depths. Not only that, she was a woman who had accompanied him multiple times in his journey. As a player, she was very valuable.

She was even more valuable when it came to wartime, since she helped pinpoint the locations of some crucial people. For that, Rael was grateful, and at the same time, he was a little puzzled.

It hadn’t been long since he unfroze Seoul. Why was she already back in Sketa Online? The world there should be really chaotic, and people like her should be actively trying to get stronger.

But clearly, she was different.

<Rael Sutekh: Hello? What are you doing online?>

<Karina: I’m playing? What else would I be doing?>

She stopped sending messages for a brief moment, until finally…

<Karina: You must mean the outside. Um. It’s complicated, but I have a skill that makes it easy for me to not do anything. I can passively get stronger. I guess you can call it a summoning skill? I have a pet reaper that goes around killing monsters and giving me EXP.>

A pet reaper that gives her EXP?

Touché.

It seemed like these people got the best stuff, whereas Rael would’ve been fucked over with some kind of goofy skill. Life really was unfair. Still, that didn’t change the fact that he now had someone he could talk to.

<Rael Sutekh: That’s cool and all, but we’ll talk about it a little more later, yeah? Could you open up the map and check on Celestara for me? It’s a little urgent.>

After a few seconds, she replied.

<Karina: Mmm… I’m already in Celestara? Everything’s fine.>

Oh?

Maybe Rael was worried for nothing.

Still, the bad feeling didn’t really disappear, so he decided to be a little more upfront with her.

<Rael Sutekh: Sorry to do this to you, but could you stand by for a bit and watch over Celestara? If anything serious happens, like an attack or something, let me know. I swear, I’ll repay you handsomely.>

He felt a little bad doing this, especially since she was someone he hadn’t talked to in ages. Not only that, the first thing he asked her once the two met again was for her to do him a favor by essentially wasting her time.

But then again… the current situation left Rael in quite a vulnerable position. He could definitely trust that Celestara might be safe because of Nyx, Vatyra, Anastasia, and a few others, but still…

Rael didn’t want to be away while everyone was out there risking their lives.

With that in mind, Rael waited patiently, and after just a few minutes, Karina replied once again.

<Karina: I can do that… I don’t have anything better to do right now anyway. I’ll stay in touch.>

Seeing how she closed the chat bubble first, Rael exhaled a relieved breath and turned to his side where Gaia and Alune were chatting about random stuff.

Or at least, it seemed like random stuff, until he listened in on their conversation.

“I’m not going in there.”

“Why not? You’re stronger than him.”

“Because I’m not stupid,” Gaia replied with a scoff, then narrowed her eyes.

“It’s his own fault for getting stuck in there.”

“…”

Renoir got stuck?

This bastard…

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