At the provocation, veins bulged on Princess’s forehead.

She ground her teeth with an audible grit and spoke.

“Have you lost your mind? It’s obvious our team will win. Why would I be intimidated?”

“Then you’re accepting the bet?”

“Let’s do it.”

As the bet was sealed, Seomun Yongnyeo wore an enigmatic smile.

When she extended her hand, Princess grasped it as if accepting a challenge.

“Wonderful. I’m looking forward to it. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’ll see you all next time.”

Seomun Yongnyeo departed, leaving behind her affable smile, but a heavy silence settled over the break room.

A cold wind seemed to cut across Princess’s face, which had been warm and genial just moments before.

She spoke in a quiet, chilling voice.

“You all heard that?”

“Yes, yes! We heard.”

“Our team must win this time. No exceptions.”

Princess’s eyes burned with competitive fervor.

Ahn Nabi, reading the mood, asked cautiously.

“Then what should we do?”

“We need to take special measures. Who has the highest overall evaluation right now?”

Ahn Nabi immediately pulled up the evaluation sheets, reviewed the contents, and answered.

“Seo Kangrim and Dokgo Jun are nearly tied.”

“Seo Kangrim and Dokgo Jun, huh…”

Though he had cleared the first room through unconventional methods, Seo Kangrim’s accomplishments were still noteworthy.

Dokgo Jun had also achieved a First Clear, so he had been on Princess’s radar as well.

Dokgo Jun and Seo Kangrim. After deliberating between the two, Princess finally spoke.

“Alright. I’ve made my decision. Then let’s send a gift.”

Princess casually pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Her voice carried a weight of implication.

“This time, we will absolutely produce the First Clearer from our sector.”

* * *

[You have cleared ‘Room of Sword Tree’.]

[A message from ‘Ahn Nabi’ has arrived.]

Father Yohan stared at the notification window with a dazed look.

Even upon seeing the clear message, he felt more bewildered than joyful.

‘I thought Brother Seo Kangrim was joking…’

The promise to clear four demon realms within three days.

Father Yohan knew that Seo Kangrim was strong.

He had a record of achieving First Clears, and he had heard stories about Seo Kangrim through word of mouth from various people.

But no matter how strong he was, three days seemed impossible…

“Has the clear completion message arrived?”

Seo Kangrim, following behind, asked with a nonchalant expression.

Father Yohan startled and nodded.

“Yes, but I can’t believe it. How did you clear all four in just two days…”

Seo Kangrim had promised to clear them within three days, but the actual time required was only two.

He blasted through the first room as if he had memorized every inch of the demon realm’s geography.

The second room was the same.

The one that took the longest was the third room, where they had to hunt ten different species of demon beasts, requiring them to scour every corner of the realm.

“I thought we wouldn’t be able to clear the third room. The clear condition was hunting demon beasts…”

“It turns out non-combat personnel receive rewards too, as long as they’re deemed to have contributed to the battle.”

Since Father Yohan couldn’t attack demon beasts, he employed a different method.

Each time Seo Kangrim killed a demon beast, he would deliberately sustain an injury, and Father Yohan would use his healing ability—this was how they contributed to the battle.

In the fourth room, Seo Kangrim handed over his own Spirit Jade, and it was over in an instant.

Seo Kangrim spoke with a hint of regret.

“It’s a shame the third room took so long. We could have cleared it much faster.”

They could have cleared it even faster than this?

At those words, Father Yohan’s eyes filled with disbelief.

He couldn’t even fathom how strong Seo Kangrim truly was.

Father Yohan stood there in a daze before belatedly bowing his head.

“Thank you, Brother. You’ve gone through so much trouble because of me. You couldn’t even advance to the next stage because of me. You must have been so frustrated…”

“What do you mean?”

“I couldn’t even kill demon beasts or do anything…”

Father Yohan himself knew full well what a tremendous disadvantage it was to be unable to fight.

Yet even knowing this, whenever he stood before a demon beast, his entire body would tremble uncontrollably, rendering him incapable of doing anything.

His party members had left one by one, and before he knew it, he was alone.

Father Yohan spoke with a defeated expression.

“I suppose healing abilities alone aren’t enough…”

“They’re not insufficient.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s the people who tell a doctor to fight who are strange. You’re a doctor, Father Yohan. There’s no need to push yourself.”

The cadets at this facility didn’t understand the value of healing abilities.

The Protective Jangseung in the lobby restored their condition, and medicine pills were provided daily.

If they knew how expensive Recovery Potions were in the shop, they wouldn’t dare treat Father Yohan so dismissively.

Moreover, those with healing abilities were rare, and ones with a grade as high as Father Yohan’s were even rarer.

Though it wasn’t a combat ability, meaning personal growth was slower, healers would eventually become a highly sought-after profession among many sects.

“Each person just needs to do what’s given to them. I fight, and you heal people. That’s all there is to it.”

“Is that really enough…?”

“It’s enough.”

Tears welled up in Father Yohan’s eyes in that moment.

Those words—that it was okay not to kill demon beasts—became a great comfort to Father Yohan.

Seo Kangrim said it with a face as if it were nothing.

“Then we should prepare before heading to the fifth room. We can’t use the Shop Window inside. Make sure you prepare too, Father.”

“Ah, yes! I’ll prepare as well. Thank you!”

Yohan bowed and headed off to his room, while Seo Kangrim made his way to the cafeteria.

As he stepped inside, the Earthen Figure waved its short arms at him in greeting.

“Oot, oot!”

Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, it brought out water, dry rations, and Recovery Potions.

Seo Kangrim gathered the items and said.

“And today, I’m buying other things too.”

“Ooot?!”

The Earthen Figure’s face turned to one of surprise.

It was because Seo Kangrim had only ever taken the free provisions each time.

He looked at the menu board and began selecting items one by one.

“Ten Ten-Ingredient Great Tonics, ten emergency rations, and ten Mana Recovery Teas. And also…”

“Ooot, oot?”

The Earthen Figure pointed at his bag and slapped its arms down repeatedly.

It seemed to mean, ‘Can you really fit all of that?’

Seo Kangrim nodded.

“I can fit it all. Let me buy these first.”

When he pressed the terminal pad on one side of the cafeteria, his Spirit Jade was deducted.

Before he knew it, a generous pile of food had accumulated in front of him.

“Ooot, ooot.”

The Earthen Figure pointed to the text that read ‘No Refunds.’

Seo Kangrim began putting the items into his bag as if it were nothing.

“I won’t ask for a refund. Don’t worry.”

In an instant, the mountain of items vanished as if sucked into the Storage Pouch.

The Earthen Figure’s eyes went wide with surprise before it jumped for joy.

Then it shyly offered a star candy.

“I didn’t buy this one.”

“Oot, oot!”

The Earthen Figure picked up a card that read ‘Complimentary.’

“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”

After pocketing even the complimentary star candy, Seo Kangrim made bulk purchases of necessary items from the Shop Window.

‘I need to survive there for at least a week.’

While purchasing items based on memories from his past life, a message arrived for him.

The name written there was unfamiliar.

[A message from ‘Princess’ has arrived.]

* * *

The sound of waves drifted pleasantly through the air.

White foam lapped at the sandy shore, and the sun-drenched beach glowed white.

Father Yohan, carrying a backpack nearly as large as himself, spoke with eyes full of wonder.

“The scenery here is truly beautiful, Brother. It’s hard to believe this is a demon realm…”

Father Yohan and I had just entered the fifth demon realm.

As he said, at first glance, this place could pass for a resort island.

But in reality, it was far from a vacation spot.

“But what could the mission here be? I’m worried…”

Father Yohan glanced at the notification window floating in the air and spoke.

It contained details that would leave most people puzzled.

[The Room of Balseol is beginning.]

[Acquire ■■■ and return to the lobby.]

[Time Limit: None]

There was no time limit, but what they needed to acquire was left unspecified.

In my past life too, I had suffered not knowing the clear conditions, barely managing to complete it.

Father Yohan stared intently at the notification window through his cracked glasses.

“And Balseol… doesn’t that mean tongue extraction?”

“It seems so.”

“How brutal—completely at odds with the island scenery…”

Amidst all this, voices I had grown familiar with reached my ears.

【Wooaahhh! Kangrim, you finally made it!】

【We’ve been waiting for you to show up, you bastard.】

【Why did you take so long? The advance team arrived almost a week ago.】

【You brought someone new this time, huh?】

The voices clamoring the moment I entered were enough to give me a headache.

Meanwhile, Yohan, standing behind me, seemed completely unbothered—apparently unable to hear these voices.

“But are we going to keep walking along the shoreline? It looks like there’s a forest further inland…”

“Let’s check the perimeter first before heading in. We arrived late, so let’s see what the people who came before us are up to.”

“Ah, right.”

We walked for about thirty minutes, surveying the surroundings, but found no trace of other people.

Since we had entered late, the others must have already headed inland.

“But could this be an island? I get the feeling it’s some kind of deserted island…”

His guess was correct—this was an island.

An island of demon beasts, uninhabited by humans.

Father Yohan muttered with a gloomy expression.

“I have a feeling this demon realm will be even more difficult. The, the special conditions too…”

As Father Yohan said, this demon realm came with restrictions that the others hadn’t.

There were three new restrictions in total.

First. The rewards for this demon realm’s mission would vary depending on the clear difficulty.

On the surface, this didn’t seem like much of a penalty, but the remaining clauses were the real problem.

The second clause was the inability to use the shop.

Until now, they could purchase Recovery Potions or food from the shop whenever needed, but that was no longer possible.

However, the most troublesome was the third clause.

‘Once you enter this demon realm, you can’t leave the room until you’ve completed the clear.’