What do you mean by "this is a dating game"?

The vegetation along the way turned into shades of blue, not from the light, but from the changes in biological characteristics caused by long-term exposure to a unique environment.

The soil in this area is rich in exotic magic.

Sieg looked at the trees on one side.

The forest was dense, and deep purple light flowed through the veins of every leaf.

This place was so dreamlike, it didn't seem like the real world. He was certain he had arrived at "March Bay," and everything before him was exactly the same as the scenery in the game.

"We've arrived."

Xiyou dismounted first and walked to the three pools in front of him.

The three pools are arranged in a triangular shape, each two meters square, and the water is knee-deep.

She looked at Sieg and said, "Hurry up, Dagen. Pharos's premonition won't be wrong. You'd better get what you need to do before the unknown enemy arrives."

Sieg actually wanted to go home.

What kind of situation is this?

He asked, "Who have you offended?"

No.

Grapefruit is the answer.

Pharos succinctly stated, "My enemies aren't in Blackscale City. As for the battle that might break out next, I think... it's someone coming to assassinate that 'Peach'!"

"..."

Sieg frowned in thought, concluding that his judgment was probably correct.

The mastermind behind Emilia's murder may be in the palace.

It's also possible they had a backup plan; they discovered that all the personnel involved had been wiped out, so they tracked them down.

The most urgent task is to ignite the fire in our hearts immediately.

Sig is currently at level 0, and a battle is imminent. He has no intention of using his mortal body to defend against swords and magic.

He asked, "Do you know what to do? We need to each occupy a pool of water and pray to the moon at the same time."

"I know. How to become a Moonlight Swordsman is no secret."

"Falos said."

Without saying a word, Sieg stepped into a pool of water and stood in the center.

The pool water was cool. He raised his hands, looked up at the silvery-white crescent moon in the sky, and let the moonlight illuminate his face.

Grapefruit and Falos did the same thing.

No prayers were needed; the cold moon in the sky shone brightly, casting its light upon the heavens.

The pool water beneath their feet began to boil, bubbling and gurgling. This wasn't rising steam, but rather rising magic. Sieg and the others didn't feel any burning or pain; instead, it felt lukewarm and comfortable.

Grapefruit and Falos certainly felt that way.

Moonlight bathed them, and the rising stream of magic gently washed over their bodies. Their brows relaxed, and they could feel their energy and magic slowly returning, leaving them feeling refreshed.

And Sig—

Unexplained stinging pain!

It wasn't my legs that were in the pool that were stinging, but my hands.

"What...is this?"

Sieg stared wide-eyed at his raised hands.

Under the clear moonlight, dark blue tattoos appeared on his arms, resembling coiled worms or tangled nerves, protruding from the surface of his skin.

He also noticed that the knuckles that had been bruised from his earlier violent punches that struck the armor of the city lord's guards had now fully healed.

The scabs fell off one by one, revealing the delicate new skin underneath.

In the game, Sieg visited the March Bay mechanic at least two hundred times.

The strange phenomenon before my eyes was something I had never seen before!

Why does he have tattoos on his hands?

Why did his wound heal so quickly?

The system notification didn't appear, and Sieg was confused. He brought up the panel to take a look—

There was no new text on the panel, as if everything before my eyes was just an illusion, and the emerging tattoos and healed wounds did not exist.

There must be a reason...

"My understanding of this world, especially of the Fire Palace, surpasses that of 99 percent of the people in this world. But there are two things within me that I have never even seen before."

[Among all the wonders], and [the ancients].

It was precisely because he didn't understand the teleportation mechanism between the myriad wonders that he ended up here.

And now, the scene before our eyes must be the work of one of these two entries!

Seger leans towards the idea of ​​"ancient people".

The world of Sui has many races, and each race has its own strengths.

Demons' war instincts, goblins' financial acumen, and so on.

"Ancient people"? I've never heard of such a thing.

What this race excels at and where its strengths lie are currently completely unknown.

Sieg once thought that he might not have traveled to another world, but to the future.

The world beneath our feet is not the "Sui World," but rather the future Earth after a major upheaval.

In this way, it makes sense that he is an "ancient person," and he is the real deal.

Now it seems that's not the case?

After the wounds on his fingers healed, the tattoos on both of Sieg's hands faded quickly, as if they had never appeared.

at the same time.

A beam of silver light pierced through the clouds and crashed into the center of the Three Pools with overwhelming force. A stone statue with a weathered surface and a base covered in moss emerged from the light.

This is--

[Guardian of the Moon Palace].

"Is this it?"

Xiyou put down her hands, stepped out of the pool, and looked at the human-shaped stone statue that was taller than a person.

Pharos said, "This is it. Defeating it will grant you the 'Essence of the Moon Palace Guardian,' a token for changing your class to Moonlight Swordsman."

His argument is basically correct.

[The essence of the Moon Palace Guardian].

In the game, killing any monster in the Flint Palace has a chance to drop that monster's essence.

Some monster essences can improve an adventurer's base stats, some grant skills, and others allow adventurers to master entirely new classes.

Unlike other monsters.

The Moon Palace Guardian is a "mechanical monster" that only exists in the hidden mechanics of March Bay and will not appear anywhere else.

Defeating it will guarantee the drop of "Essence of the Moon Palace Guardian".

Pharos roused himself; it was finally his turn!

Along the way, Xiyou has been praising this guy to the skies. If he doesn't show off his skills, it would make his title of "runner-up in the monthly martial arts tournament of the border region" seem meaningless.

He took the halberd from his back and held it in his hand: "The Moon Palace Guards are only slightly weaker than the leader of the Fire Palace; they are truly elite monsters! Sig, are you not feeling well right now? I can't sense your magic."

Can't you feel it?

It's normal not to feel it, because it wasn't there to begin with.

but.

There's no need for Pharos to do anything here; there's a more convenient way.

Sieg looked at Grapefruit: "Grapefruit, can you drain the water from these three pools?"

"Hmm? Sure."

Grapefruit raised her hand, as if casting a spell: "But why? What's the benefit of pumping water?"

"Go ahead and smoke."

"...Ha, okay. Weird."

Unleash the magic!

Grapefruit used its magic to suck up the air above the three pools, creating a pressure difference.

The water in the pool was drawn up and floated into the air, forming a thin film of water seven or eight meters above the ground.

As the grapefruit unleashed its magic, a brief downpour fell, sprinkling the earth.

The pool that was previously knee-deep is now empty.

And at this very moment—

"Click!"

A crisp cracking sound rang out.

In the center of the Three Pools, a deep horizontal crack appears on the surface of the stone statue bathed in moonlight.

The cracks continued to expand and deepen, and the surface of the stone statue was covered with fine lines. Suddenly, it collapsed and shattered into pieces on the ground!

Amidst the scattered pebbles, a crystal resembling a miniature crescent moon shines brightly, waiting to be picked up.

That is--

[The essence of the Moon Palace Guardians!]