“After all, you two, who once tried to kill me and disliked even my breathing, have become part of our group. So, there shouldn’t be any problem with Elay joining our journey, right?”

“…….”

“…….”

Both men had nothing to say in response, nodding hesitantly while still looking warily at Elay.

Regardless, Elay clung to me and wouldn’t let go.

Since we had three horses and Elay was too young, we had to wrestle with whom to put him on.

Klaus insisted it was dangerous to put Elay on my horse and wanted to take him on his, while Anselot also argued that Elay needed more observation and should ride with Klaus.

However, Elay refused to leave my side, so he ended up on my horse.

The exit from the forest was not as difficult as the entrance had been.

With Elay’s fog gone, all the monsters in the area had disappeared.

Chirp! Chirrrp!

―Lulu is Piya’s!

Chrrrrrrr!

―Piya is sad! Piya is sad!

Although Piya chirped loudly, no one paid attention.

Instead, Elay, as if to tease Piya, burrowed deeper into my embrace with each chirp.

And the moment we emerged from the forest.

[Main Quest: Forest of Illusions (3/3)] Completed!

[SYSTEM] Quest success!

[SYSTEM] You have earned 20,250 experience points.

[SYSTEM] Your level has increased! (Lv.37)

[SYSTEM] You have earned 10 skill points.

[SYSTEM] Quest completion rewards have arrived in your mailbox.

Elay, stepping out of the forest for the first time, looked dazed.

“How does it feel to be out of the forest, Elay?”

“…….”

Elay, after looking back at the forest, buried his head into my embrace again.

I gently stroked his head, gazing at my significantly increased level.

‘My level has risen quite a bit.’

When I had just left the palace, my level was around 30, but now it was approaching 40.

‘Much of it was thanks to Sir Klaus.’

Even without much hunting, thanks to registering Klaus as my supporter, I shared the experience points he earned from monster kills, raising my level along with his.

It was lucky there was a hunting quest first.

If I had unregistered Klaus as a supporter while defending against Anselot’s attack first, I would have had to hunt 500 monsters alone due to the one-week cooldown.

‘Anyway… finally gathered them!’

With a silent exclamation, I opened the skill window.

[Skill Points: 50]

Seeing my skill points reach 50 filled me with great emotion.

Below that, a list of my owned skills continued.

[Special]

Skill Level: 10/10

When activated, automatically switches to conquest mode, recognizing all opposite gender characters as conquest targets.

Provides information when conquest targets appear, quantifying their emotions for smooth progress in conquest.

Adds a lover slot for each successful conquest. You can have up to 100 lover slots.

[Special]

Skill Level: 9/9

When used, increases the affection rate of the target by 10 times for 5 minutes. (Cooldown: 1 day 00 hours 00 minutes)

[Normal]

Skill Level: 1/6

When used, increases movement speed by +500% for 5 minutes. Movement speed affects attack and evasion. (Cooldown: 6 hours 00 minutes)

[Normal]

Skill Level: 1/1

When activated, adds plausibility to your unnatural actions so nearby characters don’t question them.

[Combat]

Skill Level: 1/10

When used, increases defense by +165% for 3 minutes. (Cooldown: 30 minutes)

[Combat](new!)

Skill Level: 1/10
” Under Ruse’s blessing, deliver a powerful strike causing +17985 damage to the opponent. (Cooldown: 1 hour 00 minute)”

The skills that Hezen originally possessed were transferred to me intact, and the enhanced skill levels that Hezen had upgraded were also retained.

The two max-leveled skills at the top were Hezen’s handiwork, which, of course, were useless skills that didn’t help at all in combat.

‘Thanks to that, I just learned how serious that madman was about his harem.’

I coldly scanned through the skill window and cursed Hezen once again.

As I completed quests, skill points accumulated, allowing me to unlock new skills or enhance the ones I already had.

The reason I had diligently saved my skill points until now was that I had a specific skill in mind.

That was…

Instantly resurrect without pain and recover a certain amount of health. (Cooldown: 90 days 00 hours 00 minutes)

Skill points required: 100

Unlike Hezen, for me, this game was not a virtual space but a reality where I lived and breathed.

Obviously, I couldn’t even log out at will.

I had a goal to reach after successfully completing the game.

But this game was infamous for the brutal difficulty of its final scenario.

Since learning that this world operated as a vast system, I was still far from reaching the final scenario, yet I had already faced countless brushes with death.