Chapter 12: On the Road to the Orc Village

Following the arrow, I ended up somewhere familiar.

It led straight into the cave where I first met the Black Mask while being chased by Mishkentul.

“Hah… they say it’s darkest right under the lamp. Turns out the goal was right in front of me this whole time, and I took the long way around.”

Just like the day I first woke up here, the cave felt calm and peaceful.

The thick smell of grass brushed past my nose.

I followed the arrow deeper into the cave.

“…Here?”

At the very end, a cavern much larger than expected opened up.

At the center of the hollow space—pitch-black with not a single ray of light—

a faint red glow flickered.

“Finally…”

I walked straight up and pulled out the Red Awakening, roots and all.

How much suffering had it taken to get this thing?

My eyes stung with emotion.

As I carefully shook the dirt off the roots—

Clink—

A small ringing sound echoed.

…What?

Don’t tell me there’s some guardian beast protecting it?

I tilted my head down toward the sound.

A single shining ring caught my eye.

‘Is this… a lucky break?!

A stat-boost artifact? A ring that gives a summon?’

All kinds of fantasies ran through my head.

I swallowed hard and picked up the ring.

At that moment, a notification appeared.

[Main Quest! Lover’s Ring]

A couple who eloped for love met a tragic end at the hands of knights who pursued them.

Please deliver the ring to Devous, the Guardian of the Forest, who still cannot let go of the lovers.

[Deliver the ring to Forest Guardian Devous {0/1}]

Reward: Linked Quest – [Revival of the Lovers], Increased favor with ‘Forest Guardian Devous’

(Warning! Failure will result in forced system shutdown.)

[Accept / Decline]

“…What? A main quest?”

My head started pounding.

I wasn’t asking for much.

I didn’t want a ring with absolute power or some artifact that could reset the world with a snap of my fingers!

‘Why the hell does picking up one ring trigger a MAIN QUEST?!’

Damn system.

And there’s even a failure penalty this time?

I stepped on a landmine.

I’m not accepting this.

I hit Decline.

I didn’t know what would happen if I ignored a main quest—but that wasn’t my problem.

Then—

[Main Quest! Lover’s Ring]

(Same description)

(Warning! Failure or refusal will result in forced system shutdown.)

[Accept / Accept]

“…Ha. I knew it.”

I didn’t expect Eve to back down easily, but this was just cheap.

The answer was forced from the start.

I glared at the disgusting letters and pressed the button with trembling fingers.

Falling for Eve’s trap didn’t feel good—but I had no choice.

‘All for the Red Awakening… no. I shouldn’t have picked up the ring in the first place.’

Back in real-world Korea, I wouldn’t even glance at a ring lying on the ground.

But this was a novel.

And I let my greed run wild, imagining cliché plot twists.

Well… it was special.

A ring that triggers a main quest, after all.

Still, all I had to do was deliver it to some forest guardian.

At least the difficulty sounded low.

“All this trouble because of one stupid ring. Hey, tin can, scan this.”

Eve stayed silent.

“What, you’re sulking because I called you a tin can? If you wanted to be called by name, you should’ve done your job better.”

Hearing my own voice echo in the cave finally snapped me back to reality.

“…Why am I getting this emotionally invested in an AI? Eve, scan it.”

Only then did Eve respond.

[Scan complete. Official name: .

A rare herb that grows in dark places with extremely low probability.

It stimulates the part of the brain responsible for memory.

When consumed, eat the fruit portion…]

Finally.

“So… should I eat it?”

What would it taste like?

The red-glossy fruit reminded me of an apple, but somehow I felt it’d be bitter instead of sweet.

I opened my mouth and swallowed it in one bite.

“Ugh—”

It felt like my soul was being pulled out of my body.

My mind spun, and images flashed before my eyes like old movie film.

They were scenes from my life.

‘So this is what “recovering memories” means.’

I thought I’d suddenly realize things—but this was different.

The scenes slowly moved forward.

“…This day.”

The worst day appeared before my eyes.

It’s a common story.

A family that once lived comfortably goes bankrupt due to an economic crisis,

fails to repay debts, and makes a tragic choice together.

But for me, it wasn’t a story.

It was reality.

It was hell.

I was the only one left alive.

I gave up my inheritance.

Luckily, my parents hadn’t touched loan sharks, so I lived without debt.

The funeral was filled with shouting and resentment from people who had lent money in good faith.

Some grabbed my arm, begging me to tell them where my parents hid their money.

Others cried, saying they’d even mortgaged their own parents’ house to lend money to mine.

I couldn’t say anything.

I became an orphan.

The emotional debt my parents left crushed me.

I cried alone until I couldn’t breathe—yet there was no one to hold me.

Still… I wanted to live.

I wanted to live and repay the debts.

Live and meet someone who would comfort me.

Live and someday be happy.

The faded footage continued mercilessly.

Watching my life from an outsider’s view was disgusting.

Terrifying.

“They say life looks like a comedy from far away and a tragedy up close… but mine’s a tragedy no matter how you look at it.”

I muttered bitterly.

The scene passed—

young me screaming while holding my first love, dying cold after being hit by a car.

Then, the scene I wanted appeared.

I steadied my shaking heart and focused hard—

to absorb the novel’s plot, lucky encounters, and characters.

The early story was mostly what I remembered.

The protagonist, Wi Hajoon, meets companions during the tutorial, builds bonds, and defeats villains.

But as the footage went on, things stopped making sense.

My mouth fell open.

“The Tower was the mastermind? Why is it suddenly trying to kill the protagonist?”

This was insane.

A massive twist.

The truth was revealed in the later parts.

The Tower—meant to help humans grow stronger against monsters—

was actually a tool used by higher-dimensional beings to invade other worlds.

The monsters invading Earth came from Towers in other dimensions.

To fight them, humans entered the Tower and killed creatures from other dimensions—

which then invaded another dimension.

An endless cycle. A slaughterhouse.

The one who created this system was Arkin, a higher-dimensional being who owned the Tower.

“…This is bleak as hell. The protagonist gets betrayed by his allies and imprisoned by the Tower?”

The story ended there.

Since the novel hadn’t finished serialization, the ending was unknown.

After that, I barely registered the remaining images.

When the visions ended and I returned to reality, I organized my thoughts.

The Tower is the true villain. The protagonist is a total pushover.

Eve is definitely an abnormal existence.

She was strange from the start—appearing with errors, knowing almost everything yet being oddly limited.

Most importantly, her missions are different from the novel’s.

Not just the content—the purpose itself.

In the novel, the Tower’s missions were simple: kill elite monsters.

Hard missions, yes—but meant to filter strong players.

Yet ultimately, those missions weakened the forest’s forces.

Without monsters, the forest would’ve already been wiped out by the Empire.

Eve, on the other hand, pushed me to help monsters and stop the Empire.

Her intentions were clear from the very first mission.

‘So… Eve is opposing the Tower?’

I thought carefully.

To survive, I have no choice but to watch the protagonist closely.

His path is the path to survival.

In the end, the protagonist opposes the Tower.

And coincidentally—

so does Eve.

“Then the answer’s obvious.”

That strange, mysterious tin can.

I’ll follow Eve’s lead for now—and later, help the protagonist.

For the first time, things felt clear.

With my goal set, my steps felt lighter.