Sedric lies on a chair; in front of him is a fireplace which he gazes at. Its warmth rushes onto him, and the coldness he has after taking a bath slowly disappears. In his room, the windows are open, and the world beyond the bubble shape around the village can be seen through the window.

  ?Sedric pays no attention, for his gaze stays on the light only his eyes can see.

  ?In there is a mission he got, and it arrived just a moment after he came to take a rest in the inn, following the announcement of reaching the Safe Stone Zone.

  ~

  ?[Individual mission assigned by higher being Laugh— Redeem]

  ?(Redeem — While being a group leader, you failed in the attempt to defeat an enemy while someone unworthy defeated an enemy of the same caliber without an injury to the body, giving you shame and dishonor to your name. As a man, you should redeem your pride and honor. Defeat the individual {Joshua} and show your powers are superior to him.)

  ?(Mission reward — Hate Essence from the mad beast Warash)

  ~

  ?Sedric's gaze has been staying on this panel for a long time, his thoughts drifting into the memory of the battle that he and his group fought with the abnormal wolves. In that battle, although he achieved victory by slaying the three-headed wolf, he did it at the cost of almost losing his life. If not for the sudden change that occurred in him from the strange light panel, his survival was doubtful. Dying like a war hero after slaying an ominous and fearsome beast like a three-headed wolf with the ability to spit fire from its mouth was an honor Sedric was joyous to accept with his death.

  But the victory of Joshua, facing a beast with the same caliber of power without even a serious injury to the body, stained the honor Sedric should have received in his name. While he suffered devastatingly to defeat an extraordinary beast, a kid much younger than him managed to defeat a beast of the same kind without an injury. Just thinking of it makes Sedric's guts crawl and stomach ache, like someone kicked right on his manly parts.

  ?He knows he should redeem himself, but yet he doesn't know of a proper way for him to do it. But now, seeing the choice in front of him, Sedric falls into thought.

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  ?It isn't that he want to kill Joshua; he knows how valuable he is to the group, but yet, despite knowing this very fact, there is still something within him that pushes him, urging him not to deny this mission.

  ?And Sedric does not manage to hold back his thoughts. The previous him, who wanted Joshua in his group to go with him to his empire and become one of the subordinates of his king, is no longer there. His eyes now darken, and his red eyes have a gaze of fury upon them when he recalls the memory of him being defeated by the beast and Joshua killing the beast easily, earning honor and praise from his soldiers.

  ?His blood becomes hotter, and Sedric's thoughts that are still holding him back from accepting the mission—reminding him of the importance of Joshua and the task his empire has given him—start to fade away. The rage and dissatisfaction slowly make his hand move toward the light panel.

  ?"Is this what becomes of me?"

  ?Sedric whispers, his hand that almost moved to the light panel to accept the mission held by his other hand, refusing to let it do as it pleases.

  "The honor and the pledge I pledged in the presence of my king to be forever loyal to the Ottoman Empire—I now feel so distant from that. Instead, what I feel close to now is an uneasiness, bloodthirst, and rampage in my head. Is this the work of this changing world? By accepting these so-called gifts, these powers from this unknown thing, I have changed. Oh, how foolish of me to accept things from strangers. But if I think of it, there wasn't an option, neither was there a choice for me to make; it was forced, or more like fated, from the moment all these things started to happen.

  ?Right now, this moment of talking is the only time I can feel like I'm being truly myself. But I can feel it—the rampaging and bloodthirsty thoughts are crawling their way upward through me like another identity of mine. Letting it do as it pleases would be to erase myself from my own body. I won't let that happen. I need to get hold of myself, remember myself, and know myself without being manipulated by these thoughts.

  ?I need to redeem myself, but not by blood."

  ?It is at this moment that the light glowing before him shines once again as another source of light appears.

  It is a mission, one way different from the mission before.

  ~

  ?[Individual quest offered by Beating Heart of Warming Mountain]

  ?[Mission - Be the leader your loyal soldiers want you to be and escort them back to their homeland]

  ?[Mission reward - Spring Drops from Calm Tree grown in Chaos Wilderness]

  ~

  ?Unlike the previous one where he had to battle someone in his group, this mission favors saving lives; and Sedric, who is on a quest to redeem himself, finds his heart settled in this mission. Thus, after another deep thought on his choice, Sedric's hand moves, touching the glowing light and accepting the mission from the options.

  ?Once Sedric accepts the mission, both panels disappear and his own status panel appears, with an added section for his current individual mission.