Half a day had passed, and Carl's group still hadn't seen any trace of humans or monsters in the vast forest. Of course, there were some harmless creatures, but Carl wouldn't bother putting them on the list of things to care about.

Carl glanced up at the sky and muttered,

"Nothing here... maybe we'll get a better view if we stand over there."

He wanted to fly with his own wings, but his dragon soul was too weak to give him real ones. Turning to Jordan, he said,

"Hey, you—fly above the forest and look around."

Jordan shot him a glare. It was obvious he didn't like being called like that. Besides, if he did what Carl said, it would make him look like Carl's lackey. But before he could say anything, Melinda had already taken off, soaring above the treetops to scan the forest.

Yep, she was smart enough to understand Carl's point—and didn't take offense as long as it helped the team.

A few minutes later, she landed and shook her head lightly.

"Nothing special up there."

Carl fell silent, frowning in frustration... but after a moment, he just sighed.

They resumed their search, though their goal shifted a little. The sun was starting to set, and rushing any further wasn't worth it. Instead, they focused on finding a good place to rest before setting out again tomorrow.

But just as they were about to stop for the day, a sudden noise echoed nearby.

"I hear someone crying for help—from the north side of the forest. You guys hear that?" Jordan asked, turning his gaze northward.

Melinda nodded.

"Yeah, I heard it. We should check it out."

Carl frowned, rubbing his chin as he weighed the situation. Something about that sound gave him a bad feeling.

"Yeah... why do I feel like that's gonna be trouble?"

Carl smiled coldly and followed his comrades, walking toward the source of the cry for help.

After about an hour, they finally arrived at the place — and now, things started to get interesting. Carl just smirked when he saw Gibbs, tied up with barbed wire against a tree trunk, screaming in pain.

Carl didn't expect to meet Gibbs in such a situation, especially since that jerk had left the group to travel alone.

But why was he tied up there? And who did this?

Carl scratched his head, lost in thought. He glanced around, trying to sense any presence of monsters, but after about a minute, he could barely feel anything.

The eerie silence unsettled him. He didn't like it — if there were some monsters nearby, at least he'd feel better. But this kind of unpredictable situation always made him uneasy, and he hated that feeling.

"Not good."

Carl turned his attention back to Gibbs and walked toward him.

Jordan grimaced as he looked at the deep wounds covering Gibbs's body. It honestly gave him chills.

"Gibbs, what on earth happened to you?"

Gibbs trembled and spoke weakly, "I-I was… ambushed by Orcs."

Melinda, standing nearby, frowned.

"Orcs? What do you mean? Are those things even smart enough to do this?"

In normal cases, most orcs are stupid, brainless creatures — they act completely by brute force instead of using ambushes. Besides, they would have killed their prey straight away, not left Cibbs alive like that..So it was hard to believe Cibbs was telling the truth.

Gibbs didn't answer right away. He just shivered, his voice filled with pain.

"L-Let me out first… I already spent all my mana fighting them."

The barbed wire was tough, but with their Rank-E strength, breaking it wasn't that hard—unless they were in really bad shape.

After a few minutes, they finally snapped the wire and gave Gibbs some healing poison to help him recover. Then, with a somber look, Gibbs began to explain.

"Since I left the group and went north through the forest alone, I was ambushed by a horde of goblins. T-They were completely different from the Orcs I've met before."

"They were fast… strong… even intelligent."

Carl spoke up.

"I don't bother with that. Just get to the point—why were you hung on that tree?"

Gibbs's eyes flashed with hatred as he gritted his teeth.

"I don't know. When I woke up, I was already hanging there, wrapped in that damn wire."

Carl clicked his tongue, his voice tinged with irritation. All that information was useless.

"You good-for-nothing!"

"Y-You…" Gibbs clenched his fist, glaring at Carl furiously.

Melinda stepped in.

"So, where exactly were you ambushed? Maybe we can find some clues there."

Gibbs forced himself to calm down, and after a few seconds, he said,

"I don't remember clearly… but before I passed out, I went north and saw some pillars. It looked like… some kind of ruin nearby."

Jordan rubbed his chin.

"If that's true, the ruin should lie westward, opposite to where we began."

"Should we go now? The sun's already going down," Jordan asked.

Carl replied flatly,

"We go now. If those monsters specialize in ambushes, it won't matter what time of day it is. Besides, coming at night might actually surprise them."

Melinda and Jordan exchanged a glance and nodded without argument. Then, the group set off toward the western side of the forest.

***

"He's right," Carl muttered, blinking as he looked at the old pillars by the tree he was standing near.

He reached out and touched it, feeling the chill of the decayed metal plate wrapped around the pillar. Looking down, he saw moss covering its base.

"It's around… four or five hundred years old?"

If something like this existed here, then a ruin nearby wasn't impossible.

The deeper they walked into the forest, the more pillars and fragments of finely carved stone appeared beneath the vines and plants.

"Over there! I see a temple!"

They all turned toward the direction ahead, blinking a few times in disbelief. After another ten minutes of walking, they finally reached the temple's base.

Seeing the five columns forming the foundation of the place, Carl couldn't help but be surprised.

"What the hell? What kind of dungeon is this supposed to be?"

Melinda, standing beside him, nodded.

"Indeed… I've never heard of a temple inside a dungeon. Just looking at it—it's nothing like a temple of any god, or any temple I've seen in the world."

Ting!

[Warning: Conflict detected between the temple and the system!]

[Warning: Monsters from the temple will be released in 5 minutes!]

[Quest Updated]

[Side Quests]:

– Investigate the Temple of the Stoker Class.

Reward: ??

– Join the Student Council.

Reward: ??

– Kill 100,000 Cursed Goblins (0/100,000)

[Permission for host to abandon at will]

Carl's eyes widened in horror as he stared at the system screen. At that moment, he wished more than ever that his wife would come back and take control of the damned system. It always gave him missions that could get him killed at any time.

"Damn it! I give up! Change the quest—I don't wanna die!"

[The system is analyzing the host's situation to create a new mission.]

Ting!

[Quest Updated]

[Side Quests]:

– Investigate the Temple of the Stoker Class.

Reward: ??

– Join the Student Council.

Reward: ??

– Escape from the Cursed Goblins' Encirclement.

Reward: ??

[4:20s]

…

[4:10s]

…

"What on earth is happening to this place?" Carl's face twisted as he read each line on the system screen. And that conflict between the temple and his system… What was that?

"That's bullshit! I'll ask my wife after I clear this fucking dungeon."

Suddenly a laugh echoed through the place before Carl could take another step.

"Ha—hahahahahahahahaha…"

The laugh faded as a shadowy figure stepped out from behind a tree. More people followed him—about a hundred, by Carl's quick estimate.

"Nigel?" Carl frowned when he saw a familiar face among the crowd.

A muscular man, bare-chested, an axe slung behind his back so the handle rested over his right shoulder. He'd been one of Marsh's subordinates — one of the bullies from the past. If Marsh was at the top of Carl's "kill" list, this guy was next.

Nigel gave a chuckle, then spoke with a sneer.

"Crippled heir of the Ryan family… Do you like this grave I've found for you? Funny fate to meet you here. No—To be honest, all thanks to your effort… Cibbs."

Carl frowned at Cibbs as he stepped forward from the crowd. Carl felt a stab of surprise at the traitor, but thinking it through, nothing about it was surprising at all.

Jordan yelled angrily, "You bastard! So it was all your doing?"

Cibbs stayed silent, looking uncomfortable at the accusation. Nigel laughed and draped an arm over Cibbs's shoulder.

"That was a great idea, right?"

Cibbs only nodded weakly, not meeting Nigel's eyes.

Melinda's voice turned serious. "What are you going to do with us?"

Nigel blinked, then curled the corner of his mouth into a grin.

"In normal cases, I'd just kill my main prey… But right now I've got a different plan."

He leered at Melinda's big breasts and her beautiful face, licking his lips.

"I'm going to rape you, and the rest will be killed."

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