Elon had a very busy night.

  After parting with Kael, he had intended to draft the operational contract himself before dealing with the teleport nexus. Realizing it would take too long, he delegated the legal paperwork to his secretary and immediately sent a private message to Lila.

  "You busy?"

  "What's up?" Lila replied. She was in a high-level training ground.

  She'd been frustrated for the past few days. During the Hidden Realm expedition, her combat contribution had been minimal. Her damage, crowd control, and defense were all unsatisfactory. It was to be expected; [Phantom Blade Dance] was a class with a notoriously slow skill progression, and she had only just started learning it. It was one thing to fight normal mobs, but in a high-difficulty Hidden Realm, it was no surprise she wasn't making much of an impact.

  The moment she had returned from the Land of the Behemoth, she had gone straight to Crescent and paid for access to a training ground with a 3x skill-up rate to grind proficiency.

  "Lila, I need a favor. Could you record a video of your team clearing the [Behemoth Simbra] dungeon?"

  "[Behemoth Simbra]? I'm not sure we can even clear it. The difficulty is insane."

  "Don't be so modest," Elon messaged back. "Your squad is number one on the server. If you can't clear it, nobody can."

  "But…"

  "Come on, Lila… for Kael?"

  Lila paused. "Fine. But I'm not making any promises."

  "You're the best! I'll authorize a 10 million payment from Arbazon as a professional fee. You can decide how to split it among your team."

  "Forget the money. If this is about money, I'm not doing it."

  "Even if you don't want it, your other 19 teammates can't work for free. Besides, this fee is for the attempt. You all get paid whether you succeed or not."

  "…Alright, fine. I'll record the trash mobs and elite spawns on the way, too. Get you some data on the drops and EXP."

  "Thank you! I knew I could count on you!"

  Lila closed Elon's message window, opened her guild roster, and assembled a 19-person raid team.

  Over the next four hours, they attempted the [Behemoth Simbra] dungeon over and over. It took three full tries before they finally succeeded.

  The next day, Kael logged on. The first thing he saw was a group of "acquaintances."

  It was the main party from the [Serpent’s Coil] guild:

  Dreadfang, Level 30 Blademaster

  SoulSpark, Level 30 Warlock

  LunaBloom, Level 30 Priest

  SolarFlare, Level 30 Mage

  IronRoot, Level 30 Knight

  This was the third time Kael had encountered them. The first was at Blackheart, where they were part of the thousand-man mob that he had single-handedly sent packing.

  The second time was just a few days ago in Behemoth’s Sanctum; Kael had been in stealth, so they never knew he was there.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Three days after they had left the area, the system announcement for the [Suppress Behemoth Simbra] dungeon had gone live.

  Caleb had been baffled. Three of the world's top guilds, equipped with powerful team-wide skills and gear, had failed to kill the boss.

  How in the world did Dawnbreaker lead a team to victory? To make matters worse, the Land of the Behemoth Teleport Scrolls he had acquired were now useless. He was deeply frustrated. The most common mob in that zone was worth a million experience points. The potential for grinding levels and farming gear there was astronomical.

  It was then that he saw Elon's advertisement in the guild leader chat channel:

  "[Land of the Behemoth]: The ultimate level 30 grinding spot. Normal mobs offer over one million EXP. Gear drop rates are 2-3 times higher than in dungeons."

  Attached was a short video compilation of [Crimson Bloom]'s team killing Mawflowers and clearing the dungeon. While it didn't show the full fights, Caleb could see with certainty that both the Mawflowers outside and the dungeon boss inside had been nerfed. Their abilities were weaker, but the experience values were unchanged. A trip inside now would be even more efficient than his first expedition.

  And so, Caleb found himself at the teleport nexus, arguing with Elon, his face flushed with frustration.

  "A hundred thousand per person? I thought it was a hundred thousand per party!"

  "Per party?" Elon scoffed. "You think you can bring a 100-man raid in here for a hundred grand? Get real."

  "But a hundred thousand per person is too expensive!"

  "If it's too expensive, then don't go," Elon said dismissively. "There are plenty of level 30 Orcs right outside Starlight Village you can kill. Now if you'll excuse me, there are other teams waiting." He rolled his eyes and turned to greet the next guild in line.

  Caleb seethed with frustration. He knew perfectly well what the Orcs outside were like.

  A normal Orc had 300,000 HP and gave a measly 40,000 EXP. An Orc Elite had 800,000 HP for 80,000 EXP. The Mawflowers in the Hidden Realm had a million HP for a million EXP. While the difficulty was higher, the return on investment wasn't even in the same league.

  Besides, Lila's video showed that the Mawflowers' abilities had been toned down significantly. The Elite Mawflower's three-hit magic combo now had a noticeable delay between each strike, making it easy to dodge with the right timing. That change alone drastically increased a party's survivability. They might not even need to use the Sunfire Bell.

  After thinking it through, Caleb's scowl was replaced by a beaming smile. He walked back over to Elon. "Hey, Elon, my friend, I was just joking with you. Here's five hundred thousand. Be a pal and get my team inside, would you?"

  The two opened a trade window, and Elon handed over five entry passes for the teleport nexus. He counted the heads as they went through, a grin plastered on his face.

  Business was booming. Since players from Crescent City could travel here easily, he'd already sold over fifty passes today. Most players from other main cities weren't level 30 yet and couldn't use the cross-city teleporters, leaving them to watch in envy as the Crescent City guilds monopolized the new zone.

  Of course, where there was demand, there was a market. Elon immediately listed a stock of [Cross-City Teleport Scrolls] in every main city's auction house, with a price tag of ten thousand dollars each.

  The existence of the Land of the Behemoth also created a surge in demand for high-end gear, and the crafting orders for Elon's [Vowforged Plate] in every main city skyrocketed.

  After lunch, Lila and her team had rested up. Their 20-person raid had slammed against the [Behemoth Simbra] dungeon for hours the previous night, finally clearing it at two in the morning. Now, it was time for Kael's mission.

  He assembled his party members, and they set out from the east gate of the village. Hazel took point, followed by Fenris. Lila, Rena, and Orion flanked the NPC, with Kael bringing up the rear.

  As they walked, Kael watched Fenris, his brow furrowed. The Third Chieftain had a debuff icon over his head.

  [Fatigued]: Unable to use skills.

  Orion noticed it too. "What the hell is this? The devs give us a powerhouse escort who's too sick to do anything?"

  Hazel glanced back. "Hey, why does the Third Chieftain have a [Fatigued] debuff?"

  Kael sighed. "The quest text says he exhausted most of his mana healing the First and Second Chieftains."

  "Are you kidding me?!" Orion fumed. "The system's just trolling us at this point!"

  "And here I thought we were getting a carry," Rena grumbled. "Turns out we're escorting an invalid."

  "Quiet," Lila said, her voice firm. "Let's focus on the mission. We have a job to do."

  "Right, boss!" the team replied in unison.

  The monsters near the village gate were weak, and several players were already grinding there. Kael waved to a few as they passed, and the five of them escorted the Third Chieftain towards the Shadowcrag Mountains.

  Compared to the Mawflowers in the Hidden Realm, the mobs on the road were a joke. The pressure was off, and the group was soon laughing and chatting as they traveled.

  They were completely unaware that, not long after they departed, a group of mysterious players had begun to follow them, their movements silent and purposeful.

  Strangely, as they moved through the wilderness, the aggressive Orcs scattered across the area didn’t attack them—or even seem to notice them.