Mr. 5 slowly walks toward the southern gate, followed by a horde of Millions and Billions.

“So, you lowly mercenaries know who I am?” he yells arrogantly.

“You annoying flies are more persistent than I expected. I can’t believe this tiny village still hasn’t surrendered. You all deserve to die for not appreciating Baroque Works’ offer.”

“You can relax, though. I admit you’ve done a decent job resisting… but you should know what I’m capable of.”

With a disgusted grin, Mr. 5 casually picks his nose, pulling out a booger as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He holds it up like a trophy.

Alex, quick on the uptake, screams: “GET DOWN, EVERYONE!”

He and the other players dive behind whatever cover they can find as Mr. 5 flicks the booger toward the locked gate of the southern wall. A second later, the booger explodes with a thunderous blast, blowing apart the gate and sending shards of wood flying into the village.

Where there was once a secure gate, there’s now a gaping hole, granting Baroque Works easy access to the village.

Mr. 5 laughs loudly, clearly enjoying the shock and terror on the faces of the players and the villagers who have gathered on the southern wall. Many villagers stand frozen, some shaking in fear.

“We don’t need to kill you,” Mr. 5 calls out, his voice dripping with arrogance. “This is your last chance. Tomorrow at noon, I’ll be back. You have two choices: surrender and live, or oppose us and die.”

“I’ll see you all tomorrow. And I expect to hear the right answer,” he says, strolling away with his agents following closely behind.

The players, along with the village elder, gather in the village square as the sun begins to set.

The village elder surprises everyone by saying, “Perhaps we should surrender. You mercenaries might have done your best, but I can’t expect you to die for us.”

Main Quest Updated:

Mission:The village elder has decided to give you a choice. Either surrender to Baroque Works or fight them to the bitter end. You may choose to abort this main quest. If at least four players agree to surrender, everyone will fail the mission.

Clear Condition:Defeat Mr. 5 and defend the village.

Reward:Contribution points and bonus mission rating based on individual performance.

Failure Condition:Surrender to Mr. 5.

Punishment:All players receive the lowest passing rating (D-), lose all items and Fantasy Coins acquired, and are immediately expelled from the mission.

Hint:Your efforts have granted you the option to surrender and escape, but this mercy comes at a high cost.

“No way,” Alex thinks to himself. “If we surrender, we lose everything, our points, our items, everything we fought for! What’s the point of surviving this tutorial if we’re broke and weak for the next mission? That’s just setting ourselves up for failure. It’s suicide.”

The players glance at one another, and Thato breaks the silence with a smile. “Good. Looks like we’re all in agreement, no way in hell we’re gonna surrender.”

No one contradicts him, but Eirini bursts into tears and runs off, with Perlah following to comfort her.

The rest of the group stands in uncomfortable silence until Roja speaks up, her voice cold. “If anyone tries to surrender, I’ll kill you myself. I’d rather die at the system’s hands than face slow death in the next mission. Surrendering is a trap, a slow insidious trap. We’re not giving up.”

Her harsh words shock the others, but in a strange way, they also feel reassured. No one speaks of surrender after that.

As the group settles in for the night, the atmosphere relaxes. There’s no attack looming, and for the first time, they feel they can breathe.

A few hours later, Eirini and Perlah return, and Eirini, her face determined, boldly states, “We’ll fight and win.”

The group claps, encouraging her, but then she adds, “If I die, I hope you’ll do me a favor.”

She pulls out her supplies, including a pen and paper she had gathered earlier while away. “Did you know you can store ordinary items in your inventory, even things the system doesn’t classify as ‘usable’? If I die, can someone take this letter and send it to my family?”

The group is taken aback. Slowly, everyone else begins writing letters with Eirini’s supplies. The next few hours are spent writing heartfelt goodbyes, just in case, and sharing addresses to ensure the letters could be delivered—even from different countries.

For the first time since arriving on Navalia, they sleep in real beds.

The next day, they rise early. There's no desire to run side quests or do anything else. The players spend the morning sparring and talking about tactics for dealing with Mr. 5. Alex shares his remaining medicine with Thato, handing him one vial.

[Quality Medicine] x3

Quality: White

Effect: Heals 20 HP over 5 minutes. Can be applied directly to wounds or ingested.

Note: Drugs are bad, but these might just save your life.

Roja demands an extra dose from Alex, leaving Alan and Mike without any. Alex, seeing an opportunity, smirks and says, “One Crystal,” holding out his hand.

Roja, clearly annoyed, reluctantly hands him a crystal in exchange for the medicine.

Some of the players have used their contribution points to buy better armor and weapons, preparing themselves for the inevitable battle. The village store still only offers basic jerky, unsuitable for healing in combat. The group discusses potential tactics, but nothing seems like a surefire plan.

“Since we used the crystal on Mr. 5 near sunset yesterday, it should still be active when he arrives at noon, right?” Alex asks.

Roja nods. “Yeah, he’ll still be weakened. His arrogance will be his downfall.”

They return to the southern wall, where the hole Mr. 5 blasted in the gate is now filled with wooden spikes, creating a makeshift defense. The group readies themselves, with Alex, Eirini, and Perlah, the only bow users, taking up positions alongside the villagers.

As noon approaches, they see Mr. 5 approaching with his army of Millions and Billions agents, nearly 100 men.

With the players and around 100 militia members, it looks like an even battle… until Mr. 5 arrogantly steps forward.

“So, what’s your answer?” he demands, standing confidently before the village.

The group exchanges glances, waiting for the signal. Then Thato yells, “NOW, EVERYONE!! GO TO HELL, MR. 5!”

Dozens of arrows fly from the group, villagers, and players alike, all aimed at Mr. 5.

Alex smirks, thinking, “We’ve got him!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com