A while later, Skyler dusted off his clothes as he and Isaac emerged from the narrow underground channel they had found while surveying the dimly lit area where they had appeared after leaving the first level.
His gaze was thoughtful.
"Well, well, do I need to do the same thing I did to find Isaac to track down Charles?"
505 immediately gasped internally, and a message screen flashed before his eyes.
("Noooo!!! This system won’t let the host waste any more precious system points!!")
Skyler raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, you’ve recovered? I thought you’d still be wailing in a corner, worrying about how the main system is going to punish you."
His words made 505 shed virtual tears.
("Host!! You’re so mean!! H-hic!")
With that, the system vanished again.
Skyler chuckled softly. Suddenly, Isaac tapped his shoulder to get his attention.
The youth looked quite nervous for some reason as he handed him a small tracker.
"I gave the others trackers that work in the Battle Royal so we can find each other here. You can use this one to locate Charles and even talk with him—just shake it to start."
Skyler took the tracker. But when he saw four tiny dark dots clustered on its blank screen in the same location, he paused.
"Wait, why do I see four dots?"
Isaac wiped his forehead. It was time this man found out that Zack, Austin, and Yuris Yu had tagged along—and Charles, his dear friend, wasn’t here to share the blame!
"That..."
He hesitated, but hurriedly explained why four marks were appearing on the tracker.
Skyler raised a brow when Isaac finished, surprised. A frown appeared on his face.
He wasn’t angry—just wary of why Austin and Zack, these anomalies, wanted to join him. One was Max’s loyal teammate, and the other seemed to have read the original novel like him. What were they planning?
But what was shocking was Yuris Yu—this extra who hadn’t been mentioned again in the story after losing to Max in the Annual Gala. Did his fate change because of him?
Skyler knew that Zack, Austin, and Charles had been directly teleported to the second level, having already cleared the first level.
Yet to his bewilderment, Yuris Yu had also cleared the first level before the Gala—just because he overheard in his brother’s guild that some students his age from Starlight Academy had entered the Battle Royal. He had even managed to clear the level within a month, though no one knew about it.
Knowing this, Skyler let out a laugh.
"So... Starlight Academy First-Year Elite Class A students weren’t the only people who had been chased by the dragon!"
Isaac was speechless when he heard him. Why did it feel like he had been anxious for no reason? Skyler was clearly more thrilled to know that Yuris had also suffered under the dragon because of him than get angry at Isaac for revealing their plan to others.
He relaxed, noting that Skyler wasn’t as petty or unreasonable as he and Charles had originally thought. The man simply showed his care in his own unique way.
His impression of Skyler had improved greatly after he had saved him earlier.
Still, he was also surprised when Yuris Yu revealed to everyone how he had obtained the same map Professor Moore had given his students—Yuris had stolen it from his older brother’s guild when it was delivered.
He was definitely reckless. But Isaac had gathered information on him and Zack the previous night and learned that his parents had died in a natural disaster shortly after his birth, leaving him in the care of his older brother, who had no time for him due to his job. So, he was just willful and headstrong.
Isaac could tell he wasn’t a bad person.
He was jolted out of his thoughts when Skyler started running with the tracker.
"Let’s go find them! We don’t have time!"
Isaac hurriedly followed him as they ran across the green land they had arrived on, dotted with tall trees. The sky above was already dark, but Skyler flicked his fingers and cast Glimmering Spark—a Light spell that created bursts of light to lit their path.
He used his Voidstep skill to teleport with Isaac, but after ending up in a dangerous spot, he decided not to teleport at night.
Obviously, the light attracted attention—especially from the sleeping monsters in the area. But Isaac watched as Skyler drew his familiar scythe and swiftly killed all the monsters that dared to block their path.
"Goddamn..."
Isaac muttered. Skyler was quick and appeared far too experienced in combat.
"Now I see how weak I am. I should have trained seriously before to get stronger!"
Skyler flashed a smirked at him.
"Don’t worry, you’ll soon."
They both froze when they encountered a tall 15-star monster: an ugly troll with red eyes, clearly awakened by their presence.
It was widely known that the monsters in the first five levels of the Battle Royal were usually dormant or asleep, but if provoked, they always became fiercely aggressive.
Isaac stood behind Skyler, who had been effortlessly dispatching monsters all this time without breaking a sweat, waiting for him to finish off the beast. After all, he had already accepted that this 10-star Light in front of him was far stronger than his star.
He had developed full confidence in him over the hours they had traveled together.
But what happened next left Isaac dumbfounded. Skyler shouted.
"Run! Run! Run!"
Then he sped off in a random direction.
Isaac: ???
His heart stopped when he saw the ugly troll swing its massive hand toward him—so fast he couldn’t even dodge. Just as he thought he was about to meet his grandma in heaven, a towering Earth Fortress rose in front of him, blocking the attack. Though it easily cracked and shattered upon impact, it pushed back the troll that attacked him.
A familiar voice rang out from afar.
"I said run! I am powerful, but I know my limits—and that troll is way too powerful!!"
Isaac jolted from his trance and sprinted after him, his face pale. The trust he had placed in Skyler had shattered. This jerk had made him stare death in the face!
Damn it all!
Couldn’t he have just warned him to sprint earlier, instead of standing before the troll like he was about to go for an instant kill?!
By the time the duo reached Charles, Zack, and Yuris Yu’s location, Isaac was panting and wanting to strangle Skyler to death!