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 vige still hasn’t surrendered. You all deserve to die for not appreciating Baroque Works’ offer.”


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


    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 yers dive behind whatever cover they can find as Mr. 5 flicks the booger toward the locked gate of the southern wall. A secondter, the booger explodes with a thunderous st, blowing apart the gate and sending shards of wood flying into the vige.


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


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


    “We don’t need to kill you,” Mr. 5 calls out, his voice dripping with arrogance. “This is yourst 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 yers, along with the vige elder, gather in the vige square as the sun begins to set.


    The vige 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.”


    <strong>Main Quest Updated:</strong>


    <strong>Mission:</strong> The vige 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 yers agree to surrender, everyone will fail the mission.


    <strong>Clear Condition:</strong> Defeat Mr. 5 and defend the vige.


    <strong>Reward:</strong> Contribution points and bonus mission rating based on individual performance.


    <strong>Failure Condition:</strong> Surrender to Mr. 5.


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


    <strong>Hint:</strong> Your efforts have granted you the option to surrender and escape, but this mercyes 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 yers nce 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 Peh following tofort her.


    The rest of the group stands in ufortable 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 rxes. There’s no attack looming, and for the first time, they feel they can breathe.


    A few hourster, Eirini and Peh return, and Eirini, her face determined, boldly states, “We’ll fight and win.”


    The group ps, 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 ssify 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 yers spend the morning sparring and talking about tactics for dealing with Mr. 5. Alex shares his remaining medicine with Thato, handing him one vial.


    <strong>[Quality Medicine] x3</strong>


    <em>Quality: White</em><em></em>


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


    <em>Note: Drugs are bad, but these might just save your life.</em>


    Roja demands an extra dose from Alex, leaving n 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 yers have used their contribution points to buy better armor and weapons, preparing themselves for the inevitable battle. The vige store still only offers basic jerky, unsuitable for healing inbat. The group discusses potential tactics, but nothing seems like a surefire n.


    “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 sted in the gate is now filled with wooden spikes, creating a makeshift defense. The group readies themselves, with Alex, Eirini, and Peh, the only bow users, taking up positions alongside the vigers.


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


    With the yers 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 vige.


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


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


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