I stared blankly at the tent's carpeted floor, which served as a warm covering beneath me, while puzzle bubbles collided inside my head.
Something was bothering me. Something suspicious.
The monster lair had been thoroughly cleared. The clues and evidence from the massacre site had also been secured, though they didn't fully unravel the mystery behind it. But... why was an entire Serpentspire Legion still standing guard here?
It made no sense at all. If the goal was exterminating a horde of Orcs or Bogarts, deploying an entire Legion was more than enough—even excessive. And if their only objective was investigating the dark conspiracy behind this village massacre, a military intelligence team should have been sufficient to handle it.
So why were the elite knights and frontline troops still camped here?
Was there another threat of war-level significance that required an entire Legion to take action?
My brow furrowed deeply. I had briefly shown anger and shock when Serenity told me about my village's massacre—though those had been this body's emotions, not my true feelings. Yet now, I was sinking into my own thoughts.
"There's one more thing I need to tell you."
Serenity's voice broke the silence. The female knight watched me, apparently deep in thought.
"How will you live from now on, Efren?"
I looked up and met her sympathetic gaze.
Serenity began explaining the options available to me in a cautious tone.
The first option: live under the care of the Dawn Church. Unfortunately, this faction was not trusted by the ruler of the Margravate of Serpentspire. As a result, the movements of all its followers within the Margravate were heavily restricted. Once the Serpentspire ruler learned that a villager who had suffered through such a dark ordeal and been rescued by his knight had chosen the Dawn Church, there was no telling what thoughts or actions the ruler, who already distrusted the faction, would take.
The second option: enter the care of the Evernight Temple. The Empire looked down on this temple, but it held far greater trust in the eyes of the local ruler of Serpentspire. In Serenity's opinion, it was the wiser choice for Efren, because Efren—well, me, Efren—lived within the Margravate of Serpentspire.
At the end of her explanation, Serenity stared straight at me.
"Or... I could volunteer to take care of you for a while. Until you're old enough to stand on your own feet."
It was a surprising offer from a frontline knight. I was fairly shocked by her words and the other choice she had presented.
"Could you... give me a little time to think about it?"
Serenity gave me a faint smile and nodded, understanding my position. She applied no further pressure and made no attempt to force me.
"Of course. Get some rest."
After telling me the bitter truth and giving me those choices, Serenity turned and walked out of the recovery tent.
Leaving me alone in the recovery room.
The room suddenly felt so cold. I immediately weighed every word Serenity had spoken.
Within the Margravate of Serpentspire, the safest choice politically was actually to head for the Evernight Temple. However, if I chose that path, my future actions would be tightly constrained.
As a former player of Tales From Players who possessed data from the Sanctuary of Players, my ability to use my knowledge and future plans to maximize my gains would be hindered by the Evernight Temple's endless doctrines and strict rules.
The two largest religious institutions on this continent were basically the same. They emphasized their doctrines until their followers became servants, able to do nothing but submit under the care of the local ruler.
It was a path most TFP players avoided.
Besides, as a player and a human being who had lived in the modern era, how could I fully worship creatures whose forms and existence we already knew for certain?
What if I chose to go with Serenity?
I'd have to seek out the benefits myself, but Serenity's status as a knight of the Margravate of Serpentspire came with its own limitations. Moving under the shadow of a military knight could become troublesome if I wanted to carry out secret plans.
A knight was bound by the orders, laws, and morals of the local territory. For a player, utilizing every available element was both a necessity and the most rational way to navigate this world's story.
"I need hard data."
I closed my eyes and focused my consciousness, returning to the space within the Sanctuary of Players.
In an instant, my consciousness was flung back inside, entering the space that had become a part of me.
I began filtering through and opening every recorded video file from the TFP players who had previously explored the Margravate of Serpentspire and its surroundings. I dissected secret maps, hidden locations, and the course of factional conflicts that had once taken place in this area.
I had to formulate a plan and make the most logical—and most advantageous—decision for my survival.
My feet felt heavy as I pulled aside the tent flap and stepped out into the cold night air.
I stopped and exhaled deeply, my breath rising as a thin plume of vapor. The boy's face still appeared clearly in my mind. The anger on his face when he heard that his village had been massacred, followed by the strained emptiness in his eyes as he contemplated how his future had been destroyed overnight.
He must be deeply shaken, I thought with pity.
At only thirteen years old, he had lost his family, watched his village be razed to the ground, and now been forced to choose a path in life amid political intrigues he didn't even understand.
This world was far too cruel for a child his age.
Without realizing what the boy inside the tent was actually thinking, I clenched my hand around my sword hilt. I was determined that, whatever choice Efren made, I would make sure he never became a victim of this world's cruelty again.
"Knight Serenity!"
The urgent call broke my reverie. A military intelligence soldier hurried over and crossed his arms over his chest in a military salute. From his somewhat ragged breathing, I knew he had brought crucial news.
"Reporting the latest developments from field surveillance, Knight," the soldier said, half-whispering to ensure his voice didn't carry into the area around the recovery ward.
I nodded, straightening my expression into one of professional resolve.
"Speak. What did the surveillance team find?"
"There are two important developments. First... indications from the scanning mages confirm that the negative Mana fluctuations around the fissure in the ground are beginning to solidify. The initial signs of a new Dungeon's formation have already begun inside the monster lair we just cleared."
My brow furrowed deeply. A new Dungeon...
In this world, the formation of a Dungeon was not an ordinary natural phenomenon. There were four main processes capable of creating such a dangerous nest:
First, extreme Mana density and turbulence in an area—whether it was a dense accumulation of negative Mana left behind by a bloody massacre like this village's tragedy, or an area with an excessively high concentration of a particular natural element.
Second, through ancient ruins that had been buried and abandoned for hundreds or even thousands of years. The fragments of memory, emotional traces, and remnants of civilization left behind in those old structures would slowly absorb the surrounding energy until they formed a Dungeon.
Third, the presence of a monster lair or secret location—such as the headquarters of a dark organization, a mad scientist's laboratory, or the site of a blasphemous sect's rituals. Forbidden practices and deviant activities in such places disrupted the Mana balance around them, triggering the formation of a Dungeon Core.
And lastly—also the rarest and most terrifying—was the formation of a Dungeon born directly from the existence or residual power of a Demigod.
If the formation of a new Dungeon on this frontier was left unchecked without strict Legion surveillance, it would ultimately bring about a major disaster: a flood of monsters overflowing from it, a Dungeon Break, ready to sweep away everything nearby.
"And the second?"
I urged the soldier, who was in the middle of reporting his findings, with another question.
"About two hundred meters from the monster lair's perimeter, the patrol team found a suspicious figure spying from behind the dense trees. The person carried no official Imperial identification and moved with deliberate, calculated behavior. The suspect has now been apprehended and detained in the temporary interrogation tent."
A thin, cold smile carved itself across my lips. Amid the chaos of the massacre and the emergence of a new Dungeon, the presence of a stranger near the scene was clearly no coincidence.
"Good work."
I responded firmly, my fingers tightening around the sword hilt at my waist.
"Take me to the detention tent now. I'll meet and question this person myself."
At last, this mystery could be unraveled quickly. Another clue had emerged, and I had to make full use of it. I moved with the soldier toward where the prisoner was being held.