"We were just as confused at first," Alicia said brightly, her voice coming through the call, "but me and Lily got the same exact quest at the same time. There's no way that's a coincidence!"
Sam's brow furrowed as he listened, processing her words.
"Me and her are planning to head into the first layer soon," she continued, "just to see what this whole Sub-Layer thing is about."
Sam stayed silent for a second, debating whether or not he should speak the truth. But in the end, he just sighed.
"I got the quest too," he finally admitted.
"What?" Alicia gasped.
"The Sub-Layer quest. I got it too," Sam repeated, his voice calm. "I'll be there."
It wasn't that he didn't believe in Alicia or Lily, far from it.
They were heroines of this world, important characters meant to survive through major arcs and threats.
But still... no matter how much Sam thought about it, something about this Sub-Layer didn't sit right with him.
"Wow!" Alicia's voice lifted with excitement. "That's great! That means we'll all be together again! And this time, we won't let you do everything alone."
Sam gave a faint smile, one that didn't reach his eyes. "Sure. Let's meet at a restaurant first, talk things through."
"Perfect!" she chirped. "I'll tell Lily to meet us there!"
They talked for a few minutes more, setting a time and place, and then the call ended.
Sam let the phone drop beside him on the bed as he leaned back and stared at the ceiling, exhaling slowly.
'I guess they're bound to take part,' he thought, eyes drifting. 'They're heroines. The world probably wants them in the middle of all this mess.'
Still, the fact they'd been dragged into the same advancement quest as him meant only one thing: the world, or more specifically, Hell Mode, was upping the stakes again.
Sam had spent so long clawing his way through the hellish tutorial that it had become second nature to distrust any sort of reward or milestone.
In this difficulty setting, nothing ever came without a price.
He couldn't even really call it a game anymore. Not with how real everything felt now.
The people, the places, the pain, it was all real. If someone died, they didn't respawn. If he failed, there were no retries.
He tried to focus on what he could control. Namely, preparing.
Yesterday, he'd evolved his fourth skill to the [Forsaken] rank.
Thankfully, it had been easier this time around, since the base skill was already [Epic], meaning he only needed two [Primordial Evolutions] instead of five.
[Shadow Tendrils (Epic) → Grasp of the Abyss (Legendary) → Tendrils of Oblivion (Forsaken)]
The new version of the skill was much more powerful.
But his real reward would come after he cleared the advancement task.
Reaching Level 10 hadn't granted him a new skill like it normally would, because the system locked progression until the advancement was complete.
Everything depended on the task.
Depending on how well he completed it, the system would tailor his reward.
A skill was guaranteed, sure, but maybe he'd get more. An item? A perk? Something special. Something worth the nightmare.
With that last thought lingering in his head, Sam drifted off to sleep.
...
The next morning came quickly.
Sam cleaned up, ate a quick breakfast, and left the modest hotel he'd been staying in.
He made a mental note to buy some new clothes later, he'd been wearing the same stuff for days now, but shrugged it off.
He hailed a cab and gave the driver the address of the restaurant Alicia had chosen.
Apparently it was some fancy place uptown, of course, it would be. Alicia had money, and wasn't shy about using it.
When he arrived, he found both Alicia and Lily already seated near a window. He walked over and slid into the booth across from them.
"Morning," he greeted.
"Hey!" Alicia smiled. "I guess we all know why we're here."
"Yeah," Lily said, giving a calm nod. "We're going to do whatever it takes to complete our advancement tasks."
Sam folded his arms as he leaned back. "Sub-Layers are completely unheard of. If we really are the first to access one... we need to take this seriously."
"You think they're harder than the regular layers?" Alicia asked, curiosity in her voice.
Sam didn't hesitate. "Much harder. Don't let your guard down, not even for a second."
Both girls fell quiet for a moment, their eyes widening slightly. They could tell Sam wasn't just guessing, he knew something.
After what had happened in the first layer, they had no reason to doubt him.
"I've prepared as much as I could," Alicia said after a while, smiling again. "I even have two new skills. I'm ready."
"Same here," Lily added. "I didn't tell anyone about the Sub-Layer thing either. It just felt... off."
"Good call," Sam said. "We don't know what's waiting for us, and we definitely don't want more people interfering."
As the only known explorers of a Sub-Layer, the pressure on them was immense. Any wrong move could cost them everything.
After the meal, graciously paid for by Alicia, who waved off the cost like it was pocket change, the three of them stepped outside.
"We can open a gate into [Forsaken] from anywhere in the outer rings," Lily reminded them.
Sam nodded. "Let's go."
The group caught the nearest bullet train and rode it toward the First Outer Ring.
As they traveled, Sam thought back to how entry worked.
Portals could only be summoned in designated zones, and those zones were limited by ring tier.
From the First Outer Ring, awakeners could only open gates to the first and second layers.
To reach the third or fourth, they'd need to move deeper into the second ring, after conquering the previous layer, of course.
No one really knew why the system worked like that, but it seemed designed to force progression. The further you went, the more dangerous everything became.
No one even knew how to reach the fifth or sixth layers yet since the fourth one wasn't conquered, but most assumed those gates would only unlock in the third Outer Ring.
Right now though, their goal wasn't some distant layer.
They needed to find the Sub-Layer hidden beneath the first.
Once they arrived, the train doors hissed open and the trio stepped off into the wild.
"Alright," Sam said. "Let me try first."
He closed his eyes and focused on the thought of entering the Forsaken Realm.
He let the image of it settle in his mind: the danger, the bad feelings he had, and most importantly, what could possibly happen later.
And as the thought took root, a panel appeared before him.
---
[Which layer do you wish to enter?]
[First] [Second]
---
He smiled faintly.
'First,' he answered mentally.
Another panel flashed in response.
[Very well, Primordial.]
Fwish! BANG!
A ripple of energy surged outward, and a glowing blue portal tore itself open in the air before them. Its presence warped the air, shimmering like a tear in reality.
It wouldn't stay open for long.
"Ladies first," Sam joked with a playful grin.
"Oh wow," Alicia blinked. "Didn't know you had a gentleman side."
"Don't be fooled!" Lily laughed. "He's just tossing us in to see if there's any danger!"
Sam smirked, but said nothing.
The two girls stepped through the portal, vanishing one after the other.
Sam followed behind them.
As he moved, a familiar panel reappeared in front of his vision, hovering just inches away.
[SSS-Ranked Advancement Task: Conquer the First Sub-Layer]
And so, he entered the first layer for the second time, this time knowing that it would be much harder.