I opened my eyes and found Kuti in front of me. She looked at me with a sweet smile. I grabbed my blanket back and pulled it up to cover my head.
"Wake up! I heard from 999 that you accepted his offer? Great! We can stay in this world forever!" Kuti said, pulling my blanket away. "Come on, wake up!"
Kuti kissed my forehead, making me startle as her warm lips touched my forehead. I rubbed my eyes, stretched, and got out of bed. Kuti showed me her phone, "Our task from 999 today is to choose between letting the Order of the Moon Knights be destroyed by the Majagada Kingdom's army or helping the Order of the Moon Knights."
I took my phone and checked. It was true about the task. "So the threat letter from the messenger yesterday was real. What do you think, Kuti? Should we help or just let it happen?"
In the task description, there was a small note saying that if we let the Majagada Kingdom win, it would open a path of servitude to the Majagada Kingdom. If we helped the Moon Knights, we would open the hero path.
"I wonder if Dahlan and Rosa received the message from 999 too. If so, what did they choose?" I muttered.
Suddenly, a message from 999 appeared on my phone. "They didn't receive it. They chose to fight with the Moon Knights."
"Can we still form a party with them?" I asked.
"Yes. But avoid being too emotional in your party relationship. You must know that the fact you and Kuti work for me should not be known to them," 999 replied.
A group message appeared, Dahlan inviting us to meet in front of the guild for a four-person party to complete the daily tasks. Kuti and I accepted his invitation. Kuti pushed me to shower and have breakfast quickly.
"Where are my mom and dad?" I asked.
"They went out of town to meet my parents," Kuti replied.
"Huh? Hey, wait! What's going on?" I asked again.
"Just go shower and have breakfast! We can't be late to the guild and must maximize our time to complete the daily tasks!" Kuti said and kicked me out of my room. Then she threw a towel and a change of clothes at me.
After showering and having breakfast—oh, Kuti cooked it. It was delicious—I quickly grabbed my gear and joined Kuti outside. She asked me to accompany her to the blacksmith to pick up her order. The blacksmith uncle kept his promise and finished the arrows Kuti ordered.
Kuti paid the full amount and happily left. "Now for the endless quiver. We need materials from a dragon."
"Easy," I replied. "We'll go on an adventure to find it later."
We continued to the guild. In front of the guild, Dahlan and Rosa were waiting for us. Rosa was shocked to see me, "Hey Kuti, who is that beside you?"
"Thomas," Kuti replied.
"Oh, you changed your look? Nice, it suits you," Rosa praised. "Let's complete our daily missions. The first one is just helping farmers harvest wheat."
"By the way, should we formalize our party and register it at the guild?" Dahlan asked.
"You two go ahead. We can't," I replied. "B-because we still have our parents. We can't go on long adventures."
"Well then, Rosa, do you want to form a duo party?" Dahlan asked.
"No. I'll adventure solo," Rosa replied. "But we can do the daily missions together."
"Do any of you think about going back to the old world?" Dahlan suddenly asked.
"No," Kuti and I replied at the same time.
"Yes," Rosa replied.
"Ahahahah. So, our party is disbanding. Okay, this seems like our last daily mission together," Dahlan said. Throughout our completion of the daily missions, he remained silent and didn't speak much. Occasionally, he tried to lighten the mood with jokes, but they failed. I'm sorry, my friends, but it seems we can no longer be together.
My phone vibrated, and an alarm sounded about the Majagada Kingdom's invasion of our town. At that moment, the four of us had just finished lunch and were about to continue the last daily task. But the town's danger bell rang loudly.
The members of the Order of the Moon Knights, who controlled our starting town, gathered their members. Panic-stricken citizens were everywhere. Fortunately, our parents were out of town, so we didn't have to worry about their safety.
"Are you joining?" Dahlan asked. "Come on. Just because we have different views on adventuring doesn't mean we should split up?"
"This time, I'll join you, Dahlan. But afterward, I'll adventure alone," Rosa replied.
"Thomas and I can't. We're forbidden to fight," Kuti said, hugging my left arm tightly. Still enjoying my lunch, I put down my spoon and looked at Dahlan.
"That's right, Dahlan, we can't help. Stay safe," I said to Dahlan. "Please take care of and protect this town."
"You're missing the chance to be heroes. Especially since we have extra power from 999," Dahlan looked disappointed. "Well, I can't deny it because you two are homebodies. Fine, Rosa, let's go join the gathering!"
Dahlan and Rosa left, leaving the two of us sitting on the bench outside the restaurant. Our phones vibrated, and we got a command from 999 to be outside the town. Kuti and I finished our meals and left.
999 instructed us to be in the Kao Forest south of the town. I asked 999 if our parents were safe. He replied with a thumbs-up emoji. We both breathed a sigh of relief upon learning this.
But now, the exit from the town's walls was guarded by the Order of the Moon Knights. We didn't run out of ideas; Kuti created a distraction by setting one of the houses on fire with her ability so I could place a ladder to climb over the wall. While the guards were distracted, we both climbed the wall and left the town.
At the edge of Kao Forest, we were stopped by a group of ninja-clad people. I prepared my shield and club. Kuti took cover behind me.
Someone emerged and sheathed his sword. He asked, "Are you Thomas and Kuti, the envoys from 999?"
My phone vibrated again, as did Kuti's. There was a message from 999, "Just follow what they want. You will meet King Majagada, and he will hire you for a high price."
"You're telling us to become mercenaries?" I replied.
"Just do it," 999 responded.
"Yes! W-what do you need?" I asked. Damn, my nervous habit flared up again.
"Ah, good. Come with me. King Majagada wants to meet the foretold couple," the person replied, ordering the other ninjas to hide again. He approached me and extended his hand for a handshake.
"I'm Godam. One of King Majagada's subordinates. Come with me to meet His Highness Kromosemito II," the man in front of me replied.
"I'm Thomas, and this is m-my girlfriend, Kuti," I said, shaking his hand.
We walked through the forest until we reached the Kao meadow, where the Majagada army had set up camp. The town was currently under siege by them. Godam led us directly to King Majagada's main tent, Kromosemito II.
Godam bowed when facing King Majagada in his tent. At that moment, the king was relaxing, drinking tea in his tent. "Your Highness, I've brought the two envoys from the god 999."
Upon seeing us, King Majagada knelt before us. "Oh, envoys of the god! Thank you for coming to see us! We are currently at war with the Flokian Knight League and will take their territory to become ours. Can you help us achieve our ambition?"
Kuti and I were confused. Then we remembered the lore of the game we played. Indeed, each region had its own god. So the god of this region was 999.
Ah, I realized something. Maybe later, we would have to fight other gods' envoys to raise 999's rank and make him more powerful? My phone vibrated again; there was a message from 999. "Exactly. Don't worry, I'm currently the 3rd strongest among the gods. Accept King Majagada's offer."
"Alright, we'll accept," Kuti said.
King Majagada's face lit up with joy, and he ordered his subordinates to set up a tent for us. So we have to fight our own town? How does this concept work?
Kuti and I were invited to discuss strategy with King Majagada. At the moment, the battle news at the town's east gate was a stalemate. But even more surprising, we met our parents at the camp.
"Hey, mom and dad?" Kuti asked when she saw her parents here. "Also, uncle and aunt?"
My phone vibrated with a message from 999. "This is what I meant by keeping your parents safe. I moved your parents to accept King Majagada's offer. The king gladly made your parents nobles because you are the chosen envoys of the god."
I approached my mom and dad. They both looked proud, saying that we were chosen by 999 to be his envoys. After talking, Kuti and I were asked to go to the east gate to change the battle situation there by King Majagada.
After saying goodbye to our parents, we set off. King Majagada gave us two horses, which we gladly accepted. My phone vibrated again with a notification from 999, adding riding and horsemanship skills to our ability cards. Kuti checked her phone too; it seemed she got the same message.
"Come on, Thomas! Let's go to the east gate! Let's surprise Dahlan and Rosa there," Kuti said, riding ahead of me.