At that moment, Andrei quickly noticed that the ordinary people did not welcome them.

But he didn't care about their displeased expressions or gazes because he felt even if they resisted, they would be like earthworms wriggling against their predators.

What bothered him the most was the person who led them all the way here.

Andrei scanned the entire ordinary people quickly to look for that person.

Did the ordinary people come as far as here by themselves?

He was not stupid enough to believe that because it was absolutely impossible for them to do so. That meant there was somebody who guided them here.

'Who is it? Where are they now? Given the powerful Lich at the 2nd gate, their leader might not just be one person…'

At first, he planned to take all of the ordinary people under the banner of the Borneche Expedition. But when he discovered the group of ordinary people in the middle of the 4th stage, he realized that there must be some forces that he didn't know about.

Since they defeated the Lich, the powerful gatekeeper of the 2nd gate, he thought they must be very strong. But they were here to get the reward like the Borneche Expedition.

So he thought he could take away at least 5000 of these ordinary people.

He looked around the crowd to find their leader, but when he failed, he opened his mouth with a loud voice because he needed to finalise the negotiation before their leader realized that the reward of this quest was linked to the ordinary people.

[I don't know who you are, but I think I've already introduced myself. So, don't you think you should introduce yourself this time?]

As soon as he uttered those words, Andrei scanned the crowd to see if someone reacted, but he couldn't find anyone.

But he soon noticed someone responding to his words from the sky above.

"Do I really need to introduce myself like this? We've already been moving separately, so we can just go our separate ways like before right?"

Watching their behavior, I knew my prediction was right.

As soon as they got here, they announced immediately they would protect the ordinary people who they had abandoned at the start, and did not even offer any apologies.

Of course, although it was extremely unlikely, they might have come back here because they felt sorry for the ordinary people left behind.

But I could conclude firmly that they didn't come back because of their sympathy for the ordinary people.

If they had felt that way, they would have come back before the one-week deadline of the safe zone was over. In other words, they must have found something at the end of their journey which had to do with the reason why the ordinary people were forcibly summoned here.

That was why they made such a big fuss, arguing that they needed to protect these ordinary people who they had abandoned at the beginning.

At that moment, Andrei came to look for me.

Since I figured out their intentions, I felt I didn't have to hide my identity at this point, so I came down slowly from the air using Blink.

Not only Andrei, but also Lorraine, the guild Leader of the Orléans Guild, and quite a few people immediately found out who the guy descending slowly from the air was.

He was none other than Asirante, or Juyoung Hong.

They had no choice but to be startled because even though they did not say it openly, Asirante was like a 'monster' to them.

At that moment, Juyoung said, "Looking at your expression, it seems that I don't have to introduce myself. But let me tell you who I'm out of courtesy. My name is Juyoung Hong."

"…"

Andrei bit his lip slightly as he took in the appearance of Juyoung Hong. He seemed quite relaxed despite being surrounded by hundreds of people. Of course, Andrei didn't think that Juyoung Hong was cocky because he had such mighty capabilities. So much so that he realized that it was no wonder that these 10,000 ordinary people got to the middle of the 4th stage.

But Andrei decided he could not yield to Juyoung Hong.

So Andrei said, swallowing, "Nice to meet you. It's an honor for me to see you in person because I have heard about you only through rumors."

"Well, it's nice to see you, too."

Even though Juyoung didn't welcome his greetings, Andrei opened his mouth again without the slightest change in his expression.

"Thank you for taking care of these ordinary people that we didn't think of protecting."

Andrei decided that he should make the most of Juyoung Hong's ignorance because the latter didn't yet know how valuable these ordinary people were.

Of course, Andrei had no intention of asking to protect the entire crowd of 10,000 ordinary people, for he might get into big trouble in reality if he incited Juyoung Hong's anger here by deceiving him completely. So he gave up his original plan to ask for 5,000 of them.

He wanted at least 3,000 people, though.

He felt that Juyoung would not take issue with that number even if he found out later that the ordinary people were the backbone of the final reward.

At that moment, however, I raised my voice at him, "Hey, tell the truth! You abandoned them instead of taking care of them, right? Can't you tell the difference between 'abandoned' and 'taking care of'?"

"…"

Andrei thought that he might run into big trouble because of what Juyong just said. After all, he would be left with little despite all the sweat and toils he made with the Borneche Expedition members until now.

Since he could not give in to Juyoung like this, he opened his mouth again with a smile on his lips.

***

Although I already had my suspicions about Andrei's intentions, I was now convinced that there was something at the end of this journey that would sharply increase the value of these ordinary people who were considered a burden. And it was a huge reward, of course.

But I didn't say it openly to him.

While moving with the ordinary people, I cut to the chase to Andrei who tried to test my will by expressing his willingness to yield little by little.

"Stop talking bullshit right now!"

My reaction was obviously pretty harsh, but I reacted so deliberately.

I didn't have to converse with him amiably here, and it might even send him the wrong signal that I was willing to make some concessions.

Of course, it would not matter even if I made some concessions because there would still be so many guys left with frustration and resentment if I claimed all the credit. So, Andrei and all the members of the entire Borneche Expedition would have to go back empty-handed.

It was I who brought these ordinary people here using all my resources, and it was again I who would take them back to the entry point after this journey was over.

So I shouted at Andrei, "Can you step aside, so we can move on? Are you going to stop us? I hope not."

At that moment, something started sprouting from the ground all of a sudden.

Shuuuuuuuung- Shuuuuuuuuung- Shuuuuuuung-

Numerous roots sprung up from the ground between the ordinary people and the Borneche Expedition members. They rumbled through the ground threateningly.

So I opened my mouth to him once again in a far more intimidating manner.

"I want you to make a decision right now. I still have a long way to go, and I'm busy."

Fighting them? I had no intention of avoiding it.

But I didn't have to because the Borneche Expedition members began to shout here and there.