[Nightmare]

"I… have so many questions… but…."

"I can't think…."

"Me either…."

"Haaaaaaah. Thank… god…."

"Hah, this is [your] fault…."

"Are… huuuuh… you complain…ing?"

"No…oh~"

"You'll… probably… need to ah…activate… the sleep circle…."

"Good… haaah… idea…."

"Magic… huuuuh… convenience makes… modern solutions… feel like a joke…."

"Riiiii…ght…?"

"Yeah… no wonder this place… hasn't caught up… technologically in fifty… thousand years…."

"I… think it's… haaah… wonderful."

"Hah… me, too."

"I'm activating it now… see you in three hours."

"Hah... Not like that's… going to put a dent… in our… haaaah… recovery…."

"Shhhh… imagine… trying to face tomorrow… in our current condition…."

"Hahaha… I'm calling in sick…."

"You ladies… I swear…."

A bright light under the bed glowed pink.

A few seconds later, they drifted away.

A few seconds later, they were greeted by a light shock of electricity.

"Ahhhh~"

"Whaa~"

"I…. Ah~"

"Haaaaah, okay, we're up, we're up!"

"Don't play the victim… You set the thing… up!"

"Heh. I guess that's valid."

The sleep circle makes falling asleep too abrupt and unexpected.

So when a person wakes up, it doesn't feel like time has passed.

They were awake, and now they're awake.

It's disorienting.

The spell also makes the person [shut down to wake up tomorrow] mindset go haywire.

Helix and his partners used the circle for the first time to ensure they could sleep before training one day.

Tyrene kicked their door down and punished them with brutal training when they didn't wake up.

Since then, Helix created an alarm system using an electric spell but modified it so that it didn't hurt.

But the resulting feeling was… awkward.

"Okay, let's get up. I have some news for you." Helix sighed.

Charlotte yawned while puffing out her bare chest and stretching one arm in the air.

Helix found her daily morning stretch cute.

Marie rubbed her eyes, and Riley tried to sit up gracefully as usual.

However, she found herself on the struggle bus and fell backward.

She could sit fine, but she wasn't prepared.

It was the feeling you get when you expect a door to be light but end up crashing into a heavy door.

Helix chuckled when he saw her embarrassed face.

"What's the news, chief?" Charlotte asked sleepily.

"That…."

He got off the bed hurriedly and walked over to the Circle of Secrecy.

It worked for twelve hours and had a cooldown period of six hours.

Helix sighed a breath of relief, knowing he didn't activate it until 10 PM and it would keep active for three hours.

Marie, Charlotte, and Riley's eyes shot open.

They spent every moment they were allowed to be with each other together.

His tone alone alerted them that his news was serious.

Seeing him checking the Circle of Secrecy circles was alarming.

Helix took a deep breath and thanked Tilo for his training.

The circle was extremely effective but impossible to trace or activate even if he did have the 300 spirit particles necessary to activate it.

Now, their bedroom was the safest place in the kingdom to talk.

"We accidentally completed the quest yesterday." Helix said with a low voice.

All of their eyes widened in shock.

Charlotte was about to jump in celebration.

However, everyone saw that Helix wasn't celebrating.

His face was telling them the opposite.

"Since the original quests requirements were not satisfied, the Myriad Record rejected the completion, updated the quest, and increased the difficulty." Helix sighed.

"W-What? How is that fair!?" Marie cried.

"I don't understand…." Riley commented in a low voice.

"That fucking monsterfeliac just wants Helix to suffer. I can't wait to cunt punch that fucking—"

"Please calm down, Charlotte." Helix chuckled with a desperate expression.

Charlotte took a deep breath and looked down aggressively.

She was angry but didn't want the [reason] for her anger to be troubled by her [support].

"Thank you." He added while closing his eyes.

"I feel just like you do. I'm angry enough to simp hook Elise and release her to my beautiful yanderes'."

The women giggled with poison-laced eyes.

"Simp hook?" Charlotte giggled with a bewildered expression.

"Yes. It's when a woman sees a male attack and realizes their opponent's boundless respect for women doesn't apply to people trying to kill him." Helix sighed.

"I call that a simp hook because it bothers me that it requires a justification."

The women burst into laughter.

"You're qui~te the gentleman." Charlotte cried with tears streaming down her eyes.

"Thank you, Charlotte." Helix replied while taking a bow.

"My policy is to not physically or mentally abuse anyone because it's wrong.

It equally bothers me that this policy still isn't common-sense and required multiple movements to justify.

I am abusing no one; Elise is trying to kill me; she will doubtlessly attack me when I see her; therefore, she shall receive a simp hook."

Helix was using the voice and mannerisms of a charming gentleman.

Combined with his rational yet spiteful rhetoric, his performance became comedic gold to them.

Giggles burst forth as if a broken floodgate released them.

"I'm conflicted about which side of that argument is more important to your personality." Marie mused while wiping light tears from her eyes.

"The characteristic exasperation with unpragmatic people, or the uncharacteristic willingness to hurt someone."

The women started debating the topic cheerfully.

Helix smiled when he saw the mood had returned to normal.

He didn't like to see the three angry or in pain.

They were his support, so even if things got bad, he wanted them to be positive for everyone's sake.

Once the debates and giggling stopped, Marie turned back to Helix.

"Now that we're calmed down, please tell us what the details are." Marie asked.

Helix closed his eyes and nodded.

"The original quest was to save the kingdom from the power-weebs meeting the super-otakus." Helix sighed.

The women looked at him with perplexed expressions.

Charlotte puffed out her cheeks, but Helix lifted his hand to request her patience.

"The Mad Queen was supposed to orchestrate a scenario that pitted them off each other, and we were supposed to save the kingdom." He continued.

"However, we brought the power-weebs to the kingdom with a warning letter.

Once we defused the situation, there was no reason to save the kingdom, and therefore the Myriad Record didn't accept the quest's intention."

"What… was the quest's intention?" Marie asked hesitantly.

Helix let out a caustic chuckle that could eat through steel.

"To, quote, [save the Alzerian Capital from a biblical-grade death blender level attack]."

Marie, Charlotte, and Riley started panicking.

"W-What does that mean?" Marie cried.

Riley tried calming her down.

"Wait! Helix…." Charlotte called out with fearful eyes.

"Didn't… you say the difficulty was [increased]?"

Helix gave them all a grave expression.

"Yes. There will… be a fourth-order Colossus and five hundred high-level second-order monsters." He sighed.

"...."

Marie, Charlotte, and Riley were shocked.

After a minute of silence, Marie spoke up with a trembling voice.

"Is the attack happening two days from now…." She asked.

"Thankfully not. We've been given four weeks to prepare for the attack.

We can use that time to establish relationships with neighboring countries." Helix explained.

"We've been given the route the monsters are taking, as the goal is to kill them at any time."

A sigh of relief washed over everyone.

"What are we going to do?" Marie asked with a low voice.

Helix sighed with depleted eyes.

"We're going to train the super-otakus and powers-weebs." He chuckled bitterly.

"Then we'll need to…."

All four wore wry smiles when they left the room.

The idea they'd have to build up the power of the [already problematic] cultivators was a bitter pill to swallow.

However, there was no choice, so they'd have to work harder.

Much harder.

—

Power stones and grammatical errors = more content. :)