"Should we go back? If you’re feeling hesitant, then we don’t have to do this. Or maybe one of us can go inside alone and complete the mission."

Albus proposed the idea without a hint of hesitation on his face.

The more Rin looked around, the more he realized that he was the only one hesitating.

’Darn it! Madam Yao’s words got to me. I need to pull myself together.’

A prediction of the future was still only a prediction. And the future Madam Yao had seen had already started to change.

Even the system was assuring Rin that he would not die here, so it was time for him to move forward.

"Alright, let’s go."

Rin took a deep breath and stepped into the dungeon.

The heat immediately threatened to melt him the moment he entered. Judging from everyone else’s expressions, they were experiencing the same thing.

’Is there anything in the store that can help us?’

Rin immediately checked the store for solutions and found a potion that could help. The only problem was the price.

Albus’s expression told Rin that he had found the item as well, but the cost made him hesitate. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

’Darn it! Looks like I have no choice but to buy four potions.’

Rin had earned a decent amount of money by selling his own potions in the shop, so he could afford it. Still, watching his balance drop made him feel poor.

He was definitely going to mass-produce potions and sell them the moment he got the chance.

"Drink this for now. We should keep moving."

Rin handed the potions to the others, and their complexions immediately improved. Albus was the only one who hesitated to drink his, but since Rin had already spent the money, he decided not to argue.

Once everyone felt better, they continued moving forward.

Soon, monsters made of lava and fire began appearing around them. Thanks to everyone’s increased stats and the heat-resistance potions, the creatures were manageable for now. However, ordinary weapons would not be effective against them for long.

That was why Rin had done advance preparation and enhanced several of his weapons specifically to deal extra damage to fire-based enemies.

He had only managed to upgrade a handful of them, but since there were not many fighters in the group, even a few enhanced weapons made a difference.

As the sun began to set, the number of monsters started decreasing. The remaining creatures slowly retreated toward the volcano to rest.

"Should we make a run for it now? We might be able to get close to the volcano while the monsters are inactive."

Albus asked while calculating the distance they could cover. It was not a bad idea, but Rin had a bad feeling about it.

Serena seemed to feel the same way because she immediately shut the plan down.

"I don’t think heading toward the volcano’s center right now is a good idea. There are too many monsters gathered there at the moment. We’ll get swarmed if we go now."

Her reasoning made sense. Most of the monsters had indeed retreated toward the volcano’s center.

"Then should we wait until tomorrow? We’re all exhausted anyway. We can sleep in shifts. I’ll take the first watch."

Shelly pointed out, and no one objected.

Rin lay down to sleep, but he noticed Shelly staring at him.

For some reason, he had a feeling she would refuse to wake anyone else for their shift. So before falling asleep, he left a note for the system to wake him in a few hours.

No matter how resilient Shelly was, even she needed rest eventually. It would not help anyone if she collapsed from exhaustion.

’Madam Yao may have said Shelly isn’t in danger this time, but you can never be too careful. I don’t want to risk her life unnecessarily.’

Those were Rin’s last thoughts before sleep claimed him.

__________

It was quiet inside the small building they were using as shelter. After an hour passed, Shelly was the only one still awake, and her gaze kept drifting back toward Rin.

"He’s lost weight. I wish he would stop doing dangerous things and just let me handle everything."

Shelly muttered quietly as she brushed the hair away from Rin’s eyes.

There were many things she hated about her life—her mother, having to share Rin with others, and feeling trapped here like some powerless child.

But one thing she would never regret was meeting Rin and falling in love with him. He was the only thing keeping her moving forward.

However...

"There are still too many obstacles around me. Should I do something about them? This dungeon is dangerous, so if an accident happens..."

No one would be able to blame Shelly for any deaths that occurred here. But Rin would be upset, so she decided not to cause trouble.

Crash!

A loud noise echoed from somewhere nearby, and Shelly immediately went to investigate. It turned out to be a few small monsters, which she disposed of on her own without difficulty.

A few hours passed quickly, and eventually it was time for the shifts to change. But Shelly still did not want to wake anyone else.

It was rare for her to get a moment like this—to simply sit quietly and admire Rin. So she wanted to keep watching him until she physically could not keep her eyes open anymore.

"I wish time would stop so that only you and I existed in this world. I wish I had listened to my mother back then and learned how to preserve bodies without killing them. Would that have made me feel better?"

Shelly asked herself, though she already knew the answer.

She wanted Rin alive and healthy beside her. If she had wanted him dead, she could have done something long ago.

After all, she was already experienced when it came to taking care of her father’s unconscious body.

"Hmm, I wonder if Mother is still alive. And what did she do with Father’s body? She did warn me to be careful the last time we met. But I don’t know if she’s capable of surviving out there..."

"I’m sure your mother and father are alright. Now, would you mind telling me why you didn’t wake me up for my shift?"

Rin asked while rubbing his eyes. He had only just woken up, and Shelly had no idea how much of her rambling he had overheard.

But since he did not look angry, Shelly decided there was nothing for her to worry about. Rin would tell her if he was disappointed in her.