they meet at the gates. Simon and his team greet Sandra and Yue, and he introduces his team: the tank (Rough), the archer (Stella), and the fighter (Miki). "This is our team," says Simon.

Yue welcomes them, saying, "Hello, I'm Princess Yue. Nice to meet you! I hope our journey will be smooth."

Rough reassures her, "Don't worry, Princess. We will keep you safe until we reach our destination."

Sandra whispers to Simon, "Where's the other one? There should be five, right?"

Simon responds, "He's our ace. He will always protect us in the dark, so don't worry."

"Who is he? Why not introduce him to us?" Sandra asks.

"He's shy, but the priority will be the princess. He will ensure her safety first."

After packing everything, they begin their journey.

Yue watches the team chat happily while protecting her. "Your team really knows how to have fun. Is it hard to be an adventurer?"

"If my finances weren't so bad, I would never work this kind of job. It plays with lives and discards humanity. You'll be haunted by nightmares."

Yue listens intently to Simon's words; it sounds tough to be an adventurer.

That night, they need to camp, looking near the lake to ensure they can bathe and sleep properly.

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Sandra asks Simon, "Why can't I see any monsters in the jungle?"

"Don't worry; it's our ace's job. He keeps the path clear of any danger at night."

He tells Sandra and Yue to take a bath near the river. They head to the river for a wash.

Sandra glances at Yue. "Wow, you have something spicy there!"

Yue shyly responds, "Don't tease me!"

"Do you still miss him?"

Yue replies, "Yeah, I will always wait for him."

Sandra hugs Yue and reassures her, "It's okay. I think he will be safe. He's strong enough, you know."

Yue smiles, but her sadness can't be hidden from her face.

Meanwhile, Simon summons Ishii, who is covered in blood. "How's the road?" Simon asks.

Ishii nods.

Simon feels relieved and tells Ishii, "Don't push yourself too hard; go sleep. Okay, go before it gets worse."

The next morning, "Let's go. We need to continue our journey. It will be tough; we will pass through the orc village."

Suddenly, on their path, they encounter a girl who appears injured. As they approach her, she pulls out a knife and swings it at Sandra, but Simon pulls her back just in time.

The girl sneers, "Wow, what do we have here? Just a bunch of humans trying to cross the jungle with some newbies."

Suddenly, she transforms into a demon. The archer attempts to shoot her, but the demon catches the arrow effortlessly. "Oops, you dared to shoot me!" the demon snarls in anger.

The demon charges at the archer, but Rough holds him back with his shield. "Not today, ugly dog!" Rough shouts. Miki delivers a powerful punch, sending the demon flying. "What an annoying monster!"

Simon takes aim and shoots the demon with his holy gun, killing it. "Ah, crap! My clothes are covered in blood. Are you okay, Yue?"

She is shocked but fine. "Don't worry; our team can handle one against five against a low-level demon. You'll be okay."

Stella adds, "Boss, something seems fishy. It looks like this demon was being controlled by something."

Simon looks closely and exclaims, "Ah, shoot! We just killed a puppet of a high demon. It looks like we're in for a bloodbath on our journey."

The high demon (the puppeteer) watches them from afar, smiling.

Unbeknownst to Simon and his team, they are about to face a wave of 1,000 monsters.