Back at the Sundown forest, Alina and Ilya continued their killing of stalkers, but this time, instead of a long drawn-out battle like before, Alina could cheese her way through those stalkers rather effortlessly. So, just like in the real world, everything was pay-to-win it seemed. 

The armor protected Alina from most attacks, bullets simply bounced off the metal plates of the armor, and magical attacks barely made a scratch on her armor. Using her ability to teleport from one place to another using her BP, Alina made quick work on an area, even faster than Ilya who was several levels higher than her. 

Her Lahmum acted as a suped-up laser cannon, firing a continuous beam of laser that cut anything unfortunate enough on its path. The red beam fired from the gun simply melted the armor of the stalker, if not cutting them in half. 

"This is easy," Alina commented, standing on her vantage point, using the high-tech helmet Ilya gave to her to help her acquire the target. She had dark visions, but the onboard software on her helmet gave an outline of every stalker she noticed, making engagement way easier. 

[WARNING! MAGICAL ATTACK INBOUND!]

With the warning on her helmet, Alina quickly blitzed out of harm's way, the fireball spell flew right across her former position, striking at dry bushes in front of it, igniting the dried leaves and burning them. 

"Parry this!" Alina aimed her gun at the stalker. The mage only stood as the red laser beam melted straight through his clothing, creating a hole in his body. The mage dropped dead immediately. 

In contrast to the previous combat encounter, Alina actually had fun now, cutting through stalkers and trees with her new gun, it was easier, and most importantly, safer than charging mindlessly at a stalker. 

In fact, if she didn't want to get more kills than Ilya, she could stand still like her, tanking the damage and simply dodging when necessary, but now, Alina had ambition, and that was to outpace Ilya with her machine gun. 

Alina made a few aggressive moves, such as charging at a row of Earth stalkers and storing her Lahmum at her Blood Inventory. She immediately slashed her saber she pulled out of her inventory and created an arc of blood, killing them instantly with only one swing from her saber. 

"How many have you killed?" Ilya asked through the radio on Alina's helmet. 

"Forty, you?" Alina replied. 

"Damn, you're fast, I've only killed thirty," Ilya said. 

"Ten more to go, isn't it?" Alina added. 

"Right." 

With her upgraded gear, Alina moved like a shadow among the trees, her form a blur to any onlooker. Her armor, sleek and almost impenetrable, glinted under the moonlight as she executed her maneuvers with precision. The stalkers, once menacing predators of the Sundown forest, were reduced to mere targets in a shooting gallery.

Her Lahmum simply shredded through their withered bodies, even penetrating the armor that the knights and Earth's stalkers wore. One shot meant one kill in this regard, allowing her to kill the stalkers efficiently. 

"I'm at fifty!" Alina's voice crackled over the radio, a tinge of excitement in her tone as she shot the last stalker she saw in the area. The targeting HUD didn't show any enemy, the forest was clear. 

All that was left was to loot the spoils of war. If killing 20 of them already gave her around 10,000 Leas, then killing 80 of them should give the two around 40,000 Leas, including the payment which was 10,000 Leas. So, 50,000 Leas in total, not bad, Alina thought. 

They lay down their loot on top of the grass, ranging from the clothing they thought to be salvageable to the state-of-the-art high-performance combat armor the Earth soldier had. The Terra also had some impressive loot, from mysterious swords to spell tomes. 

"Not bad..." Ilya nodded at the massive amount of loot. 

In her mind, this amount of armament would be enough to equip a small goblin army or some sort of rebel organization. Still, selling all of those weapons would be better since she neither had an army nor any rebel organization. Aegis paid their contractors well, and it also gave her an umbrella of protection from other mercenaries. 

With Alina's help, they put all of the weapons inside her inventory for an easier time selling them. After that, they walked back to the truck. By the time they arrived at Ilya's truck, it was already six. Divided by three, it meant that it was the equivalent of two in the morning. 

"Alright, all done here," Ilya put her armor back in the container on the back of the truck. She returned to the usual elf appearance, that of her usual casual adventuring outfit. 

She then grabbed her carrier bag from the back of the truck. She put the bag on the ground and pulled out a portable stove alongside her water bottle. It seemed that most of the backpacks contained cooking utensils.

"Wanna eat?" She offered while putting her stove on the ground.

As the darkness still enveloped the forest, Alina nodded, her stomach growling in anticipation. “Sure, after all that, I’m starving,” she replied, removing her helmet to reveal her sweat-drenched face. Unlike before, there was no blood spilled from her body, due to the protection given by the plate armor. 

Out of the bag, Ilya pulled out a frying pan, a package of seasoned meat in a zip-lock bag, alongside a tube filled with white stuff, Alina was unsure of what it was, it didn't look like salt. It was probably something else, a paste of MSG, perhaps? 

As Ilya put the meat on the frying pan, she wondered whether Ilya could help her cook the drake meat on her inventory. Sure, it had been butchered, but she hadn't had a taste of that meat at all. 

"Hey, Ilya, what do you think of drake's meat?" Alina asked. 

"Expensive as fuck," Ilya answered, stir-frying the meat on the pan. 

"I have it, can you cook it?" Alina added. 

Ilya then stopped her attending her cooking, focusing her attention on Alina at the mention of the drake's meat. That was not something that you could have easily get. The chance of getting turned into a dead body was higher than getting the meat. The thought that Alina had the meat was baffling, knowing how she performed against the stalkers before being given all of the expensive equipment by Ilya. 

Ilya's eyes widened with interest, "You have drake meat? That's odd. Sure, I can cook it."

"Here you go," Alina handed a slab of raw meat to Ilya. 

Ilya took the drake meat, "This will be a treat," she remarked, setting aside the pan used for the seasoned meat to prepare the drake meat. With skilled hands, she seasoned it lightly, understanding that the natural flavors should take precedence. As the meat cooked, the aroma was rich and enticing, different from any other meat Alina had smelled before.

In a few minutes, Ilya flipped the meat with a deft flick of her wrist, ensuring it was perfectly cooked on both sides. She then sliced it into pieces, revealing a tender, juicy interior.

"Done," Ilya announced, serving the drake meat on small plates. They both took a bite, savoring the unique taste. Alina's eyes lit up with delight at the rich, complex flavor.

"Amazing," Alina murmured, fully enjoying the meal. Ilya nodded in agreement, pleased with the result. The taste of the meat was great, the texture of the meat was tender, and the seasoning was out of this world. Whatever was in that tube, was certainly not MSG, perhaps something much stronger. 

"You know, the darn thing is 50 Leas per kilogram," Ilya commented as she chewed on the delicacy. 

50 Leas, so around 50$, for meat, that was expensive as hell. Still, thinking about it, adventurers got money rather easily, didn't they? She got more than what she got per day during her residency without any knowledge of this world. 

Wouldn't the economy of this world collapse if there was an indefinite amount of resources available, say, how the stalkers respawned with their full equipment? She had no idea, to be honest. Whatever happened after the accidents, or incidents, remained unknown to her. Heck, her GPS map didn't show the whole world, or what was left of it. 

Curiosity got the better of her as they finished their meal. "Is adventuring really that promising? I mean, what about other professions, like being a regular doctor or something?" she asked, looking for insight.

Ilya considered her words before replying. "Adventuring is appealing if you're seeking excitement, in dire need of money, or simply dissatisfied with the mundane. It's far from easy, though. The rewards are high, but so are the risks involved."

"I see," Alina nodded, finally finishing the meal. 

With Ilya also finished with her meal, she then said, "Let's head back to Rivercircle." 

Two Hours Later

Her math was not too far off, from selling all of the weapons, she got more than 40,000 Leas, hell, she got more than 50,000 Leas, and she got 65,800 Leas from the machine. Ilya took 40,000 Leas from the payment, which Alina didn't mind. First, she didn't want to quarrel with the elf, second, it was already good enough that she didn't straight up kill her to get the whole loot for herself. 

"So... what's next?" Alina asked. 

"The next is for you to figure out yourself," Ilya said, casually. 

"What do you mean by that?" Alina asked her again, curious about what she meant. 

"I am bound to Aegis, and I can't stay around for too long, heck, after this, I have to take a 500-mile journey to the south," Ilya added more. 

"Why?"

"Aegis recently needs more contractors, and to be entirely honest, this is just my pit-stop if you get what I mean. Other contractors will eventually do anything that I haven't done in this region," Ilya added. 

"So, you can't accompany me?" Alina asked. 

"I'm afraid, I can't," Ilya replied, walking to her truck. "I installed Nexawork when you were sleeping, alongside registering an account under your name. Just take whatever easy job that you can do, and remember, I won't be watching you." 

"I see, thanks for the assistance, Ilya," Alina replied. 

"You're welcome," Ilya eventually entered her truck. She waved her hand goodbye before speeding off toward the road leading out of Rivercircle. Now, she was alone again, but at least, unlike before, she got some footing in this world. 

Blare

Sorry for the late update, I was writing my mandatory research paper for the last two weeks, something something about spondylolisthesis.