The emergency maintenance lasted nearly an hour.

For Rio, it felt much longer.

The moment they had been forcibly logged out, she had immediately opened the official Evermount forums to see the damage. What she found nearly gave her a headache.

The Auction Hall of the Town of Beginnings had suffered catastrophic structural damage after a player-launched projectile—officially described as an "unknown environmental object"—crashed through the second floor. Several in-game services had been disabled, dozens of NPC routines had broken, and the scheduled launch-day auction event had been postponed by four days.

The official developers had already posted an announcement.

EMERGENCY MAINTENANCE COMPLETE

Affected Event: Launch Auction Festival

Delay: 4 Days

Reason: Structural Collapse Due To Player-Caused Damage

Rio had spent several minutes staring at the screen in complete disbelief.

Then she had slowly turned her head toward Ryota.

Ryota had immediately looked away.

Neither of them needed to say who the "player" was.

The answer was obvious.

Now, after maintenance ended, they logged back into Evermount.

The familiar login sequence flashed before their eyes before the world materialized around them once again.

The forest returned first.

Sunlight filtered through the canopy overhead.

Birds chirped among the branches.

The scent of grass and damp soil drifted through the air.

Rio opened her eyes and immediately noticed a notification floating in front of her.

COMPENSATION REWARD

All players affected by emergency maintenance have received:

2 Copper Coins

Rio stared at the reward.

Then she stared some more.

A vein appeared on her forehead.

"Two copper coins..."

Her voice was dangerously calm.

Ryota glanced over her shoulder.

"Oh. Nice."

Rio slowly turned toward him.

"Nice?"

Ryota immediately sensed danger.

"...Maybe not nice?"

Rio pointed furiously at the reward window.

"Do you know how much damage you caused?"

Ryota coughed.

"A little?"

"A LITTLE?!"

Rio nearly exploded.

"The Auction Hall was destroyed!"

"An entire launch event got delayed!"

"Hundreds of players had their schedules ruined!"

"And the developers gave us two copper coins as compensation!"

Ryota rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well... technically everyone got compensated."

Rio buried her face in her hands.

"Please stop talking."

She was beginning to understand why future Evermount history had never mentioned Ryota.

The man was a walking natural disaster.

After taking several deep breaths, Rio finally dismissed the notification and checked her inventory.

The extra compensation wasn't much, but at least it restored some of the money she had spent on equipment earlier.

As she organized her inventory, another system announcement appeared in the corner of her vision.

A familiar guild crest appeared beside it.

The moment Rio saw it, her mood instantly darkened.

ROYAL KNIGHTS

Now Recruiting New Members

Applications Open

Her eye twitched.

Ryota immediately noticed.

"Oh."

Rio folded her arms.

"Oh?"

"That's all you have to say?"

Ryota wisely chose his next words carefully.

"...You don't look happy."

"Happy?"

Rio let out a dry laugh.

"Of course I'm not happy."

Her gaze remained fixed on the announcement.

Even after returning fifteen years into the past, she couldn't escape seeing that guild's name everywhere.

Royal Knights.

The guild she had spent over a decade helping build.

The guild she had sacrificed countless hours for.

The guild that ultimately threw her away.

Memories surfaced instantly.

Arclight.

Reina.

The message.

The betrayal.

The humiliation.

Rio's jaw tightened.

"I hate them."

Ryota blinked.

"That much?"

Rio looked at him.

"No."

Her voice was frighteningly calm.

"I hate every fragment of their existence."

Ryota immediately decided not to continue that conversation.

Instead, he pointed toward the deeper parts of the forest.

"So..."

Rio raised an eyebrow.

"So?"

Ryota smiled.

"How about we avoid guild drama entirely?"

Rio remained silent.

Ryota continued.

"We don't need to care about Royal Knights."

"We don't need to care about rankings."

"We don't need to care about politics."

He pointed toward the monster-filled woods ahead.

"We were having fun before all the boulder-related crimes happened."

Rio stared at him.

"Boulder-related crimes."

"That's what we're calling it now?"

Ryota nodded seriously.

"I think that's the official term."

Rio groaned.

Despite herself, she felt some of her irritation fade.

Just a little.

She glanced toward the forest path.

The deeper sections still contained dozens of monsters waiting to be farmed.

Experience.

Loot.

Materials.

All things that actually mattered.

Far more important than thinking about Royal Knights.

"Hm."

Ryota grinned.

"Hm?"

Rio sighed.

"Fine."

His grin widened.

"We go back to grinding."

"There are still hidden objectives I want to reach before sunset."

Ryota pumped a fist.

"Now we're talking."

The two of them began walking deeper into the forest.

The beginner area gradually changed around them.

The paths became narrower.

The trees grew taller.

Shadows stretched across the ground beneath thick branches overhead.

Occasionally, groups of players could be seen fighting monsters nearby.

Many were still struggling with basic combat.

Others were arguing over loot drops.

Some were already trying to form parties.

Rio simply walked past all of them.

Compared to her previous life, the entire player base looked painfully inexperienced.

Every mistake stood out to her.

Poor positioning.

Bad skill timing.

Inefficient leveling routes.

Wasted resources.

Watching them felt like watching beginners attempt their first raid.

Ryota noticed her expression.

"What?"

Rio shook her head.

"Nothing."

"You looked annoyed."

"I was."

"Why?"

Rio pointed toward a group of players fighting three slimes.

"They've spent five minutes killing monsters that should take thirty seconds."

Ryota looked.

"...Wow."

"Exactly."

The group accidentally pulled a fourth slime.

Chaos immediately followed.

Rio looked away.

"I can't watch this."

Ryota laughed.

"You're such a veteran."

Rio ignored him.

The two continued forward until the sounds of other players faded behind them.

Eventually they reached a quieter section of the forest.

Moss-covered rocks dotted the landscape.

Small streams cut through the terrain.

Several groups of goblins and wolves wandered between the trees.

Rio immediately felt more relaxed.

This was familiar territory.

No guild drama.

No betrayal.

No recruitment advertisements.

Just monsters.

Experience points.

And progression.

Ryota stretched his arms.

"This is nice."

Rio nodded.

"It is."

For a brief moment, neither of them spoke.

The forest breeze moved gently through the leaves overhead.

Sunlight flickered across the ground.

It was peaceful.

Then Ryota ruined it.

"By the way."

Rio already felt concerned.

"What?"

Ryota smiled innocently.

"If I accidentally launch another boulder—"

"No."

"I didn't even finish."

"No."

"What if—"

"No."

Ryota sighed.

"You're no fun."

Rio drew her saber.

"If another boulder leaves the ground today, I'm leaving you behind."

Ryota immediately raised both hands.

"Understood."

Rio narrowed her eyes.

"I mean it."

"Understood."

"You are not allowed to experiment near civilization."

"Understood."

"You are not allowed to punch mountains."

"...That's surprisingly specific."

Rio pointed her saber at him.

"Because I know you."

Ryota laughed.

Rio shook her head.

Hopeless.

Absolutely hopeless.

Yet somehow...

A small smile appeared on her face.

Despite all the chaos.

Despite the Auction Hall incident.

Despite the maintenance.

Despite Royal Knights.

For the first time since returning to the past, things felt... enjoyable.

She had a partner.

A strange one.

A dangerous one.

Possibly the most reckless person she had ever met.

But a partner nonetheless.

Rio adjusted the grip on her saber and activated Chronos Eye.

Blue temporal energy flickered around her eyes.

Several nearby goblins immediately came into view.

Targets.

Experience.

Progress.

Exactly what she needed.

She glanced toward Ryota.

"Ready?"

Ryota drew his sword and grinned.

"Always."

Rio smiled.

"Good."

The two of them charged forward together.

Neither of them realized it yet, but the disaster at the Auction Hall was only the beginning.

With Chronos Eye, Scalular Impact, and Ryota's absurd talent for turning impossible ideas into reality, their names would soon spread far beyond the Town of Beginnings.

For now, however, they were simply two players racing through the opening hours of Evermount—grinding monsters, gathering strength, and unknowingly setting the stage for legends that would shake the entire game world.