After defeating the monster, which Hiro thought was quite weak, the three lights had suddenly left the monster and hit his forehead. It was absorbed into him.

Hiro fell backwards. However, instead of hitting the ground hard, he could feel his body floating in the air, and a bright light began to appear around him. There was only one uncomfortable feeling Hiro was having at the moment. His cursed sigil was really hot, as if it was burning.

In the next second, a transparent screen and text that moved as if speaking to him appeared before him.

[Dear Player NightFall, thank you for sacrificing three of your happy memories as an offering to the creators of The Guardian Tree. With your sacrifice, you will never be able to remember what you have sacrificed again. However, in return, I, The Great Sage, will grant you a sacred power that you can use to save many lives in this ruined world.]

Ding!

[Absorbing the Guardian Tree in progress]

Hiro’s right hand moved by itself, hovering higher than his body, and the three lights that had hit him earlier seemed to circle around his hand. It formed a very transparent green thread, then slowly thickened and turned dark red.

Even though it wasn’t fully formed, Hiro was sure that it was a sentinent shaped like a robot bracelet attached to his wrist.

Ding!

[Contract with The Great Sage has been made]

[Contract name: Merra]

[Elemental power: Fire]

[Please, use this power wisely. Many lives are waiting to be saved]

After the last text appeared, Hiro was transported again out of the exam map portal again.

His feet stepped on familiar ground, and the faces of those who had been waiting anxiously for him were now visible before him.

Those people who knew Hiro had returned got up and ran over to him right away.

“Hiro!” Liberty hugged Hiro tightly, then sobbed. The girl was a bit of a crybaby these days. “You’re back. Why did it take so long?” asked Liberty, finally willing to let Hiro go.

“Am I really gone that long? How long have I been missing?” Hiro was really curious about this one.

“It looks like more than 6 hours,” replied Ace who faithfully stayed in the body of the Maine Coon Cat. Hiro was surprised. He didn’t expect that his solo journey would take quite a long time. He felt that everything was very fast and short, even the test was so easy that he was sure even Liberty could finish it.

“Did you succeed?” asked Nicholaesz who had been silent all this time. Hiro nodded and raised his right hand, showing a new piece of equipment that he got from inside the test map.

“I got this. Let me try this stuff.” Hiro walked over to The Guardian tree behind his back. Spyro was waiting for him by the side of the tree. She also couldn’t wait to see what would happen if Hiro activated it.

“Are you sure this will work?” Alice asked, still having some doubt.

“I’m certain. I’ve played games like this before, and the concept is exactly the same. Maybe I also need to imitate what the MC did in the game to activate this tree,” Hiro explained, then stretched out his right hand in front of The Guardian Tree.

“Hiro, are you sure?” Liberty asked once again to confirm it.

“Well, as long as no one gets in my way because of her own fear.” Hiro replied while glancing at his cursed sigil, which was still hot and throbbing, making him feel uncomfortable. It seemed Meta still refused to talk to him.

Hiro touched the trunk of The Guardian Tree with his right hand and the dark red sentinent in his hand suddenly showed a reaction. It gave off a faint red glow that slowly thickened as the time went.

Ding!

[Merra has detected a Guardian Tree]

[Merra has requested the host to use his energy to activate The Guardian Tree]

“My energy?”

Hiro felt that his stomach contents suddenly seemed to be pulled to the same point. It was to his right hand. He was very nauseous and dizzy for a moment. The surge of power then centered on his right hand.

Ding!

[Energy is very low 0/250]

“What?”

Hiro’s energy had been used up completely and converted into light that appeared through the sentinent. Using his 250 points of energy, the red light was able to expand, and it was as big as the tree in front of him right now.

[Merra has requested the host to release the energy]

The light moved from the sentinent in Hiro’s hand, then floated and enveloped The Guardian Tree until it completely surrounded the tree. As the light moved away from his body, Hiro suddenly felt his legs were very weak and he fell unconscious. This was the first time Hiro’s energy was taken for granted completely.

He had never been this careless before.

…

“Hiro, wake up!”

It was Liberty’s soft voice.

Hiro blinked his eyes. When he managed to open his eyes again, he felt much lighter than before. He immediately sat down from Liberty’s lap. This time, the girl seemed no longer worried about him. Liberty even smiled very broadly.

“What?” Hiro asked in confusion.

Liberty only moved her index finger to point at something behind Hiro’s back.

Hiro’s eyes widened when he saw a giant tree that looked like an old banyan tree growing in very healthy conditions. Even some birds seemed to be perched on the branches.

Everything felt like a dream. Hiro reflexively stood up to examine the tree until he forgot that his left hand still refused to touch the object that was considered sacred because it had sacred power.

Crash!

“Argh.” Hiro pulled his hand away. Meta still didn’t say anything.

Whatever he had just done had succeeded in making the tree transform into its original form. However, it was not only the tree’s life that was saved by Hiro. Liberty tugged at his shirt from behind to get his attention. When Hiro turned around, his eyes widened again. He saw dozens of bloodline demon NPCs who were lined up in front of him while waving their hands happily.

Their forms had returned to normal, even some of them that Hiro had known before, including the succubus girl named Milly who immediately ran away from the line to rush to hug him.

“Thank you, Nightfall. You saved us all,” said the girl sincerely, as if she was no ordinary NPC robot.

“How did you know it was me?” Hiro asked curiously, ignoring Liberty’s annoyed look who didn’t seem to expect that a sexy, seductive girl like Milly would hug her boyfriend in front of her eyes.

“We can see that. When the power of The Guardian Tree erased all the evil that existed in this place and turned life to its proper, the hero who sacrificed his energy to do so was instilled in the memory of us all,” Milly explained in detail. It made Hiro believe that the girl was actually not an ordinary NPC.

Being considered a hero in the NPC world was an exaggeration, especially for the size of an online game like this. An MC being a hero in offline games might be mainstream, but this was an online game that should have a more global story concept.

Even so, Hiro enjoyed the flattery and title given to him.

Ding!

[You have unlocked a new title ‘Underworld Hero’]

[You have obtained a free pass card for all features in Underworld City]

“Huh?”

Hiro took out a card that reminded him of a credit card in the real world. The card was the same size as the credit card, except that it only had one color, metallic black with ‘Free Pass’ engraved on one side.

“What is it, Hiro?” Liberty asked curiously.

“Free Pass Card, as the city hero, the residents are obliged to give whatever the hero needs without asking for anything in return. The hero can use it to get absolutely anything that the residents of the Underworld City have,” replied Milly, suddenly functioning like Nyx, the asdroid informant.

“Wow! That’s amazing Hiro. Can you try that stuff?”

Hiro agreed with Liberty. With the free pass … he would no longer have to think about his daily needs, and how much LSC was needed per day. However, for him, it was just too good to be true, so he decided to give it a try.

“What do you want now, Libe?” Hiro asked while playing the card in his hand.

“Well, I’m really hungry. I really need to eat now, Hiro. Do you know the best food they can make here? I’m really curious about the food the demon race eats because I’ve never been able to visit this place before,” Liberty explained honestly.

“Just swipe it up and you’ll see the magic that the card brings.”

Hiro raised an eyebrow doubtfully, but he immediately gave it a try. Swiping up the card in empty air made him look a little stupid, but…

Ding!

[Tell me, what do you need, Underworld Hero?]

“Is there a daily usage limit?” he asked Milly.

“Every day, the daily pass points that will be available are 100 pass points. Each request will cost a number of points that vary depending on the level of difficulty. As long as you can manage how to use the point, you can use it many times a day.”

“Don’t worry, the pass point will be back to 100 in the next morning.”