The NPC village of Swansea wasn't very far from the dungeon exit in terms of direct distance.

There were a few stray Lizardman warriors who tried to block the path, but JhinJhinever once slowed Rocket Delivery down.

['Lizard' expresses strong aversion to the name 'Rocket Delivery.']

Apparently, the name didn't sit well with it.

The massive lizard thrashed violently as it ran, its muscles twitching as if to protest every syllable.

Does it hate it that much…?

Jhin slammed his palm into the skull of a Lizardman warrior who'd leapt at them from the front, smashing its head into the ground.

"...Then how about just Rocket?"

['Lizard' does not find the name 'Rocket' very agreeable.]

And then, another complaint came—not from the lizard, but from the one sprinting alongside them.

The Tri-Goblin, Lykan.

"What an insolent lizard…! How dare it reject a name bestowed by the King himself?!"

Lykan's voice shook with fury.

"If it were me, I'd pass down that glorious name for generations!"

"…Lykan. Do you want a new name too?"

"My King, I already have a name."

"If you want, I can make you one."

"I could never burden Your Majesty with such a troublesome task."

"…"

Jhin clicked his tongue at Lykan's firm response.

He couldn't deny it—

He didn't exactly have a talent for naming things.

Even his own nickname, "Kyle," was just the first letter of his name. That was the extent of his creativity.

As another Lizardman came charging at them, Jhin smashed it with a sharp fist and grumbled.

"Enough. I'm tired of this. Pick one. Rocket or Rocket Delivery."

Faced with this extreme ultimatum, the Giant Horn Lizard protested with a throaty growl and a visible shiver of rejection—but it couldn't do anything about it.

The soul had already been fully subdued.

Now bound as one of Jhin's Hundred Ghosts, it could not defy the Goblin King's command.

['Lizard' has selected the name 'Rocket.']

['Rocket' glares at the Goblin King with visible displeasure.]

"…Got a problem with that?"

With that trivial matter of naming settled—more or less—they were nearly at the dungeon's exit.

Lutz, drenched in sweat and straining to keep his continuous healing skills running on Millie, looked up from her side.

"...Is this the exit?"

"Yeah. Just a bit more. Hang in there."

"Understood."

But the moment they emerged from the dungeon and stepped back into New Capital, Jhin was immediately faced with something else:

A veritable sea of Lizardmen near the dungeon's perimeter.

Even after the carnage from when they first entered, the swarm of Lizardmen still dominated the illumination gate area. Their numbers were staggering.

Jhin turned to Rocket and gave the order.

"Don't stop. No matter what happens—we have to get to Ark."

"Trust me, Your Majesty."

It wasn't especially reassuring, but Lykan clutched his club tightly, his stance solid with determination.

Even in his child-sized form—he hadn't activated his Hundred Ghosts boost—he stood proud and resolute.

Well… he was stronger now.

[2. Hundred Ghost: Tri-Goblin Lykan]

After becoming one of Jhin's Hundred Ghosts, Lykan's level and stats had skyrocketed.

There was a reason he'd started speaking casually to Rocket, despite the lizard being a much higher-tier monster.

Rocket had been nerfed in line with Jhin's level.

Lykan, meanwhile, had been buffed.

That was the nature of Hundred Ghosts—

The king and his souls were bound together, and as the king grew stronger, so did his ghosts.

'Well, not beyond my level, but still.'

With Rocket prepped to run, and Lykan now dependable, Jhin clenched his fist.

Lutz downed an MP potion with grim focus.

"Let's get her back to Ark."

Of course, Jhinhad no way of knowing—

Ark, at that very moment, was in complete chaos.

The City of Players. Ark.

In Ark's only hospital—New Capital Hospital in District 2—panic was spreading like wildfire.

The halls were crammed with patients.

The atmosphere was suffocating, like the entire building was about to collapse.

"Charging 100 joules! Clear… shock!"

"...No response!"

"Charging 200!!"

BOOM.

A body jolted violently on the table.

Around it, pale faces and wide eyes.

And that was just one room.

"Please… someone save us!"

"Aaagh!!"

"Doctor! Over here!!"

"Intern, focus! What are you doing?!"

"Where's the healer?! We need a healer!!"

Doctors in white coats rushed back and forth through the halls, attending to the wounded and dying.

The hospital was a madhouse.

There simply weren't enough doctors to treat all the injured.

"Emergency case here!"

"Open the OR! If we don't operate now, he's dead!"

"Stay awake, sir! You must stay awake!"

And—

Into this mess stepped Jhin.

He paused in the corridor, scanning the chaos unfolding inside New Capital Hospital.

'…What the hell happened here?'

They'd only been gone a short while—just enough time to run the dungeon.

But something had clearly gone terribly wrong.

Staring in disbelief for a moment, Jhin snapped back to his senses and grabbed a passing doctor by the arm.

The doctor turned—then froze in horror.

Not at Jhin.

But at what was behind him.

"…A m-monster!!"

"A monster—here?!"

"Security! Players! Someone, anyone—get over here!!"

"AAAHH!!"

In an instant, like a wave breaking, the crowd around the hospital entrance scattered in panic.

From down the hallway, Jhin saw a squad of Ark players rushing toward them.

A full ring of blades and shields snapped into place around them, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"W-who are you?! State your identity!"

They weren't high-level.

Probably hired mercenaries—players working part-time at the hospital.

Which made sense.

'All the high-level players are in the C-rank dungeon raid right now.'

And split between two separate parties, no less.

That meant Ark was nearly empty—only a skeleton crew remained.

So now—what?

How was he supposed to explain all this?

While Jhin stood silent, weighing his words, the crowd parted.

And through it emerged a familiar face.

"…Jhin?"

"Detective."

Caleb.

His eyes locked onto Rocket—and then immediately noticed the unconscious figure on its back.

"Wait… is that Millie?!"

She still wasn't stable.

Lutz, crouched beside her, was keeping her alive with a makeshift potion treatment that mimicked CPR.

Every second counted.