The crying faded behind them eventually.
Not because the child stopped.
Because nobody paid attention anymore.
People kept walking through the shanties with the same exhausted expressions, stepping around puddles of dirty water and scattered scraps without even looking down. Smoke drifted low between the tightly packed shelters, trapping the smell beneath it. Sweat, rot and wet cloth.
Something sour Iris couldn't identify.
The deeper they walked, the stranger it felt seeing people call this home.
Nina glanced back awkwardly after noticing some of their expressions.
"You… kind of stop noticing the smell after a while," she said quietly. Then after a short pause, "Or maybe you don't."
Nobody really knew how to respond to that.
Eventually the crowded tents began thinning slightly.
A few small wooden structures appeared farther ahead.
They looked Simple and Identical. It's probably System-built.
Unlike the larger buildings near the center of the territory, these looked almost painfully bare. Just plain wooden walls and narrow windows without glass.
Nina slowed slightly.
"Most people can't afford these alone," she explained. "Usually groups split the cost together."
Caleb frowned. "People pay to stay in those?"
"They're safer than sleeping outside."
That answer alone explained enough.
As they approached one of the empty structures, Nina hesitated briefly before pushing the door open.
The moment Iris stepped inside, a translucent system screen appeared before her eyes.
[Basic Residence
Daily Cost: 1 Silver Coin
Current Residency Time: Expired
Would you like to renew residency?
YES / NO.]
For a brief moment, nobody moved.
Then Caleb stared at the floating panel in disbelief.
"They charge people daily just to sleep?"
Nina looked almost uncomfortable answering.
"…Yes."
Benjamin's eyes narrowed slightly behind his glasses.
"How much is one silver again?"
"One thousand copper," Nina replied quietly.
Silence followed immediately after that.
Then Benjamin exhaled slowly.
"If five people split the cost evenly, that's already two hundred copper coins per person every single day just for shelter."
His gaze shifted slightly toward the others.
"The bread earlier was fifty copper. The stew was thirty."
Nobody interrupted him.
Benjamin continued calmly. "Assuming someone only buys the bare minimum amount of food needed to stay functional, the average survivor here is still spending several hundred copper coins daily just to remain alive."
His expression darkened slightly.
"And that's without injuries. Without equipment repairs. Without replacing supplies. Without paying territory entrance fees."
A quiet pause followed.
"The average person here is mathematically trapped."
Nina lowered her eyes.
Because there was nothing inaccurate about the conclusion.
The inside itself was disappointing immediately.
One room.
Bare wooden floor.
No furniture.
No lighting except what entered through the narrow window gaps.
The walls looked clean only because there was almost nothing inside.
Claire stared around slowly.
"…That's it?"
Nina gave an awkward laugh.
"The richer houses are closer to the center."
Caleb wandered farther inside before stopping near another smaller door near the corner.
He pushed it open.
Then immediately regretted it.
"…Jesus Christ."
The smell hit almost instantly.
The "bathroom" was barely larger than a storage closet.
A circular hole lined with rough stone sat in the middle of the floor.
Nothing else no running water, no plumbing, no privacy besides the thin wooden door.
Priscilla looked disturbed. "We're supposed to use that?"
Nina rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.
"People clean it themselves."
"…Wonderful," Caleb muttered.
Henry leaned silently against the wall afterward, expression unreadable.
"So people go outside the territory to gather materials and hunt monsters just to survive another day inside it."
Benjamin nodded once.
"Exactly."
The realization settled unpleasantly over the room.
King's Territory wasn't saving people.
It was consuming them slowly.
A sudden scream echoed faintly somewhere outside.
Then shouting.
Several people nearby reacted immediately.
The sounds of hurried footsteps spread through the shanties.
Caleb instinctively moved toward the window. "What now?"
Nobody answered. Farther away, metal clashed briefly.
Then came the sound of something large roaring in the distance.
The commotion lasted less than a minute before gradually settling again.
And somehow that felt worse.
Like this happened often enough nobody panicked anymore.
Nina sighed tiredly. "Monsters sometimes wander too close at night."
"At night?" Claire repeated.
Nina nodded. "People take turns staying awake."
Nobody looked surprised anymore after hearing that.
Because suddenly the tents outside made even less sense.
Iris remained silent through most of the conversation.
But her attention drifted elsewhere the moment a familiar mechanical voice appeared inside her head.
[Main Mission Updated]
[Establish Your Territory Before Lord Token Expiration]
[Remaining Time: 2 Days 11 Hours]
[Failure Condition:
Lord Token Destruction]
Iris froze.
Only slightly but enough. Her heartbeat skipped once.
Then dropped heavily afterward, Less than three days. She had completely forgotten.
The constant fighting, the exhaustion, the forest, Surviving had buried everything else under it.
But now the reality returned instantly.
Less than three days. That was all she had left.
"…Iris?" Caleb's voice pulled her back.
She blinked once. "I'm fine."
But her thoughts were already moving again. Fast. Too fast.
This place wasn't suitable. Not long term. Not for them. And definitely not for a territory lord token.
Her gaze drifted briefly toward the window. Toward the forests beyond King's Territory.
Nina was still talking quietly with the others when Iris suddenly spoke.
"You mentioned gathering work earlier."
Nina looked over. "Yeah?"
"What kind of materials does the territory buy?"
That caught Nina slightly off guard.
"Mostly wood. Stone. Certain plants too."
"Plants?"
Nina nodded slowly. "There's one that grows outside the territory pretty often. People collect it and sell bundles."
"What does it do?"
"I'm not completely sure." She shrugged. "But the territory buys it consistently, so it must be useful."
That alone interested Iris immediately.
System territories didn't waste resources.
If Tobias was paying for something repeatedly, then it had value somewhere.
"I want to see it," Iris said.
Nina blinked. "Now?"
"Yes."
Caleb frowned immediately. "Seriously?"
"I'm not leaving the territory," Iris replied calmly. "I just want to look at the plant."
That eased him slightly.
Nina hesitated before nodding.
"…Alright."
The two of them left the small house a few minutes later.
Outside, the shanty district looked even worse now that the sun was lowering gradually. Long shadows stretched between tents and shelters while smoke drifted low through the cramped pathways.
People barely looked at them anymore.
Most were too tired.
Nina led her deeper through the crowded area before eventually stopping beside one of the smaller tents near the outer edge.
"This is mine."
The tent itself looked old and worn from overuse.
Iris noticed several careful repairs stitched along the fabric.
Nina disappeared briefly inside before returning with several long stalks bundled together loosely with cloth.
"Here."
Iris accepted one carefully.
The plant resembled something she had seen before… but a primitive form.
Rougher texture, darker color and thicker fibers.
Without hesitation, Iris activated skill "Appraisal." Like it was second nature.
[Name: Dusk Reed
Grade: Common
Danger: None
Effect: Mild hunger suppression when processed]
Her eyes narrowed slightly. Interesting… Very interesting.
Nina looked confused watching Iris stare silently at the plant. "Something wrong?"
Instead of answering immediately, Iris opened her storage space.
A compact metallic case appeared in her hands a second later.
Nina's eyes widened slightly. "You brought machines into your storage?"
Iris ignored the question completely.
She crouched near the tent entrance before opening the portable laboratory carefully. Small compartments unfolded neatly from inside while a faint blue glow flickered across the device's surface.
Nina stared openly now.
Iris removed several tiny sample tools before cutting apart portions of the stalk carefully.
Seeds, fibers and the outer husk. She placed each piece separately into the analyzer. A soft mechanical hum followed.
Then lines of data began scrolling faintly across the miniature screen.
Nina slowly crouched beside her. "What exactly are you doing?"
"Checking something."
Several seconds passed. Then the analysis completed. Iris studied the results silently.
She was right I resemble wheat, infant the nutritional structure was primitive.
Closer to ancient grain variants than modern cultivated crops. Low yield probably.
But it is durable and easy to grow. And most importantly— Useful.
Which explained why the territory wanted it.
Her thoughts drifted immediately toward the system restaurant. The bread and stew.
Mass food production. Resource conversion.
This plant was probably one of the base ingredients.
Nina still looked completely bewildered by the laboratory.
"…You really came prepared for the apocalypse."
That almost made Iris laugh. Almost.
Instead she carefully closed the portable lab before standing again.
Then her gaze drifted past the shanties, past the territory and toward the forests beyond.
Two days.
She needed land and resources with distance from Tobias.
And somewhere defensible enough to survive what was coming next.
"I need to go outside the territory for a while," Iris said suddenly.
Nina blinked. "Now?"
Iris nodded once. " Just to look around."