Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

REMNANT ONLINE

The Nerve Gear OS boot up jingle resounded from every direction, followed a clear and polite alto voice welcoming her to the start menu. All around her was complete darkness, with the only source of light being the single holographic screen the size of a small tablet floating in front of her. It showed the title of the single game installed on the system: Remnant Online. Without any hesitation, she lightly tapped the screen with her hand.

A larger screen appeared some meters in front of her along with a floating keyboard conveniently placed an arms' length away. Enter username and password, it said. She smiled as she typed in her online handle, [Crescent Rose], followed by her password. With an excited rubbing of her palms, she tapped the enter key and logged in.

Next came the character creation screen, as she had expected. What she did not expect however, was the prompt that immediately popped up the moment the character creation screen appeared. You have an existing character profile from the beta. Would you like to use that character as a template? Y / N

She thought about it for a bit. Character creation would take her some time to finish due to how overwhelming the level of customization was. She wanted to play the game as soon as possible, so she decided to simply answer yes to the prompt.

Before her stood a 3D render of her character, a tall, dashing young man in red who looked no older than twenty five. His eyes were a fierce yet gentle silver; his face, stoic, yet kind. She had spent hours during the beta trying to get him to look exactly that way she wanted. After all, if she was going to be wearing his face, it might as well be a face she thought looked good.

Happy that her character still looked just as handsome as in the beta, she tapped the accept button, eager to jump into the game.

And jump into it she did. Her sensations came to her as naturally as one waking up from a good night's sleep. She opened her eyes and suddenly she was in another world. The sights; the sounds; the smells. She soaked up as much as she could of the world of Remnant. She almost didn't believe it was all virtual – it felt so real. Full-drive technology was amazing.

She looked around giddily. All around her were hundreds of other beautiful people holding weapons who were similarly taking in the sights and sounds of the world there were just dropped into. Had she been put in the same situation in real life, she would have ran away as fast as she could and found a hole in the ground to hide in. But no, she was in a video game, and the beautiful people surrounding her were players just like her. She was with her kind. She felt like she belonged

She laughed. She had been in Remnant for five minutes and already she was getting emotional. With an amused shake of her head, she ran off in search for the nearest merchant store. She had 500 lien's worth of starting money and she wanted to use it to buy some better weapons and armor. She knew a great place to grind levels this early in the game but in no way was she willing to go there with just the starting equipment.

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It had been an hour she had begun playing and in that time, she had grown to level 3, unlocked the use of her second skill slot, and was half way done mastering of one of the basic sword techniques. Feeling somewhat tired yet quite pleased with her progress, she decided to sit down for a couple of minutes and assign the points she acquired to her desired stats and also what skills to put in her skill slots.

Having leveled up twice, she was awarded a total of ten points. A good fraction of her points she assigned to agility while the rest she distributed evenly to the rest of her stats.

As for her skills, being only level 3 restricted her options somewhat, though she still had a large number to choose from. There were six mutually exclusive skills that involved elemental affinity, a few skills that granted her secondary abilities like item crafting or beast taming, some utility skills that had several uses in and out of combat, and several combat skills that let her use certain weapons like throwing knives or bows. She thought for a bit before she selected the Nimble Feet utility skill which gave her bonus agility as well as grant her increased movement speed outside of combat.

She pressed accept and jumped to her feet, eager to see how assigning her stat points and skills changed her. She hopped in place from one foot to the other, testing her legs. She felt lighter. It was amazing how something as little as changes in stats could affect her body in this world. She already knew she was faster without needing to test it.

Quite pleased with this knowledge, she took one step backwards relaxing her body as she did so only to immediately tense back up, shooting forward in a sprint. She let out a cry of exhilaration as she neared the boundary of the [Town of Beginnings]. It's one thing to test her newly acquired stat changes inside a town. It was another thing testing it out on an enemy. Oh this was going to be fun.

"Hey, excuse me!? Could I have a – WHOA!"

The words barely even registered to her. All she saw was a blonde girl wearing starter armor suddenly jump into her line of trajectory. Rose veered hard left to avoid a collision, and thankfully the blonde sidestepped in the correct direction. They missed each other by a generous margin, something Rose was quite grateful for. At her current speed, any straight collision would result in light to medium damage to both parties. Sure, they were in a [Safe Zone] so they wouldn't receive damage either way, but a collision like the one they avoided would still hurt.

As Rose skidded to a stop, and looked back at the girl a short distance behind her. She was looking at Rose with concentration, most likely trying to bring up Rose's status screen. Rose didn't blame her for having difficulty. For most MMOs, all she had to do was hover her mouse over anything and click to make a status screen appear. For a game like Remnant, set in virtual reality where you had no mouse, a bit more effort was required to bring it up.

The [focus system] – the game's solution to the lack of mouse – was a little weird at times. All she had to do to target something was to look directly at it. More than that usually required the player to do something, not exactly difficult but rather, unintuitive. To bring up the status screen of another player, all they need do was look at the floating cursor above the target player's head. The game would automatically bring up the person's screen. The game, however, didn't tell any of the players – it was in the manual but nobody really read it. Other than that, the act was quick, simple, and very easy.

Looking at the green cursor floating above blond girl, Rose checked her status. Crocea Mors Lv 1, the screen said. A smirk appeared on Ruby's mouth as it finally dawned on her what the blonde girl was.

Rose walked to the girl and asked politely. "Are you new to the game."

She blinked in confusion. The voice that came out of her mouth was not her own. It was a deep yet smooth baritone of a man. Why was that? Then she remembered, yes, she was roleplaying as a man. Of course she'd sound different. She made it that way when she made her character.

"Yeah, I'm kinda new…" Crocea continued staring with ever increasing intensity at Rose. Eventually she gave up "Help, how do I bring up your status screen?"

Rose giggled. "Focus on the green cursor above my head"

The girl blinked, looking vaguely above Rose's face. "It would have been so much easier if they just told us that…" She said with a sigh. "So… uh… Crescent Rose…"

"Call me Rose."

"Right. So, Rose… could you help me out? I've played MMOs before but this is completely different to what I'm used to…"

Rose thought for a bit. She believed that Crocea Mors wasn't ignorant of online game mechanics – she said she played online games before and Rose didn't have any reason not to believe her. But, while she knew the general mechanics and terminologies found in most MMOs, she knew nothing of the ones unique to Remnant – and that kind of ignorance was relatively easy to fix. Besides, helping her would probably make her first day with the game more enjoyable. Rose had decided.

"Okay then, Crocea Mors. We can party for a bit so I can teach you how to play"

With a two finger swipe downward with her left hand, Rose began navigating her menu until she found the option she was looking for. Add players to party: Select a player… her screen said. She looked at Crocea's cursor. Add [Crocea Mors] to party? Y / N. She tapped on the yes icon. Awaiting player's response… [Crocea Mors] has now been added to your party

Rose looked at Crocea Mors and smiled. "Alright, you're gonna need better weapons and armor we can go back into town and–"

"No need." Crocea flicked her left hand downward and began equipping her stuff. A wooden kite shield materialized on her back and bronze short sword was sheathed to her belt. Rose had to admit that her choice of equipment was a bit unorthodox that early in the game – shields didn't become truly effective until they gained access to level five equpment. But hey, each to their own. Rose wasn't going to judge

"Well, in that case, let's go deal with some low level mobs" Rose said with a grin before breaking into a run. "Try to keep up!"

Crocea Mors called out from behind her, voice growing fainter and fainter as Rose kept running "Wait, I put most of my starting stat points to defense! I can't run that fast yet!"

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In the fields outside of [The Town of Beginnings], Crescent Rose was teaching Crocea Mors how to fight. Rather, Crocea was fighting a mob and Rose was coaching.

"No, don't just swing randomly. Use a sword tech!" Rose ordered.

Crocea sidestepped a charge from [Wild Boar] she was fighting, swinging her sword in an attempt to activate a sword technique. "I'm trying but I can't get it to work! Help me!"

Rose grit her teeth, her fist clenched in front of her mouth as she watch Crocea flail around, trying to hit the level 1 mob. She was pretty good at detecting enemy patterns and was able to consistently dodge the enemy's attacks after only getting hit twice. However, actual sword play was obviously not her strong suit. While her hit points weren't going down, all her dodging would eventually tire her out. Unless she actually hit the enemy, she was going to lose eventually – which would be pathetic, since her enemy was a level 1 mob that was supposed to be fairly easy to defeat.

Rose took a step closer to the battle and readied her stance. "Okay, switch with me, Crocea. I need to show you how to use a sword tech."

Crocea jumped back and Rose lunged forward, preparing for a horizontal slice with her short sword. As she began the motion of the slash, the [System Assist] recognized the action to be the trigger for a sword technique and took over from there. With the sword technique [Horizontal] activated, Rose shot forward in a straight line, cutting through the [Wild Boar] in one fluid motion, reducing it's health from near full to a little less than half. She stood there, locked in the attack animation for only a fraction of a second before standing up and smiling at Crocea.

"That is how you use a sword technique. You need to position your body and move in a certain way to activate a sword technique. The [System Assist] will take over from there. Try it now"

Crocea nodded before stepping forward as attacking the enemy once more.

Rose backed away once Crocea got the mob's attention. She watched as the blonde swordswoman tried to replicate the sword technique Rose showed her. Interestingly enough, after a few attempts, she did activate a technique, but with her shield instead of her sword. Crocea charged at the [Wild Boar] and slammed her shield into it, lowering its health until less than a quarter remained.

"I… just… What just happened…?" Crocea asked, looking to Rose in confusion.

"You hit the enemy with a sword tech! It's almost dead, keep going!" Rose said with much enthusiasm.

Crocea nodded once before once again charging the boar, this time successfully activating the [Horizontal] technique using her sword. The mob exploded in a flash of pixels and polygons.

"That was awesome!"

Rose giggled. "Not really. That boar was one of the lowest tiers of enemies. The same level as slimes in most other games"

The proud look on Crocea's face soon fell. "What, seriously?" He looked at the small amount of lien and boar meat the mod dropped. "This was a noob monster? How am I supposed to level up if taking down the easiest enemy in the game is so hard? It's not fair!"

Rose gave her an a reassuring smile. "Hey, practice makes perfect. Just keep at it and you'll get the hang of it eventually" With those words of encouragement she began walking further into the fields, gesturing for Crocea to follow. "C'mon. At your current level, it shouldn't take that many battles for you to level up. Let's fight some more mobs and see if we can get you to level two before the hour ends"

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After maybe two hours of grinding, Crescent Rose and Crocea Mors had grown to level 7 and 6 respectively; Rose unlocked her third skill slot, Crocea unlocked her second; and Crocea received a [Boar Hide Cloak], a relatively rare item dropped by the area boss, a named mob called [The Alpha Boar].

"You're seriously just gonna sell it? It's got great stats considering how early in the game it is," Rose argued.

"I'm not gonna use it," Crocea said adamantly. "It looks terrible. I can't bring myself to use it. Why don't you use it?"

Rose shook her head. "Nah, I've got my eyes on a different cloak. But I won't get it for a while though" Crocea looked at her in confusion before simply nodding. Rose smiled in amusement.

Their trek back to the [Town of Beginnings] was walked in relative silence for some time, which Rose was completely okay with. In the distance there were faint sounds of swords clashing and friends shouting, but Rose payed them no mind. The fields outside the town were vast and looked beautiful in the orange light of the sunset. With a view like that, she didn't need to talk, nor to listen. She could just take in the sights and she would be happy.

Of course, Crocea wasn't exactly like Rose. She seemed quite awkward just walking in silence. While watching how stiffly she was walking was somewhat entertaining, Rose did hope that Crocea would just relax, or at least try to start a conversation.

Rose sighed. She felt sorry enough for the girl that she'd feel cruel if she didn't break the tension – so she did.

"I bet you think Rose is a pretty weird name for guy, huh?"

Crocea shook her head vigorously, looking very grateful that Rose had started a conversation. "No, not at all. In this other game I've played, I've met another player who was also named Rose. He was part of a national tournament and made to the quarter finals. He's one of the best players I've seen. As for you, I can tell you're a beta tester. That's the only way you can be as good at this game as you are at launch day. As far as I'm concerned, players named Rose are pros you don't mess with"

Rose chuckled, genuinely flattered by her words.

"Well, can you keep a secret? I'm not actually a guy"

"Prove it!" Crocea declared in as challenging a manner as her shaky soprano voice could muster.

"Is it really that hard to believe?" Rose asked skeptically. "Besides, why should I?"

Crocea blinked, then looked away awkwardly. "Huh… well, I guess you're right…" She turned back and looked at Rose curiously. "But still, why'd you choose to play as a guy?"

"Because I can?" Rose said casually. "I'm playing this game to escape reality. Playing as a guy just adds another layer between me in real life and me in game"

Crocea looked down thoughtfully. After a few moments, she chuckled. "Okay. I can respect that…" she said softly

With that, they walk in relative silence once more. Rose smiled, happy that Crocea had grown more comfortable just walking with her.

Crocea stopped and blinked "Huh, look at the time…" She muttered. "It's already five. I've got to have dinner with my family," she said, already bringing up her menu. "Will I see you later, Rose?"

Rose smirked. "I'll be in the town of beginnings until seven," she said. "After that, I'm logging out for a bit to grab a bite then I'm jumping straight back in. I plan to get to level 10 later tonight then I'm booking it for the next town in this area."

"Alright, wait up for me okay? I'll only be gone for a few minutes." Crocea began scrolling. "I think I found a glitch…" she suddenly whispered.

Rose looked at her with concern. "What's wrong?"

"There's no log-out button…"

"What?" Rose tilted her head skeptically. She flicked her left fingers downward and began scrolling her own menu. "That's not right, it should be at the very bottom of the…" It wasn't there.

A certain feeling of dread welled up inside Rose. "We should go find a GM. We need to report this glitch," she said anxiously before quickening her pace towards the [Town of Beginnings]. Crocea nodded nervously, and started running to keep up.

I have a bad feeling about this… she thought.

REMNANT ONLINE

It had been three hours since Crescent Rose and Crocea Mors found out that they couldn't log out. They had arrived at the starting city and began looking for a GM to talk to. They haven't found one yet.

As the two wandered the town, they became increasingly anxious by their discovered glitch. Just looking around, they could tell that a lot of people had tried to log out but were similarly unable to because of the concerning lack of a log-out button. They even encountered several people experiencing severe panic attacks by the button's absence.

"Okay, earlier, I was worried. Now, I'm terrified." Crocea said, sounding completely shaken by the events taking place. She press her hands to her face. "This is insane…"

Rose looked at the blonde with a certain amount of pity. The situation they were in was terrible, she had to admit. They were cut off from reality – all their friends and family – everything from the outside world. She could understand how something like that could break someone.

But did she really? She could guess and her guess would probably be correct… but no, she didn't truly understand. Part of her felt… relieved. Part of her felt happy that she was trapped in a video game with no escape. Remnant was amazing. It was a world where she knew where she was going and what she was doing. It was a world she actually wanted to live in.

So no, she didn't understand. Thus, she couldn't empathize with Crocea. But that didn't mean she couldn't be there for her.

"Hey, look…" Rose began. "I know things are a little crazy right now, but I'd like you to know I'll be with you. We'll get through this." She smiled reassuringly.

Crocea looked up at her looking teary eyed but somewhat more hopeful. A single tear slid down her cheek before she awkwardly began rubbing her eyes.

Rose chuckled. "It's okay to cry, you know"

"I know…" Crocea said, more tears forming in her eyes. "I can't help it. I'm a guy in real life. I'm not used to this…" She sobbed, desperately trying to stop herself from crying.

Rose shook her head. Should have know he'd be a guy. She thought wryly. Yet, even as she thought that, she pulled him into an embrace. "There there" She whispered softly. She closed her eyes and let the boy's sobs slowly fade into relaxed breathing.

Rose slowly pulled away from the hug, suddenly noticing that Crocea had grown taller… and he was no longer a girl… and he sort of looked familiar…

"Jaune…?" Rose asked, noting how her voice was suddenly much higher pitched.

"Ruby…?" Crocea asked, looking just as surprised as Rose.

Crescent Rose was no longer the tall handsome man she had created to be her character but the little girl that she was in real life. Similarly, Crocea Mors no longer looked like her character but instead looked like the person playing her in real life.

And Rose knew who he was. Crocea Mors, the adorably awkward newbie she had been teaching all day was her classmate in school and one of her best friends… And she had just hugged him.

Oh man, he's totally gonna get the wrong idea about this isn't he…?

Crocea smiled kindly. "It's good to see that you're as nice in-game as you are IRL, Ruby…" He said. "Thanks…"

Well… Rose blinked in surprised. She smiled as well. Maybe not… I guess I picked my friends well…

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Rose looked at Crocea seriously. "No IRL names!" She yelled angrily. "Even though I'm probably wearing my real face right now, we're still in game. We will continue to use our user names when talking to each other." She ordered.

"Even when we're alone?" Crocea asked curiously. Rose gave her a look. He smiled awkwardly in an admission of defeat. "… Yes, we will continue to use our user names when talking to each other…"

Rose smiled. "Glad we've come to an understanding" She said, running toward a nearby NPC shop. "But still how did this happen?" She asked, wondering aloud.

Crocea thought for a bit. "Remember those calibration tests we had to do when we first used the Nerve Gear? We had to touch ourselves all over."

Rose shivered. For the system calibration test, she had to touch literally ever inch on her body – even those hard to reach spots on her back… among other things. It was perhaps the most awkward OS installation procedure she had ever performed.

Crocea shivered as well. "Yeah, that was a hell of an experience. But anyway, the system probably used all that tactile data to make a 3D model of our bodies. That's why we look like… well, like ourselves right now."

Rose nodded. It was a very probably theory, but it didn't answer her question. "Crocea, that's not what I meant." She rubbed her chin, thinking of clearer way to say it. "Erm… What I really wanna know is why. How come all this craziness is happening?"

Crocea frowned and looked up at the sky. Rose looked up as well, noting how Remnant's moon was half shattered. "I somehow get the feeling that we aren't at all likely to find out the exact reason this is all happening"

"If this happened to everyone, there'd be mass panic." Rose scowled at the realization. "I don't want to be here once it starts…" She turned to Crocea. "We need to leave town. Now" She said before walking quickly to the city gate.

The boy blinked, confused for a few seconds. "What?" He broke into a run to catch up. "Rose, wait up. Where are we going?"

"The next town over. It's the smart thing it do." She said. When she received a questioning look from the blond, she looked away in annoyance. "I'm scared, okay? I have a feeling something bad's gonna happen. And when it does, I wanna be as far away from here as possible…"

Crocea nodded. "Okay, let's go." He then added, "But try to be a bit more considerate. My agility stat isn't as high as yours. I can't keep up with the pace."

With that, the two players left the [Town of Beginnings] and began their journey to the north, where the next town awaited them.

REMNANT ONLINE

A/N: Well, h ow did you like the first chapter? Tell me in a review if you want. They're much appreciated.

S o, I made a few changes to SAO .
First , no announcement to start everyone off. Just a lot of distressing inexplicable glitches happening to literally everyone in game . The tone for the first few days of this incident will be similar to Log Horizon 's in that everyone will be all panicked and confused because they're all still coming to terms with things (I feel like I just committed some sort of heresy by saying the title of that show…)
Second, sword skills are called sword techniques in this story . I took a page from the books of FF author, Catsy with this one. [Cooking] and [Blacksmithing] is called a skill in the original SAO. Sword skills like [Linear] and [Starburst Stream] are also called skills by the characters. The change is simply to avoid confusion.
Third is about floors. As you may or may not know, the world of Remnant is where RWBY is set in. Unlike in SAO where the story is set in the floating castle of Aincrad, Remnant doesn't have floors. Instead, think of something like what happened in Sonic Unleashed where the entire world was split into multiple pieces. Every area in the world of remnant is now a floating piece with a giant abyss acting as the invisible wall that separates them from each other. Everything else about floors stay the same. You still get to the next area by clearing the dungeon, beating the area boss, and activating the warp gate. Plus, there are still 100 areas.

A nyway, that was fun and now I have too many stories to finish. This is just as bad an idea now as when I started …

Hopefully I can finish this. I think I've already thought of an ending.

Chapter Text

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"Switch!" Rose cried as she jumped away from a level 5 mob called [Forest Wolf]. Crocea lunged forward with a [Shield Bash] sword tech, quickly following up a diagonal cut of his sword. He called for a switch and Rose jumped back in for a two hit sword combo, finishing it off with [Vertical], an overhead slash from top to bottom, lowering the mob's health to zero.

As the mob died in a wireframe explosion, Crocea collapsed into the grass. "How far till the next town? I'm exhausted."

Rose sat down with him, also feeling the fatigue in her bones. She swiped down for her menu, noting how it was already nearing midnight. She sighed. "It's still a few ways away. We should keep walking." She and Crocea stood and dusted themselves off before continuing on their way.

They had been traveling for over three hours at that point, killing every mob that got in their way. In that time, Rose had gained three levels, while Crocea gained two. At levels 10 and 8 respectively, they were fairly high leveled. Any enemy they might encounter in the area would be quite easy to face.

"I've unlocked another skill slot" Rose noted. "That makes three empty slots"

"Why don't you equip some skills?" Crocea suggested. "You could always switch them out once you get better ones"

Rose nodded, quietly wondering what skills she could possibly equip that would help her in their current situation. None came to mind. She shook her head. Of course she kept those slots empty. She didn't have any use of them yet. She sure wasn't going to waste her slots with skills she didn't need.

"Hey, I wonder if I should get the [Cooking] skill?" Crocea joked. "It'd be great if I could learn how to cook something from a video game" Rose almost believed he was serious.

She tilted her head curiously before bringing up her menu. The description for the [Cooking] skill made no mention of the actual process of using it. Maybe it had to be equipped first?

But a couple of flashing new skills were also at the bottom of her list that she didn't notice earlier. One in particular was actually pretty useful. [Detection], a skill that allows users to see far away and/or hidden enemies.

I forgot. This skill unlocks at level ten. She thought. I should equip it. It'd probably help with the lowered visibility range during night time. She tapped the skill icon and selected equip from the drop down menu. Suddenly the forest looked a whole lot brighter. Yup, this definitely helps. With a smile on her face, Rose closed her menu and continued walking.

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"Okay, Rose, what the heck is that…?" Crocea asked, voice filled with as much fear as his expression suggested.

"I don't know. This wasn't in the beta…" Rose paled she stared at the creature before her.

In front of them was a wolf. It was completely black, with glowing red eyes and teeth, and it stood about a head taller than Crocea. It's cursor was completely red, marking it as a hostile and very dangerous enemy. [Lesser Beowolf] Level 10, its status screen said.

That thing's strong enough to be a boss mob! What's it doing here? This forest is supposed to only have mobs between level 3 and 6, with the area boss being level 10! This makes no sense!

The mob pounced at Rose, with the redhead barely managing to jump out of the way. The mob made for another attack at Rose but was quite easily blocked by a [Shield Bash] by Crocea.

"We need to get out of here, that thing's too strong!" He said as he blocked another attack with his shield, his health going down by a sliver. "My defense isn't high enough for this. We need to run!"

"No, we can take it!" Rose said, lunging in with a [Horizontal], slashing at the creature's leg, following up with a [Slant], cutting diagonally at its back. The [Lesser Beowolf] slowly turned to face her. "It's switching targets! Hurry and attack!"

"I hope you're right about this!" Crocea jumped in with a [Vertical], once again hitting the creature's back. A good chunk of the health bar disappeared. "The back is a weak spot!" He shouted

The [Lesser Beowolf] seemed to crouch down, one arm extended behind it. Suddenly, it spun a full 360 degrees and hit both Rose and Crocea, dealing a considerable amount of damage – more to Rose than to Crocea due to his increased defense stat.

Rose glanced at her health bar. She had around 60 percent remaining. The mob they were fighting was at something around 40. She grit her teeth and forced herself to stand up. They could beat this thing. She knew it.

The mob was clobbering Crocea, who was still down, desperately trying to block the hits with his shield. His health was already turning yellow. Rose moved in and hacked wildly at the enemy's back, noting how quickly her sword flailing was lowering the thing's health.

The mob turned, sending Rose stumbling backward with a backhanded swing. It pounced again, this time actually connecting with the girl. She was knocked back several meters.

"Rose!" Crocea, now on his feet, charged at the mob with another [Shield Bash], followed by a [Slant], [Horizontal], and [Vertical], hitting in quick succession.

The mob exploded, dropping a relatively large amount of Lien, a couple of craft items, and a dagger, the [Lesser Beowolf Fang].

Crocea ran hurriedly towards his fallen teammate "Rose, oh gosh… um…" He said, panicking at how low her health was. "We should have bought potions. Oh man, this is very bad… Oh man oh man oh man OH MAN"

"Crocea?" Rose looked at him seriously. He returned the gaze with wide-eyed terror. "Chill" She said calmly. She maintained eye contact with the boy until his breathing stabilized. "Good"

Sitting up, she took a deep breath and looked around her. Red cursors were starting to surround them. They were still far away but they were definitely there. And they were closing in.

She cursed under her breath before she stood up. "Do you plan on using that item drop? If not, let me have it. A lighter weapon will probably help me make the most of my high agility stat."

Crocea shook his head and began scrolling through his menu. A notification screen appeared in front of Rose. [Crocea Mors] wishes to give you [Lesser Beowolf Fang] x1. Accept? Y / N. She tapped yes and equipped the dagger. Her short sword disappeared and the new weapon replaced it.

She looked around once more, grimly noting how much closer the red cursors were. She could vaguely see the shape of the mobs – they were all Beowolves.

"Crocea, unequip your shield. We need to run as fast as we can."

"What?"

"That thing wasn't a boss, it was a mook. There are more of them, and right now I don't think we can fight them."

Crocea paled. "More of them?"

"We need to move. Now!" Rose said before breaking into a jog.

"Hey, wait!" Crocea said, unequipping his shield and once again running full tilt just to keep up.

REMNANT ONLINE

It was a lucky break that the Beowolves didn't follow them up the tree.

Crescent Rose and Crocea Mors had been surrounded and were very likely to die had they not found a tree with low hanging branches that they could climb. The moment they rose a certain distance from the ground, all of the Beowolves suddenly stopped following them and began moving like there weren't any players in their detection range. It seemed that their programming didn't take into account the possibility of players climbing trees.

Eventually, all but one Beowolf returned to their spawn points and waited for another player to step into their detection radius.

"Why do you think that thing isn't moving?" Crocea whispered.

"How should I know? Maybe this place is its spawn point?" Rose said in annoyance.

It was one in the morning, she was exhausted, and all the adrenaline pumping through her system was probably the only thing keeping her awake. If she could just fall asleep while in the tree, she would, but the game wouldn't let her. You cannot fall asleep. There are enemies nearby.

"So… these Beowolves aren't in the beta?"

Rose sighed. "No. They're not. I never knew of an area this early in the game where the mobs changed based on the time of day. It happened later, but it was never something like… like this…" She shivered

"Still though, as scared as I am right now, I kinda like this surprise" She said with a chuckle. "Those things are like mini-bosses. If I remember correctly, the [Gate Boss] for this entire region is level 30. It normally takes two teams of six level 10 players to take it down safely. A person at level 30 can probably solo it, though." She eyed the Beowolf resting at the foot of the tree. "These Beowolves are level 10 and they go down pretty easily with just a team of two, but there are so many of them that it's probably a bad idea to even try fighting them. It's just so terrifying. It's awesome…"

"You know, Ruby, sometimes I wonder what goes in inside your head to make you think like that" Crocea said dryly.

"No IRL names!"

"Right, sorry, slip of the tongue…"

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"Okay, what if I equip the [Sneak] skill and use the [Back Stab] tech on it?" Rose suggested.

"Will that be enough to kill it, though?" Crocea asked, unhappy at how the conversation was going

"I don't know. But once it gets up to attack me, that's when you jump down behind it and hit it with a 4-skill combo like before." Rose said animatedly, mimicking the combo Crocea had used to kill the Beowolf earlier.

"Rose, it's too dangerous. I say we just wait it out and test my theory that these mobs disappear at sunrise."

"C'mon, Crocea. I really wanna kill that thing." Rose insisted. "Calculate how much damage we'll do if I back stab it and then you use your combo on it. It'll die, just know it"

The boy scowled, mentally running the numbers. Rose smiled. The boy was given a thinking puzzle, something she knew he'd enjoy. Besides, she already did the math. She knew she was right.

Her knife did 8-10 damage. The back was one of the [Lesser Beowolf]'s weak spots. Her attack would do double damage than she would normally do. [Back Stab] would again double her damage, and had a 40% chance of critical – critical hits also doubled damage – which meant she had a chance of doing, at best, 80 damage with a single attack.

However, the sword technique would lock her in the attack animation for at least a second, leaving her vulnerable to attack. That's where Crocea came in.

His [Bronze Short Sword] did 4-7 damage. Sword techniques usually did 50% more damage than just swinging the weapon, so his combo would be four hits to the back, dealing 44 damage.

That totaled to 124 damage – just four points over the total health of the mob.

"Okay, we have a 40 something percent chance of killing it before it manages to make a move." Crocea stated, which Rose smiled to. Then he continued, sounding stern "The other 60% is that it survives with a sliver of its health left, hits you while the both of us are still locked in our attack animations, and by the time I manage to counter attack, you've already died in an explosion of polygons."

Rose waved her hand dismissively at his argument. "This is just a video game. I'll respawn"

"Rose, don't you watch movies? You're trapped inside a video game. That's what everyone thinks. Then when someone dies and doesn't come back, they act all guilty and start becoming paranoid and start killing each other until the only one left has to face the last boss monster alone and finally escape the game"

Rose blinked. "What?"

Crocea sighed. "What I'm saying is: People might die if they are killed. Like actually die, not video game die."

"Are you sure it's not you who's paranoid right now?" Rose asked skeptically.

"Look, let's just put this into perspective right now: We can't log out, and suddenly we look like ourselves in real life. Don't you think that's strange? Maybe this isn't just some sort of glitch!? Maybe we're all in a death game and the very last [Gate Boss] is the mastermind behind all of this!?"

Rose looked at him, eyebrows raised. "Okay…" She said nervously. "Crocea…? You're scaring me…"

"And you're scaring me." Crocea countered. "I don't want to go down there and risk seeing my best friend get killed. And sure as hell, I don't want to risk myself getting killed either."

Rose frowned and looked at the [Lesser Beowolf] below them. She sighed. "I can't believe I'm listening to your crazy theory" She said, pouting.

"Oh, don't go guilt-tripping me, Rose" He pleaded. "Using those puppy eyes just isn't fair"

"Well, I can't help it if I'm cute, now can I?" Rose snapped before immediately regretting it. She looked away. "Sorry. I'm just frustrated. I used to be more powerful than this. I'd be able to take them on…" If I were still as powerful as I was in the beta, I could have cleared this entire forest all on my own. She thought bitterly.

Crocea perked up. He must have gotten an idea. "Okay, here's a compromise. I jump down first and attack it, then you [Back Stab] it," he said.

Rose blinked. "Huh… didn't think of that…" She nodded. "Okay let's do that"

Rose equipped the [Sneak] skill, Crocea equipped his kite shield, and they both drop down.

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After the success of their drop-down-from-a-tree strategy, they started using it as a way to keep moving towards the town while staying relatively safe. They would simply climb up a tree and wait for the mobs to disperse before jumping back down and continue walking. If there was a mob close by, they'd repeat the strategy they used to take down their second Beowolf. It was a grueling four hours, but eventually they reached the next town's safe zone.

It was, however, a very close call. As they neared the town, the trees became harder and harder to climb. By the time they reached the home stretch, there was no tree in sight, and over a dozen [Lesser Beowolves] were at their tail, only relenting when they passed the city gates.

The both collapsed onto the grass on the side of the cobble stone path, quietly thanking whatever God Remnant had that they got there alive.

Rose, with her [Detection] skill, took note of foot steps. Someone was approaching them. She opened her eyes and tried to sit up.

A girl with long white hair tied in a pony tail was walking towards them. Her pale skin, and cool demeanor gave her an aura of detached coldness, yet her eyes remained a fierce blue. Over her left eye seemed to be some sort of a scar. As she looked at them, her expression was almost… disappointed. Why was that?

"Glad to see someone made it out of that godforsaken forest." She muttered dryly. She knelt down and addressed them. "Did you two happen to see a girl in dark purple with long black hair and tall man wearing black with spiky brown hair?" She asked.

Rose shook her head.

"Oh… okay then" Her face grew sad for but a moment before it hardened into a stoic glare. "Well, you managed to survive. I talked to some of the NPCs. Apparently those things outside right now are called Grimm. They're basically just harder mobs that only appear when it's night time, between midnight and 6 am. The disappear by sunrise"

Rose heard Crocea chuckle, to which she groaned internally. She shot him an accusing look. What? You're not gonna say it? He leaned away with a look of surrender. Rost looked at him skeptically before looking away. Huh… So 'I told you so'? Okay then…

The white haired girl turned and began walking away. "Anyway, you two look exhausted. I'll show you to the inn. You can rest there for a few hours."

As the two stood to follow the girl, Rose couldn't help but ask, "why are you helping us…?"

The white haired girl stopped, not looking back. "I'm trying to be nice," she answered curtly, before continuing forward.

Rose glanced at Crocea, eye brows raised. What up with her? She was asking. The boy shrugged and began walking. Rose nodded quietly before following suit.

And so Crescent Rose and Crocea Mors followed the white haired player to the inn. As they walked, Rose looked at the girl's cursor. [Myrtenaster] Level 13, her status screen said.

Myrtenaster huh…? Rose thought. Why do I feel like I've heard that username before…?

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Rose stood at her window watching the sunrise. She had unequipped her armor and weapons and was now only clad in her red shirt and black pants. She felt lighter without her armor, and more comfortable. And considering that she was inside her room in the inn, she probably didn't need the armor anyway.

[Juniper Town] the place was called, and the inn [The Fancy Flower]. She had gone through what seemed like hell getting there. She felt exhausted. She felt emotionally drained. Yet, now that she was finally in a place where she could just relax, she just couldn't.

She shook her head in frustration.

There was a knock. "Can I come in?" Crocea's voice asked, muffled by the door. Rose simply stared at said door, quietly hoping he'd go away. After a few minutes of waiting, Crocea spoke again. "Rose, I know you're awake. Hurry up and let me in."

Rose sighed and opened the door. "What do you want, Crocea?" She asked dryly, only to immediately regret it.

Crocea stood in front of her, looking just about ready to break down. She knew the boy didn't take stress very well, so it must have been particularly cruel for her to take out her annoyance on him. He'd been through a lot. She should know, she was with him the entire time.

"Sorry…" She muttered before gesturing to her room "Come on in…"

Crocea walked in and Rose closed the door. She watched the boy sit down in the corner, bringing his knees up to his chest and hugging them. Rose had to force down the look of pity she almost gave him. Instead she walked back to the window and continued looking out of it.

The silence felt more comforting, somehow, now that Crocea was there. Risking a glance, Rose noted Crocea's deep yet shaky breathing. He really wasn't taking it well.

Well, he believes that when we die in the game, we die in real life. Of course he wouldn't take it well, Rose thought angrily, irritated by the boy's paranoia. She frowned. But for some odd reason, I can't help but believe him Something in my gut tells me that dying is seriously something you don't want happening to you, like at all…

She shook her head to dispel those thoughts. Listening to that paranoid voice inside her head wasn't going to help her fall asleep, something that Crocea had somehow managed to do. She looked at the sleeping boy and chuckled to herself.

Can avatars catch colds? Rose wondered. Probably not, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't like waking up on the floor. I wonder if my strength stat is high enough to carry him to the bed? After trying and failing three times, she gave up and simply draped her blanket over him. That's close enough. She thought offhandedly.

Nodding at the boy, she left her room and entered Crocea's where she lied down on the bed and almost instantly fell asleep.

Oh, now you let me sleep? She asked to no one in particular as she descended into the world of slumber.

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Rose felt strangely lucid as she slept. She knew the images flashing before her eyes weren't real but for whatever reason, she couldn't help believing they were.

She saw herself sitting in an empty classroom, all seats other than her own removed for some inexplicable reason. She was at the very back, near the door, and whatever was written on the board was too small for her to read.

She saw small candle, burning brightly. She smelled the smell of ash and smoke, yet only the candle was there. She stood and watched the candle slowly die out, the smell of ash and smoke becoming neither stronger nor weaker.

She saw a rose wilt and die, only to bloom once more. The smell was sweet and the air was warm. It felt cozy.

Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, she realized she was no longer in her surreal dreamland but back in reality.

No, not reality. Rose thought dryly. This is Remnant.This is different – both better and worse.

As she sat up, she noted the time on her menu. 2 pm, the clock said.

If I were still in the real world, Yang would probably be telling me to get off my butt and live a little. Rose thought, trying to suppress the image of her sister lecturing her.

The memory of her near death experience with the Beowolf the previous night suddenly flashed back to her. Live a little? Funny. I've never felt more alive than when I started playing this game. She thought bitterly.

Shaking her head, she got up and began equipping her armor and weapons. The previous night, while they were up a tree, waiting for the mobs to go away, Rose had gone through most of her items and determined what to sell, what to possibly keep, and what was a good idea to use.

The [Beowolf Fang] she'd definitely keep. It's stats were the highest she'd get until they get to the region's [Gate Dungeon]. For the craft items, she would probably have some NPC craft it into armor or, if that fails, she'd sell them to buy better armor. The old leather stuff she was wearing was long past the point where she needed to upgrade.

She the checked her stats and skills. She did, after all, gain five levels from all those Beowolves she and Crocea killed. They were over leveled against all the day-time enemies in the region because if that.

A certain amount of surprise appeared on Rose's face when she looked at her stat points. Ever since they left town she had neglected in assign her points, thus leaving her with stats that would probably be considered very weak for her level. She had seven level ups' worth of stat points left unassigned.

She fumed in frustration "Aw man! If I assigned these while we were up that tree, Crcocea wouldn't have given me that lecture and we could've gone straight to killing that Beowolf!" She vigorously shook her head and assigned her points.

Equipment ready and stat points assigned, she moved to walk out of the room, only to be greeted by a player apparently about to knock on her door. It was Myrtenaster, a look of surprise and thinly veiled apprehension on her face.

"Oh, I see you're awake." She said softly. "I take it you've had a good night of sleep? I have a request for you."

Rose eyed her curiously. What could she possibly want?

"I require your assistance. I need help going through my items, and advice on what to sell and what to keep"

Huh… sounds easy enough…

"Also…" Myrtenaster's voice seemed to falter a bit. "I got separated from two of my friends last night." She looked at Rose almost pleadingly. "I want to go look for them."

Rose clenched her teeth. There friends must be who she asked us about earlier this morning. She thought back to the large crowd of Beowolves that surrounded her and Crocea the previous night. There's no way they survived that unless they climbed a tree like we did. She thought grimly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just…" Rose shook her head. "Anyway, yes, I'll help… You know, with the items…"

Myrtenaster seemed quite disappointed in Rose's answer but didn't make any comment. She pushed her emotions beneath an expressionless mask and nodded. She walked inside the room and let Rose review her items.

Rose felt awkward helping with just the items. It wasn't like she was required to help with the other thing, right? Those two friends of Myrtenaster had to have revived at the [Town of Beginnings]. Death in game being actual death was just Crocea's crazy theory.

Rose shook her head. She had a job to do, and she planned to deliver. She watched as Myrtenaster scrolled through her inventory.

She has a lot of junk, Rose noted. With the exception of the craft items, the majority of Myrtenaster's inventory were things to sell to NPCs – items worth nothing more than the Lien received from selling said item. Why did she keep these items? Rose asked, feeling troubled. Plus, her equipment's already on the verge of breaking. Why hadn't she repaired them yet? Was she a newbie?

Rose realized that it was certainly a possibility. It's likely she just got into Remnant because of those friends she apparently lost.

If that's the case, are her friends newbies too? That's the only reason I'd accept for letting Myrtenaster's items get as worn out as they are.Rose thought angrily. If they knew, they should have told her.

Rose looked at Myrtenaster seriously. "We're gonna need to visit a couple of shops"

Myrtenaster blinked. "What?"

"I'll explain on the way, come on." Rose stood and left the room, dragging Myrtenaster by the hand.

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At the inn's mess hall, Rose and Crocea were going over their newly gained stats and equipment. Crocea had once again put majority of his points to defense, allowing him wield the [Bronze Round Shield] he was brandishing, as well as increasing his strength so he could use the [Steel Gladius] sheathed on his belt. For all intents and purposes, Crocea was now the equivalent to a walking tank.

"Are you sure you're gonna be able to keep up with me with all that weight?" Rose asked, looking skeptically at the large metal shield on his back. "You put points into your agility as well, right?"

"Yes I did. I also bought a good set of boots that decreased the weight penalty to your movement"

Rose looked under the table. Yes, those were indeed new boots. She smiled and returned her gaze to Crocea.

"Okay, as for me, I got this white cloak from an NPC crafter. I had the Beowolf craft items turned into pieces of armor. Most of them failed and I just wasted my money, but this cloak is of surprisingly good quality. It's got this weird passive that it turns red when creatures of Grimm are nearby."

Crocea tilted his head curiously. "Grimm?"

"Things like those Beowolves. I read some parts of the game's help files. They're apparently a thing in all the regions of Remnant."

The boy paled. "I'll never go outside at night ever again." He said shakily.

Rose ignored his obvious fear. "Relax. They only appear in dungeons, like the forest surrounding this city."

"Surrounding this city." He repeated "That doesn't make me feel any better"

"It should. If we leave town within two hours, we'll be able to clear the forest before midnight. After that, we're back into the open fields where the final town in this region awaits. No more Grimm will attack us!" She said enthusiastically "Besides, we're way over leveled for this dungeon at day-time"

Crocea didn't seem convinced. Rose sighed, shook her head, and leaned in close to whisper. "If you don't come with me, I'm going alone," Rose said in as sinister a manner as her high pitched voice could muster.

"That's some cruel emotional manipulation right there," Crocea said, not backing down. "Anway, I'm not the one risking her life by doing that"

Rose switched to a different tactic and pouted. "Pleeeaase?"

"Like I said, that's not fair! Stop it with the puppy eyes!"

She gave up. "Alright, what's it gonna take to convince you."

Crocea thought for a bit before answering. "We bring someone else with us."

Her mind immediately went to the white haired girl. "You mean Myrtenaster? That girl's still hung up about her two friends that died."

"Wow, harsh" Crocea said dryly

"Oh come on. It's not that big of a deal. They probably just respawned way back in the [Town of Beginnings]"

Crocea frowned. "This isn't just a game anymore, Rose. I've asked around town. There are other players here now and a good number of them had a teammate die right in front of them. Ten to thirty seconds later, the game tells them that they've logged out. None of them have logged back in yet." He looked at Rose with face more serious than he'd ever given. "It's possible that we don't die in real life like I believe, but I'm not willing to find out."

Rose smiled wryly. "You know, you're really good at convincing me to believe your insane theories. No matter how many times I unconvince myself, you always manage to pull me back," she growled. "Fine, we'll bring someone else."

Rose stood. "Anyway, you said there are other players in this town now, right? Let's ask around. Maybe there's a loner who's willing to party for a while."

Crocea nodded in agreement.

With that, the two of them stood and left the inn hoping to find someone to party with in the fairly small crowd of players in the market.

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Crescent Rose and Crocea Mors exited the city gates, new party members in tow.

[Milou Akouo], level 10. She was an amazonian red head who wielded an [Iron Spear] and a [Bronze Round Shield]. She was also a beta-tester, from what Rose could tell. She had this aura of experience that made beta testers stick out like a sore thumb in the early days of an MMO. Still, she was really nice, which Rose found agreeable.

What she did not find agreeable, however, was the person who apparently came bundled with Milou.

Much to her discomfort, Rose was forced to add Myrtenaster to her party. She had to. It was one of Milou's conditions for accepting the party request. And Crocea insisted. She didn't really have much of a choice.

Myrtenaster walked next to Milou, staring silently at the back of Rose's head. She had been staring since they left the inn, and it was really starting to get to Rose.

"Myrtenaster, please stop staring at me, it's really uncomfortable"

"You were unwilling to help me look for my friends. Why was that?" She asked in a cold controlled monotone that gave Rose goosebumps – or at least they would if her avatar was capable of doing that.

Rose winced. Sheesh. Straight to the point, isn't she? She thought up a lie that would probably be acceptable. It took her an instant to make up an answer. "I…" The words died in her throat as fast as she thought of them. Okay, that was terrible. She looked to Crocea for help but the boy only shrugged. Rose frowned at him. Some help you were… Fine, truth it is. "Look, Myrtenaster, I'm pretty sure they're both okay. Crocea and I survived, didn't we? I just thought we'd be wasting time."

"You think looking for my friends and making sure they were okay is wasting time? Do you even hear how you sound right now?"

Rose turned around and faced Myrtenaster. "You wanna go?" She asked, unsheathing her dagger.

Alarm appeared on both Crocea and Milou's face. "Ruby, temper" Crocea hissed.

Rose grit her teeth, ignoring Crocea's slip with the names. In truth she wasn't angry – rather, she was, but not as angry as she was making it look. Rose had probably made a mistake with Myrtenaster by saying what she said – and considering the pain and disgust in the white-haired girl's voice when she replied, an apology simply would not have sufficed. So she'd fight Myrtenaster and simply lose intentionally. Killing Rose would probably be a good way for Myrtenaster to exact vengeance. And if anything it'd help relieve some of her stress. Once Rose respawned back in [Juniper Town], she could always catch up and apologize the correct way (when Myrtenaster was less likely to point her sword at her like she was doing right now).

With her left hand, she pulled out a rapier and held it at half an arm's length from her body, left foot slightly forward. She silently glared at Rose.

Rose eyed Myrtenaster with some amount of caution. The way she held herself definitely made her seem like a beta tester. She knew what she was doing, holding that sword. And since she was a complete newbie at the game, it only made sense to assume that she'd had training. Fencing probably.

Remnant's dynamic music system kicked in, a slow and tense thumping of drums began echoing in the back of Rose's mind. Nice timing, Rose thought dryly. At least it isn't screaming into my ears anymore. That annoyed the heck out of my in the beta.

The game was anticipating the their actions, Rose realized. Or rather, influencing it. The moment the rolling drums stopped for a beat would be when they'd end up making their move. Huh… That's really clever design. She thought.

The drums stopped and both of them attacked. Rose jumped, only to be dragged back down by arms wrapping around her waist. Myrtenaster lunged with her sword at a speed normally only possible with [System Assist] – thus confirming Rose's assumption that she'd had training – but was similarly thwarted when a long metal pole slid horizontally in front of her chest and knocked the wind out of her. Crocea and Milou had intervened.

Milou held her [Iron Spear] vertically and tapped it with the edges of her [Bronze Round Shield], creating a sharp ringing sound that echoed throughout the forest. She looked at Myrtenaster, still catching her breath, and Crescent Rose, fidgeting uncomfortably in Crocea's hold. She scowled.

"You two are acting like children." Milou scolded. Her voice was loud but she wasn't shouting, and she seemed to exude some sort of aura of superiority. "I don't know exactly what's going on, but I can guess. Regardless, there is no excuse to act so petty, even if we're technically in a video game."

Milou turned to Myternaster. "Miss Myrtenaster, these friends… I guess they are the ones you were worrying about back in town?" When she received a nod in response, the red head closed her eyes and thought for a bit. She then opened her eyes and asked, "these friends, have you added them to your friend list? Check it and see if they're online" Myrtenaster did just that. When a look of not-unpleasant surprise appeared on her face, Milou smiled. "See? They're alive."

She turned to Rose. "As for you, that was reckless, don't you think?" Rose shrunk and Milou sighed. "Don't worry, I can probably tell what was going through your mind. If circumstances were different, I'd have tried the same thing." Her face grew softer. "But right now, that's the last thing you want to happen." She brought up her friend list and showed Rose its contents. Five players. Rose, Crocea, and Myrtenaster were at the bottom and above them were two low level players who were currently offline. "Those two died yesterday night, a few hours after our avatars turned into ourselves. They haven't gone online since."

"It's a Monday, isn't it? Maybe they're still in school?" Rose reasoned

Milou shook her head. "We all take the same university classes. We don't have classes on Monday." She looked down. "Besides, I don't think they'd be so cruel as to not log back in and tell me they're okay…"

"Maybe the servers aren't letting them log back in? Maybe the people at Argus found out about the glitches and are still working on fixing the problem"

"If that were the case wouldn't everyone be logged out automatically for server fixes?" Crocea asked. "Stop trying to rationalize this, Rose. Death in this game is death, and I'll convince you as many times as I need to. Will it take someone actually dying in front of you to make you accept it?"

A small candle appeared in the darkness before it was curtly extinguished, followed by the smell of ash and smoke.

Rose blinked and looked around her. Milou was staring off into the distance. Crocea still had his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, refusing to meet her eyes. Myrtenaster was looking at her quietly.

The expression on her face was curious. It was a look of understanding. Of empathy. Of mild shock. Yet it showed very little emotion. Rose looked away, suddenly feeling guilty. I get the feeling now's as good a time as any to apologize. Might as well get it over with.

"Crocea, let me go…" With the grip on her waist no longer there, she walked up to Myrtenaster and said, "I'm sorry…" The apology was sincere, though the possibility of forgiveness was, Rose felt, uncertain. If she doesn't accept it, then she doesn't accept it.

She felt a sharp sting on her cheek, noting that her health went down by a point. Myrtenaster had slapped her, the sound of skin striking skin still echoing faintly. "You're forgiven." Myrtenaster said softly. "I suggest you be more tactful with your comments next time."

Rose smiled wryly, rubbing her cheek. "Yes ma'am." She whispered.

There was silence for a time.

"So…" Crocea began awkwardly. "Are we… um… are we gonna keep moving or are we just gonna stand here for a while…? Yes, no, maybe…? Um… Okay…" With a mortified nod, he turned away and began scolding himself under his breath

Still, Rose had to thank him. The silence was tense but his awkwardness broke that tension somewhat, if at the expense of his own dignity. She sighed and shook her head before continuing forward. They had six hours to clear the forest before the Grimm showed up. The clock was ticking and waiting around wasn't going to make it tick slower.

Silently, Myrtenaster began walking as well, keeping the stoic air about her. Crocea was still standing, facing the opposite direction, only turning to face them when he heard a whistle. Milou smiled kindly at him before following the two on their way. Crocea broke into a run to catch up.

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Chapter Text

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"Up the tree! Climb! Climb!"

The four scrambled up the branches, several [Lesser Beowolves] clawing at their heels. Once they were high enough, the mobs began to disperse letting the four breath easy.

"Why is it that it's midnight and we are still in this forest?" Myrtenaster asked.

Rose leaned forward from her place on one of the lower branches, trying to get a better view to use her [Detection] skill. "It was an estimation, not a prediction," she gurmbled. "I can make close guesses but I can't see into the future." She squinted, taking note of the fog at the edge of her view. It was denser than the fog in every other direction. She smiled. "We're not that far from the exit. I say we make a break for it once all the Beowolves have left."

"There's one that isn't moving." Myrtenaster commented. "How do we deal with that thing?"

Rose laughed. "Easy. I drop down, stab it in the back, and while it's attention is on me, you all jump on it with a couple of sword techs. It'll be dead before it has a chance to attack!"

Milou and Myrtenaster glanced at each other worriedly, before looking expectantly at Crocea. The boy raised his hands in alarm. "Hey, it worked when it was just me and Rose, right? It's sure to work if there's four of us." They seemed convinced.

"Okay, by the time the mobs are gone, we kill the one below us and high tail it out of here." Rose stated. "Any objections, ladies?" There were none. "Okay then, now we just wait"

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Rose dropped down and turned on her [Sneak] skill. While it was active, she'd be only be partially visible to people who've already noticed her and her presence wouldn't instantaneously trigger aggression if she entered a mob's detection radius. She was keenly aware of the [Lesser Beowolf]'s own awareness meter steadily growing higher. She had to act fast since [Back Stab] only worked if the enemy was facing away and was not aware of her presence.

With one fluid strike, she embedded her dagger into the mob's spine, its awareness meter becoming full and it's health bar decreasing by a significant fraction. It was a critical hit.

The Beowolf howled and turned to face Rose, who was still locked in her animation. Still she found it in her to smirk when the mob died. The other three jumped down and hacked at the mob, lowering its health to zero even as it raised a claw to strike. It shattered into a million pixels.

Rose looked around, activating her [Detection] skill once more. The red cursors of the other Beowolves were closing in again. They had time, but not a lot. They should have waited a few more minutes before they made their move. It didn't seem like all of the mobs had returned to their spawn points yet.

She looked at her team mates grimly before gesturing for them to follow her.

She jogged in the direction of the thick fog, pleased to find that the path along the way – the very same path they were following before the Grimm showed up. It led to a sort of archway that lead into a circular clearing. It was the boss door.

She looked behind her, and nodded to her team mates. Right as she was about to walk through the threshold, Crocea's voice rang.

"Wait," he said. "We're gonna fight the boss at night? Aren't the Grimm twice the level of the normal mobs in an area?"

"You noticed too, huh?" Rose smirked. "The boss in there is probably level 20. You and I are level 17. Myrtenaster and Milou are 14. We can handle this" She turned to the others. "Right girls?"

"I don't know with you but I'm more than confident in my abilities." Myrtenaster stated. "Yeah, we can take this one on" Milou agreed.

Rose titled her head at Crocea "There you have it" The boy turned to look at each of the girls before giving a reluctant nod. Rose nodded as well and stepped through the arch and fog.

The clearing was fairly large for an early game boss room. The trees the ringed the clearing were tall and tightly spaced, making for a sort of cage where the only exits lay behind them and directly in front of them on the other side of the clearing. Above them was the sky, but very little light filtered through the canopy of leaves.

Crocea passed through the archway and tried to extend his hand back outside. It pressed into something solid, with a notification popping up. You cannot exit this area right now.

Well, we're trapped. And we'll stay that way til the boss is dead, Rose thought. Speaking of which, the dark ground at the center of this clearing is a whole lot darker that every where else.

Smirking, Rose told everyone to get into position. Crocea and Milou were to flank the enemy at either side. Once the mob's attention was gained by one of the shield users, Myrtenaster and Rose would join in, dealing at much damage per second as possible without causing the mob to change targets.

They were at their places. Crocea opened by charging head long into the darkness.

From the darkness, a great black bear exploded into existence and slashed at Crocea, the boy barely managing to get his shield up in time to block the hit. Even still, he lost small portion of his health bar. Milou surged forward with a [Linear] sword tech, spear glowing in hand.

[Ursa Major] Level 20. Rose frowned at how much health it had – two health bars with 800 points each. That, added to how much damage it could do, made for a terrible combination. She turned to Myrtenaster, whose grip on her rapier seemed tighter than needed. "I think it's time to jump in. I go left, you go right?" She asked. Myrtenaster nodded and dashed over to Milou. Rose smiled before bounding to Crocea aid.

The bear raised its paw for a downward swing at Crocea. The boy anticipated it and met the attack with a [Shield Bash]. The [Ursa Major] recoiled, but so did Crocea. Before the mob had a time to recover and counter attack, Rose slipped past Crocea and began a simple sword tech combo with her knife. The bear, having recovered, tried to backhand Rose but was once again intercepted with another [Shield Bash] by Crocea, followed by [Slant].

"Switch!" Rose called. She and Crocea jumped back just as the [Ursa Major] slammed its paws to the ground, creating a shock wave on the ground with a small area of effect. They had taken out a quarter of its first health bar. So far so good.

Both Milou and Myrtenaster shot forward with a [Linear] tech and stabbed the mob in the back, with a spear and sword respectively.

The mob, changing targets, twisted its body for a back hand at the two. Anticipating the telegraphed attack, Milou readied for a [Shield Bash]. When the two attacks met, Myrtenaster jumped in for a twelve hit combo, twirling around and stabbing at the mob before finishing with an upward thrust. It wasn't even a sword technique.

Rose watched with amazement at how the [Ursa Major's] first health bar went from around 75 percent to a little under 30. I knew it. She's had training. Nothing will convince me that she hadn't.

"Switch" Milou called, both of them jumping back with a lot of fancy and unnecessary flips. That's just showing off, Rose thought, mildly amused.

Rose and Crocea leaped towards the mob. "We'll take out the first health bar. Get ready for some sort of super attack once it reaches red!" She cried.

Rose shot forward with a [Linear] stabbing the mob in the gut. The bear went for another over head swing, only to be deflected by a [Slant] by Crocea. Rose did another sword tech combo and once again the mob's attack was blocked by Crocea's shield. Rose backed up a bit and let Crocea get a combo in before jumping forward once more for another sword tech combo.

The [Ursa Major]'s first health bar was now in the red zone. Its eyes glowed a malevolent crimson and it let out a terrible roar. Both Crocea and Rose were blasted backwards, losing half their health bars from the combined damage of the attack and the impact to the ground.

Rose clutched her ears, feeling intense pain and hearing a high pitched ringing. Sitting up, she saw the mob was periodically roaring. The interval between every roar was too short to get an attack in, at least with the levels and sword techs they currently had.

Eventually, it did stop. In fact, it stopped moving entirely. It was asleep. Rose's eyes widened when she saw its health increasing. "Its using [Rest] to restore its health. Hurry and attack while it's not moving!" Rose yelled, even as she and Crocea charged at it.

The four began hacking and slashing at the mob, desperately trying to take out more health than the regeneration was restoring. It was slow going but eventually, they managed to get the first health bar down to zero. The [Ursa Major]'s blood red eyes opened the moment the bar was depleted, all four of them quickly jumping away in case it did another roar. It was fortunate that they backed up as the mob did roar.

The mob looked between the two groups and charged for whoever was closer – Milou and Myrtenaster. The two side stepped the charge and simultaneously peppered stabs on its back while it was still locked in its cool down animation. They jumped back a bit when the mob was free to move again. It was well made decision, as the bear let out another roar before turning around to face them.

Rose and Crocea circled the on-going battle until they were directly behind Milou and Myrtenaster. The mob charged, and once more the two girls side stepped it. It stopped, stunned, perhaps a few steps in front of Rose and Crocea who then began laying down as much damage as they could. Milou and Myrtenaster joined them.

The four jumped back once more, eying the [Ursa Major] cautiously as it did another roar attack.

It changed its attack pattern after one health bar… Rose noted, smirking. But the new attack pattern is a lot easier to deal with.

The bear charged for Crocea and Rose, and the four of them repeated what they did earlier.

Eventually the mob's health reached the red zone and the four had to back up once more. Another series of roars echoed through out the clearing. When the roaring stopped and the mob used [Rest] to regenerate its health, the four jumped in for another frenzied attack, only to be blasted backwards by another loud roar.

Rose smiled wryly at the familiar pain and ringing of her ears. She sat up and looked at her team mates. She and Crocea were at a quarter of their health, while Milou and Myrtenaster were at half. The damage for the roar is percentage based, Rose realized. It takes out 50 percent of your current health. She grinned. That means we can afford to get hit more.

She turned to the [Ursa Major]. It was roaring every five seconds but it was only regenerating health at half the rate compared to last time.

We take half a second to jump in and attack the mob. Another half second to jump out of the roar's range. If I take into account how long the attack animations lock us in place, that leaves a little over three seconds for us to do damage to it. She slapped her cheeks and grit her teeth. Okay, we can do this.

She turned to Milou who seemed to have reached the same conclusion Rose had. They nodded at each other before Rose turned to Crocea and Myrtenaster. "You two. We're gonna begin counting. At one, you jump in and attack. At four, you all jump back." With that Milou and Rose ran towards the sleeping bear.

There was a roar. One. The two of them reached the mob and began attacking. Two… Three… Four! With one final sword tech, they jumped away. Five. There was another roar. "One!" Rose yelled. Crocea and Myrtenaster shot forward and attacked. "Two! Three! Four!" They retreated. "Five!" There was a roar once more. "One!" All four of them charged.

They cycle repeated for a few minutes before the [Ursa Major] detonated in a flashy pixelized explosion. It dropped a large sum of money, as well as a good number of craft items.

They all collapsed onto the ground, panting in exhaustion.

"Who got last hit?" Rose breathed.

"I did" Milou answered tiredly. "And it's the perfect weapon for me, too. [Tribal Ritual Spear]." She chuckled. "Too bad it's got a stat requirement I don't quite meet yet"

"You'll get there eventually." Rose laughed. "See guys? We made it…"

Crocea laughed as well. "We made it…" He repeated, as if he couldn't believe it himself.

Milou joined in the laughter. Eventually, everyone was laughing like idiots – even Myrtenaster who smiled and chuckled quietly.

Pride welled up inside Rose. They did it. The cleared the forest. And they cleared it at night, too. It was an accomplishment worthy of celebration. It almost made her forget that they were trapped inside a video game as she nearly suggested that they all meet up in real life and have a small party about it. I guess we're just gonna have to settle for a party here in Remnant. Rose thought.

She sat up. "I don't know with you guys, but I'm sick of this forest already. Let's get out of here" She jumped to her feet, regretting the exertion immediately. She made a mental note to not act more energetic than she really felt and began walking to the exit arch. The rest of her team followed suit.

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As the party of four walked the forest path, they noted a faint light in the distance. Feeling excited, Rose broke into a run, finally feeling the wind on her skin.

She ran out of the forest, taking in the picturesque plains before her. The sky was clear and the shattered moon shined brightly above them. The wind blew waves all across the land, turning the grassy field into a veritable sea. The air was fresher and the light was brighter. With a million watt smile, she held out her arms and took in all the sights, sounds and smells.

She heard a whistle. "Well, I can see why you were so excited to see this," Crocea said from behind her. "It's beautiful" he breathed.

She turned back to face her team mates, still beaming. They too were similarly moved by what they were experiencing. She and the others stood there, watching as time passed them by. Eventually the sun began peeking from below the horizon.

"How long were we fighting that Ursa?" Rose muttered. "We must have been in there for hours."

"It was a little past midnight when we arrived at the boss door so I'd say over 5 hours." Myrtenaster said, watching the sun with a surprisingly warm smile. "Though this was more than worth it…"

Rose shook her head and smiled. With that, the four of them continued forward. North, towards the final town in the region.

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Chapter Text

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Rose opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. She brought up her menu and looked at the time. 10:46. She had been asleep for only an hour, she realized. Groaning, she got up and began equipping her stuff.

I should probably switch to a spear or rapier or something. Rose thought. I like high agility weapons but this knife just isn't doing it for me. It needs more range...

She walked out the inn and looked around the town. [Cypress Town] it was called.

It was larger than [Juniper Town] but smaller than the [Town of Beginnings]. The population was composed entirely of NPCs as it seemed she, Crocea, Milou, and Myrtenaster were the first to arrive.

The other players who were in Juniper probably didn't want to risk clearing the forest at night. It's doable, though, so Rose figured at least someone would be there. But no. The four of them were the only players in the town.

A few minutes later, she was in the town square, shopping. She asked a nearby NPC about their available weapons

The NPCs seemed to have a good stock of common weapons. She didn't expect the higher level equipment to appear in the early game shops. In the beta, she had been good at keeping ahead of the curve when it came to levels, but she hadn't been level 20 by the time she reached the third starting town. It surprised her to see equipment 10 levels higher than the level most players arrived there with.

She scrolled through the shop's selection and narrowed down her choices to two weapons. She weighed her options. On one hand, if she switched to a spear, she'd have to start working on her strength as well as her agility, since it compounded its damage with both stats. However, it'd probably work in her favor as it'd give her a more flexible stat build when it came to switching to new weapons. On the other hand, switching to the rapier allowed her to for a full agility build, and she really liked going fast. Rapiers tended to have low strength requirements as well so she could probably get by without needing to assign more skill points to strength than she normally did.

Rose frowned in frustration. This was always the part she hated the most: deliberating on skills, builds, and equipment. She sighed and gave up.

"Hey, shop keeper, why don't you choose for me. What do you think would suit me better - that rapier or that spear?"

The NPC looked thoughtful for a second before recommending the spear.

Rose blinked in surprise. She had forgotten how life-like the non-player characters were in Remnant. When talking about things pertaining to in-game events or items, one could have a lengthy dialogue with an NPC, as if it were a real person. She could even imagine getting into a fight with one while trying to haggle the price of an item - she may or may not have seen other players actually do that as well. However, the moment things stopped being about the game, they'd just stop and say they didn't understand.

With a smiled and nod, Rose selected the spear and tapped purchase. The [Hunter's Lucky Spear] now sat in her inventory, waiting to be equipped.

Better assign those stat points first, though. I can't even equip it yet without increasing my strength stat, Rose thought as she made her way to the local blacksmith. Now, let's see if I can get this cloak upgraded with the craft materials I have right now.

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Rose re-entered the inn, new and upgraded equipment on display. She had been wandering the town for a bit, completing some minor side quests from the NPCs, earning quite a bit of Lien and experience points. She had even leveled up, in fact. With all those changes, it was only natural that she'd catch the attention of one of the only players on her team who were already awake.

Myrtenaster stared at her from top to bottom to top once more. "Been buying new clothes" She noted boredly. "You look good"

Rose chuckled, puffing her chest with pride. "Of course I do. I look gorgeous. I'd probably look good in anything." She said confidently.

When Myrtenaster looked at her skeptically, it suddenly occurred to her that her avatar wasn't the handsome man she had slaved at in the character selection screen for hours anymore. Instead, she was the same wimpy looking teenager she was in real life.

She blinked at the realization. "Wait..."

"Self confidence certainly a good thing, but gloating is pushing it a bit too far, don't you think?" Myrtenaster said dryly. "Though your level of self esteem is enviable, I'll give you that"

Rose raised a brow at the white haired girl's statement. "Was that an insult?"

"Or a compliment. Take it how you will." With that, Myrtenaster exited the inn, leaving Rose standing awkwardly at the door.

Wait... did she just say I looked good? Like... Me me? Not handsome-man-avatar me?

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Crocea and Milou gave her a once over and they both agreed that, yes, her current outfit did indeed make her look good. Rose buried her face in her hands by the sheer embarrassment of it. She just wasn't used to compliments like that. At all.

"Where'd you even get those clothes?" Crocea asked.

A white long sleeve blouse, red skirt, and brown boots which made up the armor set titled [Fair Commoner]. They were simple clothes that offered fairly high stat increases which she got from completing a small quest chain from one of the local NPCs. She wore it because of the stats. She didn't really expect it to look good on her.

"Well they do. They suit you quite well, actually" Milou said encouragingly.

Rose's blush deepened. "B-but I'm wearing armor over it. Doesn't that make me look less good or something?" She argued. "Like, don't you think a [Soft Leather Curiass] and a [Fair Commoner Skirt] clash a bit?"

Milou disagreed "No, you manage to make it fit. I don't see why you dislike the thought of yourself looking attractive so much."

"B-but..."

Crocea sighed. "Alright, how about we stop talking about it for now? A change of topic will probably help our party leader clear her head," He said helpfully.

Rose glanced at Crocea, giving him a look of thanks. I owe you one. The boy nodded as if to agree that, yes, she did owe him one. She looked away, wincing. Dammit, I owe him another favor...

Once the fun stuff was out of the way and Myrtenaster returned from shopping, the four of them got to working on future plans.

Inevitably, the had to wait a couple of days, perhaps a week, for more players to arrive at the third starting city. In that time, they'd continued grinding the field mobs just outside the city for experience points, all the while gathering information about what was going on. Some news about what was going on in the [Town of Beginnings] was certainly welcome. Some insight on the whole trapped in the game situation was even more desirable.

However, as it were, there wasn't much they could do that day. At only noon, the players who had arrived at [Juniper Town] the previous evening would still be in the process of clearing the forest. Without a doubt in their minds, new payers would arrive by the end of the day, but until then, they had very little to do but kill some mobs to kill some time.

They all sighed at the prospect of grinding all afternoon. It was going to be a boring day, they felt.

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Using her [Detection] skill, Rose saw a party of two emerge from the forest from across the plains. Amazing what the skill could with a perfectly clear field of view a sunny day. She ran to meet them.

They were a boy and girl, wearing green and pink, and wielding a knife and axe respectively. Once she got close enough to bring up their status screen, she learned that the boy was [Stormflower], Level 11, and the girl was [Magnhild], Level 13.

"Hey, you're part of that group that left [Juniper Town] last night!" The girl in pink, Magnhild exclaimed. She then began streaming sentences faster than Rose was capable of understanding. "Wow, I never though you'd survive. I mean, not that I wanted you to lose but those things are scary powerful, like we tried to get through last night but there are just so many of them that we had to head back to town. We almost died last night. We had to wait til this morning to try and take on the forest. But you, you managed to survive going though it at night. That's amazing. Oh, you're level 21, that explains it. Hello Crescent Rose, I am Magnhild - that's Ma-gn-high-ld. But you can call me Maggy if that's too hard for you. Nice to meet you" Maggy held out her hand for a friendly hand shake.

Rose blinked, still trying to process what the girl had just said. "Uh... Hi." She reluctantly shook the outstretched hand.

Turning to the boy, Stormflower, he also held out his hand. "Stormflower." he said curtly. "Please excuse Maggy's over enthusiasm. She recently got last-hit on the forest's area boss. She's still a bit giddy."

Rose nodded, smiling. She knew the feeling. "By the way, how were things in [Juniper Town] this morning? I wasn't able to ask around much yesterday but I got that most of them left [The Town of Beginnings] early in the morning because of some sort of mass panic. Anything new?"

Stormflower shook his head. "Actually, no one new showed up to [Juniper Town] this morning. I'm guessing they either died from all the Grimm, or were scared off by them. More would probably arrive there later this afternoon, though." He looked around, until he saw Maggy fighting a group of six [Wild Boars] some distance away. "Oh dear." He winced and began jogging towards her. "Sorry, I gotta go."

Rose nodded and waved goodbye "Sure. Remember, the city's straight north. You can't miss it."

"Thanks" Stormflower waved back before breaking into a sprint towards the girl in pink.

Rose tilted her head curiously before shugging. They seem nice. She began running in the opposite direction. Hoping to fight a couple more mobs before returning to town.

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The sun setting in the distance showered the world with orange light. Similarly orange was the hair of one player who had just emerged from the forest. Bangs covering half of his face, and a white cloak billowing in the wind, [Torchlight] was a level 14 beta tester who knew Rose - and whom Rose knew in return.

"Well well well, Red. I never thought you were just a little girl" He said with a dark chuckle. "I take it that you were waiting for me?"

"You could say that. And you look exactly like your avatar. Though I'm guessing you don't have orange hair in real life." Rose smiled and shook her head. "Anyway, you got any new info for me?" She asked.

"Yeah I do. You know the drill. Cough up the Lien and I'll tell you everything you need to know"

"Always the business man, I see," Rose said with a sigh. "Can't I get some for free?"

He shrugged. "I'm an info broker. It's what I do. As for free info, well, let's see what I have. Walk with me."

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Rose and Torchlight arrived at town, chatting all the way. Once they entered the gate, the man shut his mouth and ushered Rose into a dark alley.

"Okay, that's all I can give you for free" Torchlight said. He grinned "Anything more's gonna cost you."

"This looks awfully like one of those scenes in movies where the rapist tries to have their way with you" Rose said, smiling mischievously.

Torchlight raised his eyebrow. "How old are you? You shouldn't watch movies like that." Rose giggled. He sighed and shook his head. "Whatever. So what do you wanna know? Tell me and I'll name my price"

"How about we make a deal? I have information that can be useful to you."

Torchlight looked at her skeptically. "How useful?"

"It's about the Grimm. Something I noticed last night while fighting them."

"You were fighting them? Well, no surprise there. You're ten levels over the recommended level for this place. So, what about them?"

Rose put a finger on her lips, smiling. "Ah, Torchlight, this is a trade, remember? What do you have to offer?"

He chuckled "Ah, there's the Rose I knew from the beta."

"Well then, how about information on the whereabouts of two individuals that happen to be important to one of your party members?" Rose's smile twitched. "Oh yes, I know about her. Myrtenaster is her name, I believe. Female; white hair; fair skin; scar on left eye; level 13 while she was in [Juniper Town]; wields a rapier-type weapon with her left hand - a [Training Saber] when she arrived at town and a [Wind Fleuret] when she left with you; silent and reserved, possibly due to the whole trapped in a game situation; and absolutely lost without the two friends who were accompanying her before they were separated due to a Grimm attack"

Rose frowned. He was right about all those points and his smug grin felt exceedingly fun to punch. "You're really an asshole, you know that?"

Torchlight grinned. "Yes, Red, I am very much aware." He leaned forward. "Now, what was it about those Grimm that you were going to tell me?"

"I don't want to be swindled." Rose snapped. "We know they're alive and we know they're eventually going to arrive in this town soon. We don't need info from you" She smirked. "Don't you have something better?"

Now it was he who was frowning. "I'm not inclined to present you with my info right now. Frankly, I get the feeling most of it you are already aware of." He said dryly. "I am however willing to pay you 1000 Lien right now for the information you carry" he added with a small smile.

Rose laughed. "Please, I've got over 4k stored from all the grinding I've been doing. I doubt even you would be able to match up the the money I have right now"

For the first time, Torchlight's face showed surprise. The amount of satisfaction Rose gained from knowing she had more money than Torchlight left her undeniably satisfied.

"Okay, how about this: You owe me a favor." Rose said.

Torchlight's eyes narrowed. "What kind of favor?" He asked skeptically

"You know what kind." Rose answered, confident that he'd understand.

He looked away, scratching his cheek. "I don't know, Red. Debts like that are hard to pay, and even harder to keep. They can equal the weight of a life if necessary. It's what makes them so valuable."

Rose walked deeper into the alley, hands behind her back. She turned back to look at Torchlight, eyes smiling. "Then how about a discount for all future pieces of information I buy of you? That's fair, right?"

Torchlight smiled back. "Ah, now that is a very fair deal. Since 1k is still small for you, how about a discount of 4k, equaling the amount of money you currently have on you?" He took a step forward.

"That's not good enough. Since 1k is a quarter of my total Lien, why not a 25% discount?"

He walked closer, frowning. "Work with me here, Red"

"15% discount."

"Why is it that you're the one making an offer? 10%. That's the highest I'll go. It's practically criminal, the discount I'm giving you, Red."

Rose stepped nearer and whispered. "The Grimm are all double the level of the local mobs that they replace in a dungeon."

Torchlight glared at Rose. "That's your info?" He asked in outrage

"Okay, wait, hear me out," Rose said quickly. "The Grimm will replace literally every single mob in an area - even the boss mobs - and they are double that mob's level. They'll even replace a mob you're currently in combat with - and they'll be at full health"

He frowned. "Okay, I'm listening..."

"I heard from the NPCs that they only show up in dungeons and places with little to no sunlight. Torchlight, Region 2 is the [Emerald Forest]. Every single mob field down there is shaded with giant trees. Nowhere but the towns are safe once midnight strikes."

He nodded. "This is real interesting, Red, but this isn't worth a 10% discount on all future purchases." He began.

"Wait, wait, there's still the clincher" Rose leaned in. "Doesn't it have to be 6pm before you can enter the region's [Gate Dungeon]?" Torchlight's eyes widened.

The [Gate Dungeon] was the dungeon they had to beat in order unlock the next playable region. It required multiple raid teams of six players that met the minimum level requirements to clear it safely. At the very end of the dungeon awaited a boss mob that was more powerful than any of the mobs faced prior to it. However, gaining entrance to the [Gate Dungeon] was only possible between 6pm and 6am, spanning an entire night.

A look of dread was on his face. "You're telling me that [Gate Dungeons] have to be beaten in six hours or else they become nigh unclearable?" Rose nodded. "Even the boss?" Rose nodded again.

Rose grimaced. She could only imagine how much harder the later [Gate Dungeons] would be if they took too long. A mob twice the level of a level 50 mob is one that's level 100. The exponential increase was terrifying. What made it worse was the fact that a Boss could turn into a Grimm in the middle of a battle and all the efforts made to damage it were effectively meaningless.

Looking pale, Torchlight leaned on the wall for support. "This is insane..." He breathed. "Some of these [Gate Bosses] take literal hours to defeat..."

Rose sighed. "Yeah. Never expected any of this from the beta." She then smiled sadly. "But, there is something I noticed. It's not anything confirmed, just a theory-"

Torchlight smiled wryly. "Which is why you're telling me for free?"

She nodded "Yeah. Anyway, these Grimm are really powerful and stuff, but I noticed that the bosses get less smart the more health they lose. Their patterns become easier to deal with."

He tilted his head curiously. "Interesting. Where'd you learn this?"

"I fought the forest area boss while it was a Grimm." Rose shook her head. "Like I said, it's just a theory. Maybe it's only true for just that boss, maybe it's true for every other boss. I don't know."

"Don't tell me you plan on taking on more Grimm bosses. Red, that would be suicide."

Rose laughed. "What? Can't bear to lose your best source for info about the front lines?"

He looked away uncomfortably. "Well, there's that... But I was mostly thinking about how you're just a little girl." Rose's laughter died inside her throat. "I may be an asshole, but I am not particularly fond of children dying."

She frowned. "I'm not a kid anymore..."

Torchlight shook his head. "No, you're not." He turned towards the street and gave Rose a lazy wave. "Well, Red, I'll be taking my leave. I was just presented with a lot of food for thought and I can't say much in terms of my appetite. See you around, kid"

With that. Rose was left in the shadow of an alleyway, in the brief twilight after the sun disappeared over the horizon.

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It was a quarter past midnight when Rose saw two players emerge from the forest. It was night and her detection skill still wasn't very high leveled yet so she couldn't bring up their status screens yet. Instead of running to meet them, she stayed where she was, in the open hands raised. In the white moonlight, she called out to them.

"Hey, are you guys okay!? Can I come closer!?"

The two dark figures seemed to look at each other before a gruff voice responded. "Is the town nearby!?"

"An hour's walk from here!"

They looked at each other once more before another yell was addressed to Rose. "Wait there! We'll come to you!"

And they did. They walked closer until yet entered the range of Rose's detection skill. She activated and and checked their screens. One of them was a very tall man, most likely the gruff voice who had replied to her. [Wilting Blush] Level 19. The other was a woman, significantly shorter. [Gambol Shroud] Level 17.

Rose's eyes widened when she read those names. They were those friends Myrtenaster had been worrying about.

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Chapter Text

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It was mid morning that Thursday and the weather was warm and pleasant despite it being early November in real life - which was fortunate as Rose wasn't a fan of cold weather. She sat in a large amphitheater surrounded by a bunch of other players. Including herself, there were 21 people total.

They were called there that day because Torchlight had something to say to every player in [Cypress Town]. One would normally think that he'd have a hard time gathering them, but in actuality, he had a very easy time. Majority of the players who were in town were beta testers - and every beta tester knew who Torchlight was. And since every beta tester was going to the meeting, it was only natural that the newbies tagging along with them would go as well.

Rose looked around nervously. She was seated the back row, near the middle. Crocea and Milou were seated a few rows in front of her. Myrtenaster was sitting with Gambol Shroud and Wilting Blush near the exit. That left Rose sitting alone to wait for Torchlight to arrive. Not that she was upset or anything. She was used to being alone. She had, after all, favored playing solo back in the beta. It wasn't so bad.

Her introspection, however, was put on the back burner when Torchlight stepped onto the stage and addressed them.

"Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and others. For those who know who I am, there is no need for introductions. For those who don't, sorry but you'll have to stay in the dark until someone else enlightens you since I'd prefer not give any information for free." There were a few chuckles from the crowd. "Suffice it to say, I am a very powerful man. Not in terms of combat, of course. I'm not half bad in the battlefield, if I do say so myself, but there are four individuals in this very gathering who are several levels higher than any of us." Rose saw his eyes lock with hers. His grin was annoying yet strangely... endearing? She felt an amused smile tug on her lips even as she awkwardly looked away.

"In any case, everyone here right now is a person who acted smartly and left the [Town of Beginnings] the moment this whole incident began. It's been five days and according to one of my contacts who stayed in the first town, the people there have been very... how you say, difficult. Some have been acting extremely violent. Others have been struck with severe depression. With the exception of a small amount of people, everyone still in the [Town of Beginnings] is afraid and confused.

"Which brings me to the reason I brought you all here in the first place. You all are people who kept calm when things got crazy. You didn't panic. It's either that or you're all very good at hiding your fear. Either way, you're everything that some ten thousand people who are still stuck in the starting town just aren't. That said, I want to change that"

Murmurs began among the players. What was he talking about? Rose, of course, knew the answer.

"My dear players, tell me what kind of fear causes the most amount of mass panic?" The crowd was silent. "No answer? Alright then, I'll tell you. It is fear of uncertainty. And I'll tell you this as well: there's a lot of things uncertain right now. All of these people are confused. We need to tell them something - anything - in order to placate them. In order to make them all feel less afraid." The audience seemed unsure of how to react - even less so when Torchlight laughed and added, "Maybe if they believe, we'll believe it too, right?"

Rose frowned. What Torchlight was proposing... She wasn't sure if she was comfortable with it but something inside her was telling her it had to be done.

"To those who've pieced it together, yes, what I'm proposing that we fabricate a story in which everyone's fears are either confirmed or denied with utter certainty. We're basically going to give them a sort of official report. It needs to be believable enough that majority will accept it. I could even begin spreading rumors to reinforce how truthful it is. Anyone who doesn't want to participate in this little lie of ours, just stand up and leave. I won't blame you for it - but don't blame me if I decide to use it against you if you ever cross me."

Rose watched the players around her think and come to a sort of conclusion. After a few minutes, all the hushed whispers had died down, though no one seemed to be standing up and leaving. Torchlight started talking again.

"I'll assume your silence and that none of you have left means you've come to a decision. I say: we begin. First order of business, does death in game mean death in real life? My sources, and all the evidence they give me, say yes. Anyone with proof want to counter that?"

Rose shifted in her seat. Of course he'd start with that one. She shook her head. Uhhh. This is gonna be a long day... she though tiredly

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Rose lied down alone in the fields outside the town, watching the clouds pass over her view of the sky.

The meeting was called to a recess some minutes ago. So far, it was going well. Torchlight was uncomfortably thorough in asking questions people seriously didn't want to ask - to neither themselves nor to anyone else.

What happened to their bodies in real life? Apparently a couple of people fainted in the middle of town one day because their bodies were likely moved to a hospital. It could only be assumed that everyone else would experience the same at one point or another. Or at least that's what was what the accepted theory was.

What's the purpose for trapping them all in the game? The creator was crazy. Had some sort of god-complex or something. They were going to have every single player eat, drink, and breathe the game. And the only way they'd let the players leave is if they complete the game. Or at least that was what they were going to tell people.

It was all unbelievable. Yet Rose found herself easily accepting them. The fact that it was Torchlight telling it - a player who somehow knew everything that everyone else knew about the game and then some - was one of the reasons for that. The other reason... well, she supposed Torchlight was right about that as well. She wanted to believe it. She wanted her life in game to have a purpose.

Ever since she and her friends arrived at [Cypress Town], she had been wandering around with nothing to do. Unlike when she was traveling and had a destination in mind, nothing was keeping her attention. It let the whole situation catch up to her.

She started playing to escape. To have fun. Now, with death actually being a threat and there being no way out, it wasn't a game for fun anymore. It was life - as real as reality. What was she supposed to do with her life in virtual reality if it started becoming like actual reality? She had no idea what to even do with her life in actual reality!

"My purpose for playing this game" Rose whispered to herself. "Is to beat it and get out..." She scowled. And go back to the real world where everything's just as bad? She asked. She shook her head "No, it can't just be that. Others may accept it but I'm not like them."

She kicked up her legs and sat up, looking around. Crocea and Milou were waving at her from the gate. With a smile, she jumped to her feet and ran towards them at top speed, dust clouds billowing in her wake.

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At a small cafe near the amphitheater where the meeting was being held, Rose sat munching on a sandwich. It tasted like bacon but apparently it was [Wild Boar Meat]. It could be assumed that food ingredients in the game had counter parts in real life.

"So, that Torchlight guy was a bit of a condescending prick back there" Crocea noted. "Milou tells me that's how he normally is, though"

"Yup." Rose said in agreement. "He's every bit the asshole he was in the beta. If he wasn't so good a weaseling info for people, he'd long have been PKed by now."

"Player killing? That's a thing in this game?" Crocea asked nervously.

"Back in the beta, yeah. Players who kill someone get an orange cursor, temporarily losing safe zone protection. If they kill again while they're orange, they'll get a red cursor and can't enter towns." Rose explained. "If the person who killed was the one attacked first, all they get is an orange cursor, so a person just defending themselves won't be punished permanently."

"I don't expect there to be as many PKers after this meeting, though" Milou said. "Considering it's established to be actual murder now, I'd certainly hope not."

"Too true" Crocea said, raising his cup of tea in agreement.

"By the way, Rose, what were you doing lying down on the grass outside town?" He asked. "Being all mopy and brooding again?"

Rose blushed. "Oh shut up. I wasn't brooding." She sighed. "Just thinking, you know? This isn't a video game anymore... well, I mean it is but... you know what I mean, right?"

Crocea smiled sadly. "Well, I definitely didn't think I'd end up actually being in danger of dying when I started playing, that's for sure. I'd be terrified at the thought of dying. Never mind no longer living, just think of what'll happen to those I leave behind, right?"

Rose turned to Milou who was staring idly at her drink. Rose frowned. "Hey, uh, Milou..." She began awkwardly. "You okay...?"

Milou shook her head slightly. "Not quite. But don't worry. I'll manage."

Rose frowned. Milou lost her team to Beowolves, she remembered. Oh man, that was really insensitive of us talking about death so casually... She glanced at Crocea who was also wincing guiltily. You realized it too, huh? Oh man, we're terrible at this...

Rose grit her teeth and nodded. She and Crocea looked at Milou, feeling distressed by the situation. Crocea spoke first.

"Uh, Milou. I'd just like to know that me and Rose will be here for you if you need anyone." He said stiffly. He turned to Rose "Right, Rose?"

"Er... yeah." Rose said in awkward agreement. "We'll do our best."

Milou smiled sadly, nodding, leaving their table in silence for many minutes.

Rose flicked her left index and middle fingers downward to bring up her menu. It was nearly 1pm. She stood and shoved the last of her sandwich down her throat. After a difficult swallow - and internally thanking the game designers that there wasn't a choking on food status effect - she turned to the two who had also stood. "C'mon. The meeting's about to start back up. We can't be late"

They left the cafe, feeling less hungry and significantly less happy than they were when they entered.

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The meeting had long ended and the sun was already setting yet Rose remained at the amphitheater, taking in the shades of orange coloring the sky, the wind of late afternoon blowing on her skin, and the sound of silence ringing in her ears.

In the end, Rose being there did nothing to add or distract from the meeting. She merely watched as the more things were said and the amount of lies they were going to feed to the masses increased. Of course, she knew not all of them were lies - with everything going on, she was sure at least some of the accepted theories were actually true - but the uncertainty of the info they were going to release left a bad taste in her mouth.

And she still doubted if people would really believe it.

Why had she not said anything? Sure, she had already told Torchlight everything she thought was useful, but she certainly could have given some input on some other stuff, right? Well, yes, that's true, but what could she say that other players couldn't have said in her place? What could she say that would make a difference? For what she knew, it didn't have to be her who said it. Why not anyone else, right?

But still...

"Why should I even care...?" Rose asked, leaning back in her seat.

"Being all emo again?"

Emo? What? Rose frowned and turned to look at Crocea and Milou climbing up the steps to join her.

"Yo", "Hello again", said Crocea and Milou respectively

Rose turned away, moving her gaze to the sun, slowly disappearing over the horizon. She smiled wryly. Yeah, I guess I am being all emo again...

"Hey Crocea, Milou" She greeted, bringing her legs up and hugging them. "How's it going?"

"Eh, same old same old." Crocea said, laughing softly. He and Milou sat on either side of Rose and watched the sunset with her.

A familiar feeling welled up inside the girl. She was a similar scene less than three days ago when she and Crocea arrived at [Juniper Town]. She closed her eyes, the beginnings of an actual smile forming on her face.

"You know, Rose, the offer we gave to Milou? She and I are also offering it to you. We're here if you want us to be."

"You should get some rest. Crocea and I will carry you back to the inn"

That was the last thing she remembered hearing before her exhaustion suddenly took her. That's what I get for not sleeping for nearly two days... She thought in drowsy annoyance.

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Chapter Text

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Rose exited her room feeling more than a little irritable. Again, she had little to no sleep. Had her avatar body been as weak as her real body, she was sure she'd be feeling a lot worse than just irritable.

Look on the bright side, Rose. At least you don't feel completely like shit. She chuckled at the thought.

Across the hall, Crocea emerged from his own room. "Yo," he said with a yawn and a lazy wave. "I didn't get much sleep last night. You?"

Rose grinned. She had someone to empathize with. "Heh. The last time I had a good night's rest was when I fell asleep after Torchlight's meeting. We may be the strongest, richest people in Remnant right now but sleep is one of the few things we just don't have a lot of"

The two walked down the stairs to the inn's common room. What they saw was a crowd of people surrounding what seemed to be some sort of argument. They saw to really tall people they knew in the crowd - Wilting Blush and Milou Akouo. They quickly walked towards them.

"Milou, what's going on?" Crocea asked.

"Hello Crocea, Rose," Milou greeted. "I seems that Myrtenaster and Gambol Shroud are having a sort of argument."

Rose stood at the tip of her toes but was too short to see over the crowd. She looked pleadingly at Milou and Crocea, both of whom were significantly taller. They shrugged and grabbed Rose by the thighs, boosting her a whole head over the tallest person in the room. In the center of the crowd was as Milou said: Myrtenaster and Gambol Shroud, arguing.

"Like I said, I can't sleep with the lights turned on. The solution is simple: Just don't read in the middle of the night." Myrtenaster said angrily.

"Well, when else can I read?" Gambol snapped. "You never let me do it at any other time."

"Why not just stop reading? It's not like any of the books in this game mean anything"

"No! I've read these books. The lore in this game is rich if you take the time to read about it. The writers spent a lot of time on it and it's only natural that I want to appreciate it."

Rose whispered to the two holding her up. "Whoa. Gambol's pretty passionate about books."

Crocea nodded in agreement. "Yeah she is. Also, something tells me this isn't the first time this has happened..."

"They know each other in real life, remember?" Milou reminded them.

The three suddenly went wide eyed when Myrtenaster unsheathed her rapier and the game's dynamic music system kicked in. "Fine, then. I challenge you to a duel!" Even as she said that, a notification prompt appeared in front of Gambol.

The raven haired girl glared at the prompt, a low growl escaping her clenched teeth. "How petty can you get?" She pulled out her knife. "Fine, I accept."

"Rose, I thought PVP wasn't allowed in this game." Crocea asked.

Rose shook her head. "It isn't. You get penalized for killing other players outside a town's [Safe Zone]. Inside a [Safe Zone], players can't even get damaged. There's an exception to those rules, though..."

As the tribal drums thumped in the background, the crowd backed away from the two, murmuring to themselves about how exciting the morning had become. Myrtenaster and Gambol Shroud stood a few meters from each other, maintaining intense eye contact. Between them was a information screen: COMBATANTS: [Myrtenaster] Lvl 21 VS [Gambol Shroud] Lvl 19. STIPULATIONS: The first to bring their opponent's health to 50% is the winner. Under said screen was a count-down timer, ticking down every second.

"In this game, you can have a formal duel with someone. It can be to the death or until past a certain percentage of your health bar. It's the only real way to kill a player in this game with little consequence. It's also the only way you can damage someone inside a [Safe Zone]."

The timer hit zero and the two lunged at each other. There was a clash of steel as a stab by Myrtenaster was deflected by Gambol who quickly counter attacked with a low sweeping kick. Myrtenaster fell to the ground and quickly rolled away, a knife stabbing the ground where she laid a mere instant ago. She then jumped to her feet and spun in a circle, swinging her rapier as she did so, forcing Gambol to retreat. Once again, the two stood some meters away from each other, glaring at one another.

The sweeping kick did a sliver of damage to Myrtenaster and the rapier swing grazed Gambol Shroud's left forearm. They both still had most of their health left.

Rose watched with amazement. "Wow, those two are good." She tapped Crocea and Milou's shoulders. "Hey, I think I'll be able to see through the crowd now. Let me down," she whispered.

"You can still forfeit, you know." Myrtenaster said as the two circle each other.

"You were the one who challenged me. Don't tell me you don't plan to follow through with this."

The girl in white looked like she was about to retort but held her tongue. "Of course I do..." she said instead in a low voice.

The girl in black pounced at Myrtenaster, slowly pushing her back with a frenzy of slashes. Myrtenaster managed to hold her own but was losing a lot of ground - if all she did was parry, eventually she'd have her back against the wall.

"How are you going to deal with this, Myrtenaster?" Rose whispered, eyes still trained on the battle. "Come on, push back..."

Myrtenaster parried one more slash by Gambol Shroud before ducking under a slash and tackling the raven haired girl. Gambol was pushed back a few steps but recovered quickly. Her assault resumed with equal ferocity. Myrtenaster, however, seemed to have anticipated this. She leaned to the side, dodging a slash, and then stabbed at Gambol's legs. The girl in black stumbled froward, face planting into the wall, causing a [Immortal Object] notification to appear at the point of impact.

Myrtenaster's health was still over 90% while Gambol Shroud's was closer to 75%

"It's not too late to give up. You know you can't beat me." Myrtenaster said, a smug grin on her face. Gambol got up, making no comment.

The two lunged at each other once more, locking blades. They both pushed. Myrtenaster was slowly brought to her knees - Gambol seemed to be much stronger. Face scrunched in a frown of exertion, Myrtenaster angled her rapier so that the knife slid down its length. Finally freed from Gambol's weight, she quickly put some distance between the two of them.

Turning around, Myrtenaster quickly raised her sword to guard against any upcoming attack. However, no such attack came. Instead, Gambol Shroud was nowhere to be seen.

She looked around in confusion. "Where-"

She wasn't even able to finish that sentence as a sudden sharp glowing object burst forth from her shoulder. Behind her stood Gambol Shroud, locked in the attack animation for the [Back Stab] sword technique. Myrtenaster's health went from 90% to a little over 10%, signalling the end of the battle.

A large notification screen appeared between them. WINNER: [Gambol Shroud] Lvl 19.

"Whoa..." Crocea breathed in amazement.

Yeah, no kidding... Rose thought in agreement. And literally only one sword tech was used in that battle. She shook her head. When we almost fought back in the forest, I planned to hold myself back and lose on purpose. In hindsight, I'd probably lose even if I went all out...

"So... you won..." Myrtenaster said awkwardly. It seemed like she wasn't used to losing. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Starting today, we sleep in different rooms." Gambol Shroud said curtly, sheathing her knife.

Myternaster blinked. "What...?" She frowned. "But-"

"I won. I say: we here on, you sleep alone."

"I..."

Rose turned around and began walking away. "Guys, this isn't something we're supposed to see," she said quickly. "Agreed" Crocea said, following Rose. Milou and the rest of the crowd began leaving as well. As the crowd dispersed, Rose took one last look back.

Just as Gambol moved to leave with the rest, Wilting Blush grabbed her by the shoulder and pushed back to the center of the room. Myrtenaster stood, looking at the floor, fist clenched at her sides. Gambol frowned, looking between Myrtenaster and Wilting Blush. She sighed and walked towards Myrtenaster, offering a hand.

Rose tore her gaze away, and continued out the room. She had only one word to describe what she just saw. Interesting...

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Myrtenaster stood at the top of [Cypress Town's] bell tower, watching the activity in the town square below. However, her eyes were not really focusing on anything. The was far too preoccupied with her own troubles to care about goings-on of random NPCs and players in the streets.

She clutched the hilt of her sword. I lost against Blake, she thought to herself. Her grip tightened. That in itself doesn't make me upset, though. I always knew she'd catch up to me eventually. I'm actually really happy that she's finally beaten me...

Gambol Shroud is Blake. Blake is Gambol Shroud. I know that for a fact... She closed her eyes, frowning. But why does it feel like they're different people? Why does it feel like I wasn't beaten by her...? How does being in a virtual world change things...?

"Hello again. I'm here, just as you asked."

Myrtenaster looked behind her and addressed the person climbing up the stairs. "Milou Akouo." She bowed slightly. "Good morning."

"Your battle with Gambol Shroud was quite the spectacle," Milou said cheerfully. "Though the reasons for fighting was a little petty."

Myrtenaster raised an eyebrow. "You're mocking me, aren't you?" She asked dryly.

"No no," Milou said quickly. "I didn't mean to offend. I just found it kind of amusing."

Myrtenaster tilted her head curiously. Thinking back, perhaps her pettiness was a bit amusing - not that Myrtenaster would ever say that out loud. Accepting one's faults is one thing - admitting to having them is another. So she made no comment.

"Why didn't you use any sword techs earlier?" Milou asked, continuing the topic of the sword fight an hour ago.

Myrtenaster chuckled. "Honestly? It slipped my mind. Believe it or not, this isn't the first time Gambol and I fought each other. We've never had sword techs available to us before."

"Before..." The red head repeated. "You've had sword fights in real life?"

"That's right. And today won't be the last time we do."

"Somehow, I don't doubt that. I think it's safe to assume that Gambol was in a similar position and only realized she could use sword techs at the last minute."

"Yes, that is a safe assumption."

She smiled and joined joined Myrtenaster in looking over the city. The conversation ended there, leaving the two to stare silently at the NPCs and players down below. After some minutes, Milou spoke up once more, sounding much more somber than she had been earlier.

"What do you think our parents are doing? I'm sure yours is suing Argus for millions because of endangering you like this."

"Well..." Myrtenaster thought for a bit about the likeliness of what Milou said. "You're probably right," she decided. "It would be very much in character for father to do something like that."

"I'm worried about mine. It's been over a week since all this began. It's probably all over the news..." Milou frowned at the thought. "They're bound to hear about it..."

"Well, our parents will more or less be fine. They'll get over it once we get out of this death trap of a video game. Frankly, I'm more worried about Winter. With both Blake and Adam trapped in this game with me, I'm afraid she might think we've abandoned her. The thought of her alone in the house with only father for company..."

"She's your sister, remember? She'll be able to take it - the same way you're handling your being trapped in the game."

"So you say..." Myrtenaster looked up at the sky, clouds obscuring the sun from her view. "Sometimes I wonder, though..."

Milou sighed. "I really wish I never convinced you to play this game. That way, you wouldn't have gotten caught up in all this."

Myrtenaster smiled sadly. "It was inevitable that I'd start playing. You need to see what the competitor has to offer if you want to beat them. I was the one who offered to try the game out for father. It's only a bonus that you're here.

"As for my assessment of the game, well..." She unsheathed her rapier and held it at eye level, noting the weight of the weapon and details on the blade. She then pointed it down to the bustling square below. Her grip became tighter. "This level of polish would be quite difficult to beat. If you ignore the obvious gamey aspects to it, Remnant almost feels real. If father's company is going to try and match this, it'd take them years to come even close. Just thinking of the development costs makes me shudder."

"Well, after an event like this, the market for virtual reality games is gonna take a plunge. This whole trapped in the game situation makes for really bad publicity."

Myrtenaster rolled her eyes. "Well then, once we get out of here, I'll be sure to tell father not to start investing in VRMMO games," She said dryly. "Though I'm fairly certain he has no need of me telling him - it goes without saying."

Milou nodded. "I wonder how they'll react once we get out of here?"

"Who knows? We aren't even sure if beating the game will allow us to leave." She sheathed her blade. "Besides, this game has 100 [Gate Dungeons] to unlock. It could take a long time for us to get that far. Despite Torchlight's attempt to make certain the uncertain, there is still a lot of things we don't know about."

"Well then, we just have to adapt to whatever happens next. It's only been a week since this incident began and look how far we've come already. It may seem small but progress is still progress. We'll be out of here in no time."

"Your optimism is enviable," Myrtenaster said with a sad smile. "Here's hoping for the best."

After those concluding words, they stayed in melancholic silence for a long time.

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Crocea sidestepped a spear strike from Rose. "You know, it's pretty unfair how much more reach that spear has compared to my sword."

"Well, maybe you should have asked someone else to teach you how to duel," Rose said, thrusting her spear forward once more, causing sparks to fly upon colliding with Crocea's shield. "Well?"

Crocea sighed. Really, he didn't have anyone else to ask. Milou was busy doing stuff in town, Myrtenaster didn't seem to like him, Gambol Shroud hasn't spoken a word to him since he met her, and Wilting Blush seemed to have this aura of fear that kept him from trying to engage in conversation with him. Rose was the only player he knew who'd help him. Of course he'd probably have a chance asking some newbies - he had no doubt that they were interested in dueling as well. Still, Rose was a friend, available, and willing - it'd be stupid not to ask her.

So Crocea sucked it up and charged Rose, only to be sidestepped and tripped by a long pole sweeping him off his feet. He fell forward with a thud, his health finally going past 50%. He had lost again.

"Like I said before, you're fighting a player, not a mob. Players don't have a set attack pattern you can exploit. Just trust your instincts and improvise. You can do this"

"Right..."

Sitting up, he watched his health rapidly regenerate, quite thankful that the [Safe Zone] restored health and healed most players of status problems. Within seconds, he was back at maximum health.

He sighed again. That that point, he had lost to Rose several times now. It was like the first day all over again: him failing again and again while Rose patiently gave him advice and encouragement, except, this time, there was no guise of anonymity. Rose knew who he was and he knew her. They were no longer just a stranger helping another stranger out - they were friends. And as such, he couldn't help but feel like Rose had some sort of obligation to help him...

Rose offered him a hand. "C'mon, let's take a break. I'll buy you lunch."

Crocea looked at the gloved hand in front of him. An obligation to help me... he thought. He sighed once more and took the outstretched hand.

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Gambol Shroud prowled the rooftops of [Cypress Town]. Ever since she reached level 10, she had been playing around with the [Stealth] skill during her free time. Rather, she used to. That day was actually the first time she did so in nearly a week.

Ever since she arrived at the third starting town, she had basically been at Myrtenaster's side the entire time. Granted, it was self imposed - she could have left to do what she wanted at any time - but a certain sense responsibility seemed to keep her glued to the girl in white. Even now that Myrtenaster had told her she was to keep away for the time being, she still had an impulse to return to Myrtenaster's side.

Not that she'd be able to do that. Myrtenaster had been avoiding her. She was probably indoors, meeting with her new friends, or out in the fields, grinding mobs until she became high enough leveled that she couldn't receive experience points from them anymore. Either way, she wasn't showing on Gambol's radar, nor would she appear on it any time soon.

That avoidance, plus the duel earlier, were both caused by the mere fact that Gambol liked reading before she went to bed.

It was so stupid. How can a lit candle halfway across the room keep someone from sleeping? It was barely enough light to see the text on the pages. If they opened up the curtains, the light from Remnant's shattered moon coming in from the windows would have been substantially brighter. How could a faint flickering speck of light bother someone so much?

Then again, she hadn't gotten much sleep since they were separated on the first night. That, compounded with her needing to adapt to the environment in Remnant, made for a very unreasonable Myrtenaster. Gambol certainly didn't condemn her for acting the way she did. She was just really frustrated with how things were going.

She lept over the street and nimbly landed on the roof of a small balcony on the second floor. Below her were the NPCs and players doing their own thing, completely unaware of her presence.

She activated the [Detection] skill. Having used that skill a fair amount as well, it was fairly high leveled. It allowed her to see, hear, and otherwise sense substantially farther and more precisely than she normally would. It was a bit overwhelming how much information she was receiving.

A number of player cursors was brought to her attention. Several meters to the south east, in the streets, were Crescent Rose and Crocea Mors. They were about to enter the inn. Nodding, Gambol turned to the next cursor whose name she recognized. To the west, in the back alleys in the shadier parts of town, was Torchlight. He seemed to be soliciting information from someone - or perhaps collecting a debt. She quickly turned away, not wanting anything more with it. Directly below her was Wilting Blush, arms crossed. He seemed to be carrying something.

Gambol shook her head. He always was good at finding her in hide and seek. She turned off [Stealth] and dropped down. "Wilt," she greeted.

"I brought you lunch." He held out a bag filled with a fish, half loaf of bread, and a wedge of cheese.

She smiled and accepted the food. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

Wilting Blush nodded and walked away, disappearing into the crowd.

Gambol tilted her head curiously. She wondered if he knew where Myrtenaster was. He probably did. He had more than one bag. The other one was probably for Myrtenaster. She debated whether or not to follow him but decided it was best if she left him alone. More than likely, he'd figure out that he was being followed by her and try to evade her - as good as she was at hiding and tracking, Wilting Blush was better - and he didn't even need to use the [Stealth] skill.

So she simply returned to the rooftops and began eating.

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Chapter Text

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It had been over two weeks since the meeting Torchlight had arranged - the Informant's Assembly, people called it. He had released the information under multiple aliases and with the help of several people. With how many seemed to believe it, more and more people decided to believe as well, thus making it increasingly more believed by everyone else. It wasn't that they truly believed what they heard, it's that they wanted to believe it - and that was exactly what Torchlight had been aiming for.

So, in the days following the aforementioned assembly, activity in and around [Cypress Town] had increased. The fields near the town were being picked clean by the new arrivals from the forest dungeon; the rivers and caves containing the slightly higher level mobs were now the hunting grounds of the equally high level players; the population in the town was now closer to 50:50 when comparing the number of players to NPCs. Overall, the world of Remnant felt more alive than it ever did.

Of course, it only seemed that way.

As one of people part of said assembly, Crescent Rose was keenly aware at how frantic everyone was at leveling up and getting stronger. They had a chance to escape. They just had to beat the game. It felt desperate.

Still, at least everyone had the drive to do something now. There was tiny sliver of hope that everyone was holding on for dear life. It was sad, but it was keeping them alive. She couldn't help but feel proud of everyone for managing to bounce back.

She just hoped that what they told everyone was true. She was sure that some of the accepted theories were correct but, as someone who was part of the assembly, she still had doubts. Most of what was said had yet to be proven right. She could only wait and hope they're not wrong.

Letting that last thought be the one to end her mind's wandering, Rose kicked her legs and jumped to her feet. It was almost time.

Once again, she had gotten very little sleep that night - she passed out at probably around two in the morning and still woke up before dawn. That said, she had taken advantage of her being conscious to climb up the tallest hill in the fields around the town and watch the sunrise.

Over the horizon, peeking ever so slowly, was Remnant's sun - a near blinding sphere of yellow light surrounded by an iridescent halo. It was the same sun she saw when she first emerged from the forest dungeon some distance from where she stood. She doubted if she'd ever get tired of seeing it.

Eventually, yellows and oranges of dawn became the bright blue of the morning.

At that point in time, the NPCs had probably finished setting up shop. It was a good idea to head back into town. Rose smiled and turned around.

Right as she took her first step, a notification screen appeared in front of her. [Myrtenaster] sent you a PM. Read? Y / N

Rose tilted her head curiously. I wonder what this is about...? As she continued her walk back to [Cypress Town], she tapped yes and began reading.

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For third, fourth, or perhaps even fifth time in as many days, Myrtenaster was once again at the town clock tower, appreciating a view overlooking the city below them.

Behind her, near the stairs was Wilting Blush, silent yet still quite noticeable, with a presence so threatening that a lesser man would wet themselves - which was a bit of a bother, if she had to be perfectly honest. She appreciated him standing guard, but them being in a [Safe Zone] nullifies the need of such an imposing body guard.

Similarly guarding her was Gambol Shroud, keeping watch on the roof, whose [Stealth] skill was already so high that Myrtenaster no longer heard any footsteps above her and the only indication that the girl in black was still there was the location indicator on her map screen saying she was right on top of her. Again, she thought it was unnecessary, but was nonetheless grateful.

"I see Crescent Rose, Crocea Mors, and Milou Akouo entering the clock tower." Gambol called out. "They're being followed by two other players - a tall, serious looking boy in green named Stormflower, level 18, and... and an orange haired girl in pink whose name I can't pronounce. Mang... ngild... I think... She's level 19" Myrtenaster nodded, ignoring Gambol's troubles with the name.

Those two, I remember them, she thought. They were players part of the assembly, if memory serves me right... She wasn't going to object to them being there. For what she had planned, the more players, the better. Still, I have to wonder how they know each other. I don't believe I've seen any of the three interact with those two at any point - nor has Gambol seen them when she stalks around on the rooftops before dinner. She shook her head. No matter, it isn't of importance to me.

"Hey Myrtenaster, we're - AH!"

Myrtenaster afforded herself a small chuckle upon hearing Rose's surprised yelp. She must have climbed up the stairs and rounded the corner only to come face to chest with 190cm man glaring down at her. She almost felt sorry for the red head.

"I see you're here now. Good morning," she greeted. "Wilt, please let her pass."

The man stepped aside gave a slight bow towards Rose. "Apologizes. I didn't mean to scare you."

Rose looked away. "I wasn't scared," she said quickly. "I was surprised. There's a difference."

That earned a small smile from Myrtenaster, which she pushed down with some effort. While Rose's flustered display was cute, she still had a schedule to keep.

"If you're done, I believe I called you here for a reason - and the reason is not for small talk," Myrtenaster said curtly. "Now please stop blocking the way into this room."

Rose nodded her head vigorously and hurriedly stepped to the side to let everyone else in. In a moment, all five of them were at the top room of the town clock tower.

"I'll get straight to the point: I want to lead a team through the [Gate Dungeon]"

None of them seemed surprised by that. Many teams have scouted the [Gate Dungeon] in the past week - as many as 14 since the entrance was discovered. It was even rumored that 5 teams ended up staying past midnight and never made it out. Even still, nothing seemed to stop people for continuing to explore it. It was, after all, the only way to progress the game.

"Well, it'd be better if we had a bit more than eight people but I guess with out levels this could," Rose said thoughtfully. "And we'd also need to stock up on healing items. I can probably secure a map of the dungeon from Torchlight - I've heard he's been making a killing from those. What else would we need...?"

Myrtenaster resisted another smile. She seems very earnest about my idea, she thought.

"I have a six [Healing Crystals] and several [Health Potions] that I can divide among the eight of us," Milou said helpfully.

Myrtenaster nodded. "Well, that makes two of our problems solved. Now, let us talk strategy..."

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Gambol stood in the fields outside of town, letting the noon day sun burn her skin to a dry bleached shell - except it didn't do that because the game wasn't programmed to sun burn the players. A wonderful feature isn't it? Gambol thought in a cheeky imitation of Myrtenaster.

The strategy meeting had lasted for a few hours. Taking up most of that time was a crash course in gaming to compensate Myrtenaster and company's lack of understanding about how MMORPGs generally worked. Disregarding their technical skill at sword play, they were considered 'noobs' - a somewhat degrading term for new players who are unfamiliar with the game. That said, they couldn't talk strategy unless they had a deeper understanding of dungeons and raids.

Not including the weirdly fascinating lesson from Rose and Milou about exploitable game design and mechanics specific to Remnant Online, majority of the talking was done by the blonde boy in white armor, Crocea Mors.

He didn't look all that impressive to Gambol but he had a good head on his shoulders - he was aware of both her strengths and weaknesses despite only seeing her fight once during her duel with Myrtenaster last week. It was almost intimidating, hearing him pick her apart.

"You've got high attack and agility and seem quite adept at fighting but you're too aggressive. You're kinda like Rose in a way," he said looking away nervously when Gambol gave him a quizzical look. "Uh, anyway... That's why you two will be paired with each other. I think you'd make a good team. It works because you both have similar speeds and damage outputs. Her spear will cover your knife's lack of range while you can come in close and deal as much damage as you can before retreating.

"If you get a good combo going, do not try to power through it. Like Rose said, the enemies in this game are capable of learning how you fight. The longer you try to keep up your attack, the more likely it'll get countered. If at all possible, you should always be switching with your partner since the enemies' learning AI will reset every time they switch targets

"And above all else, do not try to fight solo"

Gambol felt a little irked at how demanding he was being but she understood why. [Gate Bosses] were like the [Ursa Major] she and Wilt had defeated in the forest dungeon but far more dangerous. They nearly died trying to clear that dungeon. One could only imagine how much worse the [Gate Dungeon] would be, especially past midnight.

It would be best if she stuck with her partner. There was safety in numbers and they covered each others weaknesses. All they needed was the teamwork necessary to keep one another safe. Unfortunately, they still had some work to do on that front.

"Switch" Rose called, jumping away from the large boar enemy in front of them.

Gambol leaped in for a downward stabbed but was instead rammed in the gut by a charging boar. She quickly countered by kneeing the mob in the snout, knocking it onto its back, and slitting its exposed neck for quadruple damage. It exploded in a flash of polygons.

Gambol gave Rose a look. The girl in red smiled apologetically. "Sorry," she said. "Still working out the timing. I keep forgetting how little range you have."

The raven haired girl tilted her head curiously. "Why don't I lead next time?"

Rose blinked. "What...?" She caught herself and nodded. "Uh, okay. Sure, why not?"

They moved on to the next nearest mob, which was actually an unfortunate ways away. Most of the eastern half of the fields had been picked clean by the other players so they had to walk a fair distance til they found what they wanted.

"You see that [Grizzly Bear] at the bank of that river?" Rose asked, pointing her spear at the mob. "That's our target. Shall we go and kill it?"

Gambol nodded, breaking into a run, Rose effortlessly keeping up with her. Once they were close enough, Gambol gave the signal. "Attack, now!"

Rose ran ahead and thrust her spear. Gambol slipped past the girl in red and slashed several times. "Switch," she called, ducking low, allowing Rose to swing her spear in a wide arc sword technique. Gambol remembered that it was called [Sweeper] - a tech that could be used by other pole-type weapons.

Seeing the spear's trail of light travel from left to right, she danced to the left so Rose could follow up with a series of stabs. "Switch," Gambol called once more, right as another [Sweeper] came from the right.

Rose stepped to the left as soon at her attack animation ended and Gambol spun around and attacked from the other side while the mob was still stunned. After getting a good combo in, she leaned to the side and called for another switch. A spear jammed itself into the bear's head and it died shortly after.

The two sat down and let out a sigh of amazement.

"Oh man," Rose said, laughing. "That was intense. That was the very first time I've fought something with that amount of efficiency. We killed that thing in literally seconds!" She looked at Gambol with a grin. "And here I thought I was the one who liked being fast."

Gambol simply stared at the girl in surprise. The redhead had kept up with her. They were in sync during the whole fight. The only other person who could match her reaction time was Myrtenaster - and she had been known Gambol for seven years. Whoever Crescent Rose was, she was good.

Now, there was no doubt in Gambol's mind. Crocea Mors was right: the two of them made a good team. And they'd become a great team by the end of the day.

Gambol stood and offered Rose a hand. "Come on. We should keep practicing."

Rose thought for a bit before giving the raven haired girl a that peculiarly cheerful yet determined looked she always wore and took her hand. "Okay, let's go," she said.

With that, the moved on to the next mob.

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Myrtenaster and Stormflower circled each other. They were sparring in town. Unlike Gambol, who was at a massive disadvantage against Rose due to her knife's lack of range compared to a spear's, both Myrtenaster and Stormflower used rapiers. Thus, they were on even footing, allowing the two of them to gauge each others combat skills in a duel.

Myrtenaster was in the lead with 80% of her health. She had managed multiple hits on Stormflower, dwindling him down to a little over 60%. Still, losing or not, Stormflower was good. He had to be if he managed to hold his own against her for as long as he did. Thirteen minutes and counting. Not even Gambol Shroud lasted that long.

Myrtenaster shot forward and feigned a stab before crouching down and sweeping her legs in a low kick to the shins. Stormflower called the bluff and to roll over the kick, bringing up his rapier for a parry just as a strike from Myrtenaster came zipping towards him.

Shoot, Myrtenaster though, still recoiling from the parry. I won't be able to bring up my guard to block in time and I'm too close to dodge.

He saw the opening and quickly stabbed with a [Linear] tech, managing to deal a direct hit on her shoulder. Another 20% of her health bar disappeared.

The two put some distance from each other once more, health both at 60%

"You're quite good. Did you take fencing?" Myrtenaster asked.

Stormflower shook his head. "No, not fencing, but I did study various martial arts when I was younger."

Myrtenaster found herself smiling. "I can tell. There is a certain discipline with the way you swing your sword. It is not so much a rapier as so much as an artist's brush," she said. "And your strokes are clean and precise."

Stormflower closed his eyes and nodded. "It's an honor being praised by someone as skilled at the sword as you."

"You're a worthy opponent. It's only right." Myrtenaster raised her sword and pointed it at Stromflower. "Now come at me. The last hit will win this fight."

Stormflower opened his eyes and nodded once more. "Then let's go," he said, his blade meeting Myrtenaster's in a flash of sparks.

In the end, the battle concluded in a draw.

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At sunset, Rose and the others gathered around the entrance to the [Gate Dungeon]. Their team wasn't the only one there. Several others were waiting for the entrance to open, no doubt also planning to scout the dungeon as well. They mostly kept to themselves, really only mingling with other groups to exchange and info they have - not that they'd get anything new since most of what they knew was gained from Torchlight.

"Do you think we'll be the ones to find the boss room?" Rose wondered

"I think we will!" Maggy said cheerfully. "And we'll go in there and kill it like no one else can!"

"Your optimism is admirable." Myrtenaster stood in front of them and coughed into her hand. "But it's probably not a good idea to just charge in there. We don't even know anything about the boss"

Rose raised her hand. "Actually..."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Well, I was part of the raid team that beat this region's [Gate Boss] back in the beta," Rose said, scratching her cheek.

"And you didn't think to tell me this earlier...?" Myrtenaster asked dryly.

The red head laughed nervously. "Hehe, It sorta slipped my mind. Sorry."

Myrtenaster sighed. "No matter. You can brief us once we find the boss door."

"You say that as if it's a forgone conclusion." Gambol noted.

"Yes. I believe we'll find the boss room and we will defeat it," Myternaster exclaimed, pulling out her rapier and pointing it up. "And I'll do everything in my power to make that a reality. It is almost time. Are you with me?"

Rose smiled, standing up and raising her spear. "Let's win this!" The others were similarly smiling. They too stood and brandished they weapons.

Only a few minutes left before 6 pm. The [Gate Dungeon] was about to open. They waited with bated breath.

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Chapter Text

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The [Gate Dungeon] was an expansive underground cave system with an entrance built into and hidden by a rock formation at the very northern edge of the plains. The maze-like tunnels were a claustrophobic two meters wide and two and a half meters high, making for low maneuverability. Visibility was abysmal as well due to the only light sources - they were tiny little crystals embedded into the ceiling in a seemingly random distance from each other. Finally, every hallway was inconveniently long, with a mob or two patrolling from corner to corner.

All of that combined made the act just navigating the dungeon an incredibly trying task. It didn't help that a good chunk of the map for the area was still blacked out and unexplored.

For the hundredth time in as many minutes, Crescent Rose and company rounded a corner and encountered a [Kobold Guard] - a level 15 mob that looked like a cross between a red scaled lizard and a man wearing armor. It was four feet tall and had three variants wielding scimitars, spears, or axes respectively. The one in front of them held an ax.

She and Gambol could handle it no problem, though. All it took was a simple [Linear] stab from Rose to hold it in place and Gambol could repeatedly attack one of the enemy's weak spots until it died - for the kobolds, normally the neck or spine was targeted.

However, their problem with said kobolds was not the difficulty in dispatching them - or lack thereof - but the sheer frequency of encounters. For the past hour and a half, they've been subjected to mob after mob with very little break in between. After thirty minutes, Rose had already gotten tired of the dungeon's battle music - most notably, the first 10 seconds of it since that's the only part she ever hears before the mob dies.

"I'm getting really tired of fighting these things," Rose said, jamming her spear straight through the kobold's open jaw.

"Agreed," Gambol said, stabbing it in the back, thrice in quick succession.

Once again, they were treated to a wireframe explosion and an increase in experience and Lien.

Rose brought up her map and put down a cursor directing them to which hall they came from. "Okay, we've got straight or left. Which way next?"

Gambol activated [Detection], causing her eyes to begin glowing, like a cat's. "Left spirals into itself and leads to a dead end," she noted. "There's a really powerful mob there, though. Probably a linked encounter since it ends in an actual room." She scowled. "I can't really tell, though. There are too many walls and too much distance between me and that place to get a good read."

"There could be treasure there," Rose muttered. "What about straight?"

"It just leads to more and more paths"

"Hmm"

Rose thought for a bit. Going left would entail them needing to backtrack after they see what the deal was with that dead end. In all likelihood, it was probably a chest that filled with a rare item and rigged to summon high level enemies upon any attempts to open it. Still, since they were mapping the dungeon, they might as well. They were the ones who discovered it, so it only made sense that they get the loot - provided that its actually loot in the first place.

"I say we go left," she decided.

"Well, lead the way."

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Myrtenaster cautiously peeked past the corner. Sure enough, a [Kobold Guard] was making its way towards them, most probably unaware still if their presence behind the bend.

"I swear, if this is another dead end," she growled, running up to the mob and stabbing it three times - once between the eyes and twice in the chest where the heart normally would be. As it died, she ran past and suddenly found herself facing a wall. It was another dead end.

"Oh, for the love of - this is so frustrating!"

For the past several junctions, Mytenaster had lead them to either dead ends or linked encounters with multiple mobs.

The latter took an inconveniently long time to deal with as both Myrtenaster and Stormflower used rapiers and were thus ill equipped for fighting more than one enemy at a time. However, the pay off was quite good in that said linked encounters were all guarding treasure. The last one she got was a piece of head gear that looked like a crown which she immediately equipped.

The dead ends however were just that - dead ends - which wouldn't necessarily be a problem had they not run into a dead end at every turn for the past nine times they chose a direction. She found it quite aggravating and she was progressively being more vocal about that fact.

Stormflower stared stoically at the girl in white's increasingly irritable behavior. Myrtenaster, of course, could feel his gaze burning a hole through the back of her head. It wasn't quite pleasant, but it was a welcome sensation as it reminded her that someone competent had her back.

She'd have preferred to be with Gambol, Wilt, or Milou, but the logic behind being paired with Stormflower made sense.

She just wished that the boy talked more. The way he spoke was quite direct, explicitly avoiding the pitfalls of idle conversation, something Myrtenaster admired, and his quiet monotone had a calming effect on her. Unfortunately he was not a very talkative person due to the very reason Myrtenaster enjoyed hearing him talk in the first place.

She supposed it was one of the reasons she was as annoyed as she was. With very little to talk about or listen to, she kept focus on the things around her - and said things were things that irritated her quite a bit.

You have received a message from [Crescent Rose]. Read? Y / N

Myrtenaster couldn't help but smile after reading the contents.

"Stormflower, I'm transferring you some map data. We just found the boss door."

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Crocea, being the de-facto strategist for their raid team, had divided their group into pairs.

Team A, the DPS team, was Myrtenaster and Stormflower, whose job was to deal as much damage to the boss as possible. They had the highest damage-per-second out of all of them, so it made sense.

Team B, the Tank team, was Milou and himself. Since the two of them had the highest defense and wielded shields, they were tasked with protecting the DPS team. They had to block strikes from the boss or take the hit themselves.

Team C was Wilting Blush and Magnhild who were perhaps the two strongest players in the game in terms of raw attack power. A swing from Maggy's ax or Wilt's scimitar could deal over 100 damage. With how early in the game it was, that was an amazing feat.

However, due to how enemy targeting works, mobs facing multiple opponents will normally target the one who hits hardest. Wilt and Maggy had reasonably high defenses and health but they were no tanks. Crocea and Milou couldn't protect two teams at once so they weren't going to fight the boss at all.

Instead, they were crowd control. They were to drive away any nearby mobs by tagging them with an attack and moving some distance away from the rest of the group. It also helped that Maggy's axe stunned most enemies that try to block one of her attacks - their recoil lasted up to an entire second.

Team D was Rose and Gambol. While they did have the highest agility among the eight of them, their choice of gear did not mesh well with any of the other teams. That said, they made a fine strike team.

With how fast they were, they would be able to assist whichever team happens to have trouble. That kind flexibility in terms of positioning was very much an asset in Crocea's mind.

They were grouped in the most efficient way he could think of. Not only that, they were also some of the highest level players in the game. Rose and Wilt were currently at the soft level cap which was 25 - making those two the highest level players in the game. Not only that, they had three - arguably five - people who had real world skills with a sword. With all that, he was quite confident that they'd be able to beat the entire boss on their own.

However, he never expected that their chance for clearing the dungeon had come so soon. Thus, it came as no surprise that he'd feel nervous standing in front of the five meter tall door that blocked their entry to the boss room

The room that Rose found contained one last challenge - a group for 4 [Kobold Gate Keepers] who were all level 20 and wielded scimitars. Rose and Gambol had to lure them out of the room and fight them two at a time in the cramped hallway - thus giving Rose the advantage with her thrust-type weapon that had a lot of range. Upon their victory, they returned to the room and suddenly found a flight of stairs leading down. At the very bottom was the boss door.

Shortly after, she had sent Crocea and the others a PM, asking everyone to go to her. Crocea was halfway across the map at that moment so by the time he and Milou arrived at the door, all the others had were already there.

Now he stood, listening quietly as Rose briefed them about the boss.

"His name is [Ilfang the Kobold Lord]. I remember him being level 30 with three life bars. He uses an ax and buckler but once he's down to his last life bar, he'll throw down his gear and switch to this curved sword called a talwar and start using sword techniques on us."

Crocea gulped and whispered to Milou. "The enemies in this game can use sword techs too?"

Milou nodded. "Only the very powerful ones - so mostly bosses. I believe we encounter regular mobs that can do them once we unlocked the 10th region. That is the latest area we've played in the beta. I can only assume they become more common as we progress through the game"

Crocea gulped again. A small part of his mind wondered what those enemies would be like after midnight. The very thought of it brought chills running through his spine.

Oblivious to Crocea's internal struggle with fear, Rose continued the briefing.

"He's surrounded by other mobs called [Kobold Sentinels] which are basically more powerful versions of the [Kobold Guards]. There can be six at any given time. They share a hate table with [Ilfang]. Aggro the boss, you aggro them too."

Crocea couldn't help but smile at that. As was the case for most other MMOs he had played, the boss had minions. He made the right call with Maggy and Wilt. They could do more than enough damage to catch those mobs' undivided attention and lure them away from the boss.

Rose reiterated to Maggy and Wilt what their job would be and added one important detail. "You tag them and run. Nothing more. Every time those mobs die, they respawn fifteen seconds later with 5% more health and attack power."

Again, Crocea tried to imagine what this boss fight would be like after midnight and, again, he had to take a deep breath to calm himself. They had over two hours to beat the boss. Surely they'd realize whether or not they could win before midnight.

"This boss is going to be hard to beat. For the most part, it's still a mob, but when you're fighting it, you need to treat it like a duel with another player. That thing's AI is smarter than it seems and that makes it dangerous. Don't under estimate it." With one final warning, Rose finished the briefing and stepped back.

Myrtenaster then stepped forward. "We're all ten levels above the minimum requirement for this place. We may not know each other very well but, from the few hours we've been together, I already trust you with my life. I know you all are skilled. If we stick together and keep our heads, we'll defeat this boss. Now are we ready?"

Rose, Maggy, and Milou responded with a resounding cheer, while Gambol, Stormflower, and Wilt remained silent but nodded in agreement. Crocea couldn't bring himself to do either, something Myrtenaster noticed quite easily.

"Crocea Mors, if you have doubts then I suggest you tell us. We have a lot at stake and if you're not at 100% on this, then we will turn back right now and return once you are."

He grit his teeth. He was sure they could do it but just now he realized it wasn't an absolute certainty. There were so many possible ways things could go wrong. What if at the very start, they encountered a problem? Would his strategy and planning even matter?

He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was a familiar hand, on he had felt on said shoulder countless times before. "Crocea," Rose said. "You can't prepare for everything. The only time you think you're ready is when you're being careless. We're not completely sure we'll win either, but we at least have to try."

He nodded silently. "Okay..."

The boss door was opened and the eight of them entered the room. As they did so, Crocea couldn't help but sigh. This is crazy, he thought. I'm freely walking into my possible death AGAIN. This is amazing...

Well, we at least have to try...

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Chapter Text

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The boss room was perhaps the largest room in the dungeon, spanning sixteen meters and length and nine meters in width, with a ceiling two stories above them. [Ilfang the Kobold Lord] stood on the other side of the room. It was a massive pig-like reptile wielding an ax and buckler - just like Rose said.

They engaged the boss. They fought for a good while but it was quickly becoming apparent that they weren't going to win.

Myrtenaster and Stormflower were doing a wonderful job at lowering the boss's health, and Crocea and Milou were doing a similarly good job at defending them. Unfortunately, despite how well they were doing, they just weren't doing enough. The two DPS fighters' damage output was high, but so was the mob's health was so much higher. Even with Rose and Gambol jumping in every now and again, their progress was still slow. The two defenders were also starting to run low on health.

Myrtenaster and Rose jumped out of [Ilfang's] range just as an ax swept across the floor.

"None of this is working," Myrtenaster said with a cold scowl on her face.

Rose nodded in agreement. She was right.

In front of them, the boss charged Crocea and Milou, shield raised and glowing. Well, that is new, Rose thought. She activated her [Detection] skill and tried to see what it was.

As she suspected, it was a high level sword technique for shields called [Battering Ram]. It was described as an forward charge attack with high stun and knock back. Sure enough, the two defenders were sent flying, leaving Stormflower to fend for himself with his low defense and health.

"Uh oh," Rose said, activating [Nimble Feet] to get to Stormflower in time. Myrtenaster was running close behind. "Get back!" she cried, already triggering [System Assist] for a sword tech.

With mighty clash of metal, Rose deflected the boss's overhead ax swing but broke her spear in the process. Luckily, [Ilfang] was sufficiently stunned that the two DPS fighters managed to push it back a fair distance before it regained control. It gave Rose time to equip another weapon.

How come it broke? I repaired it back to max when we were in town earlier. She shook her head. Whatever, it doesn't matter.

As Rose frantically scrolled through her menu, she watched as Mytenaster and Stormflower switch with Crocea and Milou, letting the defenders deal with the mob while they used their health items. Said defenders must have also healed up as they were both back to max health, even though a good chunk of their health bar had been removed when they got hit earlier.

Having equipped another spear, Rose stood and scanned the battle field for Gambol. The raven haired girl was leading three mobs in circles, tagging them with a quick swipe to the legs every time they tried to switch targets. She was doing a better job at handling the mooks than Wilt or Maggy, Rose felt. When she looked at them, it seemed that they were in the process of killing another one of them and in turn making said mobs stronger. At the rate they were killing, the mook mobs would equal or maybe even surpass the boss mob.

I really hope those things hit some sort of power-cap when they get killed enough times, Rose thought gravely.

Stopping for one final thing before jumping back into the fray, Rose checked the time. Her eyes widened and she felt blood leave her face. They had ten minutes before the clock struck twelve.

"Guys, I hate to say it, but it's almost midnight!" Rose yelled. "We need to leave! Like, now!"

"Everyone, attack the boss at the same time!" Crocea ordered. "That should stun it for long enough that we can run away!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the boss, weapons all glowing from the activating sword techs. Eight blades struck the boss simultaneously, causing it to stumble back several steps. That was their chance and they all bolted once they got it.

"I'll open the boss door," Rose said, sprinting towards the entrance, Gambol and the rest of them trailing behind.

Once all eight of them were out of the room, Rose just as quickly closed the door and fell to her knees.

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It has been said that the dungeon was hard to navigate. Everyone was well aware of how difficult it was. However, as they hurried through the fastest path to the dungeon entrance, that fact became increasingly apparent.

The tight corridors only allowed for two people to stand side by side - three if they didn't need to also fight. Again, they had to split into pairs. Fortunately, they were already grouped.

Crocea kept the earlier pairs and arranged them in the order of C-A-D-B.

Wilt and Maggy would stay at the very front and overwhelm any mob in their way with a combination attack of some sorts. He and Milou would be guarding the rear against anything that tries to chase them. The DPS and Strike teams would be in the middle because they had low health and defense.

For the most part, they were doing well, blazing past half of the dungeon in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, that short amount of time was around ten minutes.

"Wah! It's changing!" Magnhild cried, furiously hacking at the mob in front of her with her ax.

If his avatar could pee, Crocea would have surely wet himself right then.

The meter tall [Kobold Guard] was having a violent transformation. It grew twice in size; it's tiny claws turned into scythes as long at Crocea's arm; it's red scales became pitch black and it armor turned into pure white bone. With blood red eyes, the creature screeched. What stood before them was giant demonic raptor.

"[Prowling Extinction], level 30," Crocea breathed, reading the mob's status screen. "That thing's as strong as that boss we were fighting..."

The mob attempted to slash at them but its scythes instead bounced off of the dungeon walls, causing it to recoil.

It's too big, Crocea realized, feeling an alarming sense of hope. It can't move easily in this dungeon. We can kill this thing no problem.

There was a scream as Wilt's left arm was ripped off. The man stepped back, half of his heath just gone.

Okay, it bites. It still has attacks that can hit us, Crocea thought. But it doesn't have any range. He turned to his two friends. "Rose, Milou, switch with Maggy and Wilt. Keep a fair distance and push it back."

"Range over power. Gotcha'," Rose said as she and Milou moved to the front and started rhythmically stabbing it in turn. They raised their tempo after a few seconds of figuring out the timing. By that point, they were hitting it enough times every second that it was stun locked. Eventually, it died with no problem.

"Alright, it's dead, let's keep going!" Rose cried.

With that, they all continued their escape from the dungeon.

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As the eight of them trudged back to town, Myrtenaster reviewed in her mind all the things that they did wrong.

Number one, we didn't have enough people.

Rose said that all the bosses in this game had different stats depending how many players faced it. They are at their weakest when only one player is fighting it. They get stronger with more players present in the boss room, but the threat is still minimized - there was safety in numbers after all.

Since there were only eight of us, the boss's stats weren't too high, but it was just high enough that we couldn't wear it down before time ran out. Perhaps if Rose or Gambol weren't in the room with us then maybe the boss's defense would have been low enough that we could have killed it before midnight...?

She shook her head. No, that wouldn't have worked. Its attack and defense would have been lower, but our damage output would have gone down as well. We'd take just as long to kill it if not longer.

No, I am correct. We didn't have enough people. Rose said that this boss needed at least twelve players to effectively take it down. I will need to find a few more parties willing to help.

Number two is time. We didn't have enough time.

Well, that's not hard to get. We spent most of our night wandering the tunnels. If we take the shortest path to the boss room, we'll have at least five hours to kill it.

She felt a smile tug on her lips, even as a scowl still adorned her face. When we next enter, we WILL kill that thing...

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Chapter Text

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Myrtenaster let out a frustrated hiss as she and her team retreated out of the boss room for the second night in a row.

"What was that!?" she asked angrily. "Things were going so well. How is it that we still did not beat that thing in time?"

Crocea shrunk at her outburst. He had decided that switching up the teams and roles a little might make things easier and more efficient. Maggy and Wilt would now be attacking the boss, with he and Milou defending them. Rose would remain as back up and give a helping hand every now and again. Gambol, Myrtenaster, and Stormflower would now be in charge of keeping the other mobs out of the way. They weren't killing them this time.

They spent most of the afternoon before the raid practicing with their new teams. They adapted pretty well. In fact, the new teams were arguably more effective than their previous arrangements. Crocea had done a good job.

But Myrtenaster was upset that, despite how much more efficient their team had gotten, they still failed.. It just so happened that the blond was the one who she took it out on...

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "That was out of line. This is just... very frustrating."

The boy lowered his head. "Don't worry about it. I'll try to think up a better combination for us..."

Rose shook her head. "C'mon, Crocea. You did pretty well. We just don't have enough people for this." She turned to Myrtenaster. "But we should. More people means more damage on the boss. Its attack and defense will get higher but unless we have over a hundred people there, the stat increases won't really matter."

"I know," Myrtenaster said, scowling at Rose's tone of voice.

"Then why did you ask that we not tell Torchlight about the boss room? He already knows that we have its location. He's been bugging me since we arrived last night."

Myrtenaster grit her teeth but said nothing. They had been the ones who found the boss. Her pride would not allow anyone else to defeat it before they did. But it was stupid, she realized. Stupid and petty. She had trouble accepting that, but she knew. Even still, she was reluctant to let it go.

"Fine," she said, finally. "Tell him to give everyone a message. We have to location of the boss door. Everyone who wants to help us fight it must meet us at the [Cypress Town] amphitheater tomorrow at 10AM."

She still wouldn't let go. They will defeat the boss, but it will be on her terms.

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It was a nearly pitch black night when Rose heard a knock on her door. She knew who it was. Sure enough, when she opened the door, she was faced with exactly who she was expecting.

"Hey, Crocea," she muttered in greeting.

Crocea Mors entered the room and trudged to the corner he usually sat in. Rose lowered her head and sighed. She closed her head and returned to her spot at the window.

She knew it was unnecessary, but even still, she asked, "how you doing? I'm guessing not that great..."

"I'm scared out of my life here, Rose. I'm scared for me, you, everyone... This is too much..."

"You scared we might die...?"

He nodded. "There have been eight scouting teams who stayed in the dungeon after midnight. Only two teams made it out alive and that's ours and some other team from earlier. How many people have died, Rose?"

Rose didn't answer and merely looked back out the window. She still wasn't completely convinced about the whole death thing. She didn't want to be convinced. Even if people did actually die when they're killed in-game, she still wanted to keep believing that they didn't. Trapped or not, death game or not, she wanted to think of Remnant as the perfect world for her. She wanted to keep the illusion going.

After a moment of silence, Crocea spoke up once more. "I can do it?"

The words were heavy in Rose's mind. He was scared, she realized. He was terrified. She frowned and turned to the boy in question. As if to uplift the mood, the clouds keeping sky dark finally passed. Rose looked at Crocea with a determined face now bathed in silver by the moonlight entering from the window.

"You can," she said firmly.

Crocea looked at her with unsure eyes before turning his head down once more.

Rose frowned again before turning back towards the window. The moonlight was already fading back into darkness...

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Gambol stood atop the clock tower roof that morning, surveying the city.

Some NPCs were setting up shop but majority wouldn't be open until much later. Some of the shops that were open 24/7 were changing shifts, but that was the most interesting thing currently happening with regards to NPCs.

Players on the other hand were doing all sorts of things. There was a group on the southern side of town who looked to be practicing their use of sword techniques. Somewhere to the north west of them was Torchlight. It seemed like the man had set up his base of operations in an abandoned storehouse. To the east was...

Rose? Gambol put greater focus on the cursor. Yes, that's her... She continued staring. It's before dawn. What is she up to?

Deciding that it was the most interesting action to take, the raven haired girl decided to follow Crescent Rose out of town.

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Rose was being followed. She could tell that Gambol had been tailing her since she left town. The raven haired girl seemed like she was more curious than suspicious but it still bothered Rose that she didn't just go up to her and ask. Then again, by the time Rose cleared the immediate vicinity of mobs and sat down on the hill, it was pretty obvious what she was doing.

"Oi, Gambol," Rose called. "Wanna sit with me?"

From behind a large rock, Gambol Shroud emerged, looking as stoic as ever. "How long did you know I was following you?"

Rose smiled. "A while now, actually." She patted the ground next to her in invitation. "The seat's free."

Gambol stared at the patted grass before returning her gaze to Rose. "I think I'll stand."

Rose shrugged. "Eh, suit yourself." She turned back towards the east. "You'll enjoy the show either way."

Gambol saw it first because she was standing. From over the horizon, the artificial sun rose, bathing the hills in glorious rays of yellow and orange. On the girl's face was a look of wonder Rose knew all too well. Eventually, Rose too felt the light and warmth touch her face.

"Sit down," Rose said softly. "You can look at it for a while longer."

Gambol sat, still somewhat in awe of what she was seeing.

"The sunrises in this game... it's almost like the developers were actively trying to make players feel something when they made it look this beautiful," Rose said. "When I first saw it, I felt like I was going to cry. I'm not even sure if I can even do that in this game." She closed her eyes and lowered her head.

When she opened them, Gambol was once again standing, holding her hand towards Rose. Rose took said hand and was helped back on her feet. "Thanks Gam-"

She was cut off when the grip on her hand tightened ever so slightly. "Thank you." Gambol said quietly, not meeting Rose's eyes.

With that, she let go and turned back towards town, leaving Rose with a puzzled look on her face.

Rose smiled and shook her head. "No problem..."

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Myrtenaster opened her window and sure enough, Gambol entered from above.

"You really should stop doing that," she said dryly. "I gave you entrance permissions to my room. Why not go through the door like a normal person?"

The raven haired girl said nothing as she took her place by the door.

"Fine," she said, deciding to self the matter. She then sat down on her bed and greeted Gambol. "So, good morning. You seem to be early today. Did something happen?"

"Are you aware that Rose doesn't sleep?"

Myrtenaster was taken aback by what she heard. She was quite sure that Crescent Rose slept. On various occasions, she had seen the girl lying on the grass, simply sleeping the day away.

"Perhaps that's too extreme. Rather, she lacks sleep," Gambol clarified.

Myrtenaster frowned. "How do you know?"

"I maxed out my [Detection] skill recently. When it's active, I see much more information on the status screen of any target I focus on. Apparently this game tracks how long players have gone without sleeping or logging out."

Myrtenaster nodded. That's actually a smart move by the developers. A user awake for several days straight is either using some sort of program to play the game for them or is severely stressing their body with lack of sleep. If the time goes over a certain threshold, I assume the player is automatically logged out. She scowled. But as the game is right now, this sleep tracking is functionally useless.

"So what about it?" Myrtenaster asked. "Her sleeping cycle is not something I can control."

"I just wanted you to know. It seemed like an important detail."

Myrtenaster closed her eyes. "Perhaps it will be," she said. "But as it stands, I have no use for it." She stood up and closed the window with a deliberateness suggesting that the topic was closed as well.

"Now, is there anything else you'd like to tell me?" she asked, flicking down for her menu. "I still have preparations to make before the meeting later today."

"There are six hundred players that are over level 15 in this town. We can only take so many. As Rose said, too many players in range will make the boss nigh unbeatable."

"The safety gained by numbers follows the law of diminishing returns. I am well aware of this." After scrolling through her inventory, Mytenaster equipped her rapier. "This is a simple matter of human resource management. All I need to do is select the highest level players and work my way down until we have 20 people to work with."

"It won't be as easy as you make it out to be," Gambol said as she opened the door.

"No, it won't," Mytenaster agreed, stepping out of the room. "I harbor no illusions that it will."

Gambol followed her into the hallway and closed the door.

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Rose entered the Blacksmith's Guild hall with a spring in her step. "Hey Junior!"

[J.R. Junior] was a level 16 mace-wielder and was one of the twelve players in town that actually raised their [Blacksmithing] skill to a point where they could reliably forge and upgrade weapons and armor for players. Junior, as he likes to be called, is a tall man with black clean-cut hair and a notable beard and mustache who seemed quite at home selling weapons to people.

When Rose had called him, Junior was sitting by his forge, scrolling through his inventory. Having heard his name, he looked at Rose and gave her a half smile. "Well if it isn't Little Red Riding Hood. Got something to repair?"

"Not this time," Rose said, smiling back. "I've got a little something that needs appraisal."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Really now? Well then, why don't we step into my office?" he asked, walking over to a nearby door.

Rose smirked. "That sounded really suggestive," she said. "You're not planning to have your way with me are you?"

"Uh, how old are you? A little girl like you shouldn't be thinking that sorta stuff." With a shake of his head, he entered his office.

Rose giggled, amused at how awkwardly Junior reacted to what she said. "If you say so," she said, following him into the room.

"Alright," Junior said, putting both hands flat on the table. "Show me what you've got."

Rose scrolled through her inventory and dropped the item onto the table.

It was a scythe. The shaft was a little under two meters long. It was made of stone but had the shape and texture a length of wood - like a fossilized tree branch. It's blade was white with red decals and made of bone - the same bone as that of a grimm. The weapon was called [Ancient Harvester].

Junior stared at the weapon. "Where... where did you get this?"

"One of the grimm in the [Gate Dungeon] dropped it. I'm debating whether to sell it or use it."

"Hmm," Junior's eyes started glowing blue as he activated his detection skill. Rose watched the man curiously.

Huh. Gambol's eyes glow yellow when she uses it - and I'm told that mine glow red. I wonder what that's about...

"Okay, base stats on this thing already rank this weapon as a class B or higher. The damage scaling this weapon has makes it viable up to the level forties even without upgrades. Durability is so-so. Weight is relatively light for a pole-arm of this power. Yeah, this is a B-plus, arguably an A-minus."

"Whoa," Rose breathed. She grinned "Yeah, I'm definitely using this weapon."

"I wouldn't jump at this just yet, little miss," Junior said. He then continued has appraisal.

"You can use most of the basic pole-arm techeniques with it, like the [Sweeper] and [Whirlwind] techs, but a lot of it's sword techs are unique to this type of weapon."

"Well, that sorta goes without saying," Rose said. "Every weapon has it's own tech-tree, right?"

"Yes but this weapon has twelve basic techniques that are unique to it."

Rose was surprised by this.

Most weapons types had 6-8 basic techniques - normally 3-4 techniques for players that hold it with one hand and 3-4 more techniques for those hold it with two hands. Using the weapon more would unlock higher level techs.

Of those, majority would be techniques shared with other weapons, like [Linear] for thrusting weapons or [Slant] for slashing weapons. Weapons had very few techniques that were completely unique to them.

The fact that the scythe that had twelve unique sword techniques would mean it would have even more techs with continuous use.

"Twelve," Rose repeated, still not quite believing what she heard. "Is that a good thing?"

Junior frowned. "If you wanna ask me, having twelve is a terrible thing. Looking at these techniques, I'd be surprised if you could manage to activate any of them."

"What do you mean?"

"The motion for activating [System Assist] looks really hard to do. It involves twirling the weapon," Junior said. "You basically have be able to actually use the weapon if you want to use the techniques. I think it's unfair to require that of a player who probably hasn't held a real weapon in their life. The only consolation for this is that it seems that the sword techs have short cool-downs."

Rose stared at the scythe, unsure as to what she should think of it.

"Are you even sure you can equip this thing? It has pretty high stat requirements for strength and agility. Its damage scales with both stats so it makes sense. Still, though..."

Rose looked at the weapon's stat requirements and compared it to her own. "I need only one level up and I'll have enough strength to use it," she said.

Junior chuckled "Good luck with that. You've reached this region's level cap. You're so high level that none of the mobs even give you experience points anymore."

Rose winced. He was right.

Players gain less experience based on the difference between their level is compared to a mob's. The bigger the difference, the lesser the experience. It was supposedly how the game prevents high level players from just grinding the same low level enemies over and over. Unfortunately, it worked both ways - under-leveled players who manage to defeat cripplingly powerful enemies will receive no experience points whatsoever.

Rose was level 25 - fifteen levels higher than the highest leveled mobs in the fields of Region 1. None of those field mobs would give her experience. Her only chance to gain anything would be during the raid. She'd be in the [Gate Dungeon] where the enemies are all level 15 or higher.

She sighed. "Whatever."

She returned the scythe to her inventory and turned to Junior. "So how much do I owe you?"

"2000 Lien."

Rose winced again. "Seriously? That's a bit much isn't it?"

"Eh, fine. I'll give you a discount for showing me a weapon type I've never seen before. 1500."

Rose grumbled but still payed. A 25% discount is still a pretty good deal after all. With a couple flicks and taps on her menus the prompt appeared. Transfer 1500 Lien to [J.R. Junior]? Y / N. She tapped yes and gave him the money.

"Pleasure doing business with you. Anything else you might want?"

Rose thought for a bit, checking the rest of her inventory as well as Junior's wares. "Hmm. Doesn't look like it. I'll be off. It's almost time for the Raid Meeting."

"Oh right, you're part of the team that found the boss room, right? Great work out there, Red. Not everyone's got the guts to risk their lives in those dungeons so you're doing your people proud by fighting."

"My people," Rose repeated. "You make it sound like I'm some sort of soldier."

Junior laughed. "You're armored, armed, and are fight battles others don't want to. As far as I can tell, you are a soldier."

Rose smiled and shook her head. "See you around, Junior."

"You too, Red. Don't die out there. I'd rather not lose my best customer."

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Crocea watched the crowd gather, waiting for Myrtenaster to start. There was a large number of people but it was far less than what he expected. Perhaps fifty people? Maybe more?

"Fifty two," Gambol said next to him, eyes glowing yellow. "All of them over level 15, two of them over level 20."

Crocea nodded. "Thanks."

To max out our quota, we need twenty people, he thought. Six people with shields and high defense, six people with a high damage-per-second, four people with high knock back and stun attacks, and four people with high agility.

He scanned the crowd. I already see a large number of users that have shields. And several that use axes and hammers. This is definitely good.

Myrtenaster walked up on stage at exactly 10:30 am, on the dot. Upon arrival, she wasted no time and quickly briefed the audience as to what they were getting into. Suffice it to say, she had thoroughly scared most of the crowd into giving up.

"Cowards," Gambol growled quietly. Next to her, Wilting Blush grunted in agreement.

Crocea gulped. In truth, he was very much one of those cowards since he was absolutely terrified of the boss. The only reason he was even still there was because he promised to try beating the boss. Sure, he's tried already, but he wasn't really trying. Or perhaps he was actually trying and was simply making an excuse for his stranger desire to both fight the boss and not fight it at the same time.

He shook his head, unsure as to what he should think.

"Crocea Mors, I need your help," Mytenaster called.

The boy blinked. "What?"

"Get over here and help me choose," she explained, tapping her foot impatiently. "You're our strategist, aren't you? Your input would be quite helpful in this."

Was that sarcasm, he wondered. He shelved that thought and walked over to Myrtenaster who was currently checking over what was left of the audience.

From what he could tell, around half of them had left, leaving him and Myrtenaster the metaphorical cream of the crop. All of those still in the amphitheater were all in the high teens in terms of level - even the one of the level 20s were there. Speaking of which, that person was instantly allowed in.

[Ruyi Jingu Bang], level 20. He was a blond muscular guy who wielded a glaive. The most notable thing about him was the fact that he wore extremely revealing upper body armor. Granted, he did have a surprisingly fit figure - very enviable, Crocea realized as he noticed his lack of abs.

"So, what do you think?" Mytenaster asked. "Which team should we put him on?"

Crocea blinked. "W-what? Oh, yes. Let's see." He began muttering to himself. "Glaives combine the strength and agility stats in its damage scaling. He doesn't use a shield so he probably two-hands the weapon, increasing its attack power..." =

Crocea turned to Ruyi Jingu Bang. "First, what should I call you?"

He grinned. "Just call me Gun, if you want."

"Gun," Crocea repeated in confusion. "What?"

"My name's based on a staff in a Chinese myth. Gun means staff in Chinese."

"Oh. Well, you go in the Strength team. Head over to those people standing over there. The tall angry man will tell you what you'll be doing."

Gun smiled. "Gotcha," he said, walking away with a wink and a point of his finger.

"Okay," Myrtenaster said. "Next up, you two. Yes, you. Both of you with the shields."

Crocea sighed. "This is gonna be a long morning..."

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The raid team of 20 was split into 6 teams. DPS teams A and B, Tank teams A and B, Strength team, and Crowd Control team.

The DPS and Tank teams would remain mostly the same - the Tanks would defend while the DPS fighters would attack. Strength team was comprised mostly of heavy hitters. They would stun the boss with a combination attack whenever there's an opening. The Crowd Control team was the same as well - they'd tag the non-boss mobs in the room and lead them in circles.

Once Myrtenaster had grouped them, Rose was up once again to brief them about the boss. The info on it remained mostly the same except for a few additions. After the first health bar is depleted, the boss would begin using sword techniques with its ax and shield - the mook mobs would start using them as well with their respective weapons.

Once the briefing was over, they were all dismissed and were told to meet at the [Gate Dungeon] entrance at 5:30 pm

It was now 5:14. Rose saw that half their team were at the designated rendezvous. It wouldn't be long now...

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Chapter Text

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An epic orchestra echoed throughout the room as the raid team fought the boss. The thunderous drums and latin chorus provided fitting background music for the battle.

Crocea Mors was experiencing a nightmare the likes of which should never have to be experienced while awake.

The boss hit harder, moved faster, and was overall more powerful than they anticipated. Their numbers seemed to be enough to get it down to its second health bar but progress was slow. And that wasn't even the worst of it.

He had a lot of things to keep track of: the health of the boss; the average health of each team; the positions of the teams in relation to the boss; The sword techs the boss used; The cool downs of the players; and a whole lot more. His mind was working on overdrive just to keep up with it all - and even then, it was barely enough.

Crocea noted the boss' shield glowing cyan. [Ilfang] was going to use a sword tech.

"Tank A, intercept that [Battering Ram]! Tank B, Strength Team, do a combination attack and stun it!"

The boss' charge attack was met with a thunderous ~gong~ as three players simultaneously unleashed their sword techs. Both Tank team A and the boss recoiled upon impact. Quickly, Tank team B and Strength team activated their own sword techs and unleashed and even more powerful combination attack to further stun the boss.

"Five seconds!" Crocea yelled.

Within that time frame, all players in range began attacking the boss in a wild frenzy, backing away right as it regained its wits and roared in anger.

[Ilfang] crouched down and and got ready for a back-hand swing with its ax. Recognizing the telegraphed attack, Crocea called for another intercept by Tank team A.

Then he remembered something. His eyes widened. No. Too soon. Their [Shield Bash] techniques are still on cool down.

Tank team A managed to block the swing but were knocked back a fair distance. The boss did not recoil from the block and it continued to pursue Tank team A. Tank team B quickly attempted to catch its attention with a barrage of sword techs. The boss quickly turned to face team B.

Good call on their part. That could have been bad, Croea thought. But my timing's off now. Gotta start counting again. He grit his teeth and called another order. "Tank A and Strength team, regroup! Don't attack until all your techs are off cool down!"

He then surveyed the rest of the battle field.

The boss's second health bar was at 50%. At nearly 2 hours in, it was good progress compared to the previous nights. The other mobs around the room were also nowhere near the boss. A few of them were flailing around without legs. Crowd Control was doing their job. Tank teams A and B were all at 30-50%. Strength team was at 50-80%. DPS teams A and B were nearly untouched.

He scowled. If the tanks die, the DPS teams are helpless. They need to heal but the amount of time to pull out a potion will take too long. He bit his lip. Survival over efficiency, he concluded.

"DPS A, fall back and take out your potions! You're gonna give those to Tank A. When I give the signal, Tank A will jump out and use DPS A's potions! On three!" As the damage per second team began scrolling their menus, Crocea counted. At the designated number, he gave the signal. Twelve seconds later, all of Tank A was fully healed. "Okay, both Tank A and DPS A, get back in there. Tank B, jump out and heal!"

The players cycled and eventually they were all healed.

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While Crocea gave commands, Rose continued following orders.

She had been transferred to DPS team B. She was actually their leader. Said team was comprised mostly of spear and pole-arm users.

Their main strength was their range. They didn't have to get up close to the boss to do damage and could normally do so by merely thrusting their weapon forward. Unfortunately they would still be in range of the boss' attacks but they could more easily jump back and dodge the hit. They didn't need to rely on the Tank teams as heavily as Strength and DPS A.

That said, every member of DPS B had at least one close-shave when it came to dodging the boss. Rose herself had sixteen such incidents within the first thirty minutes.

"Whoa!" Rose yelped as she dodged a back handed swing by the boss as it spun a full 360 degrees. She had only been grazed but nearly a quarter of her health bar had been removed. "Okay, that thing really hits hard," She said, smiling wryly. She was certain that a direct hit would kill her in one shot.

She circled [Ilfang], skirting the edges of the boss' attack range. Her team was doing similarly, moving in and striking whenever they saw an opening.

"[Shield Bash], five seconds," one of her teammates yelled.

Another job of DPS B was to count the cool down times of the boss's sword techs. Since they were the same as the players', all they needed to do was ask the shield, ax, and curved-sword users what the times are for their techniques. So far, the most dangerous techs the boss had were [Battering Ram] and [Vertical]. The first one because the boss could damage a good amount of players if they didn't get out of the way. The second one because a direct hit with its ax would kill even the tanks with one hit if they don't block.

[Ilfang] activated its [Shield Bash] tech and was quickly met with the very same attack by Tank team B. Both recoiled upon the attacks' impacted. They had half a second to move.

"Hit and run!" Rose cried, hitting the boss with a single [Linear] before jumping back. The others did similarly.

The boss regained control and activated a [Horizontal] tech to sweep at the players in front of it. The Strength team was just about to do their job and stun the boss but their attacks wouldn't be able to connect in time.

They're gonna get hit! Rose thought in alarm. Then she saw Crocea run past her with his shield raised. He must have come to the same conclusion as Rose did.

"Tank A, block it!" Crocea ordered, activating his [Shield Bash] technique. Half of the Strength team were hit before the tanks managed to block the ax. The other half continued and attacked in a frenzy. Crocea saw the boss stagger. "It's stunned! 3 Seconds!"

Rose took that opportunity to drag one of the fallen Strength team players out of range. It was someone she recognized. "C'mon, Wilt! Get up!"

"Thank you," Wilting Blush said, rising to his knees. He had less than a quarter of his health bar left. He flicked down his menu and grimaced. "I'm out of potions."

Rose smiled and opened her own inventory. Two red bottles materialized in front of her, one larger than the other. "Here," she said, handing the bigger bottle to Wilt.

Wilt looked at the bottle before popping it open and drinking it. As his health slowly regenerated, he looked curiously at the potion bottle. "This is a [Hi-Potion]," he said, turning to Rose. "How'd you get this? Shops don't sell these."

Rose grinned. "Not yet. They do in later areas but they're expensive. I got a few of them as drops from the Grimm in the last two nights. They heal 50% health over ten seconds instead of 10%. They don't stack like regular potions, though."

After a pause, Wilt nodded. "Thank you," he said again before returning to his team.

Rose watched the man reenter the battle, popping open her own potion. "Ten seconds," she said to herself as she drank it. And then she waited.

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Gambol sprinted towards one of the [Kobold Sentinels] and slid under it's horizontal scimitar swing. She then quickly slashed behind its thighs, taking away its ability to walk. The Kobold screamed in agony. Around her, the other mobs were limping and one even had it's legs cut off. They too were crying out in pain. Gambol looked with a weird mix of disgust and fascination.

Dismemberment? Disembowelment? This game has a surprising amount of cruelty potential. According to the manual, in order to cut off a body part, the blade has to cut completely though and remove an amount of health equal to the percentage of body that will be cut off. Anything less will only temporarily disable someone's use of said body part. Adding in the fact that this game simulates pain, it makes getting hit that much more terrible.

She frowned as her previous target was getting up. She quickly slashed at its ankles, cutting off its feet. The mob screamed once more.

What doesn't make sense to me is the enemies. Why do they scream? I get why a player would scream. It hurts and losing a body part doesn't seem like it would be enjoyable to anyone. But why do these mindless AI monsters scream? I get that they're programmed to do that but it almost seems like the developers don't want me to attack them.

Unless they just assumed everyone who plays this game is some sort of sadist, in which case, they made a disgustingly good design decision. The video game cruelty potential in this game makes me so uncomfortable.

She shook her head and sighed. She had no need to continue thinking of that. She was in the middle of a raid. She needed to focus.

She turned to look at the boss. Its second health bar bar was close to being completely depleted. It was only a matter of time before the boss would enter its final phase.

They'll take at least ten seconds, Gambol thought. She watched grimly as they whittled away at it. I have a bad feeling about this...

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The music had increased in tempo and the chanting became frantic. It fit the chaos of the battle as the raid team scattered.

They had gotten the boss down to its last health bar and it threw down its Ax and buckler as expected. What was not expected, however, was a sword technique not part of a curved sword's move set. [Ilfang] had crouched down and put its hand on the handle of its sheathed sword. With one fluid motion, it slashed, unsheathing the sword. The raid team immediately sustained severe damage and several casualties. Half of the DPS teams and one from Strength team died in that one attack. The ones that survived the hit were closed to death.

Myrtenaster's stomach lurched as she was sent flying and a sharp pain on her hip erupted when she landed. She winced as she tried to get up. She had less then 2% of her health left. Of course, she was lucky to have even that much.

"Myrt!" Myrtenaster turned around to find Rose skidding to a stop and kneeling beside her. The brunette then gave her a [Healing Crystal I]. With a flash, Myrtenaster instantly regained 100 Health points. She now sat with over 50% of her health.

"Myrtenaster, we have a big problem," Rose said urgently.

Myrtenaster stood up and looked at the carnage around them. "Yes, I can see that we have a problem," she growled. "But explain anyway. What do we have?"

Rose pointed at the boss. "Okay, look at its sword." Its sword had a long blade with a slight curve that tapered to a single point. It had a single edge on the outer curve. It was in the middle of an onslaught of attacks on the Tanks. The tanks couldn't find an opening to counter, only block.

"Remember before when I said that the boss would use a Talwar? A Talwar is a type of Indian curved sword," Rose explained. "The sword it's using right now isn't a Talwar. It's a Nodachi - a Japanese long sword."

Myrtenaster impatiently tightened her grip on her rapier. "Your point?"

"My point," Rose said, "is that it's using a sword that has more reach, higher damage, and a different move set. We have no idea what its techs and cool-downs are. If we continue this, we're practically fighting it blind."

Myrtenaster looked at Rose coldly. "Then what do you suggest we do? I have no plans on retreating. Not tonight."

"We'll need Gambol to use [Detection] on it. She maxed it out, right? She can get info on its available sword techs. As for the rest of its attacks, it telegraphs them well enough. We'll just have to read them and hope we don't mess up."

Myrtenaster nodded. "Good. Get on that. You find Crocea and tell him the plan. I'll find Gambol."

"Will do." Rose gave a brief salute before activating [Nimble Feet] and dashing away.

"Now," Myrtenaster breathed, looking around. "Where are you, Blake..."

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Crocea and the rest of the surviving tanks desperately tried to block the incoming sword tech. An orange trail of light abruptly came to a stop the boss' sword hit four shields. Tank team B was the only team that managed to stay in formation after [Ilfang's] opening attack with that new sword. As Crocea noticed, its sword was a type of katana - a different sword from the beta and a type of sword they haven't encountered yet. Thus, they were hesitant to counter attack.

When the sword glows orange, it jumps forward and goes for a heavy downward slash. Crocea noted. When it glows teal, it's a 3-hit combo. He frowned. But we don't know the cool downs yet. We can't afford to go on the offensive. Not until we figure out its patterns. Another slash was blocked. Crocea winced. I don't know how long we can hold this thing off, though.

"Crocea!"

He heard Rose's voice in the distance. He quickly jumped out of range of the boss. "Rose, what is it?"

Crocea sidestepped Rose as she skidded to a stop. She then began a rapid-fire explanation of what they were going to do next. "We'll need you to take charge."

"So keep doing what I'm doing. Understood."

A cry came from one of the other tanks. "Duck and cover!" [Ilfang] had sheathed its sword and crouched down. Crocea quickly pulled Rose in close and raised his shield. It drew its blade and slashed, knocking both of them several paces back. It did a fair bit of damage but they were otherwise fine.

Crocea lowered his shield and let go of Rose. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

Rose smiled awkwardly. "Uh, yeah. I'm okay," she said shakily.

"Go," Crocea said. "Before it attacks again."

"You don't need to tell me twice." Rose broke into a jog. "I'm gonna try and get the others back into order!" With that, she ran off.

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Gambol and the others from Crowd-Control could no longer deal with the mobs they were dealing with a few minutes earlier. The [Kobold Sentinels] had regained all their health and had their stats boosted to a ridiculous level. They were practically bosses in and of themselves. They'd be practically impossible to hold off if they didn't telegraph their attacks and go by a pattern.

She ducked under a scimitar swing and slashed behind one of the creatures' heels. It fell to its knees, letting Gambol use her [Back Stab] tech on it. It was a critical hit and left the enemy with only 30% of its health. She then kicked it away from the boss.

"On your six!"

Gambol dive rolled forward and turned around. Another [Kobold Sentinel] wielding an ax was frozen mid-swing, the tip of a rapier sticking out of its chest. Myrtenaster was standing behind it, a scowl of tranquil rage adorning her face. She pulled out her sword and the mob's explosive death animation played.

"That thing's gonna come back stronger, remember?"

"We have other problems." Myrtenaster then explained the situation to Gambol.

Gambol nodded. "Okay, that makes sense," she said. Then she gestured to the others from Crowd-Control barely managing the other mobs. "But then what are we going to do about these things?"

"Guys!" They suddenly heard. They both turned to see Rose running towards them. She slowed to a jog and then to a walk and finally stopped in front of them. "Guys, we're ready. The teams put themselves back together as best they can but we can't risk sending them out without knowing its attacks. If we're still doing this, we need you."

Myrtenaster pushed the Gambol towards Rose. "Gambol, go. I'll take over for you."

Gambol scowled. She doubted Myrtenaster would do well with her new job. She never knew when to hold back, which meant she'd be killing mobs left and right. Still, it was necessary.

"Okay, let's go," Gambol said, following Rose as they ran back to the battle on the other side of the room. "What do we already know about the boss?"

"We've seen three unique sword techs: There's the quick-draw attack, a gap-closer move that ends in a downward slash, and a 2-slash combo that finishes with a stab. We don't know the cool downs and if there are more unique techs. The rest are basic techs like [Horizontal] and [Slant]."

They soon got into range. "Alright, time to get to work." She turned to Rose. "Go back to Crowd-Control and help. They'll need your help."

"Got it," Rose said before sprinting away.

Gambol then made her way towards Crocea who was circling the boss, shouting orders. "Crocea, I'm here!"

"You know what to do?"

"Yeah."

"Then do it!"

Gambol activated [Detection] and suddenly became flooded with sensory information. There was a lot of stuff happening all at once. She had to really focus on the boss so as to not be overwhelmed. "Okay, done," Gambol said, feeling a little bit shaky. "Now we wait for it to attack..."

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Just like Gambol said, Crowd-Control needed Rose's help. They were slowly being backed into a corner by the six [Kobold Sentinels]. The team's average health was under 50%. A brief scan with [Detection] told Rose that the mobs have all been killed at least twice. She winced at the thought of them getting so many stat boosts that they overpowered the players.

This is bad, she thought. I can hit all of them with a [Sweeper] but that wouldn't mean they'd all turn their attention to me. And even if they did, I wouldn't be able to survive - not with the equipment I currently have. Then her eyes widened upon realizing, I recently leveled up. I can equip that scythe now... Just don't know how to use it. She frowned. I'll have to risk it.

She began scrolling her menu, frantically assigning her stat points and changing her gear. I hope this works, the thought as she tapped yes on the equip prompt.

Her spear dissolved into light as it returned to her inventory and the [Ancient Harvester] materialized in her hands to replace it. Heavy, Rose thought as she readied herself, crouching down. Alright, show time. She activated [Nimble Feet] and exploded towards the mobs.

A [Sweeper] tore through the [Kobold Sentinels], immediately changing their targets from the Crowd-Control team to Rose.

Alright, next. Rose grit her teeth as moved the scythe again, triggering [System Assist]. She spun in place, swinging her scythe in a circle. The [Hurricane] tech staggered the mobs somewhat.

Now for the hard part. With an extreme amount of effort, Rose twirled her scythe around her in an attempt to activate the [Windmill] sword technique. The weapon glowed violet and Rose's body began moving on its own. She spun the scythe vertically, like a buzz saw, and walked towards her target. The mob directly in front of her flashed into nothingness as she tore through its health until it reached zero.

Rose was also surprised to see that all the other mobs died as well. Crowd-Control had taken advantage of her distraction and [Back Stabbed] the remaining mobs.

Rose knelt down, feeling strangely drained.

Myrtenaster walked up to Rose held out her hand. "Get up," she said. "They're coming back in 5 seconds."

Rose looked up and smiled wryly. "Yeah. I know." She took the hand and stood, following the rest of the team to the nearest spawn point. The [Kobold Sentinels] began respawning.

"You did well, Rose," Myrtenaster said, breaking into a run. "And you'll keep doing well or else you die. Here they come!"

Rose laughed. "Thanks for the pep talk!" She then picked a target and sprinted towards it.

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For the past thirty minutes, Gambol was very busy counting. She was in charge of calling the katana-specific sword techniques and her concentration was being taxed to the limit.

"[Tsujikaze], cool down in fifteen seconds," she said.

"All of you, use your strongest sword tech and attack at the same time!" Crocea ordered. "On my mark!"

Gambol grit her teeth in anticipation. The quick-draw attack is called [Tsujikaze], she thought. It does 300% of a weapon's damage, has 0.22 second stun, 120 knock-back, and a cool down of three minutes. It is, without a doubt, its strongest attack. However... She eyed Crocea. The boss' pattern makes it so that it doesn't use it the moment it becomes available. The cycle is too complicated for me to figure out while I'm keeping track of what skills are available. Somehow Crocea's figured out its pattern already.

Within fifteen seconds, boss sheathed its sword and Crocea gave the signal. [Ilfang's] attack was canceled when ten sword techniques stuck it simultaneously, stunning it.

"Five seconds! Attack!"

There was a frenzy of slashes and stabs, quickly whittling away at the boss' health. Within five seconds, the boss went from having a sixth of its health to only an eighth. It wouldn't be long until they killed it.

"Gambol, what attack is that," Crocea said, sounding quite worried.

[Ilfang's] weapon was glowing an ominous red as it crouched down. Gambol tried to activated her [Detection] skill but it was still on cool down. "I don't know," she said anxiously. "I don't like this."

"Neither do I," Crocea said in grave agreement. "Everyone back away from it! Hurry!"

The boss suddenly leaped into the air and landed right in front of Crocea and Gambol. "Shoot!" Crocea raised his shield while Gambol quickly rolled away. The boss spun in a full circle and swung, knocking away Crocea and several other players behind it. Crocea and some tanks survived with less than a quarter of their health while the rest of those hit were killed instantly.

If any good came of that sudden attack, it was the grace period in which the boss was locked in its post-attack animation for two entire seconds. Those who weren't hit managed to get off one sword tech before they retreated and the injured were pulled away. Unfortunately, Crocea wasn't one of them.

Gambol could only watch as Crocea slowly got up and looked up at the boss. And he just stood there, not even moving, as a [Horizonal] tore through him like he was nothing.

And then the boss turned to her.

Gambol scowled and back-stepped, barely dodging [Ilfang's] swing. I am not doing this, she thought harshly. She sprinted towards the boss and slid under its legs, quickly activating [Stealth] the moment she was behind it. With that, she was no longer being targeted. She slowly walked away, keeping her guard up in case a stray attack came her way.

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For the second time that fight, the raid team had scattered. Unlike the first time, though, they seemed much more capable of defending themselves. They too could read the telegraphed attacks. The only problem was that there was little to no coordination. It was every team for themselves. And some players didn't even have that. A few were separated from their teams.

That said, the separated players ran towards the nearest team the could find for safety. It just so happened that Milou Akuou ran into Stormflower and Magnhild.

"It's chaos, once again. Everyone is attempting to attack but no one seems to be doing it as effectively as before," Stormflower noted. "And we just reached a critical point in time. It's 11:30. If we don't get our act together, we're screwed."

"Looks like we might need to kill it ourselves," Milous said. "It has just over 10% of its health left. We can win this."

Maggy grinned. "Let's do it!"

With that voice of agreement, they all sprinted towards the boss. It was focusing on the remains of the DPS team. Maggy bounded ahead and attacked with a [Heavy Slam], a charging hammer swing. The boss turned and raised it's sword for an overhead slash. "Milou, switch," Maggy cried.

The attack was quickly intercepted by a [Shield Bash] by Milou, causing both her and boss to recoil. "Stormflower!"

Stormflower jumped in and attacked, chaining [Linear] and [Rapid Strike] sword techs with regular thrusts in a graceful twelve hit combo. "Maggy!"

Just as [Ilfang] recovered from being blocked, Maggy jumped off of Milou's shield and brought her hammer down on its head. The [Megaton Smash] stunned it for another two seconds.

Seeing the amount of progress Milou and the others were doing, the rest of the raid team came running in and attacked in full force. They surrounded the boss and slashed and stabbed, all in a frenzied attempt to finally take it down. But then the boss' sword glowed red again.

Milou screamed. "Everyone scatter!"

Panic spread as everyone tried to get as far away from the boss as possible. [Ilfang] jumped and landed just behind Milou's group. Milou quickly ran towards it with her shield raised in an attempt to lessen the damage to her friends. She braced for impact.

But it never came.

Instead, standing behind the boss, was Gambol, knife fully embedded into its back. It curtly shattered into a thousand colorful polygons, followed by a brief congratulatory notification.

CONGRATULATIONS
THE SIGNAL GATE DUNGEON HAS BEEN CLEARED

Milou sighed in relief. They did it. The first [Gate Boss] was defeated. She collapsed onto the ground.

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After the battle, everyone decided to stay in the boss room for a bit an rest. Many people were crying, mourning the deaths of their friends. Rose, herself, felt like she was going to cry as well. She looked around but, for whatever reason, could not find who she was looking for. She ran up to the closest person she recognized, Gambol.

Gambol was sitting a few paces away from the group, examining the katana that the boss dropped when she killed it. She looked up when Rose approached but quickly averted her eyes.

"Gambol, is Crocea dead?" Rose asked. No response. "How did he die?" Still no response. Rose swallowed. "Answer me, Gambol. What happened?"

Gambol stood and turned towards the door leading to the next area - the [Warp Gate]. "I'm sorry," she said. Then she walked away, leaving the region in the blink of an eye.

Rose looked down and smiled wryly. "You said death in the game means death in real life," she said, her voice breaking slightly. "You better be wrong or so help me..."

She began laughing bitterly. But slowly, those laughs became harsher and harsher, until it was clear she was crying. Rose's sobs joined many others while the rest stood and solemn silence. No tears fell. The game wasn't programmed to do that. But if it was, an ocean would have been created that night.

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Chapter Text

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"Ruby, what are you doing!?"

"Yang?"

"Get away from that! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is!?"

"I'm sorry! I just-"

Rose slowly opened her eyes and was once again met by an unfamiliar ceiling. It was December 24th, as her menu was kind enough to inform her. It's been nearly seven weeks since they were trapped in the game - and four weeks since the tragic death of Crocea Mors. Rose closed her eyes once more. She still couldn't get over it.

With a heavy sigh, she got out of bed and began scrolling her inventory. With all her gear equipped, she exited her room and headed down stairs. No use lying in bed any longer. It was already three in the afternoon. She had to do something in between sleep and leveling.

Since that day a month ago, Rose had been going on solo grind sessions the forest late at night. After a while, fighting the Grimm became as easy as fighting any other mob. They were still just mindless AIs after all. With enough battles, she could interpret their attack animations and counter them, effectively rendering their adaptive AI little more than a nuisance. She could grind them for hours now without needing to run back into the city safe zones to heal. It was the closest thing she had to a job. At first she was just throwing herself out there to cheer herself up with the thrill of fighting tough enemies. Eventually, the thrill was no longer there and she only fought because it distracted her and was a good way to gain experience. Speaking of which, with the boosted exp all of them gave, she had long passed the soft level cap for the area. She was already level 45.

Down stairs, a couple players were playing cards, with a number of NPCs watching curiously. Rose pulled up a chair and sat at the counter, eyeing the NPCs with curious looks of her own. She then turned to the inn keeper, standing behind the counter, polishing the counter top with a white rag.

"G'morning, Joe. The usual, please," Rose said to the inn keeper. "How's the wife?"

Joe looked up and smiled. "A glass o' brewed [Lightning Root] comin' right up," he said with a hearty laugh. "And about Maryanne. She's doin' mighty fine since you got us that medicine, Rose." He put down a mug and slid it to Rose. "Thank you very much for that again."

The inn keeper, like all NPCs in the game, had a surprisingly smart AI provided that the topic pertains to something in-game. Like, for example, his wife who was part of a quest where the Rose had to figure out what was wrong with her based on a randomized set of symptoms and get her the cure. Rose's version of the quest had her looking for a certain type of herb that cures paralysis and increases movement and attack speed.

"It was nothing," Rose replied kindly. She then took a sip of the brewed [Lightning Root], still amused at how much it tasted like coffee.

There was a pause. "I might be staying here another night," Rose said a few minutes later. "Reserve my room again, please."

"Ah, well, ain't you the loyal customer? I reckon you'll be stayin' til' the next [Gate Dungeon] is cleared, yes?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah."

He looked down. "It'll be mighty saddening not seeing you at the crack o' dawn when you come back from your nightly hunts." He then smiled sadly and shook his head. "But I s'pose that's how things go."

Rose said nothing, though she wanted to.

Joe was an NPC. He was programmed to act the way he did. She was fairly certain he would act the same way towards every patron of the inn if they ever spoke to him longer than the amount of time it took to do the quest or to book a room for the night. That was because the way his mind worked involved gathering a small amount of data about something and a multitude of yes-or-no questions about said data. Like the AI of the enemies, eventually every possible combination of answers to those questions will be given, effectively rendering his adaptive AI meaningless.

And yet he still seemed remarkably human to Rose. It was a major step up from the NPCs of [Signal], the first region of the game. Really, it was hard to think of him as little more than code.

Rose downed the last of her drink and stood. "I'll be going now. The night approaches."

"Goodbye, Rose. 'Til we meet again."

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Gambol Shroud sat atop the roof of the church, highest building in the city. [Emerald Town] the city was called. It was the largest, most heavily populated city in all of the [Emerald Forest], mostly because it was the only city. Its was twice as large as the [Town of Beginnings] back at [Signal], which already rivaled the size of modern cities in real life. But even with all that said, [Emerald City's] size paled in comparison to the forest that surrounded it. From her vantage point, Gambol saw a vast expanse of green, seeming to extend infinitely into the horizon. Even with [Detection], she couldn't see the the point where the forest dropped off into open air.

Gambol mused internally as she gazed into the distance.

According to the flavor text in the lore books, the world of Remnant was broken into one hundred individual chunks of land by some catastrophe long ago. I assume this is basically just the developers hand-waving the lack of seamless geographical cohesion. I understand why they'd do it, though. Creating a single massive world that is interesting but makes sense is really difficult. It would also be taxing on the Nerv-Gear's hardware. Still, the way they chose to go about this is interesting. I am curious to see what lies at the edge of this world. I'm willing to bet it's nothing more than complete darkness like with most games though I hope I'm wrong.

A familiar name appeared at the edge of her detection radius. Exiting from the inn was none other than [Crescent Rose]. Gambol tilted her head curiously before dropping down to the lower rooftops and bounding across them. As she jumped, she sent a PM to Myrtenaster that she'd be with Rose for a while and would be back before midnight. With that, she made her final landing over a small building to the east of where Rose was.

Rose was walking through the crowd with her easily identifiable red and white cloak. Gambol called out to her. "Rose"

Rose looked up and her face lit up. "Gambol!" She jumped onto the roof and gave her a hug.

Gambol squirmed in her hold. "I'm glad to see you missed me," Gambol muttered uncomfortably. "It's been a few days. How've you been?"

Rose let go and grinned at her cheekily. "Oh, you know. Exploring around in the dead of night, just like usual."

"And fighting Grimm all the way," Gambol smirked. "You're already twenty levels over the recommended level for this place, you know? You're more than strong enough. You don't have to keep grinding."

Rose chuckled and shrugged. "Hey, it's a living. Someone has to update the map for Grimm locations, right?" She then stepped off the building and dropped back onto the ground. "Anyway, I gotta deliver this map data to Torchlight and then I'm hitting the Blacksmith. After that, maybe I'll go exploring."

Gambol nodded. "I'll be nearby. Call out if you need anything."

Rose gave a lazy salute. "Will do," she said.

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Stormflower examined the longbow on display. He had opted to forgo the use of his rapier after receiving a pair of knives from a quest - the design and use of which he was familiar with. However, due to their decreased range, he decided it would be best to find another weapon to compensate. Thus, he stood in the town blacksmith's guild hall, browsing their wares. One ware in particular.

The longbow he had his eyes set on was a pricey 8,000 lien. It sat at the front of the shop, and apparently the shop keeper had hundreds more in stock. The demand was not high for long bows, it seemed.

Understandable, though, Stormflower thought. Several points make bows and other such weapons less than ideal. One, they require the [Marksman] skill to even be equipped. Two, they have high strength requirements to use but their damage scales much better with the agility stat. Three, all arrows must be bought at an NPC shop. They do not drop from enemies and cannot be crafted.

Still... He lightly tapped the bow string, watching it vibrate from the slight contact. It is a very elegant weapon. I'd love to have it.

"Hey Ren!" Even before the shout, Stromflower was keenly aware of Magnhild leaning over his shoulder. Upon the girl's exclamation of his name, he stood and faced her.

"Maggy, usernames."

Maggy blinked. "Oh right! I'm sorry!"

Stormflower sighed. "It's okay. What did you want to say?"

"Do you want to buy that?" She grinned. "I've gotten all the things I need and then some!"

Stromflower felt a drop of dread in the pit of his stomach. "Please tell me you didn't use all our money..."

Maggy gave him a look. "Pshh. Of course not. I'm not that stupid. Thought I might have used half."

Stromflower did not pale but he surely would have if the game code allowed him to. "That was 22,000 Lien and you used half of it? What did you even buy?"

"This!" Maggy turned and showed him a bag strapped to her waist. "It lets you hold stuff like potions and throwing knives without needing to go back into the menu to equip them." She brought up the item transfer screen. "I bought one for you as well."

Stormflower was amazed at how remarkably smart her purchase was. "Good call," he said, quietly accepting the bag and equipping it as a belt accessory. It had five items slots and could hold up to ten instances of consumable items in the same slot. Larger items used up more slots.

"This was a good purchase, Maggy," Stormflower said, feeling especially proud. He then looked at the bag in confusion. "But a bag costs only 5k. What happened to the other 1,000?"

Maggy scratched her head. "I sorta used it to buy ten [Fire Bombs]"

Stormflower paused for a bit before just accepting it. Magnhild with explosives would be a terrible combination but he didn't doubt it would also be an incredibly effective one in battle.

"So," Maggy said after a few seconds of silence. "You wanna buy that bow?"

Stormflower nodded, turning his attention back to the bow on display. "The weapon costs 8,000 Lien. A quiver that can hold up to 30 arrows will cost 1,000. The 30 arrows will cost 300. Overall, its a little under 10,000 Lien."

"Let's buy it!" Maggy said almost immediately.

"I'm still weighing my options. I don't have the strength to use it but if I did, no doubt, my agility already makes this weapon more than viable."

"Oh? Then let's buy it and train with Rose for a while. She's always out fighting Grimm, right?"

"Hmm," Stormflower looked at Maggy with reluctance. "I suppose you're right, but..."

"C'moooon. Those things are so cool! I wanna fight them!"

Stromflower scratch his cheek. "Well, when you put it like that, I don't really have much of a choice." He called the NPC vendor and asked to buy the bow, a quiver, and some arrows.

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"Well well well, if it isn't Little Red Riding Hood and the Ice Queen's pet cat?" Torchlight grinned. "I take it you're here to update the map past midnight again?"

"Yeah," Rose said cheerfully.

"Excuse me, 'pet cat'?" Gambol growled.

Torchlight rolled his eyes. "Down, kitty. It was a joke. Don't get your whiskers in tangle or however that saying goes. How's life with the heiress? By the way, tell her advanced happy birthday. And merry Christmas, too, for that matter."

Gambol gave him a questioning glare.

"In the right field of business, the face of Weiss Schnee is known to all," Torchlight said cryptically. "I'm not in that business, mind you, but you can say I know a guy who knows a guy and so on and so forth. Knowing is my job after all." He waved her off. "But enough of that, I don't think you're here for a job, are you?"

Gambol said nothing.

"Then perhaps you should take a step outside. Trust me, kitty cat, we won't take long."

With an obvious amount of reluctance, Gambol stepped out of the room, leaving Torchlight with Rose.

"You were really an asshole to her," Rose noted.

Torchlight smirked. "Par for the course when dealing with me, kiddo. From the moment she spoke, I knew she wouldn't like me regardless of what I say. How much worse would it be if I made her hate me?"

"I don't know. Gambol's pretty scary. I've never really seen her mad, either."

"Haha, says the girl who takes on literal monsters of the night on a daily basis. You're messed up, kid."

Rose chuckled. "Aww, thanks."

"It wasn't a compliment, though I suppose it's admirable that you can take it like one. Now, where were we?"

"Map data."

"Aha, yes." He raised two fingers. "200 lien."

Rose frowned. "It was 300 yesterday!"

"And yesterday was less than the day before. Not a lot of new stuff to add to map every day you come here, Rose. If I were you, I'd go looking for the actual dungeon. It'll help people more since barely anyone goes out of the city after midnight."

Rose remained quiet for a time. "Fine, I'll take 200, you greedy prick."

Torchlight smiled. "Pleasure doing business with you. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

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Myrtenaster had once again chosen the town clock tower as her designated 'private place'. Namely the highest floor as it granted a view over the city rivaled only by the church to the north east. As before, Wilting Blush stood blocking the stairway, his height, crossed arms, and perpetually angry face making him an imposing obstacle to anyone entering. Myrtenaster stood by the window, watching the sun slowly head towards the horizon. Next to her was Milou Akuou, standing head and shoulders over her.

"So, tomorrow's your birthday," Milou said awkwardly.

Myrtenaster scowled. "Don't remind me."

"I don't understand why you dislike your birthday so much." Milou looked away. "If you wanna talk about it, I'll listen, but I won't pry."

"If you must know, it involves my sister, Winter. I won't say anything else."

"Hmm," Milou looked at her curiously but said nothing. She then turned her gaze back to the town, letting the silence linger for a moment.

After the pause, Milou spoke again. "A good chunk of the forest has been mapped but we still haven't found the [Gate Dungeon] yet."

Myrtenaster felt a twinge of relief from the change of subject but immediately felt stressed again. "This forest is huge," she grumbled. "If it were a little bit smaller, no doubt we'd have found it by now."

"Actually, from my memory of the beta, the entrance changes location every hour. I don't think the forest being smaller will make it any easier to find."

"W-what?" Myrtenaster stammered in surprise. "Then how on earth are we supposed to clear this region?"

Milou chuckled. "There are twelve stone temples in this forest. The entrance will appear inside one of them. We've found a total of zero of them so far. All we need to do is find them, figure out the pattern for the entrance changing, and beat the dungeon. Simple."

"I take it that all this knowledge is from the beta?"

Milou smiled. "Precisely."

Myrtenaster looked away. "You beta-testers have an unfair advantage," she muttered dryly. "But then again, how is that different from real life...?"

And so they stood in silence for a time.

REMNANT ONLINE

"Hey, look! It's Rose! ROOOOSE!"

The moment Rose stepped into the guild hall, she was tackled into a hug by none other than Magnhild. She felt a sharp pain in her ribs but thankfully her received no damage since they were inside a town.

"Good to see you, Maggy," Rose said with a pained smile. "How've you been?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Killing monsters, having fun, and all that jazz. Ren- ah Stormflower bought this bow just now but he can't use it. We wanna join you in your Grimm hunt later tonight and level him up so he can become super strong and use the bow - not that he's not already super strong, I mean if you've seen him in real life, you'd know he's freakin' ripped." Maggy took at a deep breath to recover from that rapid fire of sentences. Then she saw Gambol standing behind Rose. "Oh and Gambol's here. Heeeey, how's it hanging! I haven't seen you in weeks! Though I guess that's a given since you're basically a ninja. I wanna be a ninja too, but the waiting around and hiding isn't really my thing."

"Good afternoon," Gambol said, nodding. "I'm pleased to see you're still as energetic as ever." Maggy grinned in response.

Stormflower stepped forward. "So, what do you say?"

Rose scratched her cheeks and thought for a bit. The Grimm gave double the normal experience for a field mob of that level - it's an amount close to what boss mobs give. Even with the experience scaling based on level difference, an under-leveled player would still receive a hefty amount of experience points from a single fight. Stormflower was certain to level up after a night - more than once by Rose's estimates.

But still, Rose thought. Fighting Grimm? "Well, if you think you can handle it," she said reluctantly. "I guess it's okay."

"Awesome!" Maggy cheered. "We get to smash the wolves!"

Rose suddenly found herself smiling. Maggy's enthusiasm was infectious. "Well, they're not all wolves. There are bears and birds sometimes."

Maggy cheered louder "Even better!"

REMNANT ONLINE

Gambol leaped from building to building, unseen by the people in the streets below. She had given Rose and her friends the slip. Rose was sure to notice Gambol's absence when they were alone, but since she had Magnhild to distract her, she didn't even notice Gambol leave. Only one person saw and it was Stormflower. He did not make any comment and merely nodded. He understood that Gambol had her reasons, whatever those reasons were.

From the roof, Gambol dropped down into the alley, barely making any sound as she landed. In the shadowy darkness, she waited for an opening and slipped unnoticed into the crowd of players and NPCs walking through the streets. She was a ghost walking among the masses, completely blended in.

Gambol narrowed her eyes, scanning the crowd. She couldn't risk the use of [Detection] for fear of sensory overload. There he is, she thought. A black bowler-hat with a crow feather in it. I know of only one player who uses that piece of low-level head gear. She scowled. Torchlight.

The man had information that must not be made public. The fact that he would flaunt it so casually straight to her face. It was despicable. She had to make sure he wouldn't expose Myrtenaster's identity. She must keep Myrtenaster safe. It was the very reason she was even in this god forsaken game in the first place. That was her job and dammit she'd do it well.

Right at the second corner, Gambol noted. That path meanders around before reaching a dead end. He must plan on entering one of the buildings lining that street. She scowled as the crowd seemed to thicken as she followed him around the corner. He's gonna give me the slip at this rate. There's no choice. I'll have to risk it...

She activated [Detection]

A sudden rush of sensations came at Gambol all at once. The small changes to the temperature and humidity in her immediate area; the cacophonous whispers of nearly seven hundred people within thirty feet of her; the increased fidelity of every single detail in what she saw before her eyes, with even the texture seams of the player avatars' 3D models clearly noticeable to her - it all threatened to overwhelm her. But she persevered, concentrating on her target.

Torchlight, she thought, face strained with concentration. Sixth building to the left. Enter through a door in the alley.

Having found out what she needed, she quickly deactivated [Detection]. A feeling of relief flowed through her as she slowly recovered. She staggered her way towards her destination.

Using the skill in town is a lot more tiring than using it in the field. It still takes a lot out of me, she thought regrettably. It's getting easier though. All I need is a little practice. Affording herself a small tired smile, she entered at alley and leaned on the wall for a rest.

REMNANT ONLINE

Stormflower could only give an impressed tilt of his head as Rose cleaved a [Hunter Goblin] vertically in half, killing it and three other mobs with a combo of sword techs. Really, it was one of the few times he was ever really impressed by an attack that used [System Assist].

The minimum amount of physical coordination required to use a weapon in the game involved knowing how to swing and how to stab. If the player knew how to do that, all they need do is move their body in the right way to activate a sword technique and let [System Assist] do the rest of the work. It looked and felt sloppy to him.

Granted, some weapons required more finesse in the way they were handled compared to others. For example, a player wielding a Straight Sword could get away with just being able to flail their arms in the right direction for [System Assist] to take effect while a player with a Thrusting Sword like a rapier needed more controlled arm movements - which was why he chose to use those weapons.

However, the Death Scythe weapon-type took the requirement for physical dexterity to it's logical extreme - the motion to activate the [System Assist] involved absurd weapon twirling. It was still very much possible for the average person to use it effectively but that would mean hours upon hours of practice - which Rose must have done.

Stormflower could see the skill in her use of the weapon, chaining sword techs in a ridiculous but all together impressive twenty hit combo. She had very clearly mastered the use of her [Ancient Harvester] in the month following her acquisition of it.

Stormflower wasn't the only one impressed. If anything, Magnhild was even more amazed by what she just saw. "That was AWSOME!" she yelled as she tackle-hugged Rose. "The way we just ran away in circles around those mobs and when you got the crowded together - bam! - you jump in and start wailing on them like this demonic buzz-saw-turbine-fan thing! You mopped the floor with them!"

Rose blushed, scratching her cheek in embarrassment. "Hey, it's nothing. I was really high level so it wasn't that hard." She looked to Stormflower. "So, how was that?"

Stormflower swiped down his menu and checked his stats. He was still Level 31 but he was only a few more fights before leveling up. He still had a number of levels to go before being able to increase his strength to be able to use the bow, but he'd eventually get there.

"No change," he answered,

Rose frowned but nodded. Pushing Magnhild off of her, Rose stood and began walking, gesturing for the two to follow. "We're going maybe half a mile deeper into the forest," she said pointing north. "Then, we just repeat what we did here." When Stormflower and Magnhild nodded in agreement, she turned around and continued forward.

"You know, it's actually pretty effective, trying to level like this," Magnhild said quietly. "I always thought leveling's easier when you're alone because you get all of the experience points instead of half or a third."

Rose chuckled. "Well, that's what most games do. Remnant's sorta different. Fighting enemies with others has no draw back unless you count people competing to get the last hit for rare item drops. Experience isn't split between those who try and fight it - it's calculated per individual player. You get as much exp from fighting mobs along as when you're fighting as a group. The game encourages team work that way."

"But don't mobs get stronger when there's multiple people fighting it?"

"It's percentage based. A hundred players fighting a single mob will make it 100% stronger. Double the health, double the damage, that sort of thing. As long as there aren't too many people, it shouldn't be a problem."

"I wanna be in a raid with one hundred players," Magnhild suddenly said.

Rose scratched her head. "Yeah, same actually."

"That would be so awesome, though! We'd be like a literal army! Who cares if the enemy is twice as strong, there'd be a hundred of us! We'd totally kill it!"

Stormflower could only smile as the two continued talking. They were on the same wave length. No sense messing up a harmony with a voice that doesn't have the right pitch for it. Thus, he remained quiet, enjoying the fact that Magnhild was happy talking with someone else.

REMNANT ONLINE

Chapter Text

REMNANT ONLINE

Rose and company had been traveling north in pretty much a straight line, pulling as many mobs as possible and quickly killing them in one fell swoop for maximum efficiency. Their strategy for gaining experience points was one with high risks and equivalently high reward. With the amount of enemies they pull with every pass, imminent death awaited anyone who let the mobs hit them. Of course, Rose was so massively over-leveled that much of the risks were only applicable to Stormflower and Magnhild. Even still, the thrill was there and it was well felt.

Rose set down her scythe and leaned against a tree, feeling mildly tired. Their last pass had nearly triple the amount of mobs that their first pass did. Granted, they were significantly farther from the town than they were previously. As they went deeper into the forest, the enemy spawns became denser and more numerous, with many encounters with mobs alerting other nearby mobs as well. It was a totally different difficulty curve from the previous region where difficulty increased solely on the level of the mob being faced. Now, the difficulty was in how many of them they had to face. It was a lot like how it was with fighting the Grimm in the forest dungeon in the first region - it was almost like they were a prelude to what was to come.

"We should be careful here, guys," Rose said. "This place has already been explored but that was with dozens of players during the day. We're a group of three players at night. When the clock strikes twelve, we may be in for some surprises."

"I know!" Maggy exclaimed. "I'm so excited. I can hardly wait!"

Rose sweatdropped. "Come on, Maggy. We've stocked up on health potions, but we're gonna be going against Grimm here. At least show a little bit of concern."

"I know, I know" Maggy said with a dismissive hand wave. "It's just so cool being here with you guys, okay? I really missed doing this."

Rose raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She shot Stormflower a questioning look. He winced, gesturing for her to wait. He would probably explain it when they had some free time. She nodded and started moving north once more.

"C'mon. We're losing moonlight," she said. "I remember there being a clearing somewhere. We can wait for midnight there"

REMNANT ONLINE

Gambol stood in front of a table with two blades hovering dangerously next to her neck. The two players holding said blades stood on either side of her, holding their swords steadily. Behind the table sat Torchlight, arms crossed and boredly tapping his fingers.

"So, Blake Belladonna - username, Gambol Shroud," he said dryly. "Care to explain how you're here? I believe I have access restrictions on this building, barring entry from everyone not on the whitelist." He swiped down and showed Gambol a dialogue box full of usernames. "You're not on the list so how are you here?"

Gambol glared at him.

Torchlight shrugged. "Fine, be that way. I'll figure it out eventually." he dismissed the dialogue box. "But seriously, though, your going here wasn't exactly smart. Do you have any idea what how much security this place has? Maxed out [Stealth] skill or not, you're not getting in unnoticed. And yet you still tried. Now look at you, at sword point in front of the very person you were sneaking up to." He laughed. "Sloppy, Miss Belladonna. Very sloppy."

Gambol's glare did not falter. "How do you know who we are?"

Torchlight raised an eyebrow. "Well wouldn't you want to know?" He smiled. "What are you willing to pay for that info?" When Gambol didn't answer, his smile became a grin. "How about I make you an offer?" he began. "I let you go free and forget all about this and, in return, you don't ever try and pull a stunt like this again. How about it, kitty cat?"

"That's a terrible deal," Gambol replied.

"I know," Torchlight said chuckling. "Your freedom is a whole lot more expensive than a promise to keep out of my business. It'd be better if I kill you right now - less hassle and expense. But I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. So, do we have a deal or what?"

Gambol growled venomously. Did he seriously just threaten to kill her? And to think he was one of the people who worked to make player-killing illegal.

Torchlight frowned. "No answer, huh?" He sighed and leaned back on his chair. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by this. I believe there have been multiple attempts at Miss Schnee's life so I should have expected you to come here the moment you found out that I knew. You are, after all, her bodyguard of sorts - more a body guard in training, though, now that I think about it."

"Whatever. That's not important. And neither is Miss Schnee." Torchlight gestured for his guards to release Gambol. "Out there, Weiss Schnee may be an heiress to a multi-billion dollar company but, in here, she's just another player - no more in danger than anyone else trapped with her. I'm no threat to her, Miss Belladonna. And you're no threat to me."

"You're... You're just letting me go?" Gambol asked in confusion.

"Yes. Think of it as an act of charity," Torchlight said, not even trying to hide the disgust on his face as he said the word. "Get out of my sight, Gambol. I don't take in strays. Go back to your master, where you belong."

Gambol eyed Torchlight for a few seconds. Torchlight had administrative powers on the building and he turned combat on to keep her at bay. Now that she was free, she could just jump and kill him with a quick-draw technique and no one would be able to stop her. And then she could easily overpower those two other guards and escape relatively unharmed.

"Don't even think about it," Torchlight said. "Kill me now and you'll become a red player - the first one in the game. Are you sure you want that?"

Red players couldn't use NPC shops and lost safe zone protection. Gambol grit her teeth. She didn't want that. "This isn't the end," she said, turning around and leaving the room.

"No, I doubt it will," Torchlight said, chuckling. "Until we meet again, kitty cat."

REMNANT ONLINE

At a plaza near the center of town, several players and more than two dozen NPCs had gathered around to watch one of the player sparring matches that had become quite common in the past few weeks.

Milou Akouo stood in the middle of the circle, weapons drawn and stance readied. Four other players surrounded her, each holding a halberd, a mace, two daggers, and a sword respectively. It looked to be a four-on-one battle, which was the likely reason for the big crowd. There have been very few matches with more than two fighters, and only five with handicaps - and even then, it was not four against one. It was quite exciting.

Above them, a timer was slowly ticking down. Once it struck zero, the fight would begin. It was a race to 50% health, with a time limit of two minutes. The match began in thirty seconds.

Milou eyed her four opponents. They were just four random players who she didn't care to know the name of. They had challenged her in a duel despite them being lower level then her. Call it hubris but she decided to accept their challenge, under the condition that they all fight her simultaneously. Now that she had a better look at them, it didn't seem like it was a good idea.

The one with the mace was obviously their tank though his build was strange. He had heavy armor, but no shield. It was probably a compromise due to lack of strength stat - forgo the shield to lower the weight penalty, allowing for faster movement. The one with the halberd had a similar build, though he wore lighter armor. The one with the daggers had a full damage-per-second build, with extremely light armor and two agility weapons. They probably had terrible defenses. It shouldn't take long to bring them down. Finally, there was the sword user. He had fairly heavy armor but still seemed light on his feet. He also had no shield but used a long sword which had different attacks based on whether he was wielding it one handed or two handed. He looked to be the most dangerous of them.

The timer hit zero and immediately Milou activated [Battering Ram] and charged into the one with the knives. She followed up with and a [Linear] thurst with her spear. He was out within the first three seconds.

The others had converged upon her as she was attacking. Three simultaneous thrust attacks came from different directions. Milou managed to deflect two of hem with her shield but the halberd user slashed at her thigh. She lost a small chunk of health.

She quickly counter attacked with a [Sweeper] in an attempt to put some distance between her and them. They all back stepped from the attack and it only managed to hit the halberd user who stumbled backward when it connected.

Milou saw the opportunity and [Shield Bashed] the halberd user, knocking him down. She then pounced on him with a [Sky Strike], getting him under 50% health. The halberd user was out.

She stood there, locked in her attack animation for a short period, just long enough for the mace user to knock her back with a [Heavy Slam]. The sword user followed up with a combo, chaining several complicated sword techs at her. Milou was forced further back as she blocked with her shield.

Once her cool down finished, she pushed the sword user away with another [Shield Bash]. She seemed to get some footing again but the mace user continued the onslaught, forcing her behind her shield once more.

Every hit took out an increasing portion of her health as the shield's durability decreased more and more. Eventually, the constant battering broke the shield entirely and Milou fell backwards.

The mace user stood over her, weapon raised high for the finishing blow. Desperately, Milou swung her spear for another [Sweeper], slashing at the mace user's ankles. It cut quite deep enough for dismemberment but it was certainly within the damage threshold for it. With disabled ankles, he lost his footing almost immediately.

Quickly, Milou jumped to her feet and went on an all-out offensive on the sword user, chaining as many sword techs as she could. He wasn't able to block all of them and was eventually worn down. He was out before long.

She then moved her attention to the mace user, ready to take out the last guy with another [Sky Strike].

Then there was of clapping and cheering and the sound of a buzzer in her ears. The match had ended, apparently. She had lost. The timer ran out and the mace user had just a bit more health left. Even though she collectively did more damage, the one with more health at the end of the match was always the one who won.

Milou blinked before relaxing her posture. She sighed and gave her opponents a friendly smile, offering her hand for a handshake. "That was a good match," she said.

The mace user took the hand with a glare, squeezing hard enough to deal a small amount of damage. "It'll be good once we mop the floor with you," he said, releasing Milou's hand. With that, he and his team left the plaza, the crowd dispersing as they walked past.

There was the sound of clapping that seemed different from the others coming from behind her. She turned to find Myrtenaster walking towards her.

"They," she said in disgust, "were sore losers. That was an amazing fight, Milou. Though that indecision cost you the match."

Milou nodded. "Yes. None of them had very good defenses. I should have been more aggressive instead of hiding behind my shield. Now I need to buy a new one."

"That shield was fully upgraded, too," Myrtenaster muttered. "As big of a waste as that was, you still achieved your goal: I'm convinced. These nightly duels are a good way to determine the skill levels of the players in the area."

"Do you think those guys would be good for our Gate Dungeon raid team?"

Myrtenaster scowled. "No. They would be terrible," she said. "Not only is their build choice absolutely terrible, they're also rude and immature. They're the last type of people I want watching my back in a fight."

Milou laughed. "Well then, let's stick around. I'm sure there are more fights breaking out somewhere."

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Rose sat on a rock, quietly watching as her menu's clock ticked away. 23:57:31, 32, 33...

"I'm starting to think this is a bad idea," Maggy muttered.

"A little too late the get cold feet," Rose said, smirking.

Maggy's face soured "I've always hated that saying. How does that even make sense? Why does having cold feet mean nervousness?"

Rose thought for a bit. "You know what? I have no idea." She turned to Stromflower. "Any ideas?"

Stormflower shook his head.

Rose frowned. "You're kinda right. It doesn't really make sense," Rose said in agreement. "Still though. It's no use getting nervous now. We're way too far away from the town now and midnight is only a few minutes away."

She stood and readied her scythe. "Okay, let's go over the plan again. We do the same thing as before, except we're making our way towards the city. If too many show up, we teleport away. You still have those teleport crystals?" Stormflower and Magnhild nodded. "Good. Make sure to use them. I don't want you two dying on me. Now, get ready."

She stared at her menu clock until she got the rhythm down. She then dismissed her menu and started counting. Wouldn't be long now. Just a few more seconds. 56, 57, 58, 59...

Rose felt a chill run through her. She scanned around, activating [Detection] for good measure. There was a mass of pale red cursors surrounding them, to the point that her entire vision was enveloped with cursors - all of them approaching slowly. It was significantly more Grimm than she ever faced. It was a terrifying sight.

"I hope you two know how to climb trees," Rose muttered.

Maggy blinked and turned to Rose. "What?"

Rose shook her head. "It's nothing. Let's just go." They all speeded back towards the town.

REMNANT ONLINE

A Gambol jumped from roof to roof, barely visible in the blackness of the night. She found that climbing the rooftops were more efficient than running through the streets. Aside from having more space, less people were there to see her. It made it fairly easy to head towards any location within the city without being detected. She reached her destination without incident.

Down on the street, there were only a handful of players and NPCs still milling about, making it easy to spot who she was looking for. She found two players about to pass the building she was standing on. She called out to them.

Myrtenaster and Milou stopped walking and looked up a nearby roof. "There you are," Myrtenaster said, not sounding particularly upset nor happy to see her. "I expected you to be back over an hour ago. Did something happen?"

"Someone knows who we are," Gambol said urgently.

Myrtenaster scowled. "Clock tower. Now."

The two quickly made their way to the clock tower at the center of town while Gambol kept a low profile from above. Wilting Blush was probably following as well from street level since his icon on the map screen was in the same area.

Having gained a short lead, Gambol landed on the roof of a large building and peered down towards the streets. She saw Wilt walk out of the crowd to keep up with Myrt and Milou's faster pace. There you are, she thought. He stopped, looked up at Gambol, and gave her one nod before continuing onward. Gambol nodded back and leaped away. You always know where I am, don't you?

It wasn't long before Myrtenaster and company arrived at the town clock tower. The three who were at street level entered the building and took the stairs. Gambol climbed the tower from outside. She still reached the top before everyone else did.

Gambol stood by the windowsill, watching the players and NPCs down below when the others stormed into the room. She turned to face them and saw Myrtenaster swipe furiously through the air as she set access restrictions to the room - she had bought the top floor of the clock tower specifically so she had admin privileges.

"Blake, tell me everything."

Gambol blinked, taken aback by being addressed by her real name. However, she made no comment and explained the situation.

Myrtenaster tapped her foot on the floor. "Let me get this straight," she growled. "You broke into an info-broker's base of operations in an attempt to... what? Blackmail him? Kill him? What was your logic behind this?"

Gambol winced internally but showed no emotion other than a slight downward tilt of her head.

"Honestly, it would have been better if you told me about this and we struck a deal with him so he doesn't blab. We are, as the saying goes, rolling in money right now. Paying for his silence would be nothing to us." Myrtenaster sighed deeply. "Okay, this is fine. So he knows who we are. We can very easily bargain for him to keep it a secret. However, you..." She looked pointedly at Gambol. "You owe him now. From what you describe of him, I can already tell this debt will be a very big liability. I know his type. He's going to milk this for all it's worth."

"I'll make it up to him somehow," Gambol muttered weakly.

"By doing what? Working for him full time? He nearly killed you, Blake, and he easily could have. The only reason you're alive right now is because he still thinks you'll be useful. You basically owe him your life."

Gambol grit her teeth, but said nothing.

Myrtenaster rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't give me that look. Do you remember how my father prosecutes anyone who trespasses on his property? This is basically the same thing except we're in a place where you kill things to survive. Your life was forfeit the moment you stepped into that building."

Gambol stared at Myrtenaster, feeling as slight sense of betrayal and, more notably, an ever increasing feeling of regret. Everything Myrtenaster had told her was true. She had messed up. She had to live with it. "Understood," she said, sounding almost pained as she did so.

Myrtenaster continued staring sternly for a short while but eventually looked away. She expression softened. "Look, we'll fine a way to deal with this, okay? Until then, we keep this problem to ourselves."

Gambol nodded quietly. "Understood," she repeated.

Wilting Blush walked towards the window, brandishing his scimitar. "Show yourself," he ordered. Everyone turned towards the window as well, readying their weapons.

A single girl, a little shorter than five feet, dropped into the room from outside. She had pink hair, wore a white long coat, brown shorts, and knee-high boots. She sat on the windowsill, legs cross and a fearless smirk on her face.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Wilt asked, pointing his sword threateningly at the girl. She pointed at Gambol before wordlessly leaning backward.

Gambol recognized a second too late what the girl was doing and charged towards the window. By the time she arrived, the girl had jumped out and was on the rooftops on the other side of the street. She looked back up, get a condescending bow and leaped away.

Gambol stared coldly out the window before turning back to the others. "Did you get a good look at her status screen?" Myrtenaster asked her.

"No," Gambol growled. "She was a bit far away and there was a bunch of other stuff right next to her interfering with the targeting."

Myrtenaster turned to everyone else. "Anyone else think to look at her username?" No answer. "Great. We all messed up in this case."

"I think that was one of Torchlight's lackeys. He said he was going to figure out how I got into his building when it was on lock down. I guess he's figured it out."

"How sure are you that it's even him behind this?" Milou asked.

Gambol scowled. She's right. Blaming Torchlight would be the easy answer. It might very well be the correct answer but that still doesn't mean they should be jumping to conclusions.

"You know what? Let's ask him, shall we?" Myrtenaster said, swiping down her menu.

Gambol blinked. "Wait, you've had him as a contact this entire time?"

Myrtenaster rolled her eyes. "Having connections with him is an asset in most cases." Her face soured. "Besides, I'm not surprised he knows who I am," she said, touching the scar over her left eye. "If he did his research, he'd easily recognize my face. He probably knew the moment he saw me."

She closed her eyes and sighed. "In any case, we'll need to learn how she got in. This is obviously a glitch in the system." She turned to everyone. "Players getting into places they shouldn't classifies as a glitch, right?"

"Yes, it's a glitch," Milou said. "And as much it might upset you, asking Torchlight would be the easiest way to figure out how to recreate it. If that was him, he did it in less than an hour. He knows what's up."

"Exactly," Myrtenaster said. A pop up message appeared. [Send? Y/N] "Unless there are more objections, I'm sending it." She tapped yes.

REMNANT ONLINE

Rose laughed. "Well, it's been a long time since I've had to use this strategy."

They had very gotten close to being overwhelmed by the Grimm. They were about to break out the teleport crystals when Rose saw a nice tree with low branches nearby. Betting on the enemy AI being only marginally more intelligent than the previous region, Rose ordered that they all climb it. Sure enough, once up the tree, the Grimm no longer detected players inside their detection radius and, as a result, were no longer hostile. They slowly dispersed, returning to their spawn point or their usual patrol route.

"I just realized," Maggy said. "This is what you did to finish that forest dungeon back in [Signal]!"

Rose smiled. "Yes. Yes it is."

"Smart," Stormflower commented.

"Up until we get to a point where they can detect players in trees. After that, we're pretty much screwed." Rose activated detection and scanned the area. Just twelve mobs left within the immediate area. If they waited a bit, the others would leave, dropping the number to six or less. "Give it three minutes and we make for another push for the town. Better make sure you're at max health."

Maggy grinned smugly. "Pshh. We barely even took a scratch."

"She was tanking for us," Stormflower pointed out.

Rose winced. The fighting got pretty heated and Rose couldn't always aggro all the Grimm before they targeted the extremely underleveled Magnhild or Stormflower. Of course, they would probably die fairly quickly if they got hit so Rose had to take the hits for them - she was the only one with enough health and defenses that she wouldn't immediately be incapacitated by a group of Grimm converging on her. It was pretty painful, now that she thought about it. Nowhere near as painful as it probably would have been in real life but still quite unpleasant.

Rose shook her head, not liking how she was remembering her pain. With a deep sigh, she dropped down to the ground. "Yeah, okay, whatever, let's just-" she cut a Grimm down vertical slice down the middle. "- Go!" She hit three critical-hit areas in a single attack, killing it. "We're wasting moonlight here. Come on."

Maggy looked curiously at Rose. "It hasn't been three minutes, though?" She turned to Stormflower who merely shrugged. Maggy shrugged as well. They both dropped down and followed.

The trek back to town would be terrible...

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Chapter Text

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Rose and company were tired, had low HP, and still had over two hundred feet of terrain and Grimm between them and the town. There were no trees nearby with low enough branches to reliably climb and the way forward had too many enemies. Things weren't looking good.

Rose looked around, seeing a mass of Grimm approaching from behind while the seven Grimm in front stayed where they were. The highest level sword tech I have for this weapon will finish cool down in around sixty seconds, Rose thought. I'll need to chain my attacks just right so I'll be able to use it right as it becomes available. I should be able to cut a path for Maggy and Stormflower. She did a bit of math in her head, wasting precious time fumbling with her numbers. So the order should be [Nimble Feet], [Rolling Saw], [Sweeper], [Tornado], and then I can finally use it.

"I have a plan," Rose said, charging forward. She was already counting her cooldown timers. "Follow me!"

"Ah! Wait up!" Maggy cried as Rose ran off towards the town, moving much faster than either Maggy or Stormflower could ever achieve with their stats. Yet follow they did, keeping her in view despite the head start.

Rose arrived at the first Grimm in a little over a second and activated [Rolling Saw]. It was a multi hit technique that involved jumping into the air and violently pitching the scythe forward into a buzz-saw like spin. It was one of the hardest moves she knew how to execute and only managed to do it twice in the past. One Grimm fell, its chest cleaved vertically in three parts. After which, she landed shakily on her feet, immediately transitioning into a [Sweeper] that briefly stunned the next two Grimm that were running towards her. Two more jumped at her and she swung the other way, activating the next sword tech, [Tornado], a four hit horizontal spin attack. The other two Grimm got pushed back as well.

Here goes, Rose thought, planting both feet into the ground and taking a deep breath. She activated [Crescendo] causing her weapon to glow.

All of the six remaining Grimm pounced on her right as she began spinning her scythe wildly around her, effectively defending and counter attacking at the same time. Her [Ancient Harvester] was a crimson arc of death, dismembering and decapitating Grimm left and right. It was exhilarating. She couldn't feel her blood pumping but she could definitely feel the adrenaline.

Upon finishing her attack, she stood there stuck in her recovery animation. She held her scythe behind her, the blade resting on the ground while the other end was raised up by her hand. She suddenly felt light headed.

"Rose!"

"Maggy, get her to safety. I'll distract them," Stormflower yelled some distance behind her.

Rose had nearly lost consiousness when Maggy and Stormflower got to her. They seemed to have understood Rose's intention when she charged in. And since Rose killed all the Grimm, the two had a clear path to the town. Relieved, she blacked out and collapsed.

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"Yang, I'm sorry. I really am. Please. I didn't know it would-"

"It's fine, Ruby. It's fine. It's all good. Don't worry about it. Just... just... I'm fine, okay...? I'm fine..."

Rose opened her eyes to a familiar face. "This exactly what happened when we first met, wasn't it?" It was Myrtenaster, standing above Rose with her hands on her hips. "You always seem to be chasing trouble."

Rose sighed in relief. "Eh, it's a problem I have, I guess." She smiled sheepishly.

Myrtenaster rolled her eyes before offering her hand. "You're lucky we happened to be passing by the city gates when you three came running. Had we not been there to hold them off, you would have died." Rose looked away, even as she took Myrtenaster's hand. She felt her squeeze tightly. "You specifically, Rose," she repeated.

Rose sat up, feeling mildly disturbed at how close she was to dying back there. All because of her hubris. She had a teleport crystal in her quick-use bag but she didn't think to use it. Instead, she had decided that a risky idea wherein she tried to be the hero was the best course of action. This is a lot like how Jaune died, she thought bitterly. I need to be more careful. I need to stop being so reckless.

Rose was then snapped out of her inner self-scolding by Myrtenaster's short cough. "There's an interesting thing I'd like to ask you."

Rose tilted her head curiously. "Okay? Shoot."

"What is the [Idle] status?"

Rose blinked in confusion. The [Idle] status is when a player temporarily leaves the game while still having it turned on. A player could deliberately pause and remove the Nerve Gear helmet to go pee or have a snack - very unlikely since the stand-by screen for temporary leaves was accessed through the log-out button. Another possibility was a power outage or loss of internet connection which also forced the player into [Idle] status until they reconnected with the servers. That was the more likely scenario in Rose's opinion.

After Rose's brief explanation, Myrtenaster nodded. "You were out for nearly thirty minutes now, actually. I was about the just leave you here in the grass until you woke up."

Rose frowned. [Idle] players were supposed to be automatically logged out if they stay [idle] for longer than fifteen minutes. Not really a possibility, now that she thought about it, but still concerning.

She looked around. "Where's Maggy and Stormflower?"

Myrtenaster stepped to the side. Behind her, Magnhild was lying in the grass, probably asleep, while Stormflower sat next to her, testing the tension on his bow. Looks like he gained enough levels to equip it, Rose thought.

"Have you ever used bows in this game before?" Myrtenaster asked.

Rose thought for a bit. "Once or twice in the beta. They don't have that many techs on them and require a bit of skill to use well. They don't do enough damage for my taste so I don't use them. Not sure if they've changed since then."

Myrtenaster stared curiously at Stormflower. "Having some range would be nice, though," she muttered. "Having a bow as a supporting weapon seems like a smart move."

"Keep and mind that the quiver full of arrows also contributes to your equipment weight. Stormflower a pretty high strength stat for someone with an agility build so he should be able to afford the extra weight without getting a movement penalty."

"Anyway." Rose stood up. "Why were you passing by the northern entrance anyway?"

"Because I need to meet up with Torchlight. We want something from him."

Rose smirked. "I hope you brought a lot of money, then."

Myrtenaster merely smiled at her. "I'm one of the richest people in this game right now. I have the money." With that, she walked away, leaving Rose standing alone under the moonlight.

"What could she want, though?" Rose wondered aloud. She shrugged and walked towards Maggy and Stormflower. "Whatever it is, I hope she gets it."

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Gambol dropped down from the roof, landing next to Myrtenaster as she walked the now empty streets. "How was it?" Gambol asked.

Myrtenaster forwned, deep in thought. "We are some of the few players who are still awake right now. It doesn't look like anyone noticed how most of us went [idle] at around the same time. Rose was the first - we saw her go down. Then Stormflower, then you, then me. The only person who didn't pass out was Maggy."

"What did you learn?"

"Nothing you haven't already told me." Myrtenaster started walking, gesturing for Gambol to follow.

"Something messed with our bodies, Gambol. Our real bodies. I have no idea what happened but it must have involved unplugging the Nerve Gear."

Gambol looked at her confusedly. "How do you-"

"I know that thing's specs inside and out - or at least the prototypes father managed to have smuggled into RND. The Nerve Gear is supposed to be plugged in while it runs but it has an rechargeable internal battery that lasts for 30 minutes. You'll still be able to save your progress in the event of a power outage, though that feature is only really useful in offline games. In our case, it just means we black out for half an hour until we get reconnected to the servers."

Gambol frowned. "That's still doesn't explain how you're so sure of this."

"Think about it. We've been stuck here for a month. It could have been so easy for someone to just remove the helmet and log us out that way. Obviously that didn't happen so we've been stuck here since November. Over thirty days have gone by and none of us have been eating and drinking. At this point, all of us must be severely malnourished. You and I are probably in better condition considering the facilities we have at home but there is no doubt that we've been transferred to a hospital."

Gambol ran ahead and stopped in front of Myrtenaster. "Travel time is an issue, though. What if they take longer than 30 minutes?"

"Like I said, my knowledge was gained from the prototypes that RND took apart and studied. The Nerve Gears we're using right now are from the official release batch." Myrtenaster shrugged and walked past Gambol. "Who knows what's changed between versions."

Gambol watched her walk, still standing behind her, unsure what to say. Myrtenaster was obviously done with the topic. No use keeping it up. Then a thought came to her.

"What do you think Torchlight would pay for this information."

"I wouldn't count on him not knowing about this already." Myrtenaster stopped and turned back to Gambol, smiling. "But it can't hurt to find out. I won't say no to payment for information he already has."

Gambol smiled as well. "Assuming he already has it," she said, walking to catch up the Myrtenaster.

"All the more reason to try," Myrtenaster replied, walking again as well. "Let us see if we can con the con man."

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Myrtenaster and Gambol were escorted into a room where Torchlight stood behind a table, awaiting them. "And so the stray returns," he said with a grin. "And look, she brought her master with her."

Myrtenaster drew her rapier. "Shut your mouth or I will gladly shut it for you," she said, thrusting it forward, stopping just short of actually hitting Torchlight.

Torchlight raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, easy. No need to get all dramatic." He didn't seem at all scared of her actually going through with stabbing him though it did trouble him somewhat. "I take it you have business with me?"

Myrtenaster stared at him coldly, pressing the tip of her sword lightly into Torchlight. There was a pin-prick of damage, causing Myrtenaster's cursor to turn orange. "Yes, I have business with you," she said, pulling back and sheathing her rapier.

"Bold move, princess. You know, it's dangerous threatening me like that. You really wouldn't want me as an enemy." He then laughed. "Though you probably wouldn't want me as a friend either." He leaned forward pressed his hands on the table. "So, what do you have for me, ladies?"

"You know who we are," Myrtenaster said, quickly getting to the point and wasting no time. "And we want you to keep it secret."

"Okay, I'll do that," he said casually.

"As for payment, I am willing to-wait what did you say?" Myrtenaster stared at Torchlight in confusion. "You're saying yes? Just like that?"

Torchlight put a finger on his chin as he pretended to think for a bit. "Why, yes. Yes I am," he said condescendingly.

Myrtenaster continued staring, still finding it unbelievable. "That's... that seems out of character," she muttered.

"I am not a very charitable person, Miss Schnee." Myrtenaster flinched when she heard her real name. "But I am also not a monster. It's a real dangerous world in here. And selling players sensitive information like that is an easy way to get multiple people killed. You see, I am very much a pragmatist. Suppose I sold your name to someone in this game, maybe to someone who wanted you dead. And suppose that we actually get out of here and go back to the real world. You'll be dead and, with enough investigation, your death will be traced back to me. I know your father would absolutely do prosecute me and anyone else related to your death. I don't want that to happen, thus I will tell no one."

He grinned. "Of course, I also don't ever sell IRL information in the first place but that's beside the point"

Myrtenaster scowled, turning to Gambol who was silently glaring at Torchlight. "Did you know this?" Myrtenaster asked.

Torchlight laughed. "Oh she knew alright. I told her myself. I can even quote you right now."

"'I'm no threat to her, and you're no threat to me'," Gambol growled. "Those were your words. Your exact words."

"And I still stand by them." He turned back to Myrtenaster. "Miss Schnee, what do you think people trapped inside this game will do if they find out you're the heiress to Schnee Electronics, the business rival to the company that made this game? Some people will blame you for this game trapping its players. Some people will pity you for being trapped yourself. But a lot of them just. won't. care. You're not important to them. And while you're important to me, you're no more important than any of my other clients. You're just another player, no more in danger than anyone else in this death trap. It's good to be cautious, but you need to know when enough is enough."

Myrtenaster thought for a bit but ultimately decided he was right. "Okay then, I'm convinced. And about keeping this secret..."

"Completely free."

Myrtenaster nodded awkwardly. "Right. In any case, I believe Gambol here is in your debt."

Torchlight's smile turned sinister. "Oh, is she now? Well, I suppose you're also here to pay off that debt? I'm willing to listen to your offer."

"Approximately one hour ago, Gambol successfully infiltrated your base of operations. Granted, she got caught, but it did call to attention a rather important bug, one bug you yourself attempted to recreate."

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

Myrtenaster snapped her fingers. "Gambol, if you would."

Gambol jumped forward and performed a quick-draw technique at the space behind Torchlight. Right before her katana slashed through the air, it shimmered and materialized. The girl in pink now stood there, casually blocking the sword with her cane. She smirked at Gambol before giving her a small push with her free hand.

Torchlight sighed dramatically. "That was terrible stealth, Neo. Were you even trying?" When she giggled in response, Torchlight couldn't help but roll his eyes . "Typical."

He gestured to the girl in pink. "Ladies, this is Neopolitan."

Myrtenaster looked dryly between the two of them. "We've met."

Torchlight smiled in annoyance. "Well, I offered to call Gambol's little invasion of privacy a done deal but you two just can't let it go. Of course, by now we're even, considering that my little assistant here has done something similar." He leaned back, looking away. "Unless, of course, you have something else in mind," he added suggestively.

"Now, you owe us. You would've never have found out about this bug without Gambol. You're right. Everything that happened earlier tonight is even. What about the knowledge we gave you?"

Torchlight frowned and crossed his arms. "Well, what do you want, then?"

Myrtenaster smiled. "Oh my. The conman is letting the customer make the terms?"

He shrugged. "Nothing I offer you is anything you don't already have. Money? Ha! I'm only just now catching up to your insane lead on everyone. Information? Nope! You already know everything I can tell you." He laughed. "Congratulations, Myrtenaster. You just backed me into a corner. Well done."

A chime echoed throughout the room and everyone flinched. Everyone received a message at the same time. Myrtenaster scowled and brought up her menu. The new message icon flashed over her messages tab.

[System Update: As of 03:30 this morning, patch 1.2 has come into effect. See patch notes below for changes.

Balance changes:
*{Scythe} weapon types rebalanced. Base damage reduced. Strength stat requirements and scaling reduced. Agility stat scaling increased. Bonus damage based on combo stacks increased. Combos now stack up to six times. High level techniques are no longer available at low weapon skill levels.
*Grimm levels reduced to 50% higher than area level. Experience gained from Grimm reduced to 75% higher than regular area mobs
*Number of enemies in {Emerald Forest} field area now reduced. Farther areas may now be explored without being overwhelmed by mobs
*{Stealth} skill rebalanced (PVP). Players with maxed stealth level are no longer completely invisible to other players without detection. Observant players will now be able to notice a slight distortion in the air when a hidden player moves.
*{Stealth} skill rebalanced (PvE). Activating stealth after moving outside of a mob's vision cone will no longer cause the mob to instantly change targets. The mob will now attempt to reacquire their previous target until targeting resets after 3 seconds or until another player gains aggression (whichever is sooner)
*Rolling now reduces fall damage up to a certain damage threshold.

Aesthetic changes:
*Increased options for menu customization
*Higher level enemies now have glowing red eyes

Bug fixes:
*Percentage damage now rounded off. Players and mobs can no longer be lowered to less than 1 health and still survive
*Players can no longer enter restricted areas through windows and other such side entrances if the area is a player owned area. NPC owned areas can still be broken into.

This is an automated message created by Remnant Online's adaptive game world system. Do not reply to this message]

"Players can no longer break into restricted areas," Torchlight repeated, chuckling. "Looks like I don't owe you anything anymore. Too bad, princess."

Myrtenaster scowled. That bug was found literally hours ago. How could there already be a fix for it? And what's this about an adaptive game world system? If it means what I think it means then this game is a lot more advanced than I realized.

"Well then, I guess we have no reason for being here anymore. We'll see ourselves out." She turned up her nose and turned around.

Myrtenaster exited the room, Gambol following behind, still facing Torchlight and Neopolitan as she kept her grip on her katana ready. Myrtenaster payed no heed to what Gambol was doing. She was too busy thinking.

An adaptive virtual world what can find and fix its own bugs, rebalance gameplay based on player performance, and make cosmetic changes without the aid of human developers. I know this technology is well within this generation's hardware capabilities but it must be really expensive to produce. Where did Argus get that money, though? Schnee Electronics has been up Argus' profits up to 50% for the past 6 years. How could some second rate company miles behind us make something like this when we never had enough to do the same? As it stands, Schnee Electronics are only just now catching up to this company's progress. It doesn't make sense! It doesn't ma-

As she silently fumed, she could sense that Gambol and Wilt were having a conversation - or a sort of stern lecture if she wanted to better describe it. She tried to ignore them, though she was failing.

"Never show open hostility when in enemy territory," Wilt spat. Gambol said nothing. "Your client was right there. What, were you trying to look intimidating? The role of a bodyguard is to protect your client from danger. You were practically inviting them to try and attack." Gambol still said nothing but one still got the sense that she was holding back a response.

Myrtenaster frowned as she listened in. "We were more than capable of dealing with whatever they threw at us," she muttered.

Wilt turned around "I'm sorry, ma'am, but that is beside the point."

"Then what is the point?" Myrtenaster snapped. "No doubt Gambol already knows this. A simple reminder would have been enough. Stop with the sermon already, it's distracting."

Wilt paused before nodding once. "Yes, ma'am." He kept silent the rest of their walk back to the clock tower.

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Rose bit her lip as she read the notification. Most of these are probably because of me, she thought wryly. She brought up her menu. My nightly grinding's gonna take a hit from all these changes. The Scythe rebalance especially. I wonder what techs I lost...

On her weapon skill screen, her available sword techniques were displayed on a list. All the ones with names were ones she had encountered before. The techs that she was capable of using were highlighted in blue while the ones she did not meet the requirement for were greyed out. There rest were hidden from view, only becoming visible when she either unlocked them or saw them being used by another player. Her current list had mostly greyed out techniques.

Rose sighed and dismissed her menu. "Goodbye, Crescendo. I wish I was able to use you more often..."

Stormflower walked up to Rose. "I'm ready," he said "Are you sure you're good to carry her the entire way?" he asked.

"Oh? Don't worry about it." Rose waved her hand dismissively. "As long as I un-equip my weapons, I shouldn't go over my weight limit."

Magnhild was lying on the grass in front of them, sleeping soundly, battle ax still strapped to her back. "No, I get to ride the Ursa..." she muttered in her sleep. Rose and Stormflower smiled.

"Right," Rose said, kneeling down. "Upsey-daisy." With a little bit of effort, she picked up Maggy. She winced as she took a step. "Okay, I think I passed a weight threshold. I'll be able to keep up but don't expect me to move any faster than a fast walk."

"We're staying at the inn near the church."

"The one with the low ceiling and big circle windows?" Stormflower nodded. "Yeah, I know where that is. Let's go."

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Myrtenaster leaned forward and rested her head on the windowsill, watching the players and NPCs start to stir. The sky was slowly turning a light shade of grey as they approached dawn.

"Was I wrong? Was this whole thing just the result of a maintenance patch?" She asked to no one in particular

Above her, there was the sound of boots hitting tiles, followed by two feet dangling over the edge of the roof. "Hey," the voice of Gambol greeted quietly.

"Hello, Gambol," Myrtenaster replied. She raised her head and poked the dangling leg beside her. "Do you have an answer for me?"

Gambol raised the leg being poked before answering. "Your guess is as good as mine - arguably better."

"Well what other reason could there be? How can everyone start passing out within minutes of each other not be something important? Yes, the patch is important but must everyone but incapacitated for it to come into effect?" Myrtenaster shook her head. "There has to be something more to this. Something that has to do with the world outside of this game."

There was a pause. Myrtenaster stared as the remaining leg, feeling as sense of longing. She wasn't sure what kind but it was longing.

"But you can't prove it," Gambol responded after a few seconds of pondering.

Myrtenaster frowned. "No... No I cant..."

"Then sleep on it, then." Gambol pulled her leg up, leaving Myrtenaster to stare at the horizon. More footsteps hit the roof tiles as Gambol stood up. "Besides. You've been up all night. You need your rest."

Myrtenaster turned towards her bed in the corner. "Maybe I will..."

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Rose lied down with Maggy on her bed. "You guys sleep in the same room?" She got a nod in response. "Isn't it awkward?"

Stormflower sat at a chair next to the bed and stared at Rose, blinking once. "We've been friends for a long time," he answered.

Rose blinked as well. "I guess it isn't awkward for you guys, huh?" she said after a pause. She glanced at Maggy before staring at the ceiling. "So what was it she was saying earlier? How much she missed... this... whatever this is..." She turned back to Stormflower. "What was she talking about?"

"She missed being able to move around."

It took a moment to hit her. "Why would she... she can't move in real life..." Rose frowned. "What happened...?"

Stormflower glanced at Maggy. "You'll have to ask her yourself. Good morning, Nora."

Magnhild sat up and pouted. "That was mean, Ren. Telling her without my permission." She smiled sadly. "It's fine. It's not like I was keeping it secret or anything." She turned to Rose. "Do you really want to know what happened? What are you going to do when you find out?"

Rose hesitated. What would she do? Did she really need to know what happened? And really, what would she do? She was just a random player trapped in a game with other players. Yes, she was the strongest one out of all of them, but did that really mean anything when literally anyone should be able to reach the level of power she had. She was just a player. Just a person. What could she do with the info if she were to get it? What could she do?

"I guess I don't really need to know," Rose muttered.

Maggy frowned. "Hey, no need to be so down about it. It's not a big deal. Really."

Rose stared at Maggy. She nodded slowly. "Right..." She then stood up and moved to open the door.

"Wait, Rose. Where are you going? Do you want to know or not?" Those were the last things Maggy said before the door closed. Rose still heard more muffled words as she continued down the hall. "Ren, what's up? What did I say to upset her?"

She was out of the building and in the streets before long. She pulled up her hood and made her way to her own inn. Once she was there, she immediately collapsed into her bed

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Chapter Text

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Myrtenaster glared at her map screen as she analyzed it for the sixth time in as many minutes. Behind her was her two body guards, Gambol Shroud and Wilting Blush, as well as Torchlight and Neoplitan.

"Earth to ice queen," Torchlight called. "You've been staring at that map for a while now. You've already bought the data. What do I say to make you leave?"

Myrtenaster twitched in annoyance but said nothing. She continued looking at the map screen.

The players gunning for the gate dungeon had taken full advantage of the latest update, mapping out as much of the region as they could. Within three days, four of the twelve temples were found so far. It wouldn't be long before they could finally enter the region's [Gate Dungeon]. In addition to that, several safe zones were also found scattered around the forest - large clearings ringed with stone pillars.

Technically, they weren't actual [Safe Zones] as PvP was enabled and mobs could still enter and roam as they please. Rather, they were [Neutral Zones]. Mobs within the area were marked as neutral and would not attack unless attacked first or were already in combat before entering. Further more, player healing outside of combat was increased - not as high as in actual [Safe Zones] but significantly higher than out in the field. Finally, debuffs and status effects like [Poisoned] or [Paralyzed] still required the appropriate healing item but their effects were reduced to as low as 30%.

Myrtenaster scanned the western half of her map, notably the temple nearest the town. It was ironically not near at all.

If the same thing from before happens again then we'll be running out the doors with Grimm on our tails because we took too long to kill the boss. If that happens, we'll have even more Grimm to deal with in the forest. It'd take at least an hour to get back to town. How are we supposed to survive this?

"Roman, you were part of the beta. How many people would it take to defeat this area's boss in the shortest amount of time?"

Torchlight grunted. Myrtenaster smiled as she imagined the scowl on his face. "You find out my real name and suddenly you're always using it. If you keep calling me that, I might have to start charging you for it."

"Try to remember, you've been regularly using my name," was Myrtenaster's rebuttal. "Ask for a fee for that and I will respond in turn. Now answer the question."

Torchlight chuckled. "A bite like cold steel," he quipped. "Fine. I'll answer... for three hundred lien."

Myrtenaster bit her lip but said nothing, instead opening the trade menu. She transferred the money to Torchlight, giving him a short glare as she did so.

"Thank you kindly," he said, grinning. "The boss is [Silver Snout the Forest Guardian]. Think of a giant white boar with serrated tusks. Lots of health, lots of damage, but ridiculously telegraphed attacks - you can see them a mile away. If you get hit, then you're probably stupid... and most likely dead."

"Get to the point," Myrtenaster snapped

"Ball park figure? Eighty players all at the soft level cap and we finish in an hour. Forty and we finish in an hour and a half." Myrtenaster stared at him, mouth agape. Torchlight couldn't help but laugh. "Keep in mind that this is taking into account all the changes to the boss fights between the beta and the release. Give or take 20 minutes or players depending on how different it is from the beta."

Gears began turning as she parsed the information she just received. A hundred players will double the boss's health and damage. Then again, if its strong enough to kill players in one hit anyway then the increase in damage is negligible. There are maybe a couple dozen players at the soft cap - a few already some levels above it thanks to the Grimm rebalancing. Getting fifty players shouldn't be that hard.

She addressed Gambol and Wilt. "We're leaving." She then turned to Torchlight. "Thank you for your time."

Torchlight tipped his hat and Neo smiled and waved goodbye. "Bye bye, princess. Do come again."

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Rose lied down on the roof of a building, watching the clouds pass overhead. She had spent the entire day - and a good chunk of yesterday - partying up with a group of scouts. They were decently leveled for the area but needed help staying alive in the deeper regions of the forest. Seeing as Rose was the currently the strongest player in the game by a large margin, it wasn't surprising that they came to her. Rose, having nothing really better to do, decided to take them up on their offer.

"I wonder what they're doing right now?" she said to no one in particular. "It's only a few hours until night fall. I could probably party up with another scouting team. I'm at my most useful at night anyway." She closed her eyes and pondered.

She lay there for a few minutes, enjoying the relative silence of the bustling city. It was a weird kind of silence, she realized. It was clearly noisy, and yet nowhere near as hectic as the heat of battle. No intense drum beats or frantic chorus playing in the game's music system. Just a soft and simple melody that you eventually tune out. And the load chatter of bartering shop keepers and players alike sounded like a distant whisper amidst the echo of clashing blades in the chambers of her mind.

And then she heard boots hitting the tiles behind her.

Rose opened her eyes, coming face to face with the very person who had asked her for help. He squatted behind her, looking at her curiously.

"Yo," she greeted.

"Yo," he returned.

[Ruyi Jingu Bang], nicknamed "Gun" for quirky linguistic reasons. He was a tall, blond, and muscular staff user who never seemed to wear a shirt. If Rose pitched her head back a little, she'd be staring at some well toned abs.

"Enjoying the view?" he asked, grinning.

Rose smiled and brought her hand up to touch his torso. "Dork," she said, giving him a slight push. Even that small action flung him backwards halfway across the roof due to Rose's high strength stat. Once he was out of the way, Rose kicked up her legs and jumped to her feet. She huffed and stretched her arms before addressing him. "Alright, Gun. What do you want?"

"Me and the others found a cool new quest from the message board earlier. I thought you might wanna come join us."

Rose turned her head in thought. The message board? Must be one of the weekly quests for this area. I wonder what's so cool about it. "What's it about?"

"It's... well... it's..." He frowned and scratched his head, trying to piece together his explanation in his mind. "I don't know," he concluded with a baffling amount of certainty. Rose stifled a laugh. "It's hard to explain, okay? It has something to do with the safe zones people have been finding in the forest. We're supposed to meet some sort of NPC by the western gates at sunset."

An NPC, Rose thought, raising an eyebrow. Okay, sounds interesting... She eyed the blinking question mark icon in the corner of her vision. It marked that a new quest had been discovered and had been marked on her quest log. Eh, might as well, she concluded.

Gun tapped his foot impatiently. "So, you coming or what?" he asked, smiling ever so mischievously.

Rose smirked. "I'm going. Doesn't seem like a thing I'd miss, now does it?"

Gun paused. "Does it?"

She waved her finger disapprovingly. "No, it does not," she said, as a matter of fact. "I'm gonna go restock on some consumables. I'll meet you at the gate later." With that, she jumped off the roof and landed in a graceful roll down in the streets below.

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The town's central plaza had become a sort of hub where players exchanged information about new skills and techniques. Later at night, it also became the sparring grounds for people who wanted to duel. Milou Akuou was a regular of sorts.

She sat at the tables near the edge of plaza, enjoying the sound of clashing metal and the chatter of various players. She had just finished a sparring match with the four who defeated her not three nights prior. It was kind of disappointing. Even though they won their previous duel, it was by technicality - they couldn't match Milou's skill. They didn't get better in the time since they last crossed blades and she easily evened their score.

"Hi there!" Milou suddenly heard, nearly causing her to jump in her seat.

Peeking up from the other side of the table was a familiar head of orange hair. A short distance behind said head was a tall dark-haired person walking in their direction. Milou smiled and greeted them. "Hello again, Maggy, Stormflower."

Maggy shot up from below the table and gave a firm salute. She then giggled. "I saw your match earlier with those four tough looking guys. You were amazing."

So I was... Milou thought to herself. She made no comment and politely took the compliment.

"How have you been?" She then asked. Maggy took no notice of the change in subjected. Stormflower raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Oh, the same thing as everyone else. Scouting. Grinding. Not much else to do, if you know what I mean." Milou didn't quite know how to respond as Maggy wiggled her eyebrows at her. She, in fact, did not know what what Maggy meant. "So what about you? Anything interesting going on or is it the same deal?"

Milou tilted her head to the side. "Same deal. There isn't really that much for us to do at this point. Most of the early game content is just standard fetch and kill quests, plus the occasional escort mission. The real good content doesn't arrive until we reach the [Ruins of Vale] in the region after this one."

Maggy pouted. "I don't know. I kinda like what we have right now." She grinned and started running around the plaza "This full-dive VR tech makes it all great to me!" She screamed from a distance.

"She's got some interesting quirks," Milou commented.

"That she does," Stormflower agreed. "It's what makes her endearing." He watched as Maggy suddenly challenged a random player to a duel. He shook his head and chuckled. He then turned to Milou and gave an apologetic smile. "I need to go."

"Go," Milou said. "I'll see you around."

Stormflower nodded and jogged towards the now in-progress duel. Maggy looked to be winning.

"There you are!"

Another familiar voice came from the far side of the plaza. She wore all white and strode towards Milou with all the grace and confidence in the world. It wasn't hard to figure out who she was even if she had not called out.

Myrtenaster wasted no time and skipped the pleasantries. "I am aware that this is a little early for me to do," she began, "but we need to gather players for our raid team. I need your help"

Milou smiled. "What can I do?"

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"Everyone, I'd like you all to know that I am very grateful that you came today. When this is over, I will make sure you are all well compensated."

Rose had arrived at the town's western gate, met with a small group of players congregating around what looked to be the designated NPC for the quest.

The players were all around the high 20s to mid 30s in terms of level, with builds ranging from the defensive knights equipped with heavy armor, long swords, and shields, to the quick and deadly rogues equipped light flowing robes and dual wielded scimitars. There was even one player who wore literally nothing but the permanently-equipped default underwear and carried a giant ivory great ax. Rose very much enjoyed the diversity - it was amusing to see the builds people got away with.

The NPC was tall and stern looking, and yet in contrast, his electric green hair stood up wildly in a spiky mess. Large, thick glasses covered his eyes yet the brief glimpses of them revealed an intense analytic gaze. He wore a brown trench coat over the usual collared shirt and pants that most NPCs wore, along with what looked to be a modern-day paleontologist's hat. He had no shield nor any traditional weapon. Instead, he wielded a four foot pole with a kerosene lamp attached to the top - it didn't look like it was made for hitting things with.

Enchanted by the weapon, Rose barely heard anything the NPC was saying. Then again, he was speaking so fast that it wouldn't really matter that she wasn't listening - she still wouldn't understand. Fortunately, a few flicks through her menu brought her to her now updated quest log where the information about the NPC and the quest was detailed.

[Sir Bartholomew Oobleck] was the NPC's name. One of the last remaining mages in Remnant - a relic of an age now past. For the past 200 years, he had wandered the shattered remnants of his old world, searching for a way to pull the planet's pieces back together and dispel the evil darkness that had emerged through the cracks.

As she read, an icon started flashing in the corner of Rose's vision. It was an update for her quest log and map. Excited, she scrolled down for the new content.

[Quest Log Updated

Objectives:
-Explore the underground root complex
-Sir Oobleck must survive]

On her map was a waypoint far west of the town, just short of the nearest [Gate Dungeon] entrance. Whatever the "underground root complex" was, it must be very dangerous, considering how far away it was from the town.

"You will all form teams of 4 and move towards the way point in a V-formation, clearing all the enemies in our way. I understand that formation will be hard to maintain in the heat of battle but I urge you all the try."

Rose tilted her head curiously. The entire scenario was similar to how the players in the beta went about clearing the [Gate Dungeon] on their first attempt. They had grouped up at sunset and pushed through the forest. Rose wasn't a part of the first group that cleared. She did end up fighting the [Gate Boss] but she had done so completely solo when the rest of the players were clearing region 8.

Rose looked around for Gun but saw that he had already grouped up with his three other friends. Similarly, most of the other players had grouped up already. There were a few groups of three that seemed to really want Rose to join, but she didn't like the look of them - they seemed less interested in teamwork and more interested in Rose's level. She sighed with tired resignation since she apparently wasn't going to group with anyone. She headed towards the NPC.

Oobleck raised an eyebrow at Rose. "Yes, child. How can I help you?"

"Can I just group with you?"

"There are only two of us."

"I'm level 54, you're level 75. With our levels, we're basically more than 4 players combined. Besides, you don't have a group either."

Oobleck stared at her, puzzled. "You're not wrong," he muttered. "Very well. You shall party with me."

A request notification appeared on Rose's vision.

[The NPC [Sir Bartholomew Oobleck] wants to add you to their party. Accept? Y / N]

She tapped yes and his health bar appeared under her own. Strangely enough, there was a second blue bar above his health bar which Rose assumed was Mana. Now that was strange. As far as she was aware, there wasn't any magic systems in the game. What was the point of mana?

"I see you all have grouped up and took formation. Let us now be off! Please try to keep up!"

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Chapter Text

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As expected, the [Underground Root Complex] was a raid dungeon. The entrance was a large stump near the middle of a forest [Neutral Zone]. Knocking three times on the wood caused the surrounding ground to sink downward in a spiral pattern, forming a sort of stairwell. The root complex itself was a densely intertwined network of tunnels. They were a hodgepodge of different styles of architecture. One moment, you could be in an intricately crafted hallway with cobblestone floors and brick walls but take just a few paces forward and suddenly it was a crude dirt passageway with only wooden support beams keeping the ceiling from caving in.

"An interesting thing to note about these tunnels is how its use continued even after a number of collapses. Many years ago, these were once used by merchants as their primary road of travel to and from the city. When one tunnel collapsed, they would reroute to a newly constructed one. As more of them collapsed, less effort and resources were put their construction and maintenance. Eventually, the multiple earthquakes leading up to and during the breaking apart of the planet caused most of these tunnels to become completely unusable. Over the years, erosion and wild life have reshaped them into the literal maze we see today."

Rose walked alongside the quest NPC, [Sir Bartholomew Oobleck] as he rambled on about the lore and history of the tunnels they were currently traversing. She wasn't really paying attention.

Oobleck had been leading them in a straight line, ignoring all turns and alternate paths. So far, they had encountered no mobs so Rose felt that he knew where they were going. Still, that didn't make Rose any less concerned. It was already eight. There was just four hours before midnight arrived. She did not want to be underground when that time came - especially since she didn't know what the average level all the enemies in the dungeon were.

"Ah, we've arrived." Oobleck ushered them into a fairly large circular room with entrances at the four cardinal directions. Aside from a number of cracks and ankle-deep sinkholes on the floor and chunks of wall with no bricks, the room was surprisingly intact. "I'd like everyone to stay in the center of the room. Quickly now." He then began tapping the floor in front of each entrance with his staff, muttering some sort of incantation. When he finished, he walked to the center of the room where his raid party was waiting.

"Yo, what now?" asked one of the players.

"One moment," Oobleck said, once again tapping his staff. He tapped three times, with the third time causing a resonating boom that startled all the players. The ambient light within the room grew brighter until it was comparable to a cloudy day outside. Oobleck surveyed his surroundings before nodding. "Acceptable."

He turned to the players whom he had assembled. "I have turned this room into a sort of anchor. Should anyone in this party receive fatal damage, they will instantly be teleported back here with one health. This recall upon death will work only once per cast and the time interval before I can cast it again is several days."

The players started murmuring among themselves. Whispers of shock and outrage grew into a ghostly cacophony. This was a game mechanic? Was it in the beta? Why had no one talked about this before? So many people had died and yet it could have easily been avoided by an ability like this one! It wasn't fair! This was in the game! People didn't have to die! Why was that allowed to happen!?

The implications of Oobleck's spell hit Rose like a punch to the gut. Jaune and so many others would still be alive right now if we knew about this, she realized. She felt like throwing up, though it was doubtful that the game was constructed in a way to let her do so.

Oobleck didn't seem to notice the growing unrest in his raid party as he continued to explain the mechanics of his spell as well as reiterate the objectives of the quest. "I believe I have said all there is to say. Are we all clear?" When no one answered, he frowned. "I am very disappointed. It seems you all need some time to process my instructions. Shall I repeat them?"

Eventually, the players all remembered that Oobleck was still just an NPC. Despite how human-like he was, he still couldn't fully grasp the concept of emotions. It was pointless to express their anger and despair to a person who would likely never be able to understand where they were coming from. The players who were less emotionally compromised just accepted the reality of the situation and continued to be upset in silence, focusing on the matter at hand.

Rose was not one of those players...

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Gambol stood on the roof of the clock tower, watching the city from above. She noted how few people were wandering the streets - unsurprising as most of the players would be out grinding in the forest. Wait two or three hours and they'd start coming back. With the exception of a few brave and/or powerful players like Rose, no one wanted to deal with the super mobs that replaced regular ones after midnight. Gambol couldn't blame them. As interesting as the Grimm were to fight, they were still dangerous and downright terrifying.

A message pop-up appeared in the lower right corner of her vision. It was from Myrtenaster. Gambol raised an eyebrow and swiped up at the pop-up, automatically opening it. It was oddly satisfying how convenient it was. To think that such a cute little quality-of-life feature was only just figured out within the past week.

[From: Myrtenaster
To: Gambol Shroud
Subject: We're going hunting

Be at the southern gate by 15 minutes. Bring potions.]

Hunting, Gambol noted. She glanced at the clock on her menu and smiled. It seems like Weiss of one of the brave ones too, she thought. She dismissed the message and walked off the roof, dropping straight down to the streets below.

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It took Rose a little bit of time to get a hold of herself but she eventually did. Unfortunately, by that time, only she and Oobleck remained in the room. Rose winced at the thought of how much time she wasted and approached the NPC.

"I take it you have recovered?" He asked, sounding concerned. Rose nodded timidly. "I did not expect how negative the reaction would be to my magic. Tell me, there is no stigma against magicians among you, is there?"

Rose shook her head. "No. We're okay with that. There's just... just trauma, I guess. A lot of people died in the last raid we did..."

Oobleck raised his eyebrows. "Oh? I was under the assumption that your people came back after death. Your immortality has always been a reason to enlist your help in dangerous matters - that and your incredible power. Has that changed since I last encountered your kind?"

"Uh... Yeah? It's changed..."

Oobleck frowned. "Hmm. That complicates things..."

Rose tilted her head curiously. It's long been established that Remnant Online had very life-like NPCs, many of whom could pass off as actual humans as long as the topic made sense in the context of the game. The current topic was... borderline. Normally NPCs would just freeze for a few seconds to parse what was being said - and even then, they'd sometimes just repeat themselves due to lack of available dialogue options. Oobleck seemed to be far more sophisticated. Rose reckoned that he was a major NPC that would likely interact with every single person playing through the story. He was probably made more complex on purpose to make the story more interesting.

"No matter. The frequency of these expeditions might take a hit but keeping everyone alive will be prioritized," Oobleck concluded. "In any case, you and I have a lot of work to do."

Rose glanced at the quest objectives in the corner of her vision. They were supposed to map as much of the area as possible while also looking for an ancient relic. More objectives would be unlocked upon completion of the current ones. She shrugged. Seems easy enough.

She and Oobleck turned towards an entrance and walked into the tunnels.

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Myrtenaster tapped her foot. She had been waiting at the gate for twelve minutes now. She was starting to grow impatient. Milou had been with her for pretty much the entire time while Gambol was probably lurking around somewhere, out of sight. The only one left was Magnhild and Stormflower whom she had recruited earlier that day. She gave them a time to meet and even gave them allowance of fifteen minutes. If they were seriously going to cut it right down to the wire then she would have told them a much earlier meeting time.

Milou looked around. "Interesting. Where is your other bodyguard, Ada-er... Wilting Blush?"

"Wilt?" Myrtenaster shrugged. "Getting drunk at a tavern? I don't know. I told him to leave me alone for the night and he left."

Milou raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. For a bodyguard, he seems quite eager to leave you."

Myrtenaster looked away. "He's technically not my bodyguard. He's just Gambol's mentor." She scowled. "Nothing in his contract says he has to protect me. Unfortunately Gambol still has years worth of training ahead of her and can't reliably keep me safe. Until she finishes her training, her responsibility to protect me is, by proxy, Wilt's responsibility as well. He was never happy about it..."

Milou hummed in acknowledgement but made no comment. "I wonder. Can people actually get drunk in this game?" She instead asked in what seemed to be an attempt to lighten the mood. Myrtenaster continued avoiding eye contact.

A dark figure landed on top of the wall next to the gate. It was Gambol, crouching there quietly. "They're coming," she said, pointing to the northwest.

Myrtenaster and Milou turned to the direction that Gambol was pointing and, sure enough, they saw Maggy and Stormflower rounding a corner. The approaching two caught said of the waiting three and waved in greeting. "Hey! Sorry we're late!" called Maggy.

"Hello again!" Milou greeted back.

Myrtenaster glanced at her clock and there was a minute before her given deadline. Down to the wire, she thought to herself dryly. She sighed and waved back.

Maggy looked at everyone and sighed nostalgically. "Oh man, it's been so long sing we were last together. The only one missing right now is Rose, that big tall angry guy and..." she hesitated, her smile faltering somewhat. "Well, and Crocea."

"It's only been a month. No need to get so worked up. More importantly, you were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago."

"We're technically not late, though." Maggy grinned. "Come on. Don't be so stingy with time. We have literally the entire night ahead of us."

Myrtenaster crossed her arms and turned away. "I am so not giving you any time allowance next time," she growled. "In any case, let's get going. There's no use in waiting around now that we're all here."

She turned to Gambol Shrould. "Gambol, take point. Stay out of sight." Gambol jumped off the wall and disappeared. "Milou, stay in the rear - keep us covered. We walk in a straight line until midnight and then walk back."

They all equipped their weapons and headed out.

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Rose followed Oobleck through the tunnels, regularly activating her [Detection] skill when it was available. So far they had encountered no mobs, though her mini-map said there should be lots nearby. It was worrying, but since she was partied with the massively overlevelled quest NPC, the worry was minimal. Still, the thought of being surrounded by enemies she couldn't see kept her on her toes with a tight grip on her weapon.

She had opted to switch out her [Ancient Harvester] for her [Tribal Ritual Spear], one of the many item drops she looted after her time hunting Grimm - the same weapon that Milou used. It was less powerful than her scythe weapon but was also lighter and not as unwieldy - it made combat while in a tight corridor much easier.

There was a flash of orange light that caused Rose to jump. It was just Oobleck who had just lit his weapon on fire - apparently the gas lamp on top of the staff wasn't just for show. "Normally, tunnels like these are lit with a special type of crystal," he explained. He tapped on one of the crystals on the wall, frowning. "Unsurprisingly, they don't seem to be working."

Rose was not listening and was instead staring at the staff in awe. "Magic?" she wondered aloud.

"Magic? Well, yes, but not magic in a traditional sense." He started walking - walking quickly, mind you - and gestured for Rose to follow. "Come, we can speak of this as we walk."

Rose blinked. "Ah, right." She picked up her pace and caught up to Oobleck. "What do you mean by not in a traditional sense? Like, how is magic even done?"

Oobleck hummed. "That is quite a broad topic, my friend. I am more than willing to discuss that at a later date but for now we much focus on the task at hand."

Rose pouted. "Oh come on. You've been spouting exposition for pretty much the entire quest. Why stop now?"

"That is because-" He paused, switching to a more readied stance. "That is because we are currently surrounded by enemies. It seems my lights have aggravated the the local wild life."

Rose went wide eyed and immediately activated [Detection]. No sign of anything? No, that can't be right. Oobleck tapped her shoulder. "I suggest you look up." With some reluctance, she looked up.

With the added visibility and detail brought about by her currently active skill, what she saw made her skin crawl. The entire ceiling was writhing as hundreds of low level [Cave Spiders] circled the ceiling above Oobleck's flaming staff. Rose swallowed a scream that almost escaped her mouth. She had half a mind to just return to the respawn point and wait for sunrise. She turned to the NPC, somewhat disturbed. "Uhhh, Oobleck...?"

"They are merely agitated at the sight of fire as they are hopelessly weak to it. Normally, [Cave Spiders] are quite docile and will only attack when provoked - that is to say, only when they get stepped on. With my staff alight, they will know to keep their distance but will actively try to follow us."

Rose almost didn't want to ask. "What happens when you turn off your lights?"

"Then they will attack and we will have to fight."

Rose smiled wryly. "Fantastic," she said in a weak mutter.

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"And with the Beowolf pinned, I swung as hard as I could, breaking its neck. It died in one shot, dropping this!" Maggy raised her newly acquired war hammer dramatically.

"Technically it wasn't one shot," Stormflower added.

Maggy waved him off dismissively. "Oh, those were arrows. Barely any damage."

Myrtenaster massaged her temples. "I fail to see how this is relevant."

They had stopped at a clearing to rest. Maggy, of course, stuck up a conversation with everyone. Eventually the conversation became a tangent and that tangent became a full blown story. Myrtenaster stopped listening halfway through and rechecked her stats and experience levels. Of course, that meant she had no idea what Maggy was talking about when the story finished.

Maggy smirked at Myrtenaster. "Well, if you listened, you'd know why it was relevant," she teased. "Your brain's been exploring, ain't it? Did it bring anything back?"

Myrtenaster raised an eyebrow at the weird analogy. "Mmhmm," she hummed, unamused.

Magnhild slowly stepped backward, pouting. "Stop staring at me like that, it's so serious."

"So it is," Myrtenaster grumbled. Perhaps I should have listened. It sounded like a fun story... She sighed. ah there's always next time.

Gambol dropped down from a nearby tree. "All the mobs have respawned. Six patrol routes pass by this clearing."

Maggy blinked. "How does she know that, again?"

Stormflower sighed. "Detection, Maggy."

"Oh. Okay then."

Myrtenaster rolled her eyes. "Alright, time to get up. Let's get going."

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A new little feature I'd like to add to every chapter are stat sheets for all of the major characters. I got the idea from one Pandoras-box last thing inside. This chapter, we'll have Ruby "Crescent" Rose.

Crescent Rose Lv54 (as of chapter 17)
Ruby Rose 16 yrs old

Stats

Health: 54
Defense: 54
Strength: 81
Agility: 81
Luck: 54

Equipped Weapons:

Ancient Harvester (+5)
Attack: 96
Block: E
Crit: C
Parry: D
Scaling: Strength D / Agility C
Weight: E

Tribal Ritual Spear (+3)
Attack: 67
Block: E
Crit: B
Parry: D
Scaling: Strength D- / Agility C+
Weight: C

Beowolf Fang (+3)
Attack: 38
Block: E
Crit: S
Parry: A
Scaling: Agility S
Weight: S

Equipped Armor:

Red Riding Hood
Soft leather vest
Soft leather gloves
Fair commoner blouse
Fair commoner skirt
Worker boots
Belt bag

Most used skill:

Nimble Feet Lv100 (Max)
Passive: Increase movement speed outside of combat, decrease fall damage
Active: +200% movement speed boost for 3 seconds. Cooldown of 30 seconds

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Chapter Text

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"Myrt, there are too many at once!" That was the thing everyone screamed all at once. They didn't necessarily say exactly that, but the message remained the same.

The moment midnight hit, all the mobs that were chasing Myrtenaster's party turned into Grimm. As it happened, a pack of a dozen forest wolves at levels 18-24 became a pack of Beowolves at levels 27-36. Unfortunately, the highest level player in their team was Magnhild at level 39, followed by Stormflower at 37, Milou at 34, and lastly Gambol and Myrtenaster both at level 32, the soft level cap. Before that point, all of the enemies they had been clearing were trash mobs that weren't worth their time or effort as the experience they gave were, thanks to diminishing-returns, all but useless. Then the mobs all gained ten levels and suddenly they were being overwhelmed.

Thus they ran.

"Isn't there a safe-zone nearby!?" Maggy asked from the back, her lower agility stat preventing her from keeping pace with the rest of her party whose builds went heavy into agility.

Milou, who was running just a few paces ahead of Maggy, responded with bad news. "Those are neutral zones! With all of them aggro-ed like this, we'll still need to kill them when we enter the zone!" She said with a huff, her shield and armor weighing her down.

At the front of the group, Gambol and Myrtenaster dispatched two Beowolves with a few well-placed stabs to the head, right under the armored skull. "Turn and fight! We can take them as long as we don't get surrounded."

As Myrtenaster said that, Milou stopped and raised her shield at an approaching Beowolf. Right before the mob made impact, she ducked down and angled her shield, causing said mob to tumble over her. She quickly followed up with a [Sky Strike] directed at the Grimm's exposed neck. The usual explosive death animation played shortly after.

Similarly, Maggy skidded to a standstill and swung her [Grizzly War Hammer], her technique making a solid connection on a Beowolf's head. It was flung back towards it's friends, causing the rest of the pack to stumble as their pathing forced them to go around the fallen wolf. It did not die, however. "What gives!?" Maggy yelled in outrage.

"Complain later!" Myrtenaster yelled pulling Maggy by the arm, saving her from another pouncing Beowolf. "Keep moving! As long as we kite, we can win!"

As they continued running, a thought occurred to Myrtenaster. The only reason they weren't being slowly whittled down by the now nine Beowolves was because of kiting.

The concept of kiting normally only applied to ranged players keeping their distance from an approaching enemy while still stopping to deal damage - stop to attack, move, repeat. However, she only just realized that it was perfectly possible for a melee fighter to kite. The principle remained the same in that they were still stopping and moving, but now the goal wasn't to prevent damage by staying far from mobs but instead to minimize damage by preventing the mobs from surrounding and overwhelming them.

It was a genius move, now that she thought about it. Unfortunately, as they were still in combat, Myrtenaster didn't really have any way to enjoy her own brilliance.

It was tense work but they made do, picking off a Grimm or two every time they stopped. Stormflower was even contributing the while they were running by kiting in a traditional sense, running ahead of everyone and taking potshots at the chasing Grimm with his bow. They eventually wore down their numbers to just four. At that point, the party could easily take them on.

By the time they reached the neutral zone, they all collapsed on the ground, exhausted.

"I... have never been this tired... in my entire life..." Myrtenaster said as she rolled onto her back, taking deep breaths between every other word.

"What about after the last Gate Dungeon Raid?" Maggy asked cheekily, trying to sit up. "Or when you and Milou and Rose and Crocea fought an Ursa for the first time?"

Myrtenaster found it in her to roll her eyes. "Fine. This is the third time I've been this tired. Happy?"

Maggy laughed weakly. "You kidding? I've never been happier!"

Myrtenaster raised an eyebrow and glanced at Stormflower who was sitting with his legs crossed in a meditative stance. "Is she really that easily amused?"

He closed his eyes. "No," he answered plainly.

"Mmhmm." Myrtenaster looked back to Maggy who was staring up at Remnant's shattered moon with a satisfied smile. The fencer tilted her head curiously. Well, from Stormflower's answer, obviously there's more to it than that. She must have her reasons. She looked up and joined Maggy and watching the moon.

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"Um... Sir Oobleck? Can we leave now?"

Rose's voice was tiny as the mass of Cave Spiders became all the more terrifying when they transformed into their Grimm version, the [Scrambler]. Even considering that they were all only level 18, the sheer number of them would send most people running. Every fiber of her being wanted to be as far away from them as possible.

"Yes, I do suppose now would be a good time to leave," he agreed. He turned on his heel and began moving in the opposite direction. "Hop to, Miss Rose. We have a lot of ground to cover if we are to return to our respawn anchor and we do not have much time. Believe it or not, this flame will not last forever."

Rose gulped at the thought. "Do Scramblers act the same way Cave Spiders do?"

"Yes, except they're more aggressive. If they outnumber you, they will attack unless given a reason not to."

Rose gulped once more. "I have a feeling that all the other teams died already..."

"Unless they found our relic, the most groups likely have died. If they're smart, they remained at the respawn point as if they die again, they won't be coming back." He frowned as he said that. "I honestly can't believe that your people no longer come back after death. It makes me fear for my own life as well."

Rose nodded, remembering that, as an important Quest NPC, Oobleck couldn't be permanently killed. Just like with players in the beta, should Oobleck ever die, he'd respawn in the last major town he was in - or, in this case, he'd respawn in the room he turned into a respawn point.

"Couldn't we just kill ourselves to get back?" Rose asked, the thought suddenly occurring to her.

"Unless you want to experience the trauma of physical death, I'd prefer that we go back on foot. Now hurry."

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Myrtenaster and her party found themselves huddled together on top of a stump in the middle of the neutral zone. Several Grimm had entered the circle of stone pillars surrounding the zone and were now wandering around the clearing. They seemed disinterested in the players watching them tensely though said players did not want to test the extents of that disinterest.

Myrtenaster leaned to the side and whispered. "Milou, you were tanking for us the entire night. How's your health?"

Milou tightened her grip on her spear. "I need at least five more minutes to regenerate all of it but I'm good on health."

Myrtenaster nodded before leaning to the other side. "Maggy?"

"A-okay, your highness. Me and Re-er... me and Stormflower are still in the green."

"Good, good," Myrtenaster muttered. "And don't call me your highness."

She took a glance at Stormflower who was massaging the bridge of his nose. Myrtenaster managed a small smile of amusement. From what she gathered, Magnhild had been using Stormflower's real name by accident for what seemed like the entire time they were in-game. She couldn't necessarily say she could relate to Stormflower in that regard. With Myrtenaster, the only people who knew who knew her outside the game was Gambol, Wilt, and Milou, all of whom seemed to have no trouble calling her by her user name. Then, of course, there was Torchlight who liked to deliberately call her Ms. Schnee to annoy her. He didn't count.

In the corner of her eye, Myrtenaster could see more Grimm entering the area. "Gambol, status report."

"Detection is still on cool down. I can count two Beowolves approaching from the south and one Ursa from the east, bringing us to a total of eleven. I can't tell how many more are coming."

Myrtenaster bit her lip. Should those monsters attack, their chances of survival were abysmally low. She was at a loss. What were they to do? They were completely surrounded so they couldn't run - not without casualties at least. Staying where they were was also an option, but that meant assuming that the Grimm wouldn't attack them in a neutral zone. If that assumption was wrong, they'd be immediately killed. She had to think. What were they supposed to do to get out of the mess they were in? Think.

Maggy sighed dramatically. "Well girls... and boy." She glanced at Stormflower who raised his eyebrows at her. "Looks like things are going pretty badly for us. Anyone wanna say something before we dance what might be our last dance?" No one replied. "Well I have something to say. I haven't told any of you guys - really only Stormflower knows - but a few years ago I lost my legs." She put a finger on her chin. "Well, not really lost, but I couldn't use them the way I wanted to. It's more like I broke my legs. Anyway, I couldn't run. I couldn't jump. I could barely even walk. But ever since I started playing this game, I could do all of those again and more. I could fight and win. I never felt more alive! I'm more than happy with being trapped in this game right now. But, darn it, I ain't gonna die tonight. Not like this!" She slammed the butt of her Warhammer as she spoke, punctuating every word with a deep, resonating thump. "I WILL SURVIVE!" She raised her weapon, as a savage war cry erupted from her mouth. She moved to charge into the Grimm.

As soon as Myrtenaster and the others realized what Maggy planned to do, they rushed to grab hold of her and keep her from getting both herself and the rest of them killed.

"Maggy, don't be an idi-" Stormflower was just about to scold her when the stump started shaking.

As expected, the combination of the shaking and Maggy's initial leap into danger's gaping maw caused the entire group to fall off the stump. What came as a surprise, however, is that they didn't drop onto soft grass as they expected. No, instead they found themselves tumbling down a spiraling stone incline going deep underground. By the time they stopped rolling, their sense of direction was already completely lost.

"Head count," Myrtenaster groaned, pushing herself up.

"I'M ALIVE!" Maggy yelled with equal parts joy, relief, and disbelief.

"Yes, I'm still alive as well," Milou said shortly after.

"Here," Gambol and Stormflower replied, almost simultaneously.

Myrtenaster breathed a sigh of relief. That little fall may very well have saved our lives, she thought. She pushed herself up to a crouch and looked around, unhappy with the visibility. Too dark to see...

"Gambol," she began, the shadow already anticipating what the order would be.

"We're in a dungeon. Some sort of maze of tunnels by the looks of it," Gambol reported, her eyes visible in the darkness from the bright glow of yellow caused by her [Detection] skill. She squinted. "I'm detecting...

The pause was longer than anticipated, prompting Myrtenaster to turn towards the light of Gambol's eyes. Said eyes were wide and frightened. A sense of urgency welled up inside Myrtenaster. "Gambol, what's wrong?"

"I'm detecting over seventy mobs in within a fifty feet radius from us," Gambol breathed. "Most of them are congregating around some... thing in an adjacent tunnel." She glanced to something only she could see. "By the color of the dot on the mini map, they're surrounding a player. The rest of them are being drawn to the player as well. They're all ignoring us."

Seventy mobs... Seventy...

Myrtenaster pressed her hands against her eyes, hoping to rub the sleep out of them. She was dreaming, right? Right?

"Let's kill em'!" Maggy exclaimed.

"Maggy, no," Stormflower said almost immediately.

"Oh come ooooon~"

"Maggy, after that stunt you pulled earlier, it almost seems like you have a death wish."

Myrtenaster heard grumbles of protest but it didn't seem like Magnhild went through with her suggestion - more of a threat, really - of attacking the mass of mobs. It was a gratifying turn of events considering what just happened in the last two minutes - the tenseness of the situation making it seem much longer.

"So, what's the plan, boss?" Maggy suddenly asked. "Got any more genius moves up your sleeve like that kiting thing earlier?"

Myrtenaster scowled. No, not really, she wanted to say. Except she couldn't say that. Her pride would not allow it. She had to come up with something - anything - to fix this jam they were in.

She wanted to scream. It was luck that saved them from the Beowolves and Ursa. They had no idea what the stump in the center of the neutral zone was for and it was a miracle that it gave them a way out that didn't involve taking their chances with the Grimm. It was that very same luck that brought them to the unbelievably worse situation they were currently in, surrounded by even more Grimm. It was like fate wanted a laugh at someone's expense and chose her to be the unwilling sacrifice. Even now, it was toying with her, the Grimm occupied with some distraction, letting them live a little while longer. At some point, they'd all stop ignoring her party and attack. It was inevitable.

"Or is it?" She whispered to herself as she made one very important realization.

"What?" Maggy asked, Myrtenaster's words too quiet to register.

"Gambol, that player's distracting the mobs. Keep your eyes on them. We're following."

"Ooh~ I like this plan." Though Myrtenaster couldn't see her face, she could tell Maggy was grinning. "I'm in!"

The rest of them were in agreement as well.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go. Move it, people!"

REMNANT ONLINE

"Miss Crescent Rose, I'd like for you to run. I will be able to hold them off with high spread fire spells. You, on the other hand are at a disadvantage with your melee weapon."

Rose turned to Oobleck. "What? No! You'll die! We'll both die!"

"No, only I will," the mage corrected. "I'll draw their aggression and while they're distracted, you can make a break for it. We're close to the respawn point by now. You'll make it before I fall."

He raised his staff and swung it in a motion similar to a [Sweeper] technique. A wave of fire spread towards the Scramblers up on the ceiling. Loud screeches followed after as the many-legged mobs descended en-mass towards Oobleck.

"Go now, Miss Rose!" Oobleck yelled, issuing another area-of-effect fire spell to cover Rose's escape. A column of crimson flames ran along the tunnel, clearing a path. "Head straight and don't stop for anything!"

Something deep within her clicked as it suddenly registered to her that she was in danger. With a rush of adrenaline, she broke into a run, activating [Nimble Feet] as soon as she was sure she wouldn't suddenly stumble forward.

She wasn't sure how long she was running. Even without her the sound of her pulse deafening her ears, the heightened level of alertness she felt had numbed her sense of time. She could have been running for less than ten seconds and it would have still felt like she'd been running for an eternity.

I let another one die, she thought to herself. Another person died to keep me alive...!

He'd come back, of course. Part of Rose knew that to be true. But the fact that she allowed that to happen in the first place - it didn't sit right with her. Especially not after... after...

Not after Jaune, Rose thought bitterly. She felt an overwhelming amount of emotion - so much emotion that she would have cried if the game allowed her. Not again. Not again. Not again. She spoke that mantra in her thoughts until it blended into the sound of her bounding footsteps.

After a while, an unpleasant feeling of numbness took her over. And with that numbness came a certain sense of clarity - a calm that blocked out all emotion and only allowed rational thought.

She was close to the respawn point. She could already see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just a few more steps and she'd sprint into the room. Part of her debated whether she should slow down for fear that she might accidentally tackle someone who just respawned, killing them. Upon reaching that thought, Rose immediately put on the brakes and skidded to a stop. She was not going to watch another person die - especially not by her hand.

Rose suddenly became aware of a number of footsteps running behind her - enough footsteps that she couldn't make out the exact size of the party - five maybe? She looked behind her, seeing a mass of green cursors approaching. Players were approaching at a decent speed.

"Hurry up!" Rose yelled to the group, unsure if they could hear her. "The respawn point is this way! I'll meet you there!" With that, she continued running, silently wondering how long those players were following her.

REMNANT ONLINE

"What did she say?" Maggy asked, huffing as she tried to keep pace with the other players with higher agility stat.

Myrtenaster ignored the question, opting to keep her eyes trained on the girl running through the patchwork tunnels far ahead. The fencer knew it was a girl because of the way she ran. The identity of the girl was also easily inferred - there were surprisingly few players who wore a hooded cloak like that. The irony of running into Crescent Rose of all people was not lost on Myrtenaster - especially considering that she specifically did not invite the reaper to their little late night excursion. No doubt others figured it out as well, but something within Myrtenaster compelled her not to bring up the subject. Thankfully, no one else brought it up in her stead.

She got off her train of thought. They were approaching the light at the end of the tunnel and it wouldn't do well to dwell on matters that don't really matter in the long run. Her pride could take a back seat if it meant being somewhere safe - safer, at the very least.

They emerged from the tunnels, squinting as their eyes adjusted to the light.

They were in a large circular room filled with around twenty or so players - most of whom were part of the first gate dungeon raid. She saw more than a few faces she recognized. In the center of the room stood Crescent Rose, conversing with a tall man in a trench coat and safari cap. The man had a white cursor of an NPC, and the name [Sir Bartholomew Oobleck Lv75] floating above him. His HP bar looked completely depleted but considering he was still alive, he must have had a sliver of health left. He turned to face the new arrivals.

"I am unfamiliar with your faces. I trust that you are not here to undermine our quest? Because if you are, I have no choice but to kill you, which I suspect would be unpleasant for the both of us."

Oobleck was quick of speech and rather blunt. With his staff, level, and imposing height, Myrtenaster might have been intimidated by his threat. However, the matter stood that he had less than five percent of his health remaining - he wasn't quite as menacing as he would've been otherwise. Still, the fencer wasn't one for impoliteness. She bowed slightly and introduced herself

"I am Myrtenaster and this is my party," she said, gesturing to Maggy and the others. "We were out hunting, you see and-"

"We fell off a stump and ended up here," Maggy said, cutting Myrtenaster off. "Were you the guy shooting fire everywhere?"

Oobleck seemed amused by Magnhild's words. "Yes, I do believe I was. I am Bartholomew Oobleck, one of the last remaining mages in Remnant." He looked between the members of Myrtenaster's party. "I suggest you speak amongst yourselves. It may be less time consuming if others of your kind explained this situation to you." He strode over to the nearest exit and tapped the foot of his staff in front of it. "I must reinforce the barrier protecting this room. Please do not disturb me as this is a very delicate process that can mean life or death for everyone in here. That being said, if there's another life or death situation you wish to inform me of, feel free to disturb me."

Myrtenaster immediately walked over to Rose. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.

Rose looked taken aback. She smiled awkwardly. "This is a quest, silly. We're supposed to follow Oobleck around and look for some sort of relic. He said we'd know when we see it."

Myrtenaster snorted. From the way Rose spoke, obviously they hadn't found it yet.

"And since you're here, you're part of the quest too."

Now it was Myrtenaster's turn to be taken aback. She ended up joining some quest by complete accident? She eyed the corner of her vision. Sure enough, the blinking scroll icon of a new quest was there, waiting for her to read it. She tapped the icon and skimmed the quest notes.

"You do understand that it was not my intention to join this quest," Myrtenaster said, dismissing the quest dialogue.

Rose shrugged. "That's just how quests are in this game. Even just seeing a player in the middle of doing it can make you part of the quest. It really depends on what kind of quest it is."

Myrtenaster rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I came out to grind Beowolves," she muttered. "Quite honestly, I'd rather be back up there than down in here. At least Beowolves are mobs I've fought before."

Rose scratched the back of her head as she averted her eyes. "Yeah. I know what you mean. Spider Grimm." She shuddered. "They're called Scramblers..."

Myrtenaster raised an eyebrow. Rose's voice sounded uncharacteristically small. In fact, for their entire conversation, she seemed on edge. Could it be...?

"Are you scared of spiders?" the fencer promted.

Rose blushed, looking awkwardly at her feet. "Kinda...?"

Myrtenaster felt sympathy for Rose. It was one thing to be surrounded by a swarm of mobs. It was something else when those mobs were something you had a phobia to. It was surprising the Rose didn't faint.

Feeling the need to spare the reaper any more discomfort, Myrtenaster abruptly changed the topic to one that was related but much more relevant. "How are we going to get out of here?"

To that, Rose had one answer - that is to say: she didn't know. "I was asking Sir Oobleck about it and he said he'd handle it."

As if in response to their very conversation, Oobleck spoke up, silencing the crowd of players. "I'd peg this attempt as a failure. None of us managed to find what we're looking for and almost all of you used up your respawn charge."

Myrtenaster leaned over to Rose. "Respawn?" she asked in a whisper.

"I'll explain later."

"That being said, some of you still have your respawn charges which means the barrier around this room remains intact. And since it is so, I have modified it somewhat." He then pulled out a large rectangular gemstone from the pouch on his belt. "Upon consuming this crystal, I will be teleported back to town. Thanks to the barrier, so will all of you." Murmurs among the players resumed before Oobleck even finished speaking.

"To those who wish to continue braving the tunnels, you are free to do so - just step out of the confines of this room. Otherwise, please gather near me." None of the players left the room. "Very well. I shall now activate this teleport crystal. Please stand by"

There was a blinding flash, a feeling of vertigo, and a sudden lack of sensory information, all occurring in the span of the split second it took for Myrtenaster to blink. The next time she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the circular room in that dungeon and was, instead, back in town.

"There. That should do it," Oobleck said, his health rapidly regenerating now that he was in a safe-zone. "Now, if you'll excuse me, there are things I learned during our expedition today - many problems that are in need of a solution. I shall see you all again when the time is right." With that, he stalked away somewhere at a speed she doubted any player could follow.

A notification screen appeared in front of Myrtenaster.

[Quest Objective Complete

Reward: Healing Crystal II x1

Exp: +8,000
Lien: +1,000]

Myrtenaster raised an eyebrow. They were substantial rewards, especially considering how late into the quest she had entered. While the experience and money weren't quite as helpful as they could have been at her current level, the tier-two Healing Crystal was quite something. Unlike potions, they healed instantly instead of healing over time. The amount of damage they healed depended on the tier level - for tier two, that was 250 health which was a little under a third of Myrtenaster's total health. They were considered quite rare - not something sold in NPC shops. Was the quest that important for it to be the reward?

"Oh wow," Rose said next to her. Myrtenaster could only assume it was due to the quest reward, though she couldn't be sure - neither of their notification screens were visible to each other at the moment Rose blinked, as if realizing this and leaned in close. With the usual card flipping gesture for the showing of notifications to others, Rose explained in very few words what got her excited.

[Quest Objective Complete

Reward: Healing Crystal II x3

Exp: +12,000
Lien: +1,500]

"This is way more than I expected to get. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Oobleck was playing favorites," Rose joked.

Myrtenaster eyed Rose skeptically. "Earlier, he said he was a mage and we saw him burning down a whole swarm of those Scramblers back when we were following you into the tunnels. How does he do that?"

Rose shrugged. "I don't know? I asked, but he wasn't able to tell me before we got surrounded by mobs."

"And what about that respawn business?"

"That was another spell of his. He turned the entire room into a respawn area. It was kind of like a buff."

Myrtenaster frowned at the unfamiliar word. "Buff?" she repeated.

"You know, like a status effect - one that doesn't make you take damage over time, or slow you down. Helps instead of hinders."

The fencer had some words to say about Rose's matter-of-fact tone but let it slide since she had other things occupying her mind - primarily, the topic of magic and Sir Bartholomew Oobleck.

"We need to find out how he does it," Myrtenaster said firmly. "Torchlight's gonna flip when he finds out."

To that Rose chuckled. "Oh? He already knows. Sent him a PM a few minutes ago."

"Why'd you do that!?" the fencer suddenly asked in too loud a voice. I could have told him! He pays for this kind of info, she then added, though not aloud.

Rose shrugged once more. "It's my job? I'm one of his best sources for anything that happens at night." She waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway, if we're gonna play twenty-questions, I might wanna know how you ended up in those tunnels. Your story has a bunch of holes and I want to see it whole."

REMNANT ONLINE

Myrtenaster Lv35 (as of chapter 18)
Weiss Schnee 18 yrs old

Stats

Health: 40
Defense: 35
Strength: 35
Agility: 65
Luck: 35

Equipped weapons:

Tailor's tail (+5)
Attack: 54
Block: E
Crit: A
Parry: A
Scaling: Strength E / Agility A
Weight: B

Wind Flueret (+5)
Attack: 39
Block: E
Crit: A
Parry: A
Scaling: Strength F / Agility A
Weight: B

Most Used Skill:

Nimble Feet Lv5
Passive: Increase movement speed outside of combat and decrease falling damage
Active: +105% movement speed boost for 3 seconds. Cooldown of 30 seconds.

REMNANT ONLINE

Chapter Text

Midmorning, forest-city of Emerald, Junior's weapons shop...

As is the case with all cities, a number of buildings were available for players to rent or buy. Should they choose to do so, the ownership of the building would be given to the player - either for the duration of the lease when rented or permanently if bought. Junior's Weapons was just one of a dozen shops temporarily set up in the city. No one wanted to buy a building yet because no one had the money nor did anyone want to take up residence in an area that everyone would very soon leave behind. Once the [Gate Dungeon] was beaten, everyone would rush to set up shop in the very next area, [The Ruins of Vale]. If accounts by the beta testers were to be believed, there would be where the action was.

"Whatcha' thinking about?"

The question was posed to Myrtenaster by one Crescent Rose as the two of them sat quietly in the waiting room outside of Junior's smithy.

"Real estate and logistics,"Myrtenaster answered. "Business stuff."

Rose frowned. "Your rich-girl is showing."

The white fencer twitched. "Shut up," she muttered flatly. She turned to face Rose. "I still can't believe you came up with this idea."

The reaper pouted. "You don't think it'll work?"

"No. I think it will work. Which is why I can't believe you came up with it."Myrtenaster scowled, massaging her temples. "You were the one who came up with the tree-climbing solution for the were the one who thought to use detection on the last gate boss when it pulled out a new weapon. Heck, you were probably the one who forced the system to rebalance the enemy distribution in this region! Having known you for three months and borne witness to your monumental stupidity," she paused for emphasis. "The thought that you are the one who keeps coming up with these game-winning ideas is unbelievably frustrating, unbelievably unfair, and plain unbelievable, period!"

Only when Myrtenaster finished her rant did she realize that she was causing a scene. A number of NPCs and even a number of players were watching her warily. The fencer forced herself to stare angrily at her clenched fists on her lap, ignoring the eyes on her.

"That's a way more intense response than I expected," Rose muttered.

Myrtenaster rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry. I haven't gotten much sleep. I'm amazed how you can be awake all night and not get irritable."

To that, Rose smiled. "I used to be like that. Then I started taking naps," she said proudly, as if her actions were praise worthy. It was amusing, at the very least.

"So you did," Myrtenaster said with a small chuckle.

Junior emerged from the smithy carrying a bunch of swords which he handed over to the other players in the waiting room. There was a brief exchange of words, followed by what looked to be a transfer of money by the players to Junior. With the transaction finished, Junior walked over to the reaper and fencer sitting in the far side of the room. They both stood as he approached.

"Princess, I'd appreciate it if you didn't shout at the top of lungs while in my 're disturbing my other customers."

Myrtenaster's face remained stoic. "I believe you're a crafter, yes?"

"Girl, you just saw me sell a bunch of newly made swords. What do you think?"

Myrtenaster's mouth twitched but betrayed none of the sourness she felt. With practiced ease, her lips formed a polite smile. "I am under the impression that you're a blacksmith. There's more than one type of crafting skill and what you showcased was not the one I'm after."

Unlike the usual equipped skills, [Crafting] was an umbrella skill that carried under it several sub-skills that had their own level was similar to the default [Armed Combat] skill where one could have [Straight Sword Mastery] and [Thrusting Sword Mastery] but have different levels on both. Utility skills like [Blacksmithing], [Tailoring], and [Cooking] were all available to those who chose to equip the [Crafting] skill. While many never endedup using any crafting skills, players usually equipped[Crafting] anyway so that they had the option. Both Myrtenasterand Rose were among those players who equipped it.

Junior regarded her with interest. "I'm an arms dealer, miss. That being said, I have levels in [Blacksmithing] and [Woodworking], though not a lot of people want to invest in wooden equipment unless they're looking for a light shield."

The transition of Myrtenaster's smile from fake to genuine was not entirely visible but the knowledge that Junior had [Woodworking] delighted her greatly. Rose was correct in her recommendation even though the reaper technically didn't know if Junior had the skill or not.

"That's good. We actually need wooden equipment."

Junior looked surprised for a moment before nodding. "Okay 'll you have?"

"I need torches," Myrtenaster stated.

"Torches," Junior repeated.

"Yes. They're flaming wooden sticks that light dark pathways and deal mild fire damage when you hit enemies with them."

Junior growled in annoyance. "I know what they are. What I'm wondering is why you're coming to me for them. Torches only need level one [Woodworking]. You could just equip the skill and make them yourself with some crafting materials."

Next to Myrtenaster, Rose leaned forward. "Yes, but we sortaneed a lot of them," she said helpfully.

"And we need them to last a long time,"Myrtenaster added. "Having high-level [Woodworking] would mean you could make them faster and of higher quality than any of us can 's just more efficient if we commissioned you. Besides, this could be considered 'easy money'."

Junior frowned at Myrtenaster before turning to Rose. "Red. You're in on this too, right?"

"I was the one who recommended you," Rose said with a smile.

With a sigh of reluctance, Junior relented. "Okay, fine. Tell me how many you want, when you want it, and I'll make an offer."

"Two hundred twentytorches that can last for thirty minutes or more before burning out," Myrtenaster said."I need them done in three days. We will provide the crafting materials if necessary."

"Two hundred..."Junior looked away with an increasingly confused expression. When he returned to face the girls, his look of confusion remained. "Look, I'm all fine with doing this job, but what the hell are you girls even planning that you'd need two hundred torches?"

"Two hundred twenty," Myrtenaster corrected. "As for what we're planning... There is an underground raid dungeon that spans the entire forest - I'm sure you've heard of it."

Junior nodded. "Yeah. A team took this quest last night that led them there. They wiped out. The entire raid team had to teleport out. It was, I don't know, something about spiders?"

"Let's just say we have a work around for what caused them difficulty."Myrtenaster crossed her arms. "We've made our demand. Name your price."

Junior thought for a bit before swiping open his menu as he consulted his inventory. He even called up a calculator display to run the numbers. "I don't have enough wood and oil for two hundred twenty torches," he said. "Get me 88 [Wood] and 126 [Oil] mats and I'll do the job for 13,200 lien."

Myrtenaster regarded the price. Assuming her figures were correct, he was charging roughly sixty lien for each torch - ten lien more than the torches that NPC shops sold. That wasn't even including the crafting materials he was asking they provide. She turned to Rose expectantly. The reaper seemed to be making calculationsof her own. After a brief pause, she nodded at the fencer, apparently satisfied with Junior's price.

Myrtenasterturned to Junior, wearing a stoic poker face. She smiled before nodding. "Deal," she said. "How do we go about payment?"

"Today is, what,Friday? Pay 6,600 lien upfront. Bring me the mats no later than noontomorrow. I'll have them all done by Sunday morning. I'll give you the torches and you pay the remaining 6,600."

"Don't we get a discount since it'snearly New Years?" Rose asked cheekily.

Junior raised an eyebrow. "How bout' 6,400 lien upfront and 6,800 later instead?"

Rose pouted. "That's not really a discount..."

"It's a lowered down-payment, though."

Myrtenaster rolled her eyes as she opened up the trade window and transferred 6,600 lien to Junior, not even bothering with the supposed 'discount'.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Junior said with a curt nod before moving to the next player in line, regrettably informing him that commissions were temporarily closed. Said player glared in Rose and Myrtenaster's direction.

Rose nudged Myrtenaster. "C'mon. Let's get out of here."

With the ever increasing number of people who looked at them with contempt, she did not need to be told twice. The two hurried for the door.

Late morning, at Torchlight's hideout...

"Tell me, Ice Queen, do you enjoy my company that much that you visit every day?"

Rose glanced at Myrtenaster sitting quietly in the corner. She then chuckled. "She's out cold, Torchlight. I don't think she even heard you."

Torchlight raised an eyebrow at the sleeping girl in his office before palming his face. "Red, what the hell are you even doing here? You already sold me your info today. I know you don't have anything else."

"I actually want to buy some info for once," Rose said. "How much do you know about this game's magic system?"

Torchwick frowned, drumming his fingers on his table. "All I know is what you know. This game didn't have a magic system until you found that NPC and then suddenly it did.I'll pay real good money for any additional info on it and spread it like wild fire. The sooner everyone knows, the sooner it becomes less likely you'll get killed for knowing."

Rose nodded automatically, expecting to get such an answer. "How about Oobleck? What do you know about him?"

"That NPC?"Torchlight pulled up his menu and began scrolling his messages. "I've got some of my more bookishcontacts on that case. For a price, I can give you a list of relevant lore books and where to find them. Double that price and I can give you the names of players who've already read the said lore books - you can ask them instead of reading the books yourself. I can't really do more than that right now but I'll look into it."

Rose made a face. Reading lore text? Really?

Torchlight seemed amused at Rose's reaction. "You could always ask again later. When my contacts get back to me, I could compile all the relevant info. It'd cost a whole lot more than the lists but you'd get everything in one go."

The reaper sighed. "I think I'll pass," she said tiredly. "Know any good spots to farm [Oil] mats?"

"Oil," Torchlight repeated, switching to his map screen. "I might have something. How good are we talking?"

"I need 126 mats by noon tomorrow."

Torchlight raised an eyebrow. "You'd need multiple people farming different locations to get that much," he warned.

Rose shrugged. "That was the idea."

He began marking his map. "I've got three good places. I'll send you the data for 600 lien."

Rose inputted the said amount of money in her trade menu. "Waiting on you, man," she said.

Torchlight scrolled to the [Others] category on his trade menu and selected [Map Data] from the drop-down list. His hand hesitated over the [Accept] button. He gave Rose a skeptical look. "What could you possibly need that much oil for?"

Rose gave him a cheeky smile. "I'll tell you for 600 lien."

Meanwhile, in the citysuburbs...

Myrtenaster had let go of her lease of the upper levels of the city clock tower so she and her party could afford to go through with their plan for the next raid on the [Underground Root Complex].Their quest logs had been updated to show a countdown timer for the date of the next raid, which coincided with the next day of Myrtenaster's monthly rent payment -Sunday, January fencer simply did not have enough money to supply the party with their needed items and weapons and pay rent at the same time.

Thatwasthe reason Milou, Maggy, and Stormflower were currently strolling through the north-west quadrant of the city, scanning the houses that lined the city walls for something that was within Myrtenaster'srequested price were decidedly reluctant to make any choices as it was well known among their circle of friends that Myrtenaster was quite particular about how she liked to sleep - everyone still remembered the extremely petty duel between her and Gambol over a simple argument on lighting.

"They have to be dating," Maggy said as they passed a dilapidated household ready to collapse whose price amounted to basically nothing. "Like, they can't not be. You can feel the sexual tension when they look at each other. Plus, they sleep in the same room together."

Maggy's energetic proclamation echoed through the empty streets. Not a lot of people came through the area so there was nothing stopping the orange haired mace-wielder from speaking as loud as she wanted, much to the chagrin of her companions.

"I thought they agreed that they'd sleep in different rooms?" Milou said tiredly. "And don't you two sleep in the same room?"

Maggy waved her hand dismissively. "Me and Re-er, Stormflower are different."

Milou glanced at Stormflower who rubbed his temples, refusing to make eye contact. She shot him a smile of sympathy.

"We're together but not together-together. Gambol and Myrt are definitely together-together."Maggy stopped in front of a small single story house. "Oh! This one looks reallygood: two bed rooms and a combined kitchen-dining-living-room."

Milou walked over to the house Maggy was referring to and stared at it long enough that the building's status window appeared. Sure enough, the description included all the things Maggy had mentioned. Price was a very affordable 11,500 lien a month -one could build up that much money by grinding for two hours every day for a month, assuming they grinded relatively close to the city where spawns were less numerous than they were farther out. If the player were more adventurous, they'd easily be able to arrive at that amount of lien if a fraction of that time.

Feeling satisfied, Milou marked the location of the building on her map and continued searching. The lancer would send the map data later for Myrtenaster to review and the fencer could choose which one she wanted.

Maggy was already pointing at another house.

Noon, Emerald City central plaza...

Myrtenaster's party had reconvened at an NPC café near the center of town to discuss matters of importance. Much to Myrtenaster's displeasure, her party's idea of 'important' was different from her own.

"I still can't get over how you know what kiting is but not what a buff is!? Your family-" Rose cut herself off upon realizing that she was being too loud. She lowered her voice and continued. "Your family's company makes video games. How can you not know the meaning of the word buff?"

The fencer tapped a finger on the table. "Rose, I'm sure this is probably very important to you, and I say this with no intention of hurting your feelings, but I could not possibly care any less than I do right now," she said, exasperated. "Please talk about something else."

Rose shrugged. "Well, we talked about everything relevant. Right now, we're just killing time while waiting for the food to arrive." She glanced at the NPC waitresses walking around with food and drinks on trays, serving what looked to be... not a lot of customers. "It's taking a surprisingly long time," Rose added somewhat impatiently.

"We can review everyone's part of the plan," Myrtenaster entire table collectively groaned. "Does anyone else have a suggestion then?"

Maggy slammed her palms on the table as hard as she could, prompting the [Immortal Object] notification to appear. It did not do any damage to the table. It did, however, get everyone's attention.

Maggy shifted her eyes as she scanned the her teammates' faces. Her gaze stopped at Myrtenaster who was subconsciously leaning forward in anticipation. "Are you and Gambol dating!?" Maggy suddenly asked.

Once again, the entire table collectively groaned.

"No, we are not," Myrtenaster replied cooly, even though deep inside she wanted to unsheathe her Tailor's Tail and stab Maggy for bringing it up again. Sure, it'd only cause knockback but it'd definitely make the fencer feel better.

"We maintain a professional relationship," Gambol added from her seat at the corner. "Dating my client would be ill advised." Next to her, Wilting Blush grunted with approval. He glared menacingly at Maggy who shrunk back, sufficiently shut up.

Rose sat up. "Actually, there's something I wanted to ask as well." She turned to Gambol. "Would you be able to find Sir Bartholomew Oobleck, the quest NPC for our raid? I want to ask him some questions so I need to know where in this city he's staying."

Across the table from Rose, Milou frowned. "Doesn't he just despawn until the next raid?"

Rose shook her head. "No. I don't think he does. If he's anything like the essential quest NPCs from the beta, he'd stay spawned for basically the entire game if you can keep him alive."

Milou nodded slowly. "Hmm. I've heard the rumors about that but I've never confirmed if they were true."

"They're true. I spent most of my time in the beta following this dusty old crow. His AI didn't seem to know what to do with me so he kept saying lines that didn't fit the situations we were was like he was always drunk."

"Our farming starts at three, right?" Gambol asked from the corner. "I'll try to find him after lunch. I make no promises."

Rose smiled. "Thanks a bunch."

Finally, a waitress approached with a large platter of dishes. Conversation died down and gave way to consumption as the party began eating.

Character Stat Sheet...

MilouAkououLv 42(as of chapter 19)
Pyrrha Nikos 18yrs old

Stats:

Health: 57
Defense:48
Strength: 48
Agility:57
Luck: 42

Equipped weapons:

Tribal Ritual Spear (+5)
Attack: 75
Block: E
Crit: B
Parry: D
Scaling: Strength D- / Agility C+
Weight: C

Bronze Round Shield (+4)
Attack: 44
Block: A
Crit: E
Parry: B
Scaling: Strength D / Defense B+
Weight: C

Equipped Armor:

Bronze armor
Bronze leggings
Soft leather gloves
Comfy shirt
Comfy shorts
Fair commoner skirt
Belt bag

Most Used Skill:

Gift of Life I
Passive: Increases health regeneration outside of combat by 1 health per second, increases maximum health by 100, increases effectiveness of healing items

End of chapter...

Chapter Text

Late afternoon, a cave two miles west of Emerald City...

Farming basically amounted to repeatedly performing an action that would be rewarded with certain crafting materials until enough materials were gathered. In Rose and Gambol's case, they were killing bears in caves in an attempt to gather [Bear Fat] which was considered a low-level [Oil] mat.

Rose scrolled through her inventory screen with annoyance. In the past two hours, they acquired an unfortunately large collection of bear-related crafting materials. However, most of which was not what they needed. What was she going to do with sixty [Bear Claws]? You only needed one claw to upgrade an ax, and she didn't use axes.

"We've always been selling these to NPC shops," Rose thought aloud. "I wonder where it all goes."

Next to her, leaning on a remarkably flat section of cave wall, Gambol shrugged.

"I think some of the bears have respawned." Rose said, dismissing her menu. "You got [Detection] up yet?"

Gambol gave a slight shake of her head and held up four fingers. She still had forty seconds of cool down left.

Rose nodded and activated her own [Detection] skill, which she had recently maxed out. She sensed a bear near the mouth of the cave. A glance at her mini-map confirmed what she sensed. She glanced at Gambol and tilted her head towards where they came. The two made their way back to the entrance.

As the two walked, Rose couldn't help but think about [Detection].

Simply put, it made your senses sharper. If you were looking for something, [Detection] made it easier to find. For things like hidden traps and monsters, it made sense. Even the most well-hidden trap had some aspect that gave it away as a trap and one merely had to look for the signs.

But then it also did other things - things that didn't make sense, like determining the kinds of techniques a weapon could use or the cool-downs of a hostile mob. One could argue that, if that was what you were looking for, then of course [Detection] would show that to you. It still didn't quite answer the question of 'why'.

Rose didn't quite understand the design decisions of it. Its scope was too broad. It was a catch-all skill that everyone could benefit from having - way too overpowered. There had to be some catch...

"There," Gambol said, pulling Rose out of her musings.

Near the mouth of the cave was a [Cave Bear Lv25] wandering aimlessly in a seemingly random patrol pattern.

Rose brandished her scythe. "I initiate the encounter, you go for the kill," she said, readying a technique.

Gambol nodded before walking backwards into the darkness, blending into it with her [Stealth] skill. She would enter the battle while the bear was distracted with Rose and administer a [Backstab] technique with her knife which did increased critical damage.

It fell within a few seconds.

While the reaper scrolled her inventory, double checking how much new stuff they got, Gambol called from deeper in the cave. "I'm detecting more of them. They've started respawning."

Rose nodded. "Coming!" She dismissed her menu and quickly made her way to where Gambol was. They continued their farming operation.

Meanwhile, near a hut in the middle of the Emerald Forest...

Myrtenaster quietly wondered if Rose and Gambol were having an easier time than she was, farming [Cave Bears] rather than completing some obnoxious escort quest.

Perhaps two or three miles south west of Emerald City was a tiny hut elevated on a tree. Said hut was the humble abode of an NPC hermit who collected special sap from the surrounding forest. The sap was said to be an incredibly versatile substance for use in crafting. It was also apparently highly flammable, which made it a possible substitute for standard [Oil] mats when used for things like torches. Players who wished to avail of that sap had to protect the hermit as he collected it. The quest would be completed when he died - he'd respawn back at his hut and players need only return there to collect their reward.

Due to the nature of the quest, Myrtenaster's reward was theoretically an unlimited amount of sap. All she needed to do was keep the NPC alive - which she had been doing.

For whatever reason, bears and wolves were particularly mad at the hermit. They seemed to spawn out of nowhere and immediately charged at him until someone else took aggro. Being primarily a damage-per-second focused player, her high agility build allowed for quickly dispatching individual mobs with relative ease. Her biggest problem was that there were always too many mobs to deal with. She did not have a large health pool and, while none of the mobs hit very hard, she was very much in danger of getting overwhelmed.

Her only comfort in that fact was Milou, who had elected to join her. The redheaded lancer sported a hybrid tank build with balanced defense and offence. She more than made up for Myrtenaster's weaknesses.

"The hermit's moving," Milou said, snapping Myrtenaster out of her thoughts. "I see a pack of wolves coming from the south and a bear from the south west."

Myrtenaster raised her rapier. "I'll take out the bear," she announced, dashing towards the approaching mob. "Stay with the hermit!"

With her Tailor's Tail, she quickly stabbed the bear in three critical-hit locations - though the heart, through the neck, and through the right eye - pin-point in her accuracy. With her higher level and upgraded weapon, she dispatched the mob with little effort.

Looking at Milou, the lancer was currently engaging the pack of wolves while the hermit worked away at a nearby tree. In the distance, Mytenaster could make out another approaching pack that would skirt past Milou's current battle.

"Milou, I see more wolves from the north! I'm running to intercept!" Myrtenaster made for the new pack.

The fencer grimaced as she made contact with the mobs. She was no adept at combat with multiple enemies that fought in a coordinated manner. In fact, one could say she was quite bad at it. Her fighting style relied too much on relentless combo attacks and critical hits. She was hard pressed to make use of either when the pack was too big. The moment she started a combo on one of them, the rest of the pack would pounce on her and immediately break her combo. Worse still, if they ever got her into a stun-lock, she'd be helpless - as good as dead unless Milou came to bail her out.

That was exactly what happened, much to Myrtenaster's dismay. With a slight mistiming of her cool downs, she was not able to activate her sword technique in time to counter an attack by one of the approaching wolves. The resulting stab had half the power it should've had and the wolf simply shrugged it off.

When one wolf engaged her, the rest entered the fray as well, coming at her one after another. She managed to raise her free arm and block the first two hits - taking perhaps only 70% the damage she normally would have - but the next one broke her guard and she stumbled back, completely undefended. After that, it was open season for her as every attack seemed to land right as her hit-stun timer ended, stunning her once more. At just four seconds in, her health bar was already yellow, half depleted.

"Myrt, I'm coming!"

Myrtenaster heard her name get called but was too dazed to understand what came after. The next thing she knew, Milou was standing over her, shield raised.

After she grasped the situation, Myrtenaster quickly rolled away and pulled two potions from out of her belt-bag - a convenient little accessory item she heard about from Magnhild and Stormflower. She popped the potions and sat up, immediately scanning the area for the hermit. He was just about to leave, with two bears lumbering towards him from different directions.

She made a mental note to thank Milou for saving her for the umpteenth time and ran for the bear closest to the hermit. She was mildly upset that she wasn't able to show her gratitude right at that moment, but she knew she didn't have time. She dispatched the bear and instantly went for the next one.

God, I hope the others are having better luck than we are...

Meanwhile, near the ruins of an ancient stone structure...

Stormflower ran a hand over the moss covered remains of a stone pillar. "This place must have had history," he said to no one in particular.

According to Rose - rather, according to Torchlight - the ruins found scattered around the Emerald Forest had a fair share of treasure chests in them. For a time, people were regularly checking them for items as they tended to suddenly restock after a day or so. Eventually, people stopped trying as the rewards they got were little more than petty change - not enough lien to put in the effort, even when the non-lien rewards were sold at NPC shops.

However, what Stormflower was after was not lien rewards, though that certainly wasn't unwelcome. No, what he was after was a large bottle of oil which spawned in the chests. Said bottle of oil contained within it the equivalent of 10 standard oil mats. It was reportedly a rare spawn, and really only appeared in large chests that changed locations every other day. Regular bottles of oil were fine too, though - and those spawned much more frequently.

"Reeeen. I'm booooored..."

Stormflower winced. While he himself had the patience to comb through every known ruin in the forest for chests, the same could not be said of his partner. Magnhild was decidedly unfit for work such as what they were tasked to do. The only reason she was even with him in the first place was because she had insisted to come. Had she not done so, their assignments and teams would have been somewhat different.

"What would you like to do?" Stormflower asked, noting a chest hidden under some tall grass.

"Can't we go kill some monsters?"

"If something enters the clearing, be my guest. I'm afraid I'm busy, though. I can't entertain you."

To that Maggy sighed dramatically. "It's fine. I just wanted to complain..."

Stormflower gave a small smile before heading towards the chest in the grass. With little effort, he opened it - it wasn't even locked.

The contents of the chest were substantial - at least when considering what he was looking for. Within it, there was 100 lien, two potions, and five small bottles of alcohol. The alcohol was considered a type of oil in most [Crafting] sub-skills, but was also considered an ingredient in [Cooking] and was therefore drinkable.

He glanced at the menu floating to the side of the chest and tapped [Move all to inventory]. With the chest emptied, Stormflower stood and continued searching.

Evening, near the gates of Emerald City...

Myrtenaster collapsed face-first into the grass next to Rose. Her voice was muffled as she spoke. "Crescent Rose, you are switching with me. The quest is too hard."

Rose sat up and chuckled, running a hand through the fencer's off-center pony-tail. "It was the wolves, wasn't it?" Myrtenaster groaned and the reaper smiled. "I'll take that as a yes. Wolf packs are always a pain since they attack together. They do have this rhythm to their attacks, though - like a half-second pause before the next wolf attacks. I don't really need to worry about that since I can one-shot anything under level 20 that doesn't spec health."

"Lucky you," Myrtenaster remarked, rolling over to her back. "The quest is supposed to be taken by a party of six under the level cap. We're both over-levelled for it - which is why we can do it with just two people - but we're not strong enough to make it trivial." She scowled. "You, on the other hand..."

Rose laughed awkwardly, scratching her cheek.

Milou took a seat next to Myrtenaster, laying her shield and spear down. "I'll be honest. I'd rather not go through that quest again. The constant fighting really wears down on you." She frowned. "It's a lot like fighting Grimm, now that I think about it."

Rose shrugged, lying back down. Myrtenaster kept her gaze upward, watching the sky change colors. Milou nodded thoughtfully before joining them on the ground. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Maggy and Stormflower arrived.

They heard Maggy before they saw her.

"Somebody switch with us! The treasure hunting was sooo boooring! Way more boring than the name suggests!"

"You know what? Maybe you should give your quest to Maggy," Rose suggested with a grin. "She looks like she's really bored."

Myrtenaster made no attempt to move from her spot on the grass. "If she's willing to take that stupid quest from me then I will not hesitate to give it to her."

While they discussed the reassignment of teams, a fourth party emerged from the tree line. It was merely Wilting Blush, who had temporarily exchanged her scimitar for a hatchet. "I have 88 [Wood] mats," he announced.

Myrtenaster sat up and clapped her hands together. "Perfect. Your job is done, Wilt. Send me the items and you can go on your way."

Wilt twitched but said nothing. He opened his trade menu and sent the desired items to Myrtenaster. "I'll be going now," he then said, trudging towards the city.

Rose sat up and stared at the man's back as it disappeared into the city. "Is something up with him?" the reaper asked, somewhat concerned.

Myrtenaster shrugged before lying back down. "Don't know. Don't care."

By the end of their break, their reassignments were set. Maggy and Rose would take the escort quest. Stormflower and Gambol would search the ruins for treasure. Finally, Milou and Myrtenaster would farm the bears in the caves.

And thus, they set out, hoping to meet their quota and return to town before the clock struck midnight.

Character Stat Sheet...

Gambol Shroud Lv40 (as of chapter 20)
Blake Belladonna 20 yrs old

Stats:

Health: 50
Defense: 40
Strength: 40
Agility: 70
Luck: 40

Equipped weapons:

Brightscale Blade (+5)
Attack: 80
Block: E
Crit: B
Parry: B
Scaling: Agility: B
Weight: C
Other Traits: partially ignores light armor, low durability

Beowolf Fang (+5)
Attack: 45
Block: E
Crit: S
Parry: A
Scaling: Agility S
Weight: S

Equipped Armor:

Leather Armor
Leather Leggings
Bandit Bandana
Fair Commoner Shirt
Fair Commoner Shorts
Shoulder Pack

Most Used Skill:

Detection: Lv100 (Max)
Passive: Increases vision radius, increases visibility at night, enhances all senses, increases duration of hit stun and sense-hampering status effects like [Blindness] or [Deafness]
Active: Greatly enhances all senses, shows additional information within a target's status window, lasts for 10 seconds, cooldown of 120 seconds (may cause [Paralysis] when inflicted with high amounts of damage or sense-hampering status effects like [Blindness] or [Deafness] while active)

End of chapter...

Chapter Text

 Past midnight, Underground Root Complex respawn point...

Rose went limp and crumpled onto the floor. She couldn't feel her blood pumping but a certain sense of adrenaline was still coursing through her. After a moment of dazed blinking, she looked at the corner of vision. Her health bar had only a sliver left. A defeated groan escaped from her lips as she realized what happened.

"Stupid tail swipe," she cursed under her breath. "If I were a little bit more careful... less careless... less greedy..."

As she trailed off, she noticed movement in the health bars of the members of her party. One of the health bars became almost fully depleted. Rose sat up and looked around.

There was the unique flash of the game's teleport animation and suddenly Milou Akuou popped into existence in the middle of the room. She stood in a defensive stance with her shield still raised for a moment before collapsing. Rose crawled over to her fallen party member.

"You okay?" Rose asked, putting a comforting hand on Milou's shoulder. The lancer blinked, looking a little stunned. "Death felt more shocking than I expected," she mumbled.

Rose hummed in agreement, recalling the moment she died. In the instant that her health bar depleted, all of her senses just shut down, leaving her in a disembodied darkness where the only thing she could see was a text box saying [You are dead. Respawing in 5 seconds...]. When the count down reached zero, she respawned in the same pose she died in, her senses hitting her all at once.

"So, how'd you go out?"

Milou released a deep sigh. "An attack from the boss broke my shield. I tried to equip my back-up but I wasn't fast enough. It killed me before I was able to put it up to block." She then chuckled. "What makes things worse is that this is the second time in as many weeks that one of my shields broke."

Rose nodded awkwardly, unsure of how to respond. "Well... That sucks..."

"How about you?"

"I mistimed one of my tech cooldowns and my weapon just bounced right off it. It did a tail sweep while I was in the recoil animation that did double damage. My health went from yellow to dead in one attack."

Milou nodded thoughtfully before closing her eyes. "I'm not looking forward to fighting that thing again."

Rose watched as the health bars of the rest of her party depleted all at once. She shook her head. "Yeah... Me neither..."

Earlier, deep within the Underground Root Complex...

Looming over Myrtenaster was a twelve foot high stone door with glowing carved markings depicting some sort of multi-legged monster. It was so obviously a boss door that the she almost laughed. She also nearly screamed in outrage as the implications of that particular kind of boss door were not lost on her.

Boss doors were a common occurrence in Remnant Online. Out in the field, they tended to be naturally formed in the terrain like an opening to a dense ring of trees around a clearing or the entrance to a cave. Those kind of boss doors lead to field bosses - usually a named version of a field mob with higher stats and additional attacks and abilities.

The door before her was not one of those kinds of doors. She had seen only one of them before and the memory of it was still burned into her skull.

Next to her, Milou spoke calmly but warily, "Myrtenaster... you know what this is, right...?"

Myrtenaster pursed her lips and nodded. There was not a doubt in her mind. The Underground Root Complex was the region 2 Gate Dungeon.

"Were going in," Myrtenaster said, opening her messaging window. "I'm calling Rose. When they get here, we're fighting the boss"

"They were moving in the opposite direction from us. It'll take them some time to get here."

"We can wait." Myrtenaster turned to Wilting Blush who was holding up a torch. "How many torches do we still have?"

Wilt took a moment to bring up his inventory and check. "We have eight minutes on the torch that's currently lit and exactly one hundred in reserve."

"Over fifty hours of fire light," Myrtenaster said with a smile. "Plenty of time for them to get here."

Later...

As it turned out, the wait wasn't very long. Just over fifteen minutes after Myrtenaster sent the message, Rose's group came into view at the far end of the tunnel. No sooner had they reached the boss door and began prepping for the upcoming boss fight.

"You know we're gonna lose, right?" Rose said as she switched out her spear for her scythe. "But then again, we have a free revive. I guess we're just scouting?"

Myrtenaster rolled her eyes, unsheathing her rapier. "That's the plan," she muttered as she moved to open the boss room.

The ground trembled as the stone doors turned inward, a terrible rumble echoing though the cave. When it stopped, an empty stillness seemed to take over. Their flames were put out and the frantic pitter-patter of the Scramblers surrounding them also stopped, as if the mobs just disappeared. All that remained were the ambient noises of the cave.

"Is everyone ready?" Myrtenaster whispered as they slowly walked into the boss arena. Her voice carried farther and louder than she expected.

As they all gave their confirmations, a gust of wind rushed at them, somehow closing the door behind them. They all turned to Maggy who was the last to enter. "Is it too late to say I'm not ready?" she asked nervously.

Myrtenaster ignored the halfhearted quip and readied her weapon. "I don't see the boss yet. It might try to blindside us. Everyone form up." With that order, Rose, Maggy, and Milou pulled ahead, everyone else following shortly behind them.

Myrtenaster wasn't sure how she'd describe the boss arena. In a way, it look just like the rest of the Root Complex. It was a cavernous room filled with a patchwork of architecture, from centuries old stone masonry to rotted wooden planks, blending into each other seemingly at random. And creeping up all around the room, on the ground, the floor, the ceiling, and every ruined support pillar was a gnarled tangle of roots emitting an ethereal golden glow.

"The roots make the floor dangerously uneven," Milou noted. "Be careful not to lose your footing."

"At least we can't get sprained ankles in the game," Rose mumbled.

They continued moving forward at a slow and steady pace, the tense silence only broken by the sound of their footsteps.

"Might just be me but doesn't it feel like we're walking into some kind of trap?" Rose asked.

"It's not just you," Myrtenaster replied. She also felt like she was walking into a trap. The boss arena was empty and had closed without warning. The boss itself hadn't even shown up yet. There was obviously a trap. The only question was, had they already fallen for it?

"Gambol, detection."

There was a noticeable flash in Gambol's eyes as she activated the ability. Everyone held their breath as Gambol looked around. When she finally spoke, she said, "Nothing. I scanned the whole room but there's nothing to see. It's empty."

There was a pause.

"That doesn't make sense," Myrtenaster growled in frustration. "What do you mean there's nothing? The boss has to be here somewhere."

"The boss probably is here," Milou calmly pointed out, "but the game's not letting us see it. It might be a scripted sequence - like some sort of cinematic boss introduction."

Myrtenaster's scowl deepened. "So this is an unskippable cutscene?"

"Hmm. More like a section of gameplay before a cutscene. We have to trigger it first before it plays. We just don't know what the trigger is."

Even Rose groaned this time. "This room is huge. We could spend hours trying to find-"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence as she tripped over a glowing root. The ground began shaking shortly after.

They all went wide-eyed. "That's the trigger," Rose said, scrambling back to her feet. "Everyone scatter!"

Erupting from the ground was a thing that would probably plague Myrtenaster's dreams in the coming nights. Towering over her was the [Root Death Stalker], a giant black and white scorpion with blood red markings. It was the size of a bus, not even including the pincers, legs and tail with a golden glowing stinger. The sheer look of it was intimidating, made even more so by the three health bars and the large Level 80 next to its name.

She was lost in awe and fear for less than a second before she remembered that she was still technically party leader. After a quick glance at her mini map to get herself situated, she then began barking her orders, the system-assisted [Strategic Targeting] already pinging Milou and Rose to attack and gain aggro.

After a few moments of disorganization, her party managed to settle into their roles. Rose and Milou were tanking. Stormflower stayed back and provided consistent DPS with his bow and arrows. The rest would circle around the boss and attack when there was an opening.

They kept at the fight for as long as they could but it was clear from that start that they weren't going to win. It became more and more certain as the fight went on. Non-sword techniques from anyone other than Maggy seemed to just bounce off the thing's armored exoskeleton, dealing reduced damage. It also hit like a truck, removing large chunks of their health bars from mere glancing blows. Their team work wasn't nearly good enough to carry them through the entire fight, nor were their potion reserves.

They survived for ten minutes before they wiped out. The boss had lost slightly less than 10% of its heath by the time the last player fell.

Pathetic.

Even with all that said, though, Myrtenaster wouldn't say that the [Root Death Stalker] was an unfairly difficult boss. Aside from an absurdly high health pool and damage output, most of its attacks had long wind-ups, limited range, or both. The only exception would be a tail sweep and charge attack, both of which had short wind ups but only seemed to trigger in specific instances.

There was no doubt in Myrtenaster's mind that someone would be able to solo the boss if they had perfect dodge timing and the patience to whittle away at it for hours until it died. Really, it was just test of endurance.

Of course, the thing had three health bars and their party of seven wasn't even close to taking out of the first bar. Based on experience, bosses would get more aggressive and start using new attacks with every depleted bar. She could only assume that the Death Stalker was no different.

They were gonna have to try again and Myrtenaster was not looking forward to trying again...

REMNANT ONLINE

Party Stats

Leader
Myrtenaster Lv 37 (elapsed time in party: 84:38)

Members
Gambol Shroud Lv 40 (elapsed time in party: 84:38)
Wilting Blush Lv 39 (elapsed time in party: 84:37)
Milou Akuou Lv 44 (elapsed time in party: 84:37)
Crescent Rose Lv 56 (elapsed time in party: 77:21)
Magnhild Lv 45 (elapsed time in party: 83:59)
Stormflower Lv 43 (elapsed time in party: 83:58)

REMNANT ONLINE

Chapter Text

A few minutes before dawn, deep in the Emerald Forest...

Rose managed to get the Ursa stun locked, the twirling animations of her scythe techniques flowing from one attack into another in a near-seamless dance of death. Truthfully, she wasn't fighting the same way she fought when she farmed Grimm alone. She was being watched. One could forgive her if she wanted to show off a little.

With one final sweeping motion, she felled the Ursa. The mob's explosive death animation played followed by a brief notification about the amount of exp and money she received from defeating it. "I think that's the last one we're fighting for the night," Rose said, propping her weapon on her shoulder. "Or morning, I guess," she then added, noting how the sun was already rising.

She turned to her party. "How are we looking on levels?"

She received a slew of answers but they all said basically the same thing: They had gained levels.

"Alright then. Let's head back."

Two days prior, on the morning after the second Root dungeon raid, Myrtenaster held an assembly to discuss the third Root dungeon raid. Everyone who had a high enough level and were willing to fight had come, totaling to just under fifty players. With the help of Torchlight, they compiled a list of details about the dungeon and the boss and tried to strategize around them. They managed to come up with a number of plans but none feasible enough to go through with. In the end, they decided to all spend the next few days grinding and would reconvene once they gained a few levels and thought on the issue a bit more.

And grind they did. Over the course of the last two nights, Rose and company had leveled up several times, with the person who leveled the most being Myrtenaster whose level increased from 37 to 46. Rose herself had leveled twice, sitting at a nice and even 58. It was an incredible amount of progress for less than 16 hours.

And yet, Rose didn't feel satisfied. She wasn't sure what it was, but something felt wrong to her ever since she started grinding with her party. She wasn't losing sleep over it, but it remained in the back of her mind every time they were on the hunt.

When they were maybe an hour's walk from the city, Milou and Myrtenaster changed their pace to walk next to Rose. "Something on your mind? You look deep in thought." Milou asked.

Rose smiled politely, though she was sure it looked as fake as it felt. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Milou's look of worry and Myrtenaster's unamused scowl were obvious tells that they weren't convinced. Rose sighed. "Fine. Something's been bugging me. I just don't really know what it is..."

After a brief explanation, Myrtenaster seemed sufficiently puzzled while Milou was nodding thoughtfully. "I feel similarly, Rose. At the end of the night when we compare our levels, I can't help but feel like our numbers are off."

"I'm not following," Myrtenaster said. "Off in what way?"

Milou frowned. "It's hard to describe. It's like... there's something missing... like we're getting less experience than I expect to get..."

Rose went wide-eyed as she remembered the time when she gained ten levels in less than a week by grinding creatures of Grimm for a few hours longer than she did before. She had been, what, level 46 at the time? In that week long period, she reached level 54 without much trouble - and that was after the balance patch that lowered exp gained from killing Grimm.

Myrtenaster had a much lower level which meant that the experience reward was still relatively large for her. With the amount of Grimm their party had killed, Myrtenaster should have gained at least 12 levels. Instead, she gained 9. The same was the case with all the other party members.

There was no doubt about it. They were receiving much lower exp rewards than they should be. The question was why.

Rose blinked, suddenly realizing that she was glaring into space. To her side, she saw the worried looks of Myrtenaster and Milou. She smiled apologetically. "I just remembered something I gotta do, actually," she half-lied. "I'm gonna go on ahead and take care of it."

Myrtenaster and Milou exchanged a glance but made no comment. "Good luck with that, then," Myrtenaster said, changing her pace once more to walk next to Gambol and Wilt who were at the back of the group.

"Stay safe," Milou said, waving goodbye.

Rose nodded and waved goodbye as well. "Laters."

With that, she broke into a run, activating [Nimble Feet] as she did so. She began blasting towards the city with a destination already in mind. Torchlight's got some explaining to do...

Later, Emerald City, Torchlight's headquarters...

Rose looked on in bewilderment. "An undocumented patch?"

Torchlight raised an eyebrow. "Is there an echo in the room somewhere? Because my words are being repeated." Rose shrunk back at the sarcasm and muttered an apology.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"You didn't ask," Torchlight replied, crossing his arms. His answer was exactly what Rose expected. "And I almost never give information for free, Red. We've known each other since the beta. How could you not know this?"

Rose sighed. "Payment before information. Yeah, yeah. I remember."

"Well, if you're done having a fit, may I now continue?"

Rose awkwardly scratched her cheeks. "Uh, go ahead..."

"As I was saying, the numbers on Party experience sharing were tweaked in an undocumented patch some time between the launch of the game and clearing of the first Gate Dungeon. You're aware of what the experience share did before, right?"

Rose nodded. From what she remembered, experience points gained by each party member for a defeated mob would be equal to that of a solo player - essentially multiplying the total amount of experience gained from the mob by the number of players in a party.

"Well, that patch made it so the experience sharing capped at four party members. A party with more than four players will receive a total amount of experience equal to that of a party of only four players. It's the general consensus among those in the know that this change was to reduce the mindless power leveling that large groups of players did to cheese their way to a high level back in the game's beta."

Rose bit her lip. She felt mildly conflicted about this information. On one hand she felt a little better about grinding solo for the past few weeks. On the other hand, she was trying to level a party of seven and the sharing cap was slowing down their progress.

"Uh... thanks, Torchlight. Is there anything else I need to know was changed in that undocumented patch?"

Torchlight grinned. "I'll tell you for 50 lien."

Rose rolled her eyes. There were times that his cheeky greediness were endearing but this was not one of those times. "How much for you just telling me all the other changes in the patch?"

His grin widened. "Now you're speaking my language."

Meanwhile, Myrtenaster's cottage...

"I'm sorry for asking for this so soon after our nightly grinding session. Blake never has an opinion and Adam...well, I don't trust his opinions"

"It's fine, it's fine. I'm glad I could help."

Milou sat down at the small table in Myrtenaster's living room, taking in how much the place had changed in just a few days. She remembered when she was scouting the place out and how bare bones the furnishings had been. A two bedroom cottage with exactly two beds, two drawers, two chairs, and one table. Even an inn room had more than that. Now, it had the same kind of furnishings as was in the clock tower from before they moved out - minus the large spinning gears.

"This place is a lot more cozy with all your stuff here," Milou commented. "Though it is a little cramped."

There was an annoyed groan from the kitchen area. "Uhhhh. Tell me about it," Myrtenaster said, approaching with a tea pot and two cups in her hands. "The amount of rearranging I had to do to put everything I want in this room was actually harrowing after the ordeal passed the twenty minute mark."

Myrtenaster continued complaining as she laid the cups onto the table and poured the drinks. Milou could only smile politely. "I can imagine."

The heiress sat across Milou and brought her cup to her lips. There was a notably sour look on her face that she quickly suppressed. She then looked at Milou worriedly. "Tell me what you think. I only recently started leveling my [Cooking] subskills."

Milou picked up her own cup and stared thoughtfully at the dark liquid.

She was well aware of Myrtenaster's worries. In real life, the heiress was not a very good cook mostly due to the family cooks being in charge of her meals and the outright refusal of her father to hire her an instructor. She had to learn on her own through tutorials on the internet and by experimentation. Milou was her unfortunate, if usually willing, guinea pig for most of those experiments. Not a lot has changed between then and now.

Milou pulled the cup close and breathed in, a familiar aroma filling her lungs. What exactly was the drink in her hands? Only one way to find out. She tipped the cup slightly and took a long sip.

There was a moment of silence as Milou nodded along, trying to process what she just drank. "Well?" Myrtenaster asked, leaning forward on the table.

"It's good. Tastes a little like coffee," Milou said, an somewhat proud smile on her face. "Brewed lightning root?"

Myrtenaster nodded. "The recipe asks for lightning root, water, and stuff like sugar, honey, and milk. You just boil the root for five to ten minutes, pour yourself a glass, and then drop the sweetener and milk into your glass and stir for thirty seconds. It's a lot like making a cup of tea in real life, now that I think about it - though it's a little ironic that it tastes like coffee..."

"That it is."

The two shared a laugh as they enjoyed cozy warmth of their drinks and each other's company.

Milou set her cup down. "Be honest with me, Weiss. You didn't request this visit just so I could try out your cooking, right?"

Myrtenaster smiled, slowly shaking her head. "You know me too well, Pyrrha. To just come out and say it, I also needed some purchasing advice. I'm looking into buying a shield."

"Why not just send me a message?"

Myrtenaster fidgeted. "I also wanted you to try my cooking. It seemed convenient to just do them both."

Milou nodded, understanding. Moving back to the topic of shields, she said "Well, I'm not sure if I'm the right person to ask about this but I'm willing to listen. What would you like to know?"

"Hmm." Myrtenaster pushed aside her cup, materializing her Tailor's Tail and lowering it onto the table. "Rapiers were weapons used in 16th to 17th century Europe and were typically paired with daggers, small shields, or a second sword. They even told stories of heroes who wielded a rapier with a buckler in their off-hand. They were called swashbucklers. This game has custom fighting styles for players who equip certain pairings of weapons, right?"

Milou nodded once more. What Myrtenaster said was true. In Milou's [Armed Combat] skill menu there was a list of skill-sets for specific weapon types. There was also a separate list of skill-sets for when weapons used in tandem with each other. In that list of weapon pairings, the only visible skill-sets were [Spartan] and [Tribal Warrior] for her shield and spear load out. The list only became visible when her weapon skill level for both weapons were high enough.

"You think a thrusting sword and small shield is one of the recognized weapon pairings?"

"Logic, intuition, and hearsay make me confident that it is."

Milou scratched the back of her head. "You already seem knowledgeable about this. What exactly do you need my help with?"

Myrtenaster took a moment to reply. In that time, she de-materialized her weapon and began staring at her hands on her lap. "I've never gone about buying a shield so I don't know what stats I should look at," she mumbled. "How do I figure out what's good?"

"Mmm." Milou repressed an amused chuckle. Failing that, she shook her head and thought about the question seriously. She was displeased to find that she didn't have a lot to say that was helpful.

"Medium and small shields have different stats to look out for. For a medium shield, you look for physical damage reduction, durability, guard stability, and weight. All of those are to aid in blocking. I don't really need to explain damage reduction and durability. Guard stability and weight work in tandem to determine how easy it is to block attacks. Low stability means your guard is more easily broken. High weight means the act of raising your shield is slower."

"For a small shield, though..." Milou frowned. "I'm not sure what stats you need to look for. I'm sure they have the same kinds of stats but they might do different things. At the very least, I know for sure that physical damage reduction won't be your focus. Small shields aren't really made for blocking anyway."

"I see..." Myrtenaster leaned forward, resting her chin on her palms. "What about scaling?"

Milou blinked. "Now that you mention it, medium shields have average scaling to strength and poor scaling to agility. That might very well help determine how well a shield performs. Try to look for a high-durability, low-weight small shield with good agility scaling."

"Hmm..."

"That's all I can really say. I'm sorry I don't know more."

Myrtenaster waved away the apology with a reassuring smile. "It's fine, Pyrrha. I was going to ask Torchlight anyway. I just wanted to know what you know so I could save some money. Though, after saying that aloud just now, I have to admit that it might be a little rude of me."

"I take no offence."

Milou tipped her cup and drank what remained of her drink and stood up. "I'd hate to just show up for a drink and leave but it's already eight and I'd like to get some sleep. If you'll excuse me..."

"Have a good rest, Pyrrha. Stay safe on your way to your inn room."

"I will. You have a good rest as well, Weiss"

With that, Milou exited Myrtenaster's cottage and set off to the inn she was staying at.

Late morning, rooftops of Emerald City...

Gambol Shroud sat crouch at the edge of a rooftop overlooking a city street, the light of the sunset casting long shadows at her feet.. On the roof of the building on the other side of he street stood Wilting Blush, arms crossed authoritatively. At his side was Rose, awkwardly trying and failing to not fidget every time she glanced in Wilt's direction.

"What are we doing again...?" Rose asked, scratching her cheek.

"Tag," Gambol and Wilt said simultaneously. It caused Rose to wince upon hearing it.

"R-right... "

As someone who was trained to become a bodyguard at a young age, Gambol was adept at pursuing an escaping target and disabling them. A game of tag was effective enough practice for if she ever found herself in a situation where she needed to do that. Its mechanics involved was exactly what was just described, minus the act of disabling.

That being said, it was incredibly convenient that, when challenging someone to a duel, "Combat Tag" was one of the possible duel parameters. Within a given area, one player would be "It" and would attempt to tag other players, either by hitting them in a vital spot or dismembering or disabling their legs. The other players would use any means necessary to avoid getting tagged, be it by stealth, evasion, or by attacking the player who was It. The game would end after all the players were tagged or after a time limit was reached - whichever was sooner.

"The extents of the playable area shall be a radius of 100 yards from where Crescent Rose and I are standing. Five minute time limit. Use of skills and weapon techniques are allowed. Use of techniques with high critical hit chance is not allowed. The game begins in ten seconds."

Rose nervously brandished her death scythe and Wilt pulled out his scimitar. Gambol too unsheathed her katana. She crouched down, tensing her legs, waiting for the count down timer to hit zero. Every second ticked down in slow motion...

The starting sound rang in her ears and all players sprung into action.

Much to Gambol's surprise, both she and Rose jumped across the street in each other's direction. In the split second where their collision registered, Rose activated a weapon technique to pinwheel forward with with her scythe outstretched. Gambol gracefully twisted her body in the air to dodge the attack, the serrated bone of Rose's weapon merely grazing her elbow. They both landed on the rooftops on the opposite sides of the street.

Before Gambol even turned to look at Rose, she was already running away, the subtle blur effect of [Nimble Feet] activating as she leaped to a different rooftop and out of her vision. Gambol bit her lip and jumped in pursuit.

A glance at her mini-map showed the red player arrow of Rose flitting around over a black and white grid of the city streets. Wilt had obviously dropped down to street level and was attempting to conceal himself in the crowd of players and NPCs. Rose would be easy to find and chase down. Wilt might take her the whole duration of the duel to find if she left him alone. She knew what her priorities were and switched targets.

Gambol stopped on a roof overlooking a street corner and activated [Detection]. She reflexively took in a sharp breath as a wave of sensory inputs hit her hard, though not as hard as the first time she used it in the city. She quickly filtered away the information she did not care about and found Wilt's cursor, standing among the crowd congregating around a player merchant's shop.

As soon as he was detected, Wilt went on the move, dashing out of the crowd and into the streets. When Gambol dropped down at the entrance to the central plaza, he was waiting for her, weapon ready. Knowing full well that he was better at real-life combat than her, Gambol engaged him.

It didn't take even a minute for a circle of onlookers to gather around them. No doubt the bystanders could see the message box floating over them as they clashed which said [Duel In Progress].

They locked blades. Wilt's higher strength easily pushed Gambol to her knees. "You're running out of time," Wilt said. Gambol noticed how there was just over 90 seconds left. "Find a way to end this now or you will lose."

Gambols mouth was a razor thin line as she continued getting pushed down. She bared her teeth and kicked Wilt in the groin. The man recoiled, allowing Gambol to push him back. She then swept her katana across the ground cutting off Wilt's feet at the ankles. A brief notification told her that she had successfully eliminated him.

Once again feeling the sudden rush of senses from her active [Detection], Gambol located Rose on the far side of the plaza. She wasn't very far but was moving quickly in the opposite direction. Rose must have tried to see where Gambol had gone when pursuit had ended and only started running away when she got the notification that Wilt was out of the game.

Gambol resumed her chase.

The distance between them was closing, slowly but steadily. Rose had a higher agility stat and maxed out [Nimble Feet] skill but was slowed down by the weight of her scythe and the red cloak she was wearing. By sheathing her Brightscale Blade and activating her own [Nimble Feet] skill, Gambol would able to catch up before Rose disappeared into a side street.

Right as she reached the red hooded reaper, Gambol reflexively dive rolled forward. A blur of bone passed over her as she dodged through Rose's weapon techniques. Rose went wide eyed as the ending animation lag for a missed attack left her wide open. Gambol smiled slightly as she pulled out her Beowolf Fang and stabbed Rose in the chest.

Right then, the timer reached zero and the duel ended, returning all players' health to full.

Gambol lowered Rose to her knees and gingerly pulled out the knife. "Are you okay?"

Rose nodded timidly, touching her glowing stab wound as it faded away like it was never there. "That was the first time in a long time I was stabbed like that," she mumbled. "I forgot how uncomfortable it is."

The two then returned to the central plaza where Wilt was waiting for them.

"Congratulations on your victory," Wilt said, though not very cheerful. "That was very resourceful, how you ended it." He then took hold of Gambol's shoulder and leaned close to her ear. "But if you ever do that to me again, I will make sure you regret it."

Gambol managed to keep a straight face as a chill ran up her spine.

"We're going again," he announced. "Crescent Rose."

Rose flinched. "Yes, sir?"

"Will you be joining for the second round?"

She looked conflicted for a moment before answering. "I... uh... I'll join..." She smiled in Gambol's direction. "It was a fun time."

Gambol responded by closing her eyes and nodding.

Round two began after a few minutes.

Early afternoon, Emerald City suburbs...

Myrtenaster felt surprisingly pleasant as she walked through the streets of Emerald City. For someone who only had 16 hours of sleep over the course of a week, that was certainly unusual.

She supposed it was because, for the most part, things were going her way. She had gained the most levels in her party's nightly grinding sessions, no longer the lowest in terms of level thanks to multiple acquisitions of the last-attack bonus. She had used her weapon enough times that she reached a weapon proficiency milestone, granting her a number of new techniques she could use. And perhaps most importantly, she had leveled her [Cooking] skill high enough that she could get a decent cup of coffee. Even in a video game, coffee made her day waaay easier to get through.

That being said, Myrtenaster walked away from the city market feeling just a tad bit irked.

On her hip was a plain grey metal disk roughly the size of a dinner-plate. The center seemed to have been pushed outward to form a metal dome. It was called a [Steel Buckler] and was the best small shield she could buy. All the other ones were either too low in durability, too heavy, looked too terrible to ever use, or some combination of the three. In a peculiar twist, the item that all NPC weapon smiths sold was the most appealing option. Of course, the buckler she bought was still player-made since she wanted more than the two upgrade slots and 100 base item durability.

Before she bought it, she tried testing it out, swinging it via the dedicated [Parry] weapon technique. Since she wielded Tailor's Tail with her left hand, she held the buckler in her right. Swinging felt just a little bit awkward. Of course, that awkwardness went away when [System Assist] took over but it was still a big deal. The parry technique had an extremely short cool down and low starting lag but the starting motion left her wide open for attack. Failed attempts at parrying could get her killed.

I supposed I just need to practice, Myrtenaster thought. And it's a good thing that's exactly what I'm about to do.

Based on experience, she knew Rose would be in the southeastern suburbs of the city at around this time. Sure enough, the red reaper was sleeping peacefully on the grass under the shade of an oak tree. Indeed, as Rose once put it, she took naps. Myrtenaster sat down next to Rose and waited.

After a few minutes, Myrtenaster was looked away from her messaging screen to find Rose stirring.

"The zombie lives," Myrtenaster quipped dryly. "Good afternoon."

"Hey, Myrt," Rose greeted with a yawn. "You need something?"

Myrtenaster raised an eyebrow. "You just woke up and that's the first thing you ask me? I suppose I'm not complaining, but..." Rose shrugged in response. Myrtenaster shrugged as well. "Fair enough."

"I bought a buckler. I need some practice."

Rose blinked in surprise. "Really now? I've never used small shields. I'm a bit turned off by using shields in general, actually. I'm more of a dodge and weave kind of person." She sat up and stretched. "Small shields are actually PvP items, you know. They're only really effective against humanoid enemies that use melee weapons - like player characters."

"I am aware. I don't really care for shields either. I just want to level my [Small Shield] proficiency high enough that I can get the [Swashbuckler] fighting style."

Understanding dawned in Rose's eyes. "Oooh! Makes sense." She jumped to her feet and began scrolling her menu. A few seconds later, Myrtenaster received a notification that Rose was challenging her to a duel.

"Sparring Match," Myrtenaster said, reading the duel parameters aloud.

"During a sparring match, all damage received by fighters is reduced to 20%," Rose explained as she equipped her weapons. "Experience gain is halved but skill-point gain for active skills and weapon proficiencies remain the same."

Myrtenaster's hand hovered over the confirmation dialogue for the duel. Since using weapons outside of combat didn't really help you gain skill points, grinding your weapon proficiency involved either fighting mobs for a few hours or fighting in a duel. "Why can't we just fight mobs?"

"Well, this was what we did back in the beta. If you ever wanted to use a new weapon type, you sparred until your proficiency level was high enough that you could use your new weapon for regular level grinding. That's what I did to level my scythe level."

"But I'm not saying we can't just fight mobs. It's just that it's not really convenient for where we are. There are practically no humanoid mobs in this region."

Myrtenaster blinked as she remembered how the miles of forests around the city had mostly wild life and the only humanoid mobs would fight with bows and arrows. "Right... Forgot about that..."

With some reluctance, Myrtenaster accepted the challenge. She and Rose began their sparring match soon after and proceeded for most of the afternoon.

Late afternoon, corner cafe near Central Plaza...

As she sipped on her glass of brewed lightning root, she couldn't help but wonder how she managed to cram so many obligations in one day. When Rose awoke from what was her fifth nap that day, an event notification had popped up in her vision reminding her of her meeting with someone. It'd make it the sixth time she went to meet someone in just that day alone.

Her first meeting was her impromptu visit to Torchlight to bargain for some information. She took a quick nap and then proceeded to Junior to have her equipment repaired. She had another nap, then played some tag with Gambol. She then proceeded to a restaurant to eat and happened to meet Gun and his boys there. The boys were accommodating and invited her to have lunch with them, an offer she gladly took. Shortly after lunch, she took yet another nap and awoke with Myrtenaster at her side, asking her for help grinding a weapon proficiency. It was a good way to kill time without taking a nap and it gave her an excuse to level her her spear proficiency since it was her backup weapon. And that did indeed kill enough time that one last twenty minute nap allowed her to wake up just as she needed to meet with someone.

Rose, leaned forward over the table and rested her cheek on her palm. A sigh of boredom escaped her lips. "After a day of stuff to do, this is how it ends: waiting in a cafe for my date to show up."

She was right on time at their meeting location. Her "date," however, was running late. Twenty minutes late, in fact. It was enough time that Rose could go run an entire lap around the city and would still be waiting on her date when she got back. It was both annoying and just a little concerning.

"If she's not her in ten minutes, maybe I should message her?" Rose wondered aloud. Her mouth upturned into a frown. "No, she probably wouldn't reply anyway."

Releasing another tired sigh, she raised the glass to her lips, noting how little of her drink was left. "Bottoms up," she muttered, throwing her head back and downing the rest of her pseudo-coffee.

Her glass shattered on the floor as she stood from her seat in surprise. "Ah! Neo, when...!?" Sitting across the table from Rose was Neopolitan, an ever present smirk on her face. Rose pouted and sat back down. "That wasn't funny."

Neo merely closed her eyes and chuckled. Even with Rose's limited interaction with Neo in the beta, she knew enough to recognize when the girl in pink was being cheeky. Rose was almost certain what she was saying "But my dear Rose, it was funny."

Rose sighed. "Okay, maybe it was a little funny," she conceded in a mutter.

The two ordered a round of drinks. Rose got another brewed lightning root and Neo got a lemonade. Once the drinks were served, they got to business.

Rose leaned forward, hands on her lap. "Did you do the thing?"

Neo closed her eyes and casually cupped her hands around her glass. As she pulled the drink to her lips and took a sip, a trade window appeared in front of Rose. She scrolled through the list of items nodding slowly as she read the descriptions for all of them. Sure enough, everything was there.

Rose inputted the agreed amount of lien and confirmed the trade.

"Thanks, Neo. Thank Torchlight for me too," Rose said, leaning back in her chair. Neo smiled slightly as she continued sipping her drink.

That morning, she had hired Torchlight to answer a question that's been burning a hole in the back of her mind for a good week now. Remnant Online had a magic system, but only one person knew how it worked - a certain major quest NPC. Torchlight certainly delivered...

Rose guiltily skimmed through the documents transferred to her quest log. They were about Oobleck, magicians, and magic in general. The files for the last two were really short and didn't say anything she didn't already know - that magic existed and that magicians used to be more common before some catastrophe that split the planet apart. The files for Oobleck, though...

It was a little overwhelming and just a tad bit creepy. There were two separate files, one detailing his lore, another detailing his stats, equipment, and what looked to be his patrol route through Emerald City whenever he wasn't out on a Root Complex expedition. The amount of detail crammed in the walls of text was toeing the line between thorough and creepily obsessed. Rose knew for a fact that Torchlight didn't write the files so it had to be one of his contacts. Who were they again? Why'd they write it in a way that was so uncomfortable to read?

She looked up to ask Neo, but said girl was already gone. Where she once sat was instead an empty glass on top of a handful of metal cards - she had left some lien as compensation for the lemonade that Rose had payed for.

Rose hummed appreciatively at the consideration and downed what remained of her own drink. While she was still eager to read those files, she knew better than to read it somewhere as public as a cafe. She got up and left.

REMNANT ONLINE

Character Stats and Equipment

Stormflower Lv 49
Lie Ren (19 years old)

Stats

Health: 61
Defense: 48
Strength: 60
Agility: 72
Luck: 48

Equipped Weapons

Forest Hunter Twin Daggers (+5)
Attack: 42
Block: E
Crit: A
Parry: A
Scaling: Strength E / Agility A
Weight: A

Oak Longbow (+5)
Attack: 24
Crit: A
Range: 100
Scaling: Strength E / Agility B
Weight: B

Equipped Armor

Leather vest
Bowman's leather glove
Forest Hunter Trousers
Farmer Boots

Recently Acquired Equipment

Myrtenaster Lv 46
Weiss Schnee (19 years old)

Steel Buckler

Attack Damage: 26 (+60.46 combined strength and agility scaling bonus)

Block: E
Physical Damage Reduction: 16 (+4.6 defense bonus)
Guard Stability: 16 (+4.6 strength scaling bonus)

Crit: C
Damage Bonus: +100% (+7.96% combined strength and agility scaling bonus)
Critical Hit Chance: 10% (+3.75% combined strength and agility scaling bonus)

Parry: A
Parry Window: 0.5 seconds
Damage Threshold: 80 (+75 agility scaling bonus)

Strength Scaling: E
(+0.01 attack per level)
(+0.1 guard stability per level)
(+0.01% critical damage bonus per level)

Agility Scaling: C
(+0.8 attack per level)
(+1 damage threshold per level)
(+0.1% critical damage bonus per level)
(+0.05% critical hit chance per level)

Weight: B
Equipment load rating: 30 (-4.85 combined strength and health equipment load bonus)

REMNANT ONLINE

Chapter Text

Eight O'clock in the evening, Underground Root Complex Boss Door

By the seventh attempt, clearing through the dungeon had become a fifteen minute routine of lighting torches and running the tunnels until they reached the boss door, bashing away any cave spider that didn't scuttle away at the sight of thirty some odd players with a combined level grossly exceeding its own. Right on schedule, the players in front arrived at the boss door before the clock struck eight, leaving them four hours to defeat the boss before it became nigh unbeatable.

Before the raid entered the boss room, Myrtenaster stood at the door, addressing her raid party.

"Alright boys, this is our seventh take!" she stated, her voice resounding in the empty silence of the tunnels. "I'm sick and tired of fighting this thing. All of you are sick and tired of fighting this thing. If we win this tonight and we won't ever need to fight it again. You all know the plan. Stick to it."

With that, the raid party entered the boss room, Rose already pushing forward past the others to trigger the boss introduction. The other members of the raid got into position.

Myrtenaster sighed and opened her settings menu. Upon switching to the Raid Leader UI, her compacted party list at the bottom right side of her vision expanded into several large floating windows that she could move and rearrange. Each window detailed the health of every member, with the cool-down timers of up to five of their last used skills and techniques.

The UI also had a stopwatch timer that could be used in tracking boss cool-downs.

When Myrtenaster first found out about this apparent UI feature, she wanted to scream. They had been manually counting cool-downs for nearly three months and this much easier method was apparently buried under a mountain of customization options.

No one was sure if the option was there from the very beginning or if it was introduced in the latest patch. Not even Torchlight knew and he was the one who suggested Myrtenaster look at the UI options in the first place.

The low murmurs went quiet as the chamber started rumbling. Rose, being the player to trigger the boss, would be the primary target and it was her job to lure the boss into the prime position for the rest of the raid team to strike. The main tank group would then intercept and get the its attention. Once that was done, everyone was open to attacking it.

There was a loud boom indicating that the boss had spawned. Immediately after, Rose sprinted towards the main tank group whose shields glowed a collective bright blue of the [Battering Ram] technique. With a graceful jump, she moved past the charging shields who all slammed into the incoming [Root Cave Scorpion]. The scorpion backpedaled, stunned by the impact.

Myrtenaster didn't even need to give the signal for her raid team to attack - they'd done this opening sequence enough times to have memorized the timing. Instead, she waited for the boss to attack, readying her hand over the start button on the timer.

The boss jumped forward to pounce on the tank team who were slow to react. They all found themselves stumbling back with their shields raised as the boss initiated a series of pincer swipes. Myrtenaster bit her lip as she watched the average health of the main tank group decrease by around twenty percent. They'd need to heal soon.

"Maintain formation! Tank Team B, prepare to switch!"

The [Root Cave Scorpion] was a much easier boss to deal with than the [Root Death Stalker]. It was only level 60 - not level 80 - and had a much more forgiving move-set. Instead of extremely powerful single attacks whose damage would bleed through raised shields, its attacks were combos whose goal was to break the guards of tanks and stunlock players. While the boss performed these combo attacks, it was susceptible to attacks from the side.

The boss began it's longest uninterruptible combo.

"DPS Out! Ten seconds!"

While the tanks blocked the attacks, the raid team attacked, dishing out as much damage as they could in the short amount of time they were allotted. They depleted a large chunk of the boss' health bar.

Upon the boss finishing its combo, Myrtenaster ordered everyone to back-off. Everyone knew what was coming - a tail-sweep that hit an entire 360 degrees around the boss. It always performed that attack whenever it was surrounded and had just received more than five percent damage over ten seconds. The raid team got out of the way long before the telegraphed attack came.

"Rose, Oobleck, keep it busy!"

After the tail spin, the boss would start reacquiring targets seemingly at random due to how varied the raid's damage output was. This randomness could be eliminated by simply building enough hate to gain aggro. Unfortunately, the tanks could not deal enough damage to ensure they'd gain aggro before the boss attacked someone. Usually, it wouldn't be a tank that'd be attacked so they'd most certainly die.

That's where Rose and Oobleck came in. Their damage output was high enough that one or two attacks would get the boss' attention. And since they were nimble and knew attacks were coming, they could dodge until the tanks could take aggro from them.

Upon Myrtenaster giving the order, Rose and Oobleck pushed their way out of the group and charged the boss. Following that was a series of attacks, punctuated by brief flashes of light and arcs of fire that hit the boss for small chunks of its health bar. After which, the two nimbly jumped out of the way of the scorpion's swipes and lured it towards the tank group that was approaching the boss. After another quick dodge, Tank Team B took over and rammed it.

They rinsed and repeated for another thirty minutes until the boss' first health bar entered the red zone and it crumpled to the ground in a twitching heap.

"Everyone, disengage!"

Myrtenaster was quick to give the order and gave a sigh of relief when she saw that she managed to say it soon enough that the raid team didn't completely deplete the the first health bar. The boss now remained collapsed, not attacking or even reacting to the players surrounding it.

Normally, with the boss stunned as it was, the raid team would go into a frenzy and start wailing on it. For the first three times they fought it, they did not know that doing so was a bad idea. They knew better now.

Upon the depletion of the first health bar, the boss would enter a rage state and would be immune to parries and stuns for a full fifteen seconds while it repeatedly struck with its tail stinger at the player that did the last attack. When that player died, it would strike at the player who performed the second-to-last attack. When that player died, third-to-last, and so on.

In the first few attempts, it could never be determined who was the one who performed the last attack so they always ended up losing two or three players to the boss before its rage-state ended - and that wasn't including any collateral damage dealt to other players next to the target player. If a player knew beforehand that they would be targeted, they could get out of the crowd and simply dodge out of the way of the attack. Thus, it made perfect sense that their solution was to have a set number of players who would attack the boss and then try to dodge its tail strikes.

Rose would attack first, hitting it once with the blunt end of her scythe to minimize the damage. Milou would be the next one to attack, followed by Magnhild, followed by Wilting Blush, followed by Gambol Shroud, who would be the one to deplete the rest of the boss' health while the other four scattered. Once the rage-state began, the rest of the raid team would engage the boss once more, using as many of their strongest techniques as their fifteen second window would allow.

Myrtenaster nervously clutched the rapier sheathed at her belt as she watched Gambol roll out of a cloud of dust from the stinger impact. "Come on, Gambol. You can do this," she whispered.

In the corner of her eye, she could see the timer tick up slowly to fifteen seconds. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. She wasted too much time. She needed to give the order.

"Everyone Disengage! Rose, Oobleck, you're up!"

Upon the final tail strike, the raid team jumped back, just in time to dodge another sweeping attack that hit all around the boss. Immediately after that, the two spiralling lights of Rose and Oobleck's weapons came crashing down upon the scorpion's face. Once again, the two then led it to the tanks who took over aggro.

And thus began the second phase.

Eight-Thirty Three
Player Casualties: 0; Average Player Health (percentage): 91%
Boss Health: 0%, 100%, 100%

Gambol danced around the cluster of level 27 [Cave Spiders], stabbing all of them in the back with her [Beowolf Fang]. She did not use her [Back Stab] technique as it locked her in place for far too long. It was faster to just stab with a regular weapon technique at a critical damage area. Her knife's high critical-hit rating would increase her damage enough to kill the mob without need for the bonus damage that [Back Stab] did.

As her kills were rewarded with lien and a lightshow, Gambol scanned the battleground for more adds.

Upon the second phase starting, [Cave Spiders] would start dropping from the ceiling around specific spawn areas. They spawned at a set rate of eighteen spiders every thirty seconds and did not seem to have a spawn-limit. It took a little bit of trial and error but they had figured out where those spawn areas were and camped two-player group around each them. They'd kill the spiders before their numbers got too high and overwhelmed the raid team. There was a total of nine spawn areas and every group was charged with monitoring three.

"Yo, we got mooks!" Ruyi Jiyu Bang said unnecessarily when the timer hit thirty seconds. "I go left, you go right?" Gambol didn't reply but complied with the suggested course of action.

Gambol wasn't sure what to think of the person she was assigned to be teammates with. Ruyi Jiyu Bang, otherwise known as Gun, was assigned as her teammate when her old one died during a night-time grinding session in between the fourth and fifth raid. As far as she was concerned he was just some random guy who happened to be close with Rose.

It wouldn't be accurate say she knew nothing about him, though. She had limited interaction with him in the past. It was at least enough to know that he sported a similar build to Rose with high strength and agility stats. It was enough to know he wielded some sort of metal pole as his weapon and seemed to know how to use it outside of what [System Assist] allowed for. But other than information specifically regarding his combat competence, there wasn't really anything for her to base her opinion of him off of.

Well, that was at least until they were partnered.

Gambol once again chained several critical strikes at a small group of spiders, not even bothering to pay attention to the explosion of light that followed after.

A short distance away, she heard Gun give an enthusiastic cry. "Three under five seconds! New record, baby!" When he noticed Gambol's look, he grinned. "What did you get?"

"Four. Two seconds," was Gambol's curt reply.

"Sweet. Still amazing." He nodded slowly with an impressed smile. "My buddy, Scarlet almost beat your score last raid, you know? He got a lucky spawn with five of them dropping on top of him with their backs turned away. Almost managed to sweep them in under three seconds."

Gambol made no attempt at responding.

"You know, if you keep giving me the cold shoulder and you might hurt my feelings," he said with a crooked smile as he crouched down once more, readying himself for the next wave which would arrive in a few seconds.

"Oh! Dibs on the good spawn!"

Immediately Gun bolted for the spawn of four spiders to their far left, leaving Gambol with a spawn of two spiders to the right.

She managed a small chuckle and broke into a sprint.

Eight-Fifty
Player Casualties: 0; Average Player Health (percentage): 84%
Boss Health: 0%, 22%, 100%

Rose circled around the boss, a feeling of unease slowly building up inside her. Every single attempt they've had so far had ended with everything going wrong. So far, their current attempt was going about as swimmingly as she could ever have hoped. Therein was the cause of her unease. Call her pessimistic or perhaps paranoid, but she was convinced that something terrible was about to happen in the third phase of the boss fight.

She felt Oobleck put a hand on her shoulder. It seemed to steady her somewhat. "Miss Rose, I am sensing no small amount of anxiety from you. Are you alright?"

Rose slapped her cheeks. "I'm fine. Just getting a little antsy from standing around waiting."

Oobleck nodded, understanding. He withdrew his hand and walked beside her as she continued pacing.

An mob's targeting when facing multiple players was based on a number of factors such as a player's proximity to the mob, damage dealt in comparison to other players, and so on. All of those things were tracked and aggression was constantly calculated and recalculated. Due to Rose and Oobleck's unmatched damage output, the boss had a tendency to focus on them instead of the tanks. They had to stay back and refrain from building aggro else the boss would attack them and mess up the counterattack opening that the tanks were trying to set up.

They were also the raid team's strongest fighters - too valuable to lose in such an endurance challenge.

Rose blinked when she heard Myrtenaster's voice followed by a ping and the appearance of a large target icon over the boss' health bar. It was time for them to attack again.

"Let us go, Miss Rose." Oobleck said calmly, in stark contrast to the agile leap he performed as he spoke.

Not wanting to be told twice, Rose sprinted forward, activating [Nimble Feet] and [Rolling Saw] at the same time. With a short hop to start, she bounced into a forward flip and started spinning wildly until her weapon made contact with the boss. Upon landing, she rolled to cancel the end-animation of her last technique and immediately transitioned into spinning in place twice with her weapon outstretched - the [Hurricane] technique. By positioning herself with her back turned to the boss, she was able to get three hits instead than only two.

As she stood locked in place by [Hurricane]'s long the end-animation she looked up. Far above her, she saw a huge fireball surrounded by several smaller fireballs descend onto the body of the scorpion, all of them exploding on impact. Her end-animation finished almost too late. She had to rely on invincibility frames from dodging away to avoid getting caught in the blast.

"Time to run!" Rose said when Oobleck landed far to the left of her.

Oobleck wasn't able to give a response as he had to dash back from a pincer swipe from the boss. Rose too had to dodge when the other pincer came from the opposite direction.

"Switch!"

Right as Rose saw the boss aim its tail stinger at her, she heard a familiar voice from behind her. She instinctively crouched down and, just as she did so, Milou bounded over her shield raised to intercept the next attack. The other tanks also came sprinting past her.

Rose smiled wryly to herself as she once again moved away from the boss. That had to be the seventh time she and Milou passed each other since the boss fight began and every time it was to save her from a tail strike. It was an amusing coincidence.

"The next phase is about to start," Rose noted as she once again positioned herself far away from the boss. She could see the yellow health bar closing near the threshold for the red zone.

"Indeed it is. I do believe that this final phase is where our last attempt ended. I assume you and your party have come up with a solution?"

Rose winced upon remembering what their strategy for the final phase was. She shifted her weight awkwardly. "We've thought of something, but..."

Oobleck gestured for Rose to continue speaking. "Yes...?"

Rose couldn't meet his eyes. "Well, it's simple... but kinda crazy..."

Nine O'Four
Player Casualties: 0; Average Player Health (percentage): 75%
Boss Health: 0%, 0%, 100%

The second health bar was depleted after another grueling thirty minutes. In that time, the second rage state began and was dealt with in the same manner as the first. No one had died yet and everyone's health bar was in the green. So far, everything had gone all according to plan.

But now that the third and final phase had started, the plan had only one step left and it was not a pleasant one.

"Everyone fall back!" Myrtenaster ordered. "Deal with the adds!"

The final phase was, to put bluntly, an absolute mess. The [Cave Spiders] that fell from the ceiling at a set interval would now fall in greater numbers at a higher frequency. The exact numbers were never figured out - the teams assigned to deal with the adds were always overwhelmed too quickly to count them. It was probably something like twenty four every ten seconds. Either way, it was madness.

If there was any consolation in such a sudden spike in difficulty, it would be that the boss would not be as aggressive as it was in the previous phases. They had noticed that the interval between the boss' attacks were quite a bit longer than they used to be and did slightly less damage. Had they not been overwhelmed by adds in the previous attempt, they would have easily achieved victory by exploiting this change in behavior.

However, due to the number of spiders they needed to deal with, they were forced to split their forces, concentrating more of them against the spiders. The few who remained would be a small team tasked with defeating the boss. Call it nepotism but Myrtenaster believed she and her party were the only ones qualified to be that team - it helped that Rose and Maggy were completely on-board with the plan from the very beginning.

Thus, they grouped up once more and engaged the [Root Cave Scorpion].

"Rose, aggro reset! You and Milou are tanking! Oobleck, help the others! Use as many wide-sweep fire spells as you can to keep them at bay!"

Even as Myrtenaster spoke, Rose was already bounding for the boss, leaving a trail of spiraling lights in her wake. Oobleck also moved, making his way towards the largest clump of [Cave Spiders].

Myrtenaster nodded in satisfaction before turning to the group standing behind her.

"Alright, you guys. We need consistent but low DPS - low enough not to steal aggro from Rose and Milou. Rose's damage output is ridiculous so we can keep the pressure up without much trouble but when I tell you to disengage, disengage." She looked pointedly at Maggy. "Am I clear?"

"You're the boss, boss," Maggy said with a shrug. She then brandished her hammer, grinning. "Let's smash some big bugs!"

Myrtenaster smiled. "Indeed." She turned to the boss. "I suppose they've built up enough aggro by now." She pointed Tailor's Tail towards the ceiling and exclaimed, "Charge!"

The next following minutes was a blur as the chaos of the boss fight  continued to escalate.

Cries and crashes sounded all around her even as she herself cried out, barking orders to her party members scattered around the boss. She moved through the motions of her system assisted attacks, lights and particle effects radiating out of her weapon. She felt the distinct sensation of hitting a critical damage location, a wet and satisfying crunch, every time her weapon pierced the kinks in the scorpion's armor.

There were also the voices of the rest of the raid. Groups in a pinch were requesting for backup, other groups announcing how they were en-route to assist, all of it accompanied by a ping sound and a small notifications in the corner of her HUD. They rang in her ears and flashed across her vision, an ignored but ever present distraction.

That wasn't even accounting for the background music which consisted of frantic drumming and a shrill chorus of chanting.

The combination of all of it made for an experience so chaotic and overwhelming that it circled back around, elevating Myrtenaster to a state she would honestly describe as zen-like. Her thoughts were clear and the world was still. All that existed were the boss and her party.

"Hold it for three seconds!" Rose yelled as she recoiled from a successful parry. Milou quickly dashed in front of Rose to parry the follow-up attack. During that time, Rose dropped to her knees and popped two potions from her belt. She downed both vials and her health slowly began to rise.

Rose was doing well. She had been successfully parrying or dodging every attack and counter attacking with devastating force. They had been grinding almost non-stop for two weeks. Rose had reached the upper soft-cap for the region at level 56, no longer gaining exp from even creatures of Grimm. With the scaling on her weapon and the heavy stat investment into strength and agility, her damage output was absurdly high.

But with every successful parry, a percentage of damage bled through. A scythe wasn't supposed to be used in the way she was using it. Slowly but surely it was wearing her down.

And since Milou was having trouble taking enough aggro to switch, Rose did not have much time to rest and heal. She had barely enough time to drink her potions. Her health would still be climbing back up even as she returned to the fray.

Rose couldn't take much more of it, though. The boss' last health bar was still green, nearing the threshold for yellow. She would run out of potions before the bar turned red. She wouldn't last. They needed a change of strategy.

Rose seemed to be of the same mindset.

"Guys, I'm gonna try something! Start running!"

As Rose said those words, she began running to the right of the boss, towards where Myrtenaster was. Normally, Myrtenaster would react with an aggravated yell with a tinge of panic at this. But not now. No, she felt surprisingly calm about it. She began to run clockwise around the boss, the same direction as Rose. Somehow, she knew exactly what the new plan was.

"Maintain formation!" Myrtenaster ordered. The rest of the party followed.

Keeping directly in front of the boss was not sustainable. Perhaps for a tank character like Milou, someone whose role was specifically to parry and block, it was possible. But Rose's primary role was not that of a tank so she had to use different tactics.

Running to the side would force the boss to waste time to turn to face her. It'd also use different attacks - attacks that were easier to dodge than to parry.

For a normal tank, parrying was the most effective means of maintaining aggro as it was viewed by the AI as "dealing massive damage" even if it didn't deal any damage at all. For Rose, someone who could actually deal massive damage with her attacks, building hate via parrying was unneeded. And since the group fighting the boss was much smaller than it had been earlier, there was no danger that a group of players' combined aggro would exceed Rose's.

The boss jerked its right pincer for a backhand swing. Rose continued to run and it missed by a relatively wide margin, allowing her to stop and chain a few of her scythe techniques. She then resumed circling and the boss resumed turning. The cycle repeated for the next several minutes.

It took some time but the boss's health eventually reached the red zone and it collapsed in a twitching heap.

"IT'S DOWN! DPS OUT!"

Myrtenaster gave the order to the entire raid. Said raid switched targets and charged the boss, ignoring the cave spiders they had been keeping busy earlier. With the combined and sustained damage output of over thirty players, the boss' health turned from red to dead in a matter of seconds. The cave spiders weren't even able to take advantage of the players turning their backs before they died with the boss.

The [Root Cave Scorpion] was slain with burst with blinding light, with a cacophony of shattering mobs following it its wake. A congratulatory message appeared shortly after, accompanied by the victory theme they had last heard after killing Ilfang, the first gate dungeon boss.

Nine-Forty Seven
Boss Defeated
Player Casualties: 0

With a smile, Rose watched Gun test out the weapon reward he had received for performing the last attack on the boss, a three-segment nunchuck. He seemed utterly ecstatic by it. It was a new weapon type too. Amusingly, it was a dex-scaling blunt weapon. Normally dex weapons were thrusting or slashing weapons. No doubt the crowd watching him with interested smiles shared Rose's sentiments.

Rose shook her head and turned away from Gun's antics, focusing on the list of items she received from defeating the boss. She scrolled through, looking specifically for a new scythe or spear. Sadly, she had mostly gotten armor pieces and strength weapons like hammers and axes. One particular reward in her list popped out to her, though. It was a crafting material with its own category called [Dust].

"No description," Rose muttered, materializing it in her hands. After a brief flash, a clear crystal roughly the size of her fist fell onto her palms. "And pretty light for a gemstone... Just what are these things...?"

It was unsurprising that it had no description. Crafting materials generally didn't have them - usually they just had a list of attributes like "Flammable" or "Edible". The dust item only had one attribute and it was one Rose had never seen before: "Aura Conductor"

Aura.

She had heard Oobleck say that word before when she was grilling him for info about magic - he alway seemed so reluctant to talk about it. Was it somehow related? Surely he'd answer her now that she had something that was supposedly an aura conductor.

She scanned the crowd until she found Oobleck's white NPC cursor. The mage was crouched against the corner, content to sit and watch the players celebrate. Curious, Rose approached him.

"Miss Rose, congratulations on finally defeating the foul beast that defiled these tunnels." Oobleck flashed her a proud smile which Rose returned in kind.

He faltered, however, and looked away. "Alas, in due time, another one will take its place - one always does. But until then, the local fauna will be far less agitated. I still have time to continue my search for the ancient relic before I will need your people's help again."

Rose blinked suddenly remembering how their first meeting had been for a quest - one she had never been completed.

"You've always said we'd know it's the relic once we saw it," Rose said. "But you never said what it was. Why do you even need it?" She presented him the dust crystal she had materialized. "I've been asking you questions for two weeks now. You keep putting them off. When are you going to answer them?"

Oobleck watched her with ever intensifying interest. "I admire your curiosity, Miss Rose. If I were able, I would wholeheartedly answer each and every question you asked me." He sighed. "But I am broken, Miss Rose. I can drone on and on about trivial knowledge but every attempt to speak of things of any importance to me has always led to an insurmountable mental block. Magic, details of my past, what the relic is - I can never seem to articulate my thoughts on them. It is... frustrating."

Rose nodded automatically. "You can't tell me anything... because you literally can't." She pursed her lips. It wasn't the stupidest video game plot contrivance she'd heard but it was still pretty stupid. "At least they try to explain it," she muttered.

"If it helps any, I hypothesize that the relic I am searching for is capable of overcoming the block."

She sighed. "This relic... You're sure it's here? In this dungeon?"

Oobleck stood up to answer. "I am absolutely certain."

"And it'll really fix your, uh... head?"

"That is what I hope, yes."

"And, uh... is this related  to your big... quest...? The one about finding out why the world got split apart?"

Oobleck's face seemed to show signs of strain, however slight. He did not respond.

Rose watched for a moment before suppressing a sigh and wry smile. "I'll take that as a yes." She equipped her spear. "Alright then. Let's get going and find your relic. There can't be much more unexplored tunnels to cover."

Gratitude was obvious on his face as he bowed. "Thank you Miss Rose. It will be an honor to continue exploring this cave system with you."

"Ditto," Rose quipped, already walking back into the tunnels. "If that relic really does let you start talking about magic, you are so gonna teach me. Come on."

Appendix

The [Raid Leader UI] is a [UI customization preset] that is optimized for use in boss fights requiring multiple parties in a [Raid]. It can only be used by the the [Raid Leader] and aims to present more detailed status information of raid teams and party members. This preset undocks the [Party List] UI elements from the raid leader's HUD and shows status information that is relevant to a player directing multiple parties in battle. Much of the information provided is normally hidden in the default UI, such as party members' cooldown timers for [Active Skills] and [Weapon Techniques]. The preset also provides utility stopwatch and calculator functionality.

⸺ Remnant Online In-Game Manual, "Raid Leader UI"

End of Chapter