My PC got f*cked up again. Apparently it wasn't fixed properly the last time. It was suppoaed to come back today but got delayed for two more days. Thus I'm uploading this from my phone(first time trying it), so please be gentle.

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The next day was full of news about a single guild in IO. It was a group of players who PK'ed high level players to bring down their level. Recently the player who was considered the highest level in the game turned lvl 99(apparantly some people publicise this information), was killed 5 times by the same guild and now his level is 59. 

Well, I didn't care much for the information due to a variety of reasons. Firstly, I was in such a secluded place that it was almost impossible to find me. Secondly, with the bonuses from my titles, I was close to a lvl 1000 player so to kill me, they'd have to bring an entire army. Thirdly, even if, by some chance, some one in a million chance, they do manage to kill me, I wouldn't lose any levels due to my [Ring of Immortality]. 

(Aren't I these guy's natural enemy?)

Anyways, I soon forgot about this information and went on with my daily deeds which mainly included going to school. 

School was the same, teachers came and taught. We listened and made notes. Even the lunch break felt ordinary nowadays even with Pauli coming over to eat with me. 

Soon the day was over and we were heading back to our homes. Pauli came to me and asked-

"Do you mind if we walk together for a bit?" 

"Sure." Why would I refuse?

By the way, the paths we took to our home had a common route for some of the way(remember the time I was taking Trichia to school and she popped up from behind?). Well, I'd seen Pauli's home before(remember when I saved her sister from those delinquents and dropped her?) so I knew that there was more than one path that she could take to school. She took this one most of the time anyway, since it was quiter. The other went though a large market so she only went there when she specifically needed to buy something. 

Okay, that was unimportant. Anyways, we were heading out. By the way, most of the commotion which caused me to become secluded from the other guys had died down after we finally came in our third years. By now, Pauli and I were 'officially' a couple in everyone's eyes(we weren't) and everyone had gotten used to it. 

More importantly, now that we were out of the school, Pauli finally told me what she wanted to talk about. It was about Shirley. She wanted to know why I was travelling with a NPC and a non-combatant at that and whether it was only for the food. I decided it was okay for her to know, so I told her about my days in IO before her. Obviously I skipped any information about Trichia, the [Dragon Emperor] or my level. 

By the time we reached our parting point, I had already finished my story(in brief). Pauli finally accepted the fact that the NPCs were too much like real people and we were, in fact, only just 'otherworldly' to them. We were intruding upon their world and did whatever we pleased. To make an analogy, it was like an alien's invasion for our world. On top of that, the aliens were actually immortal(or atleast they respawn when they die). This was the main difference. The NPCs wouldn't come back if they died. This realisation probably hit Pauli hard as she looked muddled with thoughts of her own. 

I soon reached home after we parted ways and like my usual routine, changed out of my clothes and had lunch before diving in. 

I finally realised the bugging feeling I had. It was boredom. Real life had gotten extremely boring, following the same stupid routine every freaking day.

That realisation came from coming into VR, breathing a difference air, seeing a different sight and feeling a different mind. This was exciting, this freedom, this power, this immortality. IO was a major stress relief. Not knowing what dangers lurk around, going on adventures, meeting new people! It was all so much more than one could wish for in our mundane world. 

(So this was Yuko's dream.)

I remembered my best friend's face. He was probably a once in a millennium genius and fulfilled humanity's greatest desire - Change.

I hadn't seen the guy for about an year now. I don't know where he was or what he was doing. But I was sure, somewhere in my heart I knew, that he was safe and smiling. 

(Wait! Is it just me, or I've had this feeling before?)

I quickly dispersed that thought and took a deep breath. The air was cold and refreshing. It was morning in the game.

Having greeted Trichia on my return, I made my way to where I left Shirley last time. To my surprise, Pauli was already there and Shirley was cooking somethig up for her.

"Welcome back!" (Shirley)

She greeted me with enthusiasm. I could only imagine how hard it would be on her to be alone in the forest filled with monsters. How hard would it be for her to sleep at night. This made me decide that I quickly wanted to give her power so she could fend for herself.

"I'm back." (Me)

I didn't realise that in my thoughts I had come over and patted her head like I usually did with Trichia. 

"Umm.. Rota?" (Shirley)

That brought me back to my senses and I could see Shirley's face a bit red.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was lost in my thoughts. Anyway, what are we having today? Smells good!" (Me)

I apologised and quickly changed the topic.

"I was able to gather some herbs and fruits from around here. Its just a simple dish. I didn't have any more ingredients." (Shirley)

Yeah. We kept the meat in our inventory and only left some for her since it would get bad soon, so herbs and fruits were the only option. 

I quickly took out some rabbit meat and handed it to her.

"Can you quickly make something with this? I'm starving!" (Me)

She happily took the meat and started with her work.

"You want to train in the meanwhile?" (Me) It was directed towards Pauli.

"What do you have in mind?" (Pauli)

We were in a open clearing. I went to a directed opposite to Shirley and away from Pauli. Now I was in Pauli's direct line of sight with no obstacles and Shirley was far enough so no harm would come to her.

"Shoot me with your arrows and I'll try to dodge." (Me)

"Are you sure? I can be dangerous." (Pauli)

"Don't worry. You'll never hit me." (Me) I said in a taunting manner.

But it was Pauli, so she just answered calmly.

"If you say so." (Pauli)

She took out the bow and quiver of arrows from her inventory and got equipped.

Taking a stance, she got ready to shoot.

The arrow came flying at me and went about 2 cms right of my head. I didn't even need to move.

"That was so slow! You dont need to go easy on me! Again!" (Me)

She shot once more. This one was directed at my chest. I grabbed it with my hand just before it touched my chest and dropped it to my side.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Faster!" (Me)

I caught the next one too. The next one too.

"Don't give your enemy time to think! Keep shooting!" (Me)

I caught the first one and dodged the second. Realising that it would be a hassle to go look for the arrow later, I grabbed it at the last second even though it had already flew past. Similarly, I dodged and caught every arrow that came my way. I could tell that her aim was getting better so I started moving in a bit haphazard manner still catching every arrow. 

After about 5 minutes, she had emptied out her quiver and was on her hands and knees breathing heavily. I went over and handed her some water. At the same time, I grabbed the quiver from her back and collected all the arrows in it. I had broken the first few, so I decided that it was also good training for me to learn to restrain my strength even during a dire moment.

I left Pauli to catch her breath and went over to Shirley. She probably needed to think about her strategies and mistakes, so I gave her some time.

When I got back, Shirley was looking at me with a look of excitement.

"You're a monster!" (Shirley)

"What?" (Me)

"No, I mean! You're so strong!" (Shirley)

"Oh. Thanks?" (Me)

"You gotta tell me! What level are you!?" (Shirley)

I heard Pauli's breathing stop. She probably didn't want to miss my answer.

"Oh, c'mon. Its not important. The food is what's important! Smells so good! How much longer?" (Me)

"Tell me!" (Shirley)

"I'll just tell you that its high." (Me)

"Okay. Is it greater than hundred?" (Shirley)

"....Yes." (Me)

"Well, that was actually an obvious one. Once more! Is it greater than 500?" (Shirley)

I could see the excitement on her face. She probably wanted it to be true. I even felt Pauli's heart skip a beat at Shirley's question. Though it was true that my stats were higher than a normal level 500 player, thankfully the answer to her question was still 'no' since my level was not that high.

"No, its not. And thats the last question I answer." (Me)

"Muuuu..." (Shirley)

Shirley pouted as she had to give up.

Pauli seemed to finally regain her breath and came over.

(Is is just me, or she's looking at me with respect?)

"You want me to tell what she's thinking?" (Trichia)

(.........No.)

"Sure?" (Trichia)

(No. It'd be wrong of me to listen to someone else's thoughts.)

"Oh well." (Trichia)

.

.

.

Having finished our breakfast in this world, we went out to hunt. This time, I was acting as tanker/support and Pauli was the damage dealer.

Our first target was a monkey. It was pretty hard to hit as it kept jumping around. Pauli missed 3 shots and the fourth grazed it on its right arm. I thought of trying to slow it down so I threw a dagger at it. One of its arms got cut off from its body with the hit and it fell down as it was in the middle of jumping. It tried running on its feet but a quick arrow to the head from Pauli silenced him.

We hunted more monsters in a similar manner before finally Pauli ran out of arrows. We had tried to recover as many as we could after every fight but with a few being lost every fight, this situation was inevitable.

Since we were getting hungry, we decided to take a break. While Shirley cooked, I did another training session with Pauli to teach her how to use a sword. She had a clumsy stance and I had to touch her body in various places to correct her posture. I had to, I tell ya! I had no other choice! It was all for the sake of training!

After I was satisfied(with her stance, mind you), I told her to try swinging the sword. She did. Many times. Again and again. But no matter how much she did, it just didn't feel right. Maybe she really wasn't suited for one. 

Next, I gave her a dagger and she seemed to be handling it a bit better. I didn't know any training methods for a dagger so I just told her to try and hit me while I dodged. 

My thoughts: She was extremely slow and clumsy. None the less, she was a hard worker. She kept going at it till her SP was left in single digits. She was left so tired, she couldn't even move. I had to pick her up and move her to a better place to rest than the cold ground. My thoughts: She was extremely light so I didn't even feel her in my arms(which was depressing in its own right).

Even after we had eaten, we still had to wait for a while before Pauli recovered her SP, so this time I stated training with Shirley. It was only light training, so there wont be too much strain on her SP. Still, she just had to stand back during the fights so she did not need that much SP anyway. 

To start with, I gave her a dagger and told her to come at me. She was actually better at it than Pauli, way better. Even I was surprised. Obviously none of attacks hit me and her footwork was a mess, but the way she handled the dagger in her hand was almost as good as me, maybe even better. I could only conclude this as a result of using knives her whole life for cooking. That would explain her handling of the dagger. 

This meant that she could also participate in battles. I taught her some foot techniques and told her to practice when she had time. Also, I asked her if she had clothes suited for combat. She told me that she had only a single pair which would allow maximum movement in a rugged environment but nothing suited for combat. I made a mental note to buy some for her in the next time we would come across. And since we're on the topic of clothes, I'll explain what we are all wearing.

For me, as you all know is the leather set from the hobgoblin. 

Pauli was wearing the same clothes she was wearing originally(we probably needed to get her new clothes too). It included a short, tight fitting trousers reaching long enough to just cover her knees. From when I gave a piggyback ride, it felt cotton and was very thin to provide any protection. Same for her torso. She had the same type of cloth, cotton most probably. This one was again tight fitting and had sleeves till her elbow. Finally, she was wearing sandals, normal sandals. I never had a chance to observe them from close, so I can't tell you more about those. 

Now for Shirley. She had on what you would normally imagine a common women of middle ages wearing. It was something like a tunic but long and covered the whole body. I think its called a Kirtle. In fact, most of her clothes were of the same design. It didn't provice much trouble in movement on a plain but in a forest, it was a lot of problem due its length.

I made a mental note to buy clothes whenever we next encounter civilisation. We all needed new clothes. Pauli and I owned only a single pair while Shirley's were a problem in this terrain.

After the two looked well enough to set off, she headed forward and it was then that we encountered 'it'.

Our first Dungeon.