"Is it really fine?" I said to a player while acting hesitant.

"Yes, I insist." (Player)

"T- thanks" I said with a smile showing a bit of shyness.

"I- it's nothing." he said with a flushed cheeks.

As my party and I moved up in line, the other players also presented their spot. It didn't take long for us to get the last of the job change chain quests. To make everything seem natural, I acted normally at the first quest, then acted more hesitantly towards the last. Those who saw me from start to finish would easily see the change in my attitude.

Since the other four were also a part of those who didn’t know the true me, I had to keep acting. After getting the quest, I acted like I was hiding my depression. Everyone noticed it, but they remained silent as we went to the city portal. The portal lets us teleport to the entrance of a zone we have visited before.

Questing tends to make you go back and fort so using a portal is really necessary. It takes thirty minutes to reach [Hakon Forest] by foot, and we had to go there four times. Imagine how much time we would have wasted if we didn't use the portal. Let's see, four hours?

There are no portals in none city zones so how do we return to a city instantly? There's an item called [Return Stone] and it lets us teleport to the city we last visited. There's a more expensive item which lets us pick which city we want to return to, but since we have only been in one city, it's better to use a [Return Stone].

We wasted thirty minutes to return to the city earlier, but that was because we didn't have [Return Stone]s. Farming gold in the first zone for [Return Stone]s would have taken us thirty minutes or even more because it was crowded. It was better to just walk back after our first grinding trip.

We used the portal separately, but we appeared close to each other because we were from the same party - we would've been sent to different entrances if we weren't. The game is an open world. A zone's border is considered its entrance.

When we finally got to [Hakon Forest], we started walking to the first dungeon of the game. It's hidden in the mini map, but the beta testers know where it is. I kept acting as we walked, and finally, one approached me - it was NoClasses.

"They gave us their spot on their own free will so there's no need to feel bad about it ms.Arisa. " (NoClasses)

Starting with the main topic right off the bat!? Oh well... "I- I'm not feeling bad."

"We can tell." (NoClasses)

What a straightforward guy. "S- so it was obvious... and I tried too hide it too..."

Hearing my depressed voice, KaiserFist also approached me.

"As NoClasses said, you shouldn't feel bad. You even asked them twice before taking their position." (KaiserFist)

"Still..."

"Believe me, you didn't do anything wrong." (KaiserFist)

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Yes! Yes! You didn't do anything wrong ms.Arisa!" (NoClasses)

"I- if you say so." I said while trying to make a smile.

I heard CloudNine click his tongue and saw NoClasses and KaiserFist react to it by twitching their eyes. But since they thought I didn't hear it, they kept quiet. I know, I'm well aware that CloudNine isn't fond of me. But at least he's hiding his feelings and doing his job. He's paid after all so he has to act professionally.

After our small talk, I slowly lightened up my expression. When we reached the dungeon, I was once again wearing a bright smile. Phew, back to normal...

"This dungeon is quite simple so we won't need a strategy. We'll move like we did earlier." (HighNoon)

Everyone nodded.

He took glances at Kira. Upon seeing no response, he understood that Kira didn't want to lead.

"And ms.Arisa, please be wary of stray attacks during boss fights." (HighNoon)

"I will"

"Ok, is everyone ready?" (HighNoon)

"""Yes!""" (CloudNine, KaiserFist, & NoClasses) 

"Then, ms.Arisa."

I nodded in response and touched the portal, which looked like a black shard as large as a man, floating in between two trees.

Dungeons are a bit different than zones. To enter, a party leader must touch the dungeon's portal and verify that they want to enter. Once inside, the only way to get out is by completing the dungeon or by quitting. To avoid having different parties meet, they are placed in parallel dungeons. There seems to be no limit in the number of parallel dungeons available.

Would you like to enter [Hakon Underground Forest]?

YESNO

After clicking yes, my sight darkened.

--(Hakon Underground Forest)--

When I regained my sight, I was in an underground area filled with floras that were similar to those at [Hakon Forest]. Behind us was a wall and in front of us was a path leading deeper into the cave. The sun's light couldn't reach us, but the fireflies moving around gave us vision.

HighNoon observed the area for a short while before saying "Let's start" and dashing towards the mobs.

The others followed. And this time, their clearing speed was faster because Kira was no longer acting like a noob.

Like before, I felt like I would be useless. It's not just my skills, my stat distribution plays a big part in it. Since all of my stats are in [INT], my physical attack is just the same as the mobs' physical defense. That means I won't deal much damage. If not for the premium weapon, I would literally deal zero damage.

I knew my damage would drop, but I thought I would perform better than Kira. Now if I do anything, I'll just look like a desperate lamb. The best course of action is to let them do everything now and make a come back later. I may not be much of a help now, but that doesn't mean I'll stay like this forever!

And so, I silently followed them while enjoying the scenery. Up till now, the things I saw were not new to me. I've seen some in games, some in books, and some in movies. But this dungeon is different. New plants, new creatures, new possibilities! How does each creature interact? How does their ecosystem work? What lies at the end of this cave? I want to know!

I've always liked otherworldly stuffs, and a fantasy setting fits the criteria. Isn't it exciting to learn about things you won't find on earth? Ah, how nice it would be if I could take something from this game and conduct research on it.

I enjoyed every part of the dungeon. Will the game developers release a book about this world? I'll definitely buy it. Even a simple monster or plant anatomy would do. But it'll be better if they also include how they influence this world.

Time went by in a flash. There was still a lot of things I wanted to check, but I had no choice. It's irritating how time moves faster when you don't want it to... Sigh...

The final boss of the dungeon was a red shard placed vertically at the center of the cave chamber, with thick branches connected at both ends. It calls out red branches to attack, but the farther you are away from it, the less it would try to attack you. It looked like they had an easier time against it than with the blood treant. I guess hidden bosses are stronger.

The final boss didn't drop anything good. The items from the blood treant were much better, and using premium equipment would be better. Since they were useless to us, we decided to sell them to an npc and distribute the gold equally.

Shortly after beating the final boss, we were teleported out of the dungeon.

--(Hakon Forest)--

When I regained my sight, I was back at [Hakon Forest].

"We're finally done with the job change quests!" (NoClasses)

"Before we go back, can I ask what class you guys will choose? I'll choose [Knight]." (HighNoon)

"I'll choose [Marauder]!" (NoClasses)

"Mine is [Monk]." (KaiserFist)

CloudNine glanced at me before saying "I'll go with [Acolyte]."

I'm getting the impression that he only chose [Acolyte] because I didn't want to play as support. Wait... is that why he doesn't like me!? S- should I... no, I really want to play as a [Battle Mage].

"Sigh..." (CloudNine)

"I already said it earlier, but I'll say it again. It's [Vagabond]." (CrimsonSun)

"And lastly, ms.Arisa would pick [Battle Mage] correct?" (HighNoon)

"Y- yes"

They all looked at me with "It'll be too hard for you." written in their faces; even Kira did...

"How about [Magician]? It's also quite hard to use. You'll be squishy and you'll have to be wary of your positioning. What do you say?" (HighNoon)

"I want to play as a [Battle Mage]..."

"...Then [Battle Mage] it is." (HighNoon)

After that, we silently went back to the city using [Return Stone]s.

I can do it, I'll prove to everyone that I can do it!