The sun rose from the east, casting its light on the forest of Eden. Last night, the dinner prepared by the kids was a success. Everyone had enjoyed their meals and rested well near the campfire.

Zero emerged from the mansion, stretching in the morning light. He walked past the campfire to check on the players, who were sleeping soundly.

Continuing his walk to the nearby river. Zero's breath formed small puffs of mist in the chilly air. The sound of water could be heard, relaxing him. It was still dark in the forest, with the sun only reaching the tops of the trees.

The water in the river was clean but very cold. Zero slowly took off his clothes and sat on a big rock by the river. He used his clothes to rinse and wipe his body, the cold water refreshing him and washing away his fatigue and sleepiness. He avoided wiping the wounded areas.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. Zero sensed someone approaching and looked in the direction of the sound, meeting Seoyeon's eyes. Zero was half-naked, and Seoyeon reflexively closed her eyes, apologizing.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't intend to see this," she said, turning away.

Rather than feeling embarrassed, Zero laughed. Seoyeon was puzzled.

"Why are you laughing? It's not funny," she said, slightly sulking. But Zero felt relieved; it seemed her personality was starting to show its colors, different from yesterday.

Quickly finishing his bath, Zero said, "Are you going to wash? The water is very cold. If you can wait, I could boil some warm water for you."

He smiled at her, putting his wet clothes over his right shoulder. Zero was still half-naked as he walked toward her.

Seoyeon kept her eyes closed with her hands, unaware of Zero approaching as his steps were silent.

Zero leaned down in front of her, smiling, and said, "It will take about 20 minutes to boil the water. I'll prepare some for the others too."

He patted her shoulder and walked away, leaving her blushing. It felt strange to her; normally, strangers wouldn't offer such kindness.

There were many things on her mind. Seoyeon had learned a little about Zero from the conversation last night. It was said that Zero was different from the rest; he was something called an NPC. But Zero felt no different from her.

He was kind and always smiling at her. For some reason, her chest felt heavy.

Seoyeon sat by the riverside, dipping her feet in the water. She pulled them out immediately, exclaiming, "It's very cold."

Around 8 am, everyone was awake. Noah's eyes were still puffy; he had made a mess last night talking about how he was a fan of Jaeha.

Taegeuk woke up Hyuna and adjusted the garment covering her skirt. The office clothes were a bit short, revealing a bit of her thighs.

Jaeha had woken up earlier and had seen Seoyeon following Zero in the morning. He pretended to sleep when Zero walked past them.

The kids came from the mansion, greeting the players. "Good morning, boss friends!" said Helio, his bed hair sticking up, while Elio simply waved.

Soon, Zero arrived and greeted everyone. "Good morning, everyone. It seems you all had a nice sleep last night. I've prepared some warm water for you to bathe. There's a man-made shower in that direction," he said, pointing behind the mansion. "Make sure to leave some for others, or else you'll need to boil the water yourself."

Hyuna was the first to react. "I'm going first! I have someone to call!" she said, running off.

Taegeuk chuckled; he found it funny or perhaps a bit cute.

The rest waited for their turn. Meanwhile, Zero lit up the campfire and prepared some rabbit skewers for breakfast.

"I'd like to apologize first; we only have skewers for breakfast, and we've run out of seasoning. I hope this will suffice to fill your stomachs," Zero said.

Everyone looked at Zero, thinking he didn't have to apologize when he was treating them so nicely. They also seemed to doubt whether Zero was an NPC or not.

From the conversation last night, Zero had explained to them that the situation they were in was similar to a game. Taegeuk, Hyuna, and Seoyeon were not familiar with the terms, while Jaeha and Noah understood immediately. Jaeha then explained to Taegeuk, Hyuna, and Seoyeon in simpler terms.

When Zero mentioned that they were probably already dead in real life, the campfire fell silent. Each seemed to be lost in their thoughts.

Noah looked at Jaeha, his mouth hanging open. "Mister Pro-Gamer Yoon Jaeha, does that mean you're already dead?" he asked, almost on the verge of tears.

Jaeha didn't respond, staring blankly at the campfire.

Zero interrupted, "You don't need to share what happened. What matters is that you're here, alive, and kicking."

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"Yeah, you're right," Taegeuk added.

Zero then explained, "As you have already learned, each of you has a status window given by the system. It shows your profile information and abilities."

He continued, "Players have a vertical growth rate. As long as you keep training hard and clear missions given by the system, you can survive easily in this world."

Everyone listened intently. as Jaeha opened his status window.

[Profile Information:

Name: Yoon Jaeha

Lvl: 1

Occupation: Player

Abilities: Weapon Mastery(EX)

Based on the type of weapon the user wields, the user's stats will adjust to suit the main weapon.]

Jaeha was deep in thought. He felt like he had hit the jackpot. Even from the name of the skill, he could tell it was a very good skill. It gave him more versatility in combat or even defense.

He looked at the others. Taegeuk seemed serious, but he seemed to have no idea what he had just read.

It was Noah who was being loud.

"What kind of crap ability is this?" he cried as he approached Jaeha.

"Mister Pro-gamer Yoon Jaeha," he called Jaeha's name like pleading in front of him.

Other than Noah, Hyuna also complained, "Why does it show me as a pickpocket master?"

Hyuna sounded angry as she stared into the distance.

Taegeuk spoke up, "What is this 'Rock is Harder than Muscle' ability?" He was a bit confused.

Seoyeon was quiet, keeping her eyes on Zero the whole time.

Not long after, the players' status windows were updated, and a beginner mission appeared in front of them.

Noah read the mission out loud: "Kill 1 or more D-grade mutated monsters within 24 hours. Rewards 1 ES coin."

Jaeha and Taegeuk looked at Noah. They seemed to have received the same mission.

While Hyuna said, "Why does it tell me to pick some mushrooms? It said Alpagia mushroom. I don't even know what kind of mushroom it is."

Zero looked at the players, then at his status window. There was no mission update for him, which meant he was free from work.

"It seems the missions are differentiated by gender. A D-grade monster is equal to the dog-headed creature we encountered yesterday. While Alpagia mushrooms are mostly found on monster corpses," he explained.

"This type of mission is not suitable at all for beginners."

Zero felt like cursing the system. How could they give them this kind of mission from the start?

Seeing Zero deep in thought, Jaeha asked, "Can players forfeit the mission?"

Zero looked at Jaeha and sighed, "Unfortunately, you cannot forfeit the mission. I haven't explained this yet because I thought the system would give you more time to relax since you just arrived."

He took a breath before continuing, "To be able to stay in Eden, players must spend their coins for rent. It costs about 10 coins a month. If a player forfeits the mission, it means they would lack funds. If by the end of the month, they didn't pay the rent..."

He paused, looking all serious, while the players looked at Zero intently, waiting to hear what would happen to them if they didn't pay the rent.

"The players would be kicked out of Eden."

The players were shocked.

Their reaction was as expected. They started thinking deeply. They couldn't avoid the mission given to them.

While the players were deep in thought, a popup message appeared in front of Zero.

[You know such rules don't exist.]

Zero replied in his mind, "Of course, it didn't. I just made it up now."

[-_-]

The system went silent once again.

Zero had his reasons for applying such rules. He needed more coins to upgrade the Eden rank, which would also improve the quality of life for the players here.

Jaeha then spoke after deciding, "I'll do the mission. But first, I need a weapon. Can Zero-nim provide us with one?"

Zero was surprised, as expected of Mister Pro-gamer Yoon Jaeha. He was kind of amused by the nickname Noah had given Jaeha.

"I have a few weapons in storage," Zero said, signaling to Elio with his finger. Elio nodded and ran to the mansion.

Noah also had a question, "Zero-nim, will you come with us? I don't think the three of us are enough to beat the dog-headed monster, not to mention even Uncle Taegeuk barely held them back then."

Noah used polite words for him now, but before Zero could answer, Taegeuk interrupted, clearing his throat.

"Uhmm... Don't call me 'uncle.' I'm still 28 years old, just so you know."

He spoke calmly, but his eyes looked in Hyuna's direction.

Noah then apologized.

Everyone seemed serious about the mission given by the system. Zero then decided, "I'll offer some help and guidance. The mission can be cleared by using the Co-op feature. You just need to put your hands together until the system notifies you of the party formation."

"I'll go with the ladies while Helio will guide you to Block F where the previously abandoned factory is located. You can do it, right, Helio?"

Zero looked at Helio, who nodded confidently, saying, "Leave it to me, boss. I know where their nest is located, and I will guide them on the safest route."

He gave a thumbs-up to Zero.

The male teams were shocked that their lives were in the hands of an infant named Helio. Helio looked at them as if he were the big brother.

"Don't worry, just leave it to me," he said confidently, smiling, revealing that his missing tooth had not yet grown.

They are not too sure, but it seems like today is going to be a long day.