One Step Forward

Madi had not cried like that in a long time. She held on to Ayden for a long while before sniffing and raising her head. She looked up at her brother, who was warmly gazing back at her, and sniffed a few more times before smiling. "Brother, I will support you no matter what you do."

"And I will make sure to make lots of money so my princess can really become a princess," Ayden replied. He was much different from Madi. He reached up and ruffled her hair before wiping the tears from her eyes. "We have lived tough lives, but I promise I will work extra hard so you can be proud of me."

"Hehe…. Brother, I will work hard at school and become someone famous in the future as well. Just watch me!" Madi smiled, and the two continued to chat.

Isabella, who watched the whole interaction from the couch, looked at the two who were so close and felt slightly lonely. Her gaze went back and forth between the two until finally settling on Ayden, who was skinny but, once he filled out some, would be very handsome. "If I stay on Madi's good side, I wonder…." Isabella shook her head. She needed to not think about such things for now and work hard on getting her team settled.

After dinner, Ayden logged back into game. He had planned to get the last two levels he needed. "I just need to gain two more levels…." Ayden stretched as he stood up. He had logged out on a tall tree since it was the safest place. He looked down at the ground below to make sure no monsters were there and jumped down.

Not far away, a pointed-eared girl looked at the young man running off and pursed her lips. "Did he forget about me already!?" Stamping her feet in frustration, the elf girl, Pam, gave chase. She would need to teach this disciple of hers a lesson later on!

Ayden worked hard and was finally able to gain his two levels. He stood above the items on the ground, looking down with a smile on his face. "I should use this chance to check the dungeon before Isabella begins training me in game."

Ayden had been wanting to solo a dungeon for a while now, so this was his best chance before he went around with Isabella and the others. But he still wondered who the last two team members would be. It was not an easy thing to really figure out as they would need to be skilled although Ayden was the least skilled person one could meet, he did hope that the others would at least have a bit more understanding of what needed to be done during a match.

Ayden made his way to The Hills Forest, the dungeon that was for level 20 players. It was the first dungeon anyone could join. Ayden stood in front of a respawn area which had a team member summon point as well. Since you had to run to the location to get there, if there were people who were on the other side of the world and you wanted to team with them, you could call them to the dungeon. But there was also a recall function on there as well. This meant that if you did not enter the dungeon within a certain period of time after being called, you would be recalled back to the place you were summoned from. This time limit resets once you exit the dungeon, but it will still recall you.

While this function could be abused in many ways, the five-minute time you had before being recalled was a small offset to that. But it also worked in favor of those who had friends start elsewhere and wanted to give them a few items to get set up. So many higher-level players would use that chance to help their friends level up or give them some items to help them. It was really the only method to interact with people in other places in the world over long distances.

But Ayden wasn't here to wait around or form a team. He walked directly into the dungeon entrance that was nothing more than an arched tree root with small branches coming off it and a few leaves here and there. Ayden's vision went black for a split second, and his surroundings suddenly changed. This sudden change made him feel slightly dizzy, so he took a few seconds to stabilize himself.

Ayden looked around to find himself in a wooded tunnel made of roots. He could see a bluish light at the end of the tunnel, which he figured was the main entrance of the dungeon. He took a deep breath and let it out as he calmed his nerves. This was his first time in a dungeon, and he was doing it solo. He hoped he could make it far without dying. With one step forward, he began making his way down the tunnel.

--AN) This is the end of the first volume. I will be preparing this novel for kindle and other ebook services, which will have extra side chapters and the real cover art for the novel. I will post an announcement chapter when the novel goes up for sale. See you all next volume!--