I was lying on the soft bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. I had already woken up.
It was the weekend. And Chris’s work had finally wrapped up to so extent. From today, I would help Chris level up.
*Bzzz.*
After a quick face wash, I headed to the kitchen. Chris was already awake, preparing breakfast.
She smiled brightly when she saw rolling out in my wheelchair.
"Oh, Rain. I was just about to co get you if you hadn’t woken up yet."
"...I don't know. You're always so busy, unnie."
Yesterday, Chris had gone to work early, so we didn’t get to have breakfast together. I pouted a bit to show my displeasure.
"Oh no…! Unnie is so sorry…!"
Chris gripped the rice spatula tightly in both hands, looking as if she was about to cry.
"Don't cry! There, there!"
"Sniff...!"
I took one of her hands and placed it on top of my head. Chris’s expression lit up imdiately, as if she were about to float away.
Well, Chris likes my body. She says it's soft and squishy or sothing like that. If it makes her happy, I can allow this much physical affection.
I gazed up at Chris, who was gently stroking my head with a dreamy look in my eyes, and secured a promise from her.
"Anyway, we’re definitely playing together today, right?"
Even though I'm doing fine on my own, I hoped Rain could get so love from Chris since we haven't been together much lately.
In truth, my mories from that ti were a bit hazy.
Maybe it was because sothing felt like it pierced my heart, or my mind just went blank.
I must have stood in front of Ain’s carved figure on the wall for quite a while. Village Chief Drugel patiently waited for during that ti. Afterward, we had a short conversation.
The chief seed to think of as a direct descendant of the hero from a thousand years ago. Well, my hair and eye color don’t exist on this continent. It’s not unreasonable that he might believe the hero from the past also ca from the stars.
Though, truthfully, I’m the sa person. And I’m no mother.
Judging from the way he compared my appearance to minerals rather than colors, it seems the dwarves have a special sense for the subtle glow of minerals, sothing only they can understand.
"Ain...! Is it really you, Ain? Hahaha...! O hero! This humble descendant has reclaid your na!"
*Clang, clang!*
Village Chief Drugel, filled with joy, swung his hamr and chisel with divine fervor, dancing across the wall.
Below the petroglyph, a set of dwarven letters was engraved.
[The Dwarven Hero, Ain]
---
The mission of the hero party ended long ago.
What does this world want from now?
For the ti being, all I can do is uncover the secrets of this world that only I know.
In order to do that, I can’t stop exploring this world and conquering dungeons.
I examined the bracelet I had received from Chief Drugel. It was a small gift from my forr companion.
[Bracelet of Hamr and Anvil]
[Elite]
[Strength 35, Agility 35, Intelligence 35]
[Unique Ability: Reset all skill cooldowns (Cooldown: 10 minutes)]
This was the first bracelet accessory to appear in the ga, a new part-item that could be obtained by raising your reputation with the dwarf settlent.
It was an extra accessory beyond the standard loadout, giving a huge advantage when tackling the next elite dungeon.
While the stats were impressive, the most attractive feature was, of course, the unique ability to reset all skill cooldowns.
The cooldown for the ability was long, so it could only be used once per run, but with it, I could pull off all sorts of unpredictable plays.
I could even use my extre damage-dealing technique, *One Slash*, multiple tis in a row. And after using all my invincibility skills, I could activate the bracelet's ability and use them again. In simple terms, even if there were a ridiculous pattern of 10 consecutive AoE attacks, I could survive on my own.
This bracelet, which I obtained by skipping over many steps, was mine alone. Other players wouldn't acquire this item until much later.
"She's late…."
*Tap, tap.*
I puffed out my cheeks, tapping my foot while checking the ti.
I was standing at the entrance of the cave leading to the dwarf settlent, *Verbeia Rock Mountain Cave*, where I was supposed to et Chris today.
"...Rain! Huff, huff."
A familiar voice called from just below where I stood.
My ears perked up.
I felt a rush of excitent and the urge to jump for joy.
But I managed to calm myself and puffed my cheeks again.
Chris, who had already climbed up to where I was standing, greeted with a tired smile.
"..."
"Rain, I'm sorry! I’m late, aren’t I?"
She spread her arms wide and ca toward .
I stepped back slightly and turned my head sharply to the right.
"Ah! Rain!"
Chris circled to my right and looked directly into my face. I turned my head to the left.
*Swish.*
"Hmph."
"Ugh!"
Chris clutched her chest as if she were about to cough up blood.
Seeing her look so pained made feel guilty about scolding her for being late.
Is unnie really hurt?
*Squeak.*
*Plop.*
I approached her and embraced her.
"Unnie, I missed you."
"Rain… Rain! Waaaah! I’m sorry for being late! I’m sorry I’ve been so busy!"
Chris sobbed uncontrollably as she hugged tightly.
Her reaction made feel even guiltier.
It must feel like unnie has to comfort twice over.
---
*Rumble.*
"Ooh."
*Clap, clap, clap.*
At the entrance to the cave’s final area, filled with golems, Chris sat clapping her hands.
"Ta-da!"
I puffed out my chest and shrugged my shoulders. Using the new bracelet’s ability, I had swiftly defeated the golems.
Chris checked her status window and let out an impressed exclamation.
"Wow, I gained a ton of experience points."
"See? You should just relax. Today, you're the guest, and you're riding on the Rain bus."
Chris is my employer. As her employee, it's my job to help level her up.
Even though we were in a two-person party, the experience points we earned didn’t drop by half. While in normal field hunts, where monsters are killed by quests, party play isn’t as advantageous, it’s quite efficient in these grind-heavy areas.
Although we could kill the monsters a bit faster if we fought together, since we were farming them in waves with AoE attacks anyway, it wouldn't significantly speed things up. So, it was better to let Chris relax while I worked hard.
With Chris cheering on, I continued clearing the dungeon, moving in and out as we kept hunting for a while.
---
"So this is the dwarf settlent."
Chris followed behind , wide-eyed as she looked around. She was amazed, just like I had been when I first arrived, so her reaction made sense.
I introduced Chris to Village Chief Drugel as my companion. It seed that if you beca friends with the dwarves, you could raise the reputation of one party mber. Though it wouldn’t raise everyone's reputation.
"My reputation is now 40."
"That seems to be the minimum requirent for entry. It looks like the next elite dungeon is here."
"...!"
Chris was clearly surprised. No wonder, I had been just as shocked when I first saw the entrance to the dungeon inside the dwarf mine yesterday.
Following the young dwarven guide, Chris and I entered the mine. The dwarves working nearby greeted us warmly.
*Clang, clang!*
All around the straight path of the mine, dwarves swung their pickaxes in small caves to either side.
As I ventured deeper inside, I spotted a familiar human player hacking away at the rocks.
"...Cherni?"
"I'm working hard! Oh? Rain? Chris-senpai?"
As soon as he heard my voice, Cherni stopped pretending to mine and stared at and Chris with a dumbfounded expression.
"What are you doing here?"
"They told to mine to raise my reputation with the dwarves. Ugh, how long will this take?"
"Hehe."
Chris and I giggled behind our hands.
Judging from Cherni’s presence, it seed that other players had also started entering the dwarf settlent. However, to venture deeper into the mine, players needed to build up their reputation with the dwarves.
Chris and I soon stood before a large door that was half-revealed, its enormous fra embedded in stone. A few dwarves were ticulously carving away the stone that surrounded it.
"This is the entrance to the ancient temple discovered recently. It appears to be a temple built inside the mountain by the ancestors of the dwarves over a thousand years ago, based on the dwarven architecture.”
The young dwarven guide explained, and I nodded. Surely, this massive door marked the entrance to the next elite dungeon.
And today, when part of the door had been uncovered, a system ssage confird it.
Chris looked at and smiled.
"So this is where we'll be competing next. This ti, I’m definitely going to win."
I had heard that before.
Back then, I hadn’t understood the aning behind her words, but now I did.
During my long stay in the hospital, I had found out through the *Astra Online* user community that Chris’s raid team had been competing
with the *Nona* party for the first clears of elite dungeons.
Chris, who had been clearing dungeons at a similar pace to , had exchanged weapons with .
And to this day, two parties had consistently secured first clears in elite dungeons: Chris's raid team and the *Nona* party.
The latter would be my naless party. Chris didn’t yet know that I had been soloing the dungeons.
There was no reason to hide the fact that I was soloing from Chris anymore, but there was no reason to brag about it either. Living with her as Seulbi, she would naturally figure it out eventually.
Even though Chris is a beloved unnie, her words stirred my competitive spirit from my days of wielding a sword.
I smiled and gave Chris a playful challenge.
"I’ll still finish faster this ti."
---
[Minimum entry level: 42]
[Elite Dungeon (4-person party recomnded)]
[Verbeia Ancient Temple]
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