It was noon inside the Bandit Fort. The players who had ford a party were grinding their way toward the dock to complete the task given by Captain Audrey. One of the players, wearing leather armor and carrying a bow, glanced at a woman who was maniacally smashing the heads of bandits.
"Look at that woman. She's more aggressive than we are—and she's alone. Does she know that if she dies here, she'll never return to her world?"
"Damn… You'd better add her to our party! Hey, GreenBlob, stop looting and invite that girl to join us."
[Player already in party.]
"What the heck? She's already in a party? Lucy-chan, tell her to leave her party and join us instead."
"Wh-Why ? What if she hits with that staff?" Lucy-chan said, trembling.
"Wait… isn't that Stella Arzois?"
"You an the NPC-like idol from the tutorial zone? What's she doing here?"
"I don't know. Don't ask —ask her instead!"
…
Stella was busy smashing the heads of the bandits, laughing nonstop as blood splattered across her face.
"I hate you! I hate you, Dex!" she said, panting.
"Heal!" she called out, healing herself when she saw her HP drop to three-fourths.
"You just let carry you to bed! Do you know how hard that was for ?!"
"FUUUUUUCK, I'M INNOCENT!" scread one of the bandits.
"Do you know how hard it was for to carry you without touching your—" Stella paused, blushing, even as she continued to strike the bandits.
"I'M NOT DEX!" shouted another dying bandit.
After killing nearly a hundred Tier II bandits, Stella stood there, her chest heaving with every breath. Soon, the newbie party approached her. Almost all the n couldn't stop smiling at her godlike face.
"Hey, Stella... do you want to join our party?" asked GreenBlob.
"Ohhh... I'm sorry, I'm already in a party. Why?" Stella replied, smiling.
"You don't even have a party mber, and you're telling us you're in a party?"
Stella stared at him, annoyed.
"Yes, I do. He's buying so food for us to enjoy before we depart..."
"Leave him. Don't worry, we've played this ga more than you know. We're veterans. You can get anything you want if you join us..."
"But I don't want anything from you, so you'd better leave be. Otherwise, I'll smash this staff into your ugly face," Stella said, gripping her Holy Staff.
"So, that's how it's going to be? Well, don't let us see you in the Uncharted Zone. I hope you won't beg for your life then."
With a gesture from GreenBlob, the group left Stella and headed toward the sailor.
"Hey!" Stella called out, stopping them midway.
"What should I burn in this area so we can proceed to the sailor?"
Most of the party mbers just smirked at her, but Lucy-chan stayed behind.
"You see that haystack over there? Burn it, and it'll signal the ship. Don't worry, it'll automatically respawn after three minutes if soone burns it before you," Lucy-chan explained.
"Okay! Thank you!" Stella replied, tossing her a piece of equipnt. "Here! So we're even."
Then Stella ran toward the haystack guarded by bandits.
Lucy-chan stared wide-eyed at the equipnt Stella had thrown her. It was a Tier II Dagger Masterpiece. Since entering the tutorial, it was her first ti seeing a Masterpiece.
…
Dexter was waiting near the sailor with the two mules carrying all their items, except for Gridlock's gift, which he kept in his own bag.
"Where is that crazy princess? Is she not done yet? I told her to burn it all, but it's still not on fire..."
'Does she even know how to burn things? Well... she can cook, so she should know...'
Then Dexter noticed a party, each riding a mule toward him—more precisely, toward the sailor waiting ahead. He overheard their conversation.
"If I get that Stella bitch, I'll use her until she can't stand and then sell her in so slave market. She'd make a great mount to ride," said GreenBlob.
Dexter suddenly gritted his teeth; sothing inside his head snapped without warning.
"Hey, you Orc-face... what's your na?" he called out.
"You talking to , bruh?"
"Yeah, you. What's your na?"
"I'm GreenBlob. And you?"
Dexter smirked, his eyes flashing with murderous intent.
"Don't let see you outside the Safe Zone, you fucking AI. If I do, I'll cut your dick off and feed it to you," Dexter taunted.
GreenBlob burst out laughing, and even his party mbers couldn't hold back their laughter.
"With just you, newbie? What can you do alone or are you included in Stella's Fandom? Okay, we'll see... I hope you don't regret what you said today..."
With that, the party boarded the ship and set sail toward the Warring Kingdom.
…
After a few hours of waiting, Dexter saw Stella walking toward him happily.
"Dex! I finished the tasks! Did you bring plenty of food?" Stella said, walking briskly.
"Yeah… what took you so long? That quest can be finished in just 10 minutes," Dexter said, annoyed.
"Why are you angry with ? Did I do sothing wrong?" Stella asked, almost crying.
"No… it's just that… never mind. Co here, we should go now."
Dexter took Stella's hand, making her flustered, but she accepted it.
[!!!]
[Newbie Guide: Burn the Fort to signal readiness and assist the Sailor at the Dock. [✓]]
"Hey… bring us to Sand Worm Oasis," Dexter said to the sailor.
"Okay! Co hop in…"
After both of them boarded the ship, they imdiately felt sothing pulling them in. It was like the sensation they experienced when using the portal to enter and exit Gridlock's starting point.
When they opened their eyes after the blinding light, they were still inside the ship, but the area around them had completely changed into sothing new.
They saw people running around nearly naked, wearing only loincloths. These were the ones who had skipped the tutorial island. Players of Eldrion called them "The Feeling Pro", because even veteran players making new alt accounts to spy on different guilds still went through the tutorial island for the mule—a mount you could only get there.
'At last… after three whole years! I completed the tutorial. Now it's ti to grind endlessly until the real tutorial ends and max out all the masteries I have.'
'And the fastest way to do that is… by killing all these damn NPCs. I hope seven years is enough for it.'
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