Rai stared at his Dream Dive Infinity: Neural Sync Gear vr set, his hand hovering over the shimring ’Enter Eidolon Realm’ text. He was about to log in and begin his grind toward the next level when his suddenly phone buzzed. The na flashing on screen made him pause and blink.
[Incoming Call: Alex]
He blinked. Alex? Now, that was a na he hadn’t seen in a long ti.
Rai blinked once again before a slow smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
In his past life, Alex had been one of the few people Rai could call a genuine true friend. He was a bit of a chatterbox and used to brim with childlike excitent. Rai rembered that it was this sa friend who’d convinced him to try Eidolon Realms a few days after the ga’s launch in their past lives.
Rai picked up the call. "Yo."
"RAAAAAAI!" Alex’s voice practically exploded out of the speaker. "Dude! Have you heard of this new ga ’Eidolon Realm’? It’s literally insane, man! I’ve been playing it since the morning and I am practically addicted to it. It’s like being inside another world!"
Rai chuckled and replied. "Yeah, I’ve heard of it."
"No, bro, you don’t get it. It’s next-level. Like, NPCs blink, the trees sway, the ga is just like real life... You gotta try it out. You’ll love it."
"I have already bought it."
"...You what?"
"I’ve been it playing too. I was just keeping it lowkey," Rai said.
"Traitor! You didn’t even tell about it." Alex barked. "Wait, then let’s et in-ga. Where did you spawn?"
"Elorin’s Rest."
"Really? Sa! That’s fate, my guy! et near the Fountain in fifteen minutes!"
As Rai hung up, a rare smile lingered on his face.
After logging in the ga, the familiar sensation of the world enveloped him. The village of Elorin’s Rest unfolded with its quaint cobbled streets and timber-frad houses. The scent of fresh bread and smoke drifted in the air as the warm afternoon sun bathed the landscape.
But first, he had to drag Eron and bring him into the fold.
Rai found Eron near the swordplay practicing area, swinging a crude iron sword awkwardly.
"Still using a lee weapon as a Ranged warrior, huh?" Rai asked.
Eron grunted, "I have no other choice, the gam just provides either a sword or a magical staff in the beginning, we need to gain other weapons on our own. It works and is my only choic until I gain enough gold to geta proper ranged weapon like a bow. If you have got any better ideas, then tell . Otherwise, don’t talk shit to ."
"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, stop being dumb and co with ."
"Huh, where?"
"Dungeon run."
"Dungeon, which one?"
"The Crimson Hollow."
Eron got shocked hearing this and open his mouth agape. "Are you joking or are you simply stupid? That is an unbeatable dungeon right now, not even any of the guilds have defeated that dungeon. And it even has a recomnded level of level 10."
"Look believe , I have so special info that will allow us to beat it."
Eron look skeptically at Rai but then suddenly his eyes widened, "First info about how we can enter in cities only after level 15, then info about the blacksmith class, and now this. Don’t tell , Are you a beta tester?"
Privately, Rai scoffed at this in his mind but said, "Sothing like that. Now, do you wanna tag along or not?" Actually in the ga of Eidolon Realm there were no beta testers at all, but now that Eron had so misconceptions about this, he didnt plan to correct him as all of this worked very well for him.
"Fine," Eron sighed. "But if I die, I’m haunting your sorry ass. But, we will need another player, at least one."
"Don’t worry about that I have got a guy ready."
When they reached the fountain, Alex was already waiting, his robes marking his class—Cleric. A gentle glow hovered around his staff, and his enthusiasm shone even brighter.
"Broooooo!" Alex exclaid.
"et Eron," Rai said, gesturing toward the blacksmith-to-be. "Eron, this is-"
Before Rai could introduce Alex, he cut Rai off ,"Na’s Rai," He said, offering a fist bump. "Healer and future savior of your broken bone."
"Na’s Eron. A Ranger. Temporarily bad at ranged combat," Eron muttered.
Alex couldn’t help but giggle at this.
Rai took charge. "Alright, you two, gear up. We’re heading to the The Crimson Hollow ."
Alex blinked. "Sounds creepy. Where is that?"
"A bit east of here. It’s one of the higher-tier early ga dungeons. Trust , we’ll manage."
Hearing this, Eron couldn’t help but mutter, "Wish I was as optimistic as you in real life."
Rai promptly ignored this muttering.
As they walked, Alex peppered Rai with questions. "So how do difficulty levels work? Does it auto-scale based on team?"
Rai shook his head. "Not exactly. Dungeons co with set tiers. For the common dungeons, the available difficulties are usually: Commoner’s Trial (Easy) and Noble’s Gauntlet (Normal)"
Other than this there also were, Warlord’s Depths (Hard), and King’s Calamity (Extre).
But these last two tiers—Warlord’s Depths and King’s Calamity—only show up in so special storyline based or high-level dungeons, usually Level 150 and above. The rest of the ti, you only see the first two.
He kept that last bit in his thoughts only, not sharing the higher difficulties with Kunal or Eron. No need to scare them. Also, he didn’t really have any good way to hide his source of information.
They arrived at the entrance: two looming statues of weeping won flanking a gaping hole in the ground, with decayed steps spiraling downward.
A prompt hovered before them:
[Choose Dungeon Difficulty]
Commoner’s Trial (Recomnded Level: 10)
Noble’s Gauntlet (Recomnded Level: 12)
Eron thought, Rai would just choose the first level.
But Rai selected Noble’s Gauntlet.
"You maniac!" Eron cried.
Alex looked confused but intrigued. "We’ll be fine, right?"
Rai nodded confidently. "Stick to the plan that we discussed before. Alex, don’t spam your heals. Ti them. Eron, don’t panic, stay mobile and bait enemies into chokepoints. Don’t try to tank. I’ll lead, mark targets, and keep the pace."
As the dungeon portal shimred to life and the stone archway groaned open, Eron stood stiff, his arms folded and his lips curled into a frown.
"You seriously chose Noble’s Gauntlet?"
Rai glanced back with a casual smile. "Yeah. Why?"
Eron threw up his hands. "Why?! Because that’s basically suicide! We’re under-leveled, under-equipped, and he—" he jabbed a thumb toward Alex "—just picked up the ga yesterday!"
"I can hear you, you know," Alex muttered, slightly offended.
"Good. Then maybe you’ll realize this isn’t a beginner dungeon anymore. Guilds struggled even at the easiest level during their battles, Rai."
"I know."
Eron glared at him. "You know? That’s it? You know and you still chose to do it?"
Rai t his eyes calmly. "I’ve run this place before. I know the layout. I know the traps. I know the spawn cycles. I know what I am doing. Trust , we’ll win."
Eron scoffed. "No. What you’re doing is gambling with our lives because you’ve got a few tricks up your sleeve. This isn’t confidence—this is ego."
Rai said nothing more. The dungeon lood ahead, mist swirling around their boots like cold fingers.
"Fine," Eron muttered. "Lead the way, o fearless commander."
The air grew heavy as they crossed the threshold. Gone was the bright Elorin sun—replaced with dim, bioluminescent flora and the musky scent of rotting bark. The dungeon was a twisting forest of dark magic and overgrowth. Thick vines draped like nooses, and spores glowed faintly from damp walls. Every sound in the dungeon was sharp and alive.
"First room’s a patrol loop," Rai whispered. "Two Venomfang Serpents circle clockwise, third one waits near the loot chest. Eron, bait them left. Alex, hold a healing spell."
"On it," Alex said, staff trembling in hand.
"Whatever," Eron muttered, drawing his sword.
The serpents hissed to life as he charged, taking a shallow slash at the nearest one before darting back as Rai instructed. The trap sprung perfectly—three snakes funneled into a tight corridor.
"NOW!" Rai ordered.
His blade flashed, cutting through the exposed neck of one serpent. Alex’s tily nd Wound spell kept Eron upright as poison spatters nicked his leg. The fight lasted twenty seconds—efficient, clean.
Eron blinked. "Huh."
Rai didn’t say anything. He just nodded and led them forward.
The next chamber had tanglevine traps and sleeping Corrupted Dryads. The floor creaked in specific patterns—every fifth step triggered a barrage of roots.
Rai raised a hand. "Step only where I step. Don’t veer left."
"How do you even know where to step."
Rai smirked faintly. "I have my ways and sources."
They moved silently, weaving between danger spots. One misstep from Alex triggered a tangle, but Rai yanked him back in ti and slit the vines before they could bind his legs. The Dryads stirred but didn’t wake.
They made it through.
Eron muttered, "Lucky."
"No," Rai replied. "Planned.
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