After running through the desolate street for more than five minutes, Hiro arrived at the place marked by the pin on the map.
NPC Ron was a man in a somewhat shabby and dirty adventurer outfit. He was standing in front of a dark, eerie forest with the help of a cane to replace his bandaged left leg.
Upon spotting the man, Hiro quickly walked toward NPC Ron, who immediately greeted him with an amiable smile.
“Here,” Hiro handed NPC Ron the letter complete with its envelope.
“For the quest [Lost Girl], you must be in a party of at least two players to enter [Dungeon: The Dark Forest].”
“Huh!?” he reflexively exclaimed in disbelief.
‘Are you serious!?’
He looked around to look for another player nearby, but as far as the eye could see, he only saw a deep forest. He did not even realize that he had arrived at the end of the forest, and even with the moonlight shining from above, he still could not see very far due to the darkness.
There was nobody else.
Hiro sighed in disappointment. But suddenly, a scream sounded from the dark forest behind NPC Ron.
“KYAAA!”
Something swiftly flew out from the pitch-black darkness behind the NPC. NPC Ron instantly moved aside upon hearing the scream, and…
Whoosh—
Bam!
Hiro could not even dodge in time when NPC Ron had shifted his legs to move out of the way. After taking a closer look at the “thing” that flew out of the darkness behind the NPC, he found that it was actually a player. A girl.
“It hurts—!”
The girl had just been spat out by the [Dark Forest] dungeon for trying to forcibly enter without having fulfilled the requirement set by the system, and as a result, her body got repelled, strongly thrown back, and crashed onto the unknowing Hiro.
“Ouch,” Hiro groaned in pain. He tried to move, but he was stuck in place because of her body still on him.
[Fatal Damage]
[Health -80]
In LSO, the HP of players could decrease due to many things, especially those that inflict pain on the player.
“…”
[Level 13. Liberty. Ranger. First-Year Student]
From his position, Hiro could smell the fresh and slightly sweet fragrance of her long, platinum white hair. She was wearing a school uniform akin to Hiro’s, except it had a skirt instead of trousers.
While trying to move, he could feel something soft, furry, and warm on his right palm, prompting his hand to reflexively grasp the object.
“KYAA!”
Bam!
[Fatal Damage]
[Health -110]
“Ah…” Hiro groaned in pain while covering his face.
“You perv!”
The girl had punched his face with all her strength, causing Hiro’s nose to bleed. It took him two minutes to finally be able to stand up again and process what just happened.
And he almost could not believe what he found.
The girl had the face of an angel. Even at just a glance, it was clear that she was not Japanese; she had the face, skin, and posture of a Caucasian. However, the girl’s face turned red as she held something long and furry connected to the back of her body.
“A tail!?” Hiro exclaimed in disbelief.
Not only that, but the girl also had wolf ears on her head!
Gulp.
Hiro swallowed his saliva. He did not expect that the physical appearance of a beast bloodline would suit her so much. His eyes were glued on the two furry ears on her head.
They seemed so soft…
“What are you looking at, you perv!” The girl quickly covered her wolf ears and harrumphed.
Without looking at him for another second, she turned around and hastily walked toward NPC Ron.
However, NPC Ron spoke before she could say a word.
“I told you, you must be in a party to enter the dungeon.”
“I just want to save your daughter! Why are you stopping me instead, you scaredy-cat old man!?”
“…”
Hiro did not expect that the girl would talk to an NPC like how one would to a real person, involving emotions.
However, the argument between the player and NPC in front of him reminded him of his reason for coming to this place. And if the girl had the same quest, wouldn’t it be the perfect time for him to pull her into his party?
“Ahem,” Hiro cleared his throat to attract her attention. “Do you still want to save the girl?”
“…”
Without speaking any further, he called his HUD system to use the party invitation feature to Liberty.
[Party Invitation: NightFall has invited you to join his party. Accept? (30s auto-reject)]
“What’s this? Something appeared—NightFall? Who’s NightFall?” she surprisedly said while looking around.
“My username, accept it. If you still want to save the lost girl, you should accept my party invitation. Let’s look for her together,” Hiro explained.
The girl stared at him wide-eyed. “With you? To that dark forest?”
All of a sudden, she covered her plump chest with her arms and looked at him with displeasure. He had to admit, the girl’s body shape was perfect, almost like an hourglass. Though, her personality is a little… unique.
“Take it or leave it. There’s no second chance, Princess.”
Liberty stared at him with a doubtful gaze for a few seconds. Before Hiro came, the girl had argued with NPC Ron since the afternoon. Despite the requirement stating that she had to go with another player, she persistently asked to be permitted to enter the dungeon alone.
In truth, she had also gotten tired of waiting for one other player who never came. She did not want to go back empty-handed.
“…”
[Liberty has joined the party.]
“Liberty?” Hiro asked while looking at her.
“Yes, that’s my name!” the girl responded. “Now what?”
“Follow me.”
Hiro talked to NPC Ron to gain entrance access to the dungeon in question, [Dungeon: The Dark Forest]. Now that they had met the requirement, NPC Ron moved and made way for Hiro and Liberty.
The two immediately entered the dungeon area. Even though they had just stepped in, they quickly noticed the light in the area diminishing. And yet, even though the [Dark Forest] dungeon was very dark, their eyes could still function well as if the two’s eyes were of nocturnal animals.
After 10 meters, the types of trees surrounding them had changed to tremendously old trees that irregularly branched out in all directions. They stood over 30 meters tall on average with extremely large trunks.
Hiro approached one of the trees and touched its trunk, and after a brief moment, a panel appeared in front of it.
[Oak Tree]
[HP 100,000]
He had been wanting to check it ever since he went back online. On the LSO guide, he previously found out that all inanimate beings in the game had their own durability and could be destroyed. An example was this Oak Tree.
However, this was not the case for NPCs. Certain NPCs had a special protection system. Although they could be attacked, they could not be killed.
And after witnessing it first-hand, Hiro went back to heading deeper into the forest.
Not long after they continued walking, thin white fog began to seemingly approach them, limiting their vision. The dark forest became eerier, causing the two to tense up.
“It’s best we stay near, Libe,” Hiro said in a low voice before vigilantly taking out his greatsword. “Take out your weapon, don’t you have one?”
Since the first time he saw Liberty, he had not once seen any signs of what weapons she had. The girl did not seem to bring anything. As a Ranger, she should have a bow or a gun.
However, before he could think about it any more, both of Liberty’s hands emitted a bright light, forcing Hiro, who was looking her way, to squint his eyes. Not long after, the white light quickly faded, leaving only a faint yellowish light.
[Lantern Master Staff]
A wooden staff with a length of 150 cm had appeared in Liberty’s grasped palms. The top of the staff had some kind of roots that wrapped around a few glowing orbs in various sizes. The light in those orbs seemed to vaguely glow and dim, as if living fireflies were stuck in them.
“…”
“What are you doing with that thing?” Hiro frowned. He could not believe what he was seeing, and it made him doubt the girl’s capability even more.
“Eh? Didn’t you tell me to take out my weapon?” Liberty innocently asked. For some reason, he was reminded of a puppy when he looked at those eyes.
He could not bear to disparage her.
“All right, at least the light from that staff can still be useful. Come here, don’t go too far.”
The white fog was getting thicker. However, just as they continued to walk through the darkness, a shadow suddenly dashed past him.
Whoosh!
Hiro’s footsteps instantly halted. As a result, Liberty, who could not focus on one thing, harshly bumped into his back.
“Ssssh!”
The girl quickly covered her mouth.
The shadow suddenly halted, and at that moment, pairs of yellow almond-shaped eyes suddenly appeared in the fog.
It stopped.
Ding!
[You have unlocked a New monster information]
[Dark Wolf (Level 15)]
[Race: Beast]
“Stay behind me, Libe.”
“What should I do?” Liberty asked while looking at him.
“What you can do? Stay alive and hit anything that comes closer with that staff of yours.”
Not like he could hope for anything from a ranger with a magic staff.
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