Whoosh!!! 

    The intense flame grazed Chang Long's back, the heat searing her skin and the smell of burnt hair filling the air. A step slower, and she would have been a charred corpse at the entrance.

    "There she is, Rafael!" 

    A male player shouted to another, visibly anxious, pointing towards the person they had been searching for half the day.

    "Peach Blossom!!" 

    Rafael called out to the female player, who looked around restlessly, as if searching for something.

    "Raf!" 

    Peach Blossom turned her head upon hearing her name called and greeted the approaching male player.

    "Haven't we already talked over the phone? I told you to wait in front of the player service building, where did you go, Peach Blossom?" 

    Rafael scolded the woman in front of him, who pouted unhappily.

    "Don't scold me. We still haven't settled the matter of you leaving me alone in the Southern Sea Abyss," 

    Peach Blossom retorted sharply.

    "Err... I was worried, okay? I waited for you, but my little Peach Blossom didn’t show up. I even had the guild members search the entire city for you," 

    Rafael quickly made excuses. He and his friends were responsible for turning her into a willful and unreasonable young girl. It seemed all he could do now was endure her domineering behavior.

    "Let's forget about that for now. Can I ask you something?" 

    "Sure, what is it?"

    "When you use a teleportation scroll, you always end up in front of the player service building, right?" 

    Peach Blossom asked, puzzled. After she used her scroll, there was no sign of Chang Long, who should have followed closely behind. She thought maybe they might have ended up in a different part of the town and started searching. However, she found no trace of Chang Long or Kitsune.

    "Right, every time it brings you right in front of the player service building. Why do you ask?" 

    Rafael answered clearly, causing Peach Blossom to turn pale.

    "That means... he lied to me about his friend having another teleportation scroll," 

    Peach Blossom said, stunned.

    "What's wrong, Peach Blossom? Who are you talking about?" 

    Rafael asked, his protective brother mode kicking in.

    "The person who saved me when I was dying in the Southern Sea Abyss. Right now, he's surrounded by two royal class beasts and a horde of minions. He gave me his last teleportation scroll, so he couldn't return. Oh... how can I help him now, Raf?" 

    Peach Blossom explained with tear-filled eyes, showing remorse.

    "No need to do anything. He'll probably show up around here soon enough," 

    Rafael confidently said.

    "How can you be so sure?" 

    "Being surrounded like that, he'll be back to respawn soon enough. Hahaha," 

    Rafael laughed.

    Whack! 

    Peach Blossom's lethal palm struck Rafael's left cheek, sending him staggering back several steps unprepared. When he looked at the culprit, he saw Peach Blossom glaring at him furiously.

    "Whoa! What was that for, Peach Blossom? Why are you so aggressive with me?"

    Rafael spoke while rubbing the red handprint on his left cheek, feeling the stinging itch that made him want to scratch. 'Her slap itches so much. ‘Is her hand laced with nettles or something...'

    "Don't you dare to speak ill of my benefactor. He gave me his last teleportation scroll even though he knew it was dangerous, unlike you guys who just ran away, leaving me to die alone,"

    Peach Blossom snapped back coldly.

    "Just wait until Seig logs in. I'll tell him that you guys intentionally left me in the Southern Sea Abyss!!"

    Finishing the sentence, Peach Blossom stormed off, leaving Rafael behind.

    "Hey!! Peach Blossom, I didn't mean to leave you. I thought everyone had received a teleportation scroll, so I didn't think anyone would be left behind. Don't tell Seig about such a small matter,"

    Rafael hurriedly followed to defend himself, but Peach Blossom paid him no heed and quickly walked to the Pendragon Guild's location, causing a scene along the way that bystanders could not help but notice.

    ....

    After entering the cave, Chang Long faced an unending crisis. The 2 fire lizard kings were trying to smash their way into the cave, causing tremors throughout the area. She tried to find a foothold to avoid being tossed about in the dark cave. Kitsune, though equally exhausted, was in better condition than Chang Long, who had just cleaned up not long ago and was now dirty again.

    "Damn! When will it leave? I can't hold on anymore!"

    Chang Long shouted, frustrated with the noise of falling rocks outside. She had been clinging to a rocky outcrop for nearly an hour. Her strength was almost gone, and her blood was steadily dripping due to the constant barrage of stone shards.

    "Master, we should go deeper to escape the tremors,"

    Kitsune suggested.

    "It's very dark inside, and who knows what awaits us,"

    Chang Long responded, her condition not suited for any more surprises.

    "But you could die if you stay here, master."

    Chang Long pursed her lip and slowly moved deeper into the cave, agreeing with Kitsune. The game's death penalty was severe: a loss of 5 levels and half of the accumulated experience points. Reaching level 21 had not been easy, but it came with risks to her life and possessions.

    A few steps further, the tremor stopped. The 2 fire lizard kings must have calmed down from their berserk and dejectedly walked away, injured from their attempts to ram into the cave. Chang Long sat down, relieved, as she searched for blood crystals.

    "Player Chang Long and her pet have slain 25 level 45 Fire Lizard Beasts, receiving 112,500 experience points. Player Chang Long and her pet have slain 20 level 48 Horned Fire Lizard Beasts, receiving 96,000 experience points."

    "Player Chang Long has fulfilled the basic conditions for leveling up, advancing to level 32."

    "Player Chang Long has fulfilled the basic conditions for starting a profession: Evasion Skill advanced to level 13, Swift Movement Skill advanced to level 8, Endurance Skill advanced to level 2."

    "The sacred beast, Fire Fox Kitsune, has advanced to level 31."

    The system announced Chang Long's level advancement, but she was more interested in the pitch-dark cave.

    "Hey, Kitsune, can you conjure up a fireball? I can't see anything,"

    Chang Long turned to her faithful pet. He complied and breathed out fire from his mouth, which before spreading too far, curled back into a floating orb of fire one foot in diameter.

    "Remember, in front of other players, you mustn't do this in your human form. We don't want to arouse suspicion," Chang Long warned upon seeing Kitsune's action.

    "Understood, master,"

    Chang Long began to look around the cave in search of an exit, only to find that the way they had entered was completely blocked by fallen rocks. However, they still had air to breathe, leading her to believe there must be another way out. After resting for a bit, they started to explore in the opposite direction, which was eerily quiet and solemn.

    "A torch?"

    Chang Long walked over to the cave wall and saw a torch hanging there. As soon as her hand touched the torch, it lit up brightly, and it was not the only one. Torches lined the walls all along the length of the cave, each spaced about five meters apart. Then, the sound of some mechanism starting up could be heard.

    "No... not like this!"

    Chang Long complained loudly, kicking a stone nearby with frustration.

     Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh!!

    Chang Long was shocked to see numerous arrows shooting out from both sides of the walls at high speed, triggered by the stone she had kicked inside. The stone kept rolling until it stopped on a rock patch that looked like solidified lava, a hundred meters away. Just when Chang Long thought it was over, a soft whistling sound followed by flames bursting up from the ground in that area. The flames shot up to three meters high, melting the stone Chang Long had kicked in an instant. Wide-eyed and sweating profusely, she looked on in horror, imagining what could happen next.

    "...Mommy, please help Chang!"

    ....

    "Sigh... why do they have to held so many activities before the semester even starts,"

    a tall, fair-skinned, young man as handsome as superstar with light brown, fashionably cut hair mused. He wore a full set of black dragon leather soft armor, with a roaring silver dragon head brooch on his cloak. As he strolled leisurely through the starting town, female players who passed by could not help but stare at him, showing overt interest, while many male players envied him but dared not provoke him, knowing his how high his level was.

    Beep, beep.

    The young man glanced at his wristwatch, sighed softly, and answered the call.

    "What's up, Peach Blossom? I just logged for less than 5 minutes, and you're already bringing me problems?" He said preemptively as he picked up the call.

    "Oh! Why does big brother Seig always lecture me? I didn’t cause any trouble. I just wanted to invite you to hang out," the sweet voice of the girl on the other end replied, giving the listener goosebumps.

    "Who are you with, Peach Blossom? With our guild members?"

    Siegfried asked, pretending not to have heard his sister's previous words.

    "Yes, I’m with Rafael, Co, and eight other guild members. Please come quickly, big brother. Everyone is waiting at our guild. If you're late, I'll be really mad!"

    The girl spoke commandingly before hanging up. Siegfried looked at his phone wearily, sighed, and continued walking.

    Soon, Siegfried arrived at the designated meeting place. The guild members welcomed him, except for his beloved sister Peach Blossom, who was making goo-goo eyes at a pillar, seemingly unaware of her brother's arrival. Siegfried greeted everyone warmly and then turned to look at his sister.

    "Rafael, what's wrong with her?"

    Siegfried called out to his close friend, pointing at Peach Blossom, who seemed to be lost in her own world.

    "I don't know! She's been like this since we got back to the guild. I don't know what to do either,"

    Rafael replied wearily.

    Siegfried approached his sister, who was still sending sweet looks to the pillar, causing the guild members, both men and women passing by, to either smirk or chuckle.

    "Peach Blossom, what are you doing?"

    Siegfried asked, waving his hand in front of the girl.

    "Yes, master, Peach Blossom was just thinking about you, master,"

    Peach Blossom sweetly replied, leaving Siegfried stunned. He shook his head at his sister's behavior, sighing before asking again,

    "Who is this 'Master'?"

    Peach Blossom turned to her brother with sparkling eyes, making even her brother feel a chill, sensing troubles looming not too far away.

    "Aww, big brother Sieg, you must come with me. I want to meet 'Master' so badly."

    Inside Pendragon Guild's building, Peach Blossom was wailing and clinging to her brother's leg, creating a scene that was almost unbearable for the other guild members. The once proud and willful guild beauty was unrecognizable, showing none of her usual demeanor.

    "Aren't you embarrassed at all, Peach Blossom!"

    Siegfried grumbled, annoyed. No matter where he went, his clingy sister would follow, crying loudly, begging him to search for the mysterious "Master" in the Southern Sea Abyss .

    "No! Please, brother, come with me. Rafael and Co will also join,"

    Peach Blossom tried her best to soften her brother's heart with her pleading.

    "Is that so? With those two going, it should be safe. Rafael and Draco are both over level 50. I have guild matters to attend to and can't join,"

    Siegfried replied, ignoring his sister's whining while focusing on the documents in his hands.

    "Sob... they'll just leave me there again. Don't you care about your dearest sister at all? You're so cruel, so heartless! Wail."

    Her words made the three men pause. Siegfried put down the documents he was holding and looked at his two friends. They returned his gaze with oafish smile, then gazed down at his sister who was nearly shaking his pants off.

    "Sigh! alright, you can let go now. My pants are about to fall off,"

    Siegfried said, clearly at his limit of tolerance. The siblings' antics caused Rafael, Draco, and the other guild members to barely contain their laughter.

    "Really?!!"

    Peach Blossom looked up and asked, shaking him vigorously again, forcing him to find something to hold onto.

    "Yes, really. Let go and get ready, or we're not going at all,"

    Siegfried snapped, finally having enough. Peach Blossom sensing his temper, decided to comply quickly and ran off to her room.

    "WHAT. ARE. YOU. LAUGHING. AT?"

    Siegfried glanced at his two best friends and the other dozen guild members, who were all struggling to hold back their laughter. Once the guild leader shot them a deadly look, they quickly dispersed.

    "Sigh! what kind of guy is this ‘Master’ to make Peach Blossom this obsessed with him... I’ll be damned,"

    Siegfried muttered to himself, adjusting his pants.

    …

    "Achoooo!!"

    Chang Long sneezed loudly while she was contemplating how to navigate through the trap ahead.

    "Are you feeling unwell, master?"

    Kitsune asked with concern.

    "I don't know... Let's continue. We'll throw stones ahead to trigger the arrows until they run out. When the mechanism reloads the arrows, we'll rush through,"

    Chang Long discussed the plan with Kitsune seriously.

    The reason she knew how the first trap mechanism worked was from continuously throwing stones into the trap, hoping it would eventually run out. After throwing stones at a steady pace for hours without seeing the arrows deplete, Chang Long got frustrated and started throwing non-stop, which revealed that once an arrow set was depleted, the mechanism would pause for ten seconds. Stones thrown during these ten seconds would pass through without being shot at.

    The hundred meters distance was not much of a concern for Chang Long, especially since she had already reached level eight in her swift movement skill, and she also had a Mystic Gust Skill she had not yet tried. This gave her some hope, though the next phase seemed quite brutal, with flames bursting from the ground, melting everything they touched.

    "It seems like there might be a resting point between the first and second phases. Let's just go for it. I don't want to stay here any longer. Kitsune, make sure you keep up with me as much as you can,"

    Chang Long turned to instruct Kitsune, who was sitting next to her listening to the plan.

    "Yes, Master.