“Amelia will definitely not like this…” Clara whispered as she stood up.

Count Dylak and his maids seemed more than ready to fight, and the arachnid Professor Spiegel glared at her from a distance.

If their mission was to train Alan, why are they challenging us now? Clara looked at the number 15 above Dylak and bit her lower lip. We outnumber them, and we’re stronger. Our lowest level is Bella’s 23. What are they thinking? Wait… Clara tilted her head to one side. They’re just a bunch of mobs. Fighting mindlessly against Users it’s on their nature. So what was all that ‘gentlemen act’ and we’re more ‘advanced’ charade from just minutes ago?

“Ashley, my dear?” Clara called. “Kill that spider.”

The brunette girl behind her followed the order, throwing a concealed knife and hitting Professor Spiegel in the head, killing him easily. That prompted the maids to charge forward. Their bodies glowed purple, showing the ‘Creature of the Night’ boost was active.

Anastasia clashed with Eliora, overpowering her easily, and Bella struggled to hit the agile Eliza. Meanwhile, Count Dylak remained in his place, smirking.

“Your orders, Miss Clara,” Fabio said, bowing.

“Kill him.”

“It will be done. Equipping Set C.” The fake man strolled forward, ignoring the two battles happening a few feet away from him. A pair of iron knuckles appeared on his fists while he unbuttoned the collar of his black shirt. “I will avenge our Guild Master…”

Woaaaah! My NPC is so cool! Do it, handsome!

“You’ll try,” Count Dylak replied, ripping his clothes and gaining mass by the second.

He’s turning monstrous, just like that Spiegel guy. Clara glanced at the maids and noticed that their skin had turned blue and her eyes crimson. But even if he gets into his Second Phase, he’s not a match for my sexy--!

“WHAT’S WITH ALL THIS NOISE!” a girl shouted from the first floor. “I CAN’T SLEEP, DAMMIT! DRAGONBREATH!”

A burst of fire impacted Dylak, killing him instantly.

“R-retreat!” Clara cried to Anastasia and Bella, who jumped back just a second before another fire spell reached the twin maids, annihilating them.

The System turned all the corpses into pixels, erasing any proof of their existence. They could swear it was all a bad dream and no one would question them.

And yet, our Guild Master is still missing. We were on our path to Barnchester, and we haven’t saved since we left New Unus, so he’ll surely respawn there.

She opened her Friend List to corroborate it.

FRIENDS

STATUS

Alan Warden

(Online)

Unknown Location

There he is! Since his level is super low, he respawns super quickly. He’s safe and sound in--Oh, crappy pants.

“Seriously! What are you guys doing?!” Amelia asked from her room’s window on the first floor. “Did you aggro some monsters in the middle of the night or something?”

Clara pursed her lips, unable to face her. Unfortunately, I don’t have any friends there to corroborate it.

“Fabio, can you contact someone from Unus?” she whispered to her NPC.

“I can, ma’am. Should I ask them if they have seen Alan Warden?”

“Yes, please. Discreetly…” When Clara turned around, she found Amelia’s face up close.

“Why would he contact New Unus?” the redhead asked, squinting, arms crossed.

“Bestie! Are you feeling well? Does your head hurt?”

“It did, for a minute. It’s a good thing that the ‘Pain Endurance’ Passive Skill exists, right? Better than a painkiller pill. Where is Alan?”

“A-Alan? Why do you ask? Have you checked the bathroom yet?”

“A NU that visited us killed him,” Ashley quickly responded, making Amelia’s eyes widen.

“A what now?!”

“Non User!” Clara continued, half-smiling. “Now that I remember, that’s what the Advanced Slimes called themselves, right?” She giggled for a couple of seconds before Amelia grabbed her by the neck.

“You’ll remain quiet for a minute like a well-behaved girl while Ashley explains the situation. Understood, bestie?” Amelia warmly smiled, but Clara knew the true meaning of that expression.

“Y-yes, m-ma’am…”

* * *

Oh, god… I can now add ‘death by poison’ to the top of my ‘most painful ways to die’ list… Just below ‘burned’. That continues to be the—What the…?

Alan stood up in a hurry, bewildered by what he was seeing. This is not New Unus Town.

He admired a double staircase in front of him, a bright red carpet below his feet, a golden lit chandelier above, and a closed door behind him. Two long corridors to his both sides waited for him to explore.

Where the hell am I?

He opened his User Interface and consulted the map automatically provided by the System. Count Dylak’s Mansion? You’re kidding me…

Alan slapped his cheeks, expecting to wake up from a dream and see the surroundings of New Unus’ Downtown instead, but nothing. This map doesn’t even let me zoom out and check the exterior. It only shows me this place, the lobby. Everything else is blank. Great.

His second option was to contact Amelia, but before even tapping the Social tab, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps in front of him. Alan quickly drew his bronze-tier handgun and awaited.

From the shadows beneath the double staircase stepped out a big, bulky humanoid, wearing a denim overall, a white but filthy t-shirt, and work boots. Excessive facial hair hid a deformed face, as if his unnatural growth had been part of a sick experiment.

Housekeeper Bilmur, Level 12, Alan read the info the System provided him. With a single foot he could easily flatten my torso, and his thumb and index fingers look strong enough to crush my head like a grape.

“Alan Warden,” the NU said in a tired tone, which reminded him of Ricardo Silva, the Glitch Administrator. “I’m in charge of eliminating any intruders…” he paused, making Alan swallow. “But you are our special guest.”

“Y-yes, nice to meet you! Did Count Dylak ask you to welcome me?”

“‘Welcome’ you?” the large man said, caressing his overgrown beard. “He did not say such a thing. The only thing I know is that you are currently weak…” He gave one step forward, and Alan could see that a nearby flower vase trembled. “...And that we should all help you level up.”

He’s saying the same thing…

“And how would that work out, huh?!” Alan said, stepping back. “My partner is not with me!”

“Forget about your minion, Alan Warden,” Count Dylak said from atop the staircase. The black cloak he was wearing made him look as if he was nothing more than a hovering, talking pale head. “You need to strengthen yourself alone, remember?” he continued, giving him a sympathetic look.

Yeah, although he ordered his other retainer to poison and kill me.

“I know that you all want to help me, but trust me, I have already tried! If it wasn’t for my ‘Puppet Master’ Active Skill, I wouldn’t have been able to reach my last two levels! I’m not good at fighting!”

“Well…” Dylak said, turning around. “You’ll have time to learn. Come see me upstairs when you’ve defeated my retainers.”

“Wait!” Alan shouted, but Housekeeper Bilmur blocked the path.

“You are not ready yet, Alan Warden,” Bilmur said softly, ready to attack him.

Alan bitterly chuckled before running towards the corridor to his left. Nope! There’s something very wrong with this whole situation!

He found a double door a few feet away from him and turned back before entering. He doesn’t seem to be following me. Once inside, he tapped his Social menu to call Amelia, but the system window only showed static. As if I had no signal… ‘No signal’ inside a Virtual Reality…

The sound of paper pages flipping jolted him. Drawing his gun again, Alan aimed it at Professor Spiegel, casually reading a book from a desk in the corner of the room filled with bookcases. A library?

“Mister Alan!” the NU greeted him, standing up from his seat. “Are you ready for your second lesson?”

* * *

Clara remembered the day she bought her first Mount vividly. It was a sunny day in Barbantilla Town, in the northwest of the South Arcane region. The establishment looked more like a farm than a Mount shop, which made Clara grimace as she entered, but her sister giggled excited.

“This is so cool!” Emily was saying, jumping from one display to the other. “What species should we pick?”

“Whatever mounts are on discount, Emily. So stop.”

“Oh, come on! Let me at least fantasize for a minute that I’m riding this cutie!” Emily said, pointing at the brown-furred, horned creature that puffed through its nose and stomped with one hoof with pride.

“That beast doesn’t look good for long-distances traveling, stupid sis,” Clara muttered while searching for the store owner, an NPC wearing a long braid and overalls. She even looks like a farmer too.

“Welcome, travelers! How may I help you?”

“We’ve come for the ad. You’re selling two mounts at a discounted price, right? Tell me you still have them.”

The NPC grinned at her. “Of course, miss. Come this way.”

Clara pulled Emily by the collar of her shirt, and dragged her all the way to the designated display, showing a pair of 10-feet-height, fat, long-necked birds.

This time Emily was the one that grimaced. “Their ugly as fuck. No offense, sweetie,” she said to the NPC.

“No offense taken, miss, tee-hee.”

“And what’s with those pastel colors? That’s why no one buys them.”

“Stop complaining, Em. We need them, and these are the only ones we can afford. Do you want to keep walking everywhere we go?” Clara stared at her sister, who continued to glance at the horned mouth with a sulky expression. “Think about it for a second. These chickens have better stamina, and…”

“Okay, fine, buy them!” Emily cried to avoid a speech. “You’re the one that knows about this stuff, anyway. I want the blue one, okay? Just pay the NPC already while I say goodbye to my little Hornyhomie… Sniff”

“Horny…?” Clara muttered before laughing out loud.

“Yeah…” Clara said, exhaling. “You never were good at naming stuff…”

“Miss Clara?” Fabio called softly, to which Clara shook her head.

“I was just thinking out loud, sweetheart. Don’t mind me. So, any news from New Unus?”

“Nothing, ma’am.”

Clara groaned. “I’m bored to death, dammit!”

Both were riding a pink unicorn with a blue mane that advanced slowly while waiting for any news from their guild partners.

An hour ago, after Amelia heard Ashley’s story, she ordered them to summon their Mounts. “Good one, Ashley. Yours has great speed. Unlike yours, Clara. Did you choose that one just because it was pretty?”

“Well… yes?”

“Whatever,” Amelia said, irritated, before riding her winged tiger. “I’ll take Bella with me. Since I’m the only one that can fly here, I’ll go to New Unus to check if Alan is there. Meanwhile, Ashley, take Anastasia with you and go to the Prione Woods, where that supposed Dylak’s Mansion is located. Just scout the area, please. And Clara…” Amelia glared at her. “Try catching up with us…”

“Did you see the way Amelia looked at me?” Clara asked Fabio, sighing.

“I think Miss Amelia is just worried.”

“And yet, she looked very composed while telling us what to do. She really is something… I wonder why she’s not the guild leader.”

“It may be an agreement between Mister Alan and Miss Amelia.”

“You think, Captain Obvious? Go faster. I don’t want her to yell at me for arriving late or something.”

“Understood.”

While Fabio rode, Clara tightened her arms around his waist and leaned her face against his back.

What am I even saying? He’s the one that’ll save this spaceship from certain damnation, right? Although I told him I wanted to be part of his ‘saving humanity’ story, do I really believe in my words?

She remembered when Alan activated his Unique Talent for the first time, and the fascination she felt when he manifested his Anima.

I felt quite envious, actually. He isn't even level 10 yet, and he has already unlocked his Unique Talent… Maybe he really is special after all.

“Clara?” Ashley called through Party Chat.

“What is it, new sis? Have you found him?”

“Not yet, but I have found something quite peculiar. Come to my location. I will give you my coordinates.”

It took half an hour for Clara and Fabio to reach the designated point, where Ashley was waiting alongside Anastasia, riding a huge feral-looking gray wolf that snarled at the sight of the pink unicorn.

“I’m here, little sis! Did you miss me?”

“There is something you must see,” Ashley said, ignoring her words. Although the moonlight illuminated the entire landscape, the woods looked completely pitch-black.

“Um… Sweetie?” Clara said, confused. “I’m waiting for you to tell me what’s wrong about this place…”

“My bad. It seems that you cannot detect it. There is a force field surrounding the entire forest. That may be the reason we cannot communicate with Alan.”

“I… I see…” Clara whispered as she noticed the surroundings were being bathed in a warm light. She looked up, expecting to see the Novus’ sun, but watched an enormous ball of fire instead. “Is that…?”

“Amelia,” Ashley finished the sentence.

The pyromancer was standing atop her winged tiger, channeling: “Major Fire Crafting, Emperor’s Genocidal Tantrum,” she cast, throwing down effortlessly the 50-feet wide sphere of concentrated fire energy. This was supposed to level the entire forest, but it vanished once it touched the force field.

“What—the—fuck?” Amelia said, snarling.