Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Making Friends
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Chris flew into a rage when she heard I'd run into a nasty person while running a solo bus.
I was taken aback when Chris started asking for the elf user's nickname, appearance, and personal details.
"Got it? Don't run the bus alone just because I and my party members aren't around. Do it with the guild members. I already told them, you know? To look after the kid... ahem, to take good care of Rain when I'm not here."
While a solo bus, which can take on sub-clients in addition to the main one, earns a bit more gold for the time invested, dealing with clients all by myself is still difficult. A party bus, where we can divide tasks and clear dungeons faster, is much more comfortable.
In *Astria Online*, the fastest way to get to know someone is, of course, to run a dungeon together.
Chris, Beimerung, Cherni, and Death of Death. Besides those four, who cherished me and had grown close to Iseulbi, I hadn't really formed any other connections. But the members of the Red and White guild were also comrades who had conquered the Green Dragon with me.
"I told you to get to know the guild members a little, didn't I?"
For me, Chris was all I needed. But these were Chris's words.
She meant I needed to meet them one by one, run dungeons together, and get to know them.
"If Rain hangs out with them and thinks they're all good people..."
Chris trailed off, but it seemed she wanted to broaden my circle of friends.
I stood in front of the Frozen Palace of the Tundra, waiting for Hopkins and his party member.
This time, the bus would be with two whole Warriors.
Thump, thump.
The sound of two sets of heavy footsteps.
I turned my head to greet them.
Two burly young Warriors, members of Red and White.
"Bwahaha! Lady Rain, we're counting on you for the bus today. This here is 'Gandal,' the Warrior from Hopkins's party."
"Kehahat! With two big guys like us, you must feel secure, right?"
"Hello."
After giving a small bow to the two boisterously laughing giants, 'Leroy Hopkins' and 'Gandal,' I created a party.
A furtive glance.
I then shot them a meaningful look, one that said, 'Please recruit the clients, handle the clients, and collect the gold. I'll just do the stabbing.'
"Gahaha!"
"Kekeke!"
The two Warriors stared blankly at each other for a moment before bursting into hearty laughter again.
"Seeing as WOA, a decades-old PC online game, is still running, it seems the nostalgia for instance dungeon raid games is still strong even in this day and age."
"Heh, most of the gamer population has moved to virtual reality now. And we have a great alternative in *Astria Online*. Did you know? My nickname, 'Leroy Hopkins,' is based on a famous player from the classic raid game WOA."
"Aha, I know that story! The one where he wiped the party while heating up some chicken."
Impressive. I could never do something like that.
Hopkins looked like he was having fun, chatting nonstop with a middle-aged male client.
Gandal followed beside me, constantly exclaiming in admiration at my gameplay.
"Kuh, Lady Rain, you're truly amazing. Even with two Warriors taking turns to interrupt every pattern and land extra damage from grapples, the shieldbearer's HP is dropping faster."
"...Um, it's because my weapon is good."
"Khaha! Astaroth, right? It's a shame the world boss's respawn cycle seems to be quite long. It might be faster to encounter the next world boss than for the Green Dragon to respawn. I've saved up a lot of gold for the bid, you know? Not as much as Lady Chris, though."
"Heh."
I let out a small laugh at Gandal's jest. He watched me with a fatherly smile before clearing his throat.
They're both good-natured people.
And soon, we came face to face with the second boss, the 'Lesser Demon.'
Hopkins and Gandal stepped forward confidently.
"In this elite dungeon, the 'Frozen Palace of the Tundra,' the Warrior's role is crucial. It's a dungeon where 'status effect skills' are essential for clearing mechanics."
"It seems you can interrupt all three illusions by yourself, Lady Rain, but with two Warriors, it should be much easier for you. Khaha!"
Shing.
They drew their axes and charged at the 'Lesser Demon' simultaneously.
Thud.
Before long, the 'Lesser Demon' fell.
"Oh."
It was definitely easier. And faster.
Perhaps, for the second boss at least, it was even faster than when I ran the bus with Chris and Beimerung.
The overall damage output was lower than Chris's party, but the speed at which we handled the mechanics was incredible.
They constantly applied status effects to the boss, creating free-for-all damage windows, so there were only a few patterns I even had to worry about.
The two Warriors took turns locking down the Lesser Demon's movements with their 'Grapple' skill.
As soon as the illusions appeared from three directions during the special phase, the Warriors dashed in like arrows to knock them down and stun them. I just casually walked over to the remaining illusion and launched it into the air.
Clap, clap, clap.
Impressed by the Warriors' performance, I applauded.
"This is nice."
"Kuh, right?"
"We'll make it so you only have to focus on damage for the third boss, too."
These Warriors are so reliable.
"Kyaaaah!"
The third boss, 'Witch Frederica,' screeched repeatedly, as if angered that the fight wasn't going her way.
I really did just focus on damaging the boss.
Gandal and Hopkins ran around spinning their axes, stepping on and eliminating all the frost patches that appeared.
The Warrior skill, 'Whirlwind.'
The Whirlwind skill, which supports the Warrior whose only movement ability is a backstep, comes with a movement speed increase and damage reduction.
The Warriors minimized the damage from the attacks using Whirlwind's damage reduction.
It seemed there was also an option to deflect attacks depending on the skill specialization, but they appeared to have chosen the movement speed and damage reduction skill tree. For handling mechanics, that was definitely the better choice if you weren't the tank.
They called it the Warrior's bread and butter, and it really is an all-purpose skill.
The morning bus runs today were all with the Warriors.
"Hello."
"Oh, Lady Rain. We're counting on you today."
"My little sister is about this small, too. Haaah, I wish my sister had a cute side like you, Lady Rain."
I puffed out my cheeks at the Ranger, 'Seopseobi,' who called me cute.
Of course, I know I'm pretty, but...
Well, maybe closer to cute than pretty?
I prefer being called cool.
In the afternoon, the people running the bus with me were a duo of Rangers from 'Seopseobi's Party.'
Neither Hopkins's party nor Seopseobi's party had a Fighter or Swordsman suited for tanking, but in *Astria Online*, any class could perform the role of a tank.
In fact, that a class other than a Swordsman was tanking was a testament to their exceptional skill.
Two young Rangers with the nicknames 'Go Seung-woo' and 'Seopseobi.'
Seopseobi had blue hair, and Go Seung-woo had green hair.
The two Rangers, similar in height and with such unusual hair colors, made for an interesting picture standing there.
"Huh?"
It was a detail I had missed during the Green Dragon raid because I'd only glanced at them before sticking close to Chris's side.
That Ranger, 'Seopseobi'—his face looked somehow familiar.
I stared intently at Seopseobi's grinning face.
A young man, blue hair, a Ranger.
Hadn't he said he switched factions from the Betarion Empire to join the Red and White guild in the Alpharion Empire?
"Ah!"
Isn't that the user who stole my egg during the Kopopo Egg delivery quest?
I pointed a finger at him and jumped.
"Kopopo Egg!"
"Gasp!"
Seopseobi freaked out like someone who'd been caught doing something terribly wrong.
The bus run with the two Rangers wasn't as comfortable as the one with the two Warriors.
The Rangers, being closer to pure damage dealers, didn't have many status effect skills. Naturally, I had to handle quite a few of the mechanics myself. Still, they cleared the frost patches quickly. I guess I could give them points for having plenty of movement skills.
I accepted Seopseobi's apology. Stealing an egg a few times wasn't a crime punishable by death.
And I'm not so petty as to hold a grudge over something like that for this long.
After that, I ran the bus with other guild members as well.
The Mage 'Yeon Min-ah' and the Spirit Master 'Dalboreum' from Hopkins's party.
The Mage 'RedHotChicken' and the Yin-Yang Master 'TopCatch' from Seopseobi's party.
"Mhm."
I accepted the friend requests from the guild members who ran the bus with me today and organized their nicknames.
We could communicate through guild chat, but adding them to my friends list made it feel like we were a little closer.
Thankfully, they were all good people. They didn't get too close, either. However, I couldn't stop the older girls from practically dripping honey from their eyes whenever they looked at my face.
More than that, their eagerness to watch my gameplay and learn was noticeable. As expected of vanguard players. They all had a strong desire to improve.
The only downside was the lack of female players.
"Spirit Master Dalboreum, Mage RedHotChicken. Are they the only two?"
I preferred the older girls to the male users.
As long as they weren't overbearing, I was willing to approach them first and maybe even hold their hand after we got much closer.
It seems the Red and White guild needs to recruit more female players.
*
Beep, clunk.
The sound of the front door opening was followed by the appearance of a weary-looking Chris.
"Chris."
"Haaah, I'm home. I'm so late, right? Sorry~! Looks like you're getting ready for bed? Did you have fun with the guild members today?"
"Yes."
"Hehe, so? They're all good people, right? I didn't tell you, but I put each and every one of them through an in-depth interview, you know?"
I giggled.
If Chris had known that Seopseobi was the user who interfered with Rain's 'Kopopo Egg Delivery' quest, she might not have let him into the guild.
Well, I got an apology, so it's fine now.
Chris scratched her cheek for a moment, then spoke cautiously, as if about to say something difficult.
"Um, so, about that. This might be sudden, but..."
"Yes?"
"Well, there's been some talk among the guild members about wanting to have an offline meeting."
An offline meeting.
A gathering where online groups and users meet in the offline world.
She means meeting my game friends face-to-face in real life?
"If you're okay with it, Rain, I was hoping we could all get together and see everyone's faces."
"Ah."
It seemed Chris wanted to broaden not only 'Rain's' circle of friends, but 'Iseulbi's' as well.
"Um..."
I was someone who would agree to anything Chris said, but this time, I hesitated.
Iseulbi.
My form in this world... isn't impressive enough to show others.
My physical condition isn't normal, either.
Won't they look at me with pity?