That afternoon, Ethan was surprised to see Juno and Eve standing in front of his room. They ca with all their gear, as if they’d been waiting for him.
He had already finished the al Eve brought earlier, and it seed like both Juno and Eve had eaten well too.
"What?" Ethan asked.
"Please, teach us everything about this ga," said Eve, and Juno nodded in agreent.
"Huh? I thought you two already understood everything," Ethan replied.
"We just pretended to, so we wouldn’t look weak in front of other players. But honestly, we don’t know much at all," Eve admitted.
Before eting them, Ethan had already adjusted his attribute stats properly.
He spent all his AP points on the attributes most important for his class—STR, AGI, and CON.
Even so, Ethan couldn’t help but feel curious about Eve and Juno’s stats.
They had been hunting and leveling up just the two of them, with no one else’s help.
For beginners, assigning attribute points wrong was basically putting their lives at risk.
After all, Ethan had already saved them once. Refusing to help them now wouldn’t feel right.
"Before you take any missions from the bulletin board, you two need to form a party."
"Party?" Juno asked.
"Like yesterday?" Eve followed up. Ethan nodded.
"Yeah, but without ."
"Why not?" Juno asked.
Eve tried to explain based on her understanding. Yesterday, they gained EXP from the team battle. She assud one of the party features was EXP sharing.
But Ethan didn’t refuse because Juno or Eve were weak. He just didn’t want to take a share of their EXP. That way, Juno and Eve would get more experience for themselves.
At least, that’s what Eve thought.
"No. That’s completely wrong," Ethan corrected her, cutting off her explanation.
Eve froze, surprised that Ethan didn’t agree with her. She turned her full attention to him, waiting for an explanation.
"Parties for official quests are different from battle parties. A battle party works on a reward-split system, but an official party doesn’t," Ethan explained.
"Let’s say your party takes on a quest with a 100 EXP reward. When you complete it, every party mber gets the sa 100 EXP—not divided among you."
"Then why refuse to join us?" Eve asked.
"Because of my PK status and my abilities. It’s better if I just follow you while you two form your own party," Ethan replied.
"That way, you won’t keep relying on ."
Eve and Juno looked at each other and nodded, fully trusting his reasoning.
Ethan then explained the steps they needed to follow: first, allocate their attribute points; next, level up their skills; then buy better weapons and equipnt; and finally, input Spirit Crystals.
That was the most effective way to get stronger. The higher their base ATK, the faster they could kill quest monsters.
Ethan’s explanations were clear and easy to follow. Eve didn’t hesitate to show her status panel to him, and Juno did the sa.
That afternoon, both of them began adjusting their attributes properly. They still had about 200 unspent AP points.
Eve didn’t know which attributes to put them into—afraid of making a mistake—but Ethan was there to guide them.
Juno focused on STR and AGI, fitting her class, and added a few points to WIS. Eve, being a mage, focused on INT and WIS.
Ethan didn’t just help them allocate points—he also took them to the Enhance Crystal Shop and the Equipnt Shop.
Based on their level, uncommon-rank gear and Spirit Crystals were just right.
They would only be fighting monsters under level 20 anyway, so there was nothing to worry about.
Ethan spent three hours making sure Eve and Juno had grown stronger. They had bought their gear, Spirit Crystals, and skill gems.
Now it was ti for Ethan to see the result of their adjustnts.
"Hmm... that’s better than before," Ethan said.
"I don’t feel anything," Eve replied.
"Of course not. Strength isn’t sothing you can feel physically. We’re just projections of ourselves in full-drive VR, right?"
"You’re right."
"But if you want to see the difference, then we’ll have to test it," Ethan said.
"Juno."
Ethan called Juno over and told her to pick up a quest from the bulletin board—the sa type of mission they took yesterday.
That was the only way to asure how much stronger they’d gotten.
Ethan and Eve stayed on the street, waiting while Juno went to grab the quest.
"His na is Arnold Rudolph. His userna is KazutoYuu," Eve said.
"Who? Your ex?" Ethan asked, and Eve nodded.
She went on, telling the whole story about why she started playing this ga. She wasn’t really a gar like her boyfriend, but Arnold had convinced her that the ga was fun. Eve didn’t refuse.
The real reason Arnold asked her to play was because of the marriage, ho, and child features in the ga.
Ethan was stunned—that was such a ridiculous reason to get soone to play.
"He said we could get married in-ga and have kids. I was really curious since that sounded crazy," Eve explained.
"I an, we’re just lying down with VR Full-Drive headsets on, right? No one’s actually giving birth. There’s even a Neural System Filter that blocks pain."
"Exactly. That made even more curious. I thought, why not give it a try?" she said, and Ethan listened quietly.
"But... everything changed after that incident. Arnold panicked and started acting harsh toward . He forgot about everything else and just focused on surviving."
"When he realized I was just a burden, he broke up with and left behind," Eve said softly.
I can’t really bla her. The marriage and ho features did exist—but I’ve never heard of the child one.
She never expected this situation to happen. Neither did Arnold, I bet.
"After that, I only had Juno. I couldn’t trust anyone else because—"
"You’re afraid of being tricked again. Am I right?" Ethan interrupted. Eve turned and nodded.
"But after eting you, I realized not everyone is like Arnold. There are good people out there who’d help . That’s you, Ethan," she said, blushing.
Oh no... she’s looking at differently now.
Ethan smiled faintly, then raised his hand and gently patted Eve’s shoulder.
He felt flattered to be called a good person, but still reminded her not to jump to conclusions.
"You still need to stay cautious. I won’t always be around. Your life and death are in your own hands."
"The best way to survive in this ga is to get stronger and find the right guild for yourselves," he continued.
Eve nodded. What Ethan said made sense—it was logical and realistic.
They couldn’t rely on him forever. There would co a ti when Ethan would leave them behind.
That’s why Eve made up her mind to beco stronger and learn more about the ga. That way, when Ethan t them again, he’d be proud of what they’d achieved.
"I understand. I’ll do my best."
Not long after, Juno ca back with a quest for her party. Ethan nodded and led them outside to begin their monster hunt.
With their current strength, Ethan figured they could finish the quest before nightfall.
After walking along a dirt path for a while, Ethan suddenly stopped. Eve and Juno followed, looking ahead.
They saw a group of rat monsters—level 7.
"That’s your target," Ethan said.
"Watch your area range attacks. Don’t hit monsters outside the zone," he warned firmly.
Eve and Juno nodded in understanding. They launched their skill attacks forward.
Explosions burst from Eve’s magic, and she stared wide-eyed in shock.
"I-I killed them all with one hit?" she asked.
Ethan smiled, folding his arms as he watched the two of them. Their power had clearly increased—and that was a good sign.
Not just Eve, but Juno too. Even though a mage’s base power was higher than an archer’s, Juno’s strength almost matched her sister’s.
That was great—they were learning fast.
And that ant soon, no one would dare to hurt them again.
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