As I turned to face the person holding me in pce, I was greeted by two bzing ember eyes and a very bright—but unmistakably awkward—smile. A young girl stood there, her hip-long brown hair falling freely down her back, unevenly cut bangs clumsily covering her forehead.

  Above her head hovered a username, making it clear she wasn't an NPC.

  Lavapup — Level 1.

  A beginner. A normal username.

  Still... I felt like I'd heard that name somewhere before. I just couldn't quite pce it.

  "Uhm... excuse me," I said after a second, gncing down at the hand still wrapped around my wrist. "How may I help you?"

  She seemed to realize it at the same time I did and let go instantly, flinching as if she'd touched a hot stove.

  "Oh—! Haha, sorry! Really, sorry," she blurted out, scratching the back of her head. "I just wanted to ask if it would be possible to form a party. I'm kinda new to these types of games, so... uh... yeah. Sorry if that was rude."

  She ughed again, a bit too quickly, clearly unsure what to do with herself now that she'd stopped me.

  I blinked once, then shrugged.

  "Nah, it's all good. Don't sweat it," I said. "You just surprised me, that's all."

  She visibly rexed at that, her shoulders dropping just a little.

  "Oh... good. That's good," she said, nodding to herself as if reassuring her own thoughts.

  "So what, uhm... you want to form a party?" I asked, swallowing hard while trying not to make too much eye contact.

  "Yes, yes!" She nodded intensely, scooting a little too close into my personal space. "Is it possible? That would be really, really cool!"

  While she did have the voice of a mature woman, it honestly felt more like talking to an overexcited child.

  "Yeah, sure. We can form a party. A little more firepower shouldn't hurt," I answered.

  I was already reaching out to send her a party invite when a notification popped up in front of me instead.

  A piece of parchment and a quill hovered in the air like some sort of magical contract.

  "Oh... you were quick," I muttered.

  I pced my marker on the paper, watching as it fred up in blue fmes before crumbling into dust.

  "You have joined the party of Lavapup."

  The system announced it politely.

  The brown-haired girl kept grinning at me, but then her expression shifted—surprise flickering across her face.

  "Oh! You already have a quest!" she said, sounding genuinely excited, her ember-like eyes glistening with anticipation.

  "Yeah, that's why I wanted to head out," I replied, scratching my nonexistent beard. "Did you get the quest too?"

  "Yeah! It accepted automatically when you joined the party," she answered, sounding just as clueless as I felt.

  I nodded once.

  "Then we should get going."

  After a while of traveling, we finally reached the forest—its trees crowned with deep purple leaves.

  The grass carried a beautiful blue hue, shimmering ever so slightly whenever light touched it.

  "Woah, this looks magical!"

  Lavapup awed, grazing her fragile fingers along the dark bark of a fallen log as we walked the narrow dirt path carved into the ground.

  "Yeah, it's really well designed," I muttered, taking in the earthy, woody scent mixed with a faint hint of mushrooms. "But honestly... this is nothing compared to the north tower."

  "Did you say something?" Lavapup asked, pausing for a moment before finishing her sentence. "I didn't quite understand."

  I shook my head slightly, my eyes never leaving the path ahead. One wrong step, one moment of carelessness, and something could jump out of the bushes at any time.

  "It's not that important. I was just talking to myself—don't mind it."

  She raised an eyebrow as if unconvinced, then shrugged and continued waddling along beside me.

  "So, uhm... Lavapup," I said after a moment, "would you mind telling me how you're able to py this game if this is your first RPG?"

  I gnced at her briefly, careful not to lose sight of what y ahead.

  She looked confused at first, then realization dawned on her face—and it lit up immediately.

  "Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah!" she said excitedly. "See, the thing is, my brother stopped pying when Cssic Adventure got shut down, and he gave the early access code to me!"

  She pressed her finger against her cheek, trying—very deliberately—to look cute.

  Unfortunately, it only made her resemble one of those painfully cringe, wannabe anime girls.

  "Ew, stop that."

  I instinctively inched backward.

  She froze, eyes wide, mouth slightly open.

  "Eh? Stop what?" she asked, genuinely confused.

  I pointed at her finger, still pressed firmly against her cheek.

  "That thing," I said ftly. "With your finger. Never do that again. It's cringe."

  She slowly straightened herself again, pulling her finger away from her cheek as she began to avoid eye contact.

  I could almost see cold pearls of sweat running down her forehead as we walked in silence.

  "Sorry... I didn't want to make it awkward,"

  she said, nervously pying with her fingers behind her back.

  "I get that," I replied. "It was my fault for being so blunt about it—but please, never...!"

  I whispered the st part, looking away from her and into the deep, dark parts of the forest.

  "Yeah... I won't do it again,"

  she answered quietly.

  Between us, awkwardness ruled the moment, paired with silence.

  The wind brushed through countless leaves, creating a gentle rustling melody that filled the space neither of us dared to.

  Until I felt something shift—just slightly.

  "Hold on...!" I whispered, stretching my arm out in front of the girl to stop her.

  Running straight into my outstretched arm, she yelped in surprise before losing her bance and falling backward onto her butt.

  "What is it?"

  she asked, rubbing her rear in pain, while I kept watching the trees intently.

  Then I saw it.

  One of them moved, pushing through the others unnaturally.

  A smirk crept onto my face as I readied my wand, frost forming at its tip.

  At its next movement, I took aim instantly, the wand pointing straight at its dark stem.

  "Found you. Snowball!"

  Lightning-fast, the compressed ball of snow formed and unched forward, cutting through the undergrowth before colliding with its target.

  The snowball burst into countless fkes, forming a brief white cloud as the tree shimmered in icy blue.

  "Did you hit it?"

  the girl asked, her wand already raised.

  "Yes, of course I hit it. I don't just miss,"

  I answered proudly.

  For a moment, nothing happened.

  Then I stepped closer.

  Purple, burning fire fr

  ed open where its eyes should have been.

  The tree's bark split as it opened its maw and screamed at me—like a demon trapped inside wood.

  "Oh no..."