A week passed.

Swoosh~!

In the town square of the 12th floor’s Cubic Town, a group of players appeared from the light.

"We’ve finally arrived..."

Chaewon said with a smile.

She immediately took in sights of the towering mountains, and she grabbed her holographic camera and snapped some pictures.

Ever since Fang Raon took a picture of the beautiful aurora borealis on the 15th floor, she had been in love with beautiful sights.

Therefore.

Whenever she came to the new floor, she always did some sightseeing and took some pictures as well as memory preservation.

"This is where your main character is, right, Raon?"

Aella asked.

"Yes. It’s not in the Safe Zone, so we would need to walk to the location of my main character, but that can wait till tomorrow.

"Otherwise, we would need to walk all night, and since we just finished a boss raid, I think we all deserve a little rest."

Fang Raon said.

Everyone nodded.

In just a week, they managed to go from the 6th floor all the way to the 12th floor. It was pretty fast progress.

Anna was in a hurry to get to the 27th floor now because her guild was combining with Raikou’s guild.

And she wanted to be there to ensure that Raikou wouldn’t do anything idiotic with her guild members.

’At least we don’t have to drag these guys along with us anymore.’

Anna thought with a scoff.

"Then, should we log off for the time being, and then meet up around eight in the morning?"

Kevin suggested.

"Give me a map, Marina."

Fang Raon said, and the timid-looking girl nodded and took out a rolled-up map from her backpack.

It included the map of the 10th, 11th, and 12th floors.

He took a pen, drew a red circle on the map, and handed it back to Marina.

"That’s around where the training camp is. I can’t walk you there, as I have some training to do, but I am sure you guys can get there by yourselves."

Fang Raon said.

"See you tomorrow!"

Kevin said his goodbyes, then logged off, and so did Aella, Bobby, and Marina as it was getting late for them.

"...Brother."

Anna crossed her arms angrily as she looked at her brother and Chaewon just standing there, looking like they weren’t going to log off.

"What is it, Miss Anna?"

Chaewon said with a smile.

"My brother and I have some stuff to do back in the real world. It’s with Father. I don’t want him to be late because of you."

Anna said angrily.

"...Oh?"

Chaewon raised an eyebrow and looked at Raon.

"She is right, I got some stuff... See you tomorrow on my actual character."

Fang Raon said.

Chaewon nodded, but she then smiled and leaned closer to him and gave a deep kiss with Anna watching in anger.

"See you tomorrow."

She then whispered softly in his ear.

"Mm."

Fang Raon nodded with a smile.

Ever since that night a week ago, they’ve been unable to keep away from each other, so each night, they’ve been going at it as if they were addicted to each other.

This was the first night that they weren’t going to do it.

"BROTHER, NOW!"

Anna screamed.

With a sigh, Fang Raon pulled open his interface and pressed the Log Out button, and Chaewon waved goodbye to him.

Then.

He disappeared.

"Bitch."

Anna said nastily.

"Anna, you should be nicer to me. I will eventually be your sister-in-law."

Chaewon said with a cold smile.

"You’re delusional to think that would happen. My father will never accept you. At most, you’ll only be a mistress."

Anna said with a scoff.

"Your father is dying, correct? Once he is gone, Raon can make his own decisions, and he will choose me."

Chaewon said.

Anna’s eye twitched, and it felt like there was lightning sparkling between the two women.

Sitting near the two arguing women, a homeless man watched in silence, a bottle of alcohol lying beside his feet.

"There’s nothing more dangerous than two angry women... I am getting new inspiration for a new poem I am writing."

The homeless man whispered to himself, taking a swig from the bottle.

He used to be a poet, as it was his passion, but since it failed to make any money for him, he lost his house and has been living in the streets ever since.

It’s not that he hated it, as he believed that one day he would create the world’s greatest poem that would definitely make him rich and famous.

"An inspiration!"

...

The next morning.

"Huff... Huff... Ahh... My legs..."

Kevin couldn’t keep walking anymore and sat down on a rock to rest his legs, and so did his friends.

They had been hiking through the harsh terrain for hours on end, but it didn’t feel like they were anywhere close to the training camp yet.

"...Lazy people."

Anna said scornfully and just shook her head.

She went with them to the training camp because she also wanted to see the place out, and since Raon was there, it was obvious she had to go there.

"Haah... Huff..."

Chaewon wiped the sweat off her forehead, and even she felt quite exhausted, as she didn’t think the journey to the training camp was so harsh.

Only Anna looked like she was completely fine, as if she were on a stroll in the park.

"I-I think we should be near the place!"

Marina said as she looked at the map, and she clearly could tell that they were inside the red circle.

The training camp must be somewhere around here!

"I can sense some people around there."

Anna pointed at the direction where she felt the presence of others, and others looked at her with strange expressions.

"...You can sense people?"

Kevin asked with a strange look.

He looked like he was speaking to a crazy person because how could someone "sense" people?

"Yes, you moron, follow me."

Anna said with a scoff, and they, with their tired legs, stood back up and followed slowly after her.

"Y-You should be nice to people. It’s not nice to insult others."

Aella said.

"Pfft."

Anna laughed her off and rolled her eyes and then looked at Aella as if she were trying to see right through her.

"Do you really believe that, or are you trying to act all cute and innocent?"

She asked.

"What? Of course I believe that. Insulting others is never the right way to talk to people!"

Aella said.

"Oh? Let’s see it then."

Anna suddenly used her "Read" and started reading Aella’s subtle facial expressions and then went even deeper.

Trying to read her mind. Trying to read who she really was. Aella was like an open book to Anna—naked and unprotected.

"W-What are you doing?"

Aella asked in fear.

She felt exposed and vulnerable, almost like she wasn’t wearing any clothes and was just being stared at by a thousand eyes.

"Hmm..."

Anna took a step back, then turned around, and with a slightly softer tone said, "Keep following me. We’re almost there."

"What was that?"

Bobby asked with a frown.

"Are you alright, Aella?"

Chaewon touched Aella’s shoulder, and she flinched, like the touch had been a shock, and she looked at her with almost tears in her eyes.

"Y-Yeah... I don’t know what it was... But it was really weird..."

Aella said, and then she silently followed behind Anna but kept her distance, as she was too afraid to go near her.

With a frown, Chaewon picked up on the pace and slowly caught up to Anna, and without further ado, she asked.

"What the hell did you do? Aella is completely shaken because of you."

"There is a power in the game—called Read—and with that, one can read a person’s mind, and I did that to see her true self."

Anna said.

"How could you do that? That’s not a right thing to do."

Chaewon said with a hint of anger.

"Hmph. I don’t like fake people. That’s why I had to make sure."

Anna said and turned back to Chaewon.

"Well, is she fake?"

Chaewon asked.

"...No, she is an innocent one. I haven’t seen someone like her before. Her sincerity is refreshing, I have to admit."

Anna said, then she turned back around and kept walking while others quickly followed behind her.

In that moment.

They noticed walls in the distance. And a gate. It was the first sign of any kind of civilization they’ve come across.

"This must be it—the training camp!"

Marina said excitedly.

Everyone else was also relieved, as they were so tired of walking already.

Anna walked to the gate and gave it a hard knock—so hard that the noise of it echoed through the camp.

They all waited for the gates to open.

A short moment later, the gate opened, and the camp’s caretaker, Mikey, stood at the entrance with hands behind his back.

However.

He was hiding a pair of weapons in his hands, ready to defend the camp if needed.

"This is a private residence. May I ask what you’re doing here?"

Mikey asked.

"My name is Fang Anna. My brother is here. Fang Raon. Has he told us that we might be coming here today?"

Anna asked.

"...Yes, he did mention it."

Mikey put the weapons back in his pants, smiled, and stepped aside to allow them to enter the premises.

"Young Raon is currently with Mr. Rock, and he won’t be back until the evening. You can wait for him here if you’d like."

Mikey said.

They all nodded, and as they entered the camp’s grounds, the gates came to a close with a loud creak.