Since we contacted a renovation company to fix up the neighboring room before arrival, Miyabi, Ram, and Gwen could use it immediately right after.

The default state of the room wasn’t fit for three of them to live in, after all. Just a single bed, and a cramped space so tight that the walls practically breathed down your neck. Barely enough for the girls.

Thus, I didn’t dare hold back on expenses and even got permission from the landlord to modify the place.

Now, it had a double deck bed and a single bed tucked neatly against the far wall, the frames still smelling faintly of fresh lacquer.

They now even have a walk-in closet to place all the clothes they just bought—a proper one, with sliding doors and everything, not just a wardrobe crammed into a corner. Honestly, it’s a room that had naught a shadow of its former self no more.

"I should’ve asked them to renovate my place too..."

I could only shrug with a sigh.

After I finished taking a shower, changing to comfortable clothes, and finishing up accounting for our little streaming account, the time just reached 9 P.M. The time for us to gather in the plaza.

What? Shouldn’t it be 8 P.M. you ask?

Well, actually, it just happened that Kiki requested to change the start to 9 P.M. due to matters she couldn’t skip. Something about an online game competition or something.

With Eri and Miyabi not minding the sudden change in schedule, we just decided to go with it.

"Alright, time to log in..."

I placed the VR Dive Ring around my neck—cool metal against my collarbone—plugged it in, and laid down in a comfortable position.

After listening to the comforting mechanical beeps of the machine, steady and rhythmic like a metronome counting down to another world, I then whispered the code words clearly.

"Game start!"

The next moment, my vision faded to black.

---

"Sorry for the wait!"

Not long after, the four of us met up successfully in the beginner village’s center. The familiar cobblestone plaza buzzed quietly around us, NPCs drifting past like paper boats on a slow current.

"I almost ran late since the train encountered troubles for a bit!" Kiki grumbled, cheeks still flushed like she’d been rushing even in real life. "Some weird animal jumped into the tracks, it seemed. Really, what bad timing."

"It’s fine, Kristal. We didn’t really wait for long, anyway."

Eri smiled sweetly, calm and forgiving—the kind of smile that made even mild irritation feel silly for existing.

Miyabi jumped up, pumping her fists together excitedly, her twin tails swinging with the motion.

"With this, all of us are gathered once more! Let’s quickly head to the Howling Forest!"

"No." But I stopped them immediately. "First, we should upgrade our gears." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Huh?"

Right now, all of us were still wearing level 20-25 gears dropped while hunting. Mismatched sets, damaged durability, armor pieces that had seen better days—the kind of equipment that looked fine on paper but would definitely break before we finish the next map.

It might be good for when against normal monsters. But the place we would be heading into later, such "barely passable" gears wouldn’t work. Not just the girls, my androids, but even myself.

We all need a heavy makeover.

"But... the armor shop’s items are only up to level 25, right...?" Miyabi asked quickly.

Of course, she wasn’t wrong either... At least, before we reached level 30.

I didn’t bother convincing them, since the proof would be the shop itself. Yesterday, while disposing of the quests and loots, we didn’t really have time to look around, after all, so it wasn’t weird they missed it.

"T-This is...!"

As soon as we checked the lineup of items, the girls couldn’t help but gasp.

The item shop’s list that felt so barren before, had bloomed overnight into an entirely new spread. Even the ones on the shelves were changed into something new.

Gleaming sets under the shop’s warm lantern light, each one catching the glow like freshly polished trophies. After all, now, level 30 set items existed there.

"There’s really a new set... and so many variants too!"

"This one looks cute! Should I...?"

"Brawler sets... brawler... why can’t I find any?!"

The girls squealed around as they continued to shop, weaving between rows like they’d forgotten the Howling Forest existed entirely. Of course, they just need to be patient while looking around, as the shop caters to literally all classes in "existence" at the moment.

It would be a pain to look for a specific class’s items, and more expensive, but it was still better than the previous level’s set items.

"No need to dwell too much on it. We’ll be swapping equipment as we pick up new ones later, after all." I clarified as I tapped in my class on the search bar and bought the set for myself.

Kiki? She should figure out how to use it herself. Probably just having tunnel vision due to excitement. She’s not new to games, either way.

We spent roughly 10 minutes browsing, and another 10 minutes walking to the eastern gate—a tall, iron-banded structure that groaned faintly as the wind pushed through its gaps, like it was already warning us about what lay beyond.

There, we stood, assessing all of our equipment together.

Miyabi’s set was the Beginner Shogun Set. I imagined it to be that one I’m familiar with, padded armor, helmet, and such, but...

Well, as expected, female equipment were a tad bit different from the norm.

The armor itself still followed the trend. Padded plates wrapped around her arms to her hands, around her waist, and her legs—dark lacquered pieces with faint gold trim etched along the edges, catching light with every small movement.

But the part around her chest was barely there, more decorative framing than actual protection. She had so many openings that I was worried any ranged attacks aimed there would deal full damage with no reduction whatsoever.

Basically, 50% of her body was not covered by any armor whatsoever!

’Is that even functional as an armor?’

Eri’s set, the Beginner Saintess’ Set, looked almost the same as before. The same white nun-like, or rather, cleric-like attire—pristine fabric that caught the light like something faintly holy, billowing softly even when the air was still.

Though now, there’s a long slit cut along her left thigh, allowing for easier movements... But I doubt it’s added there for that purpose.

As for Kiki’s Beginner Martial God Set...

She’s basically just wearing dougi pants, then bandages wrapped around her chest, and around her head like a headband—stark white against her skin, precise and deliberate, like someone had spent real time on the wrapping.

Her fists too, like a boxer, had bandages wrapped around them, knuckles just barely visible beneath the layers. She literally looked like a fighter right now... in a female-fantasy-armor sense.

Do they really not feel embarrassed wearing such revealing clothes?

As for me, my set made me look a bit like a soldier.

No, an officer maybe?

Dark green military clothes with a faint texture like heavy canvas, matched with high-cut boots, a mini cape draped down one shoulder like an afterthought, and a hat that sat just a little too perfectly on my head.

It’s not really comfortable, but it’s not hindering my movements either—completely unlike the stiff, suffocating military uniforms that I know. Maybe it’s because it’s virtual?

To note, the set effects really do boost our class’s specific identities to the next level.

For example, Miyabi’s set adds 5% defense penetration and 12.5% damage multiplier on crits. Eri’s set reduces mana cost by 8% and speeds up cooldowns by 3%. Kiki’s increases attack speed by 30% and stun proc by 1%.

For me, it pads the distance of my zone (skills) like the flag by 7 meters, and boosts all my android’s stats by an extra 2.5%.

It’s not really too crazy of an increase, but in a long fight, those small buffs would pile up and create a big difference. A small difference of 1 point in damage could pile into a thousand damage after a thousand hits!

This truly helps our case. With the runner-ups in the global ranking at level 29 already, we literally can’t lower our guards anymore.

The stream was already running, and the girls finished showing off their new gears, so it was finally time to set off.

I called out Ram and Gwen, both equipped with similar kind of equipment to me—soldier style level 30 set that increases all stats by 3 points—and let them take point. The two of them fell into position without a word, like shadows that had learned to march.

"Alright, let’s head out!"

We’ve already cleared the Teru Plains, the Mushi Forest, and the Gura Mountains. Now, it’s time for the Howling Forest’s clearing!

"Huh? My quest here?"

Along the way, a curious viewer asked Miyabi, making her halt her steps. She did mention about it before on-stream, and it seems someone remembered properly.

Right, not only me, but Miyabi also had a quest in this forest.

Not a repeatable one either, but a proper one.

I’m not really sure what it was, since the only "special" quest I know was already claimed by me. So, honestly, I was curious myself.

"It’s not really something big. Just a Rare Quest I got from an old man near a well." She explained, a finger resting on her lips as she flipped through the quest panel. "Here, see?"

The quest details appeared fast, but upon reading it—

[

Quest: Mysterious Man’s Request I (Rare)

Requirements: Level 15, Title of Pioneer

Description:

The old man told you of his past wiles. To resolve his worries, you agreed to search the Howling Forest for an elusive flower. However, can you find it in one piece?

Quest Target:

- Collect 0/1 Howling Dewdrop Flower

Quest Reward:

- Rusty curved sword

]

—I couldn’t help but frown.

After all, the Howling Dewdrop Flower... was something you can get at the end of my Unique quest "only."