Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented

The wild wind howled through the vast Erin’s Canyon. The person I encountered at the summit.

As I tried to close the distance with that person in my mind, a bell chimed.

A woman I know.

It’s dangerous.

Why?

I’ve barely calmed Chris down; I can’t let her see me fooling around with another woman. Especially since I know her. The connection with Skada ended when my alternative character raid disbanded. There’s no reason to get entangled any further.

Tch.

I turned around, trying to get away from the area. But on this wide-open canyon’s high cliffs, there’s no way she wouldn’t notice me.

Skada turned her head towards me and looked shocked.

“…Huh? Rain-san?”

“Eep.”

Tap tap tap.

Like a mountain goat scampering down a slope, I hurried down the steep canyon rocks heading towards the basin below.

Sorry, Skada.

I can’t afford to add any more women to my life.

Chris is going to break if I do.

“…Rain-san! Wait, it’s dangerous!”

Thud.

“Ah.”

From behind me, I heard Skada’s urgent voice, and as I closed my eyes and rushed down the steep slope, my foot got caught on a rock, sending me tumbling into the air.

It’s not as steep as the cliff we climbed up, but it’s still quite treacherous.

I might really die this time.

All this is Chris’s fault.

Whenever Chris is involved, I can never act normally.

Whooooooosh!

Suddenly, a fierce gust whipped around me, and my light body was lifted by the wind into the air.

Aerial, a skill from the Wizard class.

At the center of the storm, I could see Skada raising her staff towards me.

She looked relieved as she saw me floating in the eye of the storm.

“Phew.”

I almost cried.

“Eeek….”

“Rain-san, why were you running away?”

“…….”

I walked silently next to Skada. I didn’t escape because she saved me, but talking to other women carelessly isn’t good.

Thank you for saving me, though.

But my little connection with you ended when the alternative character raid team disbanded.

And I can’t talk to other women.

Chris has this sixth sense; she can somehow tell if I’m fooling around with another girl.

Skada scratched her head awkwardly, probably embarrassed because I took her words in stride.

Feeling a bit guilty, I decided to at least respond a little.

She saved me; Chris should understand this much.

“…Thanks for saving me.”

“Ah! Hehe, no problem!”

Skada smiled brightly. She is indeed a beauty. Of course, not as much as Chris though?

“But I really can’t chat long with other women.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Uh, it’s complicated.”

How am I supposed to explain this ridiculous situation where I’m awkwardly flapping my arms?

“Actually, ever since the banquet, I’ve had a lot of questions for you, Rain-san! But since you didn’t register as a friend, and you mainly play solo, I never got the chance to see you. Last time, I heard from our guild’s Puuquilquil that you were in the Wasteland, but I rushed over only to find you disappeared again. Were you in the Orc Forest then? I went to hunt that day too.”

She began to bombard me with words as we walked along the canyon’s edge. I was startled.

Realizing we hadn’t had a chance to chat alone, I realized this girl was more talkative than I thought.

“…You talk a lot, huh?”

“Oh, really? Hehe, I guess I am not that serious after all.”

The two behemoths of the ‘Astria Online’ raid teams.

Chris from the Alparion Empire and Skada from the Betarion Empire.

Before the launch of the ‘Icy Lands’ expansion, during the World Boss battle for the ‘Green Dragon’ in the Berveia Forest, Skada’s raid was the second one sent in by Kyuam Jo Hyun-Soo’s plan B.

True to their name, the raid team of the Betarion Empire, filled with top-notch players, achieved third place in the first raid dungeon, ‘Abyssal Tree.’ It was an overwhelming clear speed when considering excluding the Hong Baek raid team, who received information on the bizarre ‘Rain’ character.

If Rain, as a character so different from the average player, hadn’t existed, Skada’s team would have been in good competition with the Hong Baek team.

If this game had only real players, the spotlight would surely have been on the two main characters, Chris and Skada. They would probably even be offered modeling contracts for game advertisements. They’re both tall beauties, unlike me.

In a way, I’ve taken her spot as a protagonist. I felt a twinge of guilt.

She continued to speak while looking at me.

“Rain-san, you’re truly amazing. I’ve only heard rumors, but you really cleared the Abyssal Tree by yourself, right? Just looking at your sparring match with Eleonora… But how… Oh! You don’t have to answer if it’s uncomfortable! Hehe, one day I hope to raid with you in the same team.”

What is this? Is this a recruitment offer?

Even Skada’s team has park Jeong-Kwon, a layabout main tank knight.

She grinned at me before asking about Chris.

“I’m curious about your relationship with Chris… she doesn’t seem like your older sister.”

Why is she so nosy?

I answered nonchalantly.

“No, she’s not my real sister.”

“I see. I thought there was a different vibe… Oh, Rain-san, you have sand on your cloak.”

Tap tap.

I flinched a little. She brushed the dirt off the back of my cloak.

Her touch is surprisingly bold. But she seems like a nice person.

I gave her a slight smile.

“You’re a good sister, Skada.”

“…Sister? Hehe, are you calling me sister? Thank you.”

“Yeah. Skada, you seem like a good sister.”

The only people I currently call sister are Bae Merong and Chris, but it feels more comfortable to call Skada sister than using honorifics. After all, we’ve been farming together for about a month.

“Good sister, huh. I don’t see it that way.”

Suddenly, Skada’s demeanor turned a bit strange.

She gazed into the distance with a mixed expression.

Although it’s not evident on the surface, the dominating emotion was surely something negative.

During our first exploration with Skada, we encountered a few monsters. However, hunting here isn’t very efficient. Most of the monsters are flying types, which put me, as a melee class, at a disadvantage.

The Wasteland was fairly flat, making it easy to fight.

Seems like we should just explore the canyon and level up in the Wasteland.

Naturally, I formed a party with Skada to hunt together.

Chris, I’m sorry.

It’s not that I’m fooling around with another girl.

Just for today, we’re only partying briefly.

I’m a slow-class character, and it’s troublesome to face flying monsters, right?

You’ll understand, won’t you?

After exploring the entry point of the Erin’s Canyon with Skada for about an hour, I found myself in front of a basin surrounded by rocky mountains, standing in front of her.

Of course, I couldn’t directly sense the magical energy at the moment. I couldn’t tell unless it took a visible form. During my hero days, I could feel the mana within me, so I could figure it out. Rather than distinctly discerning the energy, I just had a sticky and unpleasant feeling.

Yet, I gained a certain intuition from my time being a hero.

A familiar feeling.

There’s a presence emitting magic within here.

“Hang on a sec.”

Tch.

I held Skada back as she tried to enter a path and stepped forward. Placing my hand on the path leading into the basin.

Woosh.

The entrance to the basin pushed my hand back with an echo.

“It’s a barrier.”

“A barrier?”

“Are you familiar with it? It’s the same as the status of the Elite Dungeon we’ve seen so far, a blocked entry.”

“Oh.”

I wonder if the barrier will disappear over time or if we need to complete a certain quest to open it.

I should stop by the Eleonora family’s estate tomorrow.

At the entrance, an interface popped up.

[Character Level Required: 53]

[Elite Dungeon (Recommended for 4-man party)]

[Heaven-Descended Basin]

The first Elite Dungeon from the new expansion ‘Endless Canyon’ has been discovered.

*

After logging off, I washed up and, to not wake Chris with the sound of the electric wheelchair, I manually maneuvered the wheelchair.

Screech.

Carefully, I entered Chris’s room.

Zzz.

Chris was peacefully sleeping on the right side of the spacious queen-sized bed. My spot was on the left.

“Oops.”

After parking the wheelchair near the bed, I lay down next to Chris. She was asleep with her head turned left.

Before falling asleep, I admired the pretty face of my sister Chris.

“Uhn, Rain….”

Thump.

“Wha!?”

She suddenly reached out and pulled me into her embrace.

All the drowsiness disappeared.

Thump-thump.

My head buried in Chris’s soft chest, I could distinctly hear the sound of her heart.

As my face turned warm, lying in her embrace.

“…Sniff sniff.”

“…?”

“Sniff sniff. Uhn… I smell another girl…”

Chris’s expression turned slightly displeased as she sleep-talked.

“Gah….”

I swallowed hard in Chris’s arms.

A smell?

I washed up properly.

No wait, more importantly, how did she even catch a whiff of another body?

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