A Mischief in the Northern Forest

"Hah… Hah… Hah…"

Kyle catches his breath while allocating some of his remaining strength to his legs to keep his body from falling to the ground and to also prevent losing his consciousness, because he knew that it is a very bad idea at this moment.

He didn't received any lethal damage or any of the same kind, but the effect of the recent attack that is dealt to him is enough to put Kyle on his knees, forcing him to drop his daggers intentionally so he could use both his hands to support his upper body from crashing hard on the surface.

Kyle's face now facing the ground, his inhaling of air is loud yet the heavy sound of iron boots tapping the ground still overlaps his heavy breathing as it approaches him gradually.

"Is that all you got?" a female voice asked him and the tapping sound of metal stops.

Kyle leans upward to stare at the one who made him as he is now, yet, before he could possibly raise his head up to make a quick stare, a strong force prevents him on doing so as it slams his head down to the ground along with his entire body.

On the back of his head is the sole of the iron boots from the one that assaulted him and that person is not alone, there are three others behind her, waiting, and are watching in amusement while Kyle's head is being stepped on by the female like a rug.

The woman stepping on Kyle asked again while twisting her foot on Kyle's head and squeezing it at the same time to make it even more painful for Kyle.

"Hey… is that all you got?"

The person stepping on Kyle squats down and positions herself to where Kyle's face is facing to check if he is still conscious and to also have a better look on him.

"You know, I can see your underwear if you squat down like that while wearing that short skirt of yours." Kyle said while staring at the female's underwear that is revealing itself due to her current position.

"Tell that to the ones who made the armor design for female characters."

Using her hand, the person presses Kyle's head to the ground as hard as she can as if she intends to squeeze Kyle's brain out and then, after a few seconds, she asks another question to Kyle while lifting his head from the ground using his hair as a grip so that he can have a better view of her underwear.

"You like what you see?" she asked.

"Sorry but I don't dig your fetish, especially that I am not a masochist." Kyle answered while staring at her underwear and noticed a fold line that looks like a pair of lips placed vertically and are wrapped tightly inside the panty that she is flashing to him.

The unknown female slams Kyle's head to the ground and then draws out her broadsword that is fasten behind her and immediately stabs it on Kyle's back.

The damage dealt to him by that attack made his HP gauge drop to the middle, while on his screen the notification still doesn't disappear as it continuously blink in a crimson hue serving as a warning for Kyle, as if it wants Kyle to immediately remove it.

[Immobilizing Poison Still in Effect]

[No Antidote in inventory]

'These bunch of cowards'

A few hours before the current happening, Kyle, Emily and their new party member Alex went down to the deepest part of the Northern Forest of Florence.

Unlike the other towns in Grand Nexus, the start town Florence is surrounded by vast woodlands, hills and mountain ranges, giving the players a unique feel as if they are in an elven forest with all the special effects available.

The entire forest is so magical that they can even see a bunch of wisps and pixies flying on the background and some other mystical creatures that are children friendly when it comes to their graphic designs.

As the two ladies enjoy their sightseeing to this beautiful forest and its majestic view, Kyle is wary for some reasons, a tingling feel is still itching in his nape and somehow he feels like they are being watched by someone.

Being conscious of their surroundings, Kyle, as the group walks further deeper into the forest, scans every possible corner that could be a hiding spot in case of a sudden assault be it a monster or by other players since the Northern Forest is also a PVP area, therefore players can randomly attack other players without any restriction.

And it is not just him but so do Alex, their new party member, seems to be also worried of them being there, as she seems to react on even the slightest creeping sound on the surrounding.

"Hey are we still far?" Kyle asked Emily since she is the one who suggested making a dungeon raid.

"Just a few more steps away." Emily answered while pointing straight ahead of the direction they are taking. From that distance, Kyle saw a small cave on the mountain's ledge and knew that it is the dungeon Emily is talking about.

Since only Emily is the one among them who knew the details of the raid, Kyle asks again for further information about the mission.

"And the quest is goblin elimination right?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" Emily immediately answers him.

'Why do I feel that girls and goblins should not mix up? Kindly enlighten me, sir Goblin Slayer.' Kyle thought referring to the show he watched before about an adventurer who only takes quest related to goblins.

As they approach the cave, Kyle noticed something that is the same as before. A red exclamation sign is blocking the entrance of the cave.

'I don't like seeing that warning, it gave me a surprise before and I didn't appreciate it.'

"Here we are guys! The forest goblin cave!" Emily said as she presents the cave to her party members.

"This dungeon has a built-in double EXP gain and the item drop is also doubled and it has a 30% rare item drop chance too!" Emily explained while her eyes flickers in greed that it is very visible to the others, Kyle even saw a currency sign blinking on it.

'But wealth and girls really blend in nicely.' Kyle though as he gave off a sigh of dissatisfaction.

Emily walks closer to the entrance of the cave and then she taps the exclamation icon on the entrance and a small window stating the level requirements and difficulty of the dungeon appears. It states that the minimum level is 35 but the dungeon can only be entered by a party of three and above.

Seeing it, Emily was surprised that they luckily hit the bare minimum of the dungeon.

"Woah! We just barely hit the requirements to enter." She said as she further scans the information window of the cave and found more detail about the cave and on how to raid it.

"Oh, so only one party can enter the cave at a time and if the party either succeeds or not in clearing the cave, the dungeon resets after and then another, or the same party can enter it again." She added while reading the direction of the cave, informing the others.

"So this is a repeatable kind of dungeon?" Kyle said, after analyzing what Emily just told them.

"It seems to be." Emily answered.

"What do you mean by that?" Kyle asked wondering why Emily seems to be unsure about it since she is the one who suggested the raid.

"Well, it seems to be like that… or it should be like that." Emily said.

And Kyle realized one thing about the uncertain answers of Emily.

Kyle stares to her with eyes full of curiosity and it somehow feels like he wants to read what is inside Emily's mind, what she is thinking this moment to be precise.

Noticing his sharp gaze, Emily dodges every stare Kyle gives her as much as possible to prevent having an eye contact with Kyle's orbs of inquisition.

"Something is amiss about this dungeon." Alex said while reading the floating window on the entrance of the cave, at the same time, stopping the tag of Emily and Kyle's eyes.

"And what about the dungeon?" Emily asked as she looks back to the floating window.

Alex points to the screen, leading the two to read where she is pointing.

[Dungeon Level 35-45]

[Stage difficulty: A Rank]

"What are these?" Asked Kyle, since it is the first time he saw something like this. Unlike on the first dungeon he entered, this is the first time he saw something on the information window stating the difficulty and ratings of the dungeon.

"Hmmm, I think I saw something similar like this…" Emily said, as she tries to recall where and when she saw such.

"Oh right! It is similar to the dungeons found in Lorencia!" She added.

"That is why it is an oddball to other dungeons here." Alex inserted as she is about to explain to the others why.

"Basically, no one has cleared this dungeon yet, making it odd since this is the start town. Normally high level players would have initially cleared this one or low level players who encounter this dungeon before might have returned after reaching a specific level they are confident with and cleared this." Alex said

"Hmmm… you have a point." Emily agreed to her.

Kyle rescans the floating window in front of the cave and then asked the two what a Stage difficulty rank is.

"Hey guys, mind explaining to me what a 'Stage Difficulty' is?" Kyle asked.

Then Alex took the initiative to explain it to him.

"A "Stage Difficulty" is a kind of Difficulty determiner in a dungeon, only if the dungeon has more than one floors or stages." Alex said as she continues on explaining it further.

"It also sets the starting difficulty, for example, if the stage difficulty is on "E Rank" mostly you'll encounter low level monsters that is easy to defeat while the boss is just around three levels higher."

"After clearing the first stage and defeating the stage boss, one can move forward to continue clearing the dungeon but the difficulty will raise one rank higher. Meaning, from an "E Rank" the next stage will be a "D Rank" difficulty and so on." Alex added.

"So you mean, the more floors a dungeon have, the more difficult it gets to clear it?" Said Kyle as he digests the information Alex just told him.

"Precisely, it could be because monsters swarm to you in a stage or the boss has a high DPS (Damage per Second) capability that a player cannot sustain and whatnot." Alex said as she tries to pinpoint the possible reasons.

"And as far as I know, the highest Stage Ranking a party has climbed in this game is an "Epic Rank" and this dungeon is already in the A Rank meaning if we clear the first stage the next one will be an S Rank difficulty." She added.

"So basically, you are telling me that from an easy difficulty, a dungeon can reach up to insane difficulty that will lead to a mismatch overtime?" Kyle said and Alex just gave him a nod in agreement.

"So tell me, how high can a stage rank could reach?" Kyle continues his inquiries.

"I think the lowest is an F Rank and the highest among the letter ranking is a triple S Rank." Alex said while looking at Emily to seek confirmation if what she said is right and continues on enumerating the next ranks.

"Then after the letter ranking is the tittle ranking, starting from an Epic Rank, followed by the Legendary Rank, Hero Rank and then lastly the World Dominator Rank." Alex explained and she began on counting all the rankings with her fingers from the lowest to the highest rank.

"So a dungeon can reach up to thirteen Stages if it starts from the lowest to the highest ranking." She finished explaining and then Emily inserted a few more information.

"And mind you, a stage has also its own sub stages, so before you can face the stage boss, one must clear the sub stages first. It is mostly two to three sub stages per one main stage but the higher one can reach the rarer the item drops gets." Emily said.

"So you mean this dungeon has the possibility to reach the highest possible difficulty rank?" Kyle said as he gently touches the floating window and pressed a certain button on the console.

"Alright guys, we won't be risking it." he said as he turn around and walks away from the cave.

"Huh? Why?" Emily asked since it is a good dungeon to begin with.

"Because it's too risky. I think Alex got my point." Kyle said as he points to Alex that seems to be agreeing in his proposition.

"Let's just look for other dungeons or spawn spots in this forest." Kyle added as the three of them walk away to the cave.

Since majority votes to reject the idea of entering the dungeon, Emily could only sigh in defeat and in her mind, she feels as though she lost her entire annual profit.

Looking at her, Kyle knows what is running in Emily's mind and thought how greedy she could be while Alex on the other hand just smile upon seeing their reaction.

Walking around the Northern Forest while defeating monsters they encounter with ease.

Kyle slowly increases his level while being boosted by the two party members he have and as time passes by, the three reach a certain cave.

The three went inside with their eagerness to search the place since they are already into it.

The place is empty and beyond the entrance, one can only see is pitch-black.

Kyle took a step forward to have a better look of the place. Slowly he phased his steps to prevent producing unnecessary noise. As he goes deeper into the entrance, he began hearing rapid gallops coming closer to them.

Then out of the black curtain that covers the inside of the cave, a pair of sharp fanged, dog-like creatures pounces to Kyle slamming him on the ground while they lock their jaws on both his arms and at the same time, dragging him back to the darkness where they came from.

It happened too quickly, that Emily and Alex couldn't react on time. All they can do is watch Kyle being dragged away by the creatures back to where they came from.

Standing on the entrance of the cave, the two girls are speechless from what they just witnessed.

"Wha-what just happened?" Emily asked, as she looks straight to where the dog-like creatures dragged Kyle with a black expression on her face.

"I think those monsters just abducted Kyle." Alex answered while looking on the same place where Emily is staring.

"WHAT?!" The both of them screamed in surprise as they realized that one of their party member was kidnaped by a pair of wild dogs.

After being dragged forcefully inside the cave, Kyle found himself lying while he stare up on the cave's ceiling and realized that although there are no lighting available in the place, he can clearly see the whole surroundings perfectly yet it is not bright but just enough.

'This place's a bit gloomy.'

He slowly stands up and scans the place to find an exit, when suddenly he heard a growl of an angry animal and an attack from behind triggers his passive.

[Requirements met, Counter Attack Activated]

Kyle's body automatically counters the attack, sending the one who attacks him back from where he came from and noticed that it is the same creature who dragged him in earlier.

"Well… Well, isn't that a quick response coming from you." a voice of a female said while clapping her hands in amusement from what she just witnessed.

Turning his gaze to the direction where the voice came, Kyle saw a woman with a huge broadsword fastened on her back while on her sides are two dog looking creatures that is same as from the one he just eliminated.

The woman realized Kyle's stares of wonder on the two creatures on her sides and explained to him what they are.

"Oh, your curios about them? They are my pets." She said as she pets the head of the two creatures standing on her side.

"Yeah I can see that, I mean what breed of monsters are they?" Kyle responded, because he already realized that those are her pet, but what he is curious about is the type which they belong.

The woman giggled at first but ends up laughing in the end.

"You are a peculiar one." She said.

"Normally, I would just kill you as you tremble in fear and begged for my forgiveness for trespassing my turf, but since you peaked my interest, I'll play with you first." She said.

On the same time, Kyle heard other multiple footsteps coming their way and found three other persons in the cave each one popping out from three different locations and completely surrounded Kyle.

"Oh, and by the way, my pets are not just monsters, they are hellhounds." She added.

Right after she said her words, the hellhounds instantly attacks Kyle in enormous speed. In respond to the challenge, Kyle draws out his daggers and prepares for the hounds to directly pounce him. Yet, just before contact, the hounds slip's their direction and landed immediately on Kyle's side, shocking Kyle in the processes since he expects a direct attack.

"Where are you looking at?" The voice of the female said and it is coming from above Kyle.

Kyle looks upwards and found the woman high above him, almost reaching the ceiling of the cave while on her hand is her huge broadsword that the tip of it slightly ravaged the surface of the ceiling as she is about to swing it vertically towards Kyle.

[Warning! A player is about to Commit a PK]

'What?! A Player Kill?!'

[Warning! The player activated Cranium Slash]

Knowing that he won't stand a chance if he tries to block her attack, Kyle flings his dagger to his front and right before the sword could land to him, he already made the blink.

[You used Dagger Blink]

Now, Kyle is behind the hostile woman as he grabs the dagger he thrown while watching the female land on the ground where he was previously standing.

Surprised that Kyle was able to dodge her attack, the female shows a face of disgust while turning around to face Kyle, on the same time, she swings another lethal slash to him.

Expecting it to hit Kyle, she gave off a menacing grin, but Kyle's agility is far greater than what she expects it to be.

Just right before the tip of her sword reach Kyle's neck, Kyle leans a bit backwards, away from the incoming attack and successfully dodged it.

"Nicely done." She said, praising Kyle on successfully dodging her attacks.

"Hey! Why are you attacking me?" Kyle asked, wondering why she would randomly commit a PK without any valid reasons while he continuously stares at the woman and noticed something odd about her.

He focuses his gaze on her head and saw a cross-sword blinking on top of it.

Noticing his curious gaze on her, the woman beams another grin to Kyle.

"Is this your first time seeing an outlaw?" She said while giggling and then after, a smug shows on her face.

"Then I'm going to be your first time then? I'm so happy." She said while she continues on showing her malicious smile.

'This woman has a loose nut.'

"Let me tell you a story first. Since I'm in a good mood." She said

"Once upon a time, there is a girl who loves playing video game. Back then, her passion for the game is intimate and she respects the rules to achieve a good gaming environment, back then everyone is happy while playing the game they love. But one day, a bully came, and that bully is a very strong one and randomly attacks players." She said, while she slowly walks closer to Kyle.

Kyle prepares himself in case of a sudden attack, but she did something unexpected. The woman sheaths her sword back and shows Kyle that she has no intent to attack him and continues on telling the story.

"Until a day came and that bully and the girl I mentioned earlier met, and as usual the bully attacks the girl without any reason, the bully just does what he wants to do. But the girl is strong enough to fight back! She draws her sword and parries the incoming attacks."

"The girl asked, 'Why would you do such a thing? Why are you pestering the players? Don't you want to have a solemn gaming experience with the friends you can make in her?', but the bully answers her, 'This game is only for those who can fight back! You weaklings should just play farming games if you think that what I am doing is wrong.' his answer is simple and logical yet those words get to the nerves of the girl."

"She attacked the bully to completely stop him and to make him realized that what he is doing is wrong but the bully is strong, really strong, not to mention the two has a huge level gap but the girl fights back even though she knew it will end to her demise."

"But while fighting, she felt and noticed something while she successfully lands a slash to the bully. Every time she hits him, she felt a tingling sensation and each slashes the bully seems to be in pain. She wonder, she is not dealing pure damage so it would not be the cause of the pain receptor and the sensation she felt when cutting the man, feels… so… real."

Now, the woman is standing in front of Kyle and she can clearly see Kyle's face and so do Kyle on her.

"Aww, that's a really pretty face you have." She said while gently caresses Kyle's chin.

"You know, your story is hanging." Kyle said while he felt a bit hanged on her story.

The woman laughed aloud hearing it. She leans to Kyle's ear and whispered to it.

"Why do you think the developer of this game adds a PK feature?" She whispered and a popping sound follows after.

Kyle felt a sting on his abdomen and when he looks down to it, he saw a stiletto pierced to it and in that instance, his body felt heavy and he seems to about to lose his balance.

"Does it stings?" She asked while looking as if she is worried to Kyle.

"Don't worry, this is a game after all, you won't literally die, but the pleasure I will feel when killing you will be very real to me." She added.

Knowing that he will eventually fall down, Kyle braces himself, but he won't just give in without a fight so before he stumble down, Kyle managed to leave a slash to the woman's left cheek and then drops both his daggers on the ground so that he can use his hands to prop his upper body, preventing it on falling straight to the ground.

The female was speechless as she holds the part where Kyle slashed and a big sinister grin appears on her face.

"It stings. I just felt a freaking sting!" She said and seems to be happy upon feeling it.

"So we are the same after all? I thought I was all alone, but now…" She said cheerfully while she holds Kyle's cheeks, so that he would look straight at her.

"…I'm so lonely ever since you know." She added while looking a bit flustered while still having a joyous smile.

"Hey hit me again." She said, asking Kyle chirpily

But Kyle can no longer move his body as he pleases and realizing it and woman stops holding Kyle's face and walks a bit further away.

"Argh… the poison is in effect now! How come you don't have high resistance?!" She complained while feeling frustrated about it.

"What a weak shit." She added and then walks back closer to Kyle.

"Hey… is that all you got?" She asked, and noticed that Kyle is about to look up to her and a mischievous idea came into her mind.

She steps on the back of his head and slams it down to the ground while slowly twisting her foot to make it more painful to Kyle. Hearing no answer coming from him, she squats down to check if he is still conscious or so.

"Hey… is that all you got?" She asked again.

"You know, I can see your underwear if you squat down like that while wearing that short skirt of yours." Kyle said while staring at the female's underwear that is revealing itself due to her current position.

"Tell that to the ones who made the armor design for female characters."

Using her hand, the person presses Kyle's head to the ground as hard as she can as if she intends to squeeze Kyle's brain out and then, after a few seconds, she asks another question to Kyle while lifting his head from the ground using his hair as a grip so that he can have a better view of her underwear.

"You like what you see?" she asked.

"Sorry but I don't dig your fetish, especially that I am not a masochist." Kyle answered while staring at her underwear and noticed a fold line that looks like a pair of lips placed vertically and are wrapped tightly inside the panty that she is flashing to him.

The unknown female slams Kyle's head to the ground and then draws out her broadsword that is fasten behind her and immediately stabs it on Kyle's back.

"Oh welp! It's nice meeting you then." She said as she drags Kyle somewhere deeper into the cave using his hair as a grip.

Upon reaching the spot, she let go of her hold to Kyle's hair.

"You know, I'm about to drop you down to this chasm inside the cave." She said.

"I still don't know how high it is, so I tried to drop a rock and waited until I hear a sound of it crashing to the surface but… up until now, I didn't heard any." She said almost bursting in laughter.

She grabs Kyle's head again and shows to him the dark chasm she is referring to.

"Find me after you revive 'kay? I'll be waiting."

And then she let go of her hold to Kyle, dropping him to the deep bottomless chasm.