A Woman's Beauty Doesn't Matter

Ethan checked the timer. He calculated quickly and sighed with relief, it should be enough. The last thing he wanted was to get booted offline mid-battle when the game's mandatory rest period hit. That would be a waste.

Although bosses didn't regenerate health overnight, leaving the job half-finished would mean losing an entire refresh cycle. If he finished the kill today, tomorrow's server reset would spawn a fresh one.

Ethan kept hammering away, mindlessly grinding through the same repetitive motions. Thankfully, he was using the system's free beginner skills. If he had to chant spells and trace hand gestures for every cast, he'd have gone insane.

Bored out of his mind, Ethan opened his friend list and sent a video call request to Lyla.

The screen flickered, and her familiar face appeared. Her attention was elsewhere, though, her focus entirely on the game. Ethan couldn't help but stare, momentarily distracted by her profile.

Lyla had chosen the Elf race. The pointed ears suited her delicate, sweet features, giving her an ethereal beauty that made her character look like it had stepped out of a fairytale.

Curiosity got the better of him. "Lyla, what are you up to?"

"I'm leveling up, duh. Whew, finally killed it!" Lyla spun around to face him, dimples flashing as she grinned.

Ethan caught a glimpse of her surroundings. She was grinding in a Level 5 area. "Wait, you didn't go to that spot I told you about?"

Lyla launched another volley of arrows before replying, her hands busy. "I did! Took down that Wolf King, Hossman. It took two hours! So boring. And it drained my wallet, I'm nearly out of money for arrows!"

Ethan sighed. Not everyone could tolerate the soul-crushing grind. He could hardly blame her. After all, here he was, wasting time on a video call instead of focusing.

"What level are you now? Did it drop anything good?" Ethan asked, knowing that Hossman, a Level 5 leader-tier boss, had a guaranteed first-kill drop.

"I'm almost Level 6. The kill boosted me by two and a half levels! Oh, and check this out!" Lyla held up a silver bow shimmering faintly under the in-game sunlight. Its elegant, wing-like design curved into a graceful arc.

Ethan whistled. "A Silver weapon for your class? Damn, you're lucky."

He wasn't exaggerating either. For a beginner, managing to solo a leader-tier boss, even with guidance, was impressive. His praise made Lyla's cheeks turn red, and she shot him a playful glare.

The teasing look sent Ethan's heart racing. He quickly covered it with a joke. "Alright, back to it! Don't go shooting random teammates again."

"Ethan! I only misfired because you distracted me!" she hissed in a whisper, glancing nervously at her party. Her earlier accidental shot had drawn some good-natured grumbling from one of them.

Ethan couldn't stop laughing. "Sure, sure. Jealous of their beauty, weren't you? That might have been deliberate!"

"Hmph, I'm ending the call!" Lyla cut him off with a mock glare before shutting down the video call.

Smirking, Ethan turned back to his own grind. With Lyla close to Level 6, he couldn't afford to slack off. His XP bar sat at 98% toward Level 5. He opened the leaderboard. His name still topped the charts, with the second-place player trailing at Level 4 with 70% progress.

Of course, these rankings were only temporary, limited to the Starter Zone. The leaderboard would expand to regional statistics once the first player left the zone, eventually unlocking a national ranking system after the first major faction war.

Ethan eyed the names below his own. None rang a bell. From what he remembered, Zone 1314 hadn't produced any standout players in his previous life.

Ding…

[You have a new friend request. Please check]

A system notification popped up.

Curious, he opened it. It was a friend request from Skyblade.

Ethan hesitated for a moment before accepting. He wasn't exactly surprised. Being the only Druid in Zone 1314 made it pretty obvious who he was.

A message followed almost immediately:

Skyblade: "Hey! Um… Legend. Why'd you tell me to switch to a Shield Tank?"

Ethan winced at the title. Legend. Everyone had called him that during his first life, at least in the early days. Later, most people couldn't wait to see him fail.

Ethan replied curtly: "Follow your instincts."

It wasn't like he had a personal vendetta against Skyblade playing something else. In his previous life, he'd just gotten tired of hearing Skyblade complain nonstop and had offhandedly suggested the change.

"Alright, I'll do it. Shield Tank it is," Skyblade replied.

Ethan was about to suggest that Skyblade think it over more carefully when another message popped up.

Skyblade: "Um, we're setting up a guild. Wanna join?"

The words hit Ethan like déjà vu. Skyblade had said the exact same thing to him in his past life. Back then, Ethan had been a rogue, and their initial encounter hadn't exactly been friendly. Skyblade had been flirting shamelessly with a girl who looked… less than appealing. Ethan, thoroughly disgusted, had almost punched him.

Somehow, that had evolved into Skyblade tagging along and dragging Ethan into his guild plans.

The timing had been different, though. Last time, this hadn't happened until most players reached Level 10. Why the sudden rush this time? And back then, Skyblade's crew didn't include Slashblade either. Was his rebirth already causing ripple effects?

After a moment's thought, Ethan replied: "Fine. But the guild name can't be Avalon Vanguard, and I'm the leader. Also, are you about to ask me for money?"

Skyblade froze when he read the message.

"Leo, what's up? Did the guy say yes?" asked Williams, the Paladin in their group, jabbing Skyblade's side.

Slashblade leaned over, equally curious.

Without a word, Skyblade shared Ethan's response in their party chat.

For a moment, all three stared blankly at the screen.

Just minutes ago, they'd been brainstorming their guild name and settled on Avalon Vanguard. They had marched straight to the Guild Registration Hall, only to discover it cost five gold coins to register a guild.

Pooling their funds had left them with less than one gold coin. That was when Williams, had suggested sending Skyblade to sweet-talk Ethan into joining them.

At first, Skyblade had refused. But then Slashblade had grinned and said, "If you pull this off, I'll let you go after my sister."

That had been all the motivation Skyblade needed. He wasn't picky about looks, and he did have standards. But in this case…

Although Slashblade's sister was built like a tank, her waistline and curves was… quite generous. She had a tendency to intimidate anyone standing too close, but to Skyblade, none of that mattered. In his worldview, looks were secondary. His personal motto was simple: When the lights are off, beauty fades, but curves remain.

Yes, curves. Their shape, their feel, their… utility, were what truly counted when darkness erased all other distractions. Skyblade lived by this belief.