She Rules the Dungeon

The doorbell rang and Otta was quick to get it. The set up was ready an hour ago and Otta had run at least three last minute checks to ensure that everything would run smoothly. Grace was ten minutes early but Otta couldn't even be mad at her friend when the adventurer shoved something in her face.

"Is this what I think it is?" Otta asked excitedly as she received the gift.

"Yupp, it's your favourite papaya smoothie. Let's have lunch first before the streaming. I'm starved!"

Otta laughed. She couldn't blame Grace for feeling hungry so often. As an adventurer, Grace had a higher metabolism and nutrition pills were simply not enough. The lady could out-eat Adam easily and not gain any extra weight. The scientist frequently complained about having to split the bills whenever eating out with Grace as she really ate without restraint.

"What did you buy?"

Grace looked into her bag and started piling her purchase on the table.

"Sweet and sour ribs, tuna salad, your favourite mushroom pasta and corn soup with garlic bread."

The red-head secretly sighed. It was amazing how Grace managed to be ten minutes early despite making so many stops to get lunch. It didn't matter how many years they knew each other, Otta would never stop being amazed by how much Grace could put away. Michelle would often tease Grace about her huge appetite but the adventurer couldn't be bothered. Her motto was 'eating is the privilege of the living' and lived true to her words. Grace hasn't lost a single battle whenever food was involved and Otta wondered if her fried chicken dream would come true with Grace's moral support.

Despite having a hearty lunch, it was quickly devoured and Otta found herself teaching Grace how to put on the headset in less than an hour.

"Are you sure you don't want to rest first? The experience might make you sick for the first time. It certainly made me sick when I was testing it out."

Grace shook her head. She was way too excited about flying to care about motion illness. "It's fine. Just prepare a bucket for me just in case. I don't want to ruin your carpets."

Otta sighed at her friend's stubbornness and went to grab the bucket while Grace made herself comfortable.

After everything was ready, Otta started the syncing process to connect Grace to her dungeon world. She also started the live stream and observed her friend's adventure silently from her seat. Occasionally, Otta would look over to the side screen to check on the comments of the viewers and check how many downloads her dungeon had. It was nervewracking and Otta thought that she might empty the contents of her lunch before Grace. The anticipation was killing her but Otta tried to calm down. Grace had never let her down so Otta decided to place her faith in her friend.

Once the world loaded for Grace, the adventurer was pleasantly surprised by the realism. The new dungeon types were definitely on a whole new level. If Grace didn't remember that this was a dungeon world, she would've believed that it was real. Previously, dungeons were limited to simulation using hologram and surround sound system in a designated physical room. Physical damage from monsters was not real and all sensations felt were replicated as close as possible. For veteran adventurers like Grace, it was disappointing. Everything was predictable and it became a routine. Taking damage didn't incur adrenaline rushes any longer and it was getting meaningless to challenge battle dungeons. She'd moved to PVP to revisit the thrill of facing something more realistic.

"Greetings, adventurer. I am Goddess Telesia. You've been summoned into this world as a hero to help end the war between the Glinoer and Yael Kingdoms. Their wars have destroyed much of the Great Forest that many spirits and animals live in. My power weakens as we speak and if the Great Forest is destroyed, I will lose my powers that is now holding the world together. Please help to end this war, great adventurer!"

Grace was stunned. The goddess Telesia looked so real. The space that they were in was dark and Telesia stood before her with an ethereal glow that illuminated the void.

"How can I help?"

Telesia waved her hand and a preview of two screens appeared.

"On the right is the Surfer class. If you choose to align yourself with the King Odin of the Glinoer Kingdom, you will be able to learn skills of the valkyries and berserkers. They are rulers of the skies and specialise in mid to long ranged attacks. On the left is the Diver class. If you choose to align yourself with King Kalon of the Yael Kingdom, you will be able to learn skills of the Assassins. They are rulers of the shadows and focus more on close ranged combat. I can allow you to view the memories of both classes. They are memories of the most powerful warriors who have fallen. Through their memories, you will be able to understand their fighting styles better and select the Kingdom you wish to swear fealty to. Adventurer, which warrior's memory would you like to view first?"

Without hesitation, Grace chose to view the memory of the fallen valkyrie warrior. As Telesia reached forward to touch Grace's forehead, the surroundings begin to fade and Grace woke up only to find herself viewing a battle through someone else's eyes.

Wordlessly, Grace took in how the warrior flew using spells and shot at monsters. The wolf was not her match and Grace marvelled at the speed boost as the warrior dodged a dragon's flame breath. The flight magic didn't last long and Grace was surprised when the warrior chanted a spell to make her wings become as hard as steel to guard against the claws of the dragon's mighty swipe. It clashed and sent the warrior flying backwards but the wings didn't take a single damage. The memory ended when the warrior's bow broke.

Coming back to the void where Telesia was waiting, Grace made up her mind.

"Welcome back, adventurer. Would you like to view the memories of the fallen Assassin warrior or choose the Surfer as your job class?"

"I'll choose Surfer as my job class."

Telesia smiled gently and nodded. "I understand. I shall arrange to send you to the Glinoer Kingdom. Please remember that should you feel like changing your job class, you can approach the priest at the chapel. He is a follower of mine and I will assist you to the best of my abilities."

Grace smiled as Telesia faded away. The next thing she knew, she was looking at an unfamiliar ceiling.

"Where am I?" she wondered. The new place was dimly lit and Grace took some time to study her new environment.

"Hero! Thank Telesia, you are awake."

Grace sat up in a comfortable bed as the maid drew the thick drapes, allowing sunlight into the room. It was a rather large room with many luxurious furniture.

"Where am I?"

The maid with brown hair and white wings smiled. "You are in Glinoer Castle now, your eminence. The King has requested your presence in the throne room as soon as you awoke. I shall inform Sir Loki now."

Grace was left feeling lost as she mutely followed another maid's instructions to dress up. At this point, Otta added a cutscene for the viewers on screen. She didn't want her friend's privacy to be violated after all.

Grace was led to the throne room and greeted King Odin with a bow. She didn't know how to greet royalty but she didn't think she needed to kneel.

"Hero Grace! It's good to see that you're alright. How are you feeling?"

"A little confused, your majesty. May I ask what this is all about? I don't remember how I got here."

Odin looked slightly surprised and then frowned. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Hero Grace. I'm assuming that it is amnesia that is causing that loss of memories. You saved Hela from the scarlet wolves in the dungeons and was brought back unconscious. We found that mark of the Goddess Telesia on your wrist by chance, you are the hero from the prophecy who will put an end to this war. Please help us, great hero!"

Grace blinked. Otta really went all out on the storylines. "Please, King Odin... I am only doing what needs to be done."

King Odin raised his head and studied Grace. The adventurer felt slightly disturbed by how real the King's acting was even though he was merely a program in Otta's dungeon.

"Allow this King to express his gratitude. Hero Grace, I hereby bestow the blessing of Ragnarok on you. Please save GLinoer and help to end this war."

Grace didn't have time to refuse or reply when a bright light and magic circle appeared on her wrist before vanishing. Telesia's mark was a leaf and beside it, there was a feather that represented the Ragnarok blessing. Just by analysing it in detail, the dungeon system helped to provide extra information.

[Inspection detected. Adventurer has gained a passive skill: Inspect.

Blessing of Ragnarok

Description: A blessing given by King Odin.

Abilities: New Skill Unlocked - Flight Magic. +10% to base Agility.

Mark of Telesia

Description: A gift from Goddess Telesia.

Abilities: 5 revive chances every game day when in a party.]

Grace was dumbfounded. She had so many questions for Otta but decided against it. It was a beautifully created dungeon that made her feel alive.

"Hero Grace," King Odin spoke once more. "Could you listen to the selfish request of this old King once more?"

Without hesitation, Grace told the King to go ahead.

"Lately, the seal of Goddess Telesia's protection has been weakening. The monsters from the dungeons have begun to terrorise villagers. As of now, only weaker monsters have proved to be nuisances by raiding fields and kidnapping farm animals. However, we fear that they may pose to be a great threat if nothing is done. As such, could you aid us in the quest to hunt these monsters down with our patrol troops? They will assist you. Of course, I wouldn't ask this of you without an appropriate compensation. Should you complete the patrol and slay those monsters successfully, I shall hand over Glinoer's most prized weapon for your future dungeon conquests."

"I will accept this quest, your majesty."

"Very well, may the goddess always be with you."

Grace faced another cutscene and that gave her some time to breathe. It was overwhelming how different Otta's dungeon was compared to others. Yet, Grace loved it.

The scene quickly unfolded into a battlefield. "Commander, the scarlet wolves are coming! There are six of them."

The commander was a tough looking berserker and Grace wondered if she was able to fight freestyle. She didn't know any magic or skills yet so she supposed it will have to do.

"Heed my command soldiers! Cover the hero with your arrows! If you have to land, land on trees. Do not get close to the scarlet wolves no matter what!"

The battle started as soon as the scarlet wolves broke through the flimsy wooden barricade. Everyone took to the air almost immediately and Grace panicked. How does one fly? She never had lessons and even though there were wings on her back, she didn't know how to utilise them.

"Fly dammit!" she cussed when the wolves got closer.

[Flight magic activated. Consuming 1 stamina per second.]

As soon as the system voice said that, Grace found herself flying upwards without any signs of stopping. It took trial and errors to finally understand the flying mechanics. Grace hadn't flown for long, about thirty seconds at most but she was feeling fatigue catching up with her. Navigating her way roughly over to a tree branch, Grace was so thankful for the break. The scarlet wolves were busy terrorising the sheep but Grace didn't have the time or energy to spare to think about that. Instead, she glanced over to herself and used the inspect skill.

Job Class: Surfer

Level: 1

HP: 100

MP: 50

SP: 30

Skills: Flight Magic, Rapid Shot, Barrel Shot

Equipment: Oak Shortbow [loaned], iron arrows [loaned]

It wasn't surprising at the least and Grace was used to it. The beginning of all games was this cruel after all. She then glanced over to the patrol troops. On average, they were level 2 to four. The commander was a level five. However, the six scarlet wolves were levels three on average with two being the lowest and four being the highest. How was a level one supposed to beat them?

That aside, Grace was curious about the two new skills and inspected them.

Skill: Rapid Shot

Description: Fires three arrows in succession towards the enemy at 60% of the full power.

MP cost: 10

Skill: Barrel Shot

Description: Channels all your energy into this one shot. 200% of max power.

MP cost: 5

Charge time: 3 seconds

There were pros and cons to these skills. If he was in close combat, Barrel Shot was going to be a terrible skill. On the other hand, Rapid Shot was a bad match for the battle against monsters with thick armour. Thankfully, the scarlet wolves were within range and not too sharp about the troops in the trees.

"Let's try this," Grace notched an arrow on the bow and took aim at a level two scarlet wolf.

"Barrel Shot!" she released the arrow after it was done charging and watched as it zipped through the air before landing a critical hit on the scarlet wolf. Grace had aimed for its head and the shot pierced through the wolf's skull, killing it instantly.

Happy at the small victory, Grace took aim a few more times and halved the number of scarlet wolves quickly. While the level two wolves were easy to take out, the level three and four wolves were harder as they were nimbler. The leader of the pack was a level four and it had evaded two of Grace's arrows.

Knowing that victory from a distance was futile, Grace decided to try facing the wolf leader head-on. She knew that the commander and the patrol troops were doing their best to take care fo the other two remaining wolves so she concentrated fully on defeating the wolf leader. She was a range expert but even ranger experts had some tricks up their sleeves for close quarter combat.

With confidence, Grace leapt off the tree and charged towards the wolf leader. The scarlet wolves had skills like intimidation and a nasty bite that didn't allow bleeding to stop for a good half hour unless there was a healing potion on hand or healing magic. Grace made sure to watch out for both attacks.

The wolf snarled as she closed in and attempted to snap its jaws around Grace's legs. Utilising flight magic temporarily to evade, Grace used Rapid Shot on the leader once she was mid-air above it. That quick reflex was quite the highlight and Otta's live stream was flooded with comments. Unaware about her sudden spike in fame, Grace battled on valiantly.

The fight concluded when Grace released an arrow that landed in between the wolf leader's eyes. It twitched once before falling over with a dull thud. Amidst the field littered with arrows and wolf bodies, Grace laughed. This was greater than anything she expected. Otta was really a hidden genius!

The quest concluded itself when Grace spoke with King Odin once more after the subjugation request. As a reward, Grace was given the option of receiving a longbow, shortbow or crossbow. Grace thought about it and decided that a crossbow suited her best. While she was compromising range with it, the crossbow was quick to reload and fire with higher accuracy. Grace was more of a mid-range fighter and loved how the crossbow could be upgraded with enough money and materials. She was then transported to the dungeon entrance where she met the nomad merchant, blacksmith and librarian. All three NPCs were giving out quests but Grace decided to save her progress and log out. It was quite the journey and she couldn't wait to tell Otta about the amazing experience.