71 A New Path

"Is this dungeon going to take so long?" Nikolai questioned, biting his nails. "I've set the timer of my pod to seven in the evening. I've missed lunch with my sister a while ago, and I can't afford to miss dinner with her too or else . . ."

Nikolai shivered. "She'll hold me against my will again."

As much as Ren wanted to know what 'Held me against my will' was, he opted to put Nikolai at ease. "Don't worry. The time difference between this world and the real world is huge. By the time we cleared this dungeon, it would only be two hours in real-time or less. You have plenty of time to prepare for your dinner with your sister."

Nikolai breathed easy. "That's good news. Still, my sister said that I should only spend two hours in real-time in the game. She said that I'm getting flimsy and needed the sun."

Nikolai stretched his limbs and wiggled his paws.

Ren couldn't help but smile. He never had a sibling, so he didn't know what it was like. This was probably what it felt like to have one. A warm feeling of protectiveness flowed inside him.

Though regarding Nikolai's concern. In the succeeding days, the game would have a huge update. A seven days update. And after the update, the guild, PvP would be open, as well as the time modification in the game.

Due to the parents overgrowing concerns for their children no longer coming out of the pod, the developers put a time restriction on the game.

In the next couple of days after the update, the players could only play four hours in real-time per day. That's four-day gaming time until you'd be forced log out and take a break until the next day.

No one complained about it since four days in-game was still long.

"Don't you think that it's too quiet?" Nikolai asked Ren.

"We're fairly walking at a steady pace while the others were running ahead," Ren said. "The other group must have cleared the monsters in the area. It's good and all since we get to keep our HP and MP a little while longer."

"I guess. But I wanted to grind and increase my STR." Nikolai flexed his muscles. He was amazed by his biceps ever since he was in the body of a beast and opted for a much bulky build. However, his frame wasn't exactly proportionate to his baby face.

Don't do that. Ren lamented. "It is better if you increase your other stat like DEF and AGI. It's important for a Monk like yourself, or you won't be able to unlock your other skills."

Nikola thought for a moment. "Hmm . . . I'll think about it. I wanted to be strong in this world, at least since I'm so wimpy in real life."

Nikolai bitterly smiled at himself. "You should have seen my appearance. I look like a twig."

"You're still growing up."

Nikolai pouted. "People said that all the time, but when will I be taller like you? Taller and sexy?"

Sexy? Ren grumbled under his breath. Could he have said masculine instead?

Ren was startled when Pii suddenly made a noise.

Pii?

Pii rose from its slumber and went towards a specific side of the wall.

"Oh. Your pet is finally awake." Pointed Nikolai at Pii, who was sniffing on the walls.

"Is there something there?" Pamela asked when she spotted Ren's pet flying to the left side of the wall.

"Move along. We can't afford to dally in one place," Jack snarled at the back when the group slowed to a halt.

"There might be something in there. Ruru, do you feel something with your cute ears?" asked Rosie with her baby tone.

Ruru's fluffy ears wiggled before they stood on alert. "I don't detect anything. Wait, let me check."

Ruru checked where Pii was sniffing around and used [Detect] in that specific area. There was a hole between two big rocks. It was hidden by the shadows and protrusions of stones. "There's a small gap here. But I don't know what it leads to. It's too dark to see."

"Should we go in and check it?" Rafaela was getting excited.

Jack sighed. "It's probably just a dead end."

"Or it could lead to a treasure chest," countered Alicia with one hand over her tilted hips. She had enough of the guy's negative attitude.

"What do you say?" Silvia asked Ren, which didn't sit well with Robert, as evident from the creased on the latter's forehead.

Ren merely answered, "If Pii is adamant about going in there, then there might be some treasure."

"Or an enemy that we couldn't defeat," cut in Vida.

Ren didn't mind Vida as he said to Silvia, "It's your call."

". . ."

". . ."

Silvia pondered for a moment. If Ren said was true, then they want to take that risk. However, if Ren was wrong and only enemies awaited them on the other end, they would surely suffer HP and MP reduction this early on.

It wouldn't be a problem if they could already access the town and have [Mana Potions] with them.

Silvia made up her mind to move forward. The important thing was getting firstblood and get their specific ATP to +30, so they could finally enter the towns.

They could just re-raid this dungeon again in the future with better equipment and items.

Silvia was about to open her mouth when Robert beat her to it.

"Let's go in."

All eyes went to Robert when he spoke. "Like Ren said, there might be treasures, and it would be a loss if we pass it by."

Ren didn't like the tone in Robert's voice that seemed like he was pointing him as the perpetrator of everything. If they didn't find a treasure and only enemies, then he was to blame.

That was his underlying meaning.

Robert masked his sinister plot with a friendly grin. What could he possibly lose? Ren and the others were the ones who would fight while he would stay at the back. He wouldn't lose any HP and MP.

Moreover, the EXP and gil would still be evenly distributed in the group even though he and his friends would just lazed around. And the loot would go in their group inventory where he got fifty percent and first pick.

Silvia looked over at everyone. When Robert decided to go, Jack and Vida's mouths tightly close while the others' faces went excited, except for Pamela, who was afraid of tight and dark areas. It looked like the majority wanted to explore it.

Silvia's tight face loosened a little. "We might as well complete the map. Right Ruru?"

"We only have uncovered four percent of Vulcan's map," answered Ruru, who was busy looking at Pii. The little guy was still twirling around and around on the aperture.

It was so cute with its enormous fluffy wings and ears and big eyes . . .

Ruru couldn't wait to get her own pet!

She thought that she could sense traps and hidden rooms with her skill, but apparently, there were limitations. And if not for Pii, they might have missed out on an important part of the map.

Rather, were all pets so keen like Pii?

Or was it only Pii?

Ruru's eyes shone at Pii. She wanted one like him!

Meanwhile, at the side, Ren pressed the map icon on his screen, and like Ruru said, a four percent completion was displayed on the side of his map as well.

With the majority agreeing to go inside the aperture, the group squished into the small path with Ren taking the lead.