【Welcome to the world of Labyrinthos.】

The lighting was dim, and the smell of alcohol filled the air.

A lively, boisterous atmosphere.

Empty bottles rolled across the floor, and some people were shouting loudly. Their faces were flushed, indicating they were quite drunk.

A tavern.

This was unmistakably a tavern.

"An adventurer's tavern, huh."

I strolled through the tavern with a familiar gait.

I’d been to this tavern a few times before. Of course, not as Aurora, but as Laura Iris.

As a noble daughter, I didn’t particularly want to step foot in such a rowdy place, but I had to come here a few times to progress the story.

There were even times when I had run-ins with some rough adventurers.

And sometimes, I had to put those adventurers in their place.

It felt strangely nostalgic.

I took a seat.

[Sis, can you hear me?]
[Try saying something so I can check if your voice is coming through.]

"Leon?"

[I can hear you, but your voice is a bit low. Hold on a sec, I’ll adjust the sound.]

"Where are you talking from?"

I glanced around, but I couldn’t see Leon anywhere.

[I’m monitoring you. If you connect the VR capsule to a monitor, you can watch from the outside.]
[That tavern is like a waiting room. When you log into Labyrinthos, you always start at that tavern.]
[There should be a menu on the table. Can you take a look at it?]

As Leon said, there was a menu on the table.

A menu in a medieval fantasy tavern? It seemed odd, but I picked it up.

【Story Mode】
【Duel】
【Gate Assault】

[You see the three big buttons on the menu? I’ll explain them one by one.]
[Story Mode is pretty basic. It’s like a tutorial that teaches you how to control your character.]
[Duel is one-on-one, and Gate Assault is Labyrinthos’ main content, a 6v6 battle.]

"You know a lot about this. You’ve played this game before, haven’t you?"

[Of course! It’s a popular game. Honestly, it’s rare to find someone who hasn’t played it like you.]

"Is that so?"

So Leon had played Labyrinthos before too. It really must be a popular game.

Although it felt a bit strange, I could understand. Even just looking at this "waiting room" gave me a sense of it.

The vividness and texture were so realistic, it was hard to believe it was virtual reality.

If the quality of the tavern was this high, I wondered what the "battlefield" would feel like.

[I’d recommend starting with Story Mode.]
[In Story Mode, you can pick a character and see their story while also learning how to control them.]

"No, thanks."

I immediately pressed "Duel."

[Wha…? You’re going straight to Duel without even knowing what characters are available? Are you crazy?]

Leon kept talking, but I didn’t pay any attention and continued.

Was there really a need for a tutorial?

I lived in "that world" for ten years.

"She’s so stubborn…"

Leon sighed.

But it was understandable. Being in a position where she was freeloading, Leon couldn’t really push back against Laura.

At the same time, Leon thought, "Maybe my sister has a plan."

Laura was arrogant and self-centered, but she wasn’t a fool without any sense.

Leon knew this better than anyone.

===

【Select your adventurer.】

【You can choose from the following 8 characters for free.】

Frontline: 【Paladin】 / 【Barbarian】 / 【Dark Knight】
Midline: 【Archer】 / 【Gunslinger】 / 【Assassin】
Backline: 【Mage】 / 【Priestess】

===

When Laura pressed "Duel," the menu screen changed.

Portraits of eight characters appeared on the menu. This was how the character selection screen was displayed in Labyrinthos.

"Among these characters, the Paladin or Assassin might be good…"

Leon muttered to herself, arms crossed.

The Paladin was the easiest pick for beginners, while the Assassin was the best pick for duels, though it was more challenging.

But Laura’s finger pressed "Dark Knight."

…That one’s difficult.

The Dark Knight was the complete opposite of the Paladin.

While the Paladin was a character that strengthened itself with buffs and skills, the Dark Knight was designed to weaken opponents.

It wasn’t a bad pick, but for a newbie who just started the game today, it was a tough choice. The Dark Knight was slow-moving and had low kill potential.

Oblivious to Leon’s concerns, Laura locked in the Dark Knight.

【Match found for Duel.】

【Fulfill one of the following victory conditions:

• Defeat the dungeon boss.
• Defeat the other adventurer.】

As soon as Laura picked the Dark Knight, the surroundings changed along with a pop-up window.

The wooden floor, littered with bottles, transformed into a blood-soaked dirt ground. Bones and flesh were scattered around.

Laura’s appearance also changed.

She was now clad in black armor, holding a crimson one-handed sword. She looked every bit the Dark Knight.

Laura tilted her head slightly and swung the sword a few times.

Then she immediately began removing her armor.

‘What the heck?! Why is she…?’

Leon was shocked.

The Dark Knight was classified as a tank in Labyrinthos. Seeing Laura voluntarily lower her defense by removing her armor was surprising.

But Laura didn’t stop.

She took off her helmet, gauntlets, shoulder armor, chest plate… even her boots, leaving her barefoot.

Now, all she had left was the sword.

Apparently satisfied with that, Laura started running.

-Thud, thud, thud.

The sound of her footsteps echoed.

Leon couldn’t help but clutch her head. Those footsteps would give away her position to the enemy…

The Duel mode in Labyrinthos wasn’t a typical PVP match.

Normally, in a one-on-one PVP, you’d expect a direct battle to test each player’s skills, but in this Duel mode, there were two ways to win: defeat the opposing player or defeat the dungeon boss hidden somewhere in the dungeon.

In other words, if you couldn’t defeat the other player, you could win by defeating the dungeon boss.

‘That’s why information is more important than skill.’

No matter how skilled you are, it’s meaningless if the opponent avoids combat.

This made the sound of footsteps crucial information.

Yet here was Laura, openly announcing her presence.

[Oh my.]

I heard Laura’s voice through the screen.

Curious, I saw a figure appear in the corner of the screen. Was the opposing player ambushing her after hearing her footsteps?

Leon thought so at first, but on closer inspection, it wasn’t a human. Five goblins blocked her path.

Neutral monsters… like jungle creeps in a MOBA game.

They weren’t much different from actual jungle creeps. Defeating these neutral monsters granted experience points, allowing players to grow stronger.

Based on that growth, you could either take down the boss or defeat the opposing player—this was one of the basic strategies in Duel. But Laura didn’t stop.

She quickly slashed down two goblins and kept running.

‘Well, that’s not entirely wrong.’

Defeating neutral monsters would indeed make her stronger, but it also took time.

And the Dark Knight was one of the slower characters in terms of clearing monsters, so she must have deliberately chosen not to engage them all.

…But how did she know that?

For a newbie, she seemed oddly knowledgeable about the character.

…Or maybe it’s just my imagination?

Perhaps she didn’t realize that defeating monsters grants experience points, so she just passed by them out of convenience.

Laura encountered more monsters as she continued, but she ignored them all.

After running non-stop from start to finish… Laura finally arrived in front of a massive door.

"A boss room…?"

A huge, imposing door. Anyone could tell that the boss was waiting behind it.

The door was tightly shut.

Since there were no signs it had been opened, it seemed Laura had arrived before the opposing player.

‘Could it be she skipped the monsters to get here first?’

It seemed Laura had aimed to find the dungeon boss before her opponent from the start.

With that in mind, her previous actions made sense.

She had removed her armor and risked lowering her defense, and she had run even though it gave away her position—all to increase her mobility.

It was a clever strategy for a beginner, but Leon still felt it was a shame.

‘She should have farmed a bit more.’

Skipping almost all the neutral monsters meant Laura hadn’t grown enough. It would take a lot of time to defeat the dungeon boss in her current state.

Meanwhile, the other player, who had likely been farming, would soon arrive at the boss room too.

Leon could easily imagine a future where Laura was ambushed and defeated while fighting the dungeon boss.

What a pity.

If only she knew more about Labyrinthos, she could have done better.

Once this game is over, I’ll have to teach her a few things.

Just as Leon was thinking that, Laura suddenly sprinted toward the wall.

"What the—!? Can Dark Knights even do that?!"

Leon’s eyes widened in shock.

On the screen, Laura was climbing up the wall. It was like parkour.

It didn’t take long for Laura to reach the ceiling. She stabbed her sword into it and hung there, waiting.

A moment of silence passed, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Then, a voice that wasn’t Laura’s echoed.

[…That’s strange. I could’ve sworn I heard footsteps.]

A grown man stood in front of the tightly shut boss room, tilting his head in confusion, unaware of what was above him.

Laura didn’t hesitate.

She yanked her sword from the ceiling and threw herself downward.

The weight of her blade split his flesh.

-Slash!

Blood splattered everywhere.