**[Required Level: 25]**
**[Elite Dungeon (4-Player Party Recommended)]**
**[Lesser Demon’s Tomb]**

"Alright, everyone’s here."

Chris looked around at the assembled members of her *Chris Raid Party* at the entrance of the dungeon.

*Cherni*, the spirit summoner, spoke up, addressing Chris.

“By the way, Senior, you told us to skip farming the field boss and focus only on leveling. But is it really okay to tackle the dungeon with just the *Orc King* equipment?”

Chris nodded confidently.

“The field bosses don’t give much experience, right? By leveling up fast instead of wasting time farming essence, we’re ahead of the pack. Sure, other parties will soon hit level 25 and start the dungeon runs too.”

She paused, flashing a sly grin.

“But this small head start will be what makes us the first to clear the dungeon.”

"Also," said *Deathmaster*, one of the fighters, "I got some intel through unofficial channels that the *Scorpion King’s* weapon isn’t much better than the *Orc King’s* weapon."

Beimerung, the mage, blinked in surprise.

“Really? Does that mean we don’t need to farm the field bosses anymore? Feels like we’re skipping a step.”

“Well, using a slightly stronger weapon will obviously make the dungeon easier,” Chris explained. “But in these early clears, understanding the patterns of the named bosses is far more crucial than a small difference in stats.”

With that, Chris motivated her party and opened her messenger.

[Swordsman 'Drizzle Rain' (Offline)]

“When is my little cutie going to log in?” she murmured, clasping her hands together in front of her chest, looking longingly at the messenger window.

"Just wait a bit longer. Big sis will clear this dungeon in no time and give you a free ride, Rain!"

---

*Peek.*

I cautiously peeked out from the alley, eyeing the convenience store entrance.

It was late at night, and I noticed that the young part-time worker, who had been working there for three months, had indeed quit, just as he said he would.

*Ding-dong.*

“Thank you for coming!”

A cheerful voice of a middle-aged woman echoed as an adult male customer left the store.

The voice I heard through the open door definitely belonged to the store owner, the middle-aged lady.

The first time I visited this convenience store, she had looked at me with a pitying gaze and bombarded me with questions, so I had been avoiding coming here before midnight ever since.

Apparently, they still hadn’t found a replacement night-shift worker, and the store owner was working the late hours herself.

This is bad.

She’d definitely start asking me a bunch of questions again.

But I needed to go to the store if I wanted to buy the food I needed to survive.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the alley.

*Vrrr.*

*Ding-dong.*

“Welcome...?”

As the automatic wheelchair carried me into the store, the store owner’s voice trailed off into a question.

It was probably because she couldn’t see me from behind the counter in my wheelchair.

*Vrrr.*

I lowered myself further into the chair and carefully maneuvered toward the cup noodles section.

“Oh, my.”

While I was picking out my daily meal, I heard the store owner’s surprised voice as she came out from behind the counter.

Her eyes quickly turned misty, like she was about to cry.

I bit my lip quietly.

Those eyes.

I hated those eyes.

I wasn’t some pitiable person, but people always looked at me like that.

“Are you alone again today? Here to buy some ramen? Oh dear, look at how small and skinny you are. You should really eat more nutritious food.”

I wanted to cover my ears.

Ignoring her, I grabbed the first cup noodles I saw and made my way to the counter.

I missed the university student who had worked the night shift before. He never paid much attention to me.

I guess from now on, I’ll have to go to the unmanned convenience store in the next town, even if it’s further away.

I just wished she’d hurry up and ring up my purchase.

Without meeting her gaze, I waited silently as she scanned the items, still looking at me with those same pitying eyes.

All I could think about was getting home to play *Astra Online*.

---

Back at home, I felt my spirits lift slightly as I looked around my small, quiet room.

The money I had earned from *Astra Online*.

The new furniture I bought with it made me happy.

A new latex mattress, a small fridge, and even a microwave to heat up my food.

Now, I could store the occasional delivery chicken I ordered, and warm it up later.

My tiny stomach couldn’t handle a whole chicken in one sitting. I usually divided it into three meals.

But after tasting meat, I couldn’t stop wanting more chicken.

Now that I had a decent income, I could order it more often if I kept clearing dungeons as part of the advance parties in *Astra Online*.

I opened the delivery app I had installed after buying the furniture.

“Oh.”

They were selling an entire box of cup noodles at a significant discount.

The price per unit was slightly cheaper than the convenience store’s two-plus-one deals.

After carefully calculating the cost per cup, I quickly ordered a box before it sold out.

Finally, a smile spread across my face.

Now, I wouldn’t need to leave the house to buy food for a while.

---

[Swordsman Drizzle Rain]
[Level 24 (80.84%)]

*Slash, slash!*

“Screeeech!”

The *Scorpion King*, the field boss of the *Pames Desert*, spewed blue blood as it flipped over and fell to the ground.

I checked the number of *Scorpion King Essences* that had dropped into my inventory and smiled.

Three again.

Farming essence from field bosses was going smoothly.

There were fewer players around than there had been in the *Orc Forest*, but everyone here was part of the advance parties, aiming to tackle the next elite dungeon.

*Beep.*

I opened my messenger.

[Exorcist 'Chris' (Online)]

The red-haired woman I had met before, the exorcist player named *Chris*, was still online.

Does this person ever go outside or sleep?

But Chris wasn’t anywhere near the *Scorpion King*. Had she already finished farming the *Scorpion King’s* gear early?

I checked the stats on the sword I had obtained through essence farming.

[Scorpion King’s Sword]
[Rare Grade]
[Attack Power: 70]
[Successful Block increases Thrust damage by 20%]

“Hm...”

The special option was about the same as the *Orc King’s* weapon.

But the *Scorpion King’s Sword* had slightly higher attack power.

The stats on the accessories I had acquired were also not too different from those from the previous elite dungeon.

Of course, it would be wise to push my stats up as much as possible for a smoother dungeon run, but if I was aiming for the fastest clear of the elite dungeon, I didn’t necessarily need to farm essence.

Well, since I’d already started farming, there was no turning back now.

As a solo player, I couldn’t afford to miss out on even the smallest increase in stats or an extra 10 points of attack power.

And most importantly...

“Outfits.”

I glanced down at the *Desert Admiral Outfit* I was currently wearing and admired it with satisfaction.

*Flap.*

The coat swayed lightly with my movement.

As much as I liked the outfit I had on, having more clothes wasn’t a bad thing.

I could always switch them out when I got bored.

I clenched my small fist and made a resolution.

“I’ll just get the outfit and move on.”

---

“Oh.”

I let out a soft exclamation as I arrived in front of *Astra Online’s* second elite dungeon, *Lesser Demon’s Tomb*.

The dungeon entrance, shaped like a pyramid reminiscent of a pharaoh's tomb, was located in the middle of the desert. A few advance players had already gathered there.

“Looks like the *Chris Raid Party* has already started their dungeon run.”

“Damn, how far behind are we? We need to start our clear soon.”

“I heard our tank hasn’t gotten the *Scorpion King* weapon yet.”

“Tch, we can’t afford to waste any more time.”

There were about three parties gathered near the dungeon entrance.

As expected of the advance players.

It seemed they had leveled up at about the same pace as I had, thanks to the swordsman’s powerful new AoE skill, *Moonlight Slash*, which allowed me to wipe out multiple monsters at once and level up quickly.

“*Chris Raid Party*?”

I tilted my head at the familiar name I overheard in their conversation.

Was this the same *Chris* I knew? The red-haired woman?

Considering her long playtime and fast hunting speed, it wouldn’t be surprising if she had already started the elite dungeon run.

“But...”

I couldn’t fall behind, either.

I had been a hero of the Astra continent.

Even though this was just a virtual body tied to a game system, it wasn’t that different from back then.

My legs still worked.

During my last dungeon run, I had felt it clearly.

The battle instincts my body still remembered would help me clear the dungeon.

Alright.

I’m going to solo this dungeon successfully and sell the first weapon I get for a high price.

This time, I’ll definitely list it for 5 gold.

Clenching my fist, I walked confidently toward the entrance of the *Lesser Demon’s Tomb

*.

“Eek.”

I hesitated for a moment as I felt the eyes of the surrounding players on me.

Oh, right. There are people here.

I shrank slightly, trying to avoid their gazes as I moved stealthily into the shadows of the dungeon entrance pillars.

I didn’t want to be the center of attention, so I needed to sneak in when no one was looking.

When their focus shifted to other party members arriving, I quickly darted from the shadow of the pillar and slipped into the dungeon.

*Leap!*

---

**[Required Level: 25]**
**[Elite Dungeon (4-Player Party Recommended)]**
**[Lesser Demon’s Tomb]**