*Vooom.*

**[Welcome to Astra Online]**

With a strange floating sensation, my body arrived in the world of *Astra Online*.

"That was a good nap!"

As usual, I jumped up and stretched, feeling the refreshment from my rest.

Lately, I’ve been spending far more time in the *Astra* continent than in the real world. Here, I could feel like an entirely different person.

I had logged out near the pile of rocks in the rocky mountain area in front of the elite dungeon, *Demon Army Outpost*, so I felt safe enough to do my little warm-up exercises.

Peeking out from behind the rocks, I observed the crowd gathered at the dungeon entrance.

"Swordmaster party recruiting! Cleared it once! Will tank Chimera in the third phase!"

"Looking for a ranger for the second boss orb run! I’m experienced! Please take me!"

As usual, there were plenty of people looking for parties today. Some had cleared the dungeon multiple times, while others seemed to be tackling it for the first time.

Sure, some players probably had fixed parties, but many casual players formed on-the-spot groups to tackle dungeons like this.

I immediately opened the auction house to check the price of weapons—my main source of income.

Three days after the dungeon opened, weapons were still holding a decent price. It seemed this elite dungeon was indeed tough.

The problem was...

"Now, even weapons have wildly different prices depending on their options."

For swordsmen, the most sought-after option was the "Moonlight Slash Damage Increase" which boosted the multiplier of *Starlight Slash*, the main skill.

Other options ranged from damage reduction on successful block, thrust damage increase, to PvP-focused skills like increased down or aerial attack damage. The additional options were incredibly diverse.

In short, even the same *Zarkan Weapon* could vary greatly in price depending on its options.

This was true for other classes’ weapons as well. The most expensive ones had options that boosted the damage of the class's main skills, although PvP-related skill options were also in demand.

At the beginning of the game, players prioritized base weapon attack power since skills had lower ranks and multipliers, but now that skill cycles were established, and main skills accounted for a larger portion of damage, the focus had shifted to additional options.

Still, if you disassembled useless accessories or weapons, you could earn *Zarkan Coins*. These coins, which could also be obtained from daily quests, were the only guaranteed way to purchase socket items like *Echo Stones* at full price.

I glanced at the *Echo Stone* socketed in my weapon and sighed.

"I didn’t expect these items to be so rare."

Socket items like *Echo Stones* were still priced close to the first weapon sales.

I regretted not saving up *Zarkan Coins* and buying it at full price. Instead, I hastily socketed it into my weapon. I couldn’t help but blame my impulsive self.

Smack.

I slapped my cheeks with both hands and steeled my resolve.

Anyway, weapon prices were still decent, so I needed to grind the dungeon again today to earn more gold.

Although I had already cashed out most of what I made on the first day, I still needed to farm more *Zarkan Coins* and save gold for the next region.

Here’s hoping I get some good option weapons today.

As I leaned against the pile of rocks, resolving to work hard, a shadow fell over me.

A strand of red hair blocked out the sunlight.

"Gasp..."

I looked up, stunned, at the owner of the shadow.

The person was hard to see in the backlight, but it was unmistakable.

"Found you, Rain."

Chris smiled down at me.

---

"I saw you log in a moment ago, so I figured you were nearby. Are you grinding the dungeon again today?"

"Huh? Uh, yes, I am."

I stammered.

I hadn’t expected to run into Chris today.

"Ahem, have you finished farming Zarkan yet? Or are you planning to run it again with your party?"

Chris looked around, as if searching for my party members.

My heart started pounding.

Even I knew it wasn’t normal to be solo-running elite dungeons as a front-runner.

In a way, I was using a cheat code—having 100% virtual reality synchronization. I was a kind of bug character. If word got out that I had been farming as a solo player all this time, it could get me into trouble.

No, I can’t let that happen. So far, I’ve managed to avoid suspicion, but if I’m not careful, I could get banned for being a bug character.

I couldn’t lose the vivid realism I felt in the world of *Astra*. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to live.

"I don’t have any plans today."

I added a slight clarification.

Saying I had no plans was true.

Adding "today" might lead her to believe that I’d been running the dungeon with a party up until now.

I felt a twinge of guilt, but I had no choice.

Chris smiled brightly.

"Great! Then, can I borrow you for the day, Rain?"

"B-Borrow me?"

I jumped, startled.

Borrow? I’m not an item. What does she mean?

Chris was a nice sister figure, but doing something together was another matter entirely.

I needed to farm for gold today.

I should’ve said I had farming plans.

"...Just the two of us?"

"Well, there’s one other person. Is that okay?"

I jumped again.

No, no, no.

Even if it’s okay with Chris, bringing someone else? Absolutely not.

"Ah, a-ah, see you later!"

"Wait!"

As I was about to leave carefully, Chris stopped me.

"Rain, you didn’t forget our promise, did you?"

She smiled and pointed to my clothes.

"Oh."

The outfit I was wearing—the Desert Admiral’s outfit.

I had promised to run a dungeon with her in exchange for this outfit.

"You must like it, seeing as you’re still wearing it. That makes me happy."

"Ugh..."

Caught by the 1-gold promise, I had no choice but to stay with Chris.

---

"Kyaa! Wow! Wow! She’s so small! Not just short, but her face is tiny, and she’s so cute... How does she fight with that body?"

"Hey, Beimerung! Rain is for admiring! Just look, don’t touch!"

"For admiring...?"

I clung to Chris’s sleeve, hiding behind her.

The pink-haired woman squealing at me was obviously the mage from Chris’s party.

She didn’t seem that much taller than me, so why did she keep saying I was small?

Even if I was comfortable around Chris, I still wasn’t used to being around other people.

"Anyway, leave Rain to me, and just handle the customers."

"Yes, ma’am!"

Beimerung saluted Chris with a sharp stance. I couldn’t help but ask Chris about something that was bothering me.

"Customers?"

"We’re starting bus runs today. Our regular tank is busy, and the summoner can’t log in today, so I was hoping you could fill a spot."

"Huh? Didn’t you just tell Cherni not to come..."

Zap.

Chris shot a sharp glare at Beimerung.

"Ah, never mind! Forget I said anything!"

Beimerung quickly turned away and pulled up her interface, typing out some kind of message.

"Rain, we’ll handle the rest, so can you tank the first and second bosses and take care of the Chimera in the third phase?"

"Chimera tank?"

I tilted my head.

Main tanking meant handling the boss, which I had done solo plenty of times before.

The Chimera in the third phase referred to the two dogs that appeared when the boss’s HP dropped below 50%.

"Who’s going to tank the boss?"

"Huh? Didn’t your party have a ranged DPS tank for the third boss?"

"Uh, yeah. So, you just want me to hold the two Chimeras?"

Chris smiled and nodded.

It seemed that using a ranged DPS to tank the boss was standard for party play on the third boss. In any case, I would just do what she asked.

"So it’ll just be the three of us?"

"I told you we’d have a customer, right? We’ll be taking one bus rider."

"Oh."

I nodded.

Even the level 25 elite dungeon had bus services. Whenever I turned on the region announcement window, I’d see people advertising bus runs.

Although farming the low-level elite dungeons was quick, now that farming difficulty had increased and PvP battleground content had been added, the bus business would be booming.

Even without relying on high-priced weapon drops or rare *Echo Stones*, running a bus was a stable way to earn gold.

One more question popped into my mind.

"Don’t people ever run buses with just one or two players?"

"Huh? Haha! Even if a character has finished farming a dungeon, whether soloing it is possible is another question. Besides, if you run a bus with just one or two people, you’d have to take two or three customers, and you couldn’t give all the drops to a single customer. The bus model works because all the dungeon drops go to one rider."

"Ah."

Even if someone could solo a dungeon, bus runs were still more efficient for both the runner and the customer.

Sure, there might be some people who wanted to watch a solo run out of curiosity, but it wouldn’t be sustainable as a business.

Even if a player could solo the dungeon, running a bus solo wouldn’t be viable.

Not to mention, I’d be

 terrible at handling customers anyway.

For some reason, I felt a pang of disappointment and clicked my tongue.