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“Not good!” The Alpha’s expression changed drastically. “They’ve found this place! You must go now. Whether you accept the mission or not is your choice, but no matter what happens, the Wolf Clan cannot afford to lose another outstanding warrior!”

“We might be late…? Someone’s already fighting the boss!” one of the players exclaimed.

“What’s there to be afraid of? She’s all by herself, and we’ve got five people!” said a man who looked like the leader of their five-man party.

“But… she’s riding a gray wolf, and I can’t even see her actual level!”

When the level gap exceeded seven, it became impossible to inspect another player’s information.

The party leader sneered. He was a level 20 swordsman, what kind of stormy seas hadn’t he weathered before? “Look at you, trembling like that. Let me see… twenty-six… Level 26!??? Stardust?”

“Holy crap! Stardust? Don’t tell me that’s the Mad Swordsman ranked first on the level leaderboards!?”

“Leader, what do we do? Should we…?”

The leader’s face darkened. He fell silent for a moment before speaking in a deep voice. “Fight! We’ve been grinding on the Grayridge Plains all this time for the Gray Wolf Boss. If we run before even engaging, then what’s the point of playing this game?”

Truth be told, he said this because he trusted in his own equipment and strength. They were a powerful party that had once taken down an Epic-tier mob together. At this stage, which player who could reach level 20 could still be called a rookie?

If Stupid Orange were here, she’d probably say, “Hey! I’m offended!”

Finally, Stardust leapt down from the wolf’s back and walked forward, her ruby-like eyes locking onto them.

Five players in total: one swordsman, two priests, and two mages. Aside from one female priest, the rest were men, with the swordsman as their leader. It was a highly aggressive lineup, though it placed considerable pressure on the lone frontliner.

The swordsman’s name was Birchfall. At this moment, Birchfall held a dark green longsword, glaring at her like a predator sizing up its prey.

“Babe, you can’t possibly solo this boss. How about we team up? Once we bring it down, we split the loot based on DPS rankings. How’s that sound?”

For the record, DPS referred to damage per second, with the highest DPS meaning the highest overall output.¹　

Starry flatly refused. “No need. I can handle this alone.”

“Damn it, I tried being nice, but you had to make it difficult. Bouncy, Peppy, cover me! Attack!” Birchfall barked.

“Got it!”

At the same time, a blazing Pyrestorm erupted beneath Starry’s feet.

Her HP plummeted rapidly! Magic defense had always been one of Starry’s greatest weaknesses. Standing within the Pyrestorm, she was losing nearly 1,000 HP per second!

One of the mages looked on in disbelief. ‘She’s got over 3,000 HP?! That barely took a third of it! Whatever, just keep her in there and she’s done for.’

After all, he had invested all his points into Intelligence. It was no surprise his Pyrestorm dealt such high damage. And that wasn’t the end of it, a Flameburst was already flying straight toward Starry and the swordsman charged at her with a vicious glint in his eyes.

That was when Starry finally moved. Her Wraithfire Boots carried her in a straight line to the right, each step treading on the burning ground before she made a light leap, escaping the Pyrestorm’s area of effect and avoiding the Flameburst entirely.

‘That level 20 mage is too dangerous. He has to go first!’ With that thought, the Autumn Moon Sword was already poised to unleash Frenzied Blade. Invisible sword energy surged forth, ripping through the air before slamming into its mark.

In an instant, much of her lost HP was restored. With the mage’s HP being less than 2,000, how could he possibly withstand such a devastating blow? He was sent straight back to town.

Birchfall’s face went pale. He had been mentally prepared, but he had not expected the gap in attack power to be this overwhelming!

Since the arrow was already nocked, there was no turning back. Birchfall thought to himself that such a frenzied attack could not be used multiple times in quick succession. This was his chance.

The swordsman’s movements suddenly became lightning-fast. He strode forward in large steps, closing the gap to Starry and striking while she was still in the follow-through of her last attack.

**Swish, swish, swish!**

Unlike the Frenzy Triple Slash, Triple Strike was a signature skill that level 20 swordsmen could learn. It unleashed three consecutive slashes, each dealing 70% of base damage, and under the system’s guidance, all three blows landed in an instant.

In other words, the target would be forced to take 210% total damage in a single moment. On top of that, one of the strikes had even triggered the gauntlet’s Huge Power bonus.

“Heh!” A sharp grin tugged at Birchfall’s lips as his confidence surged and his blade swept outward.

Triple Strike’s glow flashed across Starry, and three pitiful damage numbers floated up. Birchfall stared in disbelief. Negative one? Forced minimum damage? Ridiculous. With his attack power, each slash should have dealt over a hundred damage even to the strongest knights.

Starry regained her composure and frowned. ‘His reaction speed is frightening; he caught the opening in my skill’s recovery instantly. If my physical defense weren’t so high, that could have been dangerous.’

Still, since he had struck first and put himself in PvP status, she no longer needed to hold back.

“Icy Moon Slash!” Starry’s crisp shout rang out as frost power coated the Autumn Moon Sword and swept toward Birchfall.

The swordsman was still reeling from his failed strike, looking stunned, yet his body moved on its own.

**Clang!**

Their blades clashed, and he managed to block the strike, yet the damage was still absurdly high. Blue elemental frost spread across his body, and in the blink of an eye, Birchfall was encased in a massive block of ice.

The two priests panicked and hurried to heal him. One of the level 20 priests cast Purify, melting the ice instantly and freeing him once more.

Terror flashed across Birchfall’s face. ‘What kind of busted attack power is this? How is anyone supposed to play like this?’ Still, he was certain that after using two finishers back-to-back, she couldn’t possibly have another killing move ready.

A Mana Surge silently streaked toward Starry’s face. Unfortunately for them, Zane had already seen it through the eyes of the Gray Wolf.

With her movement speed skyrocketing, Starry simply turned her body and slipped past the incoming attack.

The swordsman immediately aimed at her exposed back, charging up a Heavy Slash. Birchfall was convinced that the earlier pitiful damage must have been due to her hidden class having some special defense skill. This time, he was sure it would work.

Too bad for him, while under Thousand Flash Steps, Starry’s speed increased yet again after evading an attack. His calculations were wrong. She narrowly sidestepped the Heavy Slash, the sword edge grazing her back as it cut through the air, registering only a miss.

Zane, naturally, would not let this chance go to waste. With a swift turn, Starry appeared behind Birchfall, and the Autumn Moon Sword came crashing down on the swordsman’s unguarded back.

Birchfall’s eyes widened in disbelief before his body dissolved into white light and vanished.

“You should leave.” The cold, clear voice cut through the air.

The remaining mage immediately understood Starry’s intention, she didn’t want her PvP status to deepen.

“Let’s go!” If five of them together couldn’t beat her, there was no point in staying.

The Gray Wolf Alpha watched the scene unfold. “Heavens… child, your pet is practically the reincarnation of a war god!”

“…”

Birchfall… that man was truly powerful. In terms of reaction speed, he was almost on par with MrFixIt. And yet, Zane had never even heard of him before… Perhaps it really was better to keep a low profile.