Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented

[Named Enemy Level 1]

[Level 45 Ancient Golem Minotaurus]

[HP 947,051/8,600,000 (11%)]

Papapapat!

On the body of the Minota, who slammed its horns into the wall and became groggy, my beloved sword ‘Astaroth’ danced.

Sreung, pak!

A white trajectory left a deep scar on the ancient golem’s solid body. The Minota’s HP was rapidly decreasing.

The sword, swirling with a white aura, was drawn back to my waist and soon shot out like a flash together with my body.

Banjjok!

And soon, a straight line, a beam of white light was drawn connecting me and the Minota.

Ooooh—!

Chuk.

Immediately twisting my body back, I reset the cooldown with my bracelet and prepared for the second One Flash. This time, diagonally upwards to the right.

Banjjok!

Papapapak!

Following the trajectory my sword and body passed, the magic stones that made up the Minota’s body split wide open. The destination was above the Minota, in mid-air.

Here, I unlock the power of ‘Astaroth.’

[Unique Ability: Reset All Skill Cooldowns (Reuse Waiting Time 10 minutes)]

Pa-at!

With the cooldown reset, One Flash could be reused.

Twisting my body in mid-air, I gazed at the Minota’s back, who was kneeling, and slashed down from above.

Banjjok!

Ooooohm—!

Kwadeuk! Wurururu.

I shook off the blood from my sword and traded glances with the Minota, now just a pile of rocks.

“Whew.”

I put Astaroth back in its sheath and took a moment to reflect on this fight.

When using shrine weapons, I couldn’t drain all the remaining HP after the last wallop pattern until the groggy state wore off, but the legendary weapon Astaroth made that possible.

Bracelet cooldown reset, Astaroth cooldown reset.

The cooldown reset could happen twice in a row. Truly, the three consecutive One Flashes showed an amazing burst damage.

And the option attached to Astaroth that increases ‘all skill damage by 60%.’ This is added to the One Flash damage as well.

Of course, there are weapons among Elite Dungeon options that increase One Flash damage. But in terms of DPS (Damage Per Second), the option that boosts ‘Moonlight Slash damage’ is more advantageous. Thus, One Flash damage-increasing weapons are not preferred.

Even if the single skill multiplier of the next Elite Dungeon weapon rises to 80%, no, even 100%, Astaroth, which increases all skill damage, is stronger.

While personal attack power or additional damage to players is not of great significance to me, Astaroth was an overpowered weapon with its own attack power and options alone. Just from that Minota fight, I reached a speed close to when I had Chris and Bae Merong with me on the bus run.

Indeed, with a legendary weapon, it looks like I can use this for quite a while.

“Wow…! That was really cool!”

“Whitey—no, Rain! How did you do One Flash three times?”

Amid the tremors of the boss room, the female guests who had gathered in the corner squealed with excitement, approaching me as soon as the Minota collapsed to the ground.

“Ah, um. Astaroth has a cooldown reset, and this also has it.”

I linked the information of the ‘Hammer and Anvil Bracelet’ and showed it to the guests.

[Hammer and Anvil Bracelet]

[Elite]

[Strength +35 Agility +35 Intelligence +35]

[Additional Damage to NPCs +5% (Max Level Magic Stone Enhancement)]

[Unique Ability: Reset All Skill Cooldowns (Reuse Waiting Time 10 minutes)]

A slightly taller female guest clapped her hands in amazement.

“I’ve seen this before! There was someone who got it recently; they found a top-tier magic stone mine and achieved 100 Dwarf Affinity and got it as a reward!”

“Really!? I want one too! I need to consistently do the Dwarf Affinity quests!”

“Looks like you’ve also been diligently doing your affinity quests, Rain?”

“Yes, yes.”

In truth, it was an item I got for free right after entering the Dwarf Village.

After the initial guests, the customers on today’s ‘Rain Safe Bus’ kept coming.

Since there was a rush at the bus door, I didn’t take reservations. I chose my guests.

Mostly older sisters.

For some reason, I preferred older sisters over guys.

Maybe my very faint memories of my past life influenced me.

Women usually like handsome men, but I liked cool older sisters.

Like Sister Chris or someone like her.

But, this was a bit troublesome.

“So small… it’s like a little hand… Can I hold your hand?”

“I want to pat your head!”

“Ahhh! A monster appeared!”

Whoosh.

I pretended to be startled by the monster that jumped out from the dimension gap and increased the distance from the sister trying to get close to me.

“A-are you okay? Please follow behind me.”

As a great bus driver, I needed to attend to my guests.

Still, guests like these were burdensome.

Whirr.

The overly enthusiastic sisters’ bus finally ended.

Returning to the entrance of the Ancient Shrine of Berveia, I sent the guests off and took a breath.

“Ha.”

I let out a sigh and shook my head.

I was more exhausted from the female guests trying to approach me than from the Named.

The dungeon bus was a type of service industry.

I certainly lacked the communication skills needed to work in that field.

I even had a small frame. I would flinch if someone got too close.

Can I really continue this solo bus business?

But still, I needed to earn money. I had to pay Chris back the gold.

Chris said it was fine, but I didn’t feel fine.

While I was repeatedly sighing and writing a promotional post in the local chat,

“Rain~?”

“Wha!?”

I let out a shrill scream.

It was because the voice behind me startled me awake.

My personal radar didn’t go off.

The only person who could slip past my radar and approach me has to be one.

I carefully turned my head to look behind, where the voice came from.

A red-haired, tall beauty Onmyoji. It was Chris.

However, today, Chris’s expression looked slightly upset.

I gulped nervously.

“Uh, sister?”

“Rain. You were running the bus alone?”

“Yes. I need to make some gold.”

Why is Chris’s face like that? Did I do something wrong?

“You should’ve said to run the bus together with me.”

“But you came to work today.”

I slightly puffed out my cheeks.

Why is she asking me when she just went to work?

Chris, with a somewhat worried look, opened an internet window and showed it to me.

“Look at this. It’s a social media site, and there are tons of your pictures uploaded.”

“Gah!”

There were screenshots taken from various angles of me fighting the Named, filled with ‘likes.’

There were even several close-ups taken. They were way more detailed compared to those from a distant shot during the Green Dragon raid.

It even captured my peach fuzz clearly.

It seems one of the guests who rode the bus today was a user on social media.

“Rain, your in-game face looks exactly like your real face, right? It’s fine if it’s in the game, but it could be troublesome if people recognize you while you’re out later.”

“Y-yeah, I guess.”

Chris is worried about me, who tends to feel uncomfortable around strangers.

While I’m not likely to wander around outside in reality as Lee Seulbi, still, it’s not great to have my face exposed so much.

But I can’t give this up; I wouldn’t be able to run the bus otherwise.

Sister, what should I do?

I gave Chris a pleading look.

Receiving my gaze, Chris soon relaxed and chuckled.

“There’s a screenshot restriction feature in the dungeon. The party leader can set it. I’ve always had it turned on whenever I was running the bus with you. Of course, there are external programs, so it can’t be completely blocked, but at least you can express that you don’t want your face to be captured.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Since virtual reality has penetrated into people’s lives to the extent that it resembles reality, there has been a lot of noise regarding people’s virtual selves. Now avatars in the metaverse also have something like portrait rights. Even if a game company wants to use a user’s avatar as a model for an advertisement, they must sign a contract directly.”

That was a bit surprising.

In this future era, even avatars in virtual reality are treated like real people.

Chris cleared her throat and turned away to continue speaking.

“A-hem. Anyway, your face is valuable. You shouldn’t just show it off close-up to anyone.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Chris let out a sigh of relief.

“Haah, because of this, I left work early today. How about we also go shopping together? I can order, but I want to go out with you since it’s been a while.”

“Yes, let’s go shopping together.”

Chris had selected good ingredients to cook for Lee Seulbi’s weak body and cooked for her himself.

Chris was also an excellent cook. I could enjoy the meals she prepared.

We smiled at each other.

Then Chris suddenly seemed to recall something and hurriedly grabbed my shoulder, asking,

“By any chance, was there someone among the guests on the bus today who touched you or patted you!? If that’s the case, tell me right away! I’ll take care of them…!”

“There wasn’t anyone like that.”

There were female users who got quite close, but I avoided them.

I can only accept Chris’s touch. I won’t allow any other women’s touches.

Bae Merong would be a little more acceptable, but.

Still, Chris was more special to me.

I was employed by Chris and currently owed her up to 20,000 gold.

In a way, she could be considered my owner.

I understood why she was worried.

I smiled at Chris to reassure her.

“Because I belong to you, only you can touch me.”

Cough!

Chris clutched her chest.

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