"A thief with 2,900 HP, a swordsman with 4,400 HP..." Cappuccino couldn’t help but sigh. "Their gear is seriously good."

After a long pause, he swallowed and added, "Could you two please show off the visual effects of your equipment? Don’t be so understated."

Diana smiled faintly. "Stop being silly. Come on, let’s hand out the potions."

She began distributing them, very evenly, three hundred to each person. The warriors received two hundred red potions and one hundred blue, while Bernita received the opposite ratio. All of them were crafted by Nimi dwarf artisans. They couldn’t be bought on the open market.

The Nimi dwarves were the crafting class of Realms Online, but they differed from ordinary crafters.

Thanks to their high physique and strength, combined with their ability to wield warhammers and wear chainmail, they had genuinely powerful attack output, making them a combat-oriented crafting class.

Their leveling curve was similar to regular players. The downside was that choosing the class meant a significant reduction in height, which most players found aesthetically unappealing. On top of that, their gathering skills consumed enormous amounts of mana, making the early game expensive, so most casual players didn’t even consider rolling a Nimi dwarf.

The ability to craft potions came from the Combat Artisan profession, which Nimi dwarves unlocked at Level 10.

At that stage, they could only master one main crafting skill, alchemy, blacksmithing for metal and chainmail armor, tailoring for leather and cloth, cooking, weaponsmithing, or jewelcrafting, and train it to its highest possible level.

Large teams like Sword Song obviously had no shortage of combat artisans. And more of them practiced alchemy than any other skill, since equipment could simply be looted from monsters and bosses in the wild.

Cappuccino, one of the core members of the Reincarnation team, frowned when he saw the potions. "These cost more than twenty silver coins per bottle. And you’re handing out this many. Sister Diana, you’ve really gone above and beyond."

"I just hope we clear the challenge on the first try. I haven’t done a D3 quest before either."

Don pointed eastward. "Let’s move out. Five kilometers, it’ll take us a while."

The six of them headed east. Lily stayed close to Don the whole way, glancing at Diana ahead of them every so often, and finally murmured, "This older sister is so pretty. What’s your relationship with her? You’re not in some kind of younger-man-older-woman thing, are you?"

Don pinched her cheek without ceremony. "Little girl, you really want a beating, don’t you? Stop spreading rumors about me." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

But Diana had overheard. The beautiful older woman turned and chuckled. "Little one, I thought you were Don’s girlfriend."

"Ah, sister, you heard? Sorry, I was just being nosy."

"It’s fine. I was gossipy at your age too."

"Sister, that’s not right. You’re still young."

"Not young anymore. Almost thirty."

"Sister, you only look two or three years older than me."

"You’re really good at sweet-talking, Don. By the way, how old are you this year?"

"Twenty-three."

"And you, little girl?"

"Nineteen."

"I’m twenty-seven already. No wonder I feel old looking at you young people."

A jolt ran through Don. Sister Owen was four years older than him, which would also make her twenty-seven. Seeing Diana reminded him of her.

Over the years, although her face had grown blurry in his memory, he had never forgotten her kindness. If he ever got the chance to see her again, he would absolutely rekindle that bond.

In the past few years, especially the three years he’d been working, several girls had confessed to him. But deep down, he had always longed to find someone like Sister Owen.

The girls around him were too spoiled, too arrogant. He could take care of someone, no question about that. But he just didn’t like princesses who threw tantrums at him over nothing. That was why he was still single.

Still, there was nothing wrong with that. These past few years had been fulfilling enough.

Lost in thought, the path beneath his feet gradually shortened, and a chilling wind swept across the road. According to the map, the Forest of Strange Sounds lay just ahead.

It was nighttime in Realms Online, and the jungle ahead was pitch black, so dark you couldn’t see your own hand in front of your face.

He had only taken a few steps forward when he felt an invisible force pulling him inward, and the familiar chime rang in his ears.

[Does your team wish to enter the Forest of Strange Sounds instance?]

"Oh?" Don was taken aback. "It’s a low-level dungeon?"

His companions looked pleased.

Lily smiled brightly. "Hehe, this is my first time doing a dungeon. But brother, what’s a dungeon?"

Don nearly spat blood. "Lily, you can be even more of a newbie. You don’t even know what a dungeon is?"

Lily looked aggrieved. "Stinky brother, what’s with that face? What’s wrong with not knowing? This is my first online game, okay?"

Diana chimed in. "You old rookie, stop bullying the kid. Come on, Lily, come with me. Let’s ignore him."

Lily made a face at Don and stuck her little pink tongue out. He was at his wit’s end. When this giant loli got going, she was just unbearable.

Bernita smiled and walked forward beside Diana. Don clicked confirm, and several beautiful figures quickly walked past him, their bodies disappearing as if stepping into a huge mirror.

He followed them in. All he felt was darkness in front of his eyes, like he had traveled through time. When he opened his eyes again, a vast forest had appeared before him.

The surrounding trees looked deeply unsettling. Hollow trunks revealed gaping holes that formed terrifying faces.

Lily let out a yelp and clung to Don’s back. "Brother Don!"

He had been fine until her scream nearly gave him a heart attack. "Sigh. Looks like you’ve got a long road ahead of you."

Cappuccino, that scoundrel, chimed in. "Yeah. Realms Online is a fantasy MMORPG. Later on there’ll be zombies, skeletons, ghouls, scythe demons. You’ll definitely be so scared you’ll delete your account."