"Idiot! Get up and attack!" Silica shouted anxiously as she saw the spider turning toward Madoka. At the same time, she ordered her pet dragon to strike.
"Uuuu... Madoka's legs feel weak... I can't stand..." The spider's fangs lunged toward Madoka's head. But Silica's little dragon, Pina, was faster—her Ice Sword sliced through the spider, sending it back to respawn.
"So useless!" Behind a large tree, two men handed the recording crystal containing everything they'd just witnessed to the Titan's Hand guild master, Rosalia.
"A +20 weapon in her hands is like pearls cast before swine," said Dark Greed coldly.
Dark and Bloodmoon—two brothers in the real world—had both joined the orange-named guild Titan's Hand, drawn by their greedy, opportunistic nature.
"Silica, can we go back now? Madoka's scared..." Kneeling on the ground, tears welling in her eyes, Madoka looked pitiful enough to melt anyone's heart. Silica almost agreed right away.
But she quickly shook her head and said, "Madoka, we just got here. Besides, the spiders aren't even dangerous. You stab it once, I'll finish it off. If we work together, we can kill them easily."
"Really?" Madoka blinked, her pure, wine-red eyes filled with innocent curiosity. Their beauty was almost intoxicating—Silica nearly lost herself staring into them.
"Really!" Silica nodded firmly, face reddening slightly as she turned away. What's wrong with me? Why can't I look her in the eye?
The two began working together to hunt spiders. Just as Silica said, they killed them effortlessly. The first day, Madoka was excited. The second day, she seemed uninterested. By the third day, before they even began, Madoka already looked gloomy and restless.
"Silica... Madoka wants to go home..." she muttered sadly.
"Come on, don't be like that. Your sister will come for you soon." Seeing Madoka so downhearted made Silica inexplicably sad too. She just wanted to cheer her up somehow.
"How about today we skip monster hunting and just take a walk?" Silica suggested gently. After spending three nights together, she had grown unexpectedly attached to Madoka. More than leveling up, she just wanted to stay by her side.
"Bunny! Madoka wants to go home!" Madoka suddenly crouched down.
"Bunny? There are no bunnies in this game..." Silica turned her head in confusion—only to see Madoka crouching before a small white rabbit with red eyes, reaching out to poke its head.
"Don't touch it! That's a Berserk Blood Rabbit!" Silica's warning came too late. Madoka's finger had already tapped the rabbit's forehead. She looked up at Silica, puzzled.
"Dodge!" Silica screamed, rushing toward her. Berserk Blood Rabbits were fragile, yes—but their attack power was terrifying. They could one-shot players of the same level. Many had died to their deceptively cute appearance.
Madoka's going to get killed... Panic and regret overwhelmed Silica. Tears welled up in her eyes. She's going to die... that airheaded, sweet-scented, soft, warm Madoka... she's going to die because of me... because I didn't warn her sooner...
The blood-red glow flared around the rabbit's body. It leapt high and slammed into Madoka's chest. Silica's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Bang! The Blood Rabbit struck Madoka's chest. Silica's vision went blank.
"Ouch! Bunny's so mean!" Madoka fell backward, clutching her chest with a pained expression. All I did was tap its head—why'd it have to headbutt me?!
"You're okay!" Silica gasped, sweat dripping from her face as her sight focused again.
Madoka's HP bar was still full green.
And then, the Blood Rabbit that had attacked her disintegrated into glowing fragments and vanished.
"Damage reflection?! Don't tell me Madoka's armor is divine-grade too!" Silica stared blankly at her, her brain struggling to process it.
"Silica, why are you crying? Did Madoka do something wrong?" Madoka hurried over and gently wiped away Silica's tears with her fingers.
"Waaah..." Silica suddenly threw her arms around Madoka, crying uncontrollably, her face pale with lingering fear. "Madoka, I'm so glad you're okay..."
Madoka's usually dazed expression softened. She gently stroked Silica's head with one hand and patted her back softly with the other, comforting her over and over again.
"Why are you suddenly being so gentle... that's not like you at all, Madoka," Silica said between sniffles after crying for a long while.
"Hehe, whenever Madoka cries, big sister comforts Madoka just like this," Madoka replied with a pure, innocent smile. For a moment, she seemed like Inori playing the role of Madoka's mysterious older sister.
"Really? You must have such a kind sister, Madoka." Silica smiled faintly. Madoka nodded proudly. Having such a gentle sister—Inori's really lucky to have me, she seemed to think.
"By the way, Madoka, can I take a look at your equipment? The Berserk Blood Rabbit attacked you, but not only did you take no damage—it got reflected and killed itself!" Silica asked curiously.
"Mm!" Madoka nodded and generously opened her equipment stats. Hidden nearby, Dark and Bloodmoon immediately activated their recording crystal to capture everything.
"Thorn Armor +25. Divine-grade enhancement. Reduces incoming damage by 80%, and reflects 50% of the pre-reduction damage."
"Holy crap!" The two Titan's Hand members swore under their breath. So if you deal 100 damage, she only takes 20—and you take 50 instead?!
"Saint's Belt +18. Divine-grade enhancement. Restores 500 HP per second. Can stack with skill effects."
"So you weren't unharmed earlier—you just healed to full HP in one second!" Silica realized instantly. Every player had a base HP regen rate, and skills could double that rate. If the Saint's Belt stacked with those, then Madoka's recovery speed had to be at least 1,000 HP per second!
"Madoka, you're basically invincible," Silica said in shock. With that setup, she could walk through a mob of monsters without losing a single hit point.
"Madoka, defense and damage reduction are calculated separately. Check your system log—see how much damage the Blood Rabbit actually dealt to you." Following Silica's suggestion, Madoka opened her system messages.
"The Berserk Blood Rabbit's base attack power is triple that of regular monsters—300. Its Bloodlust Strike deals 10x damage, meaning 3,000. That's why it can one-shot players. If it lands a critical hit, even a tank would die instantly."
"Silica, the bunny did 33 damage to me," Madoka said blankly.
"Wha—" Silica froze, then abruptly dropped to her knees before Madoka. "I kneel before you! You're not just invincible—you're destined to rule this entire game!"
"Kneel... total divine gear... minimum +18 across the board..." Dark and Bloodmoon both fell to their knees as well, trembling in awe. Even rich players can't compare! Is this game her private property or what?!
"Silica, do you want one? I can give you a piece," Madoka said casually, her tone as innocent as ever.
"Wha—give me one?!" Silica was stunned. Any one of those items could cause players to kill each other. And yet Madoka offered it so casually. For some reason, Silica's heart felt warm.
"But only one! These were all gifts from my sister, so Madoka has to treasure them properly," Madoka said seriously, her eyes sincere. It was as if she were saying, Because it's from my sister, I can only give you one.
"No... giving away something your sister gave you isn't right. She must really love you, Madoka. Don't do anything that would make her sad," Silica replied with a gentle smile, shaking her head. Despite how tempting the gear was, she didn't dare accept it.
Somehow, Silica felt that if she accepted Madoka's gift, she'd lose the right to stay by her side. Just that thought made the divine gear seem dull—unworthy of her attention.
"Idiot... fool... moron..." The hidden brothers cursed her silently ten thousand times over. Such a heaven-sent opportunity, and you're walking away from it? Unbelievable! This wasn't a decision any normal person could make.
"We should message the guild master about this," Bloodmoon said nervously, trembling as he touched the message crystal. He felt a chill run down his spine—like he was about to leak a world-shaking secret.
"Are you stupid? We can't tell anyone else about this," Dark hissed, grabbing his brother's hand.
"Big bro... you mean..." Bloodmoon's eyes widened, glinting with greed.
"Think about it. With this set of equipment, we'd be unstoppable. Why share it with anyone?" Dark said firmly, his eyes gleaming with a mix of greed and killing intent.
"But what about the guild master and the others? They're orange-named players—they've killed people before..." Bloodmoon said uneasily. Titan's Hand was notorious for its cruelty.
"Then we'll go all the way!" Dark made a throat-slitting gesture. Bloodmoon shivered—but then nodded grimly in agreement.
"Stay here and keep watch. I'll make preparations. We can't use brute force against the guild master and her group." With that, Dark vanished into the shadows.
Meanwhile, Madoka was crouching in front of a large snake, repeatedly apologizing.
"I'm sorry! I'm just passing by! Please don't be mad!" Her hands covered her head in a perfect crouch-defense pose.
Bloodmoon's entire body trembled with fury. "For fuck's sake! You're decked out in full god-tier gear—and you're apologizing to a snake, saying, 'Sorry, I'm just passing by!' Can you be any more useless?!"