Chương 12: Uh… I'm Level 8

I'm Level 8 Duskcloud City, Violet Grove. It was the most luxurious community in all of Duskcloud City—rows of opulent villas, every resident either wealthy or powerful. Rosalind Lynn's studio was set up in Villa No. 036.

"Wow, this place is gorgeous!" Lucy's eyes shone as she ran happily around the villa's courtyard.

"Glad you like it." Rosalind smiled. Ryan, beside them, had stayed silent the whole way. Not out of any dissatisfaction with the studio's location—but because he'd all but confirmed that his game attributes had fully synced to the real world. He could plainly feel it: in both strength and speed, he was far above where he'd been before entering the game yesterday.

As things stood, his synchronization had reached only the attribute stage—he had the stats of his bare-geared character, but skills and items hadn't synced yet. Even so, achieving attribute sync at the very start of the game was something he'd never heard of in his last life.

"What are you brooding about? Come help carry things!" Rosalind clapped him on the shoulder.

"I just got out of the hospital and you're already putting me to work?" Ryan came back to himself and smiled wryly.

"You're the only guy here. If not you, then who?" Rosalind pursed her lips.

"Besides, the hospital told me you're fully recovered—so get moving!"

"…Fine." He shrugged and headed out to haul things in. Rosalind had bought a great deal along the way—enough to keep him busy for a while. Half an hour later, he'd finally carried it all inside. But with his attributes synced, he didn't feel the least bit tired; he hadn't even broken a sweat. As time went on, his stats would only grow stronger—and with them, his strength in the real world.

"All right, everyone, living room!" Rosalind pulled out a bullhorn and stood in the middle of the room, calling out tirelessly, each shout louder than the last.

"Stop, stop, stop! Can a person not get a decent night's sleep?" A room on the upper-left floor was the first to open. A woman with curly hair, in a purple slip nightdress, appeared at the railing with bleary eyes, leaning forward—her ample chest pressed against the banister—as she frowned down at the living room.

"Hm? Why'd you bring a guy back?"

"He's a new member of the studio. And so is she!" Rosalind tugged Lucy to her side.

"…?!" The curly-haired woman paused, then rubbed her eyes in disbelief and stared at the faintly smiling Rosalind.

"Roz, have you lost your mind? Bringing home an underage girl, fine—but a man?! Are you serious?" This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Of course I'm serious." Rosalind answered with a straight face.

"What's going on?" Just then, two more girls drifted out of the other upstairs rooms, eyes heavy with sleep.

"Roz brought a man home! Says he's joining the studio!" the curly-haired woman said, frowning.

"What?!" Sure enough, every one of them looked stunned. …

"All right, that's the gist of it. Clear?"

"Fine. Seeing as he saved your life, your sisters will grudgingly let him join the studio." The curly-haired woman in the purple nightdress nodded, glanced at Ryan, and said, "Roz, aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Oh, right—he's Ryan."

"Ryan?" The curly-haired woman blinked, then a sly smile crept across her face.

"As in your Ryan? Your boyfriend?"

"What are you on about?" Rosalind's little face flushed crimson as she shot back, "Ryan's just his *name*—Ryan Gunn! And this little one is Lucy Gunn, his sister!"

"Ahh, I see." Understanding dawned on the curly-haired woman, and her gaze turned to Ryan.

"Even so, let me give you a heads-up: watch out for a man named Edwin Shaw. He's a rabid suitor of Roz's, and the boys who've gotten close to her in the past have all met pretty grim ends. So…"

"Don't worry. I can handle it." Ryan smiled faintly, perfectly at ease. The woman blinked, then sighed.

"Then good luck to you." She gave that warning to every boy who appeared at Rosalind's side, and the answers were mostly like Ryan's—it was the endings that differed.

"I won't let him have his way." Rosalind frowned.

"That's exactly why I founded this studio!" What's all this? Ryan was puzzled. Something told him this matter wasn't as simple as it looked on the surface. All he knew of Edwin Shaw was that, in his last life, the man had betrayed the human race—and that by then, Rosalind and Edwin had been at bitter odds. Why, he didn't know.

"All right, enough of that. Let me introduce you two. This is our eldest, Tessa. And this is our second, Serena Lang." Rosalind gestured to the curly-haired woman, then to the quiet, bespectacled girl with shoulder-length hair beside her.

"Hello, Tessa, Serena!"

"And this is Faye Quinn—the youngest of the four of us, so she's our little fourth sister!"

"Hello, little fourth—""Hold it! Who said I'm the little one? I'm nineteen—how old are you?"

"Eighteen." Ryan rubbed his nose. As it happened, he really was only eighteen now.

"Then you'll call me Big Sister Faye!"

"…Fine. Big Sister Faye."

"That's more like it!" Faye Quinn nodded, satisfied, then turned to Lucy with a gentle voice.

"And how old are you, Lucy?"

"F-fifteen…"

"Don't be scared. With Big Sister Faye looking out for you, no one here will dare bully you!"

"Th-thank you, Big Sister Faye."

"You're welcome! That's what big sisters are for!" Faye beamed. She'd always been the youngest of the sisters, so finding someone even younger to dote on delighted her. At last, she got to be the big sister.

"All right, since everyone's gathered, let's just hold a meeting here." After the niceties, Rosalind settled everyone onto the living-room sofas.

"The game launched yesterday—how's everyone doing? What level are you?"

"I made Level 5. Though I have to say, this game's drop rate is a scam!" Tessa grumbled, frowning.

"You're so good, big sister—I'm only Level 4!" Faye's eyes turned to little stars.

"Level 6." Serena pushed up her glasses.

"I found an area with high monster respawns, so I leveled a bit faster."

"Um… I… I'm only Level 2." Lucy hung her head shyly, feeling she was dragging everyone down.

"Don't be discouraged—Big Sister Faye's got you. Once you're out of the starter village, I'll help you level!"

"…Thank you."

"Ryan, what about you?" Every gaze turned to him as he rubbed his nose. He was the studio's only male member. Score too poorly here, and he might never hold his head up among all these ladies.

"Uh… I'm Level 8." The corner of his mouth curled as he said it, mild as anything.