"Whoa, what the heck happened to you?!"

As soon as we enter the Force Blade HQ's crafting hall, we look at ourselves in a mirror used to preview their newly-made equipment. Not only did both Kazu and I find our skins slightly paler than usual, but both of us have dark circles under our eyes. Not to mention that we're a bit sluggish as we try to keep our feet up as long as possible. Figures considering what we've just been through earlier.

"Yeah, did you guys fell in a well or something?" Arthur asks as I hear him laughing behind my back. Of course, I quickly glare at him as I growl like an irate dog.

"NOT. A. WORD. ARTHUR."

I know I sound like an angry bull or a bully to him, but I'm still frustrated over the aftermath. It didn't help that we see Star and Annie coming in behind us.

"Hey, is Ol' Wally here?" Star called out as she passes by. "I was hoping that h- What the hell happened to you two?!"

"You guys look awful. Did something attack you?"

Even with Annie's sheepish concern over us, Kazu just groans in dismay.

"Sorry. It's just that we kind of got in over our heads..."

I agree. And all because we decided to wander through a dungeon that was supposed to be too tough for a party of 2.

So let's backtrack a little bit here. After we logged back into the game, we decided to try leveling up a bit more in preparation for the upcoming [Monarch of Light] expansion. We’d just heard that the [Force Blade] guild cleared a dungeon called the a few days before and we decided to go there to train, thinking that they managed to clear most of the tough monsters after that. Oh, how wrong we were.

For the first 30 minutes, we managed to grind up enough [EXP] to level up some of our [Masteries] until Kazu excitingly encountered a rare monster called a [Hare Sprinter].

"[Hare Sprinter]?" I asked while I turned to peek at the pink rabbit nibbling on a leaf. "I don't see what's so rare about it from its appearance alone."

"That's because they are known to be the fastest, dodgiest monsters around here."

"Don't you mean "nimble"?

Kazu groaned in response to my correction before he glared at the rabbit like a starving wolf, which was a bit shocking to see him like this. "According to the forums and wiki, beating it will not only grant us huge [EXP] and [Lapi], but there's a chance for us to get rare materials and equipment!"

So not only could we get more [EXP] and a large sum of [Lapi], but we could get rare items as well?! Damn, talk about giving us a monster with limitless options to its loot. If we got pieces of equipment and materials we can use, we could craft some amazing weapons and armor! And if we couldn't use them, we can just sell them. Man, I'm being selfish here, but that sounded a bit enthralling.

"Interesting. Well, sign me up," I said as I pulled out my bow and arrow. "Stay here. I'll see if I can ambush that little sucker in."

With the [Stealth] skill activated, I quietly tip-toed closer to the rabbit and pulled the string back as I aimed my bow and arrow at it. From this position, I knew it would give me a high chance of a critical hit. However, I had made a mistake. As soon as I released the bowstring, the rabbit suddenly left and before I could react, the arrow hit a giant black shell behind.

"Oh, sh-," I quickly held my tongue before I could finish saying the word out loud. I used [Stealth] beforehand, so it shouldn't able to detect me so easily. But before I could wonder why, I noticed the black shell started to move. And as soon as it rose from the ground, I fully realized my grand mistake.

"Wind, what are you doing?!" I heard Kazu calling out to me as his voice got closer until I heard him from behind. "The [Hare Sprinter] is getting..."

"Run."

"Huh? Did I say something?"

Without any thought, I turned to Kazu and pushed him away from the shell as it turned towards our direction.

"RUN!!!!"

As we ran away, the "shell" started to chase us! According to my [Investigate] skill, that thing I’d accidentally hit was a monster called a [Link Ant]. Not only it has some resistance to the [Masteries] we're currently using, but it could call up its allies to gather and attack us as an army! At this point, our only option was to retreat, but...

"Wind, wait!"

I quickly stopped when I noticed him tightening his grip around my wrist.

"Stop dawdling, Kazu!" I screamed as I tried to pull him away to continue running. "If we don't get out of here, we're dead!"

"But if we do, every player nearby will be! Look!"

When I turned to where Kazu was pointing, I gasped upon seeing several players outside the forest hunting and chatting with their party. He's right. Those ants were very aggressive and there was no way they could survive if we ran. And while I didn't like our current reputation so far, I didn't want them to get killed because of our mistake.

"Damn it, those things are giving us a lose-lose situation!" I seriously didn't like this one bit, but we had no choice if we didn't want any of the players killed. So I pulled out my sword and prepared myself as Kazu did the same with his staff. I would’ve asked him to escape, but due to us being bound by the [Guardian Player] system, I instead said to him, "Kaz, you better not hold back against those pests! It's a matter of life and death in this game."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to stay on the sidelines like last time. Let's teach them not to mess with us in the first place!"

"Well, I did provoke them, but good enough. Let's go!"

Of course, after a while, we ended up being overwhelmed and ended up dead in the forest before we woke up back in .

After we explain everything, everyone stares at us in concern and shock as we sit down next to a blacksmith station to rest.

"Damn, I heard the monsters in are ruthless to unprepared players. But I didn't expect how savage they did to you two," Star comments, clearly concerned about us.

"Yeah. You should try to check that off from your [Isekai] to-do list: Getting the first death in a VR death and survived."

Tch... Just hearing that makes me want to smack Arthur's head. But I'm too weak to do so and thankfully, Razul manages to smack him in my place. I don't care if it's just a joke of his. We just died from those ants and I don't want him mocking our situation right now.

"I'm just glad you two are alive. But I'm still confused why you two look like zombies," Annie wonders as she slightly backs away from us, which is understandable.

"I can explain that bit." Arthur then stands up and approached us as he crossed his arms like some kind of a noir detective. "You see, while you can still revive like in any other game, there is a system called a [Death Penalty] that discourages anyone from jumping into the fray after their revival. A temporary debuff that halves their [Masteries] and stats, slow [EXP] growth, and a chance it may decrease one of your [Masteries] by one. If some idiot tries to fight without waiting for the penalty to disappear, let's just say there will be more penalties await for them."

As soon as I see her shiver after his explanation, I initially wanted to smack him to stop him from traumatizing her, but again, I have no power to argue mentally or physically. Besides, he's right. We took the risk and played it poorly. Heck, when he mentions our [Mastery] level being decreased, I quickly check on my stats for a bit. As he said, both them and my [Masteries] have halved, but I can't seem to know if it really decreased. I guess waiting should give me the full results of our misadventure.

"That's terrible! How long does their penady last?"

"That's "pe-nal-ty" and don't worry about it." I then notice Razul step forward next and said, "It should be gone in about an hour or two depending on the level of the monster they fought. We figured that out thanks to Arthur's many deaths during our adventures together, especially the incident in the ."

"Dude, that was supposed to be secret!"

He quickly smacks Razul on the back, at which we laugh at their crazy antics while they briefly argue about it.

"Well, since those ants have the same level as ours, I think it might end in those times," I guess. "But even with that timer, I doubt I have enough mental fortitude to get back to the forest."

"But the expansion will be released in a few weeks by now," Star reminds us. "How will you guys be able to prepare for it?"

She's right. Even if we do recover, there is still the dilemma regarding our current [Masteries] and skills so far along with those annoying [Link Ants] wandering around the . We find ourselves a few seconds of silence as I quietly hum in thought. That is until...

"Isn't it obvious? We're going to upgrade and teach those insect bullies a lesson!" Kazu narrows his tired eyes as he stands up and slams her hand onto the table. "We've already collected enough rare materials from the money we earned from our potions, we can just make new weapons and beat them up once we see them again!"

New weapons? Yeah, why didn't I think of that? Guess even my brother has some ideas that might turn this defeat around.

"Wait, are you sure about that? What about your [Death Penalty]?" Annie speaks up in concern to Kazu.

"Don't worry. The crafting [Masteries] debuffs expire in just 10-20 minutes since most of them don't involve injuring themselves through other means," Razul assures her, much to my surprise. "But she's right, though. I get you to want to make a stronger weapon, but is it easier for you two to pick a new [Mastery] for you two to use without giving up your respective fighting styles?"

"No, it's not enough! Sure, we lost because most of my magic [Masteries] didn't make one dent on their [HP]. But I want to make a staff that not only enhances one of them just like my [Plasma Staff] did to [Thunder]! And I know just the thing!" With that, Kazu rushes up the stairs and shouts, "Tell the guild leader that I'll be borrowing one of the stations upstairs!"

With that, he's gone, leaving me still humming in thought.

"Um... Wind, aren't you going to stop him?" I can hear Star asking me that in a sheepish tone. "I mean, there is a chance that he might blow up part of the crafting hall again."

"I would. But I'll worry about him later. Right now, I'm going to see what I can do with my weapons. Besides..." I then turn around and smirk as I narrow my eyes. "Those pests and that rabbit will pay for getting us in this state in the first place!"

With that, I leave to go to one of the stations. If we want revenge, we have some crafting to do.

Wind's Masteries (Halved due to the Death Penalty)

[Archery] Level 19 (Currently 9)

[Woodcrafting] Level 9 (Currently 4)

[Swordsmanship] Level 18 (Currently 9)

[Cooking] Level 9 (Currently 4)

[Wind] Level 16 (Currently 8)

[Physical Enhancement] Level 17 (Currently 8)

[Hunting] Level 15 (Currently 7)

[Blacksmithing] Level 6 (Currently 3)

Kazu's Masteries (Halved due to the Death Penalty)

[Arcana] Level 20 (Currently 10)

[Thunder] Level 18 (Currently 9)

[Wind] Level 15 (Currently 7)

[Alchemy] Level 18 (Currently 9)

[Magecrafting] Level 11 (Currently 5)

[Magical Affinity] Level 19 (Currently 9)

[Scribe] Level 4 (Currently 2)

As she, Annie, Razul, and Arthur watched both of the Palmer brothers went off to their separate ways, the youngest player then asked, "Umm... I can't believe I'm saying this, but they are a bit scary with those dark circles on their eyes."

"I agree..." Star asked. "Don't tell me... Those two..."

"Yeah," Arthur quickly answered. "Looks like those [Link Ants] also hurt their pride and sanity a bit."

Razul sighed at this and said, "Guess the penalty isn't the only debuff they are suffering right now."