Mia entered the Mini-Masters Lounge, ignoring the familiar sign stating that this venue was only for level 1 players with at least three attributes over level 50.

She weaved through the floor with mostly teenagers, sitting around tables and commenting at the holograms on them.

Occasionally, someone nodded at her, and she returned the greeting.

Mia said Hello to an old mate who was chatting up a blond girl. He turned his back on her, pretending not having seen her.

In the past, she had helped him with several quests. He was charming, and she hadn't been used to the attention of charismatic boys. She had felt flattered and was glad to help.

In the kiddie lounges, she couldn't have entered the main area before being swarmed by people she thought were her friends. Many of the same people changed to the adult server at the same time. But now they ignored her. In their eyes, her career had ended because of working for a babysitter clan.

Mia was still learning the lesson about fickle friends. It bothered her, but you wouldn't see it on her face. She held her head high and continued to the tables at panorama windows. They implicitly were reserved for the highest rankers.

She planned to get an empty seat, but Little Immortal waved her over to his table.

Little Immortal excluded the aura of a champion. He was young, good looking, had a great smile, and easy-going confidence. Opposite to the cretin who ignored her, he had the skills to back up his attitude.

On his table sat SupremeArcher Focus, who was his polar opposite. His face sported a never-ending frown, and he seemed to be uncomfortable wherever he was.

While Little wore his white dyed hair in cornrows close to his head, SAF's black long hair was braided in a mixture of Legolas' and ancient Chinese style. The only characteristic they had in common was they both were of Chinese descent.

A blond girl with a doll-like face and her ice elemental had joined them. Mia knew her too. Poppy McLaughter was the currently highest ranked ex-kiddie in baby PvP at place 32.

"Hey, Mia. You look like you are ready to fight." Little said, grinning.

"That's right. Are you up for it?" Mia replied.

"You first have to go through me," SAF stated. He ranked 137 as opposed to Little's position at 54.

Mia, who ranked 146, nodded and challenged him. Both vanished from the venue and appeared in the arena.

The match was short and brutal. Mia's plasma guns shredded the guy before he could shoot his first arrow. He vanished during her salvo, but Mia's batticle whirled around with its sword extended. The massive claymore hit him out of stealth. One shield bash and two sword-strikes later, Mia finished him off.

Back in the lounge, the other teens jeered.

"Something is different about your batticle, right?" Little asked.

"Yeah. I've fused the guns and the main system."

"Wow. Nice, I didn't think you would find someone in your new clan who can make modifications on such a level. " Poppy seemed to realize she broached a delicate subject. "I mean, nothing against your clan. But usually, the big clans hoard this knowledge."

"You don't have to be polite, Poppy. We all know Mia's clan is crap." SAF drawled. "I wouldn't be able to work for someone or respect them if I knew my skills are superior to them. My bosses are better than me at gaming, and I like it that way."

"Yeah, well. But are you a better player than the mother of your boss?" Mia asked. She was tired of the constant belittling of her clan.

The others looked at her, uncomprehending.

"The mother of the clan leader modified my batticle, and she defeated me in a drone match."

"Alright, the first part I can believe, but the last part? Has she a higher level than you?" Little said.

"She is level 1, and she used a robot against two of my drones."

The teenagers yelled various versions of "I don't believe you.". Mia just smirked and shrugged.

"If your clan had such a pro, it wouldn't be ranked in the 30ks." SAF insisted.

"Look again at the rankings. She only joined the game one week ago but is already a champion."

The teenagers laughed.

"Now, you exaggerated too much and lost even the tiny bit of credibility you had." Poppy said.

"Bleep! I just opened the rankings. Her bleeping clan rose to the 10ks. Shit, at least some of it has to be true." SAF cursed.

The heads wiped around to Mia, who shrugged again. But on the inside, she cursed her loose lips. She had painted a target on Auntie's back. Sure, the teens were longtime companions, but now they were in different clans and had diverging loyalties.

"Guys, I haven't even gotten to the crazy parts. I don't know if I even should talk about it. I'm afraid of your sanity. Mine definitely suffered on the days I had contact with her."

"Oh, please, please, please," Poppy exclaimed while Little employed his weapon graded puppy eyes.

Only SAF rolled his eyes and said: "Sanity is overrated."

"She is just a sweet old lady with a knack for engineering and never played a game before. Yesterday, I explained to her what the glowing things on the floor are."

Poppy and SAF looked at her and the floor.

"Traps?" Little speculated.

"Rune-Schemes?"

"Loot?" SAF guessed.

The Poppy and Little laughed at him for even suggesting it but then noticed Mia nodding.

"Right. She thought it was either dangerous or wondered why bosses were clumsy enough to drop their things."

The teenagers cracked up.

Mia felt horrible for badmouthing auntie. Her only hope was it would lead them to underestimate her.

In the next few hours, Mia fought her way up the ladder. She broke into the top 100 around noon and took a lunch break.

People came and went to chat with Little and Poppy. First, Mia envied them, but then she decided to use the opportunity.

'I will rise again to the top even if I have to haul the clan on my back. Good to find out who my real friends are.'

She cataloged how the visitors treated her. If it was an old battle mate who suddenly didn't remember her, they went to the 'Never-Ever-Give-A-Shit-Again'-list.

At the moment, Frogger chatted with Little. Albeit a pet fanatic and underrated by the community, he was one of the most successful solo players on the kiddie server. He adored amphibians and could summon an army of frogs.

They had adventured a lot together in the low levels, but Mia had to admit she lost sight of him when she had gotten more successful. Now, she asked herself if she had treated him like the others currently dealt with her.

She rejected the idea. The problem was more about his preferred location, far away from civilization and teleportation circles. One time she helped him with a world boss and needed 4 hours just to get there.

"Hey, Mia. How's your Hero’s Entrance coming along? I have a nice virgin HI3 to trade." He asked her grinning. His wide mouth was getting even more distended.

"Pretty good. I did it yesterday, got a HI3, too." Mia felt relieved he bore no ill-will against her. "But, you know how it is, I have to adhere to clan policy. I'll ask my boss if he is willing to pay for your info, though."

"My clan will pay max. Sell it to me, pal." Little suggested.

Mia gritted her teeth. Little joined the junior clan of one of the Big Three, the DragonDescendants. Not only did their coffers burst with money, but every big clan also had an extra budget for acquiring info about the location of hard mode instances.

Just when Mia wanted to negotiate, a gong sounded.

Immediately, the room quieted down, and all eyes focused on the entrance.

The Mini-Master Lounge only allowed players to enter who had at least three attributes over level 50 and were Level 1. For every attribute over level 100, a gong would chime to announce the arrival of the big shot.

Mia had only heard rumors about it from some of the older guys but never witnessed the sound. They had complained it had been annoying before the TTS (Training Time Suppression) and much too rare afterward.

To Mia's chagrin, Auntie Flo in her shabby mech-suit and accompanied by an octopus appeared. She stifled a groan. 'So much for understating her prowess.'

The older woman smiled at the silent crowd and waved. "No need to roll out the red carpet, dears. I'm just looking for my B2B-Teacher−this is the wrong word, not business to business. Hmm, something with the word 'player'." The auntie mused audible to the crowd. "I know! I meant P2P!"

Snickering and whispering, the audience couldn't remove their gazes from Auntie Flow.

Unperturbed, she made a beeline for Mia, who was conflicted about shrinking into her seat or sitting even more straight. Like usual, she just didn't act at all.

Not until Flora started waving at her and the attention of the room shifted to Mia, she stood up and guided the engineer in an empty private booth while pulling a baffled Frogger with her.

"Well, auntie. That was an entrance," said Mia while activating the privacy feature. A one-way transparent screen shimmered, and they were safe from prying eyes and ears. "May I introduce you to Frogger. He is an old mate and has a virgin HI3 to sell."

Frogger waved awkwardly, and Flora introduced herself.

"What is a HI3, dear? Nothing infectious, I hope. If it's a virgin, it's at least not a sexual-transmitted disease."

Mia explained HI3 stood for Hard-Mode Instance for three players. Virgin referred to the fact nobody had discovered the instance before.

In an unexplored dungeon, the buyer and their clanmates could fill the leaderboards. Every mini-master worth their salt could solo a Cradle HI3, and the weaker ones could group. There was a separate leaderboard for 1-player, 2-players, and 3-players and three more leaderboards for squeezed players. Those are high-level players who got their level reduced because of zone-limitations.

Cradle-HI3s were one of the easiest ways to accumulate points for the clan ranking. Although virgins were rare, they benefited the clan more than ranks in regular instances.

While Mia talked, Little with the other two hot on his heels, hammered against the barrier and pantomimed he wanted to join.

"They offered Frogger 1000 VirDos for the information. I believe we should match the price." Mia was unsure how she could hint Auntie should buy it without revealing the financial troubles of the clan in front of an outsider.

"Sure, dear. I'll match the offer. Can I do anything for you to tilt the scale in our direction?" Auntie Flow asked Frogger.

Mia was relieved she was quick on the uptake. Her respect for the woman grew another notch.

"We should let our competitors in to join the negotiation, sweetie. Additionally, it's not fair to hold the poor boy hostage." The auntie addressed her.

Her elation sank. 'How could you be so naive at that age? You have to press every advantage life grants you.'

But the auntie had the money, and Mia figured, enough experience to give her method a try. Therefore, Mia opened the screen without rebutting.

Losing no time, they entered. The small booth got cramped.

"Great move, Mia, snatching the dealer in the middle of the negotiation." Little said good-naturedly.

"You have no right to accuse others of stealing. Frogger offered the HI3 to me, and you tried to snatch it," stated Mia, keeping emotions out of her voice.

"Oh, yes, right." Little scratched his head and grinned sheepishly at her. Mia knew he tried to use his weaponized cuteness. Nonetheless, she had a hard time resisting it.

Finally, Frogger woke up from his stupor.

"Sorry, guys. I just wanted to adventure a bit with Mia. The instance reminded me of one we had explored together."

"How sweet of you, dear. Of course, we still insist on paying you for it, irrespective of your date." The grinning Flora turned to Mia and waggled her eyebrows.

'Calmness, please stay with me. Sanity, please stay with me.' Mia chanted the familiar lines silently. She had to use them a lot in the company of the aunty.

Auntie Flow closed the deal without further input from her, while Frogger promised the Dragon Descendants to consider them for his next discovery.

All parties were satisfied except for Mia, who was pondering whether Auntie had used her like a honey trap. She was perfectly happy with her love life staying like it was, non-existent.