In a lush forest of a rank 5 black boars' nest, an incomplete party of professional players struggled against a herd of muscular hogs. These animals weighed 120-240kg, and were far more aggressive compared to their lesser, wild cousins, often charging in droves.

“I don't know, Bulwark … this doesn't look good to me.”

“Come on, Reckless, put your back to it!”

“I mean, sure, I can tank these … ugh! But what about a couple dozen prowlers? Ugh! And as many alphas?”

“Boss, he's right!” Azure Firmament shouted from up a tree, while sending ball lightnings one after another. “They don't get stunned so easily, and they don't panic as much, either! This isn't the same as wolves!”

“Yeah, the wands and grenades might not cut it with just four people!” Silky Smooth seconded. “You'd get overrun!”

“I've already promised brother Lionheart, so we better deliver!” the axeman roared with inspiration.

“How many charges will 30 gold buy us, anyway?” the steel hulk investigated.

“It's around 1 gold per charge, enough to subdue to prowlers.”

“It would be if they … ugh! … came one or two at a time, but what if ten come? Ugh! I'd give us a 50-50 chance, Bulwark, and I don't like it.”

“Boss, we should tell Lionheart not to recite a Scroll of Danger and give the tracker the time he needs to flush out the horrid boar!” Azure Firmament recommended. “He doesn't have to stay in the dungeon, we would only summon him once we're about to conquer it!”

“And what is he supposed to do in the meantime, huh? He can't join multiple dungeons, and he doesn't have another expert tracker anyway,” her superior chided. “No, we will make sure to kill the horrid boar, and it doesn't matter if we die afterwards!”

“Spend 30 gold and die in the end, like all those half-baked teams? Ugh! We don't have to waste any money for the same result. It's your call, brother.”

Radiant Bulwark sighed with frustration. Boars were indeed problematic. They were stubborn and impulsive, but worst of all – they stayed clustered, and good luck trying to stop their stampede. The best his party could do was stick together, he and Reckless with their backs against a tree, the two female mages up above doing crowd control. Unfortunately, the blasted hogs would just stand out of range and wait for them to move out. To be beaten, they had to be dominated, and this meant fighting out in the open.

With their ability, bursting a common evolved monster was a piece of cake, but surviving a prolonged battle was a different story. All in all, 30 gold was a cheap price to pay for a rank 5 conquest absent deaths. They'd have to ask Carl for more, but … that would be so humiliating …

After mulling it over, Radiant Bulwark decided to message him. Carl was now essentially his boss, so he had to be made aware of these things, as it was in his interest.

“Brother Bulwark, good timing. Listen, there's a new development. You're gonna love it – or not, hehe – Liss and Mercy resolved to switch to full realism.”

“What?! Brother Lionheart … you're right, I'm both happy and sad!”

“Haha. Obviously, they're not keen on enduring suffering. They'll now have to be guarded with extreme measures, otherwise they'll eject and let their avatars perish. I'll send them to you in an hour so they can learn how to coordinate with you and gain some proficiencies for when I join you later. This way I won't have to take them to the black wolves' den for rank 5 equipment today, which would further delay the bursting queue.”

“Huh? Didn't they … ? I don't understand …”

“Oh, silly me. I had them reset their accounts, they're on full realism already.”

“Whoa!”

“Yeah, they had to pick up Mana Conduit. Lavish mana potions on them and bring them up to speed.”

“Brother Lionheart, do you … want them to replace our two mages on your next break? This dungeon isn't a place for experimentation I'm afraid, and only four of us participating …”

“Heh, wait til you see Mercy's new spell and Liss' fragmentation arrows. I'll need them on other high-rank conquests, so raise them well.”

“O-okay … will do …”

“Hmm? Weren't you calling me?”

“No, never mind …”

…

“Open your eyes, dad, man up!”

“It disturbs me how much you're looking forward to this, Di …”

“Haha, it's just a game. And didn't you want this?”

“This is one thing, but the smirk on your face is an entirely separate matter!”

“Don't worry, I'll shoot at your leg first. Okay, 3, 2 …”

“Ouch! Gaaah! You skipped 'one'!”

“Pfft, what a wimp. Stop crying, at least I didn't lie about the leg.”

“I'm not crying! Go on, shoot another one!”

“Sure, but I'll use a skill this time.”

“Hey!”

“What? I have to utilize my mana regeneration on grinding proficiencies.”

“Wait! No! My avatar– aaargh! … will … faint …”

“Hahaha! He passed out! What a wuss!”

Watching the duo bickering on the hallowed sands of the arena was Looming Oak and Fleeting Time. There was evident apprehension on the elder's face.

“Just don't push it, grandpa, okay? There's no need for you to prove anything, and I'll be protecting you in the fields from now on.”

The cleric, who abandoned physical prowess in favor of a magic-dedicated build, had no choice but to put the emergency chest belt on his real body, which he never dreamed he would one day be doing. He inhaled and exhaled heavily, a look of determination on his face.

“It's alright Peter, I know my limits. And since I've opted for 5 willpower, I at least have to bring it up to 10 before we set out. Don't fret, I'll go slow.”

“You mean I will go slow on you. Most definitely. Now hit me!”

And so voluntary violence ensued …

Initially, Ingolf and Looming Oak started taking severe punishment, pursuing an ambitious aspiration – Pain Freak. Alas, they immediately encountered an obvious obstacle – prompt loss of consciousness. The most they could do, as advised by Carl, was to defy the nauseating feeling with all they had. But even if they possessed the tenacity, which was very much debatable, their avatars certainly didn't. There was a reason experienced players didn't skimp on willpower and pain resistance perks, which together comprised mental fortitude. Meanwhile, they had neither.

In order to serve as grapplers, they had to max out their strength and vitality, whilst minimizing willpower to free up allocation points. That's where the similarities ended between them, because the young man maxed out his intelligence and perception at the cost of agility, thus getting access to both Mana Battery and Mana Conduit, and his father unexpectedly elected to remain a dwarf, which denied him this privilege due to insufficient nominal values of intelligence and perception, 8 for each of them. Instead, he completely maxed out his physical constitution for the sake of taking full advantage of tutorial dungeons, keeping in mind he could readjust his stats in the full version.

Ingolf's character's rounded attributes were 25 strength, 31 vitality, 16 agility, 8 intelligence, 5 willpower and 8 perception, which made him a force to be reckoned with. Combined with his stubby frame, he was akin to a boar himself, capable of slamming his enemies like a battering ram – as well as resisting others slamming into him. On top of that, thanks to crossing the draconian 25 vitality threshold, he had the fanatically coveted by hardy races Vigorous perk, which doubled stamina regeneration, plus the more available Healthy perk, which required 20 vitality and otherwise mirrored Mana Conduit in the aspect of health regeneration. And although his magic would be terrible, there was a saving grace on the horizon – high-quality items with embedded formulas and rechargeable energy storage. So long as they weren't bound, anyone could load them for him with their mana, only the juggling would be inconvenient, and outright impossible in the heat of battle.

Looming Oak, on the other hand, had 20 strength, 20 vitality, 5 agility, 20 intelligence, 5 willpower and 20 perception, which would potentially make him scarier than Carl – provided he had the mental fortitude to withstand suffering in a similar fashion. How hard could it be, right?

“Oof, wait, slow down,” Ingolf gasped with an anguished expression, enduring his daughter's cruelty with great difficulty, but yet unwilling to give up. “Only 6.1?! Gah … where's Mercy? Hngh … wasn't it an hour already?”

“It's only been a quarter, you weakling! Get it together, soldier! You're a disgrace to dwarves everywhere!” Lissome Shot drilled with fervor, hoping to encourage her old man.

“Aaargh … ! How … ugh … are you doing, Peter?”

“5.7 …” Looming Oak groaned. He had made it a point not to talk or moan, but this progress was far too slow for his liking. And Carl said it was no big deal?

“I need a break,” the exhausted dwarf informed after ending the fight and getting restored, the arrows falling out of him gently.

“What you need is more backbone, dad,” the elven archer rebuked scornfully. “How are you ever going to reach 25 at this rate? You're not even at half a percent yet!”

“Liss, you better work on yourself as well,” her brother urged, breathing heavily. “The difference between 1.5 … and 7.5 mana regeneration per second … is 21 600 mana per hour … that's 7.2 gold worth … of inferior potions.”

“I'm never going to make it there, forget about it. I'll just stick to potions. I've only agreed to this because Carl is paying, and he's making hundreds of gold per hour, so what's the harm? Besides, we'll be raking in much more than that soon,” Lissome Shot declared with the utmost contentment.

“Women …” Looming Oak shook his head. “At least bring it up to 10!” he demanded chastisingly.

“Boys, Carl says his secret weapon are cold baths … freezing cold, to be precise,” Fleeting Time revealed with forced composure. He was only at 5.3 willpower, skillfully hiding the pain, but it was getting to him, too. “We have a bathtub on the 2nd floor, so how about we fill it with ice and take turns?”

“I'll go first,” Ingolf announced.

“Mhm, good idea,” his son seconded.

And so the three generations of men tempered themselves, hyping each other up and arduously awakening their ancestral instincts. In the meantime, Merciful Breeze returned after re-learning Confuse at the temple.

“You're back already?! Cuz, you're a real brainiac!” Lissome Shot praised after looking at the clock. It had only been 25 minutes!

“It's nothing,” the elven healer dismissed the compliment humbly. “It was still fresh in my head, so I didn't have to memorize anything new, only repeat the motions. And the sensations on full realism are so incredibly acute, I'm actually surprised it took me this long.”

“Come here, cuz, Bushido sent over your new fine quality gear. It's all low level stuff with awful durability, but check out the enchantments!” the other girl cheered.

“Huh, a staff?” Merciful Breeze noticed. She had merely picked 2 common mana potions in the system shop, and was thus wearing the generic starter clothes, but now she received a complete suit of light mage garments.

“Yes, for now. Carl doesn't want you to switch to wands until you become an expert with Confuse.”

“Wow, these robes give 20% additional mana regeneration! And this diadem improves casting speed by 10%! And this staff … 50% focusing boost, just like the one I had before!”

“I know, right? Hard to believe all this cost only 20 gold. Must be made of paper.”

“20 gold is a lot of money, Liss. You're quickly forgetting yourself,” Looming Oak admonished.

“Pfft, whatever. Now that you're here, let's go join Bulwark's team. I can't wait to try out those fragmentation arrows!”

“They're for a boss fight, Liss …”

“But … I wanted to train my willpower a bit,” Merciful Breeze admitted sheepishly. “How far along are you, cuz?”

Lissome Shot became stumped for words.

“Mercy, it's not going to be easy,” her grandfather cautioned.

“Of course. But it's just imaginary suffering, so I only need to pull through. I'll fail brother Carl if I don't get to 25. Come on, cuz, let me catch up to you guys! You all have probably unlocked Pain Enthusiast already …”

While the female ranger blushed, her brother burst out with laughter.

“Haha, watch and learn, sis! This girl has spunk!”