Valentina was confused.

‘What happened?’

She had cried her heart out in this fake universe. The trails of tears were still visible on her cheeks.

“The Guardian…”She had a meeting with him. “S-Stupid.”

Regret is a solution to nothing

“BULLSHIT!” She erupted in anger.

“Wh-what… joke… a perverted joke...” Valentina choked.

“...to find… ah… hah… HA-HA-HA,” a wicked laugh came out of her.

Her mixed emotions made her look like a broken mechanical doll. It functioned but in a somewhat weird, unpredictable way. The mechanism seemed flawed.

Valentina was bending down under the invisible pressure of her own thoughts.

“Ro-roleplaying a family, EH?…”

The instability in her emotions brought the grief back. Her body was convulsing on the ground.

‘You are not coming back... because of me…’ Her mind became dizzy.

The colors around her were fading away.

The previously green and peaceful forest gradually turned into a blurred grey mess.

“Hhhaaaah,” Valentina inhaled deeply and opened eyes somewhere else.

It was dark and silent again but there were no trees, nor a river.

She stared at a regular room ceiling.

Her trembling arm slipped off the headset.

She elbowed the bed and lifted her upper body. Valentina felt the entire room was spinning with her in.

“B-Back here...” She was sitting cross-legged, slumped forward. Her nose and throat were dry, which made breathing painful.

She crawled off the bed. The headache and the burning eyes kept her standing still for a while.

The time spent with the forest dwellers had soothed her mind before. But today... ‘Absolute nonsense…’

Her stiff legs slowly carried her through a dark corridor. The windows were shut everywhere. Valentina preferred it that way.

The less she could see the fewer associations she could make.

‘Is it Saturday or Sunday...’ she wondered, ‘not as it matters much...’

She lived to exist, not the other way around.

‘My selfish, foolish self…’

Her parents were concerned about her. They spared no time or money to treat their daughter.

“God gave us the gift of life... it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.” She was mumbling leftovers from the psychiatrist.

Valentina knew her parents mourned David’s death silently. Why were they not blaming her?

Once she got involved with Brave New World, her parents returned back to work. They worked hard to provide for her and… well, just for her now.

Valentina reached the kitchen and pulled a drawer.

Therapy went hand in hand with medical treatment, or so had claimed the psychiatrist.

‘Drink more water, c’mon...’ She had issues with pills unless she downed a full glass with them.

Then she returned to the bed and wrapped the blanket over. Valentina desired more warmth, but since no heat could reach her heart, she kept feeling cold.

Another dull afternoon was drifting away for the young girl. Locked in the prison of self-blame.

It didn't take long for this emotionally drained child to fall asleep.

A colorful picture began to paint in her mind.

A wild jungle spread in all directions. Nature ruled everywhere, not a hint of human existed.

To her surprise, each step carried her tens of meters. It was an average walk but somewhat magical. She passed near giant trees and thick bushes.

She noticed a lazy Anaconda that hissed at her. On the branches she could see unfamiliar birds, who seemed to welcome her. She leaped over a large river with the ease of a gazelle.

Miles ahead, she met a couple of jaguars. Beautiful but predatory species that stared intensely at her. Valentina’s instinct alarmed, she desired to leave them behind quickly.

Alas, the big cats were up to something.

Valentina saw them tailing her. Although her walk was unnaturally fast, that didn’t calm the mind.

It was frustrating, she couldn’t control her own pace, she could just… walk.

The jaguars were catching up. They reached her steadily until they were almost aligned with her on both sides.

Valentina was expecting an attack. She wanted to scream in terror, but she had no voice. She wanted to run, but she had no control either. Scenes of tearing flesh clouded her mind.

The Jaguars ran wildly. But then... they passed. They even rushed in front of her, escorting her through the jungle.

They roared with pride. She stared at their powerful and flexible bodies in front. Every muscle radiated energy. Their legs stretched as if flying above the ground, gathered shortly afterward, and upon contact with the surface, another explosion of speed followed.

Valentina was amazed by the power and grace of these creatures. Her fear turned in awe.

A group of monkeys also tried to accompany her walk, they jumped from branch to branch. However, they were quickly left behind, sending only their enthusiastic screams from the back.

Valentina noticed that not a single animal had been indifferent to her. Some feared her, others howled after her. She had the puzzling feeling that she was known by everyone.

The Jaguars had long since exhausted themselves and were left behind.

Valentina listened to the animal cacophony and it made sense now. It reminded her of a language dialect she already knew.

Chirping, hissing, screeching, growling... they all began to sound like words...

Brave, Desire, Protect

She recognized pieces of the speech.

Then she heard a familiar voice to whisper ‘Guardian’, a voice that she thought was silenced forever.

"Where are you?"

Her feet that had once stepped lightly were now true to her command. The surroundings began to change quickly until they blurred altogether. Valentina was now the wind of a monstrous tornado.

Find me soon, let’s play games again...

Valentina woke up in the evening, breathing heavily.

She was trying to restore that dream. Her memories were fragmented and she was afraid to let them fade. Valentina held her head and began to connect each detail one by one.

The process was slow and tiresome. The pieces gradually composed a story. Only then she raised her head.

The dream felt like a fairy tale. Valentina knew the plot, but that didn’t make it more believable.

'I found you!' The edges of the lips raised up.

'We were together again! We played Brave New World. You were a weird druid with a feather cloak, hidden behind a bird's mask. Yet I knew it was you. The voice, the gestures... everything screamed David Spanotti.’

The thoughts gave her goosebumps.

‘You were the bird in the sky, I saw the vast lands through your eyes. You were the hungry beast, I saw the tearing flesh of your victim. You were everything you desired to be.’

Valentina jumped off the bed.

Guardian...

She was typing in the searching engine.

Brave New World… Unique quest… Guardian of the Forest...

‘Are these common?’ Random results were popping.

...The World of Dreams… Record-breaking viewership, Faceroll videos… Top 1000 ladder… Leveling guide for dummies… Known factions so far… Empress’ head bounty…

Many trending searches were on the way.

“Unique gear, unique boss...” The word “unique” was never connected to a quest in a sentence.

“I am not looking for an NPC guard description…” She sighed.

Forums…

She opened a thread Unique Quest in Brave New World and added short description of her meeting with the Guardian of the Forest.

The first answer was from a grammar nazi.

The second answer accused her of attention-seeking, click-baiting.

The third answer was frankly offensive, vulgar even.

Administrators had to restore the order.

A few sophisticated users joined eventually. They speculated over the possibility of a Quest tier/rank system. The discussion escalated.

The well-constructed and informative answers were upvoted and sent to the top. These popular comments created subthreads on their own.

“Pointless… the real answers are hidden in Brave New World,” she realized.

Mokan Village, Dresan Dynasty

“Sister, I had that dream again of Munshi battling monsters,” whispered a small figure.

“That thing again,” a hooded figure replied.

‘How come he never fights the clans. Did they betrayed Petven after his death?’ Anissa thought.

“And what about that incantation?” the hooded person continued after a brief silence.

“Hehe, I mastered the basics,” he said proudly, “I would be taller than you when I transform.”

“My little brother is such genius,” Anissa patted him.

Since the Munshi’s Dream adventure, Shir’tana had a lot of information to work with. He experienced Munshi’s ultimate Titan form. Thanks to his meditation he grasped the very basics of it.

Anissa had gained a full access window to his profile.

Shir’tana (MAX Affinity)

Talented young wizard. Highly determined to find his parents. Considers Empress as his sister.

Race: Human

Age: 10; Gender: Male;

Class: Promising Wizard

Level: 5

Health: 92/92

Mana: 126/126

Stamina: 65

Strength: 2

Endurance: 4

Vitality: 3

Dexterity: 2

Agility: 4

Intelligence: 13

Spell power: 7

Spellcasting: 5

Charisma: 4

Passives:

Sharp mind: Each level gives extra +1 Intelligence.

Petven’s blessing: On the verge of death gain 100% of the maximum mana as a shield for 5 seconds, 24 hours cooldown.

Final verdict:???

Actives:

Titan form (Lvl. 1) Increases size and improves physical condition. Spell power counts also as Strength. Stamina is consumed 3 times faster. Mana is consumed for the entire duration. Titan form can last 1 minute. The cooldown is 1 hour. Cannot cast spells while the transformation is on.

Anissa learned that Shir’tana had no idea about his stats progression. He simply felt stronger after Munshi’s Dream.

He learned Titan form meditating over Munshi’s memories, but Sharp mind, Petven's blessing, and Final verdict were unknown to him.

‘Even without manual distribution, his stats are befitting.’

“What a sad place,” Pavel interrupted her thoughts.

Mokan was a desolated village.

“From what I’ve learned the outer lands of Dresan are vulnerable,” Josh said, “the population and the strength increase near the center.”

“That explains the miserable look of Mokan.” Anissa looked at a burned house.

“Also, Dresan is divided between the dynasty members depending on their rank. Under each member are smaller landlords like nobles, rich merchants, mages and even proven craftsmen,” Carlos added.

“A hierarchy of many rulers, interesting…” Shir’tana murmured.

“Let me guess, the most powerful are still near the center, fucking scum...” Anissa was disgusted.

“On the good side, If Shen is a landlord, finding him would be a piece of cake,” Pavel guessed.

“The chance of that is rather low,” Anissa said.

Nobody in Mokan knew about the magician Shen. The quest hinted he’s from Dresan, but he could as well travel outside.

“Strangers, are you here to save us from the beasts?” An old man neared the group.

“What beasts?”

“The one with sticking fangs and long claws of course.”

'The ghouls…' Anissa thought.

"Don't bother Father, nobody cares about the outers. We are all we have!" A masked middle-aged men shouted behind the old man’s back.

"Kajo…"

The mask couldn’t cover the burned skin on his neck

"We are on our own," the masked men exclaimed and walked away.

"I-I want to apologize on behalf of my son, he was not always like that, but he lost someone precious."

“Let us hear more,” Anissa was curious.

The old man told a tragic story. The beasts attacked the village at night. In the panic, a fire was spread. The naturally strong Kajo fought bravely but saw many of his closest dying from fire and beasts.

In that unfortunate night, he saw his wife and child ripped by the beasts. The devasted Kajo battled the beasts in the middle of the burning village as he had a death wish. He seemed prepared to follow his wife and child in the Otherworld. Alas, in the morning Kajo lied heavy wounded on the ground, but not dead.

“We asked for help from our inner friends so many times...” His lifeless wrinkled eyes were hard to meet.

"It is understandable for the pain to shadow Kajo’s heart," Carlos said. "Is there something we can do, wise man?"

"I hear the voice of bravery..." The old man shared a quest.

Quest: Mokan’s revenge

With the strongest striving to near the inner the outers are left forgotten. The borders of Dresan turn a suitable nest for evil to rise.

Find the ghouls’ den and eliminate them.

Become part of the change, avenge Mokan’s victims.

‘Mokan’s revenge’ is part of Dresan’s awakening quest chain.

The number of maximum participants is unlimited.

The quest will be lost if someone else clears the den first!

Reward: 5% extra experience from quest-related kills. Improved affinity with Mokan’s villagers. Quest chain progression. Experience and affinity gains are based on one’s contribution.

“There’s no level requi-”

“We will strike back at the beasts,” Anissa interrupted Josh.

The old man couldn’t hold his tears anymore.

“Anissa,” Pavel whispered, “our little goddess is looking for a leveling party.”

“Artemis?...” Anissa grinned.

Anissa planned to recruit her for two reasons.

First, at level 6 Artemis managed to fight back ghouls in the level range of 8-10. Of course, they were common monsters with predictable patterns. However, Artemis’ gear was insufficient, non-existent even. She wore her basic pants and shirt back then.

The second reason was based on her behavior. Artemis defended that bear cub with her life. Shortly after the struggle, Baloo was still her main concern. How could a girl this pure betray anyone?

“Another one who owes the ghouls, we will share the quest,” Anissa said.

The boys already knew her reasons. She asked Pavel to send Artemis a friend request shortly after they left the forest.

There was some doubt that Artemis will show an interest in leveling, but then this happened.

“Let’s hunt together and see what happens.”