Now that they had finally left the dungeon, they had been put in danger by Mirian’s recklessness.

  But Ryan had given an order that, according to him,

  would make her properly reflect on her actions.

  "Kyaaaaa! Stop, Helen! No more!"

  Smack. Smack. Smack.

  "Kyaaaaa! My butt hurts!"

  "Ryan, please, tell her to stop!"

  "Ha, ha, ha, ha. First time I’ve enjoyed one of Ryan’s perverted orders."

  "Hey, Helen, that’s not being perverted. It’s punishment, understand?"

  "Yeah, yeah."

  "Just say yes once!"

  Smack. Smack. Smack.

  Three more spanks, and she finished the ten. Her skin was completely red.

  [Debt collection applied]

  [Debt bonus: +50 Points]

  [Debt bonus: +45000 XP]

  "It really hurts..." Mirian muttered, rubbing herself with tears in her eyes.

  'They’re supposed to be top-rank heroines, but they just look like children.'

  "I’m sorry. I won’t do something that reckless again... Really."

  "I wonder if that’s true. If not, Helen can always punish you."

  "No, I mean it..."

  Ryan nodded. After some time, their clothes had dried and they put them back on. Ryan had asked if they had any idea where they were, and they nodded. Based on the surroundings and the shape of the forest, they were in elven territory.

  'Are there really elves in this world? I always wanted to see one.'

  They ventured deeper into the forest, trying to reach the center. According to Helen, it would be easier to get out if they found the elven vilge, since the spirits guarding the forest often set traps to make travelers with bad intentions lose their way.

  "Look around. There are many dead monsters."

  "Yes. That’s normal," Mirian replied.

  "But why don’t they disappear like the ones in the dungeon?"

  "You should know that already. Unlike those dungeon monsters, which are more like summons or manifestations of condensed mana, these are real creatures. No matter how real the dungeon ones look, they’re not. Though they can still kill you."

  'I see. For me, an MMORPG dungeon is just a loop function, but in this world they have their own logic.'

  "Stop talking and come look at this," Helen interrupted.

  "Footprints?" Mirian replied as she approached. She crouched down and picked up some dirt from the tracks, rubbing it between her fingers. "They’re fresh. Someone passed through here recently."

  "Human footprints?" Ryan asked curiously.

  "More like elf," Mirian corrected.

  They began following the tracks. They weren’t in a straight line; every few steps they shifted several meters away.

  Mirian deduced that it was the elf’s fighting pattern, alternating between the ground and the trees. They saw many dead monsters as they followed the trail.

  "We’ve walked a lot since the dungeon. My feet hurt. These boots are really old," Ryan compined, still walking behind the girls.

  "Heh, heh, heh. Maybe you should order Mirian to massage your feet."

  "Don’t give him crazy ideas. Shut up," Mirian grumbled.

  "Rex. It’s not like I’d ask for that."

  Grrr... Grrr...

  "A monster?"

  They turned in all directions, trying to locate the source of the sound. They were on alert. Ryan noticed what looked like leather shoes sticking out from behind a tree.

  When he approached, he immediately realized the sound was coming from there. And there she was: a beautiful girl unconscious on the ground. The sound came from her stomach.

  "I think she’s hungry," Ryan commented as Helen and Mirian approached.

  "She’s an elf."

  Her long ears protruded from her blonde hair.

  "Ryan, heal her, please. She’s dying..."

  Ryan approached. He crouched in front of her and pced his hands toward her body.

  "Recovery."

  Her body stirred. She slowly began to open her eyes.

  "Huh? Brother?" she asked, confused.

  "I’m not your brother. You’re still not fully conscious."

  "Oh, sorry." She startled and jumped up, backing away. She looked at all of them suspiciously, but then calmed down when she realized they had healed her. "How rude of me. Thank you very much for helping me, heh, heh."

  "It’s fine. But what happened to you? Did you kill all these monsters?"

  "Yes. I was training, but there were too many monsters. I got carried away and ran out of mana." She paused and took a deep breath. "Then I couldn’t move, heh, heh. I almost starved."

  "You’re very careless. You should value your life more," Mirian scolded.

  'Look who’s talking.'

  Bang!

  "You’re worse! Shut up!" Helen hit Mirian on the head.

  "Heh, heh. That was just this once," Mirian muttered.

  'These two act like children.'

  Ryan sat down on one of the tree roots. It was bent and made a perfect seat.

  "Can you tell us how to get out of here? We don’t want to disturb your vilge."

  "Yes. But I’d like to invite you to my vilge to thank you for helping me."

  "You don’t have to worry about that."

  "I insist. Please, come with me."

  'I feel like I’m forgetting something important. Why is that...?'

  [Automatic debt collection initiated]

  "Damn. I forgot," he muttered in agitation.

  "Huh? What’s happening to my body...?"

  Helen and Mirian stared with a hand to their foreheads. From their expressions, they had clearly forgotten about Ryan’s debt system as well.

  The elf girl approached and knelt in front of Ryan. She took one of his feet and began removing his boot. Once his foot was free, she held it with both hands.

  'What’s the order this time...?' Ryan gnced toward Mirian; she turned her head away, pretending not to notice. He looked at Helen, and she did the same.

  "W-why isn’t my body responding? What am I doing...?" the elf compined, confused and blushing.

  She began massaging Ryan’s right foot. Slowly, she brought her lips closer to his big toe and started kissing it.

  "No... I don’t want to... Why am I doing this?" the elf cried with tears in her eyes, red with embarrassment. She leaned closer again, this time bringing her tongue toward his big toe.

  Rudriel