[Details]- Enemy defeated: 3 - EXP gained: 60

[Loot obtained]- Pet.i.try's Legs x20- Pet.i.try's Core x1

*croak*

Sounded the frog on Chika's head.

Caressing the broken door, "Oh my gahhh!!" she shouted. "This is pretty bad."

"Mhm, that thing must've weigh—"

"I don't care how much it weigh, I mean look! The poor lock got smashed to bits."

"..." Anko sighed, "What should we do now?"

"Hrmmm... The door won't hold up for too long, I'll go out and find some woods, maybe Tenko can do something about it."

"No, wait. I'll help you."

"Mmrmph." Noticing there is two damsel inside, she doesn't want to leave them alone, but at the same time, they might want to be left alone. Walking out as she said, "fine."

Has been given permission, Anko went to follow her outside.

Meanwhile, Tenko is healing Tokaya's ankle with [Healing Hands]. Physically, the injury is nothing major, but her life almost ended there and then. They have expected that this world will not be easy like a walk in the park, but they didn't expect it would be this hard.

Both Tokaya and Tenko was confident that they could make it, but now they are doubting it.

Demon lords, they must be some kind of transcendental beings that have surpa.s.sed all common sense, how can a bunch of high schoolers able to beat something like that?

They can't even beat a single boar, how could they ever hope for defeating something like demon lords, the question is why? Why would they risk their lives for it?

That was what they are asking themselves while amidst this silence.

Tokaya grabbed her wrist and then look her in the eye, "…" a delicate warm smile formed on Tokaya's face. She said, "Don't worry, I promise we'll bring us back."

"But… that thing…"

Tokaya quickly grabbed her cheek, "Hey, hey. Don't think too much. We can do this. All right?"

"…"

Tenko held her hands, feeling coldness underneath those fingers. Rustling on her silky skin, "Miss Tokaya."

"Hey, didn't I say not to call me that?"

"But… I can't just…"

Tokaya caresses her cheek, "Again, don't worry too much, Tenko. Just call me… K. That'll be easier for you, right?"

"…" after a bit of thought, it would be disrespectful to refuse even further than this. Tenko nodded.

"Come here."

Tokaya asked Tenko to sat beside her, and she did. Looking at their front, they see nothing but darkness. "You know that… my hobby is playing games, right?"

"Mm."

"I've been playing many things, more than fingers could count. I know many stories about how everything is going to end up, how the story will end, how the characters will become. I thought that with all of that 'experience', our journey would've gone smoothly, but it turns out, it didn't. And we're just a few minutes in. Well, it would be if it's a game" tears shed down to her cheek, "But it's not." Nodding her head as she bites her lips, she faced Tenko and said, "It was my fault."

Tenko felt strong emotion coming from her and it starts to strangle her as well, "K, that wasn't—"

"No, Tenko. Stop defending me. Had I been a good leader, we wouldn't have gone through that."

"…"

Tokaya wipes her tears, "Sorry, I…"

Tenko hugged her sideways, stroking her arm gently. "You were the one who supposed to calm me down, though. Don't cry."

She chuckled, "Hehe…" sighing, she rested her back against the wall, "Haa… I guess playing it is better than living in it, huh…"

"..." shrugging her shoulder, "Well, if you say so, then it might be?"

A smile was formed.

Tenko then asked, "About those games, so like, you know how we can defeat something like demon lords?"

"Hmm… not quite, but…" Tokaya opened her eyes and said, "Every RPG game starts off with you making a character, and most of them start very weak. Even bugs can kill them if they're not careful, just like us just now."

"…" Tenko smiled.

"And then, we work hard by improving their skills, leveling them up and follow the main storyline. Which generally finding us to be a chosen one and then being tasked to do the impossible, like killing the demon lords."

"A chosen one?"

"Mm, a hero and such. Our character starts as a n.o.body, knowing nothing of the world, but then at the later end of the game… we found out that our character is in fact a chosen one, a hero that will save all humanity from the brink of despair."

"Did they succeed?"

With a light in her eyes, a warm light, she responded, "They did."

Tenko's widened even brighter as it tilted up.

"So, that's how it is. What do you think? Don't you think that we can become like that too? Saving all humanity in this G.o.dforsaken place from the threat of those demon lords."

"…"

With a heart full of joy. Tenko responded, "No…"

The bright sparkling eyes faded from Tokaya, however, it soon lights up again as Tenko added, "But you can."

"Huh?"

"You…" Tenko is gleaming so warmly, "I think you can become like that, the hero, no, I'm sure… you will become the hero!"

"T-Tenko, what are you…"

Tenko rose from the ground, clenching her fist tightly as she said in a high war tone, "You will, no, I will make sure you become the hero" turning her head to Tokaya, "K, I will help you become the Hero!!"

As her eyes gleaming bright, Tokaya was speechless, hus.h.i.+ng in disbelief, "Tenko…" in this situation, there is nothing else that can be said other than responding with a bright, happy smile.

*Bang *brang *bang *bang

"Ahh, sorry. Can you help us for a sec?"

Chika has arrived with all the woods and stones while Anko brought some fruits with her. Tenko quickly a.s.sisted them and then went to work on fixing the door and making the equipment that was broken.

Anko turned her head and saw Tokaya having a very rare and unfamiliar expression on her face, "Uhh, what happened?"

"Ohh, uhm, nothing? Ehehe."

"Ehehe?" Anko tilted her head and sighed, she gave up probing for more.

…

The night has come, and the group stayed inside the mine, anxiously.

Tenko worked for hours on end, fixing the door, crafting the broken equipment, and making a small bonfire inside. They talked more about the event that just happened, they came up with a conclusion that they were out-leveled by the monster. Being only level 0 facing off against level 10, there are bounds to be different that made them failed and defeated.

The group also touched on many more aspects about the mechanic, saying that even with stats bonuses, their body is considerably weak being in a modern era. Even Tenko is as well.

Her Martial Arts are definitely useful, but the group has asked her not to rely on it so much and focus on the ability that she has. Which, making the new topic of Abilities came up. They talked about it briefly, telling each and everyone all the information about the skills that they have.

One thing that came to mind was Tokaya not using any magic up until now, which has been revealed that she has no ability at the moment. No skills nor spells, all that she got was perks and it's all about Archery. Even though her job is a mage, an Attributeless-Mage, it is odd for her to have perks for archery instead of magic.

It is fair to say that, since she has her previous life experience, she can handle bow very well, and we have seen that. It might be the reason why she got perks for archery instead of magic.

Poking on the wooden fire, "What do you think is inside there?" asked Anko.

"I'll bet my tin foil hat that there going to be some monsters" Chika responded.

Tokaya said, "Well if that is true then we should be moving and take them out. We can't sleep with those things crawling around."

Without much thinking, "All right then, gals. Let's go beat up some monsters!" yelled Chika. Though she quickly stopped noticing Tenko is busy with something, "Uhh, hey, are you ready or not?"

A grin formed on her face, "I knew this would happen, so I prepare THIS beforehand." Tenko pulls out… a [Torch].

Their eyes widened, "Sweet! Let me hold that. You guys go up front."

With only one, it would be hard for the front to see, in this case, which is Tenko. However, she has already prepared an extra for herself.

A mine is a dangerous place for many different reasons, even in their previous world. They know they have to be cautious now because ANYTHING can happen, and this time… it's truly… Anything.

…