A few rays of sunlight shined through the partly closed curtains and spilled into the small bedroom. The simple wooden furnishings looked even more inviting under the soft warm light.

  ‘This room looks so cozy in the morning. It makes you want to stay in bed, not that I ever did.’

  Candy sat at the edge of the bed. Since she never actually slept, she never laid down in the bed. With the warm sunlight shining, she felt a sense of peace wash over her. Opening the curtains, she saw the street lined with houses. A few people were moving about, but the city had yet to fully wake up.

  ‘Hm, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one awake, but the others should be up soon. It would be a bit strange to wander around the house of people I don’t know, so I’ll stay here until then.’

  While she waited, she opened her character window.

  [Character Name: Candy, Novice Adventurer (Boar)

  Class [Magical Girl]

  Skills: Danger Sense (novice) 0/10

  Poison Almanac (novice) 0/10

  Weapon Mastery (intermediate) 0/40

  Stats:

  Strength: 11

  Agility: 8

  Constitution: 8

  Magic: null

  SP: 0

  Note: skill points can be used to raise player stats or to increase skill level.]

  ‘Looking at my stats, I should be able to take on higher level quests. Aside from befriending the city guards, I should start doing adventurer quests and level up more.’

  She looked at the display that stayed in the upper right corner of her vision.

  [HUD

  HP: 640/640

  Lv. 3]

  ‘I should start taking on some adventurer quests. It would be good to raise my level, and hunting or expedition quests usually pay more than ones in the city.’

  Soon, there was a knock on her door. When she opened it, Iris was standing outside with the children.

  “Good morning, I hope you slept well.”

  “Good morning Big Sis!”

  “Yeah, good morning!”

  “Good morning Iris.”

  Candy bent down to greet the children.

  “Good morning to you too!”

  Candy stepped out of the room with the children clinging to her.

  “Max, Mia, what are you doing? That’s very disrespectful you know.”

  “Oh, it’s fine. They’re having fun and I don’t mind.”

  Candy lifted Mia onto her shoulders.

  “Wow! Big Sis is so tall, as tall as Daddy!”

  “Alright, why don’t you take the kids to the kitchen to wash up. I’ll tidy up the room and be right there.”

  “Sure.”

  Candy walked to the kitchen and started helping the children wash their hands and faces.

  Iris smiled as she turned away from them and walked into the spare bedroom.

  ‘Hm?’

  Upon seeing the bed that looked at if it had never been used, Iris furrowed her brows in confusion.

  ‘That’s odd, did she not sleep on the bed? Or maybe she just made the bed the same way when she got up.’

  Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, Iris quickly removed the bedsheets and put them in a basket to wash. Having finished, she walked to the kitchen where Candy was seated with the children.

  “Wow! Big Sis really went into a dungeon?”

  “Yep, I even fought the dungeon guardian.”

  “Amazing!”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Did you get any treasure?”

  “Treasure…”

  Candy faltered at Max’s question.

  ‘Well, I did get treasure, but it turned out to be worthless.’

  Thinking about the dolls she bought, she suddenly stood up.

  ‘Ah! I left the two dolls I was holding at the training grounds!’

  “What’s wrong Big Sis?”

  Looking at Mia’s startled expression, Candy immediately relaxed.

  “Oh, I just realized that I have something that I have to do later.”

  “What about the treasure?”

  “Want to see what I got?”

  “Yeah!”

  Both children shouted excitedly. Candy took a doll out from her inventory and showed the children.

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s almost as big as me!”

  “This is one of the dolls that I found in the dungeon. I know it looks kinda ugly, but it’ll protect you!”

  “I want one!”

  “I want a doll that keeps me safe!”

  “Really? Even though it looks weird?”

  “It’s from a dungeon, right? That makes it cool!”

  “Can we have it, please?”

  “Please?”

  Looking at the children’s pleading faces, she was unable to say no. She gave the doll to Mia who happily hugged it.

  “It’s soft!”

  “It is?”

  “Yeah!”

  “I want to hold it!”

  “But I’m holding it!”

  “Mom!”

  “Oh dear.”

  Iris looked at her children who were so enthusiastic about the gift they received.

  “Hehe, don’t worry, I have one for you too, Max!”

  Candy pulled out another doll and gave it to him.

  “Wow, it is soft!”

  “I know, right? Hehe, thank you Big Sis!”

  “I’m glad you both like them. Now remember what I said before. These dolls will keep you safe. If someone is ever making you or your family scared, you should throw the dolls at them with all your strength!”

  “Why do we need to throw them?”

  “These are magic dolls that gain special powers when you throw them. But the magic only works on scary people, okay? Don’t throw the dolls at people you like.”

  “Okay!”

  “Haha, it’s been a while since the house was this lively so early in the morning.”

  The front door opened and Ray entered. Seeing his children so happy, a huge grin appeared on his face.”

  “Good morning Candy, I hope you slept well.”

  “Good morning Daddy!”

  “Good morning!”

  Seeing the happy family gathered together warmed Candy’s heart, but it also made her slightly bitter.

  ‘I guess this is what a loving family looks like.’

  Noticing Candy standing further away, Iris turned to her.

  “Would you like to stay for breakfast? I’m sure the kids would love to know more about your adventures.”

  “Ah, I appreciate it, but I have something to do now. Thank you for the offer and thank you so much for letting me stay the night.”

  “Of course! You saved our Max so it was the least we could do. Besides, the children practically view you as family anyway.”

  “Even so, I really should be going.”

  “Alright, I’ll walk you to the door.”

  Seeing them heading towards the door, the children ran to stop them.

  “Are you leaving, Big Sis?”

  “Yes, unfortunately I have something to do.”

  “No, don’t go!”

  Mia hugged Candy’s legs and refused to let go.

  “Ah, Mia, don’t do that, it’s dangerous!”

  Iris gently pulled a disheartened Mia away.

  Seeing how disappointed the children looked, Candy crouched down.

  “Are you really so sad that I’m leaving?”

  “Uh huh, Big Sis is really fun and nice! I want Big Sis to live with us!”

  “Haha.”

  Candy laughed as she hugged Mia.

  “How about this, even though I can’t stay right now, I promise to visit you later, okay?”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “You’ll visit lots of times?”

  “Lots and lots.”

  Mia thought for a moment.

  “Okay! As long as you come back and visit us, you can leave. It’s a promise.”

  Candy hooked her pink around Mia’s.

  “Yep, a pinky promise.”

  “Me too,, me too!”

  Max came barging over and demanded that he also make the promise with Candy.

  After saying goodbye to the children, she exited the house. Iris followed, with Ray watching from the doorway with the children.

  “I really can’t say this enough, but thank you so much for helping us. “

  “Please, I should thank you. After all, you welcomed me into your wonderful family even though we didn’t know each other.”

  “I’m so glad to have met you, Candy.”

  “Hehe, you’ll meet me again soon if Mia has any say in it.”

  “Haha, you’re right.”

  Candy’s smiling expression turned slightly more serious as she looked Iris in the eyes.

  “What I said about the dolls wasn’t false. They really will protect you if you throw them. If your family is ever in danger, please remember to use them.”

  “Oh my, why are you saying this so seriously?”

  ‘Because I still don’t know of Silva is going to survive in this game.’

  “It’s always better to be prepared, right?”

  “True. Alright, I’ll keep your words in mind.”

  “Thank you.”

  Smiling again, Candy waved to Max and Mia before walking away.

  …

  After leaving the family, Candy headed towards the training grounds to retrieve the other two dolls. After putting them in her inventory, she spent time with the guard units that were training and raised their favorability some more. Once they took a break for lunch, she headed to the Adventurer’s Guild.

  Stepping inside, she was hit by a wave of sound. The guild was a busy as ever, with adventurers talking and laughing.

  She went to the quest board and looked at what quests she could take as a novice adventurer.

  ‘Hm, most of them are about dealing with low level monsters or delivering items that are too dangerous for ordinary people to handle.’

  Scanning the list of hunting quests, she found one that caught her eye.

  Just as she was about to grab it, another person reached out.

  She turned to look and it was Stella.

  “Candy! It’s nice to see you. What a coincidence, we seem to have gone for the same quest.”

  “Hi Stella, how are you? It is funny that we both want the same one.”

  “Hm, what should we do? This quest is for only one person.”

  Stella pretended to think for a bit before reaching out and picking up a different quest.

  “Oh, this one is for more than one person. How about we do it together?”

  “Sure, that sounds great.”

  The two of them headed to a vacant counter to officially accept the quest.

  “Okay, Ms. Candy and Ms. Stella, you both want to take on this quest?”

  “Yep.”

  The clerk looked at their badges before shaking his head.

  “My apologies, but since this quest is a more dangerous one, we can’t allow novice adventurers to accept it, even if they are accompanied by adventurers of higher levels.”

  Stella frowned.

  “She might be a Boar right now, but Candy is definitely as strong as a high ranked Lion, maybe even a Gryphon.”

  The clerk looked at the two of them for a moment.

  Suddenly, a woman walked over and nudged him out of the way.

  “Ms. Candy! It’s nice to see you here! I see you’re taking on a quest.”

  “Yes, but I was just told I couldn’t accept it because novice adventurers weren’t allowed.”

  “Oh, I see. Well, don’t worry about that. I have personally witnessed your strength so I am confident in allowing you to accept this quest.”

  “Really? Thank you.”

  “Of course. Taking on higher ranked quests is a great way to earn more money.”

  “Ah, haha. Yeah, you’re right.”

  Candy awkwardly laughed as the clerk marked the quest as approved.

  As Candy and Stella walked away, the clerk who had been pushed away spoke up.

  “Why did you let them take that quest? It’s way more dangerous than it looks. What if something goes seriously wrong?”

  “Don’t worry. This kind of thing should be no problem for them.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You know the hole that was blown into the side of the building?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Candy made that by throwing a children’s toy at it.”

  “WHAT?!”

  …

  As the two left the city, Candy looked at Stella.

  “So, I know it wasn’t a coincidence that we wanted the same quest at the same time. What are you trying to do?”

  “Haha, I’ve been caught…”