After the white mist subsided, Dexter saw the small village where 'Players' typically arrived after passing the two bandits.
He noticed many people running around naked—men in loincloths and women in tattered village clothing. Most of them carried crude Tier I swords and shields, though some had already crafted Tier II equipment that covered their entire bodies.
Next, Dexter approached the Toolmaker, as he needed to craft tools for gathering raw materials.
After collecting stones and branches, he used the free facility to make a skinning knife, a pickaxe, a chopping axe, and a sickle. He then crafted extras to sell at the market, hoping to earn enough for a mount—specifically, a mule to carry his gathered materials.
Happy with his progress, Dexter mined Tier II ores and gathered Tier II cotton until the mule could carry no more. He stored everything in his free personal storage before heading out to gather even more.
He then refined the materials using the 'free' facilities to make metal bars and cloth. After refining nearly a hundred of each, he proceeded to the next area to cut wood and hunt animals for skinning.
Everything was going smoothly until he saw the newbies being massacred by the foxes.
"Help!" screamed a woman in tattered village clothes.
Dexter rushed to her aid, slashing the fox's neck and sending a spray of blood toward the traumatized woman.
"What the heck, you can't even kill a small fox?" Dexter said while skinning the fox.
"I… I'm scared!"
"Then how'd you get here without killing the two bandits?"
"They let me pass after I gave them my crude sword and shield," she sobbed.
"For real? You can even do that?"
Dexter handed her the skinned materials and turned to leave, but the woman suddenly grabbed his loincloth, stopping him in his tracks.
He froze—one wrong move, and it would drop.
"Hey! Stop holding thaaaat! You're a woman, goddammit!" Dexter shouted.
"Help me! I don't know what to do! I want to go home!" The woman prostrated herself, desperate.
"Fuck! Where are you from?!"
"I'm from Arz!"
'Where the fuck is Arz? Fucking AI… I thought she was a Player… Shit, maybe I'm the only real player here, and all these people are AI. This damn game almost got me.'
"Ohhh, Arz! Yeaaah, I'm from Nahmic," Dexter said mockingly.
He crouched in front of her like a gangster, legs spread wide, his loincloth barely holding on.
"Are you lost, baby girl?" he taunted, his voice dripping with arrogance.
The woman 'accidentally' stared at the provocative loincloth of the man crouched before her. She quickly lowered her gaze, but the redness of her face didn't escape Dexter's sly, arcing eyes—like a true pervert.
"Ye… yes…"
"What's your name, baby girl?"
"I'm Stella… Arzois."
'Isn't that a beer?'
"That's a cute name! Mine's DND. Happy knowing you! GTG!"
Dexter tried to leave, but the girl clung to his foot.
"Please… I'm begging you! Help me! If I ever get home… I'll give you thousands of gold! I'm a princess in my nation… please…" Stella pleaded, tears streaming down her face.
Dexter rubbed his chin, his mind conjuring perverted thoughts, but he sighed in the end.
'Maybe I can have a follower and make a guild full of AIs. Then we'll conquer all the territories in the Uncharted Zone… Hmm, but survival comes first. All these achievements will be meaningless if I die. Better start a mercenary company after I reach the Warring Kingdom and use these AIs as scouts for safe farming.'
An evil smile spread across his face, making the seated Stella instinctively cover her chest, her cheeks flushing.
"Okay… I'll help you. But you have to follow all my instructions. If not, I'll feed you to the foxes…"
"Really?" Stella sprang up, her smile so dazzling that Dexter shielded his eyes from the blinding gleam of her pearly white teeth.
"Yeah… follow me. You got a bag or something?" Dexter asked.
"I have…" She opened her bag, revealing only the fox pelt Dexter had given her earlier.
Dexter sighed and stared at the "poor" princess standing before him.
"Here, use these!"
He handed her his extra Tier I Crude Sword and Shield—Masterpiece versions. But Stella, a true novice who didn't understand the game's mechanics, merely recognized them as similar to the training weapons her royal knights used. She showed no surprise.
'She really is an AI. If you were a player and saw this Masterpiece Crude Sword, you'd be shocked… because it doesn't exist in the original Eldrion.'
"Follow me! We'll gather materials to craft some gear. Don't worry, baby girl—we'll split everything halfway. Just be my pack mule."
Dexter didn't care about the loot—it was considered trash in-game. But in the Warring Kingdom, where even basic supplies had value, penniless players could gather and sell these items for decent coin.
The pair ventured deeper into the forest, where screams from other players echoed through the trees—some fleeing foxes, others running from roaming bandits. Dexter methodically killed and skinned foxes, chopped wood, and dumped everything onto Stella. The magical bag never changed size, only weight, and the princess struggled under its growing burden.
After easily dispatching some isolated bandits, Dexter's Combat Mastery reached level 2, unlocking his ability to wield Tier II equipment.
"Let's go, baby girl! I need to refine this stuff to finish my quest!"
Dexter practically skipped back toward the village while Stella grunted with each laborious step. Even her mule's bags were full now, making the poor creature's gait more pathetic than her own.
"Can't you please help me, DND? This is so heavy... I'm a princess... I'm not used to this kind of work. I shouldn't be lifting things like this. Where are my servants? Ugh, my arms hurt... Why won't you assist me? This is beneath me!"
'She's really committed to her role-play.' Dexter smirked.
"But baby girl... you're not a princess anymore. Those days are gone. Don't delay my quest—unless you'd prefer I feed you to the foxes? They're always hungry, and I've no patience for this role-playing."