I point a finger at the girl. "And her?"

　　He blinks at me before shrugging apathetically. "Is it even important? She`s not going to be any useful. If anything, she`ll just be in our way." I`m not sure whether I agree or disagree with him. Even if I have no choice but to fight with these as my teammates, calling her useless is a bit& I mean, she`ll be far from crucial, but if nothing else she can at least be a meat shield.

　　Ignoring his words, I disengage from the two and wander over to her. As I noticed earlier, she is indeed crying. Impressive stamina to be able to cry for almost half an hour. I squat down next to her.

　　"Hey." No response. Hmm. "Hey." Nope, not that either. When all else fails, use violence. I poke her in the side, making her jerk up. Ooh, not too shabby of a face. I`ve seen better, but she`s pretty enough not to be called ugly, I suppose. She`s not saying anything, so I poke her again.

　　"—!" That was apparently enough to get her to talk, because now she`s proving her impromptu beatboxing skills by chattering at incredible speeds. No idea what she`s saying, though. I feel like I might recognise a few words here and there, but it`s going by too fast to make anything out at all. Either way, she seems pretty threatening, so I quickly pull up my hands in a show of surrender. Look, I`m not here to harm you, alright? Right, exactly. Her words gradually slow down. Right, yeah.

　　She clearly doesn`t speak English, so I just bring out my sword. She jerks back. Understandable reaction, I guess, so I just hold it out to her hilt first. She glances up at me. I nod. She touches the hilt. Then, she takes it in her hand. The sword must be made of aluminium or something because it`s pretty light, but it`s still too much for her, and her arm soon starts trembling, so I take it back. Regardless, this proves that inter-lobby trading is both possible and simple.

　　Regardless, I think sticking a sword in her hand won`t do her any good. Looking over my shoulder, I glance back at Takashi. "Hey. How`d you make her show you her weapons?"

　　"Huh? Uh, I just made her repeat inventory and then—" a screen pops up in front of his eyes and he waves it off with a huff "—I guided her through the tabs. She`s not stupid, she should know how to do it by now."

　　I nod at him and turn back to the girl. I point at myself. "Lee."

　　She furrows her prominent brows for a second before her face lights up in understanding and she points at herself. "Aashna."

　　Okay. I point at her, "Aashna," and at myself, "Lee."

　　She follows suit, first pointing at me, "Lee," and then herself, "Aashna." And then she smiles. Almost unwillingly, I smile back at her.

　　It took a while of trying, but after a few minutes of back and forth, I was able to get her to open her inventory and bring out her sword and shield, which also brought forth her standing up. Safe to say, she was no longer crying. But just holding the sword in an upright position made her arms tremble, so I was able to convince her through sheer gesturing that the sword just wasn`t usable for her. She didn`t like it, but she eventually accepted it.

　　Oh, and I also got a glimpse of her status. Strength: 2 Agility: 12 Stamina: 4 Magic Power: 21. I`m both envious and not. If she`d only picked the staff, then she could have made for a great mage or healer or whatever it is that the staff makes you. As an aside, her username was TrepidationUnderComittment. I only barely restrained the urge to whack her over the head with her own weapon.

　　But, for now, I need to get her able to use the shield properly.

　　And to do this, we started sparring. She wasn`t happy to do it and I was initially worried the shield would explode into dust, but after a graze turned into a slice, we learned that the weapons damaged would automatically regenerate inside the lobby. And while I razed Aashna, Takashi and Choi Min Shik trained together as well. And after some time, we decided to switch partners. I guess I wasn`t thinking too much about it all when it happened.

　　I suppose it was a good way to train without having to just blindly swing a sword up and down. But honestly speaking, it was kind of nice.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

　　Sometimes you read posts and things by ultra-macho blowovers talking about how the only way to get close to another man is to fight him physically. I always thought of those kinds of guys as chumps trying to disguise themselves as warriors, but I think I`ve changed my mind somewhat. You only learn so much by talking to someone. It`s actions that count, and this is no different.

　　When the final hours until the opening of the first floor drew near, I felt closer to these three than I had with probably anyone in my life. Sure, your family is one thing, but friends& I don`t think I`ve had one of those since elementary school. And even then, they only liked me because I was good at games.

　　It`s not like I`d call these three randoes something as absolute as friends, but& It`s kind of close.

　　<23:48:20

　　Day 1>

　　00:11:40>

　　00:11:40>

　　"It`s almost time, isn`t it?" Takashi says for all of us.

　　I nod at him. "Yeah." The sword in my hand feels heavy despite being so much lighter than a real one. The shield, despite being eaten by termites, doesn`t feel light in the least. It`s like holding a small table. But right now, I think anything I`d hold would feel way heavier than it should. I look over our little band. "Is everyone ready?"

　　Choi Min Shik smiles at me. The sleeves of his shirt are rolled up and the front of it is drenched with sweat. Even though we`ve been here for an entire day and night, none of us felt any real need to sleep. We took a break at the 12-hour mark to eat some jerky and drink, but after that we just went right back to it. Our bodies regenerated as we fought and after a couple of hours all of us gained a relevant skill for the combat we were doing.

　　I got Novice Swordsmanship Level 1 and Novice Shieldwork Level 1, both of which then appeared in the Status tab. If I pressed them, I could see the details of them.

　　<[Basic Swordsmanship (Lv.1)]

　　Allows the user to use the sword in

　　a rudimentary fashion.>

　　<[Basic Shieldwork (Lv.1)]

　　Allows the user to use the shield in

　　a rudimentary fashion.>

　　Doesn`t exactly paint it as an amazing skill, but just having it feels reassuring. There was a clear difference when I got them, and that could also be felt in the others. It wasn`t anything groundbreaking, but they seemed to instantly gain a basic sense of how to use their weapon. None of us were able to reach level 2 in any of our skills, but we weren`t disheartened.

　　We all feel ready.

　　<23:59:03

　　Day 1>

　　00:00:57>

　　00:00:57>

　　I glance at Aashna. She clutches her shield just a little closer to her, making sure to hold the round shield in such a way where it primarily defends her chest and abdomen. All the soft parts.

　　"Alright," I say. "Let`s go."

　　I step in front of the three, them standing at my back, ready. The air around us buzzes with anticipation.

　　<23:59:50

　　Day 1>

　　00:00:10>

　　00:00:10>

　　10,

　　9,

　　8,

　　7,

　　6,

　　5,

　　4,

　　3,

　　2,

　　1.

　　<00:00:00

　　Day 2>

　　00:00:00>

　　00:00:00>

　　I feel myself holding my breath.

　　Do you want to enter?>

　　The same message appeared for us all. We all share a look, and grin.

　　[No] will be chosen for you

　　and the floor may be accessed

　　next attempt.>

　　"Well, you read the message," I mumble. Turning back, I address the group as a whole. "Let`s all press it at once, on three, two, one—!"

　　I poke the Yes.

　　And then the world shifts below my feet.