Chapter 81

**[Title]**

First Legendary Weapon, 'Astaroth' Owner, "Whitey" - Who is She? (+1881)

**[Content]**

Yesterday, right after the World Boss raid ended, there was a World Announcement when Whitey pulled out the weapon.

Now everyone knows that Whitey's full name is "Drizzle Rain."

So, who is this Rain?

Those who've been playing *Astria Online* since its launch will remember her. She once made an appearance on the forums as the owner of the full Orc Warrior set.

Her physical characteristics stand out the most. She's small, cute, and her eyes and hair color are beautiful and unique.

Even if you tried to match her color code, you wouldn't get the same result.

There was even that disaster when someone tried to copy her character customization and failed miserably.

Later on, rumors of sightings of her began popping up among elite dungeon scouting parties.

Apparently, she avoids talking to anyone and disappears if you take your eyes off her for just a second at the dungeon entrance.

Witnesses say her weapon changes right after a Perfect Clear party run, suggesting she could be one of the tanks in those parties.

People started connecting her with the Perfect Clear team, 'Noname,' after the 'Outpost' opened.

Around that time, players who rode on Chris’s party bus claimed they saw Whitey.

Although Chris blocks in-dungeon screenshots using in-game settings, some screenshots taken with external programs surfaced occasionally.

Bus riders said her gameplay style is very different from any swordsman they've seen before. Her damage output is insane, and she never gets hit. She dodges what should be avoided and blocks what should be blocked. Detailed analysis of Whitey's damage cycle will probably be done by the swordsman players.

Whitey stands out even among the elite farmers, swapping weapons at an insane speed.

Considering her performance during the Green Dragon raid, it’s almost certain that Whitey is the tank of the Perfect Clear team, 'Noname.'

The real highlight was when she fought Jo Hyun-soo.

This proved that she’s not just good at PvE. She dominated Jo Hyun-soo with her PvE gear, finishing him off with a perfect dragon breath counter after leading him into a trap. It was flawless.

No one would argue if you called her the strongest player right now.

Here are some screenshots and gifs of Whitey from the Green Dragon raid.

(jpg files)

(gif files)

...

**[Comments]**

- Gasp… oh my...

- Why are the comments like this?

ㄴ People about to get arrested, lol.

- Wow, but she's really cute. Small, pretty, and amazing at the game.

- Judging by her movements, her synchronization rate is either maxed out or hacked beyond the limit. Her height must be the same in real life, right?

ㄴ Yeah, while you can make your face look younger in character customization, adjusting height or body shape would lower the sync rate.

ㄴ Oh... if she's that short, is she a minor?

ㄴ Can minors even play this game?

ㄴ Definitely not. The game requires strict real-name verification, especially since death in-game can lead to real-life consequences. No way a minor would get past that.

ㄴ If she were underage, the game company would’ve already banned her. Since she's been playing since launch, there’s no age issue.

ㄴ She’s probably around 140cm tall. There are short adults too.

ㄴ Yeah, barely an adult but still an adult.

- Swordsmen need to be nerfed. Her damage is ridiculous.

ㄴ Shut up. If you could deal even 80% of her damage as a swordsman, maybe I'd agree. Whitey would have been strong no matter what class she played.

ㄴ It looks like she's making perfect use of Just Guard and hitting every skill without missing.

ㄴ Yeah, her physical stats like damage and agility are standard for a fully-geared swordsman. She’s just putting her agility to great use.

ㄴ People who just spam skills won’t understand. Look at how she used the Air Slash. It shows how versatile the class can be depending on the user.

ㄴ But in her fight with Jo Hyun-soo, dodging the swordsman’s instant skills looked like some crazy sync rate. Could her capsule be hacked?

ㄴ A high sync rate alone wouldn’t let you dodge like that. It’s like saying an amateur boxer can dodge bullets just because they're fast. Even Deathmaster, with his boxer background, can only replicate some of those moves. If her sync rate broke the limit, it would mean she has reaction speeds beyond pro athletes in real life.

- What’s the deal with Chris and Whitey? I’m really curious.

ㄴ Why are you so curious, lol?

ㄴ Honestly… same. They look so cute together.

ㄴ My imagination is running wild… adorable little sister following a cool older sister...

ㄴ Look at image 11. Chris’s eyes are full of love, lol.

ㄴ Is it that kind of relationship? For real?

ㄴ Maybe they’re just close in-game. They probably meet in real life too.

ㄴ Whitey, who avoids everyone, clings only to Chris. They must be super close.

ㄴ Didn’t Whitey offer to "repay" Chris with her body after getting the Dragon Heart at that auction or something?

ㄴ But it didn’t seem serious. People who were there just thought it was cute.

ㄴ And it wouldn't be a problem if they were dating, right?

ㄴ Since the minor theory is debunked, if they’re both okay with it, who cares?

---

“Haah.”

I sighed deeply, staring at the messenger window that popped up in front of me, and rejected all the friend requests I received today.

I hadn’t expected a World Announcement when I got my legendary weapon.

Thanks to this unexpected twist, my full name was revealed to the entire server.

I knew I’d be exposed to faction battleground players during the World Boss raid, but I couldn’t resist my desire for that legendary weapon, despite the risk of revealing my unorthodox gameplay style.

But the World Announcement made things bigger than I anticipated.

Now I might get attention from the game developers, risking the discovery of my abnormally high sync rate.

Still, if I want to continue living in the Astria continent, I’ll have to face this sooner or later.

I can’t hide forever.

It’s all or nothing now.

Since it’s come to this, my days of hiding are over.

---@@novelbin@@

**[Hongbaek Guild]**

- **Guild Leader / Onmyoji 'Chris'** (Offline)

- **Vice-Guild Leader / Fighter 'Deathmaster'** (Offline)

- **Guild Member / Mage 'Beimerung'** (Offline)

- **Guild Member / Spirit Shaman 'Cherni'** (Refused Messages)

...

The guild interface displayed the online status of my guild members.

Deathmaster and Beimerung were offline, and Cherni seemed busy with something else.

As much as I wanted to run some bus raids to earn gold, Chris had work today. But even without her, I’d still receive my base salary.

In that case, I should make the most of this spare time alone.

I gazed at my new legendary weapon, *Astaroth.*

If it were just an elite weapon, I’d have to worry about hitting the berserk patterns from lack of damage, making solo bus runs impossible.

But with this weapon, I can run the bus alone.

I’d grown closer to Chris’s party members over time.

And during the Green Dragon raid, I made new connections with the Hongbaek Guild members, slowly overcoming my aversion to people.

The Rain who used to run away at the sight of anyone’s shadow had grown a lot.

How long am I going to keep hiding behind Chris?

It’s time to face customers on my own.

This is my first step towards socializing.

Standing in front of the 'Verbeia Ancient Temple' after finishing my daily quests, I opened the regional announcement chat window.

**[Verbeia Ancient Temple bus service available. It may be a little slow, but I’ll give you a good deal.]**

Hmm, does that sound okay?

Is it too long?

I rewrote it, making it more concise and attention-grabbing.

**[★Safe Bus Service★ ★Lowest Prices Guaranteed★]**

Oh, this looks good.

*Beep*

Not long after posting the message in the regional chat, whispers flooded my interface.

**[Me! Me! I’ll take 5 runs!]

[HiiHii! I want to join!]

[Me me me me!]

[Are there still seats!?]

[Whitey! Whitey!]

[Am I too late!?]

[Rain! Rain!]

[Hi, I’m inquiring about the bus service.]

[Will Chris be there too?]**

…

“Eek!”

I jumped in surprise.

---

As I descended into the underground temple, three female bus passengers approached and started chatting with me.

"Thank you for letting my friends join too!"

"Wow, you’re really soloing the bus? That’s amazing! As expected from the owner of Astria Online’s first legendary weapon!"

"With a full temple gear set and a legendary weapon, I guess solo runs are possible. You must’ve practiced a lot! I’m looking forward to seeing this."

“N-no, it’s nothing…”

I shrank back slightly, responding timidly.

Running a dungeon bus is a paid service.

Of course, that means interacting with customers.

Fortunately, my first customers on the "Rain Safe Bus"

were female players, which made me feel less uncomfortable than if they had been male.

The female mage who first whispered to me immediately asked if her friends could join after hearing I was soloing the bus.

Normally, the rule for bus passengers is one person per run.

This is because I’m paid to give all the loot to one customer.

At first, I was going to refuse. But the customer said each of her friends needed different items, so splitting the loot would be fine.

If the customer is okay with it, then I have no problem either. I even gave them a discount, charging for two passengers instead of three.

Thanks to solo bus runs, this arrangement works out for both me and the customers.

I can take on more than one passenger if their loot needs differ, and they get a cheaper rate than paying for a solo run.

Maybe with this extra income, I’ll be able to pay Chris back faster.

“Kyaa…! Look at your hair! It’s so pretty!”

“Oh my, those eyes! They’re so bright and cute!”

“How did you get that hair color RGB code?”

“Huh? Oh, um…”

Surrounded by the female passengers, I began to stammer.

I was overwhelmed by their barrage of questions.

My body tensed up, and my head began to spin.

I was about to burst into tears.

Dealing with strangers is still tough for me...