The Regressed Dungeon Master

Ray stared at the three of them and noticed Aren standing in the corner.

Aren just froze and then looked at Lena, his mouth open without any voice. ’Why?’

Ray stared back at her, having the same doubt. Why was she here? Was it possible that she did not know about the video? Did somebody secretly record her with Mark? But then why did they send it to Aren?

Hundreds of questions swirled in his mind as Lena finally stopped crying.

She suddenly grabbed his face, his face inches away from hers. That familiar flowery perfume hit his nose as he stared right into her eyes.

For a moment, he started searching for the Lena that was in his mind. The one he always thought she was. But there was no resemblance between the two.

She finally uttered with her tear-filled eyes, "Ray, does it still hurt?"

Ray just turned wide-eyed at his still chest. There was no pain from his past life, nor was there any excitement in meeting her again. Just blank.

Ray sucked in a deep breath. ’Don’t tell me something broke in me.’

Lena touched his chest. "Does it hurt here?"

Just to test away the last bit of doubt, Ray reached out to hug her back.

But the moment his hand was about to wrap around her, his teammate Rema chimed in, "Girl, enough with the flirting."

Lena instantly backed away from him, looking down with a red face.

Rema even moved to hide her.

Ray just stared at his empty hand and smirked. ’She played me.’

Duke clicked his tongue. "Damn, you lucky guy."

Rema rolled her eyes. "Don’t act like you don’t get to hug me."

At this, Ray finally shifted his focus to his teammates. Duke and Rema, the couple who were founders of the fifth team, along with him and Lena.

He remembered something and asked Duke, "How come you are not part of the defaulter list?"

Duke just pointed to his girl. "It’s all thanks to her, man. She forced me to do some assignments with her and Lena."

Ray raised his eyebrow and stared at Lena. "How come I never knew about this assignment?"

Lena waved her hand. "Ray, it’s not—"

Rema cut in. "Hmph! I mentioned so many times in team meetings not to rely on the game alone, but you ignored me. See, that’s what happens when you don’t listen."

Lena chimed in to console him. "Don’t worry, Ray. I believe you will easily come out of the defaulter list. If you want, I can teach you some stuff to pass the exam."

Ray just nodded to her. "Sure, I will be grateful."

Not wanting to drag this further, Ray bluntly asked, "Why are you guys here? Is it about the team?"

The three of them suddenly became quiet.

Duke took the initiative. "Ray, we can’t continue like this, man. Not after the incident."

"So who did you choose?"

This time Lena said in a low tone, "We have gained offers from both the third and first team."

At this, Ray acted surprised. "Oh, even Mark is interested in you."

Rema grumbled. "I prefer none of them. If not for that bitch, this would never have happened."

Duke consoled her. "Baby, it’s in the past now."

Ray cut off their banter and just congratulated them. "Good for you guys."

Lena grabbed his arm. "Ray, Mark even offered you a position."

Ray stared at her. This was another new thing for him. But then again, he was not that surprised. The more shocking point was why she had allowed others to join the second team.

Not thinking much about that, he just waved his hand. "I have to deal with the defaulter list first. Then I will see where to go."

Duke mumbled, "But dude, that position might not remain active for long."

Even Lena shook his arm. "Ray, I don’t want to lose more friends."

Ray rubbed his forehead, acting as if struggling, and then nodded to her. "Okay, but I won’t be active for a couple of days."

Rema started jumping. "Haha, I knew you would agree. There is no way you would refuse your Lena."

Lena shouted at her. "Rema, stop it. There is nothing like that."

Ray almost frowned, looking at their antics. He just calmly dragged himself toward his bed. "Guys, if there is nothing else, just let me rest."

The three of them jumped in to help, but he refused. Not long after, the three of them left his dorm room.

Aren finally walked out of the corner and was about to say something when suddenly Ray’s phone started buzzing.

Ray checked his phone, and it was a call from an unknown number. Unsure, he still answered it. "Hello."

A thin, feminine voice came from the other side. [Am I speaking to Ray?]

"Yes, who are you?"

[Actually, my dad told me to contact you regarding the item.]

Ray paused for a bit. He walked away from Aren and then said in a soft voice, "Miss, are you talking about the boss from the cafe?"

[Cafe... yes, that. So, Ray, where can we meet?]

Ray quickly searched the nearby cities next to his Blackwater Village as he said to her, "Miss, currently I am at the northwest side of the Rowali Kingdom."

[Northwest side?]

On another tab, he also searched for the White Bone Guild’s active positions. It was the guild under the Crux criminal family, of which the boss’s gang was a part.

Thankfully, there were two cities where the guild was active. "Miss, I can come to Dulkami or Kachar City."

[Dulkami and Kachar cities? Wait a moment.]

While waiting, Ray opened the Rowali Kingdom’s in-game map. The big problem for him was that both these cities were a bit far from the White Bone Guild’s main cities.

Not long after, she said, [Can’t you come to Lasaan City?] 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Ray scrolled through the map. He saw it was at least two in-game travel days away from him and instantly shook his head. "Miss, I will likely die midway."

She grumbled on the other side. [Ah, but then the round trip will take around a week. Okay, just meet me in Dulkami in two in-game days.]

"Sure, miss."

She instantly disconnected the call without even asking his in-game name.

Ray shook his head and started walking toward his gaming pod. Now he had two days to show this father and daughter who they were dealing with.

He finally jumped back into his gaming pod.