Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons

Arthur booked a room in the inn which cost him 10 bronze coins, and placed the girl on the bed.

Arthur let out a small sigh as he looked at the unconscious girl resting on the wooden bed.

Placing his hands on his waist, he frowned. "What now?" he muttered to himself, his mind wandering. "Do I just leave her here alone?"

He glanced at the door, then back at the girl. Her face was pale and serene.

"Should I... maybe summon Borak to watch over her?" he thought aloud.

His brow furrowed as he pictured the Borak standing over the girl, his tusks gleaming. "but... he might scare her to death when she wakes up." He shook his head, quickly dismissing the idea.

Arthur stepped closer to the bed and leaned against the wooden frame, his eyes scanning her for any sign of waking.

"What am I even doing?" he muttered under his breath. "I don't even know who she is, and now I'm playing babysitter?"

"She's obviously involved in something dangerous. Bandits don't just chase random girls through the forest," he thought.

His fingers tapped against the bedpost absently. "But whatever her deal is, I can't have her slowing me down. I have a quest to complete, levels to gain, and money to make."

'But what if she has a hidden mission for me?' He thought.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

As Arthur was lost in thought, he didn't realise that he was very close to the unconscious girl in front of him.

Lost in his internal debate, Arthur didn't realize how close he had leaned toward the unconscious girl on the bed. He was so deep in thought that he missed the faint mumble that escaped her lips.

Suddenly, the girl's eyes shot open, wide with fear.

"Arghhh!"

Her scream pierced the quiet room, startling Arthur so much that he instinctively jerked back, nearly tipping a chair.

"Ahh! What are you doing?!" she yelled, her voice shaking as her hands darted to pat down her clothes, checking herself frantically. "You! The coward! What are you trying to do to me?"

Arthur blinked, momentarily stunned by the volume of her voice. "Huh?" he muttered, before realizing how close he had been to her just moments ago. "Wait! It's a misunderstanding—"

Before he could finish, she grabbed a pillow and hurled it at him with surprising force.

"You—You rascal!" she yelled, her cheeks flushed with anger, fear and humiliation. "Did you touch me?"

Arthur caught the pillow mid-air, setting it calmly back down on the bed. "Calm down! I saved—"

Before he could even finish the sentence, she snatched the pillow again and threw it with even more power.

Arthur groaned in frustration. "Enough!" He climbed onto the bed and grabbed her wrists firmly, his face close enough now that she could see the irritation on his face. "I said—I saved you from the bandit!"

The girl froze, startled not only by his close distance but by the strength in his grip.

She stopped struggling, her wide eyes locked on his. "But... but you ran away!" she said, her voice wavering as her anger soon turned to confusion.

Arthur sighed, loosening his grip but not letting go entirely.

"Yes, I ran. But it wasn't because I was scared." He spoke slowly, trying to make his words clear. "I ran to lure him away to a better spot. I knew he wanted to kill me and keep you alive for whatever reason. So I decided to use that to my advantage and get him to a place where I could fight him."

Her lips parted slightly in surprise, her gaze searching his face for any sign of lies. "So... you weren't just a coward?"

"I mean... it depends," he thought, smirking faintly in his mind.

"Of course not. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here right now." He said, with confidence and righteousness.

The girl's expression softened for a moment, though she still seemed wary of that claim.

"You could've told me that," she muttered, looking down at her lap. "You left me behind, and I saw him run towards me and everything turned black. I thought I was dead at the moment he attacked me,"

Arthur released her wrists and sat back, exhaling heavily. "I'm sorry, but if I didn't do that I would be dead and you would be... god knows what would have happened to you."

She glanced at him and didn't argue. "You're really not what I expected," she said after a long pause.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "And what did you expect?"

"Some guy who ditches weak girls after acting heroic to save himself," she said bluntly.

Arthur chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm a little more complicated than that."

The tension between the two of them began to ease, and the girl relaxed slightly against the pillow she had so fiercely used as a weapon moments ago.

"Thank you," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Arthur blinked, not expecting the sudden shift in her tone. "For what?"

"For saving me," she said, her gaze still fixed on her lap. "Even if you ran, you still came back."

Arthur's smirk softened into a small smile. "Don't mention it," he said, leaning back into the chair as he thought that a hidden mission would be completed.

After waiting, seconds soon turned into minutes.

He drummed his fingers lightly on the armrest, his eyes darting to the girl, who was now sitting calmly, her wide, innocent eyes blinking at him like a confused doe.

'Any moment now,' he thought. 'The hidden mission notification, the overpowered reward… It's all going to drop right now.'

But nothing happened. Not a single ping, not a pop-up screen, not even the faintest whisper of a system acknowledgement.

'Where the hell is my hidden quest?! Where's my OP item?!' His mind screamed, panic slowly creeping in.

Arthur cleared his throat, leaning forward slightly. "Umm…" he started, his tone a little too casual. "Remember how you thanked me earlier?"

The girl tilted her head, her doe eyes narrowing in confusion. "Uh-huh," she nodded enthusiastically, her movements like a bobbing chicken.