CHAPTER 68: CH 68: HE’S...A DECENT PERSON?

’He’s... decent at the game? And he is not letting me get hurt as well. He is also not trying to scam me or ditch me. Could the system... be wrong about Cane? Is he actually a good guy?’

Canari asked himself as she followed after him inside for another dungeon run. So far, he had been nothing but polite and had respected her boundaries as well.

He had not even tried to flirt or take advantage of her once he got to know that she was a low-level player, and that earned her respect—

’Don’t be an idiot and fall for his tricks. That man just wants you to lower your guard before he can use you.’

Canari reminded herself as she followed after Cane. For good measure, she also slapped herself so that the pain would help her focus on her surroundings more than her feelings.

The sound of the slap was loud, and Cane turned toward her with a concerned look.

"Are you alright? What was that sound?"

He asked, and Canari felt her face flushing before she decided to answer.

"Don’t... worry about it. I thought there was something on my face, so I decided to slap myself. It is nothing you need to worry about."

She assured Cane, but he looked even more worried about her now. Canari noticed his concern and quickly looked away.

’Do not look at me like that... ugh, why did he have to pretend to care for me? This is so embarrassing.’

She could not help but groan as she pushed her way forward. She did not think she would be in this situation anytime soon. But here she was, trying her best not to show her bad side to the public.

But somehow, it was not working out as well as she hoped it would.

And because of this, she was making too many mistakes. She had already fallen victim to more traps than she could count, and that had also caused her to get injured and lose a lot of pride.

She might have even died if Cane had not decided to turn around and help her out.

’Tsk. How embarrassing.’

She could see the comments on the screen where she had a small window with Cane’s chat open. People were calling her a ’cute newbie’ who needed a lot of help.

’I am not such a bad player to be called a newbie. I am just... intoxicated by the alcohol in my system... yeah—! That is right...’

She tried to convince herself, but even she could not defend herself for much longer. And the alcohol excuse could only work for so long.

"Looks like we are at the gate once more. Maybe you should wait outside? It might be dangerous in there..."

Cane told her, but Canari did not care that much for his words. She was here on a mission, and she refused to get distracted.

"Y-You do not have to worry about me. I am just fine... let’s go—!"

She told Cane as she pushed the door open. The boss room appeared in front of her and she braced herself for the first impact. Cane walked behind her, and that distracted her enough to make her miscalculate the shield she was supposed to put up.

’Oh fuck—! I might die—’

She had seconds before Cane pulled her back and out of harm’s way. It caused her to breathe heavier and she blinked as she looked at Cane’s face. He looked flushed and gave her a worried look.

"Are you alright? You are not hurt, right?"

Cane asked as he patted her all over to check up on her. Canari felt mortified and thankful at the same time. Her mouth kept closing and opening as she considered what she should do now.

Finally, Cane decided that she was too out-of-it and it was not safe for her to be out here. He dragged her back to the inn where he sat her down on the chair and ordered some food.

"Look, I don’t know what is wrong with you, but you should get some food and rest. That will help you feel better."

He told Canari, and she opened her mouth to thank him before she pulled herself back and looked down.

She was not sure what she could even say to him at this point that won’t sound like she was making excuses.

"Don’t worry about anything else and eat. Then, you need to log off and get some real sleep. If you want my help, you can try and send a message to Ai... she’s an NPC, and you can also check up on my streams. Unfortunately, I cannot add you as a friend for ’reasons.’"

Cane told Canari, and she just blinked before she slowly came back to herself.

Her face flushed as she realized what Cane had just told her.

"I... need to go. Thank you for helping me out."

Canari told him. She hesitated before she thanked him as well and then disappeared. Cane could only watch as the female fled, but the notification sound from the system alerted him and he decided to check it out.

[Ding! Proof of Leadership quest has been updated. Current process ⅗]

’Oh—! That turned out to be better than I expected.’

It was clear to see that Canari was still not as comfortable with him as he wanted her to be, but this was a start. He could slowly ease her into realizing that he was not someone who wanted to harm her.

Now, it was up for Canari to decide what she thought of him. He had done what he could to convince her of this fact.

’Alright, time to head out and find Ai. She promised she would be back soon, so I should regroup with her and ask Dani what the plan is for the next part.’

Dani was his competition, sure, but he was also a friend and a... potential source of money for Cane. And he was never going to turn down free money.