Marty the Martian helped beta read this chapter but it was done so well it was like Marty wrote the whole chapter for me. But I wrote the ideas down first so kudos to me. Please read and review.

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Being a member of an online gaming party could be fun but it could also be very frustrating. Kind of like being stuck in a car on a long journey with someone who only wants to listen to music you don't like or even worse, wants to listen to a personal development audio book. Fortunately for Inataro though, he was having great fun.

At first the party found themselves in a small cave. Inataro thought it was strange because even though he was in an MMORPG, there was something odd about this place. For some strange reason it reminded him of freshly baked pie. A drop from a small ledge slowed the group but fortunately for Inataro, one of the muscular players was there to help him down. The player reminded him of the character Guts from the anime Berserk.

I'm logging off for dinner now but feel free to send stuff anytime and I'll get on to it when I log on. I am usually on at least once a day after work.

But ledge drops and feelings of pie were among the least of his worries; there were of course the monsters who would re-spawn definitely.

While there was still time, Inataro checked the durability stats on his weapon as it had a lot of slashing ahead of it. His hit point bar was full but he knew he would have to avoid taking too much damage if he and his party were going to make it through this level.

The first to appear was a Green Slime monster. It seemed to ignore the others and rushed straight at Inataro.

Moving quickly, the young man jabbed repeatedly at the slime monster, charging the swords strike points. Eventually the weapon began to glow with power enabling Inataro to slice the monster in two.

He may not have been as fast as the others and did not kill as many slime monsters, but Inataro was determined to do his best and play his part.

The party fought on and although the slime monsters kept coming, when their inventories were full, it was time to move on.

"Only two more floors after this one" Kat informed the group.

Inataro tried to keep his nerves steady as the Boss Room drew ever closer. The end Boss Fight of any quest was always the greatest risk and the greatest surprise. A few hits after straying too close to the Boss and it was health gone, game over and player deleted.

But before Inataro and his party could go through that last door, they had to contend with a floor full of Pig-Headed tomahawk wielding warriors bent on halting their progress.

Without hesitation, Kat rushed straight in and decapitated the the lead beast with Inataro following hot on her heels.

He spun around and decapitated the next pig with one sweep of his sword and it exploded into dozens of glittering pixels.

Next thing he knew he was standing back to back with Kat swinging his weapon furiously. Her back felt so smooth and warm, Inataro almost forgot they were inside a full dive virtual reality game.

Another Swine Ogre came at Kat with its axe swinging down upon her. She blocked the attack and jumped simultaneously before drilling her sword deep into the pigs neck.

As she fought, Kat saw another player take down one of the pig monsters nearby; a big player with big brawny muscles and an even bigger axe with a mighty powerful swing.

Inataro didn't want to be a show off but at the same time, he was beginning to feel like he wasn't pulling his weight in this fight. So since none of the Swine Ogre's were really a threat, he tried slashing faster and harder to keep up with Kat and the other players.

"Hey dummy, watch your back!" the big player shouted rudely at Inataro.

In spite of his embarrassment, Inataro was glad the big guy shouted a warning because a Swine Ogre was about to hit him from behind.

He quickly spun around and cut the beast in two, bringing the battle to an end. The party took advantage of the opportunity to head into a safe zone instead of the next floor.

" I think we should wait here until our HP is replenished and more piggies show up" Kat suggested. "This is a great place to get our stats up by sticking around for a while and slaying them."

Time passed slowly very for Inataro as he sat beside Kat in the safe zone. Also it was very tight and uncomfortable with the broad shouldered player squeezed in with them.

" So what brings you to this cave, big guy?" Inataro asked.

" My name is Kiku" he replied "and I am surprised I came here too."

"It's simple really" Inataro said "Kat and I just love adventure."

As the two young men chatted, Kat examined her weapon looking for damage. When she was satisfied, she opened up her inventory to check here item levels.

"Looks good" Kat nodded. "Between the monster drops and what I bought with me, we should have enough health potions for everyone."

With their health levels fully replenished, the three players made there way out of the safety room and towards the stairs. When they arrived on the third floor, they found the room resembled a gigantic bird cage.

As they entered, the group slowly became aware of strange hissing sounds echoing softly throughout the bird cage and when they looked up, they soon discovered where the sound was coming from.

Lowering itself down by a thread, was a massive spider with glistening black fur and six glowing crimson eyes.

Inataro noticed the spider was a level forty-nine Boss Monster. He realized he had never taken on anything so strong before as the players all took a fighting stance and prepared for battle.