Note: This chapter and the next contain a bonus adventure that Cydney undergoes, but does not contribute much to the overall plot.
Feel free to skip these two chapters to get straight to Cydney meeting Lyn!

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It was one thing to be transported to a different world—a world where magic replaced all the technologies she was so used to—but it was another thing to end up in a different country as well. As if traveling alone in a foreign world was not difficult enough, Sin-Ni now had to deal with culture shock.

For example:

1. The dispenser for soda required some kind of magic that she did not have, but as long as she was thick-skinned enough to ask someone for help, water and soda were free in any restaurant. Was that a "magical world thing" or an "American thing"?

2. Trains and buses still existed in this world, although they did not seem to be powered by fuel. But they came by so rarely she doubted anyone actually used them for daily transportation. How did people get to work? Was this a "magical world thing" or an "American thing"?

3. Occasionally, she chanced upon groups of hikers that camped together; they provided a decently enjoyable community that she appreciated. On the other hand, some places would call the cops on her if she were to just sit on a public bench. Was that a "magical world thing" or an "American thing"?

She had been asking herself the same question so much in the past three months that the answer no longer mattered to her. As she stared into the six eyes of the giant three-headed snake, it didn't matter at all if this was a magical being or a normal animal found in the United States. All she knew was that she needed to kill this three-headed monster.

Oh wait, it was now four-headed. What?

"You idiot!"

The three questers that were in front of her exploded into a heated quarrel.

"Why did you cut its head off?" bellowed the apparent leader of the trio. "You're supposed to cut all the heads at once, or else they'll grow more heads!"

"I was going to die! What was I supposed to do?" the idiot who sliced off the head shouted back.

"But how are we going to kill it now? There's only the three of us! Unless one of us can somehow cut two heads at once, we'll end up with... erm, with..."

"Seven heads," the third person chimed in.

"Exactly!" The leader gestured towards the math guy. "Seven heads! And then we will never be able to de—Ahhhh!"

Amidst their bickering, the snake monster had made its way next to them, snapping its massive jaw. The three questers scrambled on the spot and became a mess—the leader attempted to pull his friends to one side, while the math guy scurried towards the other end. The idiot had already lifted his sword, all ready to strike again, despite being reprimanded for that just seconds ago.

Sin-Ni let out a sigh. Even after three months of questing, she still had not met a single fighter that was competent. Where were all the good fighters in this world? Was the Masked Ninja the best one out there?

Before the three questers could be swallowed up by the monster, Sin-Ni threw out her wristwatch. It transformed into four short blades midair and, with a swing of her hands, sliced through each of the heads, cutting them clean-off and at the same time.

Four heads dropped on the floor with a loud thump. The three men spun around and stared at her in shock.

"Quest completed," she said.

Everyone else remained silent and unmoving as she calmly picked up one of the fallen heads. Walking back towards the city, she could hear the three questers frantically (and noisily) picking up the rest of the loot and following her.

This particular quest was sponsored by a popular pizza place in the city that she had happened to stop by. The prize was free pizza in all their chain locations for a year, as well as one free night of lodging. Sin-Ni was not sure if she would be able to find another chain of this pizza place again, but having a night of meal and lodging settled was very enticing.

In fact, she had done quests for much less. The majority of the quests that she found were sponsored by the QA, whatever those abbreviations meant, but she could never do them because she was not "registered with the QA", whatever that phrase meant. Quests sponsored by anyone other than the QA did not pay as well—she had seen one that only offered a coupon.

Not that she cared about that. Money in this world did not mean anything to her. All she wanted was the meals and lodgings to get through each day so she could move on with her journey.

Pushing the glass door open, Sin-Ni entered the pizza place and dumped the head of the monster on a table. It was late afternoon and not yet mealtime, so the restaurant was empty, except for the owner who was leaning against the wall and smoking a joint.

"You?" he asked, putting out his cigarette by smashing it against the wall. "You completed the quest?"

The three bumbling questers crashed into the restaurant at that point, each of them holding the three other heads.

The owner's eyebrows lifted, and he nodded as if understanding the situation better. "I see, you have a team. The prize is just one membership card, so it's only supposed to be for one person, but I guess a team can use the card as a unit."

"I'm not part of their team," Sin-Ni clarified.

Four pairs of eyes bored into her head, with an intensity far stronger than those from the four-headed snake monster. She suppressed a sigh and kept her back straight. She was used to being underestimated, but it didn't matter; nothing did. She just wanted the prize, one night of free meal and lodging, and then she could resume her travels.

"Oh. Interesting. So... which one of you completed the quest, exactly?" the owner asked again.

"I did." Sin-Ni stood her ground. There was no way she would let the three incompetent fools steal her prize.

"Okay then. You did arrive here first." He dug into his pocket. "Well, since I can only give the prize to either one individual or one team, the rest of you, unfortunately..."

"Oh, we totally are a team!" the leader of the trio exclaimed, draping his hand around Sin-Ni's shoulders.

She shot him a glare and he backed away immediately, but the cheeky smile remained on his face as he continued, "We joined hands during the quest, remember? We are a team now!"

The franchise owner shrugged while handing Sin-Ni a card. "Look, I don't want any part of this. I'm giving her the prize, and you all can work out how to distribute it among yourselves."

Sin-Ni almost let out a groan. "I'm not distri—"

"For sure! We will work it out over a round of pizza!" The leader was relentless. "Team dinner! Let's go!"

His two other friends looked as puzzled as Sin-Ni.

"Wait, but it's too early for dinner though," said the math guy.

"It's never too early for pizza!"

That piqued the owner's enthusiasm. "And you're damn right about that!" He chortled as he entered the kitchen.

In a blink of an eye, Sin-Ni found herself sitting at a table, inside a pizza place, at three o'clock in the afternoon, surrounded by three men. They were all twice her size, but the way they were leaning into the table and looking at her made them feel a lot smaller.

"So, how's it going?" the leader, sitting right opposite her, asked with a wide grin. "My name is Joe, and this guy here"—he pointed to the math guy—"is Elliot, and this other one"—Sin-Ni presumed the idiot of the trio—"is Seth. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Sin-Ni."

"Oh, Sydney!"

As usual, the famous city in Australia was what people thought of whenever she mentioned her name.

Joe leaned forward even more—his entire body was almost plastered on the table—and added, "So, Sydney, we have a proposition for you. A get-rich-quick proposition that you'd be perfect for."

Seth and Elliot exchanged quizzical looks. Whatever Joe was proposing must also be news to his friends.

"We've seen you fight," Joe continued, "and we think that you are a good addition to our team. If you join our team, we can sweep up the quests all throughout the midwest! There's a lot of quests in this area, and some of them pay good money, unlike this one with just the free pizza. If you join us, we can share all our rewards with you. Whaddaya think?"

Sin-Ni shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'm not interested in money."

"Oh? What are you after then? Fame? Reputation?"

"I'm..." She lowered her eyes and muttered, "I'm hoping to get to Boston. I... I want to join the Dawn Avengers."

If the trio had been drinking water, they would have spat them out into her face. Now, only tiny drops of saliva pelted her face as they sputtered, "D- Dawn Avengers?"

For the past three months, that was the same reaction she had been getting whenever she mentioned the name. It was making her want to join them even more. After all, where else could she learn how to get home than in a magical guild with a reputation that made everyone quake in their boots?

Dawn Avengers was definitely her key to getting home.

"T- That's insane!" blurted Elliot, while Seth had lost his ability to speak altogether.

"That is some lofty goal to have," Joe concurred as he nodded, "I- I admire you for that."

"Erm, thank you?"

"So how are you traveling to Boston then? Do you have a train ticket? Or a teleportation port settled?"

Sin-Ni squirmed in her seat. "To be honest, I- I don't have enough money for that, so I'm... I'm walking."

The three faces paled even more. "Walking?"

"Why would you be walking across states?" Joe exclaimed.

"I, erm, didn't have enough money for... for anything."

That was one-half of the truth. The other half was that hailing from one of the smallest countries in the world, she had not realized just how ridiculous it was to travel across America by foot. It had taken her under a day to cross her own country, so surely this wouldn't take too long, right? After three months of trekking, hitchhiking, and going on accidental detours, Sin-Ni knew she had never been more wrong in her life.

Outside the window, a cafe had put out a sign stating 'Voted best hot chocolate in Wisconsin!'

Wisconsin.

So, it had taken her three months to get from wherever Gazini's castle was to somewhere in Wisconsin. (Her first human interaction was with a bunch of park rangers at Yosemite National Park who had been flabbergasted that she had not even known what country she was in)

A sigh escaped her throat. Why must the rest of the journey back home be so long and arduous?

"Ah, you need money! I told you, I have a get-rich-quick proposition, don't I?" Joe smiled, thumping on his chest. "Join us, and we can get you money and guide you to Boston!"

"Wait, really?" Sin-Ni sat up, along with Seth and Elliot.

"Yeah!" Joe continued cheerfully despite his friends' astonished glares. "Boston is the land of questers, so of course we'd want to go there as well! You help us complete quests, we help you get to Dawn Avengers, everyone is happy!"

A wave of relief washed through Sin-Ni. "Really? You're willing to guide me?" She was sick of her terrible attempts at navigation.

"Yeah, what the hell, Joe—" Seth tried to object but his leader brushed him off.

"Of course we are willing to guide you!" Joe emphasized the word 'we', as he stared down at his other teammates. "What do you think, Sydney? We'll do quests together as we travel to Boston; we get the money and jobs, while you'll get free food and lodging and three friendly local guides!"

The free pizza arrived at this exact moment. Her mind was instantly overwhelmed by the smell of freshly-baked cheese and bread. Hunger and exhaustion took over her as she dug in.

Joe's offer sounded as delicious to her ears as the pizza right now.

"Sure."

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