「Level Up!
+3 system points earned!」
「Level Up!
+3 system points earned!」
「Level Up!
+3 system points earned!」
「Level Up!
+3 system points earned!」
[+1 Dexterity]
「PLAYER STATUS – [V777 (Vortex_7)]」
◆ Level: 8
◆ Race: Phoenix
◆ Class: [Locked] (Lvl. 30 Required)
◆ HP: 25 / 135
◆ MP: 5 / 185
◆ Aestrol Coins: æ5,000
— ATTRIBUTES —
◆ Strength (STR): 15 (+4) ⟩⟩ 19
◆ Endurance (END): 13 (+4) ⟩⟩ 17
◆ Dexterity (DEX): 13 (+5) ⟩⟩ 18
◆ Luck (LUK): ★☆☆☆☆ [Fate Hates You]
— RANKINGS —
◆ Overall Value: 1,600th Place
◆ Location: Pyrros
◆ Allies: None
— ABILITIES —
None Unlocked
— INVENTORY —
27 / 30 Used
[Achievement Unlocked! DunMaster!
— Survive your first dungeon raid!
— Reward: æ200]
Nico groggily stood up after closing the system screens flashing before him. As he did, his longsword fell off the handle, rendering it useless.
[Basic longsword has been shattered]
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock! How about you give me a weapon as a congratulations?! Huh?!"
[New Skill Unlocked! Primordial Baptism
— Absorbs nearby energy to fuel regeneration]
"Holy shit, that seems important, but Jasper is actually in a dire situation..." Nico mused as he dismissed the system screen and ran towards the unconscious Jasper.
He pulled out his healing potions, where only 3 remained.
He poured the first one on her wound, which somehow stopped bleeding. Nico noticed the same covering it and clicked his tongue.
'I heard what Raymond said. 5-star luck players really are just plot devices for boring writers... What did you mean her bleeding stopped because of the sand?!'
He emptied the entire bottle and threw it aside, opening another as he poured it all over her body once more.
Green particle effects in the shapes of tiny women with soft expressions began hugging Jasper's wounds, even kissing the deeper ones until they were sealed.
"Adorable," Nico blushed as he watched the little women disappear.
He then grabbed Jasper's mouth before opening the last healing potion and dumping it into her mouth. Unfortunately, only about 10% of the potion was actually going into her mouth.
He looked at the bottle and her lips, remembering a scene from an anime where a character had to feed the female lead a healing substance by drinking it himself before he could kiss her.
He shook his head and pulled out his hair, carelessly dropping Jasper as he groaned. "No, you little perv! You're not doing that to her! She's a respectable woman, not some bimbo!"
"I can hear you," Jasper squinted at Nico, causing him to freeze before he smiled softly and helped Jasper to sit up straight.
"Thank God you're awake. I almost did something lewd to your lips~" he said worriedly.
Jasper chuckled and gently took the healing potion out of Nico's hands. "I wouldn't have cared."
Then, she grabbed Nico's cheeks and forced the last of the healing potion down his throat, making him cough, gag and burp one after another.
[HP: 60 / 135]
He rubbed his throat and burped one last time. "You don't have to be so rough."
"I'm not usually like this..."
Nico glanced at Jasper and then in the direction she was looking.
The corpses of Harold and Oscar began dissipating, turning into golden glimmers of game data that floated through the confines of the sandstone ceiling.
Nico sighed and stood up, approaching the glowing purple stone he ignored before. He crouched and picked it, staring at it as it stared right back at him.
"It wasn't your fault. I thought I had to bear the truth alone. If I told them sooner, then maybe..."
He stood up and returned to Jasper, handing her a lunch box with warm food. She raised her head and tilted it.
"Maybe they would've been here."
Jasper reached out and took the food, storing it into her inventory before holding Nico's hand.
"I was stronger, but I failed," she commented.
"I thought I was smarter, but I was wrong. At least you have your strength to speak for you. I have nothing. I am nothing."
Jasper scowled. "No, you're not! You're a better person! We both are! We're not innocent for letting our mates die, but we're not going to be the monsters Raymond and his thugs want us to be!
"We're going to be better!"
Nico held Jasper's hand and pulled her up without warning, causing her to stumble into him. Nico lost his footing slightly when she did, his hands falling to his side afterwards.
He smiled and backed away when Jasper finally stood properly. He flashed the purple crystal in his hands. "You're wrong. You are going to be better.
"Just once, I'd like to be the monster. The one who hunts. The one who controls the server."
Jasper sighed through her nose. "No choice then, ey? Let me—"
"Sorry, but you're not part of this," he added with an even brighter smile.
"Huh?!"
"You weren't even talking to Oscar and Harold, constantly giving us the cold shoulder. I should be the one to avenge them."
"Nico, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to beat them, even with that stone! Quit acting like a brainrot kid and actually think like you normally would!"
Nico smiled as he tucked the crystal into his pocket. Not his inventory, but the pocket on his coat.
"I'll let you jump in when I really need the help. Come on, we don't wanna miss the curtain call."
Nico turned around and dusted off the sand in his clothes as he approached the exit. Jasper sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Fucking twat."
"Mh? What was that?" Nico asked with a cheeky smile.
"You fucking heard me."
***
While Nico and Jasper spoke inside the dungeon, Raymond and his party patiently waited outside the dungeon.
Vanessa and Gary were in each other's arms, Alice was reading a book and Raymond had his arms crossed as he meditated.
After a long stretch, he checked the time on his system screen. "It's been like 30 minutes out here, which means it's roughly 2 minutes in the dungeon.
"He should be dead by now, right?"
Alice rolled her eyes as she snapped her book close before standing up. "The fact that you have to ask is the reason why I doubted your competence in the first place."
"If you're so unhappy, why don't you leave?" Raymond finally asked.
"Because you'd try to kill me knowing full well that my information is irrelevant. But you'd do it anyway because you can't stand seeing anyone turn their back on you.
"No... You can't stand seeing someone else's back... Plus it's easy money. Let's get this over with."
Before Alice could step forward, Raymond grabbed her wrist and stopped her. "You really think I have that big of an ego?"
"I know you do. Now let me..."
Alice's words caught in her mouth as she stared at the dungeon gate. Raymond released her and turned around, only for his eyes to widen as well.
"You're shitting me, right...?" Gary chuckled nervously as he and Vanessa backed away. "He couldn't have survived that. He's not strong enough..."
"Yeah, but Jasper is," Vanessa clenched her teeth as she glared at the distorting portal.
It expanded and turned into dust, indicating that the dungeon had been cleared. Then it vanished, yet no one emerged from the other side.
Gary pulled out his sword with no hesitation, prompting the others to take up their fighting stances as well.
They backed against each other and looked in all directions, trying to find whatever threat managed to clear the dungeon.
"Show yourself, Jasper! Let's settle this like real tanks! One on one, you and I! An actual showdown!" Raymond shouted with a crazed grin.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Gary lifted an eyebrow in annoyance.
"Shut up. You wouldn't get it."
"This man is corny as hell," Vanessa teased, causing Gary and Alice to chuckle, making Raymond smile softly.
Despite their ups and downs, they were a team, comrades, a family.
'I would die if it meant I can protect them. They're my family now!'
"Peakaboo."
The wind howled right in the middle of the group, but it wasn't the wind. It was a man.
A man with an infuriatingly familiar voice—a man who could've only survived by mooching off someone else's luck because his was dog shit.
The four split up and turned around simultaneously, their eyes widening when they noticed Nico standing with a broken blade in his hands.
"Oh, God really does have His favourites! I get to kill you myself?!" Gary laughed as he pointed his blade at Nico.
"More like, how are you even alive? And where's Jasper?" Alice squinted her eyes suspiciously while looking around the area.
"I can't read the area. She must be dead..." Vanessa commented.
Raymond sighed in relief. "Looks like we panicked for nothing. It's just the weakest link. My best bet is that Jasper killed the boss and he managed to slip out, like a bug."
Nico scoffed and pulled out the purple stone in his hands. "You couldn't be anymore wrong."
A wide, twisted grin formed on his lips, causing the other players to back away from him. Not from the smile itself, but from the crystal in his hand.
"You bastard! That's a blight stone!"