Silver dust sparkled when Christian meteored from above. No explosive force sent shockwaves to the onlookers on sight, just the grace of another immortal’s descent.

Players in the plaza were unbothered at the event, but not the natives. Even after six months, the phenomenon of an immortal's descent still mesmerized the natives. They gawked at him as if a real star fell, for they did not know what colossal size one actually has.

Christian stood there as well, baffled. For him, there were no introductory cinematics, receptionists, or any starter guide as such, so it happened in the game of ancient times. As if thrown into a dream, he reveled at the scenery Ulteria's very first appearance rendered in front of him.

The plaza gleamed brightly, with a dazzling pure white star shining in the sky instead of the usual pale blue one from the real world. The pavements were adorned with thin, yet deep enough drains that only a toddler's feet could trip on them. Water flowed through these drains, sparkling in the light of the white Quro hanging in the sky. Despite the obvious dust in the sky which gave the plaza a bloom effect. The drain was still an artful decoration, free from dust, and the white mist floating in the air made it feel more surreal.

Christian would move if only light sliding from corners of wooden roofs agreed to leave his attention. The simplistic dust lingering in the air illusioned the bloom he was mesmerized with. The bustling of ancient daily life stumped him like any other immortal. Despite having a green planet, most citizens of Rearth, Juma, and Kiton lived in digital hums and sonorous beeps of machines. They had never experienced the ancient culture with such life-like immersion. Yet now, Christain was wide awake in a virtual dream.

Marveling the Ulteria's beauty and its realistic yet out-of-the-world feel, he just wanted to sit around a corner and take it all in with slow breaths, but the sight of it all overwhelmed and froze him to his place.

Just a little distance from the hypnotized newbie, a group of people -who had just missed his valiant descent- had entered the plaza.

Wow, what’s gotten into him? It was Una who caught the sight of the seemingly petrified male. She walked towards Christian, and others followed.

“You look like someone new here. Would you join our Party for a hunt?” she said, except for Ghun and Damien, everyone else’s head snapped towards Una.

Their minds synched, as they all thought, He is at level Zero. Except for Christian himself, for he had yet to start seeing what he was going through as a Game. The concept of levels and growth still needed to be instilled in his understanding of this world. As for the team members, they knew Una would tell them her reasoning to recruit a level 0 in the due time. So nobody asked anything.

"Hello, I am new here. I just arrived and I'm not sure how I can be of assistance to you all. It seems like you are already quite capable without me," Christain observed their equipment and his bearings. He had nothing except for 10 Coins of a currency known to him and the clothes he wore.

“Oh,” Una formed a little ‘O’ while exclaiming to find that Christian had his head in the right place, she then said, “You don’t have to worry about that. I specifically require a low-level person to accomplish this task.”

‘Low leveled’, ahh it’s a game. Christian mused. But Damien, who was all stiff and perplexed due to the kissing event, snapped his head towards Una at those same two words. His face twisted in an ugly expression for an instant and then he gave a sympathetic glance to the newbie.

“Okay! I will join you guys. By the way, my name is Christian Wise.” He replied, taking Una’s word for it. ‘I have nothing to lose, what could possibly go wrong?’ He thought. To Chritian’s utter misery, he was unaware, that the damn question answers for itself, and he had one unkillable life.

“Great! My name is Una Sworforth, and these are my Party members.” Una gestured towards them.

“Hi, I am Yu…” … .. .

They all introduced themselves momentarily and lastly, Karo introduced himself, "Hi, I am Karo Shineridiculously."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"..." Loud silence befell.

It was a random stranger who introduced himself at last. Usually, Una was the one to fly in a rage when someone imposed themselves on her Party. But she held back, looking at the person's level in front. A level 231 Human.

"Sir, may I know what interest you have in my Party?"

Everyone turned towards the human, who appeared next to them with a cheeky smile. It was a big shock for everyone, yet Christain mumbled “Shineridiculously”, lingering on the familiar yet ‘ridiculous’ enunciation of Karo’s second name. As he had just entered Ulteria, it was still some time till he figured out that high-level NPCs were not a common occurrence to spot.

Karo spared a second on Christian, losing interest immediately he answered Una, “I am here to join in on the fun, nothing much. You have a pretty quirky lineup after all. Can I ms. Isha?”

‘So they are acquainted?’ Una glanced at Isha.

“I am afraid, I am not the one to make that decision, Venerable Karo. Una is our Party leader, we follow her lead.” Isha dodged the ball, yet she was the most tense in the team at Karo’s sudden appearance. She didn’t know that completing the Mage Scholar exam would get Swordmaster Karo on her tail.

Una took a hint, Isha knew the man, and he was a Venerable in the Kingdom at that. She had to trade carefully, yet she wasn’t a pushover either.

“Lord Karo, I hope you understand this. Though not to disregard your Venerable status, I can’t carelessly recruit any person to whom I haven’t been acquainted beforehand.” Una put forth her concerns, and Isha cheered mentally.

But Karo didn’t even have to speak, as he just turned towards Christian, striking down Una’s point with straight and sharp plausible deniability. Christian smiled wryly, and Isha’s shoulder slumped.

“Miss Una, I know what worries you. Just know that I am here solely for fun. I don’t have any ulterior motive, or to be honest, I had one,” Karo turned towards Isha, yet genuinely seemed more interested in what Una was planning for the hunt given Chritian’s recruitment. "But now, however, I would like to focus on the fun part."

If one were to talk about what ulterior motives he had, it was obviously stalking Isha.

Una pursed her lips, looked away for a few seconds, and finally said, "Then we will be in your care for this hunt, Venerable Karo."

Isha sighed… and they all started walking towards the teleportation plaza. Their words were quiet because they spoke none. The presence of a level 231 was great, more so when it's a Venerable. In front of Karo, even Hugo was just a beast master and nothing else. But to Christian, it was all the same. He took everything in with sprinkling eyes, labeling himself as a country bumpkin. He stared at normal things happening alongside the streets, asked questions, and consequently got amazed by them. It was all new to him, other players in the party were too mature to talk in such a condition, except one.

“So what game did you use to play before this one?” As they were walking towards the teleportation gates, Yu asked to indulge in small talk.

“None,” Christian threw back and every Player in the team turned their head towards him.

There was an awkward silence for a moment before Isha spoke, "So you don't have any experience at all?"

Christian felt the weird gazes of the players at the party and nodded, scratching the back of his head. Then all of them in unison turned towards their Leader who apparently didn't have anything to say as she just gestured towards Karo. Natives in the party hadn’t given any thought to Christian’s comment and had their attention stuck to the Venerable, who in turn was eyeing Isha and Damien.

Nobody spoke afterward. All knew Una would brief things when necessary, but it was still not clear to the later members of the party. Damien and Ghun had an inkling of what kind of monster they were going to raid and what role Christian would be playing, but they didn't dare voice it out. Lest the prey would run away, and now Karo in the mix, their guess would be as good as anyone’s.

Yu was essentially a shut-in who didn't know how to talk with non-gamers, not to mention their age gap. Damien was focused on Isha who kept her silence, creating an awkward atmosphere between them. Karo kept analyzing their relationship status for some reason. Ghun was thinking about the strategies and wondering if he would be having dinner tonight with his family or would have to stay out in the wild.

Finally, when they reached the teleportation hall, Una informed them of the quest she picked for today, "So I hope everyone is geared as per I told. We will be hunting level 40 Articores from now on."

Damien paled recalling his past experience, it was as he guessed.

Karo, on the other hand, had a brilliant smile, ‘See, told ya, it would be fun’. He stated in his mind and no surprise to him a reply came.

‘What Told Ya, you are harassing that girl for no reason.’

At those words, his goofy attitude disappeared and he replied back, ‘My actions give meaning to my existence. I don’t know the reason for being brought to life again, but I sure as hell know the reason to live this life.’ Karo’s gaze was fixed on Isha, as he replied to the voice in his head.

The voice stayed silent for a moment before ending the conversation with its last words, ‘Let’s see then what meaning this Rainbow Party provides to your existence’.