It didn’t take long for the guild members to arrive. Over three hundred Players had congregated today as most of them were all from the Golden Phoenix guild. They were lucky that not a single one of their Players had died in the last dungeon as the fatality rate was high. But their guild was considered one of the best as it recruited many Players with high potential.

Such high fame wasn’t possible without Mike, guild leader, and Dairen, the guild's vice leader. Both of them worked tirelessly to make this happen. Their connections and achievements outstripped many big and small alliances, bringing jealousy, awe, honor, and respect.

Their screening process was strict and complicated for most to enter, but the honor that came in joining an elite group of selected Players brought along harder and more challenging quests that typical guilds could not even get.

Quest was a major decisive factor for the guild health as it brought the most and highest-paid revenue that the guilds needed. Each guild wasn’t a single group of players but was a booming business.

They needed a place to stay in the world of Rosvera, a building to meet up and plan for the dungeon raids, and bring large profits back to Earth.

The coverup of the world being just a game was eventually overwritten as the companies that sent more Players over into the world of Rosvera. It was now a multi-million dollar endeavor, and the propaganda for it being a game couldn’t hold. Everyone wanted a slice of the pie to enter to become a Player.

There were many elite Player guilds, and for Gold Phoneix to rise to the top over Rodney’s said something back on Earth. More people came in to join in their group, even though they did not have a solid headquarters yet.

Everyone knew that Mike and Dairen had a very close connection with the members of the Dragon Express, Mr. Rogers, and even a few other high profiled Natives. This wasn’t an unknown secret as Mike boasted about his connection behind it. There was validity to it as their jobs were issued quite regularly by them. A simple connection paved the way to booster their guild high up the pedestal even if they had a low number of Players.

 Many would have called them lucky, but most of the time, it was a combination of both hard work and luck. Many have speculated that the small guild like the Gold Phoenix could go head-to-head against Rodney’s alliance, but so far, such an event did not happen.

The reason was simple. They didn’t want to lose their connection to one of the three major powers in the magical community: the Dragon Express.

Snow waited, crossing her hand as she leaned against the wall. It quickly got cramped as a line was forming down the stairways as they couldn’t fit everyone up on the roof.

Mike shouted his way through, trying to get to the front, where Dairen and Snow stood.

“Snow!” Mike waved his hand overhead, jumping a little to catch their attention.

Snow pushed off the wall, looking into the thick crowds. The Players took sneak peeks towards Snow’s direction, observing what she would do. They all knew that it was Snow who called for this dungeon dive.

Every one of them couldn’t help but be excited at the thought of the profit and experiences that they would gain like the past ones that they went through.

Squeezing past a handful more Players, Mike came over, a bit winded. The Players broke away, allowing their leader to go through.

“Took you awhile,” said Dairen.

“Then you should go and get everyone next time.” Mike gave him a quick glare.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I’ll let you do that, captain.”

“Whatever man, everyone’s here. We should be good to go.”

Snow was pleased with the number of people that he brought. She did feel like there were a bit more people than she liked, but it was enough to encounter whatever was in the dungeon without it being too noticeable.

“Do you think this is enough?” Jacob asked, “I feel like this won’t surv-”

Snow’s finger stopped in front of Jacob’s mouth. She gave him a very intense look that told him that if he said anymore, she might do something to him that he won’t like.

Jacob took a moment to stare at her finger and then back at her. He gulped, trying not to shiver.

“Sometimes, you can not let your mind defeat you before you even start.” Snow said seriously.

Mostly because she herself knew how difficult it was to not get trapped in such a pattern, which she had failed many times and had to correct herself. Over time, she slowly started to understand a bit of herself, especially on the day she died.

Jacob nodded his head furiously, taking her words to heart.

“Now, let’s go.” Snow ordered. The tattoo around her eyes glowed as her armor appeared before her, completely covering her from head to toe. She didn’t want to dilly dally any more. The longer she stayed behind and lingered around, the invasive dark thoughts that were in her mind were ready to pounce on her.

The guild members quickly became attentive, they followed behind her as Snow took her first step.

A blazing bright beam of light blinded Snow, her hand reached up to stop the blight from pummeling against her eyes too roughly. She squinted, wondering where it was coming from. Until finally, she was finally able to see as her vision cleared up. The spotlight moved away as darkness set in.

Snow was in the middle of a large metal platform. Up ahead was a futuristic-looking airship with its intricate metallic and sleek design that she would typically see in some kind of science fiction movie that would go straight to outer space.

“Are we in the right place?” Dairen asked; he was quite baffled at what he was seeing.

“Yes,” Jacob replied, he took a step back, afraid of what was to come.

“Are you sure?” Dairen mildly chuckled with confusion, “it’s like we are going to outer space and stepping into a starship.”

Jacob didn’t say anything else, but instead quietly waited for Snow to take the next step.

Snow wanted to ask Jacob more, but his fear was blocking him from speaking. With a steady step, Snow walked her way towards the ship as it was the only thing present on the high platform. Even if she looked left or right, the edges were cut off into some kind of abyss that disappeared endlessly to nowhere.

The only way was the predestined path that was lit up with small glowing lights that appeared on the ground, leading her towards the ship.

A loud pitch sound erupted on the side as the metallic drawbridge appeared out to welcome her.

The moment the drawbridge touched the dock, a figure stepped out from inside.

It was an elderly looking man, wearing a captain suit. His shoulders had golden tassels, while his scraggly beard reached down towards his neck. Even his hair was curly to the point one would have thought he was a bear. His tall stature and straight back made him look slightly intimidating as his beady eyes stared at the group.

“I am Captain Gilmore. You will all be part of the crew. You will be learning how to fly and fight alongside my own crew as if this is your own.” Captain Gilmore’s words threw many people off, mostly because nobody knew how to even manage a ship.

The better question was, did they know how long they were going to stay in the ship. From Snow’s understanding, it couldn’t be more than one to two weeks to the so-called castle that Jacob was talking about.

“Each one of you will be directed to your jobs. It will be a simple crash course on what you will need to be able to do to survive on this ship.” Captain Gilmore cleared his throat, staring them down with an intimidating glare. “There are no freebies on my ship, and anyone who is caught sleeping on their job will be instantly reprimanded.”

The Players mumbled amongst each other, not understanding why they were even forced to do work when none knew how to fly.

“With that being said,” With a snap, Captain Gilmore turned around, “All aboard!”

A loud horn blared off as the ship grunted with anger.

At first, nobody moved. They weren’t sure what to do in such an odd situation. They all came here to slay monsters, not to work.

Snow couldn’t help but think that this dungeon was another particular case dungeon where it followed a different set of laws like the previous dungeon that they had come out from. Even still, she had hoped that it wouldn’t be as crazy as the one before, but she knew such thoughts were thrown out the window. She couldn’t count on her assumptions.

“Should we go in?” Mike whispered next to Snow.

“Yes.” Snow didn’t hesitate, following behind the captain as she entered the ship. Like a wave, everyone was unconsciously pulled along.

Upon entrance, clean metallic walls painted white and blue. An exciting display of ropes and wheels of an actual sea ship was used to decorate most of the walls.

Snow couldn’t help but feel as if she was at sea, but she knew that wasn’t the case at all.

Quickly, she maneuvered around the ship, following the trail of yellow blinking lights on the floor. She made it to the deck.

With awe, Snow stepped out, looking around as if she entered into a large space auditorium. Glass-like windows were plastered on all sides, showing off the night sky. This allowed the stars to shine in, giving it a more futuristic feel.

Metal golden beams from above clinked and clunked, moving and groaning. Large metal hands moved above as it was a part of a compass.

When the last Players entered the room, the doors slammed shut. Even the lights quickly dimmed down to the point where only darkness and the starlight was present.

Captain Gilmore stepped out as small mechanical lights floated around him, accentuating his presence. “Now that you are all here, I’ll begin to split you up into multiple teams and put you alongside my crew.”

A hissing sound was heard, a door opened from the side. Fifty burly looking crew members all covered in scars and tattoos stepped out like thugs.