With her plates filled with food, Snow went toward an open table close to the window. Placing her tray of food down, she pulled the seatback to sit down.
She didn’t realize she hadn't eaten for two days because of the amount of stress and things she had to deal with. This was her first meal of the day. It was a simple meal of roasted chicken with broccoli and macaroni and cheese. The smell of food lingered in the air, making her stomach grumble strongly.
Reaching over, she picked up the fork and stabbed the macaroni and cheese.
“Saintess!” Red’s voice spoke out loud from behind her when she was halfway into eating her food.
A loud pitter-patter of her footsteps and the clanking of metal against metal could be heard.
Snow sighed, but she didn’t stop eating.
“Saintess!” Red yelled again. This time, she was right behind her. A loud clatter of her tray slammed right next to her.
Snow gulped down her food. “It’s Snow.” She slowly ate through her meal, not really paying attention to Red fumbling around with the chair.
“I know.”
“Then why did you say that?”
“Because it annoys you.” A smirk arose from Red’s lip. She giggled. “Plus, I have been super busy and finally was able to take some time for you.”
Snow continued eating.
“You don’t seem very happy to see me.” Red slumped.
“I’m hungry. Ask me again when I’m satisfied.” Snow continued to eat at her own pace. The only thing on her mind was food and how hungry she was.
Red went silent. She started to eat as well, giving Snow some space. Time went by as none of them spoke between each other.
Eventually, Snow finished eating. Satisfied, she placed her fork down.
Red perked up. “Snow, have you seen Mr. Rogers?”
“No, the last thing I heard was that he went somewhere with Mr. Jay.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“What about Falcon?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, if you do see either one of them, could you relay them a message?”
“Yes.”
Quickly, she rummaged through her pocket. Taking out a small slip of notes. One was for Mr. Rogers and the other Falcon.
Snow took it off her hand and stored it away.
“Anyways, did you find anything else about the Black Box series?”
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Snow shook her head. “It’s still the same.”
“How about another Black Box?”
“None.”
Red sighed, “Who knew that the Black Box series would be so much trouble to find.”
“Yea.”
“Still, at least we know something about it. Mr. Rogers and Falcon might be able to decipher a bit more...hopefully.”
“Maybe.” Snow shrugged. She hoped they did find more information, but she couldn’t count on them for a possibility that she didn’t even know what will happen in the future. “How has the Red Flower Nation held up?”
“We are actually doing fantastic.” Red placed her spoon down. “A Lot of our magicians have been hired out to take part in the dungeon raids. So far, the number of casualties is a lot lower, thanks to the Players. Without them, the chance of survival inside the dungeon increased to over seventy percent.” She sighed.
“I didn’t know it was that low of a survival rate.”
“Yea, when the dungeon first came out, we made some terrible moves. But later down the line, when the dungeon started to spew out some much-needed mana crystals and equipment, the need for a dungeon grew.”
“I'm assuming you have been going in on many of the other dungeons?”
“Quite a few times,” Red smirked. “I am now considered an S class Magician.” She puffed up her chest.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Red happily replied.
“Was there anything else that you came here for?” Snow was finally finished with her food. She pushed her tray aside.
“Yes.” Red was munching on the mashed potato. “I wanted to join you on a few dungeon dives. Need new specimen samples and mana crystals.”
“Sure.” Snow replied just as quickly as she decided to let her join when the thought came up in her mind.
“Thanks.”
“With that being in mind, how are the others in the guild doing?”
“Dairen and Mike are in a dungeon dive right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if they come back this week.”
“What about Levian?”
Snow took a moment to think of what to say. Everyone knew that Snow had some dealings with Levian, especially the higher-ups, as Levian had caused many troubles against different guilds, companies, and even the government.
“I am not completely sure. I had been with Levian on quite a handful of dungeon dives, but the last one was that I heard that he was in was MidSummer Night.”
“That one?!” Red spoke out a bit too loud as she covered her mouth. Embarrassed, she glanced around before she continued.
“Is there something wrong?”
Red took off her hand. “Well, words going around that dungeon are known to suck away all magical powers upon entrance. So far, nobody has cleared it.”
“Yes. He called me this morning to tell me he cleared it.”
“What?!”
“Yep.”
Red gazed at Snow for a moment, trying to figure out what was truly going on in her mind.
When she couldn’t figure out Snow’s thought, she asked, "That's amazing."
"I agree."
Suddenly, the whole building violently rattled.
Snow ducked down underneath the table, pulling Red with her. Red eyes froze, unable to speak. People screamed in horror, scrambling underneath the table. Others froze like Red, unable to do anything but go pale with horror. Trays of food slid off the tables, clattering loudly onto the ground. Chairs fell over to the side while the tables slid around.
It took a while for the earthquake to settle.
Snow's heart was beating hard. She peeks out her head, looking around, trying to see what has happened.
The whole cafeteria was a mess, but nobody was hurt.
Getting up, she glanced around.
“Is everyone alright?” Snow called out in a loud voice.
“Yes.” A chorus of voices replied back.
“Is anyone injured and needs healing?”
Nobody answered as of yet.
Red was finally able to come back to her senses. She hiccuped.
Snow glanced toward Red. “Are you alright, Red?”
“Y-Yes.” Red shook her head viciously.
“Nothing broken?”
Red shook her head no.
“That’s good.” Snow sighed. She was glad that nobody was injured.
“What h-happened?”
“An earthquake….or a dungeon.”
As if on cue, the whole building went off in alarm.
“You gotta be kidding me.” Snow bolted from the ground. People were scrambling as they all realized what the alarm meant.
“An alarm?!” Red followed behind her in a hurry.
“The dungeon alarm when there is a high-level dungeon appearing near us.”
“How high?”
“S level or above.”
Red gasped. “Another one of those?”
“Yes.”
Red paled but quickly changed her demeanor into a more serious expression. “I’ll come with you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“No, I know what the last S class dungeon was like. You’ll need my help.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yea.”
“Thanks.”
They quickly rushed toward the computer room to see what was going on. When both of them arrived, Snow saw Mike and Dairen in the room, looking at the screen.
Snow froze when she saw that a dungeon rating of a triple S rating on the screen for the first time. Her heart dropped, unable to speak.