They came to a small brick house, next to an empty shooting range, and went inside, turned from the rich hallway to the left, and went up the stairs. There Latludious went to the second door, pulled out the key, and opened the lock. In the meeting room, there was a large table full of food, candelabra, sconces on the walls, handmade wool carpets on the floor, a small chessboard on the table in the right corner. They sat on the ottomans opposite each other, Latludious saw the confusion on the interlocutor's face, and before saying anything, he stretched out his hand palm forward and nodded to Ronnie to make the first move for the white. He did so and moved the pawn to D4.

"Are you wondering how did I get the magic stat to four?" The Bishop asked and moved the black pawn to E6.

Ronnie said nothing, shook his head and moved the second pawn to E4.

"Players can't create multiple characters in G&M, don't you think it's strange?"

"I haven't thought about it."

Black pawn on D5.

"Therefore, those who want to learn how to use magic have to give up leveling for some time in order to not mess up their build," Latludious said and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Let's get straight to the point. You want me to help you pass the dungeon in the Orodrim Eoul mountains, right? And in return, you'll buy my rifle at the auction." Ronnie answered and moved the White knight to D2.

Latludious straightened up, stretched his neck, put a pawn on C5, and asked:

"What else did you guess?"

Ronnie was looking at the chessboard, not at the magician. He took the knight on G1 and put it on the F3.

"The fact that none of your snipers have weapons of a caliber higher than 7.62. Such cartridges do not cause damage to the boss. Rifles with a caliber of 9.3 x 64 mm or higher are not available in Vanguard’s arsenal, and most Gunsmiths, if anything, can create an exact copy of an existing weapon, but not a new one. Therefore, you decided that this is your chance to get me because none of the ordinary players will be able to pay such a sum. Which means I don't really have a choice."

Latludious gave an approving nod and ate the white pawn on D4 without any more delay.

"Only there are several issues when passing the dungeon," Ronnie continued, looking at the chessboard, "the first is that you’ll have at least five earplugs in each ear, after a shot from the Barrett, you would all go deaf, including me. Such rifles are not designed to be used in enclosed places. The second thing that comes to mind is ricochets. The third is the walls of the dungeon, which can collapse from the slightest rustle, not to mention a shot. Fourth, the most obvious, the sniper works at long distances. With large concentrations of monsters, I'm unlikely to be useful. Therefore, the benefit from me as a participant of the campaign does not correspond to the invested costs."

Ronnie ate a pawn on D4 with a knight.

"You've never been in a dungeon, have you?"

"I've been there and not once, but not in those cave-type dungeons."

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"For example?"

"Che'el - an underground city, Angol - a floating fortress in the hills of Raicemyar, the illusory voids of Lumbaoloth and the city of the dead Tharn, in the east, next to Lake Ta'ecelle."

"Did you pass them all alone?" Latludious continued to ask, carried away more by the conversation than by the game of chess.

"The game allows. There is more than enough space in these dungeons. You could place an Otron in any of them. Raids and groups of players focus on strong bosses and large clusters of monsters. It's enough for me that I find the height, spend two magazines of 10 rounds each, and come out with a 50% increase in my experience bar."

"Didn't you kill bosses?"

"A few."

Latludious leaned his head on the chessboard, holding his chin, and accompanied every fifth word of the interlocutor with a phrase of tacit agreement, sounding like "m", and Ronnie noticed how his right eyelid was twitching. Both were quiet for a while. The magician rubbed his nose with his index finger and put the black knight on D4 and said:

"What if you solve your first problem with a silencer?"

"How do you imagine a silencer for a large–caliber rifle?"

"Me?" Latludious laughed, "No idea. You're a weapon expert."

"Even if I can make a silencer, one Barrett won't be enough to kill a boss monster, and I won't create a second one. You'll have to work hard to convince me otherwise, and don't forget to mention what your guild is up to." Ronnie said, slightly changing his voice to a rougher and hoarser one, and took Black's pawn on D5.

Latludious clapped his hands and ate the white pawn on D5 with the black queen, stretched out and bent slightly towards Ronnie, wrinkled his forehead, and said:

"The Guild Alliance wants to go inside with an army of three thousand people. It is impossible to control such an army. They'll die at the first mass attack of the enemy. Vvy - the leader of our guild has obtained permission to send a scouting team to investigate what awaits us there."

Ronnie thought about it, moved the knight to B5, and said:

"Has anyone ever gone there before? I bet there were more than enough volunteers."

"Yes, you're right. Only the players died before they could find anything. Six of us will go. You are the sniper, I am the magician, Vvy is the tank and there’ll also be one alchemist-flamethrower and two machine gunners."

"So you really want to take all the experience for yourself, right? And more so, to enter a new location before the others do, which will give you an advantage in everything you can think of, and you will get so many points in "Dominance" that no one will ever dislodge you from the first place. How many points does the system offer?"

Next to Latludious, the sconce blinked and buzzed, he did not pay any attention to it, did not even twitch, glanced at the chessboard, grinned, and moved the knight to the A6 space.

"A little over a million."

"Not bad. Considering that the usual quest gives fifty. I wonder if no one has ever dared to go around the mountains across the ocean or just climb over it in pursuit of the discovery of a new location?"

Latludious did not hesitate and continued the conversation.

"There are more dangerous creatures in the water than anywhere else, you've probably heard about them yourself, aggressive monsters fly in the mountains that just throw players off the slope, besides neither the first nor the second is the place where you can conduct full-fledged combat operations."

Ronnie nodded and put his hands on the table like an obedient student and with a slight movement of his hand, he led the knight back to C3, the attempt to make a fork failed. He cleared his throat and said:

"I hope you play chess better than you convince people."

"It's mutual help, Ronnie. Your Barrett and my magic are enough to defeat any boss."

"Let's assume it is. Although I still have little faith in it. Dungeons are given the S+ rank for a reason. But let's skip this moment for now. I understand your benefits from this campaign, what are you ready to offer me?"

Latludious took the queen to its original position, the D8 tile.

"In addition to the ransom for the Barrett, we'll give money for its restoration and the creation of a silencer. Plus experience from the dungeon."

"All of it?"

"The part that you earn."

"I want your word that we'll kill all the bosses and won't run past in a hurry."

Latludious was silent for a moment, and his eyes looked somewhere to the side, then he rubbed his nose, crossed his legs, and answered:

"Ok."