Leiu was given no time to rejoice about his victory. His Health was low and he was momentarily unfocused, leading to an unexpected sneak-attack. First, he was momentarily blinded, and thereafter, someone threw some sort of a flammable potion at him, which exploded dangerously close. He had been about to drink a Potion to recover, but he didn't anticipate to be ambushed like this.
The explosion, which was relatively small, wouldn't have killed him if he wasn't already injured due to the Mimic's relentless onslaught. The last thing Leiu saw before dying was the grinning face of the recruiter from earlier, Suk.
Soon, Leiu found himself in the Resurrection Altar back in Black Mountain City.
Despite of his death Leiu remained calm. If he had kept his guard-up, he wouldn't have been ambushed like that, nevertheless, it didn't mean he was going to let this matter go.
Fortunately, when he checked his equipped gear and Inventory, he discovered that he lost the Leather Gloves. Luck was on his side this time around.
'Suk. He was in a party of Five. Alright... alright.'
Leiu was not in a hurry to return to the Dungeon, especially with no preparations. Suk's Party was well-balanced, and since he attacked them, it was likely that the rest of them were hostile too. Although, while it was not that uncommon for Players to attack each other in Dungeon, it was still strange for him to get targeted. He was neither in a lucrative farming spot nor was there any good loot close to him.
'Did he just kill me because of that one interaction?'
The first thing that must be done was to turn all the quests he had finished. He was Lv27 at 68%, it was a shame he lost a Level and the gloves, but that's how things were in games like these.
After spending twenty minutes visiting the Quest NPCs, it was already 8PM. In just two hours, he had go to work, and, usually, he would log off around this time to rest and possibly take a small nap. However, he changed his plans and opted to play for a bit more.
Of course, he wasn't going to seek vengeance immediately, but he still had to prepare. For instance, he was in need of a long-ranged complimentary weapon, preferably chains. But, to get such a weapon, he had to take into account his current wealth and capabilities. All in all, after a somewhat long farming session, Leiu had approximately 29 Gold. A meagre amount compared to the vastly wealthy Players, but it was still a decent sum that could afford good gear or materials from the shops all over the city.
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Back at the dungeon, a distance away from the entrance, there stood a group of five Players.
"Good job everyone!"
Suk wasn't happy about the gloves dropped by Leiu, nevertheless, the fact that he killed him made him feel superior and satisfied. As for the rest of his Party members, they didn't look troubled, embarrassed, or angry.
"His Health was low or else that Alchemy Fire Potion wouldn't have been enough."
A 16- year old youth who wore brown leather clothes and had a short knife on his waist and some white strings hanging from his hands stated while letting out a sigh. Clearly, he wasn't impressed by what Suk dud.
'This Thief, named Victorious, wasn't part of the Suk's original team, and from the contemptuous look on his face, he didn't seem to like them a lot. It had less to do with Leiu's death and more about their lacking power. They were a well-balanced Party but they weren't that strong.
"He just got what he deserved. He dropped these gloves... here, you can have them." Suk paused for a bit before adding, "That Player antagonized earlier so I had to kill him. Think nothing of it, okay?"
Victorious, after a brief silence, solemnly nodded his head.
"Alright, but keep the gloves. If what you did result in a complication later on, don't expect me to help."
Suk let out a grunt of annoyance but didn't argue. Victorious was a capable Thief and quite useful in the Dungeon. Without him, they'd have a lot of trouble with the traps.
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After turning all the quests, Leiu spent a bit over an hour doing fetch quests all over the city. They didn't give good Experience or Rewards but they were easy and quick.
Coupled with the quests he had completed in the forest, Leiu managed to regain the Level he had lost and even reach Lv29, merely 10% away from 30.
Lv30 was considered a small threshold as many good items in the stores or the Dungeons become available. Whether it was Rare or Epic gear or even special consumables that could turn the tides of battle.
At 9:30 PM, Leiu finally logged off. Spending the entire day in a virtual world was exciting, but his real body was dormant. There were no physical fatigue, so to speak, but Leiu felt an uncomfortable stiffness that brought about a minor dizziness.
As he removed the headset and stood up, Leiu's vision suddenly turned black, causing him to panic. He thought he was about to fall unconscious but no such things happened. Everything returned to normal after two seconds.
'I guess playing for this long isn't good. I'm starving.'
1 Acyle Lv40
2 Emperor Lv40
3 Kirito Lv39
5 Fluffy Puffy Lv39
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
6 Mister Kind Lv38
7 Commander Luo Lv38
8 Frankenstein Lv36
9 Kirito Lv36
10 Lost Lamb Lv35
While eating some snacks to alleviate the hunger, Leiu, as was his wont, checked the Leaderboard and the forums.
'Acycle is still the first? I've never heard of that name. Is she part of a newly-formed Guild?'
Leiu then browsed the forum new posts for some useful details in the dungeon and there were tricks and tips for beginners everywhere.
'Oh? What's this?'
POST('Found Sheep'): Am I the Only One?
[Hello, I'm new to the game and I'm still in the Beginner Area. I keep encountering some sort of bugs and glitches. One NPCs literally disappeared! I tried to sending a ticket to Support but I haven't received any response.]
The post itself didn't have many views, and there wasn't any response. People were more interested in secrets and mysteries rather than bugs.
Leiu wanted to give a response, sharing what happened to him too, but after some contemplation, he changed his mind. Things became more strange after becoming a Dark Knight, and he feared that the Class itself would be bugged, thus forcing the Developers to temporarily remove or tweak it.
Putting the aside the eerie events he had experienced, the fact that the passives in places they shouldn't have was a big boon for Leiu. Even if it was an exploit, he wanted to use it for as long as possible.
...
Unsurprisingly, when he entered the café and started to work, one of his colleagues approached him.
"Hey, Leiu!"
Jane didn't even let him respond as she started bombarding him with questions.
"So, did you play Hell Gate today? What Level are you? What's your class?"
Leiu, as solemn as ever, silently looked at her and then said,
"I don't play a lot."
"Ah! Why not! It's very fun! You should join me and my friends. We're have a decent Party and can farm the Haunting Blobs with ease!"
Jane stopped for a second to catch her breath then resumed her rambling.
"Oh! And guess what! Hehe, I got a Unique class! Can you believe that!"
Her voice was loud enough for two nearby male colleagues to hear. The mention of a Unique Class caught their attention, making them approach her and adding more Leiu's annoyance.
"Jane.. is it true you got a Unique class? What is it? How did you do it?"
Seeing that the two of them eagerly asking her, Jane grinned,
"You two didn't want to play with me when I invited you! I'm not telling you anything"
'I don't want to play with you either so why are you telling me?' Thought Leiu as he sighed.
"Jane, we are higher-level than you, so we can't party up. We wouldn't get any Experience if we're with you."
'Higher Level? Lies... even if you were 10 Levels higher, you all would still receive Experience. I thought Jane was popular in the café... hmm, do gamers prioritize loot and exp over girls? I guess that's not surprising. Or maybe they think girls aren't good enough to play Hell Gate.'
Leiu didn't believe that they were actually very high-leveled, and even if they were, Jane was too. Since she could farm in the dungeon with her party, she must be at the very least Lv15.
"Whatever... I'm still not going to tell you how I got it."
Jane crossed her arms and moved a bit away from the two, edging closer to Leiu.
'Why are you involving me? Damnit, I just want to work in peace.'
Leiu was going to retreat when, Erik, one of the two guys who was talking to Jane, clicked his tongue,
"You're just saying that because you're lying. I don't believe you got a Unique Class."
His friend, Sylvester, like parrot, agreed with him.
"Yeah right, it's all made-up. You're just trying to get attention."
'If that was true, whose attention was she trying to get... mine? She's probably telling the truth. As for why she's constantly pestering me, I can only attribute it to her good nature. Mhm, we haven't know each other for long so I don't think she actually has a crush on me. Besides, she's the type of cheerful chatterbox that would talk about their life and experience non-stop.'
The duo began their mocking as they looked with disdain at Jane, who was fuming from anger. Her cute and lovely face became red and she was clenching her fists.
"You're calling me a liar?" Visibly angry with them, Jane pursued her lips and stated, "Let's meet up in the Central Plaza of Black Mountain City. I'll show you!"
"Deal. Tomorrow at noon!"
After that, Erik and Sylvester returned to their work, but Jane stayed at the same place.
"So, what's your Unique Class?"
"You believe me?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
Jane softly smiled and batted her eyelashes, but Leiu was inwardly and impatiently waiting for her to respond instead of acting bashful. As someone who also had a Unique Class, he a bit curious about hers.
"It's the Bard class"
"Bard?"
"Yes! It's a supportive class which can do many things. Healing, Support, Buffs, Debuffs. What about you, Leiu? What's your Class? You've already reached Lv10, right?"
"I'm a Monster Bounty Hunter."