“So this is your dropout classmate?” Eve’s boyfriend asked. He faced me with his arms crossed as I entered the Sunken Crypts.

  [Cupcake Crew] Sullivan clearly went to the gym in real life. He was a few years older than Eve and I, with a short-shaved intimidating head. His arms were thicker than my legs, and his dragonskin leather armor complemented the shape of his chest muscles. Being buff in real life gave a small stat boost in game, and buff players generally just appeared strong, which was why a lot of players ripped plates in real life. Though, the stat boost was so miniscule that I never bothered myself.

  The dungeon itself looked like it had once been a network of crypts, but had since been destroyed. The large entrance room looked more like a cavern with crumbling archaic hallways built within it. Red glowing water droplets dipped from the ceiling, onto a small puddle that flowed downward, lighting the Sunken Crypts in a surprisingly bright crystalline red.

  Upon entering, I received two system pop-ups. The first one was the usual,

  [The average monster level of this dungeon is over 40 levels above your character level.]

  The second was a quest.

  Dungeon Quest: The Sunken Crypts (A Ranked Dungeon) (Recommended Level: 220+)

  Quest Details: The Sunken Crypts were once used as a sacred underground town by the Ray Dragon’s followers. Since then, the crypts have turned into a breeding ground for the arachnids.

  Completion Conditions: Investigate the dungeon and defeat its evil.

  Quest Reward: +10 million experience divided by contribution.

  “Hey,” Sullivan snapped, noticing that I was studying pop-ups instead of answering him. “You aren’t a part of this guild yet, you know. The least you can do is show the members some respect.”

  “It’s fine, Sull,” Eve said, standing between us and to the side, slightly closer to him. “He’s just quiet.”

  “And a jackass, clearly,” Sullivan said.

  Eve’s character, Eveveeee, was admittedly a pretty thing to look at. Endlich’s Staff had a green orb, which complemented her green glowing eyes. Both fit perfectly with her dark robe. Necromancers looked so badass in this game. Eve didn’t wear her glasses in-game, though. Those would have made her absolutely gorgeous.

  Sullivan, on the other hand, just looked like some tough fighter. He had a massive greataxe strapped to his back and decent steel boots, and that was about it. Quite a simple set. He was playing the barbarian class, which gave him a 50% resistance to critical strikes.

  “Thanks for letting me join,” I said. I spun my legendary dagger in my hands, provoking him.

  He frowned at the gesture. “When’s the last time you went on a dungeon raid?”

  “Been a while,” I said. “I tend to fight players. As you’ve seen from the clips.”

  He had clearly seen the clips, judging from the annoyed look on his face.

  “Looks like the boss has respawned,” I said. “How often does it respawn?”

  “It has been there for a while,” Eve said. “Annath from Celestial Order told us not to clear it. They still want the boss for themselves. And the boss is a broodmother, so if it’s alive, it spawns underlings faster. That means more experience for us.”

  “I see,” I said and felt a small wave of disappointment that there wouldn’t be any boss raids. But as long as I gained experience, I wouldn’t mind either way.

  Around me, the rest of Cupcake Crew’s members were gathering for the raid to start. Looking around myself, I was surprised to see competent members all around. One of their rangers was sharpening his arrows, and it looked like he had a quiver full of rare Crushing Arrows, which dealt additional bludgeoning damage. Their tank player had a mithril breastplate, and their support mage had a casting orb at least as rare as Eve’s staff.

  The guild was much stronger than I’d expected. Nobody here was a pushover. Sullivan was one of the weaker members, and his greataxe looked like an epic as well.

  “Everyone here?” a new louder voice asked.

  I turned my head to see [Cupcake Crew] PinkBerry, the guild leader. A pink mist-like aura radiated around him—the defining characteristic of the Aura Master class. That was one of the many martial arts classes in Wonderwind. Aura master was the most popular and definitely the strongest.

  “Pink, he’s here!” Eve waved.

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  PinkBerry, or Pink, walked over. He was tall and slim, like me, though his gear was the complete opposite. While I wore exclusively dark items, everything he wore was colorful—mostly pink. He fought with his fists, as he was a martial arts class, but the most striking piece of equipment was the tiara around his head.

  I knew the item was Alistad’s Flower Crown. A legendary item that gave 200% increased damage to all non-weapon based attacks. Not only did it cost at least five grand, its effects also meant that any aura master attacks he made would most certainly one-shot me.

  Pink also glanced at my legendary dagger right away.

  After spotting it, he lifted his head and gave me a smile. “Welcome, welcome. Aiden, was it?”

  “Yep,” I said. “Thanks for having me.”

  This guy is betraying me for sure, I noted, and started keeping a better track of my surroundings. I’d need to make sure I was positioned in a way where I could make an escape if someone tried to kill me.

  “Looks like we’re ready to advance,” Pink said. “The rules are nothing complex. The boss is off limits, as Celestial Order wants it for themselves. And as agreed, you’ll be giving your drops to us, Aiden. You’ll gain experience by contribution.”

  “By contribution” meant that experience would be distributed based on how much damage each player did against the monsters. Tanking and healing was also taken into account, but for me, by contribution meant that I’d need to kill monsters if I wanted to gain experience. I couldn’t just sit still and leech.

  “Sounds good,” I said. “I’ll stay in my own formation if that’s fine.”

  He gave me a look, but said, “Sure. We’ll see how you work. Just don’t cause problems.”

  He moved to the next member, their tank, and chatted for a bit. We were about to advance.

  That was when I received another two system notifications.

  [Veyra has accepted your friend request]

  [You have received a message from Veyra]

  I froze in surprise for a second.

  Veyra: “I’m here. So what do we do?”

  Oh shit, I thought. She’s actually coming!

  I stared at the message, unsure how to respond.

  “Aiden?” Evelyn asked. “Is something wrong?”

  “Wait,” I called after the guild leader. “One more person is coming with me.”

  I responded to the message.

  Assassin: “The Cupcake Crew is just starting a raid. I’ll explain inside. Feel free to come in.”

  Everyone paused to wait, looking suspicious. I turned to the dungeon entrance, waiting for her to show up. She took her damn time. A full minute, which in my position was an awkward time to wait.

  “Aiden?” Pink asked. “We’re not waiting for any of your friends. We never agreed for anyone else to come.”

  Just as he said that, her silhouette showed up. Veyra walked in confidently. “Hello,” she said.

  Pink blinked at her. Then he grinned. “Oh. It’s the solo mage. Nevermind, I take that back. She can join. She’s competent.” He walked up to her and gave her a handshake, which Veyra hesitantly received. “Welcome to the raid.”

  “Uh-huh.” Veyra looked a bit confused. She sent me another private message. She wrote it by imagining the words she wanted to type, but to read it, I had to open the system menu. Eve glanced at me suspiciously, seeing that I was reading a message, but the texts themselves were hidden to her.

  Veyra: “What’s going on? Are you inviting me to a guild?”

  Assassin: “No, we’ll be fighting these guys in a bit. I managed to get invited to a raid by showing them my dagger. There’s a 90% chance they’ll be killing me for a chance to grab gear.”

  Reading that, Veyra eyed the Cupcake Crew’s members, as if wondering if she could defeat them.

  Veyra: “So we betray them first? lmfao”

  Assassin: “Either that, or we play along and wait for them to make a move.”

  “To confirm, you’re that one mage from the clip?” Pink asked Veyra. “Against Mythforged?”

  “I’m nobody special,” Veyra said. “I’m just the solo mage.”

  “I see, has Aiden told you our terms for the raid?”

  “Aiden?” she asked, and grinned when she realized that referred to me. So much for my secret identity… “We’re dividing drops by contribution, I’m guessing?” she asked.

  Pink nodded. “Yep. Feel free to follow our formation. Just try to avoid staying near Eve’s, our necromancer’s, summons. They give a proximity defence buff. We’re giving that to our tanks and melees.”

  “Gotcha,” Veyra said.

  Veyra: “So you’re sure they’re betraying you?”

  I hesitated. I had been sure. Now that Veyra was actually here, I was suddenly nervous.

  Assassin: “I’m confident. Either way, I smell profit here.”

  She walked next to me, and I held my breath. Gods, I couldn’t believe she actually came.

  Veyra: “Alright, I’m in :D I need some XP as well. A boss raid could be nice. But I’m not sure if I can fight this guild solo. They’re better equipped than Mythforged. You’ll need to perform as well.”

  I didn’t have the heart to tell her that the boss raid wouldn’t be happening, and honestly, I felt way more pressure than I should have, but at the same time, I felt like I had made the right decision.

  She actually accepted my friend request.

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