As we ate, Charlie told us what he knew: “It’s called Count Dylak's Mansion, and it’s surrounded by a dangerous forest inhabited by level 7 monsters. My past raid ended in disaster because my stupid team couldn’t follow instructions. By the time we reached the mansion, we were already worn out.”

“What makes you think it will work this time?” Grace asked. She had barely touched her salad.

As I munched on my lasagna, I stared at the man who had reunited us there, and his expression didn’t seem like that of someone who liked being questioned.

“Because this time you will listen to me, am I right?”

“For the most part,” Grace said, without softening her tone. “You only have experience with the surrounding forest, right?”

Charlie exhaled deeply. “I know where the bosses’ locations are, alright? We even managed to kill one of them, but I bet he has respawned by now. I hope that our battles in the forest turns us into a decent team before we reach the mansion. Trust me, leave the decisions to me and we’ll be victorious.”

“Um, excuse me,” Steve said, raising his hand. “You mentioned something about splitting the rewards based on our performance. Could you elaborate, please?”

“It’s simple, friend.” Charlie sneered. “Do nothing for the team, be a burden or die, and you won’t get a single piece of gold.”

“Fair enough,” Steve said, before clearing his throat. “But who’s going to rate our performance?”

I thought that would be pretty obvious.

Charlie chuckled. “Me, of course!”

Oh, there he is.

“Fine,” Grace said, folding her arms. “I just want to point out that I’m trying to become a mage, so my Vitality is very low. I will need someone to protect me on our way to the mansion.” She snickered. “But don’t worry. Once we get there, whatever bosses we encounter, I’ll turn them all into ashes.”

“Do you want to become a mage?” Dan beamed. “Can you already do offensive magic?”

“Of course I can. You can ask Taylor here to corroborate it. Isn’t that right?” She turned to me, but my frowning gaze was locked on Charlie’s face, who had his eyes opened in shock.

“What’s wrong?” Grace asked him.

Rusell looked in the direction of his gaze, finding a couple occupying a table far away from us. “Oh, look, there is a Level 7 player over there.”

Seven?! I thought Charlie was the highest level player in town!

“Who?” Grace squinted, craning up her neck. “That blonde chick?”

I peeked at the girl too, and her face looked familiar. Oh, right, the girl that came up with a special technique out of nowhere in chapt—I mean, on our first day here.

“What is it, Boss?” Dan chuckled. “Feeling disappointed that a girl took your spot as the strongest?”

“I…” Charlie started muttering, gathering our attention. “I must recruit her!” He jumped out of his chair and rushed to that table as I gulped my lemonade.

Fine, you can do it, tiger.

“What would you like to order?” the pretty girl was saying to her dull-looking male partner.

“Hey, have you seen these prices?” the meek guy said, looking at the menu. “Food costs triple here. Are you sure that we should waste it like that?”

What a bothersome dude…

“Oh, shut it,” she replied. “We haven’t done anything fun since we arri--”

“Greetings, High Leveler!” Charlie said, standing in front of them.

Leveler? Where did that term come from?

“Hi,” the blonde girl replied, frowning.

“Congratulations on reaching level 7,” Charlie continued, puffing out his chest.

The girl quickly grinned. “Ohoho, so you noticed, huh? It wasn’t easy, I must admit. Are those your friends?”

“Yes! We’re recruiting people to beat this world’s first dungeon. Wanna join us?”

The girl’s eyes glittered with excitement. “Did you hear that, Alan? Sounds like fun. Count us in!”

“Sorry,” Charlie said, raising his open palm. “But your friend here can’t come.”

The girl looked at him, perplexed. “Why not?”

“Look at my partners. We’re all level 5 and up. Your friend would only slow us down.” Charlie then addressed the guy. “Sorry pal. Maybe next time. You can wait for your friend here in town. We’ll be back by midnight.”

I glanced at the player, he was only level 3 despite having a level 7 as a teammate. Seriously gal, why would you team up with him?

“That’s true, Astrid,” that guy said. “I’d just get in the way. You can go while I wait for you at the inn.”

But the blonde girl wouldn’t have it. She stood up, raised her right leg, and stomped on the table. Her posture made her look like the daughter of a mafia boss.

“Sorry, pal!” she shouted to Charlie. “This may be none of your concern, but he’s just not any ‘friend’, he’s my boyfriend! And I’m not interested in joining a bunch of try-hards that exclude others so easily. I wouldn’t be level 7 without his support. Did you hear me? So go ahead and be the first to beat the dungeon, I don’t care.” She then sneered loudly. “Hell, I even bet that we could do the same feat later, just by ourselves.”

“What?” Charlie gritted his teeth.

“Let’s go, Alan. This bunch has made me lose my appetite.” After glaring at our leader, she glanced at us too and her gaze landed on me, showing me a pair of blue eyes as cold as an iceberg.

Once they walked away, Charlie returned to the table and cleared his throat. “We’ll be leaving in 30 minutes.”

 

* * *

 

We rented a cart for 15 gold, 2 of which came from my pocket by the way, and as the NPC rode us to our destination, the voyage was silent and kind of awkward. Although everyone was thinking the same, no one would address it. Charlie was pissed off, and he would demand more from us.

“We’re almost there,” he said after glancing at the exterior. “Prepare your gear.”

“You know, I was thinking about the rewards situation,” Steve started saying, making Charlie exhale, annoyed.

“We can talk about that after we finish the quest!”

“Why don’t we start a Battle Party?” Steve asked, ignoring him.

Dan frowned at him. “We’re already doing that.”

“No, listen, there is an option under the Friends Tab that lets you start a Battle Party. That way the System will split the rewards equally.”

“I didn’t know that!” Russell said before checking his User Interface.

“That would defeat the purpose of splitting the spoils according to our performance!” Charlie roared, unable to prevent everyone from looking for the aforementioned option.

“Did you know about this, Charles?” Dan asked, not hiding his resentment.

Charlie wrinkled his nose and shouted. “Fine, I knew about it! And that was my last raid’s downfall! Some members of my previous team would perform poorly and receive their share of the gold, anyway! That’s why I--”

“Not cool, Charles,” Grace said in a kind of condescending tone of voice. “How can we build trust as a team if you treat us as children?”

Yep, she was being condescending. And was it my imagination, or did Grace want to steal the leader's position from him?

“I didn’t… I…” Charlie stuttered for a couple of seconds, which was cute to see, before folding his arms. “Start that Battle Party then, dammit! I just want to end this freaking quest already. I just feel terribly uncomfortable leaving something unfinished, you know.”

His expression and tone of voice were those of a kid.

“How cute,” I muttered without realizing it, getting everyone’s attention. Embarrassed, I shut my mouth, as a half-grinning Charlie gazed at me.

Huh? Steve didn’t look happy at all.

“We’re here, Dylak’s Woods,” the NPC said, stopping the cart pulled by a horned beast.

“Who was the smartass who named the forest?” Grace grunted as everyone got out of the cart.

“Be safe, travelers!” The male NPC with pig ears said, returning to town.

We looked at the dense-looking forest and waited for our valorous leader to step forward.

“Have you all equipped your gear? Your weapons?” he asked, glancing at us. “Let’s go.”

“Taylor, I’m counting on you!” Grace beamed, speaking loud enough so everyone could hear. When I grimaced at her, she pouted. “You will protect me, don’t you? I can’t fight on the front lines.”

Oh, no... No, no, no, nope!

“Are you okay with that, Taylor?” Charlie asked.

The rest of the group stared at me, and I could notice that no one wanted to trade places with me.

“Sure,” I said, barely able to smile.

“Let’s continue then,” Charlie said, resuming his steps.

“You’ll pay for this,” I whispered to Grace, who smirked at me.

“Why? Can’t you see the pros of being in the back? No one will see what we do.”

She put a hand on my ass and squeezed.

“W-what are you doing?!”

“Is everything okay back there?”

“Yes!” Grace replied quickly and squeezed my asscheek again. “I noticed it from the moment you entered the restaurant,” she whispered to me. “This skinsuit makes your butt look yummy.”

“You’re acting like an old geezer,” I quietly replied, feeling my cheeks getting warmer by the second.

She got closer and held my arm as if we were a couple. “Do you remember what you say to me yesterday, that I hate sex? That’s not true at all. I love fucking, but I hate cum’s taste. So don’t take personal what happened in that cave.”

“Why are you suddenly telling me this?” I asked, making sure no one was hearing us. “We won’t do something like that ever again.”

“Are you sure about that?” She grinned like a fiend, which looked natural in her, and with her right hand pulled down the collar of her robe, gifting me with a magnificent view of her left breast. “Suck one of my tits or I’ll scream that you’re harassing me…”