The Adventurer System

As what they have discussed, the three other adventurers included Malik leave the oval circle at once.

"I don't want to see your faces around here, mark my word... I would never hesitate to eliminate all of you." Yumiro warned them in a low voice.

Three of them didn't intend to speak Grim Draigh, as they immediately used their surfboards to leave the place.

"You monsters..." Malik mumbled, then gritted his teeth.

It seemed those adventurers understood the consequence if they decided to get back.

...

At the same time, 4 adventurers remained in a certain place. Morga, Cricket, Hippie, and Grim Draigh.

Even though, Yumiro wasn't comfortable with his decision he still accepted them to join in their expedition.

Manpower. That is the only word that could answer all the questions. Or to be more simple, he noticed their attack deficiency when they fought the dark elf. 

On top of that, seeing Morga and Cricket's capabilities he could tell they were the adventurers could fill the spot.

"Eh, Grim? Can I ask some questions about our expedition?" Morga said in a polite tone, knowing this was the adventurer you should respect.

Power and ability it was the exact words and also the reason why Grim earned their respect.

"If you want to know something, ask Hippie. I'm tired of opening my mouth." He coldly responded.

In their minds, opening Grim's mouth would never drain your fatigue. However, they were not in the right position to complain. 

Yet, Hippie stepped forward to them while Grim was heading to the podium. "5 minutes, explain it in 5 minutes. We are short of time."

Hippie nodded without making any second thought. "Yes," she replied and explained the situation once more.

"As you can see, we already finish the blue portal. But, there are 3 portals left."

Morga and Cricket nodded at once. "Yes, but what are those portals all about."

She smoothly kneaded her chin, then noticed Morga seemed really curious about this. "Let's get straight to the point, Grim would like to complete all the missing puzzle pieces shattered inside those portals. Aside from that, Grim would like to know the main story of the Barlane dungeon." 

Both of them were started to have sparkling eyes.

"What did you say?! The Barlane story? How is this story related to this expedition?" Cricket asked her calmly.

Hippie pointed her index finger at the white podium. "Do you see that? That is the place where we building the puzzle. Also, this is a special quest." She had a malicious smile on her face, then added some words. "So now, tell to us if you would like to quit."

Hippie and Cricket admitted they were startled after hearing there was a special quest in this kind of dungeon.

"S-Special quest? You're not kidding, isn't it?" Morga stuttered.

"How lucky you're?" Cricket said in a high voice.

Hippie turned around as she was seeing those adventurers were determined to join in their expedition.

"Yeah, you're it right--" She suddenly stopped as Grim called him.

"You're taking so long, Hippie. They're not a child, they'll get it even you explain it simply." He said while darting his eyes at the orange portal.

She nodded with an uneasy smile on her face. "Yeah, Grim. We are coming." She whirled around once again. "Come on, that man doesn't like wasting his time. Also, you shouldn't ask him if know it isn't better to answer."

They slowly nodded and eventually followed Hippie in her way.

"Yes, we precisely understand." They said at once.

As soon as they reached the place, Cricket could an extreme mana releasing by each portal. His sweat dripping on his face as he felt something bad about it.

"What is this feeling?" He asked himself, but Grim heard his words.

"You would like to quit? I'll become happy happier if you do that." Yumiro answered him in a cold tone.

He slowly shook his head while wiping his sweats. "No, I'm fine. I can do this expedition."

Yumiro snickered along with the thought to become this expedition official. Or to be exact, he invited them by using the system function.

[Grim Draigh invited you in a party raid? Yes/No]

"Accept it, so we could proceed."

A checkmark appeared on their screens as they accepted the invitation without hesitation. "I'm ready for this..."

Yumiro took off his glance, then sauntered inside the orange portal. "Come after me, if you wouldn't like to be separated."

Nevertheless, Hippie seemed already aware of this stuff since she grabbed Grim's waist. "Sorry, Grim. Hehe..."

Yumiro won't mind it seriously. 'Why am I giving my sympathy to her?' He uttered to his mind.

Swoosh!

After those words, Hippie and Grim vanished. So Morga and Cricket quickly followed them. "Let's go, Cricket! We must avoid unexpected worst-case scenarios."

Cricket nodded and agreed. "Yeah, as I want to know Grim Draigh's true power."

Swoosh!

They jumped into the portal, wondering what kind of place waiting for them at the exit.

On the other hand, the huge gate the other adventurers destroyed earlier was automatically restored. It looked like it used to defend the adventurers who were taking the special quest.

...

Bam!

It took 2 minutes before their feet landed on the new ground. Then after 30 seconds, Cricket and Morga luckily reached the same place.

As expected, all of them were blinking their eyes in a confusion. As they were standing in front of a huge cave.

"C-Cave?" Yumiro was dumbfounded, as the story of this quest become distorted.

"Grim... I feel something bad in this place."

Inside the cave was completely dark, so Hippie used her fiery skill to see what kind of thing waiting for them.

Sound of water drops perceived by their ears along with a rotten smell releasing by the air. Also, a cold breeze touched their skins which made them feel chill.

Cricket intended to step back, but he stopped because Grim looking at him suspiciously. Yet, Morga was eagerly to enter inside of it.

1 minute had passed and Yumiro finished to observe the surroundings. 'There's no threat at all, but I should not lower my guard because this game is full of surprises'

Being familiar with this VR game, Yumiro could tell the system probably would pull out something.

"Let's go, even you want to turn back you can't. The teleportation crystal won't work here." He warned them, then carefully strolled inside the place.

Morga confirmed it. "That's true? The system is blocking our access to the other place."

"You should not make any chit-chat, Grim probably scolded you." Hippie said as he easily getting to use in Grim's behaviors. "Wait, Grim. Used my skill to light up the place."

Multiple footsteps that touching a wet surface. Also, all of them discovered the wet thing stick on their foot.

Cricket wiped his finger to the ground. "This is not water, it's saliva coming from the monster. We must be careful."

Yumiro was impressed at Cricket awareness and the information he could get by just using his smell sense.

Inside was 20 meters wide, which means the monster will be in front of them.

Hippie was praying to wouldn't show any type of monsters in this place. As she knew she will not move properly in this type of place. 

It took 5 minutes but nothing they could find in this place until... Hippie hit something that bounced her back and unexpectedly collided with Grim's body.

Thud!

"Ouch!" Hippie responded, then lifted her head. Seeing the red eyes of Grim that seemed to notice something. "Sorry, Grim. I hit something elastic."

"Yeah, I could see that. Point your knife into it."

Over them was too high, no one could tell how big this cave was.

She followed her order and discovered a thin transparent web in the scene. To gather some information, she walked closer then tugged the web.

"It's come from the monster, Grim. Perhaps, a new monster is inhabited in this place." Hippie said in a low voice.

Cricket stepped forward to clarity all the things they saw. On top of that, he was one of the range class so it was natural for him to observe the place.

"It's a spider web, yeah there's no doubt about it." He strolled his eyes all over the place but he found nothing. Yet, he felt uncomfortable as this web was still hot, which means the monster not long ago.

"That's a monster, don't take any step so we couldn't in the same situation that we had no idea," Morga warned them.

Yumiro raised his brows, 'Hmm... Impressive, they're using their brains.' He took a glance at Hippie and seeing her innocent face. 'This woman why always like this.'

"Grim Draigh, let me used my skill. I just want to clarify something." Cricket requested while pointing his finger over them.

Yumiro nodded to him. "Okay, do what you want."

After hearing the confirmation, he aimed his gun above them. And all of sudden, the top of his gun was gathering a magical power.

[Ray gun]

Swish!

Red eyes and a monster had the glistening appearance that occurred in the place.

"What's wrong with this spider! That's different!"