Xvin, or also known as Earvin McGee in real-life, was one of the sons of a CEO of a large company in North America.
Earvin was known for being a spoiled brat. He dominated Arcadia in the early levels by buying expensive equipment backed by his father's money. But that doesn't mean he didn't deserve being one of the top players in the early areas.
Unlike other spoiled brats who completely milked their family's money and didn't achieve anything at all, Earvin managed to get the hidden class, Pyromancy.
Xvin was known throughout Herald City, Miranda Kingdom, and other surrounding cities because of his extreme proficiency in Pyromancy, especially his most powerful skill that killed many players, the SUNDOWN.
Xvin gained a lot of popularity, which also help him gain a lot of money. He was eventually established as the heir to their company. His father also allowed him to start his own guild in Arcadia. Until he began hunting a player that was called the Colosseum Hunter.
To increase his ranks in the global rankings, defeating a player that has a higher rank than you will immediately increase your ranks. For Xvin's case, the Colosseum Hunter was the next in line.
Earvin also found out that there was another player named Champion Hunter, who was also hunting down the Colosseum Hunter. With that, Earvin thought that he could track both of them down at the same time. He believed that both of them possessed another secret class.
And so, that day happened. Xvin found both of them fighting in the middle of a town square. Xvin intervened and obliterated them by blasting them with his powerful skill, SUNDOWN.
However, both of them weren't damaged at all. The Champion Hunter was annoyed at his intervention that he offered a cease-fire until he killed Xvin. But the Colosseum Hunter refused as he wanted himself to be the one to teach Xvin a lesson.
Suddenly, the duo did rock-paper-scissors in front of Xvin. Feeling that he was being mocked, Xvin unleashed another attack at them. But the explosion blocked his vision. The Colosseum Hunter emerged from the smoke and one-shotted him.
That battle became popular, and it tainted Xvin's reputation. It ruined him even more as it was eventually revealed that he was defeated by a man with a class of a Warrior. A Warrior job was one of the most basic classes in Arcadia.
To regain his reputation, Xvin hunted him down one more time, only to be killed by the Colosseum Hunter in a single attack once again.
Seeing that he wasn't strong after all, a lot of people that ranked below Xvin started hunting him down. He may have some matches, but it didn't increase his ranks as they were lower than him in the first place. However, for the fights that he lost, his placing in global rankings abruptly fell.
Xvin lost everything in both Arcadia and in real-life. His father couldn't accept his son being someone who was continually failing. He ended up supporting him and gave the founding of the guild to his brothers.
Years later, someone found the intoxicated Xvin in Arcadia. It was the same Warrior who lambasted him. Xvin ignored him upon seeing him as he lost the will to fight.
The Warrior reached out his hands and told him that there was something that he lacked. And that thing was about having a genuine relationship with people online.
The Warrior explained that there will be times that all players had to go under the rug just like him. But since they had friends they can rely on, everyone managed to get back on their feet.
Xvin was initially unmoved until the Warrior asked if he actually fought all the opponents that he defeated once again. Xvin was confused. The Warrior exclaimed that some of the people he fought might've gotten stronger than him after their battle. But because people he never reached out to those people, then he never knew that.
Xvin admitted that he does have a point but is still disinterested. The Warrior reached out his hand and offered Xvin to join him in his guild. Xvin didn't find the idea appealing, but he had nothing to do anyway. He half-heartedly accepted the offer.
Little by little, Xvin climbed the ranks of the guild he joined. A few months later, Xvin became a Captain of the GM15 guild, one of the most powerful guilds in Acadia. Eventually, with the help of his newfound friends, he managed to upgrade his ultimate skill into something new.
INFERNO.
Xvin's name roared the world of Arcadia once again. But this time, he wasn't alone. He had the banner of the GM15 guild in his back. He gained a lot more abilities by taking on guild missions and helping other newbies to get better. Eventually, he reached his current level, level 98.
Just a little bit more, and he would reach the level 100. At level 100, players would get a massive leap in their skills and stats. For Xvin's Pyromancy, it would improve his fire type abilities ten-fold.
During the past weeks, Xvin has been assigned to help their newer guild members to gain their classes by reaching the top of the Tower. However, everything got ruined because an idiot entered a Red Gate.
Red Gates was one of the rarest portals in Arcadia. They drop a tremendous amount of quality rewards if cleared, but most of the time, these Red Gates were too horrifying to clear. They were totally unpredictable, and the difficulty would rise up to ten times as hard as it usually should.
People said that you're even lucky if you found a Red Gate with just thrice its difficulty. That was why it was highly recommended to avoid it. Not only that, but there were also rumors that some people who were using VR capsules couldn't log out and got trapped in Red Gates for days. However, it was all denied by Arcanos Corp.
And just like what they said that Red Gates were unpredictable, who would've thought that Xvin and his team would face a Red Gate that was filled with water when their most powerful player, Xvin, was a fire type mage.
Xvin couldn't do anything but helplessly watch his teammates get killed while being pulled back to the surface by Ryore.
[A member from your party has died.]
[A member from your party has died.]
[A member from your party has died.]
The notification popped up more than Xvin could count. It was hopeless. Even with his ultimate skill, the HERALDIAN MONSTER that was very low on health didn't die. Nothing could kill them anymore. Xvin and the rest of the GM15 guild don't know what to do anymore. But there were not the only ones there.
"Mmmmmmmm!!"
Xvin heard someone mumbling. He looked under him, but all he could see was his teammates dying in vain. Full of sorrows, he closed his eyes with disappointment.
"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!"
He heard it again. Xvin looked around and saw the drowning Kane was trying to say something. Of course, Kane would easily get drowned as he had his mouth open because he was trying to say something.
If he was using a VR Capsule, opening your mouth while being underwater would be problematic as the user would feel the water going through their mouths. Despite that, players preferred the VR Capsule over any equipment because of the bonuses. It also helped them be aware of what they should and shouldn't do.
However, for Kane, who was using a VR set, he was freely opening his mouth because he couldn't feel any of those. But his character does. The more he opened his mouth, the faster his oxygen will run out.
Kane was desperate. Instead of swimming upward, he was trying to reach Xvin and Ryore while making a futile attempt in holding down his own neck to save himself from drowning.
[Your oxygen level is low. Your health will now deteriorate.]
*Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*
Kane started coughing even in real life because he was clutching hard on his own neck to prevent himself from drowning. But that doesn't really work that way. He really should read the manual available online.
Seeing that, Xvin took a chance to hear what Kane was about to say. Xvin snapped his hands and used the little mana that he regenerated to cast the same purple magic circle that he used earlier.
[Combined Skill!]
[Underwater Breathing!]
[Underwater Gravity!]
Kane immediately started falling because of Xvin's skill. Luckily, he managed to grab Ryore's feet. Ryore, who was looking in the other direction, thought that the crocodile grabbed his leg. He immediately started kicking away.
PAK! PAK! PAK!
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Motherfuc—ack! You bi—ugh!"
[Kane250 Status: Fractured]
Seeing that, Kane pinched Ryore's skin.
"Mmmmmmmmm!"
Ryore tried to scream but immediately closed his mouth after drinking some water. He finally looked down and saw Kane. Ryore still shook his leg to let go of Kane as they were being pulled down back to the massacre area because of Kane.
Kane desperately climbed Ryore's pants until he reached his belt. With that distance, Xvin could finally hear him.
"They switched!"
'Switched?'
Despite not saying anything and just talking with facial expressions, Kane could understand that Xvin didn't fully understand what he was trying to say.
"Those two Dino Crocs can switch! In fact, they were switching from time to time!"
Xvin's eyes widened as he realized something. If Kane's theory was correct, then they actually attacked the wrong crocodile.
As soon as they subdued the first crocodile and went to the other crocodile, the crocodile that they ignored floated in the air and formed itself like a ball. Xvin saw it but disregarded it. Xvin finally pieced together what happened.
Unlike the second crocodile that formed itself like a ball and unleashed spike attacks, the first crocodile formed itself like a ball and shined white. They were two different types of skills.
The first crocodile fortified itself by increasing its armor and magic resistance. In contrast, the second crocodile used the skill to unleash spike attacks. While covered in black smoke, the second crocodile swapped with the fortified first one before Xvin unleashed the inferno. With that, both of them managed to survive.
But why does that matter? Xvin realized what happened, but he still doesn't know the solution.
[A member from your party has died.]
[A member from your party has died.]
Their raid was already doomed. Xvin snapped his fingers again to removed the skill on Kane. Kane started floating back to the surface, preventing him from falling down to the monsters.
Xvin communicated to his party via GUILD TELEPATHIC COMMUNICATION SKILL. He explained everything that happened to them. But just as he expected, none of them have any solutions either.
With everyone being quiet and were just blindly watching the deaths of their teammates, Xvin came up with a solution.
"Guys... do you really believe in me?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
But in front of death, would you put faith before your life. The silence was their answer.
"Yes. I believe you. Because you are my friend."
Ryore said while smiling back at Xvin.
"I believe you too, captain!"
Pixie also replied. One by one, their guild members responded and reassured Xvin. Xvin answered them.
"Then, are you willing to die?! There's a chance that we might win! But most of you will have to die!"
Xvin was just confidently saying those words with the use of his telepathy. But in reality, he was crying while being pulled back to the surface by Ryore.
Ryore suddenly pushed him upward. Xvin was surprised as they were both separated from each other. Ryore smiled.
"All I have to do is to die, right?"
Ryore turned around and swam back toward the monsters. Xvin shouted.
"Kill! Kill at least one of them! Focus on one! Even if you die! Kill at least one of them!"
"Yes, sir!"
All of the guild members stopped swimming back to the surface. They all dived down and rushed toward the monsters. Kane was flustered about what was happening as he was not included in the telepathy conversation.
'Well, they just lost their screws.'
Kane ignored them and continued going back to the surface. Xvin watched as his teammates get killed.
[A member from your party has died.]
[A member from your party has died.]
[A member from your party has died.]
[A member from your party has died.]
They were swimming toward the monsters to hit them. Being underwater drastically weakened their blows.
But seeing that most of the guild members were dying so quick, Kane knew that he was the next appetizer if all of them died.
'I thought these guys were high-leveled, but it seems their IQ was left untouched. Why are they swimming to their death?!'
Kane looked around and to search for somebody. He gazed to his right and saw Pixie. He quickly swam toward her and tapped her. Kane took out one of the bullets from his gun and started pointing it. Pixie and another guy beside her were confused.
But Kane pointed the bullet while waving it back and forth. Pixie got a gist of what he was trying to say. She took out all of her bullets in her inventory.
[A member from your party has died.]
[A member from your party has died.]
Despite these words kept on appearing in front of them, Ryore and the others still persevered, but in the end, their efforts were futile. They were being killed before they even reached the monsters.
[Ryore Status: Fractured]
He knew that it was his end. The giant monster opened its mouth to eat him.
BOOOMMM!
The sides of the monsters suddenly exploded. A party member emerged from the smoke, but he was immediately killed afterward.
WHOOOSH! WHOOOSH! WHOOOSH!
Suddenly, a lot of other party members started propelling swiftly down to the boss. They were like flying down even if they were underwater and without Xvin's skill. Ryore was astounded. All of his party members were diving at an impressive speed.
With the help of Kane, Pixie handed out all of his bullets to his party members. She had doubts, but she still tried it. Because she tried it, she didn't know that she could use her tracking skill even without anybody aiming. She just needed a target to see, and then she could control the bullets.
While using the rock bottom as a target, she hurled all of her party members with her bullets in their hands, downward at an incredible speed. Because of that, they all managed to gain the right momentum to slash and unleash all of their skills at the boss.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Multiple explosions were heard at the same rate as notifications boxes were appearing.
[A member from your party has died.]
[A member from your party has died.]
[A member from your party has died.]
[A member from your party has died.]
[A member from your party has died.]
[A member from your party has died.]
Suddenly, a different notification appeared on everyone's screen except for Kane.
[You killed Heraldian Horror LVL 200]
[Level Up]
Ryore survived the fight. But he was left floating right in front of the mutating Horror. The remaining crocodile started glowing red with its scales turning and releasing red energy. The spikes on its back extremely multiplied. It shaped itself liked a ball once again and started spinning.
Seeing that it directly in front of Ryore. No matter how much he tried to swim away, he won't survive.
SHHHHHHHHH…
Suddenly, someone enveloped with a scarlet aura swiftly went past Ryore. It was Xvin. He propelled himself forward to the crocodile. Ryore was surprised as to how did Xvin manage to regain all of his power in a short amount of time. But he was more confused upon seeing that he could now unleash his flames underwater.
'Hahahahaha!'
Ryore started laughing subconsciously as he realized something. In exchange for most of their party member's lives, Xvin managed to level up by 3 levels as they managed to kill the other Horror. With him reaching level 101, he finally received all the bonuses from achieving level 100. Xvin dashed forward and faced the monster.
"Begone!"
[INFERNO!]
Then a white light brightened the whole room.
Out of the 127 members of a party that entered the WALLACE TOWER, only 17 survived. 17 plus one stranger.
[You cleared Wallace Tower Floor X]