Chapter 22: Why?
Other than rare moles, the first dungeon had wooden imitations of forest predators. Wolves, bears, anaconda, and even jaguars sometimes popped off to stop and kill the players.
Those monsters brought a lot of problems, each unique to its imitation. However, some players could rival the predator title.
A certain monke, for example, was freed from his responsibilities, his staff turning into a predator alongside a short sword whose thrusts barrelled from Venomous' hands!
Both of them were unique each to their own as well and the sounds of their weapons crashing into wooden monsters rippled across the dungeon. Supporting skills from the witch and tank couldn't rival those sounds, so it seemed like these two were the only ones here.
Because of such speed, Michu could already spot another group of players that had been notified of their finding through the chat.
He waved his staff at them and approached them.
Venomous caught up and trod next to him. She looked over every player with scrutinizing eyes, then passed her potions.
As such consumables weren't cheap and players would have to prepare a lot for one dungeon raid, the players happily accepted her potions and thanked her deeply. The tank, that was sent by Red Stigma, also got a potion, but he checked its stats beforehand.
"You guys were doing fine!" Michu exclaimed to the group of friends while their tank examined the potion. He did it deliberately, knowing that the tanks and Red Stigma had high chances of being the gangsters.
The group of friends looked at each other, then slightly smiled, "On the other hand, you two don't seem like level 15 players. Didn't you also clear the monsters battling us? I can only feel relieved that you want to work with us!" There were cases where the dungeon boss would turn out to be a bigger threat than imagined before.
Such strong players as Michu and Venomous were the best addition to the raid. Their presences alone relieved others and it didn't seem like they had any underhanded thoughts. At least Michu continued to chatter with a gleeful smile on his face.
He surely felt good after the player complimented him, "Thanks! Hehe!"
"We don't have time to chit-chat," Venomous' voice rang out from the side. This put a grimace on Lazy Bum's face, but he understood. Similarly to him, Sandra pouted as she didn't have time to make a new connection with another group.
However, she clung to Michu and both of them shot up to reunite with other players.
Going through many corridors and wide-open areas, Michu and his party reunited with everyone including Red Stigma. This man's party was really weird as they haven't lost much HP and MP at all.
Additionally, Red Stigma didn't even have a drop of sweat on his face. His stats were full as if healed already, but a friend close to Venomous could see within her eyes how suspicious she was of this man.
Nonetheless, she had already made her moves, "We know where the boss is. Instead of wasting our resources on the dungeon monsters, let's just head to the dungeon boss." They would save a lot of consumable items and even begin another raid sooner!
This thought was shared by everyone, including Red Stigma.
"That's great," The man with the red sword brightly smiled and pointed at one of the many corridors, "We also managed to find a clue to the boss on our way back. It's here, right?" He pointed at Venomous who already told Michu to use his Bright Firefly.
The small orange light slowly flew to the corridor marked by the swordsman, "See." He showed off a content smile and said, "We can expect more monsters here, so let's split up appropriately, I suggest an arrow formation." In this formation, there would be tanks at the helm and on the sides with highly offensive players around them.
Red Stigma also mentioned the threat from behind and he took that role with his two tanks.
The formation had been set, so the whole party moved forward.
On her way, Michu and his friends completely indulged their emotions to take control over them. He and Sandra were glued to each other. The water trap and monke bonk utterly destroyed their opponents and the tank around them had the easiest of all.
Lazy Bum stood close to Venomous, his voice soon reaching her, "I was skeptical about your attitude, but it seems you were right."
"What do you mean?" Venomous whispered.
"I just saw footprints." Lazy Bum's class was archer and his stats helped his eyesight naturally. He also had skills related to eyes, so even though it was dark here, the lazy man spotted enough. "Those weren't fresh, just in case."
"I understand you," Venomous raised her hand as she didn't need more explanation. Her eyes turned to the clock around her minimap and she clicked her tongue as not enough time was left for her.
She turned her eyes to Red Stigma, "You were here before, weren't you?" She took the cat out of the bag and forced the man to reveal the truth with her captivating, but highly threatening eyes.
As if his plan wouldn't get disturbed by it, Red Stigma said, "Yeah, well. Let's say that I had to check this area before?"
"Don't lie to me," Venomous stopped, told her party to gather around her then totally ignored the monsters around them. This finally made Red Stigma wave his sword more and use some of his stamina and MP.
The man scratched his hair, "Aren't you too suspicious? I felt like I had the famous and so popular killing intent on me all this time… I don't like those shivers much, you know?" Red Stigma flicked his fingers and tanks formed a wall around him.
The tanks buried their shields' edges deeply into the ground, then formed a formation that brought a weird noise out of Michu, "Cool…" He said in a deep, long voice.
The swordsman from the popular guild laughed, "Well, then…" He took out a silver long scroll that, once unfolded, hit the ground a few times with its abundant content. The scroll shone with blinding yellow light, then the shields of tanks connected. A faint transparent barrier appeared around them and like a king in the middle, Red Stigma announced, "In just a few minutes, we will be surrounded by the wooden monsters we had been doing our best to silence and trap."
A wave of dismay swept through the players as they began to believe that death would be their only option. They angrily glared at Red Stigma whose lips curved and formed a disgusting, but content smile.
He relished on that domination and the feeling of having things under his control, "Have you never outplayed anyone in games? You must be pretty naive, then." His smile widened, then Michu suddenly called out.
"Why are you gangster?" His words erased the dismay of every player and brought confusion to Red Stigma's gang.
"Gangster?" Repeated by the very leader himself, the new kind of term used to describe 'PK' players appeared for the first time in the Four Leaf World.
Who in the world would use this kind of world to call out the player killing? Michu's allies burst out laughing with laughter that they did their utmost best to stifle. Sandra's staff also hit them as Michu couldn't continue. Her lips were awkwardly moving too, though.
The monke continued seriously, "If you aren't gangster, then who are you?" After he said it so righteously and seriously, the silence descended onto the whole dungeon.
The monsters also choose to just silently sneak their way close while the players talked with each other, "You trapped monsters, then selfishly hid behind the cool wall! Only you and your friends will survive while we will die and lose our hard work! I hate gangsters like you! Why did you choose to be a gangster?!"