*sigh . . . "Let's go. This part of the map is a dead end. We're wasting time here." Ren said and turned to leave.
Leonel placed his hands on the back of his head. "Too bad. I kinda enjoyed when those players vanished, though." He snickered and followed Ren from behind.
While Isolde took one last look at the two dark elves guarding the only entrance into their lands. Her big eyes were shining and full of admiration. Those two were strong, and they were kinda . . . cool.
She was also an Elf, and she was thinking if she could change her race into a Dark Elf.
"Is it possible to become like them one day?" Isolde asked when she caught up to Ren and Leonel.
"Who? Those two dark elves?" asked Leonel.
Isolde nodded, and Leonel smacked his fist on his palm. "Right, you're an elf too."
He then looked at Ren and asked, "Ren, you know about this stuff. Is it possible for her to change race?"
Ren grumbled under his breath when Isolde and Leonel looked at him with shining, expectant eyes.
". . . Yes."
"Oh!"
Both Leon and Isolde couldn't contain their grin.
"Then how about me? Is there another race for dwarves? Like a dwarf-dwarf?"
Ren raised a brow. "Dwarf-dwarf?
"You know, like a smaller dwarf!"
Ren stifled a laugh. "You still wanted to be small?"
"If there's a chance that I can be smaller still, then I'll take it."
"You should have told me that you wanted to be a bug in the first place. They're the smallest living things in this world."
Isolde laughed, and Leonel whined.
"You know what I'm talking about."
The three chatted their way towards Gargantuan Cave and stopped when they noticed that something was amiss.
Ahead, there were players surrounding the cave entrance, barging other players from taking a step forward.
"What's going on?" Isolde asked a player nearby.
The player's face was dark. "Those bunch wanted to monopolize Gargantuan cave and wouldn't let others inside!" he complained.
Ren looked over at the group that the player was pointing to and recognized some of their faces.
It was the Poison Viper guild — a group of rugged tugs who would do anything to get ahead of the others. Though the guild feature wasn't introduced yet, some players had already formed their guilds and groups to take advantage of their numbers.
Like this for instance where Poison Viper used their numbers to threaten other players and gain dominance over the game.
Their Leader, Vein, was a notorious player. Despite his level in the past, top-tier equipment, and exceptional skills, his questionable character was the stuff of legend.
Such an act of taking over an entire leveling field was only the tip of the iceberg. And even this early, they were already causing trouble for everyone, especially the newbies who couldn't content with their numbers.
Everyone could probably take them on if there were only ten of them. However, they were more than twenty, and more were joining their guild for the reason that some newbies didn't want to make them an enemy. They could finally grind in the area in peace by joining a much stronger force.
If you couldn't defeat them, then join them. Ren thought and shook his head in dismay.
Their numbers surrounded the cave's only entrance, and it was impossible to enter without a confrontation.
"What should we do?" Leonel asked. He was starting to get worried.
"Should we alert the game about this?" said Isolde.
Ren didn't reply. Alerting the developers or customer service about this behavior wouldn't bore any fruit since this was allowed. COVENANT was a guild-driven game, and the developers greatly welcomed anything that would encourage the players, whether good or bad, to join a guild.
Ren thought for a second. This was troublesome since he wanted to avoid PvP battles this early on. But there was another way if they waited . . .
"Hey."
Ren and the others' attention flicked to an Orc who was approaching their direction.
The Orc was the same height as Ren leaning on the leaner side with green skin. His pointy ears were small, his nostrils big, and his sharp teeth below protruded from his lips. And the most eye-catching was his light blue hair that was tied with a bone, drawing his fringe away from his broad head.
Orcs were the most hideous out of the races but they pact a punch like the beast. Not many chose this race because of their appearances, and most players only chose it because their guild asked them to change race so they could have an Orc in their guild. This was to ensure that their guild had all the races if there was a race-related quest.
Ren, Isolde, and Leonel shifted their heads to see if the Orc had a companion beside them. But it seemed like the Orc's business was with them.
Ren juggled his memory if he knew the green-skinned Orc but failed.
Although he had this nagging feeling that the Orc was very familiar, especially with that protruding light blue hair and frosty eyes of his.
"I'm talking to you," the Orc said as soon as he was in front of Ren and the others.
Leonel pointed at himself. "Me?"
The Orc nodded. "We met a while ago. At Gargino Restaurant," he said, eyeing Ren and Leonel.
". . ."
". . ."
Ren took a step back and gasped. "R-Ragnar Axis?"
Ragnar nodded. "Yes. I supposed that everyone knows my name."
"You know him?" Leonel asked Ren.
"He's that blue-haired guy a while ago together with that blonde lady."
Leonel's expression told that his brain was still loading before he finally recognized Ragnar. He then swept Ragnar repeatedly with his eyes from the man's toes up to the tip of his hair.
Leonel's mouth dropped. "T-that pretty boy turned into this! Why?! What?! HOW did that happen?! Why did you choose that race?!"
Ragnar just raised a brow at Leonel's question. "I don't want to hear it from a giant who chose to be a dwarf."
"Ragnar. Is that really you?" Isolde asked, squinting her big eyes at the Orc.
Ragnar nodded. "Yes. It's me, Isolde. Nice meeting you too. I wasn't going to approach them, but I noticed that you're in their group."
"You knew each other?" Leonel asked Isolde.
Ragnar and Isolde both nodded their heads at the same time.
"We're sometimes brought by our parents when they discuss business," Ragnar said simply.
"Anyway," cut in Ren, "How are you inside the game when you were still in the restaurant a while ago?"
Ren thought that Ragnar and Silvia had a date. Shouldn't date at least last the whole night?
"Ah, I guess you're curious about it." Ragnar tilted his hips and crossed his hands. His gestures were elegant and refined, which didn't match his looks and build.
"After my lunch with Silvia, I went home," Ragnar answered without care.
Ren expected that there was no love between the two of them since most rich people married their fellow rich group. Marriage was a business transaction. But still, how could he be so fast?
Like he understood Ren's thoughts, Ragnar added, "I owned multiple apartments in the city. I have one near Highland Mall."
. . . Rich people. Ren thought, slightly shaking his head. The veins on his head had been pounding like crazy ever since he returned in the past. His mind was crammed with all the ideas on how to uplift their life and buy his parents a mansion in Zone A's exclusive neighborhood.
But soon, he would suffer headaches on a different matter entirely –– about where to sleep from his long list of apartments.
The thought put a slight grin on Ren's lips.
"Anyway," Ragnar changed the topic, "Do you want to enter Gargantuan Cave?"
"Yes. Why?" Leonel asked.
For the first time, Ragnar's cold face gave way to a small smile . . . though his smile was terrifying in an Orc's body.
"I want to join you, of course."
Ren and Leonel looked at each other.
". . . Huh?"