Ivan struggled to his feet, clutching his aching shoulders. As he looked around, he found Iris and the rest of her guild watching him intently.
"You know, I'd be surprised if it was someone else. But disappearing and then suddenly falling from nowhere an hour later seems very standard for you," Iris remarked casually, strolling over to the kitchen counter to retrieve her mug of coffee.
"Did Malachi return?" Ivan inquired.
"If you're referring to the magical entity, no, not yet at least. Hopefully, it's gone for good; very few things can survive an attack like that," Iris replied, taking a sip from her mug.
"Well, Malachi is definitely among those few things," Ivan stated.
Iris studied Ivan for a moment before sighing and placing her coffee on the counter.
"I have a million questions, but knowing you, you probably won't answer them. So, I'll ask just two," Iris said.
"Go ahead," Ivan encouraged.
"The documents erupted in flames along with my friend's coffee shop, which she kindly allowed us to use for guild meetings. I'm not here to point fingers, even though it was clearly your fault since that thing was following you," Iris began before Ivan interrupted.
"I have no money to build a new coffee shop if that's what you're suggesting. What part of broke aren't you getting?" Ivan retorted.
"Apologies, I got sidetracked there," Iris said, extending her hand.
"There are no papers to sign, so this is a verbal contract. Do you agree to become a mercenary for our guild, taking ten percent of the profit from all dungeon raids?" Iris proposed.
Ivan pondered the offer. With his new "game gate" skill, he no longer needed to buy the oasis pod, but he still required money for other things. Furthermore raiding dungeons could help increase his stats and battle experiences.
Ivan shook Iris's hand, accepting her offer.
"Good, then let me introduce you to the other guild members," Iris said, pointing to one of the men.
"That's Greyson," Iris introduced, and Greyson gave Ivan a small nod.
"That's Denvar," Iris continued, pointing to the other man.
"And that's Enti," Iris said, indicating the lady in the group.
"Laura isn't here, but she's our accountant, and whose coffee shop you destroyed," Iris mentioned.
"Malachi destroyed," Ivan corrected.
"In an attempt to attack you," Iris retorted.
"I told you, there's nothing I can do about the coffee shop," Ivan said with a sigh.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Iris replied, her head falling to the counter in frustration.
"You said you had two questions, what was the other one?" Ivan asked, prompting Iris to look up at him.
"Huh, oh yeah, how strong are you exactly?" Iris inquired.
"Well, not very. I'm pretty low-average in strength," Ivan admitted.
"Ha, didn't seem like it when you threatened us in the coffee shop or when you confronted the magical creature, or even when you hit it into oblivion," Iris said, impressed.
"Let's just say I'm very confident and have some weird abilities, but I'm not as strong as you assume. In fact, I'm weaker than all of you present," Ivan confessed.
"How do you know that? You don't know how strong we are," Enti chimed in with a soft voice.
"I do, though. You're level 30, Greyson is level 47, and Denvar is level 44," Ivan stated.
"What the hell!" Denvar exclaimed, clearly surprised.
Everyone in the room seemed to be in shock at Ivan's words, except Iris, who casually nibbled on cookies.
"I see I can no longer shock you," Ivan said, turning to Iris.
"Meh, I'm used to it now," Iris replied with a shrug as she moved over to grab her jacket.
"Let go," Iris said to Ivan firmly.
"To where?" Ivan asked as he grabbed one of the cookies from the counter.
"To get the rights to the dungeon," Iris responded.
"What about the store? Shouldn't I be at work?" Ivan inquired.
"Consider this as work; someone is at the store," Iris replied.
"So, I'm getting paid for this?" Ivan asked as they both exited the house.
"Yeah," Iris confirmed.
...
As Ivan stared at the tall building before him, he couldn't help but regret coming with Iris.
"I really don't want to enter this building. I didn't know this was where we were going," Ivan expressed his reluctance as they stood in front of Oasis Inc HQ.
"Don't worry, no one will know you're an Awakened. You're just tagging along," Iris reassured him.
Ivan and Iris both entered the large building and headed for the receptionist at the lobby.
"What can we help you with today?" the lobby receptionist said with a friendly tone.
"I'm here to finish the procurement of dungeon 76ft7xb," Iris stated.
The receptionist then communicated with someone through her headset before responding to them.
"Go up to the 30th floor; they are expecting you," the receptionist said politely.
"Thank you," Iris replied with a nod.
As Ivan turned around to head to the elevator with Iris, he saw a face he had desperately hoped not to encounter: his ex-fiancée, Bella, walking towards them with a storm of anger brewing in her eyes. In that moment he felt a strong emotion - surprise, from how much he no longer cared.
Bella's face contorted with rage as she prepared to confront Ivan for coming to look for her, but her words seemed to falter when Ivan walked right past her, not even sparing her a glance. It was as if he had become impervious to her presence, shutting her out entirely.
Confused and stunned, Bella managed to stammer, "What just happened?"
Meanwhile, Ivan and Iris continued their conversation, seemingly unfazed by Bella's presence. As they entered the elevator and the doors closed shut, Bella was left standing there, trying to make sense of the situation.
"What the hell? Showing up here, ignoring me. Who does this bastard think he is?" Bella seethed, her anger reaching its peak.
Iris, curious about the commotion, asked Ivan, "Who's that?"
"My ex-fiancée, quite the terrible person. Man, I was pathetic," Ivan explained.
Iris tried to empathize, saying, "I don't think she's that bad."
"She stole almost all my dead parents' wealth and cheated on me with my best friend, so there's that," Ivan revealed.
"Oh," Iris replied, understanding the situation better.
"Yeah, now that I look at her, she looks pretty average," Ivan said dismissively.
"Probably because you've seen me," Iris said with a slight smirk.
"No way you're complementing yourself," Ivan said, making Iris let out a small laugh.
The elevator finally arrived at its destination, and Ivan and Iris stepped out onto the floor. To Ivan's surprise, the place was bustling with numerous people displaying levels above their heads - a sight that overwhelmed Ivan. The floor was a congregation of Awakened individuals.
"Ah, if it isn't Iris," a man greeted them, recognizing her presence.
"Paragon guild, Ivan, be ready," Iris quietly warned Ivan.
"Huh? Why?" Ivan asked, still trying to comprehend the sudden intensity of the situation.
"Because we might need to kill a few people," Iris said, her face almost red with anger, a fire ignited by past memories and the current provocation.