In order to see Gaseo's face clearly, Wonho, the (Fire Mage), cast a powerful fire spell to light up the surroundings.
INFERNO BLAZE!!!
Upon seeing Gaseo's face, Kangho's party was speechless, unable to believe it was actually someone they knew from high school.
"Eh…?!!"
"You are..!!"
"No fucking way! Sol Gaseo?!!"
Even though several years have passed since everyone graduated from high school, they still remember Gaseo's face clearly.
"Ehhhhhh..?!! No way..!" Gaseo was utterly surprised to encounter his former classmates.
'I was wondering where all the Hobgoblins went, so it turned out they were on the ground floor all this time.' Gaseo thought.
"Woah! Long time no see! We missed you a lot, man!"
"Yeah man, how's everything going?! We haven't heard anything from you since high school graduation."
"Wow! This must be fate! To think we would reunite with one of our former classmates after so many years."
…
…
…
'Fate? Former classmate? My fucking ass! You motherfuckers gave me hell in high school! Every fucking day you guys would bully me both physically and mentally without mercy! You guys even stole my money and food to the point I had to starve every day! The only time I was able to eat was when I got home from school! Aaah! Fuck! This is really pissing me off!' Gaseo thought.
Just the thought of the suffering he endured in high school due to his bullies filled Gaseo with fury. Despite his anger, he maintained a calm facade and forced a smile on his face.
For the first few minutes, Gaseo and Kangho's party were chatting and enjoying their time, reminiscing about the good times they had in high school. Of course, for Kangho's party, high school was filled with good memories, but for Gaseo, it was pure hell.
For the time being, Gaseo had no intention of seeking revenge immediately; he planned to do it later. He believed it would be more satisfying to take his revenge slowly rather than hastily. So, just for now, he pretended to get along with them.
'Hehe! Laugh all you can because you guys will soon regret what you did to me in high school!' Gaseo thought.
"Hey, Gaseo! Are you listening?" Kangho said.
"Ah, my bad! Sorry… I was daydreaming just now." Gaseo replied.
"No worries. By the way, do you want to join our party?"
"Eh..? You sure? I might be useless though."
"It's fine. We are giving you special treatment because you were our former classmate, so consider yourself lucky. Also, we're looking for someone to be our frontline anyway and you seem to be the one most fit for that role. So what do you think? We're a strong party, if you join us, your survival for this Tutorial is pretty much guaranteed."
Earlier, when Gaseo was chatting with them, he had told them about his 'Regeneration' skill, which was why they thought it would be a great idea for Gaseo to be their tank.
The only thing Gaseo kept a secret was his 'Time Freeze' skill. That was because he was planning to save it for the future when the time is right to take his revenge. Even regarding his Regeneration skill, he refrained from delving into specific details, keeping certain aspects undisclosed.
"Oh, wow. Are you guys for real? I thought you didn't really like me during our high school years—" Gaseo said.
"Shut up the fuck up! Stop talking about the past!" Kangho retorted.
"Ah, sorry! My bad!"
"Anyway, just answer the question. Do you want to join or not?"
"Well, I have nothing to lose anyway, so sure, why not."
"Good choice! Hahaha! I knew you would make the right decision! Anyways, welcome to the party, my friend!"
"Yay! Woohoo! Man, I'm so happy because it has been hard fighting alone all this time, so I'm truly grateful that you guys allow me to join your party." Gaseo said, pretending to be happy.
Everyone secretly smirked in their hearts the moment Gaseo fell for the bait they had set up.
'Kekeke! What an idiot, look at this trash, acting happy just because we allow him to join our party.' Kangho thought.
'Tch! Welcome to the party, my ass! You guys obviously plan to use me and then get rid of me later. Well, whatever, there's no rush, I'll take my revenge slowly.' Gaseo thought.
And with that, Gaseo officially became a member of Kangho's party.
A few days later…
At night, in the middle of the city street, Kangho's party could be seen walking around, mercilessly slaughtering any Hobgoblins that crossed their path.
It didn't take long for the Hobgoblins to realize how formidable Kangho's party was and started retreating. The Hobgoblins figured challenging Kangho's party wasn't worth it, so they went to search for other weaker players or parties instead.
"Hmm, what's this?"
"It looks like they're running away from us, I guess they got scared."
"Heh, that's pretty smart of them. I guess they knew we're on a different level, so they decided to go elsewhere."
For the time being, Kangho's party decided to take a short break.
Not long later, inside a convenience store, everyone could be seen grabbing their favorite snacks and eating them.
At this time, while Gaseo was eating his potato chips, he sensed that something was off with Kangho's mood today. Though on the surface, it seemed like Kangho was in a good mood, in reality, he was upset that he couldn't find any isolated players or parties to kill.
'What's up with Kangho today? Did something happen? He seems less talkative than usual…' Gaseo thought.
After everyone had finished eating their snacks, they left the convenience store.
A couple hours later…
After searching and searching, in an unknown school, Kangho's party finally found an isolated party of four players.
At this point in time, Gaseo still wasn't aware of Kangho's party's plans, as they hadn't informed him yet about their intention to hunt for players.
To Gaseo's surprise, this isolated party was someone he knew from not too long ago, from the 3rd Tutorial to be exact.
'Eh? Isn't that David, Sasha, Jack, and Carl? Heh, what a pleasant surprise… I never thought I would see them again.' Gaseo thought.