As soon as Atharva generated the referral code by paying credits, he sent to them all the family members. Whether they would be able to use it today or tomorrow, it didn't matter. Once they enter the game, in his village, he would be able to power level them. He just hoped they got better talents suited for...his plan for them. He nagged others giving some tips. No idea if they worked. After all, there was no study to back then up. After sending voice notes, he entered the game.
The effect of gift crates was still visible even though the stall had been dismantled already. Guess the independent players had sweeped the guilds' account clean. Ah! There goes my business, he thought.
Artha started sorting out things in back of the inn. Good news- his skills were getting better. He could take out better items out. Bad news- he was turning into a collector. He had to find ways to recycle these goods fast.
While he was prepping food along with the cook in the inn, he recieved a message from a certain Sampath. It must be one of the twins. He wondered what the other one was named. Hopefully, it was not a in the face name.
He finished his chores and ran to meet his brother. Hmm, it appeared they did listen to his nagging. The facial structure was altered quite a bit. Still, he was family. How could he not notice him?
"I tell you from the first, I am only calling you Sam."
"As if you have a good name, Artha." The lonely level zero swordsman standing near inn snarked. It had taken a long time to decide these name and just hope that they were not already snapped.
Artha changed the subject. He really didn't want to open the Pandora's box of why he called himself wealth. Even the actual reason seemed unrealistic. No way would he spill the beans and say he got the name after butchering his real name. Better would be to let them think that he was being money mad.
"Where are others?"
"Trying to get some tasks. You do realise that how embarassing it is for us to stand out as a level zero players?"
"Relax. All players are busy. They don't have time for shrimps like you. Did you see many players in the village? No. Because they are out in the fields or dungeons playing. No one even cares about you guys. Anyway, I asked you guys to stay near fountain in the park. Why are you loitering?"
" Oh, I really would but I saw a bunch of players spawning and spreading aggressions all over. Should we have stayed there?" Sam quipped sarcastically.
"So, you chose swords. I thought you might have preferred to be a thief or an archer."
"Well, Reggie wants to be a summoner."
Nailed it.
"But he became a druid. Don't ask why."
Okay, acceptable change in profession. He could still mingle with animals.
"Sister will be a shield. She said she wants to be a knight. That somehow translated into her being a tank."
"Sama entered the game? How?"
" She is using the pod in the living room. Now, where was I? Yes, because my family didn't consider others and chose what they wanted, I had to sacrifice myself to choose a profession to make the team more balanced. We have shield, ranged player, healer. Only melee player was left. And you know me, I am a klutz." Said the person who would stack six sets of cups, plates and cutlery to take it to sink. "So, with a heavy heart, I had to choose to be a swordsman. Only noobs think swordsmen are awesome. Swordsman is noob friendly."
"Yeah. I heard that. Probably that's why, there was many different choices when you upgrade yourself. Probably then you will find a better option. Or you might just get one of the hidden classes."
"Do they had hidden classes in this game?"
"No idea. But till they say no, we can dream. Right? Call others. Instead of running here and there, I will show you all the important spots and we can move on."
So Sama called herself Nidhi and Reggie was Dhananjay. Okay, his name can be shorted to Danny. Won't feel awkward. No one would dare to name new nicknames for Sama and she had chosen a small name, to prevent that urge.
So the siblings got united near the park. Artha tried to explain as much as possible. And not a single one of the three newly spawn players told Artha about their talents.
"Okay. Just tell me about your talents and I will think of faster way to level you up." Artha said. There was no direct link but who is going to tell them that.
Nidhi got a passive skill - Devourer. She didn't say more. Okay, he will learn about it in the fields. Sam said his talent was for increased drop rate. Danny said he got a copying skill.
Okay, clearly everyone is hiding. Even he said his talent was better drops.
He took them to meet all the NPCs who could give them tasks. There was no room in the inn. That's okay. He still had sleeping bags. So the boys would have sleeping bags and Nidhi would sleep in a room in the inn converted into storage room. Artha didn't waste time while he was directing his siblings. He purchased few items, stacked items in potions shop, rearranged in tailor's place, chatted with the apprentice in the Smithy.
Then...time to visit level zero map and kill those itsy bitsy moles. Artha had task items but they needed to work as a team and learn how to use the skills or spells.
Nidhi was okay. She would just run and bash on the mole to stun it. Sam had to kill that mole. That was a bit troublesome. And most of Danny's heals missed Sam and he overhealed Nidhi few times. Artha was pure damage control. He waited till they got tired or till they were in brink of dying and he vanished the mole with a simple spell.
He would have spent more time with them but Sela called and he had to go for dungeon raid.
The atmosphere near dungeon was a bit weird.
"What happened?"
"There have been some claims going on. Apparently someone claimed that they would clear the dungeon today."
"Not in this village." Artha said confidently.
"And how did you know? Did any of your guild friends tell you that?"
"Pshh! Guilds spilling deats? Unless it's for marketing, no one will share a single detail. They would redact the coins they need to pay in the bill if possible. How would they tell such things to me?"
"So how do you know?"
"Because the villages that opened dungeons before us have a massive advantage and we can't erase it with using better weapons, potions or scrolls."
" But the race is on, nonetheless."
Sela sighed. When she got hands on the dungeon map, she had heard even bitter news. Many teams had died because all were in the hurry to clear the dungeon as much as possible. Few even had their levels dropped. Only few dungeon raiding teams had level five or level six players. Majority had dropped to level four already. This, inspite of players amassing more XP within the dungeons.
" I heard few Daredevils tried different ways to map the dungeon." Arjun said. Jack nodded. The rumour he heard came from a exceptional thief. "Apparently they even tried to just run through the dungeon without killing bunnies just to map the dungeon."
All sighed. Even Sela in her height of stupidity didn't try such method.
As usual they took their regular positions and entered the dungeon. They would clear the longest known route.
The team synergy was getting better. That or all in the team had levelled up. They didn't rest much in initial sections. Only breaks they had was while Artha was looting elite bunnies systematically. Once through the head, next through the thorax and then through the abdomen. No one even asked about the loot anymore. They all would try to survive and come out of the dungeon and sort all the things together. No need to waste time. These small things didn't impress them anymore.
Few of the independent players had opened their gift crates and showed off their trophies in them. Compared to those, any item dropped by a level five elite monster was really not worth screaming over.