"What's your IGN?" Red asked, even though his eyes were glued to the screen.
"Black Foxy," Mark answered as he quickly adjusted his adventurer's clothes.
Mark felt ashamed. He hasn't paid much attention to his adventurer's clothes.
'Why do I feel pressured?' Mark's own character in the game barely resembles the polished character that Red had.
Mark's adventurer belonged to the fighter class.
"Okay," Red opened the
His lips curved upwards in a smile as he scrolled through his friend's list. He has 1346 friends in total, making it one of the highest in the game.
[Blinking Lights: Woah! You're back?]
A bell-like sound caught Red off guard. As he looked where it came from, his friend's message on the bottom side of the screen popped up.
Red's attempt to change his identity gradually failed.
Red secretly laughed. It seems like even if he changed his name, they still knew who he was.
Oh, well, it wasn't much of a change anyway.
[RedBaoFan: Yeah. Just playing for fun.]
[Blinking Lights: Ohhh... That's nice, bro. Do you want to form a party? We lack 2]
[RedBaoFan: Wait. I have someone with me. Lemme ask him quickly.]
Leaning in a relaxed manner against his chair, Red glanced over at Mark. He grinned as he saw him busy adjusting his character.
"Mark," Red called out for his name.
"Yes?" Mark stopped what he was doing when he heard the slight urgency in Red's voice.
"Do you want to play with my friends? They lack 2." he passed the message that he had gotten.
Mark gradually smiled and nodded his head. That wasn't a problem for him at all.
"Sure! Who are they, by the way?" Mark asked as curiosity lingered on his voice.
Red smiled meaningfully. "You'll know soon," he replied as he messaged Blinking Lights.
Weirded out by it, Mark looked at Red, confused. He shrugged his shoulders at the thought that Red might have wanted to keep it a surprise.
"It's not like we are playing with pro players or something," Mark chuckled. He left the account settings and waited for the invite.
Red remained silent. When he accepted Blinking Light's invitation, he was teleported to their location.
Red was teleported to a small hut, slightly away from the starting village. The hut was located at the opening of the mountains. Tall trees and leaves that were dancing with the wind surrounded them.
Sounds of bird chirping and a melodious humming tone greeted Red.
It seemed like they were on the way to the mountains located at the north of the starting village
"Hey, Red! It's been so long since I last saw you! here" Hearing a loud voice on the headset, Red chuckled and fixed the way it was worn on his head.
"Can't talk. I'm in an internet cafe." Red replied in the party's chat.
Since the Internet cafe was loud and chaotic, Red knew that opening his mic wouldn't be a good thing. It would just create more chaos since his friends were already too loud on the mic.
"That's so sad."
"We miss you, man!"
Red couldn't help but smile at the enthusiasm they were showing.
"I'm inviting my friend. Wait for a minute."
Just as Red messaged those words, he clicked on Mark's name and sent him an invite. It didn't take long before Mark accepted it and joined them.
"WHAT THE F*CK!" Mark's eyes widened as he jumped out of his seat.
Mark immediately looked at Red as if he was one crazy guy.
"How did you know these people?" He asked in disbelief.
Even though Mark hadn't been in the game for long, he still knew the professional players who were active until now.
And Red's friend— no, not just a friend, but his whole 3 friends in the party belonged to a very popular team.
Red looked at Mark as if it was an obvious question.
"They're my friends in the game," he answered.
They were Red's companions in the game when they were just newcomers 8 years ago. As there weren't a lot of players back then, it was normal to befriend other players to level up faster.
Lucky for Red that over time, they gradually became real friends.
Their friendship became even stronger when they joined the professional scene, even though they belonged to different teams.
Mark's jaw fell to the ground. The shape of his mouth was in a full circle.
He repeatedly shook his head as if he was in some dream. Who knew that talking to a random guy like this would lead him in this scenario?
Mark hadn't expected this ever in his life! He thought that those players were untouchable and were hard to reach.
"Hahahaha the friend of yours is surprised."
"Did I just hear Master Red's voice?"
The players at the party left funny comments after hearing the conversation.
When Mark realized that his mic was on, he immediately went back to his chair and muted it. His hands went to his face, covering it He was now red out of embarrassment.
How can he make a big mistake in front of these high-level players?
Red patted Mark's back. He smiled as if it was nothing.
"That's fine."
Mark slowly nodded. He slowly removed his hands from his face. The embarrassment still lingered in his mind.
As Mark gazed upon his screen, he couldn't help but feel amazed.
His embarrassment was now replaced by amusement.
In front of him were players Blinking Lights, Yzzy, and Furio. They belonged to the team DVYT.
At the recent tournament held by Rise of Dawn last year, DVYT placed 3rd out of all the 24 professional teams who joined.
That means talking about their skill and strength in the game, they belong to the best in the whole world.
And Red was just casually friends with them.
Who wouldn't be surprised with that?
"Where are we heading to?" Red's fingers danced across the keyboard as they started walking together.
His eyes went to the map on the upper left side of the screen.
They were currently heading in the middle of the mountains. Scattered near them were different dungeon locations, each varying in level.
Blinking Lights grinned against the screen. It has been so long since they watched Red in action. Looking at his 2 other friends who were just beside him, they all nodded in unison.
They were probably thinking of the same thing right now.
"Let's go to the Sunken Abyss. It's near here," Blinking Lights replied.
Yzzy, and Furio immediately agreed to it, leaving them with no choice as it was the majority.
Red chuckled. It seems like they were maximizing his comeback by immediately going to a middle-level dungeon in the game.
He wasn't even used to the game's setting after being away for so long.
However, Mark had a different reaction. His eyes immediately flew to Red. He was surprised when he saw the smile on Red's face.
'How come he is not even bothered by it?'
"Are we really going there?" Mark's eyes widened in disbelief.
Middle-level dungeons were already considered hard to begin with.
Red slowly nodded. "That's what they said." He was just following their flow.
Mark swallowed hard when he felt a lump in his throat. His eyes went back to the map, zooming it in.
Sunken Abyss was considered to be one of the hardest dungeons in the game, with its success rate at only 7%. The creatures lurking in there consist of shadows or evil spirits, making it harder for players to cast an attack on them.
However, Red and his friends seemed unfazed. These people just mentioned it like it was something ordinary.
He tilted his head to the side.
These players had gone crazy already.