'What did he just say?'
Nova never thought someone would call him an idiot just after a glance.
"Sir, what are you trying to say?" Nova asked softly, but his tone was not polite at all.
"If you are not a moron, then what?" The rough man raised his voice a little, "If you are desperate for money, you can choose other jobs without much risk."
"Only an idiot like you without much experience would gamble their lives."
Nova didn't reply to the rough-looking man and stood like a frozen sculpture. He even had a hard time digesting the information he received.
'What the hell is happening? Why is he saying forming a team is like an open job? And they are even getting paid?'
No matter how much Nova thought, he didn't hear anything even a bit similar from Eric.
Eric came, tried to persuade him and finally threatened him to join. The only thing that Nova received was a life potion and a stage 1 explorer potion, and even the most precious core for the explorer potion was his own.
This has happened to Nova so far and Eric hadn't mentioned anything about money or this was a voluntary job.
'I thought I was lucky, but it seems I unknowingly fell into a trap.'
"Ahh! What a shitty luck!" In frustration and anger, Nova cursed out loud.
"What? Why did you blame luck?" The rough looking man couldn't understand Nova. He even wondered why Nova would curse after staying still for a moment.
Nova didn't say anything and sat near the campfire.
Seeing this, the rough-looking man also followed and sat near him. The other three members who were watching the conversation also closed their distance between Nova.
Looking at faces, Nova explained everything that had happened so far in general without much detail.
"I know there is something wrong with that guy. Now, it's certain there is something wrong with him." A mature woman who also seems to be in her thirties said out loudly.
"Amelia, don't raise your voice." The rough-looking man ordered.
Amelia nodded and whispered, "When we volunteered to join the team, I felt there was something wrong about both Eric and Dave."
"No one in the team seems to have been injured and I didn't feel an ounce of pity for their lost comrades."
"Also, it's been half a day since we joined the team temporarily, but we haven't even introduced ourselves and the same goes for them too."
"This doesn't feel like a monster killing mission at all, I feel, we are more like cannon fodder." Amelia expressed her entire dissatisfaction in one breath.
Nova silently nodded in satisfaction. It seems he wasn't the only one with doubts; at least someone thought similar to him.
"I'm sorry, young man, without knowing your situation, I cursed." The rough-looking man apologized.
Nova didn't say anything and simply nodded.
"I'm Rock, the captain of the Shark Team and this is my wife Amelia. You can call me Captain or Rock."
The rough-looking man called Rock introduced himself and then pointed his finger at the other two members.
"He is my brother, Shane and last one, my friend, Head. "
Seeing their introduction, Nova did the same thing.
"Captain, did you know anything about the King of Winter? And why are they so adamant about killing it?" Nova asked, trying to gather more information.
"I only know that Dave guy has a high percentage of compatibility with the King and they wanted its core for him."
"As for the information about the King, unfortunately I don't know. Ordinary explorers like us won't even think about provoking them."
Rock's reply aroused another doubt, so he asked right away, "Isn't the formation of the core less than 5 percent?"
"What would they do when the only king doesn't form any core?"
Rock smiled after hearing Nova's reply, "The lower percent core formation is only applicable for ordinary monsters."
"Since there are many of the same types of monsters, getting their core would be a little easier."
"But monsters like King of Winter are unique and there is only one King for an entire region, so they would definitely drop a core."
"With this, we explorers have formed an unofficial classification for monsters— ordinary, elite, unique and finally the legendary guardian."