"WTF, what dungeon did you bring us into Snow Flower?" Fae, shouted while running for his life.
Recalling the scene, he couldn't help but break out in cold sweats.
This was just a game but seeing someone get dragged into the abyss was quite the chilling scene. Now he had severely regretted teaming up with Snow Flower, dying although not as severe, was still costly.
They lost 50% of their level's EXP. That was hours of their grinding gone in the blink of an eye.
Not only that, they couldn't leave, they were basically trapped here.
He had already said goodbye to his EXP having no expectations of making it out alive.
"You guys wanted in on this, don't blame me now," Snow Flower angrily shouted back. His mood was dark, as he could already imagine the countless memes that would spread online. His stream title had arrogantly claimed that they would be the first to beat a dungeon, and now their faces were turned upside down.
The group ran with all their might until they reached the barrier of thorns.
Weighing the pros and cons they had already decided to try and brute force their way through the thorns. Although they would be poisoned and attacked by the thorny branches, it was better than being sitting ducks for alligators.
Steeling their heart, the now 5-man group charged through the branches. Each of them defended with all their might against the thorny branches that lashed against them.
Despite their efforts to defend themselves, countless lashes marked their bodies. When they all made it past the branches, all of them had been poisoned.
Fae had been hit 5 times, totaling a loss of 25 HP, and Poisoned.
Snow Flower had been hit 15 times, totaling a loss of 75 HP, and Poisoned. He would have been hit even more if not for his leather armor.
The rest had been hit 21, 24, and 25 times and Poisoned, respectively.
The stark contrast between their skills was undeniable. Fae's skill was remarkable because he was only struck 5 times, compared to the rest in the double digits.
With pale lips, they were now greeted by a new scenery. Not. Even though they did pass through the wall of Widow's Fang, all that greeted them was still the same sight of murky water and twisting trees.
The only good thing?
The purple lily flowers weren't as abundant on this side, although they still existed. It seemed that they could easily avoid them.
But for Snow Flower? He had already considered just ending it.
He vehemently refused to swim in such mud-stained waters. He had already calculated it. Their chances of success were low, especially after losing this much HP. Not only that, they had no idea where to go.
They were like headless chickens. With no clear direction, they could only explore blindly.
So he flashed his trademark smile at the audience while countless excuses ran through his head, justifying the reason why he didn't want to swim in such shit-stained waters. The waters had now evolved from mud-stained to shit-stained in his eyes.
He coughed to catch everybody's attention.
When the group turned their head towards him, he started to explain his great plan.
"Everybody, my horoscope has told me that it isn't an auspicious day for me to go swimming. It told me that the chances of us making it out of here alive is so slim, that we might as well not even bother. I think we should honestly, just kill ourselves, so we don't waste our time. What's a few EXP, compared to the hours we can gain back, if we just forfeited? This is simply a lost cause."
All those big and fancy words could be summarized up to: "Forfeit! Forfeit! Forfeit!"
Without waiting for their response, Snow Flower, majestically and handsomely, stabbed himself in the neck with the sword.
[Damage Taken: 300]
With that, the person that brought them here swiftly committed suicide in front of their eyes. His body disintegrated into blue light particles, showing his resolve to not swim in shit-stained waters.
[Your party member 'Snow Flower' has been killed.]
Everybody: "...."
...
[Player eliminated, you have received '50 Dungeon Points'.]
Hale, didn't know what to say about what he just saw. Although it wasn't rare for players to commit suicide, to get themselves out of sticky situations.
He was surprised somebody could make it sound so righteous.
...
The now 4-man group was cursing Snow Flower.
Not only had he dragged them all here, but he gave up when things turned bad! What kind of shitty person is this?
They swore they would beat him up later.
But, for now.
They had to deal with their current situation.
"Let's all dive into the water at once. If there are alligators, not only can we defend ourselves together, but if we all focus on escaping. There's a chance one of us can make it out alive. I think we have already lost, but it's not a bad thing to scope out the dungeon so that the next time we come back. We have a better view of the situation." Fae laid out the plan, that the group had agreed to, although they weren't confident at all, it was better than nothing.
So the group all looked at each other's eyes.
Like experienced divers, they all dived into the murky water. Causing heavy splashes and ripples to occur.
It didn't take a second before, one of them was struck by a camping alligator.
Hale, as the Dungeon Core, had total control over the situation. He could move his monsters out at his will. So before they dived into the water, he had already moved all 5 of the Swamp Alligators to their location.
As for the person who was attacked by the Swamp Alligator?
It was Brother Fae.
His right arm was in the crushing jaws of the alligator. Luckily, the game had reduced their pain sensation, or else the bone-crushing jaws of the alligator would have caused Fae to scream out in pain.
[Damage Taken: 100*1.5(Sneak Attack) = 150]
With pale lips and a determined glare, Fae swung his sword at the alligator. The blade collided with its tough, scaled hide, sending a shower of metallic sparks into the air.
[Damage Caused: 5]
Seeing the number. Fae spat out blood in anger, now he had the confirmation. They were too under-leveled and under-geared for this dungeon. He swore revenge, as he swiftly dragged into the murky abyss.
[Your party member 'Fae' has been killed.]
The group had now been reduced to a 3-man group.
The other three weren't in much better shape. If their best player was easily killed. Then it didn't need to be said about them, their fate had been sealed. They too were easily overcome by the relentless assaults from the alligators. With only Heavy Stone, being able to escape the swarm.
Unfortunately, he eventually died from the unexpected appearance of the Swamp Leeches. They hounded and attacked him relentlessly, their venom gradually sapping his strength until he succumbed to the poison. As his body turned to blue shimmering light particles, a cold and mechanical voice, reminded them of their failures.
[Failed Dungeon Raid for Dungeon of Noxious.]
...
[Players eliminated, you have received '200 Dungeon Points'.]
[You have successfully defended your first Dungeon Raid, and you have been rewarded Swamp Hags x3]
Hale let out a vicious smile, even though he didn't have one, as he rejoiced in the reward. He had gotten 300 Dungeon Points and three Swamp Hags. With that, he could improve his strength, for the next Dungeon Raid.
...
Boundless Plates was receiving a vicious of assaults and laughter on the player forum. All his bragging and showing off, just for his party to be wiped.
Not only that, but someone else had already posted that they cleared a dungeon while they got wiped.
A 3-man group had cleared a goblin dungeon, with the boss being a Goblin Shaman, and they successfully beheaded him. Marking them as the first group to clear a dungeon.
It couldn't be said that Boundless Plates and the rest of the group didn't also leave a mark on the game, because they did. They were the first squad to have been cleanly wiped during a dungeon raid.
With countless memes being posted and spread out.
As for Snow Flower? He was facing a revolt. With the other party members, swearing that they would skin him alive.
Luckily for Snow Flower, Open Beta, soon ended. Marking the end of their journey for now. The game will be officially released 1 month from now. Until then, he was going to get as much attention and publicity out of it as possible.