A group of players stood outside the Dungeon of Noxious.
These players were all guild members of Alcohol in My Veins. That's right. The first major guild that would raid the dungeon was Alcohol in My Veins. Boundless Plates mainly pushed this.
Who shouted slogans and chants like, "Only revenge can wash my shame away!" and "Character is built from your past failures!"
It has already been a meme for players to guess what the next chant or slogan he would say next as many players bet on being correct.
The total amount of players for the raid was fifty. This was a 50-man raid. The leader of the raid was being led by the guild master, 2MuchVodka. He was a big and muscular man, with tan skin. His bald forehead reflected the sunlight, nearly blinding those who were unfortunately in its pathway.
And his class? Guardian.
Behind his back was a towering shield, with iron spikes in its front. He wore heavy armor that caused a thump on the ground with each step. 2MuchVodka was very loaded. Having 5 class skills, good equipment, and a level of 11.
He could be considered one of the top players in the game currently.
Hence why he was the main tank of the dungeon. Tanking all the damage and taunting all the enemies for the party.
But it wasn't just him as there were two other guardians in the group, who would share the damage with the guild master if anything unexpected happened. Also, they knew the dungeon was insidious, so if anything tried to sneak into the backline. The other guardians can provide help to the squishy mages and priests.
In the middle of the party was a group of warriors and rogues. All of the players closely listened to their guild master, who stared at them menacingly.
"Men!" 2MuchVodka shouted.
"Behind me is the dungeon, to the Dungeon of Noxious! Those two other guilds are desperately debating whether the risk is worth it, but not us! We are fearless warriors who will prevail! We will restore the honor of our vice guild master, Boundless Plates, and reclaim his rightful dignity!
"YEAHHH!!!" The players shouted excitedly.
Except for one, Boundless Plates, who had black lines growing on his forehead.
'The speech was good okay. But why did you have to mention me?'
But seeing as it was the guild master, Boundless Plates just held back his anger. While trying to maintain a peaceful smile that looked more and more crooked.
With the motivational speech from the guild master, 2MuchVodka pushed open the wooden gate for the Dungeon of Noxious.
The black mist poured out, beckoning the players to step inside. Yet none of them flinched or hesitated. For they were players. Fear? What was fear? Could they eat it? In their eyes, all that mattered was clearing the dungeon.
So with great enthusiasm, the row of players marched into the abyss.
[Welcome to the Dungeon of Noxious]
The cold and mechanical voice reminded the players who were currently sightseeing.
...
"Oh, the first major guild is Alcohol in My Veins. Let's hope that they put on a good performance, I need to test the abilities of the first boss."
Hale spoke casually, as Anastasia stared at him in awe.
She couldn't understand what the Will of Noxious said most of the time. But she did understand that there were more intruders.
'Hmph, those foolish humans dare to trespass in the lord's sacred domain again. I will create a pool out of their blood this time.'
It's just that the players' bodies would usually turn to blue lights whenever they died. So there was a problem with her plans already.
Nevertheless, Anastasia bowed, it was hard to tell if she could see her toes with the massive mountains that blocked her line of sight.
"There's no need for you to take action, my lord, your servants will take care of it."
Hale just nodded while shooing her off. This dark elf was too clingy, always wanting to be near him and strike up conversations about Noxious.
It took a lot of bullshitting and thinking to create a backstory for a character that he just made up randomly. So he really didn't like this dark elf, who took his every word as the holy gospel.
He wouldn't be surprised if he one day, woke up to something like the Bible of Noxious. Written and produced by her. Starting with the lines of something like, "In the beginning, there was nothing until Noxious said let there be light!"
Getting those strange thoughts out of his head.
He now prepared himself for the show, the fight between the monsters of the dungeon and the dark elves versus the players would be quite interesting.
...
"So this is where the vice guild master, died."
"Yeah, the infamous stream of him desperately swimming to shore, but being pulled back into the water by that alligator has already gone viral. Reaching millions of views."
"We're so lucky to have a famous celebrity as our vice guild master."
Hearing the other players' words. Boundless Plates he would discipline them when they get back.
That was the biggest shame of his life. Not only was he bragging on the forum, but the video of him dying had already spread like a disease. This was mostly because of the Legendary Snow Flower, who live-streamed the entire thing.
Boundless Plates has been invited onto many TV shows and podcasts, making him a celebrity.
But in his eyes, those were nothing but a joke. Because the one who interviewed always asked questions about how he felt when he died, and if he expected such a death.
He swore countless times that he would come back and take revenge.
So seeing the familiar swamp, the fire in his eyes ignited.
"Alright, stop making fun of Boundless Plates," 2MuchVodka reprimanded them, "We must get serious, the guild has spent a lot of money on antidotes and items that cure poisons. So if we fail, we won't have the luxury of those items the next time."
Hearing his words, the noisy discussion stopped, as everybody got serious.
Following the same path that Snow Flower and his group followed the last time. Everybody has already known about the poisonous plants, so they didn't bother with them.
Seeing the clear path ahead of him that led towards the murky water, Boundless Plates almost got PTSD, but he hurriedly calmed down.
'This time is different. I'm stronger, and I don't have that useless Snow Flower with me.'
2MuchVodka took the lead.
He knew that there existed alligators in front of him. But it was no problem. Preparing his voice, 2MuchVodka let out a loud shot.
"Mocking Shout!"
Mocking Shout was an ability that attracted aggroed to the user, which meant that enemies, saw them as the killer of their parents. Wishing to tear them up and eat their bones.
It didn't take long for the effects to reveal themselves. The once-calm water grew unnaturally restless, churning with violence. Suddenly, three alligators emerged, their enraged red eyes shone only menace, wishing to tear 2MuchVodka apart.
But what greeted them, was a spiky shield that blocked their attack and a brutal counterstrike.
Each alligator recoiled in pain, their gaping jaws now had several holes created by the jagged spikes.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, countless warriors and rogues attacked the alligators that still focused their attention on 2MuchVodka. It was truly a heinous ability, even if someone was attacking them, they would still focus on the person who let out the shout.
With their swords and daggers piercing through the alligators, red blood stained their weapons.
They swiftly dispatched the alligators that were still clawing at the spiky shield.
[Killed: Swamp Alligators x3]
The cold mechanical sounded as all the players in the party got the EXP for the kill, but the EXP was quite low as it had to be shared with 50 other players. But even a mosquito's leg is still meat.
"Haha, we took revenge for Boundless Plates."
2MuchVodka let out a hearty laugh as he stood over the corpses of the alligators.
This dungeon was looking to be quite easy.