Ragnar's smirk fell right off his face. "Why me?" Why did he suddenly feel a sense of Deja Vu? There was also the same player named Ren who left him to die in Gargantuan Cave where he could have saved him.
Like before, another player named Ren was asking him to be cannon fodder.
Was he cursed to be a cannon fodder forever for the players named Ren?
"Yeah, why him?" Roxy seconded. "Rox will happily go."
"Huh?!" Rox jumped on his toes. "Why me?"
Roxy crossed his hands. "Cause you're a hunter. And it's your job to check for traps. Go and do your job for once."
Rox sneered. "Because you're like that, that's why you don't have a boyfriend! Even you endanger your little brother's life."
"What did you say?"
Rox stuck out his tongue. "It's the truth."
"Ragnar will go," said Ren without any room for arguments, "Rox is a hunter and needed to find traps. Evie and I are needed for support and damage. While we only need two Orcs, either one of you will go."
Ren was spouting nonsense. He could ask Pii to go there to check, but this was the best time to kill Ragnar. And he wouldn't sacrifice Pii for that. He might accidentally trigger its [Evolution] skill too.
He then tilted his head over while looking straight at Ragnar. "Or . . . do you want the LADY to go?"
". . ." Ragnar's stoic face crumpled into a frown.
While Roxy clasped her red cheek. "L-lady?"
Rox looked to the side and stuck out his tongue. "Yuck."
"But . . . don't we need more DPS since the Boss is weak to physical attacks?" Evie said.
"Not to worry. I'm all the damage you will need," Ren replied with confidence.
The others looked at each other before their eyes went to Ragnar.
Ragnar stared at Ren while his brow was twitching. He got this feeling that Ren wanted him gone.
Sighing into the horizon, Ragnar said after a short silence, "Fine then."
Ragnar faced the direction of the marsh with fireflies. There was a short pause before he took his first step towards the little flying glowing creatures.
Evie, Rox, and Roxy held their breaths while Ren wanted to rub his hands together. This was the first time that he wanted himself to be wrong, and Ragnar would become Toad's food.
But against all odds, Ragnar made it to the middle between two marshes, and still, nothing happened.
Evie and the others' faces brightened, and they released a big breath while Ren's shoulders slumped.
Ren took a deep breath and said, "Let's go." His voice was bored and disappointed which made Evie looked at his way.
Why wasn't he happy that his guess was right? Evie thought to herself.
The thick mud slurped loudly as they strained to reclaim their legs from the muddy soil. The others didn't mind it. Their attention was more on the bulging eyes that crept from the murky water's surface.
On the other hand, Ren was plotting Ragnar's demise once more, while the latter was unaware of the devious plot behind his back.
"Ren."
Ren's thought was interrupted by Evie's voice.
"What is it?" Ren asked, eyes still piercing behind Ren's back.
"Thank you again for agreeing to help us."
"No problem."
". . ." Evie knew that Ren wasn't talkative and he was a bit cold. And to create a conversation with the man was harder than defeating the Boss. Adding to that, she didn't know how to socialize, so him, replying a one-ended answer, wasn't helping.
Maybe he didn't want to talk? Evie thought to herself and decided to clump her mouth shut.
Contrary to Evie's thoughts, Ren was just busy thinking about how to get rid of Ragnar. It was not like he was purposely brushing her off.
As the group pressed on, Ragnar was leading the front, and when he suddenly stopped, it created a domino effect since the path was narrow and they were walking in a single line. Rox bumped against Ragnar's back, Roxy against his, and Ren bumped into Evie's.
The siblings immediately argued while Ren almost jumped away from Evie and apologized.
Even in the game, Ren could smell Evie's hair and that got his mind rattled.
Evie shook her head, face a bit red. "No. It's fine."
To escape the sudden awkward tension in the air, Evie shifted his gaze to Ragnar.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Trouble," Ragnar only said and pointed in the direction ahead.
Shifting over to where Ragnar was pointing, they saw that the subsequent marches didn't have any more fireflies. But just ahead was a light seeping from the thin fog that could only mean the exit.
"Not again." Rox lamented.
"It's just like with the Windigos. Those Wisps also fell short just around the exit." Roxy didn't know if she should feel relieved or not that they would finally get out of the swamplands.
"The only different this time, those Toads are fast enough to pull us into the waters before we can even reach that exit," said Ragnar.
"It's just about twenty meters. Can they just at least put fireflies till the end?" Rox complained.
Evie was silent, but sweat ran to the side of her cheek. They couldn't outrun the Toads' tongue, unlike with the Windigos. The more she thought about those egg-like toads crawling to her body, the more she wanted to puke, and colors drained from her face.
The only one who was glad about the sudden scenario was Ren. He saw another opportunity to eliminate Ragnar, and his eyes glint evily.
"Don't worry," Ren started, "We can cross that distance."
All attention shifted to him.
"What did you say?" Roxy seemed to be hearing things. They saw what happened with Poison Viper when they took even one step towards that marsh.
"You know a way? Tell us." Rox wasn't skeptical. Any chance to get by that Toad's nest was welcomed.
Ragnar was curios. "What way?"
Evie didn't comment, but her hope was ignited.
"Simple. All of you run as fast as you can towards that exit. I'll stay at the back and cast an AOE spell against those Toads."
". . ."
". . ."
Rox was confused. "Is that going to work?"
"Are you sure that would work?" Roxy was concerned. She didn't know Ren's capabilities, so she wasn't convinced. She also didn't want to be Toads' food, but they couldn't stay here forever or retrace their steps after coming this far.
Ragnar wasn't convinced too. "Is your AoE damage have a wide range enough to encompass two marshes at the same time? If not, then the Toads on the other part of the marsh will definitely pose a problem."
Evie was the only one concerned for Ren. "What about you?"
Ren only smirked before the uncertainty on their faces. "To answer your question. It will work. And yes, my AoE damage is wide enough to obliterate the toads in the marsh. But be warned, I can only use it once, so you have to run fast enough as soon as I said go before the other Toads from the surrounding marsh had the chance to circle us."
Ren didn't have to say that twice. They would run like their life depended on it. Rox thought while Roxy was still wasn't convinced.
"Are you sure that's going to work?" she asked again.
"For the last time. Yes. Unless, of course, if anybody of you has other ideas to get to the other side."
Rox and Roxy looked at each other before the latter sighed. "Fine. It's better than staying here anyways." Though she said that, she was still hesitant.
Ren then looked at Evie and smiled, though no one saw his face. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. I have a skill that lets me teleport to a certain distance."
"Oh yeah," Rox's eyes shone like a little kid that received an ice cream. "I hear that you can blink to a certain distance once your AGI reaches a specific number. I have a friend. He is a Thief, and he leveled nothing but his AGI. He said he wanted to be very fast so that no one could catch him. I think he just wanted to escape after he had stolen from other players.
"But wow! That means your AGI is already high, huh?!"
At the mention of Thief, Ren's mood plummeted. He hated that class the most. They can steal a player's item in their inventory. Your LCK had to be higher than theirs, so their percentage decreased. But even so, there were multiple past instances that Thieves stole rare items from other players.
They were also a favorite class for hire to steal from someone. In the past, they ran rampant throughout the game, and Ren was even a victim, not once, not twice, but multiple times. The hard-earned items he got were snatched from him time and time again. And since he couldn't afford a vault in the bank to store his items, he could do nothing but grit his teeth.
Just remembering his experience with those classes was enough to trigger his killing intent. And this time, anyone who stole from him would pay twice over. He would make sure to steal every last item they have.
"So, how are we going to go over this again?"
Ragnar's voice woke Ren from his memory lane, and his lips twitched into a wicked grin.
"Simple. The fastest will lead the front . . . But you Ragnar . . . you will stay at the back just to make sure that no one is left behind."
