Upon entering the dungeon, each respective team would be summoned to different areas of it.
The goal of this trial was to accumulate as many points as possible.
The points were.
===
G - One point
F - Two points
E - Three points
D - Four points.
Boss monster - One thousand points.
===
This dungeon only had one boss monster. As such, once it was slain, that was it.
The team with the most points at the end would win, and the reward for the best teams was extra credits for their courses.
Naturally, there were also additional rewards. But those weren't disclosed. They were a 'surprise'
*
The moment our teams were announced, I grouped up with the other members of our team. Since Aerin and I had already met beforehand, there was no need for us to introduce ourselves. We just simply nodded at each other.
"Nice to see you again"
"You too"
"haha, nice to meet you!"
Suddenly a bulky figure approached us with a hearty laugh.
It was John Berson, our other teammate, and another person I had to look out for.
He had a generic Western look with brown eyes and a tall nose. Despite knowing that he was tall, I only truly realized how tall he was once he was only a few meters away from me.
I had to tilt my head upwards in order to look at him properly.
"You must be Aerin! It's great meeting you. I've heard a lot about you!"
"Ah, yes, nice to meet you."
Spotting Aerin, John held out his hand in a friendly manner. She nodded her head expressionlessly.
Watching the exchange, I wondered if Aerin would shake someone's hand in her first meeting. From my impression of her, she seemed to be rather cold and distant so I wanted to know. My answer was soon answered as she shook it.
"You must be the famous John Berson"
"Haha, In the flesh"
Being recognized, John once again heartily laughed.
"I've already met with our other teammates, they are Asim, Melody, and Do-Yun"
Letting go of her hand, John calmed down. He then turned around and introduced her to the other teammates which he seemed to have met along the way.
"Asim here is a..."
As John was introducing the other teammates to Aerin, standing by the side I couldn't help but realize how much of an extrovert John was.
Only a minute had passed since the team announcements and it seemed as though he was on friendly terms with everyone.
He seemed to get along well with everyone he talked to.
Or so I thought...
'Hmm, hello, I'm also here'
It was only after a minute that I realized that I was being completely ignored.
To make matters worse, I was not an unknown extra like before. My name was pretty much all over the news, there was no way John didn't hear about me.
If before I could've understood, but now? It had to be on purpose.
'Did I perhaps offend him somehow?'
Recalling my previous exchanges with John, I discarded such a notion. I did not interact with him once. He also lived in a different city. How could I have offended him?
Then thought suddenly struck me, 'Perhaps he was too excited with the prospect of meeting Aerin that he completely forgot about me?'
Right, this seemed plausible at the moment.
Now that I took a closer look at Aerin, she was in fact quite beautiful. One could argue that her looks could rival that of Amanda and the others.
If it's that way, it sort of made sense. John was essentially trying to establish his alpha position by ignoring me. Since he knew about my fame, he must've done this on purpose to make himself look like the most reliable person here.
Just the thought made me cringe.
"Hello, I'm Ren, nice to meet you"
Holding back the cringe, I extended my hand and introduced myself. I wasn't that immature.
"Hm, oh? I'm John"
John shook my head unenthusiastically. Right after shaking my hand, he continued chatting with Aerin. His eyes were full of affection.
"So as I was saying, I believe that we should..."
Being blatantly ignored, I found my mouth slightly twitching. But that was just about it. In fact, a trace of pity flashed across my eyes as I stared at him trying to talk to Aerin.
He may not know, but I knew.
'Such a pity, truly...'
I secretly shook my head.
Unfortunately for him, Aerin was created by me. I naturally knew a lot about her.
'...She is a bro-con'
A pretty big one at that. He had no hopes of courting her.
*
After a brief chat with the team regarding the overall plans and approach of the dungeon, we quickly entered the dungeon. Right before entering the dungeon, the other three teammates, Asim, Melody, and Do-Yun did a quick introduction.
"Hi, I'm Asim and I'm a martial artist"
"Hello, I'm Melody and I'm a spear user"
"Nice to meet you, I'm Do-Yun and I'm a swordsman"
"Hi I'm Ren and I'm a swordsman..."
I naturally introduced myself as well. Despite my fame, no one actually knew how I fought. There were rarely any videos of me properly fighting with a sword. Thus I did a quick introduction of myself.
After we introduced ourselves and got a general idea of the other's weapons and strength, we quickly got into formation.
The current formation was John at the front, Aerin in the middle, and me at the back. By the side were the other three teammates. Like that we entered the dungeon.
"Hm?"
After walking for a while, John's footsteps halted. A massive barren field appeared before us.
"What should we do now?"
John spoke up. He subconsciously acted as the leader.
No one protested.
I couldn't be bothered to protest myself as I would stand to gain nothing from it. What was the point?
"What else is there to do aside from killing monsters?"
Turning my head I responded. To which he rebuked.
"Yeah, but where are the monsters?"
"Hmm"
He had a point.
There were no monsters before us. All that I saw was a barren land with nothing within sight. Just when we thought that there were no monsters, Melody stepped up.
"I may be able to help"
"You?"
"Yes, I've got special skills that allow me to detect any living form within a given radius"
Melody calmly nodded her head. An air of confidence rose from her body. John was naturally elated by the news.
"Really? Okay, try it"
"Will do"
Right after her words fell, her blonde hair stood up slightly, and her eyes shone a blue hue.
—Shua!
Instantly I felt a gush of wind brush past me.
'Strange..."
A minute after, a frown appeared on Melody's brows. Pointing towards the distance, Melody's voice became grave.
"There are fifteen monsters within our vicinity"
"What fifteen? I can't see them"
John exclaimed to which Melody politely responded.
"That's because they are currently hiding waiting for us to ambush them"
Out of curiosity I interrupted and asked, "What type of monsters are they?"
"I'm sorry, but my skill only allows me to locate the general direction of monsters nearby. I can't really tell what type of monster they are"
"That's fair"
In response to my question, Melody shook her head. I nodded back in understanding.
If she could, the skill would be quite broken.
It would without a doubt be a skill that I would covet.
Would make my life a lot easier. Too bad I don't recall ever giving Kevin one.
"So what do we do now?"
Hearing about a large number of monsters within the vicinity, everyone grew weary and took out their weapons.
Throughout the whole time, the only one that remained calm was Aerin who responded.
"I suggest we hunt the nearest monster together. Once we get the general idea of what monster is present we can split up and work individually to gain points. If the monster is too strong for all of us to hand individually, then we should work together, if not we can split up"
Since the one who spoke was Aerin, John naturally agreed. Turning around, he asked.
"That sounds fair, Let's go with this idea! Is that okay with you all?"
"Yes"
"Yes"
"Yes"
Everyone nodded in agreement. I naturally didn't disagree. This plan was reasonable.
"Great!"
Seeing this, John's confidence rose.
"Alright, then let's do it this way"
Following this, we all steadily and cautiously moved towards one of the boulders in the distance.
According to Melody's skill, there should be a monster near there.
"Huuu.."
Halting his steps, John took a deep breath. Following this, his body shone and a large translucent shield appeared before him. Turning around and looking at everyone, he solemnly said.
"Let's go"
...
In a different area of the dungeon.
KWAAANG
A large explosion rang across the desolate space and a large creature fell on the ground. Standing on top of the corpse was an arrogant young man.
With the air slightly blowing on his features, he looked quite handsome and dashing. Beneath him were five people.
—Ping!
Moments after the young man killed the monster, everyone's watch vibrated.
[Points awarded - 3]
Checking his watch, Aaron turned around and looked at his group. More specifically towards a certain someone within the group. He tried to provoke him.
"At this point, I'm practically doing everything. Help this one out okay? We don't need baggage in our team"
"..."
Despite Aaron's provocations, all Jin did was spare him a glance. Just one glance. He did nothing else. Occasionally he would appear behind a monster and quickly finish it. But in general, that was all he did.
This obviously did not sit well with Aaron.
'Wasn't he supposed to be someone whose talent rivals that of Kevin? what happened to him?'
From what he read from his information, Jin was extremely talented and arrogant. He was someone who could compete with the likes of Kevin. His main target.
He wanted to use this opportunity to bury Jin in hopes of provoking Kevin, but things did not seem as he had originally envisioned. From the very beginning, his target had not once acknowledged his existence.
This angered Aaron to no end. Pointing at him, he raised his voice.
"Hey can't you at least help or do something lik-"
"Shhh"
Placing his finger on his mouth, Jin looked towards the distance. Before giving Aaron another chance to speak, Jin coldly said.
"The boss monster is near here"
...
In a different section of the dungeon.
BAAAAAM!
—Spurt!
"Kueeee-!"
"Haaaa....that's the fifteenth..."
Blue blood sprayed everywhere, and a large thud resounded across the area. Standing next to the corpse was Kevin's cold and indifferent figure.
—Ping!
Moments after killing the monster, Kevin's watch vibrated. Used to such a thing he didn't even bother checking it as he turned to face another monster in the distance.
Putting his hand on his face, he squinted his eyes and softly mumbled, "I see the next one, looks like another <F> ranked monster..."
—Spurt!
Extracting the sword from the corpse of the monster beneath him, Kevin prepared to attack the other monster.
However...
"Wow, Kevin you are so great!"
With eyes full of affection and adoration, a girl suddenly attached herself to him. A helpless expression appeared on Kevin's face as he tried to shake her off. Only to be completely ignored.
"Please let go of me"
"That monster was so ugly and scary that I didn't know what to do..."
Despite Kevin's attempts at shaking the girl off, they were all in vain. Regardless of what he did, she would come to him even more strongly.
"Your figure whilst fighting the monster was so dashing that I was entranced by it completely. God, how can you be so strong and handsome at the same time..."
The girl's name was Jessica Pavard, and ever since spotting Kevin within the group she never once let go of him.
Whenever Kevin killed a monster she would shout and cheer him continuously. It was as though she was looking at her favorite idol.
'What the fuck is going?'
Standing by the side, Melissa's mouth twitched. What was this crap?
Whatever Kevin did, Jessica would quickly go over to him and praise him endlessly. Be it breathing, brushing his hair, or just anything of the sort, Jessica would immediately attach herself to him like a deranged fan.
Staring at Jessica in the distance, Melissa took off her glasses and massaged her forehead.
She hated to admit it, but….
This girl was more annoying than Ren. Something Melissa had never thought was humanly possible.
'Ren, you've found an opponent'
