Chapter 121: The First Dungeon (26)
Because the outside zone of The Condemned Dungeon unofficially belonged to the three guilds(the high-level guilds vying for The Warmonger Empire's support), a few changes in diplomacy must have been done first.
Anyone would have thought those three would be at each other's throats.
The reality, however, was different.
The Golden Lotus, The Heavy Spree, and The Lions' Guild had joined forces. Their representatives stood side by side in the rendezvous spot in the dungeon boss' room.
Their eyes rested on Cerberus. The boss was calm so long as no one attacked him.
As for others, no one would dare to become enemies of the three guilds that had the most say here. Of course, the rival guilds probably would dare to throw a challenge at them upon learning about Cerberus' weakness.
To learn about that, they had sent a few of their high-level teams to face Cerberus.
The alliance of three couldn't block those parties, as preventing them from entering the dungeon would have led to a bothersome chain of consequences.
The representative of The Heavy Spree—a sensuous-looking woman with red hair—parted her lips upon noticing another team entering the dungeon boss' space.
"Any intel on them?" she asked.
Those were high-level players from The Heavy Spree's rival guild.
The Golden Lotus' representative—a man with slicked hair—shook his head.
The Lions' representative—a man with a broad frame and exposed muscles—voiced his thoughts, "As far as our intel goes, they don't have any legend in their guild. Their guild is also not that close to any significant country. No land, either."
The woman smiled with relief, "It's highly improbable for any of them to be close with true humans or demons. No one should be a misfit, either."
"Indeed," the man squeezed between the woman and the bulky man nodded. "Any information about those thunders?"
"Nothing so far," the female representative heaved another sigh of the day while shaking her bangs.
As it appeared, the three guilds were keeping a strict eye on the parties coming into their dungeon. Those at the high level already had some fame, so inspecting them was much easier than those of lower levels.
The alliance of the three guilds stopped anyone who would induce even a hint of suspicion of being related to true humans, demons, or misfits, regardless of the consequences.
It was because the main quest mentioned those existences!
The first quest was so complex and intricate that many players could still stumble on the first part of the main quest and become involved in the affairs that the high-level players and guilds desperately wanted to see through and participate in.
"Have you guys asked the statues about Cerberus?"
"We did."
"Oh, I guess we all have received a quest from them. No need to hide that," the representative of The Lions chuckled. "A few legendary existences seem to be inspired by Greek Mythology. I like it. The animation I watched had a splendid take on Zeus, and his harem was so likable and real! It's the reason I rushed here to represent my guild!
Those thunders better be related to Zeus!"
The brawny man smiled, "Zeus is such a strong name! I want to fight him."
The woman threw a side glance at the slick-haired man, "Harem is a horny fantasy for teenagers. You're past that age, my friend."
"Nah, let me politely refuse that," The Golden Lotus representative said, raising a hand to stop the woman.
He failed.
She smirked, "What's the likable harem?"
"Every heroine had been interesting and supportive of each other. There was a huge depth to them, too," the man replied.
"Haha! A horny fantasy: nothing more, nothing less," the female sneered.
Because talking about a harem with a woman usually didn't end well, the man decided to return back to the quest from the statues and talked about it.
It seemed everyone from the alliance received the same quest. Their contribution to the Warmonger Empire and the statues of true humans was the reason they could pick up a quest to defeat Cerberus.
That said, different statues from different countries could also lend a hand in that.
It was a race against time!
"It's an odd quest, though," the brawny man said, "Poisoning Cerberus is quite bizarre, but I understand that poison blessed by true humans should work against him. But it also says that Cerberus' corpse has to be thrown into the opened golden door before anyone steps in."
The woman stood silent, and so did the other man.
It appeared everyone had their own thoughts about this quest's content.
"We might take a peek at what is on the other side," the woman smiled, "We should keep goading others that there's a huge chance of Zeus appearing in the cave. It will buy us enough time. At least, it should…"
-
"Finally free," Jake commented. It was Friday, so he couldn't just go home, do his stuff, and log into the game.
He had to go to his archery club and practice his skills!
There was a unique feeling to the archery in real life.
At first, Jake thought it was because he lacked high strength and dexterity in the real world. He did his best not to neglect his muscles, but in the end, he was a gamer of the immersive virtual reality.
The more Jake thought about his real-world archery, the more he believed that mana and supernatural senses that could only be awakened in the game were at fault here.
For instance, Jake's vision wasn't as good in real life as in the game.
Which was why Jake felt excited to at least train archery in the real world once a week. It reminded him of his time on the tutorial island, during which he learned survival, battle, and crafting skills in primitive ways.
Those old methods helped him become more proficient at his proficiencies once he got his hands on apt stuff.
It really excited Jake.
A few minutes later, however, Jake suddenly received a message.
He saw that it was his master who messaged him.
'Ah, she got sick,' Jake thought. His Master told him she had picked up something and was sure she would be fine today. Although her fever had gotten weaker, it was not to the point where she would be able to come to the club and help him with his practices.
She also didn't want to risk contracting him with the virus.
Lastly, Ingrid told Jake she would pay back for this missed day.
[Jake Lewandowski: Take care of yourself, Master. You don't have to pay me back for today, too. An additional hour or two in the game world with me will do. I still have yet to clear the second phase.] A few moments later, after thinking about this quite deeply, Jake added a few words more. [Do you need anything?]
'Anything nowadays can be ordered online… but I'm not sure about medicines. I can help since I'm already on the bus,' Jake thought. As far as meeting Ingrid outside the archery club in real life was concerned, Jake felt somewhat odd about it. She was a decade older than him, after all.
That said, his time with her in the game world was pretty chill. He even learned a little about her school life, so their relationship wasn't stiff and awkward.
Jake believed he could meet her at home and help her out.
Discarding that age gap, they could naturally converse and be on the same page in a few areas.
Jake's young heart, however, overcame him, and his thoughts began heading in a dangerous direction.
'I think I have never seen her blushing,' Jake thought.
A cold sweat tricked down his temple.
His sweat bead made Jake think that Ingrid must have perspired a lot because of her sickness.
His imagination pulled a prank on him.
He closed his eyes, his cheeks red.
Jake's disposition always made him focus on one goal and anything related to it. For this reason, his parents didn't even consider him coming home with a girlfriend. Mary had also told him he'd be under any girlfriend's shoe, so he forced himself to stay away from that.
But now, he couldn't help but think he had unknowingly thrown himself into a difficult situation.
That was when Jake got a reply from Ingrid.
[Master Ingrid: You can walk my dogs. I think my cold got worse because I walked them yesterday. It was colder than usual, too.]
Jake blankly stared at his phone's screen.
He replied without any thinking.
[Jake Lewandowski: Are you an idiot?] MVLeMpYr-unofficial-chapter
[Master Ingrid: I'll forget about this one, considering that what I did was foolish. But my pets will always be an exception to my rules. I will take care of them even in sleep.]
[Jake Lewandowski: They won't die if you don't walk them for a few days. Well, just give me an address. I will walk them.]
[Master Ingrid. Thank you. You have to keep them on a leash until the dog park. Let them have fun with others, but only for an hour. Also, you must pick up all excretes….]
Jake stared at the long list of what he had to do on the walk.
'Thank god my summons aren't so demanding like real pets,' Jake thought. None of his companions had ever peed or pooped. It was probably because they were legendary existences with unique body systems.
It was such a relief that Jake smiled from ear to ear.
All he had to do was just keep feeding them!
It was such a blessing!
An hour later, Jake met Ingrid at her apartment.
She wore a mask.
'What a pity,' Jake unconsciously thought, regardless of all the indecent thoughts he had picked up before coming here.
Ingrid introduced him to her Golden Retriever and Bernese family members.
Those were quite big and old.
Jake smiled, "I thought I would be walking out smaller ones. Those seem like seniors. Hi there, seniors."
Dogs seemed to have accepted Jake after those words.
Ingrid smiled, "They aren't that old, but a senior fits each of them. They're really active despite their age and time."
"I could use a few toys, then," Jake thought of something to throw. He might as well use this as training and improve his real-world stats.
Ingrid laughed upon hearing about it. A few coughs mixed in, but she was still in a good mood.
After kneeling before her pets, she told them to go easy on Jake and behave.
Her dogs replied loudly and even pounced at her.
That was when her mask fell off.
Jake stared at her with widened eyes.
'Damn it! She's even more beautiful than I thought she would be!' Jake thought, his hands clenched, 'Curse my imagination! It's so bad! How can I become a better archer if I have this poor creativity? Richard told me to be creative, and I have a legendary pioneer class! I should read a book or a few.
I should find books about archery and maybe some romance ones.'
"Jake?" Ingrid asked.
"Ah, yes! Come, seniors," Jake replied, picked up leashes and stuff, and turned around, "You sure you don't need anything?"
"Yes. I'm prepared for sickness. Thank you," Ingrid replied.
"Kay," Jake closed the doors.
And with that, Jake went on a walk with dogs.
"Senior! Why are you so fast?!" Jake ran.
"Oh, you have a dog park girlfriend? Even you…" Jake stared at the golden retriever's girlfriend.
"Goddammit, it stinks so much… and is warm… ugh…" Jake looked away from a senior's feces.
It was quite a new experience indeed.
Later that day, Jake called Prince, "You're ready to log in?"
"Yeah, my dark horse! We shall explore the brimming with players dungeon!"