บท 36: Dungeon Life (III)
Snow expected their return. Mostly because this dungeon was a big deal and the Dragon Express needed all available Players to conquer this dungeon.
Mike beamed at Snow, puffing up his chest as he showed off his new armor. Which, Snow still thinks it was ridiculous. He always had his silver armor but replaced a few things. What was new was the obnoxious red boots that had some kind of demon face and even on his shoulder pad.
"What do you think?" Mike smugly replied, "I leveled up."
Snow wasn't sure what to say. Her eyes felt like it was bleeding just looking at him. She had to say though that the armor wasn't as bad as she thought, just his flamboyant attitude with the weird pink bandanna that he had trailing down on his head made it goofy.
Compared to Dairen, who was much more tamed, but Snow could see that there were a few little things that made him stand out. The black flaming neck scarf that reminded Snow of a Hellhounds fur seems to flicker alive. She could still see the items that she gave him underneath most of his clothes, but quite a bit was placed over it to protect his frail-looking body. From head-to-toe, the color black was his central theme with a pattern of red cutting down his jacket and pants to his shoes, giving him a striking image.
If Mike was the flamboyant sun, Dairen was the shadow that grew bigger from his flames. Hidden in the darkness, prowling like a panther waiting for his prey.
"Take that stupid bandanna off your head." Dairen reached up, yanking it off. Mike fell backward.
"What the hell!" Mike yelled. He got up with his butt aching. "That bandanna gives me plus three agility!"
Dairen twitched at what Mike had said. "It's impractical and too long to keep on your head." He tore it up. "Plus, don't you know that was a fake?"
Mike got up, brushing off the dirt. He thought over what Dairen had said. "You sure?" He thought for a moment. "That seller did seem a bit sketchy and a bit pushy."
"You bought it at a ridiculous price, idiot." Dairen crossed his arms. "Why don't you pay attention to what you buy next time."
"I am."
"Highly doubt it."
An intense pressure between the two started to zap between them.
"What about you being all pussyfooted." Mike waved his hand in front of him. "You were too scared to even hit a monster last mission."
"I was not. Do you take me as a fool?!" Dairen's voice went up an octave, "I said we should plan ahead. I can't believe I partner up with you this past week for that mission."
Both of them bickered among each other, trying to out in each other's argument. Heather seemed to enjoy the bickering between the two as she started to chuckle under her breath.
Snow held up her hand, stopping them from continuing because she was getting a horrible headache.
"Enough." She commanded. "Don't you guys have a job to do?"
They stood up straight, looking at her thoughtfully. "Yes," both of them replied.
"We still got that main quest to finish and then this." Mike pointed behind him, where the new curse mage was situated.
It was a small little girl, who was reading a thick book that looked like an encyclopedia. Her glasses were a bit too big on her as it kept slipping off her nose. Snow couldn't help but think of her as cute with the puffy pink dress that made her look like a water balloon.
"The little girl with glasses is Britney. She's here to break the curse. She's known for breaking the jewelry curse a year ago that killed off twenty families."
Snow couldn't help but curiously look over at the small genius once more. She had heard about the incident with the cursed jewelry, but she couldn't remember much of the fact.
"Anyways, we'll be going with them to check out the forest."
"Good luck. Curses are not something to scoff at," said Heather. "Better yet, I would usually stay far away from those."
"Dairen. Mike." One of the members from the company called them over. "We'll be leaving in a few minutes."
"Already?" Mike asked, flabbergasted at the sudden departure. "We just got here."
"Bosses orders."
Mike groaned. Then he snapped over towards Snow, grabbing her hand.
Snow couldn't help but feel a weird goosebumps coming onto her; she wanted to snatch her hands away and punch him in the face.
"Snow." Mike dramatically spouted in a grave tone in a Romeo and Juliet like tone. "We shall be parting ways for a brief moment, but I, the Hero, will come back and protect you when this is all over."
Heather's lips became a wicked wide grin as she was enjoying this. Watching back and forth. She was about to burst out laughing. Snow gave her an evil glare to shut up, but Heather didn't want to.
"I uh…"
"Please, do not worry. I shall come back in one piece."
"Right…."
Mike pulled her forward, about to give her a hug when Dairen grabbed him by the ear. "Enough lover boy. We got better things to do. Do you always do this to every girl you see?"
With a gasp, Mike gave him a disgruntled reply, crying out in pain from his ears getting pulled. "No, I do not. Only for Snow."
"Right. Tell that to Mrs. Yami. Oh, and don't forget, Samantha, Sarah, and even Ureka two nights back at the bar."
Turning pale, Mike weakly laughed. "Ms. Snow. Please don't listen to this guy. I would like neve-"
"Ah, let's not forget Mrs. Robert." Dairen droned on, enjoying seeing Mike squirm. "So, with that being said, let's go." He dragged him away, nodding at Snow as he left.
Heather stepped over towards her, placing her hand on her shoulder as she leaned on her. "You know. I don't mind that boy as much anymore. He's actually pretty entertaining."
"Which one."
"Dairen, though, I find that Mike guy hilarious."
Snow looked at her friend strangely, mostly because she actually got piqued by someone other than herself. "I thought you wanted to erase Dairen's memory, and how do you find Mike hilarious?" She felt another wave of possible headaches coming in the future.
"Because he just is." Heather shrugged her shoulder. "Too late for that. Look at all these players that have been appearing left and right for the past months. No point in trying to contain all this mess."
Thinking about it, a lot has changed for the better or the worse. The players had brought more force, but the crime rate increased, making it much more difficult to control. Other times it was just pure chaos as the problems with the natives and the Players were a bit hostile.
"Hey, did you hear?" One of the Players near Dairen's group spoke out a bit loud. "Mike's group got into a boss fight before this when they were trying to escape the dungeon."
"What was it?"
"A Dullahan."
"Such things exist?
"Yea, but I bet getting to the next level we might fight against a boss fight too."
They were excitedly talking amongst themselves, seeing who would get the killing shot. Snow knew that all Players were crazy, but to this extent, she put them on the pedestal of insanity. At this rate, the mental case would become infectious. Probably. Not.
"Either way, don't you guys think Heather the receptionist is hot?" One of the male Players snickered, "I go to her just to stare."
"Men." one of the younger females rolled their eyes.
"Come on, think about it. Don't you wish you had an NPC party up with you like how Mike had? Wouldn't it be cool?" One of the redhead male spoke with excitement. "Don't you know how difficult it is to at least get one of them to come along with you to a party. Most just like to stay around their particular jobs and homes like a script, but if you are lucky, you will get someone strong to back you up."
"Still, I am careful when calling them NPC. They don't like that." One of the girls spoke out in concern. "This world is too real. Even though our Avatar will die here on this planet. We still have our own bodies back at home alive. Let's not die a futile death like some of those other players that offended the natives around here."
Everyone agreed. The group of Players excitedly compared the different types of people that they had found.
The party departed with the Curse Breaker, leaving behind a less nosy group. But that didn't stop more Players from coming inside the rest area as they brought in another slew of dead monsters on a makeshift sled.
It was a massive hellhound much bigger than the ones that she had fought. From the looks of it, she could see that it was an evolution from the original form.
"Oh, nice~" Heather walked around the carcass, poking at it with her feet. "You guys kept the body still clean and look."
She bent down to take a closer look. Opening up the mouth of the Hellhound without much care. "Even the teeth and bones are clean. You guys are pretty good at this."
The group of Players bashfully looked away; they didn't think they would get such a compliment.
"What's your group's name?" Heather whipped out her pen and a small notepad.
The leader spoke up with a high pitch voice as he blushed. "Storm Ranger, mamn."
"Okay, Storm Ranger. We got this from here. Is there anything you want specifically from this monster before you hand it over for your reward?"
The leader shook his head furiously.
"Then, we will give you the appropriate amount." Heather summoned up a bit of magic, signing the paper with her name. Ripping it off, she handed it to him. "This is your receipt, take it back to the main headquarters to get your reward. Once again, thank you for your business." She glistening smile, stunning all of them.
Snow couldn't help but feel a bit blinded by Heather's smile. It was mesmerizing. Plus, Heather was her teacher when it came to giving the best receptionist smile. One could say it was soul-warming.
More Players and Hunters came over to talk with Heather as the day once again became busy with work.
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