Chapter 17: First Dungeon

"We are going to look out for two kinds of people," Venomous spoke after spotting the grove from afar. She and Michu had already been on their way to the dungeon, so it was time to speak about their crucial tasks.

Michu glanced at her, "Lone players and…" He scratched his cheek with a pensive expression.

Seeing this, Venomous added, "Overly friendly players. Such players want the best for their teammates, but only those with similar passion can progress together with them. It's not like we have to add new players to our party immediately after this dungeon. For now, we just have to add some potential players to our friend list."

One's passion and drive to grind up levels and become the best were not often reciprocated by close friends.

It was the reason guilds were so popular.

If one had friends at the top and in one guild, then one was one of the luckiest people to have such trustworthy players around. In this game, the trust was valuable as a lot of money was behind each top guild.

The Continental Tournament.

The Main Quest.

The Royal Families and Tribes; and simply the game.

Everything revolved around players and money, so gaining friendship from the early levels would help Venomous' plans greatly.

It would be great if her first friend and future guild member also kept those things in mind.

But Michu didn't even know about the main quest. Though some people could argue that it was no problem since there was already Act 3 of the main quest in far lands, Venomous wanted to knock on Michu's head with her hand so that he would magically get all those stuff imprinted within him.

Nonetheless, her friend had something else in mind, "Hey, Venomous. Don't make your profile so lonely. Let's add a picture. Why haven't you added it after our talk?" Michu believed that a happy picture would help Venomous and her snake eyes that she often brought out as if trying to scare him.

It also would make her trustworthy, wouldn't it? Wouldn't more players feel like adding her and speak through chat? Michu had seen various popular leaders on social media and their photos were really awesome.

Our monkey has also followed some female guild leaders who shared not only their fantasy quests but also their free time. The beautiful nature was seen along with their mesmerizing figures and Michu loved the boundless sea the most.

His sister questioned him back then, "Bananas or melons?" This question was left unanswered.

"In the future, I will post the first photo…" Yumi looked to the side, "You will be with me, so don't ask me about it anymore. I can't show myself yet…"

"Yes, I won't." Michu felt like there was a deeper reason for her to not be active on social media. For him, it was a funny experience and since taking photos with Nana had been so nice, wouldn't it be the same with Yumi?

He apologized, "I won't mention it until you say so." As Michu at least could read feelings better than the average person, he apologized and the topic shifted to the previous one.

"Thanks."

The duo also entered the grove by then.

[You have stepped into Cursed Grove Dungeon Lv. 15!]

[Players 20/22]

After Michu entered the waiting room, his eyes swept through the interior. There were many trees and his eyes tilted when he looked at their roots intertwined like a maze. Those trees weren't of normal height and they were protected by the bluish transparent wall.

This wall would disappear after the dungeon started.

Its golden leaves sometimes fell on the ground and players checked those meticulously. After their eyes didn't spot anything, they let those leaves return to the ground.

Michu was curious about their actions, but he also did what Venomous had requested beforehand.

'There are some loners… Four loners spotted! Should I add them to my friend list now? No, no… What if they want to be alone? Yumi said that I shouldn't add immediately… Then what about other kinds? Other… kind?' Michu's mind got a little hotter as his eyes looked around.

But the other kind was on his way.

Approaching Michu with a wide smile, a lady wearing a big hat reached out for him, "Hi, are you two together?" She held medium-sized staff and looked like a mage taken out of the book! Her blonde hair and blue eyes brought a gentle contrast and Michu felt like she was a really friendly person!

He laughed, "Yep!"

"Contrary to your friend, you seem more approachable! I also feel like she wants to undress me naked with those eyes." A mage player with a name tag [Not typical blonde, get it?] spoke about Venomous' eyes.

Of course, Michu had already felt the same, but for him, it felt like a desire to bite him, "She said she bites and I felt like so... It's different for you, I see." Michu caressed his chin in the usual way.

The lady burst out laughing!

Michu then added, "Isn't it weird to play with such a name? If you display it to NPCs, then they might think your parents cursed you."

"By now, NPCs should realize that we live here with many different goals. If they just kick me away because of it, then I don't have any reason to bother with them. Besides, blame the game designers for making everything too real."

Those words sounded different in everyone's ears, but Michu found a charm within. It was because of his family situation that many people turned away from them.

Her situation was created on purpose and was vastly different, but Michu found a charm and he genuinely wanted to become closer with the lady, "What's your name? I am Michu!" He asked with a bright smile that stunned the lady faintly.

She couldn't tell the reason for this sudden introduction and question but extended her hand for a handshake. There was a reason she approached Michu anyway… "I won't tell you my real name, but feel free to call me Sandra."

"Yes! Nice to meet you!" Michu smiled, then his gaze went to the falling leaves. His inexperience and curiosity were written on his face, so before Michu voiced out what hid within his mind, Sandra parted her lips.

"There can be a clue within those leaves, so they reach out for every leaf possible." Sandra also motioned for Michu to turn around.

Here, Venomous was also keeping an eye on those leaves while scouting the area. "Your friend knows about it. Shouldn't she have told you about it?"

"Haha! I think she wanted me to research on my own! My bad! I was kinda excited to fight and went to sleep early, then jogged in the morning!" Michu sounded like a training freak, but Sandra found no flaw within his excited voice.

She curled her lips up and replied, "Then, you can expect to fight a lot. It's a big dungeon and though we can start it now, no one wants to begin it before we fill the quota. Can you tell why?"

To her questioning smile, Michu nodded. His hand was already on his chin, though, "A lot of monsters." As his answer was positive, Michu nodded a few times with contentment. And as cute as he was, Sandra raised thumbs at him in approval.

Since it was the usual monkey's gesture that he liked, Michu did the same and both of them quickly found their common talk.

"Other than killing monsters, we will have to look out for natural clues. The first is those falling leaves, then we can expect arrows made out of the roots in the dungeon… There should also be fireflies shining for just a second, so reaction time is crucial here! There are many more, but the key is to be perceptive and look out for any minuscule changes." Sandra explained since Michu didn't do his research.

Our monkey nodded with a big thanks!

It was time to reveal her intentions then, "Do you guys want to join us? The maze is big and all 22 players will be split into groups to find the boss as fast as possible. Otherwise, the monsters might fall on us like an avalanche and that would be such a waste!" Sandra raised her voice a little, playing with the emotions of the newbie player.

Michu felt like a lot of monsters would be a big disaster and turned his eyes to Venomous.

She just glanced back and said, "Who are you with?" It was a question!

"I am here with my friend," Sandra pointed at the archer not too far away from her. It was a male player around twenty years old, so there was a chance they were peers or close acquaintances from real life.

Sandra said, "He is my childhood friend, so don't worry about anything weird." She chuckled and winked at Michu who didn't understand her words much. If they were a party, then why would this man be weird or do anything stupid?

Venomous understood the lady, "I suppose jealousy won't be the issue here."

"Your friend has an infectious smile." Sandra responded, "Sorry for being so close. As for my friend, I basically forced him to play the archer."

Michu felt like he heard the words Venomous wanted to hear! He turned his eyes to her, but she just had the usual expression that didn't betray what lied within her mind.

He looked so lost that Sandra misunderstood him, "Why do you look so happy? Care to tell me?"

"Melons."

"What?"

"..."

Michu went with half-lie half-truth.

And as the knights on white horses to save the lost monkey, the last two players finally stepped into the dungeon! The talks could begin now!