The Man looked at John. “What’s he talking about?” He asked.
John replied calmly, “I was just about to tell you guys. We are going to take on a level 20 Boss.”
“You f**king kidding me? That’s an 8 levels difference from us! Well, 9 levels if you considered the majority. You are asking us to go against that kind of monster? You made us waste our time coming all the way out here?!”
The Man pulled out his large mace in anger.
“Calm down, calm down,” John said as he took several steps back and hid behind Jack. “With our numbers, it is not impossible to take down the Boss as long as we coordinate properly. I thought you Men of Solidarity are known to be fearless?”
“Fearless is different from suicidal, you maniac!” He took some steps forward, completely ignoring Jack as he swung the mace in his hand at John.
Jack took out his sword and blocked the mace mid-blow.
“Calm down,” he said.
The Man was surprised, his mace couldn’t move an inch further, it was as if he had bumped into a wall of steel. His strength stat was the highest out of the rest of his team. He had fully allocated all his free attribute points to his strength. Yet, this person in front blocked his blow without moving even a little from the impact. And he seemed to be at ease doing it.
“Who are you?” The Man asked.
“You can call me Storm Wind,” Jack replied.
Seeing that The Man’s rage was somewhat diminished, John came out of hiding and persuaded, “as you can see, Mr. Storm Wind here is another capable adventurer, just like you. With the two of you working together, even a level 20 Boss is as good as dead.”
“Stop with your bullshit!” The Man hissed at John.
“Fine, fine,” John didn’t intend to poke on the big guy’s temper.
The Man put his mace down, then said to Jack, “what level are you?”
“Fourteen,” Jack answered.
He could see The Man’s eye twitched when he heard Jack’s words, his gang members behind also started to murmur.
“High level doesn’t guarantee success. Furthermore, the boss is still six levels higher than you,” The Man said.
“That’s true,” Jack said, “but as this guy said, it is not impossible if we work together.”
“Are you confident we can do this?”
“Not really, but I think we should try.”
The Man seemed to ponder for a bit. He looked back at his gang members, and then returned his glance to Jack. He then uttered, “Men of Solidarity have never been afraid of a difficult challenge! And we also respect people with real strength. You seemed to be an okay fellow. If you dare to try challenging this boss, then we will not wuss out also. But we still need to get back at the distribution of the loots! We are not going to go back empty-handed with such high risk!”
“What do you propose then?” Jack asked.
“If I may,” John interjected.
The Man glared at him.
“Friend, don’t shoot me down before I speak, ok? I really have something good to say.” John said with exasperation.
“Fine, talk!” The Man uttered.
John smiled and then said, “I at first was going to let you folks find out for yourselves, but since you are so hung up about the loots, I guess I would let you all know then. In the room where I saw the Boss, I had caught a glimpse of something that looks like a treasure chest. I’m pretty sure if you folks had played VR RPG games before, you would know what a treasure chest means. So here is my proposal, there are three groups here. I am after the quest completion. You two are after loots, so how about you simply divide to one side take whatever the Boss drops, the other takes whatever is in the treasure chest. Is that game enough for you folks?”
“Treasure chest?” The Man seemed to consider the proposal.
After some consideration, he then said to Jack, “then we will take the treasure chest. What say you?”
Jack didn’t answer carelessly, he asked Peniel instead, ‘which is more profitable? The boss drops or the treasure chest?’
“Depends on what grade for both,” Peniel answered. “Ask the scheming guy what color is the treasure chest.”
Jack turned to John, “Do you happen to see the color of the chest?”
“My attention was mostly occupied by the Boss, so I don’t really pay attention,” John said. “And it was also quite dark inside the cave, so forgive me if I couldn’t determine the color of the chest.”
After hearing, Peniel said, “Listening to him, I would say it was most probably the lowest grade bronze chest.”
‘Why do you say so?’ Jack asked.
“Because if it was the other grade, Silver, Gold, or the highest grade, Diamond. Even with a glimpse, you can easily tell the color in a dark cave, as they would appear bright.”
‘I see… Why is the grade color the same as the grade used by Adventurers Association?’
“It’s the other way around actually. The Associations copied the grade found in Treasure Chest. Anyway, if it was just a Bronze Chest, then take the Boss drops. Even if it was just an Elite Boss, the loot quality should be slightly higher, but the quantity will be less compared to treasure chest loots.”
‘Just? Aren’t we hoping that it was an Elite? If it was a Special Elite, we will be in trouble, right?’
“If it was a Special Elite, just ask everybody to pack and go home.” Peniel agreed.
Jack nodded, “okay, we take the boss’ drops.”
The Man offered his hand for a shake. Jack gave his, which The Man shook vigorously.
“Now that the negotiation was done, shall we get the show on the road?” John asked them with a smile.
“Show the way,” The Man said.
“All right, but before that…” John made a few gestures. Not long after, both Jack’s and The Man’s group all received Party Invite notification.
“If we are to cooperate together, it will be better if we are all in the same Party,” John said.
“With you as the leader?” The Man scoffed.
“Just imagined me as a puppet leader,” John said. “The boss is after all for my quest, so if I’m not the leader of the Party that killed it, I’m afraid the system won’t acknowledge my quest as complete? Then all of this would have been a real waste.”
‘Is that true?’ Jack asked Peniel.
“Nah, he just made that up. He would clear the quest as long as he is in the party that kills the monsters in the cave. Even if there is another team joined in killing the monsters, his quest will still be considered as completed.”
“Fine! But my people only take orders from me.” The Man accepted the Party invite.
Jack also accepted the invite.
John then led them to the cave. They climbed up a significant distance to the higher part of the hill. The grassy field with flower patches gave way to rocky terrain, then was replaced again by small woods filled with pine trees. In these woods, they were attacked by a pack of Silver Wolves. Men of Solidarity walked on the front, while Jack’s group walk at the back.
When the wolves attacked, John expertly retreated to the back side, conveniently letting Men of Solidarity handle the wolves. They didn’t seem to mind thought, they looked like a bunch of battle crazed lunatics who relished in combat. They yelled and laughed as they made short work on the wolves. Jack and the others didn’t even need to take out their weapons.
After killing all the wolves, The Man glanced back at Jack and said, “impressed?”
Jack replied by simply giving him a thumbs up.
