In a damp area of the dungeon, a party of five adventurers, 4 of which were players, fought their way through a wave of mana-draining slugs.

Through the horde of slugs, a flash of gold could be seen flickering in and out of the sea of monsters.

This flash of gold was nothing but the afterimage of a young adventurer clad in expensive golden armor.

His iron longsword traced streaks of silver through the air as he cut down monsters one by one in the blink of an eye.

His display of power caused his party members to drop their jaws in awe as they witnessed his skill.

Among the group was a young elven maiden clutching her spear as she watched the young hero slay the disgusting slug monsters.

With every monster he slew, her impression of him grew. He was no longer the arrogant young man who solely relied on his father’s money. He had tried many times to impress her with his wealth, but this was the first time she was actually impressed by him.

From the moment they stepped into the dungeon, he had been leading the way and paving a path for their party.

"Lara!"

Snapping her from her daze was a young fox kin wielding a massive warhammer, which she used to smash a mana-draining slug sneaking up on the young elf girl as she stood in a daze.

The slug exploded into several pieces when hit by the warhammer.

"You idiot!" An angered roar sounded across the space. The source of this roar was a young man with black hair and crimson eyes covered by square glasses.

This young man was dressed in a blue robe and wielded a staff, which he used to fire several wind-based spells.

"You idiot! We told you not to use your hammer on them. That’s another monster core we’ve lost because of you!"

"What else am I supposed to do? Lara was in danger. It’s not like you were going to help her."

The young mage ground his teeth, ready to erupt in anger at the fox kin, but at that moment he was interrupted by a loud slash that vibrated the air around him.

They all turned their attention to the source of the sound. There, they saw their leader driving his sword into the belly of a massive slug monster.

His golden armor seemed to radiate in the dimly lit cave. The slug’s body vibrated violently before liquefying and pooling on the ground below the hero’s feet.

Having killed the last monster, the hero smiled confidently and sheathed his sword before turning to his party members.

"Are you guys seriously arguing again?"

The young mage was the first to step up.

"I told you not to invite them to join our party. That tank and that paladin would’ve been much better allies."

The hero threw his arms over his friend’s shoulder and spoke to him in a hushed tone so the girls couldn’t hear.

"You would seriously rather have those middle-aged men over two beautiful girls?" he asked in a somewhat mocking tone.

"Those men had experience; these girls don’t. Now we’re even losing money because of them."

"You care too much about money." The young hero fanned his hand dismissively.

After hearing those words, the young mage’s hands balled into fists, and for the umpteenth time since entering the dungeon, he felt like punching his friend in the face.

Unlike monsters, boss monsters, elves, vampires and bloodline inheritors who learn spells naturally, human mages had to learn spells from special items known as spellbooks.

These books were monopolized by certain guilds, and the only way to get one was to either join a guild and prove yourself. This was another way in which guilds coerced players into joining them.

Another method of obtaining these spellbooks was through purchasing one.

As expected, these spellbooks were sold for ridiculous amounts of money, which made being a mage extremely expensive.

For this reason, the young mage couldn’t afford to lose any monster cores, and it physically pained him to see one of them smashed. The young hero on the other hand, had a swordsmanship talent with B ranked potential so he didn’t need money to improve himself. His skills would develop naturally the more he practiced and he would gain skills with each level up.

The young mage pinched the bridge of his nose and heaved a heavy sigh.

"You know how important this mission is, don’t you? After a year, this could be the moment when we finally complete this game. That is why all the guilds formed an alliance. If we can somehow help them and prove ourselves, then we might receive a reward for our hard work."

The young hero nodded his head. He knew just how high the stakes were. Being low-ranked players, they weren’t privy to a lot of information, but they could speculate on just how important completing this game was.

This world was truly like a game, and like most games, there was a storyline and a way to complete it. After a year, the players were finally making headway.

This information was only shared with those who were part of a guild and was a banned topic on the forum.

Most players knew that there was a way to complete this game, but only the guild masters and the top-ranked players knew what reward would be given to the player who completed it and what would happen afterward.

Still, what were the chances of a party of newbie players being the one to figure out the secret left in this mysterious place? Because the odds were against him, the young hero would rather face monsters and steadily increased his skills rather than compete with top players to complete this game for an unknown prize.

"Look, we’re wasting time arguing here. The boss monster is close; I can sense it. They said this place separates players by danger level, and once we defeat the boss monster of our respected level, we’ll meet up with the others." The young hero said before patting his friend on the shoulder and walking away.

He approached a young woman standing at the back of the dimly lit room. This young girl was dressed in a torn tunic that offered no protection against the dangerous dungeon.

She had shackles on her arms and legs to constrict her movements. Her silver hair flowed down her back and cupped around her waist.

Two pairs of black horns sprouted from her head and twisted, forming a loop. Her body was covered in cuts and bruises. The blood from these wounds had already dried onto her skin without being properly healed.

Her entire body trembled softly when she saw the hero approaching her. She already knew what was to come.

The hero extended his hand out to her, which revealed a cut on his wrist, causing blood to drip onto the floor.

"I cut myself. Heal."

The slave had no choice but to hover her shaking hands over his wound. A pale purple light appeared for a brief moment before the cut on his hand disappeared.

The same wound then appeared on the girl’s hand, and along with the cut came the pain.

The young hero looked at his hand and smiled in satisfaction when he saw that the cut was no longer there.

This prompted the other party members to approach her to have their cuts healed, all of which were transferred over to the girl.

Along with their pain, she also experienced each of their emotions and the memory of being hurt.

Even their fatigue was transferred over to her, which caused her to be out of breath.

After healing their wounds, the party continued forward toward the boss monster.

"This is it; the boss monster is close. We can’t afford to stumble now, so let’s put our differences aside." The young hero said, already drawing his expensive sword.

The girls’ faces held a slight blush as they stared at the young hero before them. Somewhere along the way, they had begun depending on him.

They felt their chests tighten from his words and nodded vigorously in response.

The young mage did not have any other choice and instead grunted in response.

The air around them was thick with magic, and they could all tell that a powerful foe was waiting for them in the next room.

They all strode forward at the same time, every step measured. The hero took the lead with both girls at his right and left while the mage stood at the back to provide support.

The slave walked beside him, dragging her feet as she could barely keep up with their movements.

A heartbeat later, they were at the entrance of the boss monster’s lair.

Their pupils shrank at the sight that unfolded before them.

The boss monster, a six-foot gargoyle, was already dead!

But what made their skin crawl was the sight of the very monster they sought to kill being devoured by a centipede!