Chapter 5: Joining a Party

"My name's Darius." The bulky man introduced himself.

"John," said the young man.

"You can call me Jenny," said the woman.

"I'm Lucas."

"Alright, let's get you registered in our party or else you won't be able to enter the dungeon with us," said Darius.

After agreeing to enter the dungeon with these 3 random Players, Lucas followed them to the reception desk where the black-haired lady with the large assets that assisted Lucas not long ago worked.

"Hey, Melody, add this newbie to our party," Darius said to her.

The lady named Melody glanced at Lucas before speaking, "He's a level one who just registered. Are you sure you want him in your party?"

"That's exactly why we want him in our party! We're going to help this newbie gain some experience in the dungeon since we know how difficult it is to find a party nowadays, especially those without experience," Darius said with a wide smile on his face.

Melody turned to look at Lucas and asked him with slightly narrowed eyes, "Are you sure you want to join them?"

The way Melody questioned Lucas made it sound like she was trying to warn him about something.

Lucas noticed this, but he still nodded his head with a calm look on his face.

Seeing his response, Melody sighed inwardly.

"Okay. Give me your party card. I'll add him to your party." Melody said to Darius a moment later.

Darius nodded and handed her their party card, something used by Players from the Guild to prove that they belong to the same party.

Sometime later, Melody handed the card back to Darius.

"Let's go, kiddo," Darius said to Lucas afterward.

Just as Lucas started following his new party, Melody said out loud, "Be careful."

"We will!" Darius responded in an energetic manner.

Lucas turned around to look at Melody, who was staring back at him, almost like what she said just now was directed at him, not their party.

Lucas didn't say anything and disappeared from the building with Darius and the others.

Once they were gone, a figure approached Melody from behind and sighed out loud, "What a pity that he didn't notice your warnings."

Melody turned around to see a beautiful woman with short brown hair standing behind her.

"As the staff, we're not allowed to directly intervene with the Players— not even if they're clearly being mistreated or tricked," said the brown-haired woman.

"You're wrong." Melody suddenly said.

"Excuse me? What am I wrong about?"

"That young man... He knows that he's being tricked."

"What? Are you serious? So he's willingly being tricked by them? Why?"

"Only he knows." Melody shrugged.

Meanwhile, after leaving the Guild, Lucas entered a van with Darius and the others.

"The dungeon is about an hour away, so we'll talk about the dungeon and our roles in the meantime," Darius said to them as he sat behind the wheel.

"Johny, tell him about the dungeon."

The young man nodded and said, "The dungeon we're heading to is a public Novice-rank dungeon with monsters between levels 5 and 15. It opened up only three days ago so there should be plenty of monsters inside, but don't expect any treasures since they have been cleaned out within the first day."

"By the way, what is your role? Any special skills? I'm usually on offense, and Darius is a tank. Jenny over here can cast fire magic."

"I can enhance my strength a little, and I prefer being a support," Lucas lied as naturally as he breathed.

"Body enhancement, huh? You'll make a good luggage carrier!" John laughed out loud.

When he noticed that Lucas wasn't laughing, he stopped and said, "I'm just joking kiddo."

"You're level one, right? Does this mean you've never entered a dungeon before? Why did you suddenly decide to enter dungeons, Lucas?" Jenny suddenly asked him.

"I need money," he calmly responded.

"That's something we all need and why most of us are risking our lives inside dungeons so I totally understand." Jenny nodded her head.

Then she said, "I've been wanting to ask you this for a while now, but why are you in that appearance? It looks like you just came from a hospital."

Lucas looked down to look at his hospital gown for a moment before speaking, "I just like this style, I guess."

"Hahaha... You like that style? What a weirdo."

An hour later, Darius parked his car on the side of the road where a dozen other cars were also parked.

Once he got out of the car, Lucas could see a large blue portal in the middle of the street and the entire area locked down with people standing guard around the block.

Darius approached one of the guards and showed him their party card.

"Let me see your identification." The guard said to them.

Lucas and the others proceeded to take out their Guild identification cards and showed them to the guard.

Once the guard verified their identities, he allowed them inside the secured area.

"Follow me," Darius said, and he proceeded to lead them towards the dungeon entrance.

A few moments later, they stopped right before the portal.

"Alright, before we go in, let's settle some things first," Darius said, and then he looked at Lucas.

"Since you're only level one and have zero experience in dungeons, you'll be carrying our luggage for now. As for the shares, you won't be getting any either since we'll be doing all of the fightings, but this will change down the line when you contribute more to the party. Do you have any problem with that?"

It was clear that Darius and his party only intended for Lucas to be their luggage carrier for free, using the 'experience' thing as an excuse.

"No, I don't." Lucas quickly replied.

"Good. Then here's the luggage. It shouldn't be too heavy for you since you can enhance your strength." Darius placed the large backpack that he had been carrying on the ground.

Lucas then picked up the backpack that weighed almost 25kgs, struggling a little once he put it on his back. If it were not for his boosted stats, he would've struggled to even pick up the backpack, much less wear it and remain standing.

"Are you guys ready?" Darius asked the other two as he patted the large shield strapped to his back.

John lifted the steel sword in his grasp and said, "Ready."

"My MP is also full." Jenny nodded.

"Then let's go."

Darius then took a step forward and entered the portal, followed by John and Jenny with Lucas being the last to enter the dungeon.

AN: Don't forget to vote! CO already has enough of them so you can throw them here instead!