Read Novel Full Chapter 482: Xman[2]
Chapter 482: Xman[2]
Gabriel sent the message and then closed the direct message panel.
There was no point staring at the screen after that. If XMan was offline, then a reply would not come immediately anyway. Gabriel already knew that. So after one last glance at the forum window, he closed it and rose from his seat.
There was still plenty to do in New Dawn.
He stepped out of his room and spent the next stretch of time moving through different parts of the camp.
If XMan replied, the forum would notify him. Until then, he would make himself useful.
...
Far away from New Dawn, a player logged into Realm of Ascendency.
The name above his head was XMan.
He appeared near the edge of a rocky forest path and adjusted the cheap leather gear on his body before quickly moving forward. His level was low, his equipment was bad, and even the weapon at his side looked like something bought second hand from a market stall.
By the time he reached his party, the others were already waiting. There were six of them in total, and none of them looked happy to see him.
"You’re late," one of them said.
XMan shook his head quickly. "I logged in as fast as I could."
A broad shouldered swordsman standing near the front snorted. "Same excuse every time."
Another player laughed. "Just be glad the scout showed up at all. If he didn’t, who else would run ahead and die for us?"
A few of them chuckled at that, but XMan said nothing.
He was the weakest in the party, the poorest, and the least respected. They did not really see him as a teammate. To them, he was more like a convenient extra pair of legs. Someone who could run errands, check tunnels, lure monsters, and take risks that stronger players did not want to take.
At the center of the group stood their leader, a tall handsome man with polished armor and a calm expression.
"We move now," the leader said. "The dungeon boss should be close."
The others nodded and started forward.
XMan fell into step behind them, and soon they entered the dungeon proper. The place was damp, dark, and filled with narrow stone passages. The first wave of monsters was handled easily by the stronger party members. XMan barely got a chance to act before the others had cut them down.
He was mostly there to observe routes, remember paths, and report what he saw.
That was the one thing he was good at.
He remembered details well. Too well sometimes. Routes, symbols, ruins, old text fragments, hidden switches, quest wording. These things stayed in his head easily. Fighting did not. He never liked fighting. He only did it because this game had become one of the few ways he could earn something in the real world.
Without it, things would be worse.
The group pushed deeper until they reached a chamber near the end of the dungeon. The monsters inside were quiet for the moment, but everyone knew the boss was somewhere nearby.
A short meeting was held on the spot.
The broad shouldered swordsman spoke first. "We rush it together."
Another player shook his head. "Stupid. If the room aggroes all at once, we get surrounded."
The leader, who had been quiet all this time, looked at XMan. That alone made him swallow hard, the sound loud in his throat.
"XMan goes in first. Lure them out. We kill what follows."
"If too many come, I won’t survive," XMan said in a slightly strained voice.
"Then run better," the broad shouldered swordsman shrugged.
A woman in the party rolled her eyes. "Stop whining. You’ll get your share."
XMan looked at the leader, but the man’s expression did not change.
"Do it," he said.
A few moments later, XMan stepped into the chamber alone. His grip tightened around his weapon as he moved carefully over the damp stone floor. For a second, nothing happened.
But soon the monsters noticed him.
The first roar echoed through the room, followed by another.
XMan’s face paled as he turned and ran.
Heavy footsteps thundered behind him as several monsters gave chase. He sprinted toward the tunnel entrance where his party waited, but before he made it halfway, one of the creatures leaped and crashed into him from behind. He hit the ground hard. Another slammed down almost immediately after.
Pain exploded through his body and his health bar crashed.
By the time the others rushed in and started attacking, XMan was already dead.
When he respawned later at the checkpoint shrine outside the dungeon, his level had dropped.
He sat there for a moment and stared ahead while the system informed him of his penalty. The party cleared the boss thanks to the opening his death created. When they came back out, they tossed him his share.
It was pathetic. Just two bottles of healing potions.
A meager portion of the total reward.
Not enough to justify the level loss. Not enough to justify the risk. But still enough that he took it anyway.
That was his life in the game.
Low level players did not get treated like people unless they had connections, money, or rare talents that strong guilds wanted. XMan had none of that. What he did have was patience, research habits, and a good memory for details most others ignored.
Those things were useful for hidden lore and secret clues. They were not useful in a dungeon party full of people who only cared about clearing fast and making profit.
After collecting his share, XMan logged out.
The real world room around him was small and quiet. He took off the headset slowly and rubbed his face. The run had been bad. The payment was worse. But it was still something.
At least he could sell those off.
Suddenly, at that moment, he noticed a forum notification blinking at the side of his screen.
He frowned and clicked it open.
[Hi. Can we meet?]