The Author's POV

Clank—!

A clangorous metallic noise rang out as a large door closed shut behind, and darkness enveloped my vision.

Step. Step. Step.

Following this, a series of footsteps echoed throughout the dark place.

"Hey Smallsnake, does this place bring back memories?"

"It does."

"Good times, eh? Back then you were still a nobody and look at you now. Still a nobody"

"Do you seriously have to say it that way?"

Despite it being dark. I could vividly feel the annoyance in Smallsnake's voice.

"I do."

Pausing, I repeated.

"I really do."

That said.

Smallsnake's wasn't anyone particularly big back in my memories. He was the type of guy that helped from the shadows, so nothing much changed.

*Puff*

Right then, I suddenly heard a familiar puffing sound coming from next to me. Without needing to look, I already knew who the person was. Who else but Leopold?

*Puff*

"Been a while since I've been here."

"Do you have to smoke ever—hm?"

I suddenly paused. To make sure I didn't hear incorrectly, I turned my head and looked at a dimly lit orange circle that levitated in the air.

"You've been here before?"

"Yeah."

*Puff*

With another puff, the orange circle brightened for a brief instant and I was able to catch a glimpse of Leopold nodding his head.

"I've actually come here quite often in the past. In fact, I know someone that works here."

"Oh?"

Didn't think Leopold would have connections here. This was a pleasant surprise.

It was then that a deep voice suddenly echoed throughout the dark corridor.

"We're here."

Clank—!

Following this, our vision started to brighten up as another metallic door started to open, revealing a familiar scenery.

"Wow."

"Oh, waah."

"So this is the black market..."

Surprised sounds echoed from beside me as Ryan, Ava, and Hein stepped forward to get a better look at the place.

They were all wearing white masks and a black hood to hide their appearances, but I could still tell how excited they were.

I smiled when I saw just how excited they were.

But.

"Calm down for a bit. We're not here to mess around."

This was the sad reality of the matter.

The black market was filled with all sorts of interesting stuff and devices, but there was a time and place for everything.

And now was now the time.

"You guys can mess around after you are done with all the matters I've assigned to you. For now, follow me from behind."

Without waiting for them to reply, I proceeded to head deeper into the black market.

Along the way, I would spot a couple of very interesting artifacts and objects, but through the sheer power of my will, I was able to stop myself from looking at the items.

"We have a special artifact that no other stall sells!"

"Buy one get one free!"

"We have the cheapest prices!"

The loud voices of the stall owners rang throughout the air as a bustling atmosphere enshrouded the place.

"Wait up!"

Snapping me out of my daze, was a low shout.

Catching up from behind me, I heard Smallsnake's labored voice coming to me.

"Ren..haa...haaa..slow down a little. You're going too fast."

"...Alright."

I finally paused and looked behind me.

With both hands on his knees, Smallsnake caught his breath and looked up at me.

"Haaa..haa...Where are we going?"

Raising my head to stare at the others in the distance, I looked back at Smallsnake.

"We're going to dungeon seekers to meet an acquaintance."

"What do you mea—"

"You'll know when we'll get there."

Seeing that the others had caught up, I continued walking.

Compared to the first time I came here, the place looked about the same. However, the atmosphere around me felt different.

I couldn't quite explain it, but in the past, the black market felt a lot scarier than it was now.

Was it perhaps because I was stronger? This was most likely the answer.

"We're here."

Stopping in front of another large door, two tall guards stood in my way. They both emitted a powerful and overbearing pressure.

"Halt! This area is restricted for VIPs only."

Smiling beneath my mask, I handed the guards a card.

"Here you go."

As long as the card did not expire in the time I missed, it should still work. Hopefully.

Thankfully, my worries were unfounded. Scanning the card, the guard handed it back to me.

"I apologize for holding you back. You may enter."

He took a step to the side and opened the door for us.

Clank—!

"Thank you."

Without waiting any further I entered the door. Following me from behind were the others who looked around curiously.

The only one that seemed to be unfazed by the whole ordeal was Leopold, who nonchalantly smoked his cigarette.

Walking past the door, I was greeted by bright lights coming from the ceiling of the room. A red carpet blanketed the floor, whilst a young lady wearing a black suit greeted us by the side.

"Welcome, to Dungeon Seekers. Do you have an app—"

"You're here."

A rough voice cut the lady off.

Appearing in the distance was a male with blonde hair and a lazy look on his face. Just like in the past, his clothes were a mess and though not clear as he was still far, I could smell a faint scent of alcohol coming off of him.

"Thomas."

I greeted.

Thomas greeted with a teasing smile.

"Oh? So you remember me?"

"Of course."

"...and here I thought you completely forgot about me."

"I would never."

My head turned sideways when I said those words. If I had to be honest, I did in fact forget about him. Not that I did it on purpose, but stuff happened.

"I am sorry."

Thomas clicked his tongue and waved his hand.

"Whatever, whatever, so, what are you here for?"

"Actually, we're here to use the dungeons."

"Dungeons?"

Thomas paused for a moment. He then smacked his forehead.

"Right, right, what else would you be here for?"

Tilting his body, Thomas proceeded to look behind me.

"Who did you bring with y—huh?"

Halfway through his sentence, his smile suddenly froze. Noticing this, my brows started to crease. What happened?

"What are you doing here, Leopold?"

*Puff*

"Thomas?"

A look of pleasant surprise flashed across Leopold's face as his eyes met with Thomas's. Putting the cigarette in his mouth away, he smiled broadly.

"You've gotten promoted Thomas, congratulations!"

"Haha, what about you? Last time I checked you were working at a crappy mercenary group. What brings you here?"

What's going on?

I dumbfoundedly looked at Thomas and Leopold.

"You reek of alcohol. Looks like you still got your drinking problems."

"Eh, look whose talking. You seem to be an even bigger smoking addict than in the past."

Drinking problems? Smoking addict? What kind of conversation were they having?

"You two..."

Interrupting their talk, I coughed slightly. Instantly drawing their attention toward me.

"Keum, you two know each other?"

Staring at each other for a good minute, Leopold nodded.

"You can say so."

"Leopold and I graduated from the same academy."

Leopold hooked his arm around Thomas and stared at me.

"That aside, how do the two of you know each other?"

"This.."

Leopold turned his head sideways. I answered for him.

"He works for me."

"Works for you?"

"Yeah, for about three years now?"

"Two and a half."

Leopold corrected as he unhooked Thomas's arm from his shoulder.

"We've been together for about two and a half years."

"Yeah, that."

"Is that so..."

Crossing his arms together, Thomas glanced in Leopold's way and murmured something.

"He looks to be in a much better mood than in the past..."

His voice may have been soft, but I was able to hear it. It looks like he really cared for Leopold in his own way.

Snapping me out of my thoughts, Thomas suddenly clapped his hands.

"Alright, that's enough of that. So you're here to enter the dungeons, is that correct?"

"Correct."

I nodded my head and glanced toward the others.

"To be specific, we would like two dungeons."

"Two?"

"Yes. One for me and Angelica, and another for Hein, Leopold, and Ava."

Because of the dungeon limits, we couldn't exactly go into the same dungeon. This was a bit unfortunate, but then again, we weren't here to have fun and train.

I came here with a goal in mind.

"Do you already know the two dungeons that you want to go to?"

"Yes. For me and Angelica, Silent cliff, and for Hein, Ava, and Leopold, Desolate Mountains."

Thomas's brows creased. Then, he murmured in a barely audible whisper.

"Interesting choice of dungeons..."

"You can say that."

The dungeons I had selected weren't exactly special. They were respectively a <A> ranked dungeon, and a <B> ranked dungeon.

However, those were not the reason why I chose those dungeons.

The main reason I chose those dungeons was because of the danger that lay within them. Just like in the past, with Everblood, there were demons lurking inside the dungeons.

Their goal was simple.

It was to create dungeon overloads. And with the mana density increasing, I feared that in the near future, they would become a very common occurrence. No, they will become a common occurrence.

Therefore.

"There are no problems with the dungeons that we've selected, right?"

I decided to use this chance to get rid of a couple of future troubles whilst at the same time earning the black market's favor.

It was a win-win situation.

"No, there are no problems. I'll go get everything sorted out now."

Thomas patted Leopold's shoulder and turned back.

I asked Smallsnake who was standing next to me.

"You already know what to do, right?"

"Yes. I'll bring Ryan to my old job for a bit. I have to sort out a couple of things."

With a serious look, Smallsnake placed his head on top of Ryan and ruffled his hair.

"He should help me get my stuff done faster."

"Hey, stop it!"

Despite Ryan's complaints, Smallsnake continued.

Having stayed with each other for so long, it was only natural that their relationship had developed so much. Compared to the past, Smallsnake also seemed to be a bit more confident.

Not too much, though.

I couldn't allow that to happen.

A proud Smallsnake was not a Smallsnake I wanted to have.

Pui!

Just the thought made me want to spit.

"I've sorted everything, you can go now."

It was then that Thomas's voice rang from the distance.

"That was fast."

Taking one last look at Smallsnake and Ryan, I urged the others to follow from behind me.

"Alright, let's go."

*

WHIIIIIZ

"Ugh!"

Coming out of the portal behind me, I stumbled a couple of steps. I eventually stopped in front of an old tree and supported my body.

"Fucking portals..."

No matter how many times I tried to get used to the after-effects of portals. I just couldn't.

"Get over yourself."

An impassive voice rang a few meters away from me. It belonged to Angelica.

"You wouldn't get it."

Shaking my head, I let go of the three and raised my head to get a better look at the place.

"Just like the name suggested, we're near a cliff."

It wasn't quite apparent at first, however, once I raised my head and got a better look at my surroundings, I found out that we were currently at the bottom of an extremely steep and vertical cliff that stretched all the way to the ashen-colored sky.

If I had to make an estimate, it would be that the cliff was around 100 meters tall.

Around us were a multitude of dead trees. Furthermore, I could also hear the sound of raging water coming from nearby.

We were likely close to a river.

"Huuuu."

Inhaling the air, I smelt a putrescine smell like that of rotting flesh. It was anything but pleasant.

"Ugh."

Covering my nose with my fingers, I looked at Angelica. Her face was impassive as always, but if one played close attention to her nose, they would notice a slight twitch from time to time.

Turning around, I secretly smiled.

'Look at her pretending to not mind the smell.'

I shook my head. Some people were just too prideful for their own good.

"Let's get going. The faster we get this done, the faster we get to go back"