There is Something Wrong with This Game

B004 – The Seven Stars ❷

Shuna couldn't help but raise her hand.

With a worried voice, she asked for confirmation about Hecate's analysis report.

"Is this information accurate? To be honest, I think facing a bunch of level 120+ monsters is still too early for us. Not to mention, the rest of the guild members..."

She paused for a moment before continuing.

"Even our raid team elites mostly were still around level 90!"

Leon looked at Shuna's direction and listened to her opinion.

Shuna ; ;

Shuna, the Warmonger, racial class Dwarf. She was in charge of the guild's Blacksmith workshop, producing many armaments for the guild to use. Shuna herself also a Blacksmith and her Dwarf racial traits grants her various benefit towards this subclass. Dwarves were terrible at magic, but their physical strength was top class. This makes them suitable for this job. Though, not all Blacksmith chose Dwarf as their race. As of right now, their weapons and armor weren't as strong as those made by the Natives' Master Blacksmith. At most, they can only make 5 stars equipment. But, Leon believed it will not be long before they can produce legendary equipment, surpassing what the Natives made. Especially after Shuna reached the realm of Advanced Blacksmith. Her class, Warmonger is the advancement class of Beastmaster. This grants her the ability to tame monsters and make them into her Companion Beasts. As for Leon knows, Shuna has a Wind Falcon and a Warg. She adored them very much and they can be seen hanging out together often. However, they had been killed during the Black Phantom's attack. Fortunately, they were Companion Beasts and could be resurrected, although it would take a lot of effort and time to do so. This was why Leon knew, that her hatred towards Black Phantom was no less than his.

Shuna's argument was reasonable. The difference between level 120 and level 90 was just too far apart. Even Shuna herself who had reached level 107 was still hesitant to face monsters more than 10 levels above her.

Because, death means losing 1 level!

Leon did not directly deny or agree towards her words. Instead, he looked at Emilia and asked her opinion.

"What do you think about this, Emilia?"

Having called by Leon, Emilia was slightly surprised, but she quickly regained her composure.

Emilia ; ;

Emilia, the Ranger, racial class Elf. She is in charge of the Patrol team, maintaining order and security for the fort and the surrounding area. When a spider breakout occurs, it was Emilia and her team who cleaned the field. Her class, Ranger, shares the same roots as Shuna's Warmonger, but takes a completely different path. Emilia's job class only focuses on ranged attacks. With her bow and arrows, she could shoot enemies at a distance with pinpoint accuracy. As an Elf, her affinity for bows was extraordinary which, in turn, made her archery abilities grow rapidly. Not only that, her race also gave Emilia an affinity for magic and fast MP recovery. She also learned some unique spells, which only Elves had. With her MP regeneration, Emilia can spam her skills and spells for a long time without worrying about her MP running out. It was said that a spell from an Elf overpowers the same spell from any race with the same INT stat. If Dwarves were bad at magic and good at physical strength, then Elves were the complete opposite of them.

After reorganizing her thoughts, Emilia answered.

I can understand Shuna's concern, but I don't agree with her. Since Hecate has put in the effort to collect this data, we have to trust her and give it a try."

She took a deep breath and continued.

"We'll have to give it a try first as an exercise, before we can decide if it's worth sending our raid team there. If the data is correct, then we have obtained a good hunting ground, and power leveling spot."

"Yes, I agree with you. That's what's on my mind."

Leon nodded after hearing Emilia's opinion.

With Hecate's analysis data, they gained a huge advantage in this dungeon. With this, they can deploy various strategies on site, taking advantage of the terrain and the enemy's weaknesses. If everything goes right, the floor can be conquered without causality. Perhaps, they could even power level their guild members.

The competition between the top guilds was fierce and everyone was in a race against time to become stronger.

There is no time to rest.

Shuna was still looking unconvinced, but since the leader has said that, she didn't have any choice but to agree. It's not like Shuna entirely objected the raid, but when she looked at the difference of levels, she couldn't help but thinking it was a suicide move.

At this time, Astrid's voice can be heard. She also gave her opinion on the matter.

"But of course, each of us should bring a few Life Insurance Scrolls just in case. Preferably 20 or more."

Leon's sight immediately looked towards Astrid's direction.

Astrid ; ;

Astrid, the Paladin, racial class Draconid. One of the 3 founders besides Grim and Leon himself. In real life, Astrid was his cousin, and one of his supporters in the family. Being in the guild from the day it was created, she was in charge of managing the guild, controlling the guild's funds and where it should flow. She also had her subordinates monitor the Guild Treasury and Auction Hall, checking if any traitors tried to leak the guild items. Astrid has no mercy on traitors posing as members, who exchanged their GCP for items, only to auction them off later. Her Paladin jobclass, just like Leon's Templar, were also bestowed by the Light Church. They share the same roots, but take different paths. While Leon's Templar focused on offense, Astrid's Paladin focused more on defense. Astrid's race class, Draconid, gave her the power of a dragon, or so the lore said. Their strength, defense, and HP regeneration are the strongest of all the selectable race classes. With the right equipment and stats, she can be unstoppable in battle. However, the Draconids are not without their weaknesses. They cannot swim, and their speed is the slowest of all the races. Not only that, their choice of Subclass had the most restrictions compared to other races.

It seems Astrid also did not feel confident on challenging the floor. But instead of arguing, she gives a reasonable advice.

Reasonable, indeed... Except, Life Insurance Scroll was a cash item and each costs

75.

Unlike the Spell Scrolls, there was no way to reproduce this scroll using Scholar and Sage's Scribe skill. The total cost of the item, multiplied by 20, when converted to yen will be 75,000 (

1 = 50).

It was possible to buy these scrolls from other players or from the Auction Hall, but in this case, the price would definitely swell. Due to various factors, the conversion rate has changed and right now it was stabilized at 1 :

2.5. This means 75,000 becomes

187,500 and it was only the base price.

The seller would obviously want to make a profit, so the total cost would be at least

250,000, or 100,000.

Sure enough, even without taking all that into account, Kazu and Shuna's expressions turned ugly, while Emilia only showed a hint of discomfort. Their monthly salary were not based on Yen, but Guild Contribution Points (GCP) which has the same worth as

Gold coins.

Every month, as the core members they received 1,000,000 GCP and it used to be worth 500,000. After the inflation, their salary next month would be reduced to 400,000. It was an unfortunate conclusion, but the change of rate has been unpredictable anyway. But now, they already have to spend a quarter of it.

As the option not to spend money

Well, basically they could, but Astrid's advice was reasonable. Without Life Insurance scroll, they would be constantly exposed by the risk of the death penalty. Since the Resurrection skill or item would definitely be used, it wouldn't just be one or two deaths.

'The exercise this time is undoubtedly a risky one and we need a lot of preparation, including Life Insurance Scrolls. But, to think they already shaken from the costs... This might affect their mind and make them refuse to participate!'

Realizing this, Leon coughed.

"In this exercise, the guild will pay the cost of 20 Life Insurance Scroll, 30 Hi-Potion and Hi-Ether Box for each of us."

Hearing this, Kazu and the others' expression became relaxed.

Sure enough, money was the root of all trouble, but also the one that makes the world go round!

Leon's sight shifted to the direction of the last Seven Stars, Hecate. Ever since the start of the meeting, Hecate hasn't speak even one word and just sat silently in her seat.

Hecate ; ;

Hecate, the Archwitch, Human. This girl who looked like a middle school student joined shortly after Kazu and his two female friends. Then, after getting along with her, she has become one of his loyal(?) supporter. Despite her petite body, she actually had a brilliant mind. Her job was to devise battle plans, especially raid battles. Leon had spent a lot of time learning about strategy, but in the end he could only admit that Hecate was better than him in that aspect. If Astrid was the master strategist of management, then Hecate was the master strategist of war! Normally, Hecate should be the commander and direct everyone to win. However, she has unsociable personality and seems hated to be in the spotlight. She said that she doesn't have the charisma to become a commander, and it was Leon who does. In the end, she handed all of her battle plans to Leon and let him become the commander in her stead. This was definitely a fatal flaw, especially during battles where the situation changed quite often. But luckily, Leon's ability as a strategist wasn't bad and he was able to improvise well without any difficulty. In addition, Hecate's strategy has always been flexible and easy to maneuver. As an Archwitch, Hecate had chosen to thread the water path. She can sweep the field easily using her AOE water spells. And despite being a caster class, Hecate was surprisingly agile and has fast response. Her movement was like a ninja. She can do a high jump, somersault in the air, even running in a vertical structure. Perhaps, this was the main reason why she leveled up so fast. Like Rena-cchi, her Human trait did not give her any ability. In exchange, she also did not have any weakness or restriction of choosing her Subclass.

Leon asked Hecate about her opinion.

"Hecate, do you have anything to add? This is your report, after all."

He couldn't help noticing that Hecate had changed her robes into something else since their last meeting. The clothes she wore were not rare equipment and were even sold in native shops. He had seen many low level players wear it. 

Hecate was silent for a moment to think about the words she was going to say before answering.

"Hmm... If I may add, you should buy two rings called the Ring of Death Warding. Two of these rings are required in order to block Insta-death attacks. Those rings can be bought at Ornus Village."

"I see, noted that."

Leon opened his interface and added the name of the ring to his memo.

As expected, Hecate was able to see what he had missed. Without this ring, they might waste a lot of Life Insurance Scroll in that floor. If that's the case, then they can only cry.

"Next, I recommend you to wear wind elemental armor and drink Wind-resist Potion. This is just a countermeasures for Black Phantom. He(?) definitely is a wind-based Archwizard and this can cut the damage from his spells by 75%."

"Black Phantom..."

"You might be vulnerable to water-based attacks by doing that. But as far as I know, there's no enemy using water attacks in that dungeon."

Hearing the name of Black Phantom, the expression of everyone in the room suddenly tensed. And the room suddenly became noisy, filled with swearing words.

• • Shuna: Yes, there was still this threat roaming freely.
  • Grim: It would be devastating if this wretched punk ambushed us again.
  • Emilia: Fortunately, Hecate had reminded us before it was too late. 
  • Rena-cchi: That jerk... I'll definitely hack his(?) ##$$!

Leon also gritted his teeth. He silently decided to order a new full-set wind armor after this meeting is over.

But, Hecate wasn't done yet. She waited for the chatter to subside before continuing.

"Also, I think I shouldn't participate on this exercise."

"What? Hecate-cchi, what do you mean?"

Everyone was equally surprised by Hecate's words, but Rena-cchi was the one who shouted first. All of the eyes gathered at Hecate, waiting for her to answer.

Facing their attention, Hecate only said flatly.

"If I participate in this exercise, the party EXP distribution can't be set to Even Share. Then, my spells definitely will hog most of the Battle Contributions. If that happens, everyone can only gain a small amount of EXP."

She continued.

"You've already paid so much to prepare Life Insurance Scrolls. I can't let you go home with meager results."

"Hecate-cchi..."

Rena-cchi was touched with Hecate's kindness.

To set the party EXP distribution to Even Share, all of the party member's level difference must be less than ten. When this option is selected, everyone in the party will share the EXP gain, regardless of Battle Contribution.

Battle Contribution was the measurement of how much the party member contribute in the battle, such as dealing debuff and damage to the enemies, or buffing and healing the allies.

If the Even Share option cannot be selected, it is Rena-cchi who is at a loss. As a support class, her opportunities to contribute were limited to healing and buffing. It couldn't be compared to the damage dealer's contribution like Hecate, who has AOE spells at her disposal.

Hecate's high level was already well known among the people in this room. She has her character info within the guild set to secret, as do the other Seven Stars. But everyone knows that the level difference must be more than ten.

"Rather than wasting our time, I prefer to do some quest and raise my level to defeat Black Phantom!"

"I see..."

Leon who was the guild leader can only look at Hecate's with complicated expression.

As the guild leader, he has the right to view all of his guild members information, regardless of their personal setting. When he looked at Hecate's information, he found out her level already reached 132.

"Her level increased again..."

This loli was like sitting in a rocket.

Leon already experienced the difficulty of leveling after reaching level 100 and spent a great effort to regain the lost level. He even reached level 109 from the previous level 107 and knew how much difficult was that. But this difficulty should be far lower than Hecate whose level had reached 120+.

However, she increased her level to 131 like it was nothing. And today, she leveled up again to 132.

Was this girl still human?

Leon somewhat missed the old days where he and the Seven Stars were still partying together. Back then, they were just friends from the same guild who hanging out together for fun.

But after some time, the Tenkawa family put him under pressure. And by the flow of circumstances, the Genesis Guild turned into a business. The guild began to enter the fierce competition and start fighting for resources. His seven friends turned into Seven Stars, with Leon leading them as The Radiant Sun.

Leon can only sigh, those good old times will never come again.

Looking at Hecate, she didn't seem interested in waiting for the others to catch up. She's always walking forward, never stopping for anyone. Perhaps, in her view, she did not care anything other than becoming stronger and defeating Black Phantom.

In that case, what can he say?

At least, Hecate's loyalty was on his side(?) and not any others, not even Black Phantom!

With that thinking in his mind, Leon breathe a sigh of relief.

; <td colspan="5">Must be Priestess and its advancement classes. Exclusive to virgin woman. (Lost after sex) <td colspan="5">Must be Knight and receive the Light Church baptism. (Replaced by Heretic if betray) <td colspan="5">Have a great contribution by the said Church. (Lost if the relationship turned hostile) <td colspan="5">Betray any Church. Can't be removed except by the said Church. <td colspan="5">Must be Thief and its advancement classes. <td colspan="5">Must be Warrior and its advancement classes. <td colspan="5">Must be Thief, Archer, and their advancement classes. <td colspan="5">Enter any religion organization and became a devout believer.;

	Human	Elf	Beastkin	Dwarf	Draconid
Acrobatics				X	X
Alchemist				X	X
Appraiser			X		X
Architect
Blacksmith		X
Brewer			X
Carpenter		X
Chef			X		X
Collector		X	X	X	X
Farmer
Merchant
Pimp/Prostitute
Runemaster			X		X
Tailor					X
Holy Maiden
Holy Knight
Guardian of <...>
Heretic of <...>
Poison User
Sword Master
Tracker
Zealot

Note:

• Draconids were notorious to break things easily by the production classes. They have good STR but low DEX efficiency, so their system assist to make items is weak.
• Native that can bestow Collector subclass is a Noble, has Human supremacy belief and despise other races.
• Beastkins have unique smell(s) that affects the taste of the dish. This did not fail the dish and only slightly changed the taste, but it was not liked by most of the chef trainers in human settlements. The same reason also applied to Brewer.

  It's not that they can't, but they just haven't met a willing teacher to teach them.

  If they want to become chefs and brewers, they have to learn from other place.

  Grim is a werecat but he managed to become a brewer.