A Different Jianghu (2)

"Lucien C-something, you wanna talk to us or not?" Purple Sun and the others taunted him, "Meh, turn on your mic. Don't just listen to us talk!"

The odds were 50-50, either they believed him or they don't. They might recognize his voice and trust him. Just as he was going to turn on the mic function, he hesitated upon hearing the following.

"Maybe it's a good thing that Ash Knight wasn't around. Right, Snowman?" MarcoYolo said. "I know you're just making use of him, hehe."

"Shut up! Don't spout rubbish in front of strangers!" Snowman retorted.

Wait, what were they talking about? Making use of him? Were they hiding some secrets? Lucas decided that he would not reveal himself just yet. Maybe he'd pretend to be a real noob.

[Team Text Chat]

Lucien Cavalier: I'm sorry. How do you turn on the mic for voice chat? Haven't tried that before.

The others burst out laughing upon seeing his message. This 'newbie' was one-of-a-kind who didn't even know how to turn on simple functions.

"You're worst than a noob, I doubt you have any gaming experience," Purple Sun scorned him.

[Team Text Chat]

Lucien Cavalier: Ugh, yah. I've only been here a few days and still trying to figure things out. Any tips? And who's this Ash Knight you talked about?

MarcoYolo began feeding him the information, "Well, well. DOJ is an amazing game but you came to the wrong server, newb. This is one of the oldest servers filled with veterans like us, see the difference in our level? You're only Level 3…gosh, go join the newer servers! You'll have an easier time there. As for Ash Knight, he's just Snowman's tool to help him level up faster. Shh, hahaha, I just exposed his secret!"

He was a…"tool"?

"Ahem, I'm gonna kill you," Snowman sounded serious.

"Chill, he's just a newbie who has no idea what's going on. I doubt he'll even remember this conversation. You just treat Ash Knight as a 'dungeon machine', no? Don't tell me you'd be friends with him if he wasn't such a high level player." MarcoYolo's words ringed in Lucas's ears.

So now he was a "tool" and "dungeon machine"? He didn't know his clan members used these names on him. He could accept being called a 'dungeon machine' though the term sounded derogatory; he was indeed obsessed with analyzing and passing dungeons. But he didn't like being someone's "tool".

"That's the pot calling the kettle black! You guys treat him as a dungeon machine tool, I know that." Snowman emphasized. "If Ash ever hears about this, you're all going down with me. I don't care."

So…this was what they called him behind his back? And every time they needed help, they'd come calling him "Clan Leader" or "Ash the Great"?

"Oh, c'mon. You hoped he doesn't log in again, ever. You've been eyeing the clan leader position, no? That's why you tried to lead the Clan Wars…terribly. Hahaha." Geniuz pointed out the truth.

Lucas had heard his team members chat in the past but this was the first time he found out what they talked about without Ash Knight's presence. Unknown to them, the newbie whom they thought was not a threat at all, was paying serious attention to every word they said.

He wondered how many members in Knights of Freedom thought of him this way too. The people that he believed were part of the family he created merely treated him like a tool. And Snowman whom he thought he could trust had concealed himself so well that he didn't sense his intentions of becoming the clan leader.

"Dear Lucas, you're too naive. You definitely need to learn how to judge the people around you…" he recalled what Janson said to him on the yacht.

The Jianghu he knew started to feel different. He thought the DOJ realm was one where he could trust, one where he had friends. Was his friendship one-sided all along? The buddies that teamed up with him and everyone in his clan…was he just a 'tool' to them? Was this transmigration a chance for him to stop being naive and grow up?

"Oi newbie, I think you'd better quit this server. Bye bye." Snowman spoke in an unfriendly tone before kicking him out of the team, probably afraid that he'd hear other things that weren't meant for his ears.

[You have been removed from Snowman's team.]

Despite hearing those comments, he wasn't disheartened yet. This was the very game that lighted up his life when his world was dark. DOJ was his escape from reality, he didn't want to believe it was similar to the cold-hearted world where he came from. And he really needed to learn how to identify a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Back to square one, he continued his daily missions alone, trying to not think about the conversation he wasn't meant to hear. He concentrated on reaching his first milestone - Level 10. After that, he'd able to learn the first skill besides Basic Attack.

It took him close to an hour to finally complete every task on the daily missions list. He completed several other side quests and tasks that were typically assigned to newbies to let them familiarize themselves with the game, like talking to various NPCs and learning about how to assign skill points.

Checking his status screen, Lucas saw that he was now Level 4. During the beginning stages, players could level up rather faster as experience points were easier to gain. Judging from the pace he was going, he should be able to reach Level 10 in about a week, or earlier. Because while everyone was sound asleep, he'd be online in this world, gaining all the Silver Leaves, experience points, and everything else he can to become stronger.