Level 10 Hurdle (1)

The smallest steps in the right direction will bring you towards your goal. Baby steps were better than status quo.

After days of completing daily missions, Lucas finally reached his very first milestone.

[Lucien Cavalier, congratulations on reaching Level 10! You have now unlocked the Sacred Temples Dungeon.]

That was exactly what he was waiting for. A dungeon for the dungeon machine was a piece of cake. It took Ash Knight only one attempt to complete this dungeon three years ago. He wasn't quite sure how long he needed now, seeing that he took longer than before to reach Level 10.

[Reminder: You need to clear the Sacred Temples Dungeon before you can advance further.]

Lucas remembered that so as much as he was looking forward to unlocking this dungeon, he was also dreading it. He would forever be stuck in Level 10 until he passed this dungeon.

He was getting a taste of how average players got through the game. At Level 10, all he had was Blue armor, the lowest tier of equipment. The amount of Silver Leaves he had wasn't enough to even buy a weapon in the Purple tier. Life without being able to spend any money in the game seemed rather…bleak. He took the express lane with Ash Knight by squandering money on the game.

If skills were the only thing required, he was pretty certain he could complete the Sacred Temples dungeon in one shot. Sadly, that wasn't the case. The dungeon required players to form a team of five players before they could enter. Based on his experience in the past few days, Lucas knew finding teammates wasn't his forte. Nobody would bother helping a Level 10 noob to complete this dungeon.

Even if he teamed up with bots, he was pretty sure they wouldn't be intelligent enough to dodge attacks in the final stage of the dungeon. He'd be left to fight on his own and get torn apart in seconds. His best option was to find a team of humans.

If courage could be bought, he'd gulp down a bottle of it before sending a message into the public chat.

[Public Chat Channel]

Lucien Cavalier: Looking for help to pass the Sacred Temples Dungeon. Anyone?

Today marks the first time in history that Lucas Yang, the top-ranking player in DOJ, was seeking help in a dungeon. Things used to be the other way around with people asking him for assistance.

[Public Chat Channel]

Sammy3209: Sacred Temples? A new dungeon?

DolphinSnow: Sounds kinda familiar…

Little Poodle: Dude, you serious? Or are you too bored with the game that you're trying to play a Level 10 dungeon???

Sammy3209: Level 10 dungeon, what?

xLoveAshx: This just made my day. Thanks for making me laugh.

Little Poodle: Hold on, this Lucien guy is just…Level 10?

xLoveAshx: Oh wow, you mean we actually have a NEWBIE here?

CandyPop: Run for your life man, this is not a place for you!

DolphinSnow: Earth is dangerous, go back to mars - I mean, change servers. Go to one of those that just launched recently.

Lucien Cavalier: Anybody mind helping me? It won't take up much of your time, I'd be grateful to you!

Little Poodle: Tbh, this is your smurf, right?

CandyPop: You won't find anyone here who'd bother to help you unless they're your friends. We're seasoned players here, we don't get any rewards for completing these low level dungeons so save your breath!

Friends? He wasn't so sure he had any. A leaf fell from the tree nearby. Lucas felt like he was that leaf, swaying in the wind, helpless.

Anyone of the players who responded to him could've easily helped him pass the dungeon swiftly. But the hard truth was that no one was obliged to help anyone. Nobody said stronger players were responsible for helping the weaker ones. Neither was there wasn't a rule which said the rich had to share all their money with the rest of the people.

Everything came to him easily when he was Ash Knight. Teammates, fame, power, fans, friendships - whether or not they were real - he had them. Even girls flocked to him.

He had heard negative news about DOJ before. Players complained it was hard to advance further without spending money, and there were idiots like RavenX who bullied weaker players. But he never had to deal with these because he was the cream of the crop. To experience the cruel side of things for himself now made him view his favorite game in a different way. Had he been just an average player, he wondered if he would have loved DOJ so much.

Failing to find any help, Lucas decided he would at least attempt to pass the dungeons with the bots to see if it was possible. He won't resign to his fate.

Swiping open the Dungeon List, he clicked the Sacred Temple Dungeon and selected [Create Team]. The system would automatically assign him bots if nobody joined his team after a period of time.

[Sunshine123 has joined your team!]

[Moonlight Reaper has joined your team!]

[Sakura Meow has joined your team!]

[Eternal Sun has joined your team!]

Seeing that these players were all dressed in their sect uniforms, Lucas was sure they were system-assigned bots. Because that was the only set of clothes bots ever wore in DOJ.

"Welcome to my team, bots! Now, listen to my command!"

No one responded, of course. Lucas was just doing it to entertain himself. It had been a while since he led a team to fight a dungeon. Being in the commanding position felt great even if nobody listening to him.

"Sakura Meow, you're the healer so focus on our HP. Eternal Sun, do your best to tank. Moonlight Reaper, we'll depend on your spells and Sunshine123, we'll deal damage to our enemies. Together, let's clear this Level 10 dungeon!"