GAMBER - Welcome Party Mirage Meeting

JONEL POV

My room is the exact size as my room at home, but this room is better. The bed and cabinet cannot compare with everything in my house because everything there is old. However, the unique thing here is that I have a pillow. I never use a pillow because my pillow at home is like a rock due to old age, evolving from charcoal to diamond.

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JONEL POV

After closing my eyes for almost 4 hours, I couldn't sleep. I was thinking about what work I would do in the group.

"I forgot that I'm here because I'm just a porter. Why would I need to worry?"

I managed to sleep for 2 hours, better than nothing. So, I came out at sunset, and the one who greeted me was Anna, who was on the couch.

"Hmm... hi?"

"Hello!" I greeted her with a smile, and she responded with a blissful smile, so happy that she even let out a laugh.

"I need to buy my equipment for the expedition and want to know more details."

"Better go to Carl."

Then we went to Carl's room to set up a meeting and get to know the people here, and introduce myself.

Layla, Elina, and Shaina were drinking coffee at the table, and Carl was busy writing and signing documents. Being a leader is hard.

"Gather everyone there at the garden," Carl said to the butler and the head maid. Then we went to the garden.

'Almost a hundred people in the house were here.'

I was really shocked.

'They divided by themselves? They are very disciplined and know the drill. 14 craftsmen commanded by the head butler, 10 employee staff commanded by the head maid, and 60 more adventurer members commanded by Carl. I don't know, but I can guess their class. I worked for too long in a guild and 8 medics. Commanded by Layla. And 3 children' that's what i thought.

"14+10+60+8=95 in total. I thought there were more than 100."

Then we held a meeting. While it felt like a party for me, even the girls Elina and Anna wanted to talk to me. But I couldn't because Carl was talking to me and saying this and that.

"Yes," "Yes?" and "Yes!" became my ultimate answers to him.

Carl then mentioned that the group was not really 95, but originally 300+ people. They participated in a group called "GAMER," a super organization created by the government with a billion members worldwide. There were even adventurers with levels over 90 and a standard of 50+, but they all died during an expedition.

The phenomenon occurred when the location of all those people, the community, turned into an empire-like number. The earth shifted, and all the players were dragged to the ocean and buried alive under the ground.

"In other words, geo drift," Carl nodded.

"Why did gamers create a group?"

"I don't know, but they say they played this game and liked it. So, they created an organization and finished the dungeon, but..."

"Do you know what they meant?"

"What do you mean?" Carl is not a gamer.

"A gamer plays games online!"

"Online? A technique?"

"Do you have a phone?"

"Is it true?"

I was very sure it was impossible, but when I talked to Carl as if it were real, Elina, who was near me, seemed like she knew but didn't...

Shaina, the craftsmen, Layla, and Anna were looking at me like I had gone insane.

'There was a theory that a dungeon gets memories as its payment, but the government said it was a fluke,' and so it was not proven.

"Do you know Angry Birds? Dota? Fortnite? Valorant? League of Legends? Albion? World of Warcraft?" and more and more. As I started to tire, there's a fact that I really know now.

A dungeon eats memories. So that's why some people can't go inside the dungeon, and those people are the young ones.

"Carl! When we first met, you said the game was RPG, and you don't have any idea, so you play games?"

"What did I do? I have no clue."

Then, if it takes too long, I'm the only person who lives with intact memories. But if I go into the dungeon, it's like a payment ticket.

Knowing attack patterns, kiting techniques, and more, the world is really becoming more like fantasy games. But it's like counting down to the apocalypse; this is the truth.

"20 years, this was the countdown of humanity before the earth will be destroyed."

Then I calculated what will happen to me in these remaining years.

"Why are you murmuring? This is a welcome party for you. Use your common sense. What would we party for?"

Anna suddenly talked to me.

"Why would a porter have a party?" i question her.

"Carl will talk to you in the next few days about that!"

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JONEL POV

After a few days, the expedition will go to a place called the Medium Dungeon. There is no specific name for the dungeon, but it is referred to by the color of the aura emanating from the cave.

The aura is like smoke from a green house factory, but not black like it.

Beginners' dungeons are green, blue, or cyan. Medium dungeons are violet or red light. The dungeons with colors like orange, yellow, brown, dark blue, maroon, or any adventurer who enters never comes back, so it was never measured

The group's target is the Medium Dungeon, indicated by red light or violet.

"We will go to the dungeon in the next few days for the meetup with the next group," Carl announced.

He confessed that the group might not be the strongest, but the media claims they are, aiming to alleviate people's fear of the monsters that come out of the dungeon. Only two media channels remain in the world.

"Tomorrow, buy anything you need. You can go with the girls, and I'm going to finish all the necessary documents. Also, check your status at the guild practice area. Okay, I will go to the office room."

After Carl said this, the girls informed me that this wasn't the guild office but more like a rest house for the guild in the area.

'That's why many houses are like this on the other lot.'

They pointed out houses, which seemed like a compound, belonging to another guild in the area.

"There are no public markets here, but there is the Craftsman District. Everything needed to be an adventurer can be bought here, but the food is in the Food District. There are even classes that can cook. Everything changes in the world as I used to know it."

"So, the day after tomorrow, we'll go to the Craftsman and Food District for your needs!" Anna declared, with Elina excitedly chanting, "Food, food, food!"

Shaina, who was hiding in the corner, caught my attention. I could see her status mini-window, but I remained silent, thinking she might join us too.

Yesterday, I did nothing significant—just talked to the members of the house, looked at their statuses, but I noticed there were more mages than physical fighters. There were no buff or debuff user classes, and surprisingly, no physical ranged classes.

There were people mentioning that their classes changed after learning magic, raising whether you can change classes. I didn't know much about it.

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JONEL POV

This morning, I waited in front of the house at sunrise, but as the sun rose higher, no one came up to me.

"I'll go to their room," the headmaid said it was restricted, and the girls were still sleeping.

"What the hell? I thought they were coming with me?"

They were preparing their equipment for the expedition, as in the next five days, everyone would set out.

"They say you can just go now or go tomorrow."

Disheartened, I decided to go out to buy. As I reached the gate, Shaina, sitting in the shaded area by the tree, shouted, "I'll go with you!" when she saw me running.

"You think you can go away?" I teased her, but as I ran, 50 meters later, Kabooooom!* a hammer struck in front of me, creating a crater too.

"Why won't you wait for me?" Pouting, she readied the hammer to smack me.

"It was just a joke, don't be angry." I almost peed myself; she was a walking bomb.

"Okay, I will guide you! I know the way!"