The Gamble

[Maple Glade Outskirts]

The Hidden Origin guild had booked an entire wilderness area for leveling.

One of the Assassins moved swiftly, his figure appearing and disappearing, each appearance claiming the life of a wild boar.

Of course, these wild boars were low on health.

Other members of the Hidden Origin guild had reduced the wild boars' health, leaving them for the Assassin to reap.

"I didn't expect that Lucas would change his mind at the last minute."

"If he had taken the A-rank Shadow Veil talent, combined with Shadowsky's S-rank Void Annihilation, this first clear would definitely be ours, the Hidden Origin guild's."

"Hiddensink, why didn't you let Lucas take the S-rank Void Annihilation? Shouldn't the first Assassin be able to use the S-rank talent better than Shadowsky?"

"The performance isn't the most important thing. What matters is loyalty to the Hidden Origin guild. Do you think Lucas is loyal?"

Asked this way, the vice president next to Hiddensink was silent.

After a moment, Vice President [Dim Light] replied to Hiddensink: "No."

"Lucas is a very ambitious person."

Hiddensink chuckled: "That's right... if we give him the S-rank talent, his departure from the Hidden Origin guild in the future will greatly reduce the strength of our guild."

"Then... can't we just tell him in advance?"

"Heh, Lucas is the popularity king of the World Championship. Plus his skills. If we don't keep him, he'll go to other guilds. I won't be at peace unless he's here."

Dim Light seemed a little angry and questioned: "Even if we have to use some despicable means?"

"This is for the entire guild," Hiddensink replied calmly.

Thump—

Another wild boar fell.

Shadowsky, who was grinding monsters in the distance, also stopped: "President, that's 100."

"Okay, go back and turn in the task, then head straight to Ashwood Forest."

"Don't give other guilds a chance."

After Hiddensink gave the order, Shadowsky and his team returned to the city.

Just after Shadowsky left, [Undercurrent] from the talent department sent a message.

"President, we suspect that we have found a wild S-rank talent owner."

"Her name is Bella, according to the information, she seems to have a charging-type mage talent."

Attached to the chat message were some pictures and a video.

The video showed Bella chanting magic, charging up, and blasting wild boars.

"In addition, we also found a commoner pro player named Azure. His skills are... a bit monstrous."

"We suspect that this commoner pro player named Azure is a new account opened by Lucas."

After that, another video was attached.

In the video, Lucas used [Arcane Flash] to draw a nearly circular or S-shaped route.

Seeing this video, Hiddensink's pupils shrank involuntarily.

As the Hidden Origin guild, which mainly focused on Assassin profession, how could they not know the difficulty of this Arcane Flash operation?

If this was really Lucas, then his current skills would be several levels stronger than what he showed at the World Championships.

"Try to win over that player named Bella."

"Try to confirm if that player named Azure is Lucas. If it's Lucas, I want to talk to him again."

"If it's not Lucas, tell him that the Hidden Origin guild is willing to offer a price of 50 million, plus a monthly salary of 2 million, just to have him teach Assassin skill techniques in the Hidden Origin guild."

-------------------------------------

There weren't many players in front of the Ashwood Forest dungeon, but not few either.

Many players were leveling up nearby.

It was convenient to directly challenge the dungeon after reaching level 5.

However, most players were still at level 3.

Don't think that there are only 2 levels left to reach level 5, but it would take them nearly an hour to level up those 2 levels.

Therefore, the initial first clear competition had basically nothing to do with ordinary players.

By the time they reached level 5, the big guilds would have already taken the first clear.

In the early stages of leveling, either big guilds allocated different members and cooperated with the advantage of numbers, or, like Lucas, they had special means to quickly clear monsters and level up.

However, some people had arrived at Ashwood Forest earlier than Lucas.

At this time, there were already 5 players sitting in front of the dungeon entrance.

They had obviously run all the way here and were recovering their stamina. It was clear that their leveling speed was faster.

The other players looked at the team and discussed: "It's the Stargate guild."

"Is this their starting team?"

"Starshine, the Stellar Mage from the first server! He didn't change his ID, it seems that he got the S-rank talent again this time."

"I heard that he signed a lifetime contract with Stargate. His say in the Stargate guild is probably second only to the president."

"That's great. When can I become a professional player?"

The Stargate guild mainly focused on [Magic-type] professions.

The leveling speed in the early stages was naturally faster than that of the Hidden Origin guild.

However, it was only faster.

In just a few seconds, the Hidden Origin guild's starting team also appeared in the players' field of vision.

They quickly arrived in front of the dungeon entrance.

"Recover some stamina. After fully recovering, enter the dungeon directly." [Grey Tone] from the Hidden Origin guild's team gave the order.

Although he didn't have an S-rank talent, he served as the commander in the dungeon strategy. The commander's presence was very important in the dungeon strategy, even Shadowsky had to obey his orders.

Several Hidden Origin guild members sat down as ordered. Grey Tone scanned the surroundings and suddenly noticed a mage wearing a white cloth robe nearby. Her ID was Bella.

His eyes lit up slightly, and he suddenly remembered the message that the head of the talent department had just sent in the group.

So he went straight up and said, "Miss Bella."

"Cough."

Before he could make an invitation, Lucas from the other side blocked the two of them.

Grey Tone looked at the person who blocked him: [Azure]

Grey Tone wasn't annoyed: "Mr. Azure, you are indeed a team. Your performance in the suburbs just now was very dazzling."

"Our Hidden Origin guild has noticed talents like you, so we would like to ask if you have any intention of joining our guild."

"You are so skilled at Assassin operations, you should know that our Hidden Origin guild is the strongest Assassin guild. We will definitely not mistreat you."

"If you are willing, we can discuss the conditions immediately."

Hearing the other party's words, Lucas raised his eyebrows slightly: "Discuss the conditions now? What about your dungeon first clear?"

Grey Tone responded with a professional smile: "I'll go and play the dungeon, someone will replace me to discuss it with you."

Lucas smiled noncommittally: "What if I said, I want you to give me the dungeon first clear?"

The smile on Grey Tone's face gradually faded: "The dungeon first clear, even the Hidden Origin guild can only strive for. Azure, I hope you don't joke about this matter."

Just as the two were talking, a discordant voice joined the conversation: "Hey, how can you not call us for good things?"

Starshine put his hands in his pockets, raised his neck high, and smiled rebelliously: "Oh? It's Hidden Origin. Are you poaching people? This Bella is an S-rank talent player, right?"

He was petite, only 1.65 meters tall, and his hair was multicolored, like a child.

"How much is the Hidden Origin guild offering you? Our Stargate guild will offer you double."

Seeing the two guilds gather in front of him to poach people, this familiar scene couldn't help but remind Lucas of his previous life.

He was poached like this back then.

Thinking of what happened in the past, Lucas couldn't help but laugh: "You all want Bella to join your guilds, why don't you have a gamble."

"Bella can go to any of your guilds without any reward."

"But she will only go to the guild that gets the first clear."

However, hearing Lucas's suggestion, Starshine rolled his eyes and said: "Who are you? Can you make decisions for others?"

"I'm her brother." Lucas glanced at Bella.

Bella was suddenly made to make this decision. She hesitated, but finally nodded slightly: "I agree with the decision my brother made for me."

After all, her S-rank talent was given by Lucas.

Of course, the talent was secondary, and more importantly, she trusted her brother.

"I've only said half of it, my conditions haven't finished. If you get the first clear, Bella can go to your guild. But if our team gets the first clear, then each of your guilds must provide me with 1 million gold coins."

Hearing Lucas's request, Starshine couldn't help but cover his face: "Damn, are you crazy? Do you know the value of 1 million gold coins? That's 100 million!"

1 gold coin is 10,000 copper coins.

1 gold = 100 silver = 10,000 copper

The current market price for gold is 1 silver coin = 1 yuan, which means 1 gold coin is 100 yuan.

Lucas opened his mouth and wanted two hundred million.

Starshine's smile grew stronger: "Haha! Interesting! Who else is on your team?"

Lucas pointed with his finger.

"Me, Bella, and that warrior named Dauntless."

Starshine glanced at Bella and Dauntless.

These two people didn't seem like experts.

In Epochal World, a person's strength can be seen from all aspects of the details.

The way they hold the weapon, their posture, their eyes...

That Dauntless, I don't know what he's looking down at, he doesn't seem to be paying attention at all.

The only one who could be considered an expert on this team was probably Azure. He seemed to have no weaknesses at all.

But with only one expert, wanting to win the first clear was a bit of a fantasy.

"Haha, okay! I'll bet with you!"

"By the way, if guilds in other regions take the first clear, will that count too? If they get the first clear, will your sister have to join those guilds too?"

There are four starting cities in Epochal World, located in different areas of the map.

Currently, it seemed that the eight major guilds basically occupied a city with two guilds, which also meant that the two guilds had to compete for the first clear of the dungeon.

Hearing Starshine's question, Lucas simply replied: "Others don't count, only what we bet here counts."

Starshine patted his chest: "I agree on behalf of the Stargate guild."

Lucas nodded lightly. The Stargate guild was still very trustworthy, and Lucas had already recorded everything while he was talking.

Lucas looked at Grey Tone on the side: "What about you? If you don't agree to the bet, even if you get the first clear, Bella won't go to your guild."

Grey Tone frowned. He didn't expect things to develop so棘手: "I'm asking the president for instructions."

After a while, Grey Tone replied: "The president agreed."

After he said this, Starshine turned his head and headed directly towards the dungeon: "Have you rested enough? Let's get to work."

"Haha, our task has become heavier." The other starting members of the Stargate guild also stood up.

Their figures merged into the dungeon.

Seeing this, Grey Tone also immediately beckoned: "Rest is over. Enter the dungeon."

After this sentence, the starting team of the Hidden Origin guild also immediately entered the dungeon.

"Brother, do we need to team up with others? Are we going to enter the dungeon too?" Seeing them rush into the dungeon, Bella seemed a little anxious.

"There's no need to team up with others."

"Bella, learn a Ground Fire Burst, and max it out."

Ground Fire Burst is an elemental magic of the mage, which can be learned at level 5.

After releasing it, ground fire will burn from the ground, and after the ground fire charges up, it will erupt into the sky like a volcano.

The advantage is that the range is relatively large, and the damage is also high.

But the disadvantages are also very obvious. It takes a certain amount of time to charge, and the pre-motion is long.

If this skill is used to attack players, few players will be stupid enough to get hit.

However, this skill is very popular with mages for hitting dungeons and bosses that don't dodge skills.

"Dauntless, learn a Three-Stage Slash, and a Ground Shatter." Lucas commanded.

"Ah? How do I learn it?"

Lucas rubbed his forehead.

This Dauntless, is so new that he doesn't even know how to learn skills?

Lucas opened the [Basic Information] interface.

He glanced at the time.

Lucas recalled the time when other guilds cleared the dungeon for the first time in his previous life and had a rough prediction in his mind.

"There is still enough time before other guilds get the first clear."

His contact with Dauntless in his previous life was already in the mid-late stages.

Although he had heard about Dauntless's performance in the early stages, he had never seen it with his own eyes.

"This is your first time playing this game, right."

"Do you know the effect of your talent?"

Asked this way by Lucas, Dauntless scratched his head embarrassedly.

"I don't know."

Hearing Dauntless's answer, Bella was a little stunned, showing a terrified expression.

This person is an idiot, right? He's an idiot, right?

"Dauntless, open your status interface. There's a description of your talent there."

"Cough cough... Boss, how do I open the status interface?"

Geez...

He really was a game newbie who was rarer than a panda.

"You... swipe right, in the status bar, you can check the character information."

"Or directly call out, check personal information, you can also see it."

"The skill tree is also in the status bar."

"Brother... are we really going to take this idiot down to the dungeon?" Bella looked at Dauntless, and then at Lucas.

This was a genuine idiot!

"It's okay, who didn't come from the newbie stage."

Lucas pointed to his ears: "Also, switch the chat mode to team voice. Everyone else can hear us."

Bella pointed at Dauntless, her face full of suspicion: "Brother, aren't we going to get the first clear? Are we really going to take an idiot to get the first clear?" Bella switched the chat mode to team chat.

No matter how loud they spoke, others could no longer hear their conversation.

Originally, Bella had believed in Lucas, believing that Lucas could take them to get the first clear, after all, her brother was so great.

But now, Lucas must take this idiot down to the dungeon with them.

Even with an S-rank talent, he was indeed a genuine idiot!

Idiot, idiot, idiot!

Bella didn't know how many times she repeated the word "idiot" in her heart.

Questioned like this by Bella, Lucas just smiled lightly and said casually: "It's okay, the first clear will definitely be ours."

"Oh, I found it. Is this where you switch to team voice?" Dauntless didn't know what he was adjusting, but he did switch the chat mode to team chat.

And he also found his information bar.

"Damn? I'm actually an S-rank talent!?"

Hearing this sentence, Bella couldn't hold back: "You should have seen the talent level when you created the character! Why are you only finding out now!"

"Ah? I thought the newbie guide was verbose, so I kept skipping it. I only remember taking the sword, and then I skipped all the other prompts and came to this city."

Bella didn't know how to respond. How was this idiot newbie so skilled at skipping the tutorial?

"Boss, I've learned the skills."

"Okay, use the newly learned skills yourself, find the feeling, in one minute, we'll enter the dungeon."

"Okay!"

Bella was obviously a little anxious: "Brother! But they've already entered the dungeon! Are we still going to wait for him to get familiar with the skills?"

The Hidden Origin and the Stargate had already entered the dungeon. Not only did they have more people on their teams than they did, but they were all veteran players.

Now, they were even ahead of them in time.

"Don't worry, familiarizing yourself with the skills is very important. Let them have one minute."

At the same time, Lucas learned three skills on the skill tree, one was the mage's [Fireball], one was the grappler's [Sky Step], and the other was the shield warrior's [Ruthless Taunt].

Lucas sat on the stone in front of the dungeon, watching Dauntless try out his skills.

"Did you guys hear that? That team is going to compete for the first clear with the big guilds."

"Damn, I really believed it when that pretty girl named Bella was being snatched by the guilds at the beginning. But it turned out there was a moron on their team who didn't even know how to learn skills."

"Damn, wouldn't it be an insult to intelligence if such a team could get the first clear?"

"I think that Azure guy is just bragging. If they can get the first clear, I'll do a handstand and shit."

"Damn, isn't this directly selling his sister? Damn, this brother is really a bastard!"

"Actually, that Azure guy's skills should be pretty good. I saw him on the community forum just now, but... with an idiot burden... uh, never mind."

"Their team seems to only have three people, right? There are no other level five players nearby, are they going to clear the dungeon with three people?"

"Damn, the other guilds all have five people, and they've already entered the dungeon. These three people are still behind, what the hell are they doing?"

Bella, who was on the side, heard the discussions around her, her face was red, almost to the roots of her ears.

And Bella's heart couldn't help but start to wonder, had she really been sold by her brother? In the end, how was this configuration going to get the first clear?

Thinking of this, Bella's body couldn't help but tremble, and even her hands were slightly shaking.

But suddenly, Lucas grabbed Bella's hand.

"Don't mind them, trust your brother."

Dauntless tried the talent-enhanced [Three-Stage Slash] for the last time.

"Let's enter the dungeon."

"Enter Ashwood Forest, select the highest difficulty - Nightmare difficulty."