Chapter 10: The Hunt Begins

Chapter 10: The Hunt Begins

It didn't take much for Zaphro to convince the players he approached for help. Each of them quickly aligned with the goal—everyone wanted to clear the Meldivar map. And so, a strong party was formed to begin the boss hunt.

Party Members:

Verillion (Elementalist) - Level 82

Zaphro (Dark Angel) - Level 75

SlicerDM (Blade Master) - Level 73

Ayana (Summoner Mage) - Level 74

Shion_rio (Assaulter) - Level 75

Aryus (Dragonknight) - Level 70

Jin (Warrior Knight) - Level 69

Erenir (Sorcerer) - Level 68

Erik_Hertz (Wizard) - Level 68

Each of them was high-level enough to not have any real trouble as long as they worked together. Their party was a complete package: buffers, damage dealers, tanks, and hybrid support types capable of both close- and long-range combat.

After the meeting, Zaphro and Slicer took some time to bind their newly acquired items—pendants and capes. Their friends tagged along to the NPC shop since there wasn't much else to do at the time.

"Hey Aryus," Zaphro said casually. "I've got a rare armor set that would fit your class. Interested? I'll give you a Molten Axe for free. Just pay for the set. Don't worry—I'm a cheap seller."

"I'd be crazy to say no to that," Aryus chuckled. "Will 50 million do?"

"Sounds good to me," Zaphro agreed.

They quickly initiated a trade.

Aryus inspected the armor set the moment it was in his inventory. "Whoa! This is amazing, man. You sure 50M is enough for this?"

Zaphro simply nodded in response.

The rest of the team peeked at Aryus's new gear and voiced their admiration.

"Damn! Titanium Alloy Full-Plated Set! High defense and lightweight, so you get movement speed bonuses too. That's beastly," said Jin, clearly impressed.

"And that weapon—Fire element, right? Magma-based. One of the strongest fire types with a burn effect," Verillion added.

"Yup, that's right," Ayana agreed with a nod.

"There'll be even more gear like that if this hunt is successful," Slicer chimed in.

"I want a powerful set too. I'm getting hyped," Erenir grinned.

"Same here!" Erik echoed.

The group spent a while longer discussing strategies and gathering valuable information. Zaphro also took the time to read through some important in-game manuals and consulted with both NPCs and veteran players. Before logging off, they all agreed to meet at the village entrance the next day at exactly 1:00 PM.

---

Back in the Real World…

After logging out of Enigma Online: Philippines, Zeke returned to his usual routine: waking up, eating, and going to school. That evening, freshly home and relaxing on the couch, he found himself watching TV.

The show featured the game itself, Enigma Online: Philippines, and a Game Master was currently being interviewed. The host mentioned that the game had skyrocketed in popularity all across the Philippines—even in remote areas, players were logging in. Apparently, a wealthy businessman had invested a large sum into the game's future, meaning players could expect major updates soon.

Then came an unexpected revelation.

The GM began talking about a system patch check that had been carried out three months after the game's launch. During the analysis, the dev team had discovered something unusual—an anomaly in the Angel class.

A mysterious sub-class had been mistakenly launched alongside the base game. It was still a prototype—unfinished, unbalanced, and unknown even to most of the devs. They called it the Dark Angel sub-class.

This was Zeke's class.

According to the GM, the sub-class received abnormal stat growth—double the usual stat and skill points per level—and an extremely high chance of obtaining rare to epic loot drops. However, it also suffered from a slow leveling rate, making it difficult to notice right away.

"No wonder things felt off," Zeke murmured, eyes fixed on the screen.

The GM continued. "I'd also like to use this opportunity to reach out to the player who created the Dark Angel sub-class character. If you're watching this, please contact us using the information now appearing on screen. We need to discuss a few important matters."

The GM's name flashed beneath him: Kaizen.

Zeke quickly jotted down the contact details: a phone number and an email address.

He would call tomorrow—it was a Saturday, no school. For now, he went to eat dinner. Later that night, unable to sleep, he logged back into the game.

---

In-Game...

Zaphro spawned back at the Frontier Village's respawn area—the same place he had last logged out. However, he felt an urge to return to the Village of Light for a quiet walk.

Using a Recall Scroll, he instantly teleported there. As always, the village remained eerily empty—no other players in sight.

He took a seat on a bench not far from the spawn point. The lamp post nearby had no light, leaving that section of the town in shadow. There, Zaphro fell into deep thought, wondering what exactly the Game Masters wanted from him.

Then suddenly—a flash of light.

A new player appeared in the respawn area. It was a teenage boy with the IGN: Accel. He looked around, confused and disoriented, clearly a newbie. Wearing nothing but swim trunks and barefoot, he seemed lost.

Zaphro stood up from the bench and began walking toward him. He figured he might as well lend a hand.