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"Excuse me, sorry to bother you. May I join your party?"
"May we know your name, miss?" I asked the girl for her name.
A girl with long, flowing black hair asked us to accept her into our party. She came to us alone. Maybe she didn't know anyone here, which is why she asked us to let her join our party.
"My name is Roro Ayu. I'm a marine science student. My campus is nearby, and I live alone in Jakarta."
"So she's a university student (I thought to myself). You don't have a party yet?"
"That's right, I don't have a party. I don't know many people. If it's okay, I'd like to join your party."
"But..." I hesitated. I looked at the others, and they nodded.
"Please..." she pleaded.
"Alright, you can join our party. But if we face monsters again, you have to be able to fight—at least to protect yourself."
"Of course! Thank you so much, big bro." She was very happy and shook my hand.
"Please don't call me that. My name is Jaya Kusuma. You can call me Jay. This is Bima, Loka, and our party leader, Arya." I introduced myself and the others.
"Nice to meet you all."
She was the last member of our party. Now, with five players—me, Arya, Bima, Loka, and Roro—we had a complete party. We were ready to face the next Quest.
[System: Your party is complete. Please prepare to begin the Quest.]
"Alright, everyone! Our party is complete. We have to be ready for the next Quest. It starts in about 30 minutes. Get yourselves ready," Arya instructed us.
"Yes!" we all replied.
30 Minutes Later...
The gate appeared again, this time with more of them. Our party was ready for whatever would emerge from those gates. So were the other parties, prepared to kill the monsters that would come.
"Please! Someone, anyone! Is there a party that needs one more member?! Please, I don't have a party!"
A middle-aged man was shouting and pleading to be included in a party. But no one helped him—not even us, because our party was already full.
Then, right as the system timer hit 00:00...
"Ahhh, nooo!"
The man exploded without a trace. His body was completely obliterated, leaving only blood behind. He wasn't the only one—others suffered the same fate. It seemed that those without a party were eliminated by the system.
Players around us could only watch in fear. They were afraid the same thing would happen to them. But there was no other choice. We all had to follow the system.
"Listen to me! No one attacks until I give the signal. Understood?" Arya ordered.
"Yes!" we responded in unison.
Then the monsters appeared. More of them than in the first gate. Buto Ijo and goblin troops returned through the gate.
This time, there were flying monsters—bat-like creatures with the face of an ape, large black eyes, sharp claws, and gray fur. Their wings spanned up to 3 meters. These flying monsters were called Ahool.
"Attack!" the other parties shouted.
With high spirits, the parties attacked the monsters using blades, firearms, and anything they could use as weapons. They managed to kill several monsters.
Compared to the first gate, these players were fearless—even seemingly ready to die. And it showed—they were able to take down the monsters one by one.
Despite so many players involved in the battle, inter-party cooperation was strong. No one cared where anyone was from. If someone needed help, others jumped in. Their sense of humanity and sympathy remained strong.
"Why aren't we attacking? Come on, Arya! Aren't you the leader? Tell us to attack!" Bima shouted.
"No! Wait for my signal. That's the plan!"
"But why not attack now? Doesn't the Quest say we have to kill all the monsters from the gate? If we wait too long, the other parties will kill them all!" I urged Arya.
"That's right. If we don't kill them, we might fail the Quest and die. The others have already taken out so many. Don't worry about us dying—we can handle ourselves," Loka added.
"I said wait for my command!" Arya insisted.
"But when?!" Bima was growing furious.
"Help! Help me!"
A woman from another party screamed. She was being carried into the sky by an Ahool, right in front of our party. Bima readied his bazooka and fired. The shot hit the Ahool in the head, causing it to drop the woman. She was caught by her party members below.
Then Bima fired again, killing another Ahool.
"I don't know what your plan is, but I'm attacking now. Come on, Bima!" Loka charged forward.
"Alright, bro!"
Seeing Loka and Bima charge, Roro and I joined them. We left Arya behind as we fought the monsters.
"You guys...!" Arya growled.
I grabbed an AK-47 from a military post and began shooting monsters. My shots took down several of them.
Together, Bima, Loka, Roro, and I defeated a number of monsters. But more kept coming. My bullets were running low, as were everyone else's.
What I didn't understand was why Arya just stood there. He watched us fight but didn't help. This wasn't like him—he fought fiercely in the first gate. What was he doing?
At the same time, I sensed something was off. Dozens of monsters had appeared, yet the gate remained open. These monsters were also weaker than before. It felt like something was triggering all this. But what?
Out of ammo, I tossed the AK-47 and drew two daggers from the military post to continue fighting.
While battling, I saw Arya running toward the monsters. Sword in hand, but not to fight—he was after something. He charged forward, ignoring the monsters around him.
Finally, he slashed a goblin wearing a skull necklace. It held a staff and stood near the gate. It was unlike the other goblins—none of them carried staffs or wore necklaces. Arya cut it in half.
Once the goblin was dead, the gate began to close. No more monsters came through. So that was it—that was the real enemy. Without Arya killing it, monsters would've kept coming. Now, we could finish off the remaining monsters with ease.
At least, that's what we thought...
"Hahaha..." an evil laugh echoed. "You did well, human. If not for you, the others would've fought until they all died!"
A skeletal being appeared from the goblin's corpse.
"A talking monster?!" everyone gasped.
It wasn't an ordinary goblin. After it died, black smoke poured out of its body. The smoke engulfed it, transforming it into a horrifying monster with a skull face, wizard robes, and a staff topped with a skull. It had no legs—just a massive floating form.
"Hahahaha! Let me introduce myself. I am Wandering, the magic caster who will wipe out all humans on this Earth! Hahahaha..."
"N-NO WAY! His stats are off the charts! No human can beat that!" I shouted in disbelief after seeing his status.
----------------------- [STATUS] -----------------------
NAME : WANDERING LEVEL : 20
JOB : MAGIC CASTER RANK : B+
TITTLE : DARK WIZARD KING
HP : 1000 RACE : DEMON
MP : 500
SPONSOR :
SKILL : ATTACK (LV. 20), DEFENCE (LV. 15),
MAGIC (LV. 20), WEAPON CAPABILITY (LV. 17)
SPECIAL SKILL : DARK MAGIC
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To Be Continued