117 Chapter 117. Gathering in Front of the Dungeon Entrance

"Are you on the way to the Dungeon as well?" Jeanny asked.

"I am," Jack replied as he picked up the last of the loot.

"We are almost late; we had better leave now," he added.

Jeanny agreed, and they decided to go together since they were heading to the same place.

"So you all are from the Wicked Witches?" Jack asked.

"We are," Jeanny answered.

"Will all of you enter the dungeon as well?"

"No, only a party with a maximum of ten people can enter. I will be entering together with Warpath and three others from our guild," Jeanny answered. "These three will be securing the area around the Dungeon entrance."

"You are the helper for the White Scarfs' side, right?" The female Magician asked. "Why didn't you come together with White Scarfs?"

Before Jack could answer, one of her companions chimed in, "They did come together, right? Do you not remember he was with a team that defeated the Ogre and those Cave Trolls. They must have gone to the ruins first."

"I see," the female Magician said as if coming to a realization.

"I didn't realize White Scarfs experts could be that strong. I always thought our guild had better experts despite having fewer members at the moment," the Ranger said.

Jack was amazed by their ability to weave their opinions into a story. They had asked him a question, but now they were happily chatting without even needing his answer. Jack had a feeling that they might even have forgotten his existence. He didn't mind, though; it saved him from having to create an explanation. He only smiled at the situation as they walked together.

When Jack saw some red dots not far in front of them, he told the girls to make a detour.

"Why?" They asked. "Our destination is straight ahead according to the map."

"It will be faster," Jack said.

"How can taking a roundabout way be faster than going straight? You don't make any sense," the female Magician insisted.

Jack was perplexed. He couldn't just tell them that he could detect hostile monsters, could he? Not that they would believe him anyway.

"Could it be that your teammates who passed here first told you to take the roundabout way?" Jeanny asked.

"Yes! They said there are monsters ahead, so we will get held up if we head straight. It is better if we avoid them," Jack immediately played along. He was thankful again for their imaginations.

He took the lead and guided them along the way, evading the monsters in the grove. Not long after, they approached the rendezvous. They could even hear some people chatting in the distance.

"Weird, why did our journey suddenly become so peaceful? We had been fighting monsters all the way up, but we haven't even seen any since you joined us," the Ranger commented.

"We must thank Mr. Storm Wind for leading the way," Jeanny said. "Your teammates are very kind to give you such guidance so we could save time."

Jack just replied with a smile; he did not intend to correct their misunderstanding.

"We are still late, though; it is past 8 AM already," the Magician commented.

"Let's pick up the pace then," Jeanny said.

They were only late by ten minutes, Jack didn't think it was a big deal, but he increased his walking speed. As they neared the meeting point, they discovered that the chatting they had heard was not of the merry kind. It sounded rather intense.

As Jack climbed up a sloping cliff, the ruins came into view. In front of him was the ruin of what had been a majestic structure. Now, not a quarter of it was left standing, but he could still see its grandeur from what was left. There were some ribbed vaults left standing that implied a large hall had been there in the past. Some of the walls were still standing,  supported by several flying buttresses.

Jack could identify the dungeon entrance at a glance. It was an energy portal at the furthest part of the ruins, resting on a cliff. The portal had a silvery surface that constantly changed as if made of liquid.

Underneath the ruins, Jack could see many people gathering. There seemed to be two groups that were having a discussion at the moment. Jack came over with Jeanny and the others and was surprised to find out that, apart from people from White Scarfs and Wicked Witches, there were also people from Death Associates. Scarface was arguing with Silverwing and Queen Magenta. Red Death, Bigarm, Stonecleave, and even Blackjack were standing behind him.

Red Death glared at Jack when she noticed him coming. There was a glint in her eyes when she looked at him. She soon returned her attention to Silverwing and Queen Magenta. Another person stared at Jack, but, unlike Red Death, he kept staring at Jack with hostility. Jack ignored Blackjack's stare and Inspected the people he knew with his God-eye monocle.

Most of them had also increased by one level, like Jeanny. Selena and Silverwing were now level 14, Sinreaper, Bluedaze, and Queen Magenta were level 13. They must have been grinding for experience yesterday in preparation for today's dungeon. Warpath was still level 14, the same as yesterday. He also inspected Honeycomb and Dashrunner, who he had not seen for a while; they were level 13. Grimclaw was nowhere to be seen.

Jack turned his attention to the Death Associates' people. Scarface and Red Death were level 14, while Bigarm and Stonecleave were level 13. Blackjack, who was hanging out with them, was also at level 13.

There were several other players who Jack did not recognize, standing beside Scarface. When Jack saw their names, he immediately knew which guild they were from. It was another famous guild called Corporate United. This guild was unique as it required its members to change their in-game username or alias when they joined the guild, adding a corporate rank before their name.

These were Manager Steelhand, a level 14 Fighter, Assistant Manager Ironhand, a level 13 Ranger, Supervisor Killmonger, a level 14 Fighter, and two level 13 Magicians, Associate Trustaide and Associate Clearsky. Associate Clearsky was the only female amongst them.

'Peniel, is there any way to change your name?' Jack asked Peniel after seeing those Corporate United people.

'No, why do you ask?' She answered from her hidden dimension.

"Nothing important," Jack said with a grin. Those Corporate United would regret following their tradition in this game world when they found out they could not change their names. In previous games, they changed their rank names when they got promoted or demoted, allowing them to distinguish their positions in the guild clearly. If they could not change their names, no matter what new rank they earned, it would undoubtedly create chaos amongst them.

"What are you smiling about? You are late, and you still have the guts to smile," Warpath criticized when he saw Jack's grin.

Jack frowned, 'The heck was this guy's problem? Did he seriously mean to pick a fight whenever they met?'

Queen Magenta, who heard Warpath's words, turned around. She looked at Jeanny, who had come together with Jack, and said with displeasure, "Why are you with that nobody? I told you to follow me to come here already this morning. It's because you are hanging around with him that you became late and showed a lack of discipline."

"No, it's not like that," Jeanny protested. "Strong monsters attacked us, and it was only because of Mr. Storm Wind that–"

Queen Magenta's face turned ugly when she heard Jeanny defending Jack. She cut her off in mid-sentence, "You should choose the people you hang around with more wisely. If you hang around with rubbish, you will also become rubbish. You are only in this guild because of your family. Do not flatter yourself that you are an important person in the guild!"

She did not bother to hear more of Jeanny's explanation as she turned her attention back to the people from Death Associates and Corporate United.

Warpath gave a mocking smile after Queen Magenta insulted them. Jack ignored him, saying to Jeanny, "Don't bother about that granny; she must be having her period today."