Underground Ruins

Jacob, Henry, and Richard made their way inside the underground ruins.

They walked downstairs, hearing the faint echoes beneath. It sounded ghoulish as if they were stepping into the pits of hell.

Richard carried Alice upon his shoulder, keeping her tied up just in case she tried anything funny.

"Thank you for that." Jacob announced, catching both of their attention, "I'm grateful you didn't seal off the entrance, I can promise you that I won't try to escape. It's actually better if we go in together, so we can level up with one another."

Henry was taking the lead for their small group, confident in their capabilities.

He snickered at Jacob's words, nodding his head, "Of course, you're not so bad yourself. I'm surprised you decided to tag along after declining my orders on multiple occasions, saying it's 'too dangerous' to enter."

"Hahaha, well… after hearing your story and everything, I didn't want to be the bad guy and not help out a little."

"Hm? What do you mean by that?" Asked Henry.

"You were gonna let me and Alice go after I convinced you about us being trapped in this world," he smiled, "Right?"

"Hmph. Well of course I was! Killing players is now counted as actual murder, and I'm not some psychopath." Proclaimed Henry.

"Yeah, you're a good person, it's why I decided to help you guys out. If me and Alice left, then you both would've gone into the ruins by yourself, right?"

They continued walking down the stairs until Henry finally reached the underground ruins, where it was pitch black, "Yeah, that was our plan from the very beginning. Me and Richard were gonna explore this place and try leveling up, but when we came across you, we decided to hold you hostage and force you to follow us."

"I humbly apologize for that as well," Richard professed, "Me and Henry believed everything to be a joke, but now we see that it is not. We're trapped here inside the game, whether we like it or not."

"Yeah, the scary part about all of this is that other players may still think like you guys, believing this to be some joke."

"Indeed. Our Guild Master told the entire Swindlers Guild that everything will be back to normal and that this is merely some prank being done by the devs. I'm afraid of what our other guild members will do. Will they still go on their rampages, killing other players? Will they continue to-"

"Richard, that's enough. Let's not worry about that right now!"

Henry interrupted Richard, which caused him to bow his head.

"I apologize… It's just… other people are being killed because of some mistake that our Guild Master told everyone about. This isn't good for anyone! We must do something quickly once we complete these ruins."

"Right, I'm right behind you guys." Said Jacob.

("I can't believe it, did Jacob actually convince them to not seal off the underground ruins? They seem to be working together, but I still don't trust them. Jacob shouldn't either, he should've run while he had the chance; Not to mention, Alice had no say in this, considering she was knocked unconscious. What the hell are you doing Jacob?")

Legolas was creeping down the stairs, hiding in the shadows to mask his presence.

"Unfold." Henry opened his Personal Hub, scrolling through his inventory to equip a torch, "There, we now have light. This should last us at least 30 minutes in total."

"Uhhhhhghhhh!"

"Ghhhuhhhhhh!!"

"Oh shit! The undead! And there's a horde of them!" Richard shouted, nearly dropping Alice.

"Damnit, they must've seen us when I lit the torch. Hey, you, hold this!" Henry passed the torch to Jacob, to which he grabbed, "Let me handle this! From the looks of it, they're a bunch of level 20 fodder. Ha, what a joke!" Henry switched to his equipment, pulling out his mage staff, "Feel the power of a Mage Class, you disgusting fucks!"

Henry's weapon was known as the "Ice Gladiator", a Rare-grade weapon that allowed him to manifest ice into existence in many shapes and sizes. This could only be held by Mage Class players.

The only downgrade of this weapon was the MP(Mana points) drainage.

Each Weapon Grade has an MP Drainage inside Isekai World Online, such as:

{Low Grade: 1 Mana point each second of use.

Middle Grade: 2 Mana points each second of use.

High Grade: 3 Mana points each second of use.

Rare Grade: 4 Mana points each second of use.

Epic Grade: 5 Mana points each second of use.

Legendary Grade: 6 Mana points each second of use.

Supreme Grade: 10 Mana points each second of use.}

Mana points were important, and that's why saving as much as you can matters.

"Die!" Henry conjured a wave of ice, blowing away the undead.

Their bodies were flung around while some were trapped inside the Ice, suffering from the frostbite status effect.

"That should do it." The mana from his weapon would disperse, so he could reserve the rest of his MP, "That was easier than I thought! Ha, nothing can beat the frostbite status effect, it's overpowered as hell! Not to mention it slows the enemy down. Some level 40 can become as slow as a level 30!"

"Incredible, so that's the Ice Gladiator I heard so much about. It used to be meta about a year ago, but from constant updates, we had weapons that surpassed it." Jacob proclaimed.

"Yeah, I managed to get my hands on it; I can't lie and say I didn't steal it, because I sure the hell did." Henry said with a shrug, "But besides that, let's continue."

"Yes, let us continue… but I question this girl's odd behavior." Announced Richard.

"W-Who? Alice?" Asked Jacob.

"Yes, she's still asleep even through all of that noise, is that normal with her?"

"Well… yeah, she's a heavy sleeper. I'm sure she could sleep even through an earthquake."

"I see. But carrying her is becoming quite troublesome, I may need to wake her up soon."

"Alright, but before you decide that, let me know first!" Announced Jacob.

"As you wish." Responded Richard.

The three of them continued through a narrow passageway where the undead would spawn, but Henry managed to take out each one of them.

They didn't stumble across any high-ranking undead, so they felt lucky.

Richard felt quite useless about being unable to help Henry, but he was carrying Alice, so it made sense.

Jacob was quite skilled with his Archery, so he helped in most cases when it came to the undead.

("I have to keep quiet, at this rate they'll come across the traps set up here. I'm assuming they haven't read the guidebooks either, considering their lack of situational awareness. Every time you explore the underground ruins, you must always bring a bottled pixie with you, to emit light and to also guide you to the right path.")

Legolas stayed in the shadows of the dungeon, watching their every move.

It was pitch black, so his appearance couldn't be known unless they shone the torch at him.

("When the moment calls for it, I'll snatch Alice and bring her out of here, then come back for Jacob. He should be fine until I'm back, considering how well he's doing with the other two.")

"These hallways are so narrow, it's giving me the creeps…" Muttered Jacob.

"Hey… is it me, or is that a door in front of us? Does it lead to some other floor?" Asked Henry.

"I-I'm not sure… but it's best if we wake up Alice, so we can have the extra help just in case." Proclaimed Jacob.

"Alright, set her down, Richard, we'll let him handle her from here on out."

"Right…" Richard crouched down, setting Alice against the wall, undoing her bindings, "Alright, everything else is up to you, Jacob."

"Mhm, let me talk to her, and please do not interfere, it'll only make the problem worse," Jacob walked towards Alice, taking a deep breath, "Alright Alice, please don't punch me in the face…" Jacob stood in front of her, crouching down to place his hands against her shoulders, "Hey, Alice, wake up!" He shook her back and forth, trying to force her awake.

"Nnnn." Alice groaned, still asleep.

"Wake up, it's me, Jacob! Can you hear me?!" Jacob continued to shake her awake, but she instinctively pulled out a firearm, holding it toward his face, "Yikes!" Jacob fell back, landing on his ass, "W-What the hell? She was about to blow my head off!"

"Yeah, that's called the Gunner instinct. It's a natural ability that all Gunner classes have; it allows them to instinctively react to certain attacks with their own, or to evade danger without even realizing it." Announced Henry.

"W-Woah… really? I-I didn't know that! Man, that does sound useful, but also dangerous as hell!" Jacob stood back up, taking a deep breath as Alice dropped her firearm, "I'm surprised she didn't pull the trigger…"

"Guhhhhhhh…"

"Hughhhhhhh!"

"Oh shit, that must be the undead. They're spawning all around us, we have to hurry it up!" Shouted Richard.

"Damnit, c'mon Alice, wake up already!!"