Joint Exploration

"There's a traitor?" Aster narrowed his eyes. He hated those kinds the most. After all, when he was little, he had also been a victim of betrayal.

"Yes." Cecil continued walking.

The corridor wasn't really long. Barely two hundred meters.

Thankfully, it seemed as if the temple was made for the giants or the owners were really lavish. Otherwise, survivors would suffer from a lack of space.

'Or they would find a way to make some space.' He almost shivered, remembering the looks the kid from yesterday got because he had innocently created slight hope for them.

"Cecil." He couldn't help but pause. His voice sounded weaker than usual.

"Yes?" Cecil looked weirdly at him.

"Why are there only thirty survivors currently? Doesn't the temple bring in new survivors every week or so?" Aster looked Cecil in the eyes.

But her cold gaze made him lose all confidence. Or rather, it made him confident that his theory was correct.

"Aster." Cecil started coldly. "I told you already."

Then, she slowly said every word. "Don't. Ever. Give. Power. To. Those. Undeserving. Of. It."

"Got it." Aster sighed. "I didn't expect the new world to be even worse than my old one. And here I thought that everything was better than an orphanage."

"Welcome to Cursed World." She smirked.

At that moment, they had arrived at the door that led outside the corridor.

There were four people waiting for them, chatting.

A new guard, since the last one's shift ended.

Nyle, the strongest explorer.

A blonde with green eyes and a grin as wide as the corridor.

And a bulky man with dark clothes and an angry mood.

'Asher and Boar.' Aster remembered their names. They were the last two explorers from the survivors' camp.

"Cecil, Aster, hello." Nyle noticed them.

"Hi." Asher waved, and Boar nudged with his head as a sign of greeting.

The guard didn't dare to speak, afraid that he would anger an explorer.

Although Aster was the weakest, he was still an explorer, and it was a given that every explorer could beat any survivor without much effort.

'Damn, Nyle is incredible.' Aster could feel a really strong presence from Nyle. 'He's at least two times stronger than Cecil.'

'He's strongest, he's handsome, and he's a leader...'

'He's giving off the main character vibes.' He noticed Nyle taking the lead and chatting with others like a leader.

'Asher and Boar are in between Cecil and me in terms of mana.' He judged. 'As expected, I'm the weakest. Well, it's a given since it hasn't even been a week.'

"First of all, let's introduce ourselves properly." Nyle started.

"I am Nyle. I'll be the acting leader of this joint exploration, and I hope to find a way to leave this temple as soon as possible."

"My Fate Providence is related to strengthening myself. Unfortunately, I can't control it." Nyle said.

"I'm Asher, but you can call me Ash." Asher introduced himself to others. "You guys have probably heard about me, but my Fate Providence is related to luck."

'Lucky Providence?' Aster looked at Asher with a curious look.

"Is that actually even useful?" Boar asked Ash.

"Try me," Asher smirked.

"You asked for it yourself." Boar didn't even wait before plunging at Asher, but at that moment, Nyle put his leg in front of Boar, tripping him.

"No infighting." Nyle coldly said.

"Tch." Boar wasn't happy with that, but he didn't dare to complain.

"Lucky, I escaped a boar running at me as if it saw a red cloak. Or was it a Bison?" Ash laughed, irritating Boar even more.

"It's a bull, you stupid bison." Boar was dissatisfied.

'That's a tricky Providence.' Aster suddenly elevated Asher to Cecil's level in his mind. 'I better not mess with him. Who knows how strong his Providence is.'

'No, will it actually work on me?' He wondered.

"You all know me, and my Providence is useless," Cecil said with a relaxed voice. She didn't care about anyone's opinion.

"You all can call me Boar, and I have a simple Providence." Boar introduced himself. "The angrier I am, the weaker my opponent is."

"Ohh, that's a really useful Providence." Ash looked at Boar. His eyes lit up. "You really are like a bull. Why don't you change your name? Does the color red trigger you?"

"Ash." Nyle looked at Asher.

"Fine, fine, I'll joke a bit less."

'They are really unhinged hahaha.' Aster felt like laughing. Until he remembered that there was a traitor, that is.

Aster's eyes immediately turned cold once he remembered that someone there could stab him in the back.

'I won't let it happen again.' He swore in his mind.

"I am Aster. My Providence..." Just as he was about to say that his Fate Providence was useless, Aster remembered his ability.

With a smirk, he suddenly took out his dagger.

Surprisingly, everyone was relaxed except Boar and the guard, who suddenly felt wary.

Aster approached a wall where he felt that the energy was outside the wall. Where he felt like he could reach the enemy with his dagger.

Then, he stabbed at the wall.

Suddenly, the color of the wall changed, revealing a dead chameleon.

[ You have killed a lesser dark chameleon. ]

[ You have gained 4 Energy Points ]

'Oh, they are good farming materials.' Aster's eyes lit up.

'I can farm them and buy more gacha tickets!' He hasn't realized it yet, but he started getting addicted to gambling.

"My Providence is able to locate living things." He smirked.

"Hoo." Cecil looked at Aster with renewed light. 'He issued a warning to the traitor not to sneak up while also showing off his usefulness. Not bad.'

Nyle grinned. His grin was almost as wide as Asher's. "That's a damn useful Providence."

"Not really, unless you are constantly encountering danger." Aster downplayed his ability to sense mana.

'I won't tell them my Providence. Let's keep it as a trump card for now. Who knows what might happen.' He almost felt like sighting.

'I was betrayed by my caretaker in my past world. I won't let myself be betrayed again.' His eyes were as cold as ice.

"The division of loot and resources will go according to contribution, deal?" Nyle asked.

"Deal." Everyone nodded.

"Alright, then, let's set off. Let's explore this cursed temple." Ash took the lead, casually strolling with a smirk.

Aster looked at Asher's back with a bad feeling. He felt like Asher's casual and easygoing attitude, which looked like it only cared about fun, might lead the group into danger. 

'This guy will lead us into trouble.'