Afterlife Dream

After I was invited to the squad, I started to scrutinize all the squad members and check their character information. Livina tried her best, but I was the only member who had looted a Fire Golem helmet. The others were unable to attend. Even HellWitch and Lazarus wanted to join the Guild Party Quest that took place at the same time, so they were unable to join.

"Antares, this one should go better than the last," Livina told me in a low voice. "Everyone here has gone through a few failed runs, so they more or less knew what was coming. It will not be long before we succeed."

I noticed that she this time no longer accepted anyone who had not completed the Third Job Advancement test, including the healer class. I was myself a healer who was glad to be accepted to the raid after completing the second job advancement only, but I also had to admit that I was not able to contribute as much as a High Priest could. One game-changing skill that a High Priest had was Resurrection. Using this skill, it was possible to resurrect five other players in a party within a certain range.

I was put in the same party as DragonTalon, ZhaoYun, Livina, and two other Shinobis. It was DragonTalon's first raid, but he was not bad at all. He did not make any beginner mistakes and was able to blend in perfectly with the team.

As far as I understood, the players were not bad at all. There were only three deaths and the players were quickly resurrected by a single Holy Priest. Unfortunately, two hours were not enough to beat the Fire Golem with the formation that we had. The attackers were simply not strong enough.

Despite our hardest efforts, the run was another fail. Livina and ZhaoYun were particularly disappointed. They both were at level 85. After 4 more levels, they would not be able to join the Fire Golem raid anymore, let alone loot a helmet.

"I will stop leveling for now and focus on getting a helmet," ZhaoYun said wearily.

"Same," Livina agreed.

We said our goodbyes after the squad disbanded. DragonTalon sighed heavily.

"Guys, can we have one more Fire Golem raid as a guild? At this rate I will never loot my helmet," he typed into the guild chat.

"Sure," someone quickly replied.

"Next Monday then?"

"You are the last helmetless guildmate, so yeah, of course we will help!"

I glanced at DragonTalon. He was initially grinning at the many supports that came from the guild, but his grin faded slightly when he met my eyes.

"Oh, come on," he said with an exasperated tone. "Sorry to say, Antares, but I am finally in a number one guild, Twelve. Why would I rely on them to get my helmet? They are simply not strong enough."

I did not know what to say. In the whole Afterlife Dream realm, just how many players were lucky enough to get a helmet? How many to get the next end-game equipment?

"We are all playing for our own selfish purposes. I am not going to let myself be dragged back by them."

Yeah. I understood.

"Are we still meeting up with Kitty and Wolf today?" he switched the topic abruptly.

"Ah... yes, of course."

In the afternoon, a monumental event was about to take place.

We were waiting for our turn to enter the Paradise Island Party Quest dungeon when we saw a huge announcement across the sky, framed by colorful flowers. It was from Aurendiria.

Aurendiria's cute voice was heard loud and clear all over the Afterlife Dream realm. This feature was known as a megaphone. Megaphones were very rare and could only be obtained through gachapons or personal stores.

"Hello Everyone! BlackPuma is going to level to 150 this afternoon at 4 PM in Dark Pegasus Haven. For those who don't know, Dark Pegasus Haven is a Mini-Boss Map just a few portals away from Frozen Tundra Land. Those who would like to celebrate with Twelve guild are welcome! We will continue the celebration at Oakstone Tavern. Everyone is invited! We hope to see you there!

(◍•ᴗ•◍)✧*."

I broke into a broad smile. BlackPuma was going to reach 150 finally. Following Aurendiria's megaphone, everyone in Afterlife Dream only had one topic to talk about : BlackPuma's wonderful achievement. To date, 150 was the highest level that any player in Afterlife Dream could reach. It was the same as in the original version of the game.

The guild chat went crazy with congratulations. Naturally, everyone would love to head to Dark Pegasus Haven just to watch BlackPuma hit 150. It was a small map with one Dark Pegasus, a field boss of level 145 that was sure to murder everyone who came into its haven with one touch. Fortunately, there was a small platform where people could watch the fight underneath. So the platform was going to be cramped? Big deal.

DragonTalon was the most excited person. He literally rose to his feet and dragged me out of the waiting area.

"What are you doing? Where are we going?" I asked in confusion.

"Duh, Antares, did you or did you not hear the announcement? Quick quick let's head to Dark Pegasus Haven!"

I looked at the world's digital clock. It was only 3 PM.

"Dude, we have one more hour. Just chill. We can do one more party quest."

"Antares, are you crazy??? If we go even later, we will not be able to attend the level-up event!"

...

We thus took the ghost ship to Frozen Tundra Land. We were not alone. Many other players immediately went to board the ship as soon as they heard the announcement.

When we stepped into the Dark Pegasus Haven map, it was full of players. Only a few high-level players stood on the same ground as BlackPuma. Everyone else struggled to both look at BlackPuma while fighting to remain on the platform. I was squeezed by a lot of players from all directions that I became dizzy.

Jaden once came to visit me one day after watching a live concert of his famous rock band. He told me that he could barely enjoy the performance because he was pushed around by so many people. Breathing was difficult, screaming was also of no use. I never attended a live concert in my whole life, but what I was feeling at the moment seemed to hit very close to the spot.

BlackPuma was the number one player in Afterlife Dream. The second one was HinoKun, who caught up with Ingenious and was now level 127. Ingenious was 125. I was happy to see them all chatting happily as friends.

"Woah," DragonTalon said more to himself than to me.

"Amazing. Ingenious and ArrowRain both managed to get the Ice Dragon Cloak. Amazing."

"Hmm," I said. "I expected that."

"Huh? How?" DragonTalon turned to me in surprise.

"Well," I started. "Now that BlackPuma turns 150, he is not going to be able to join level 110 raid runs anymore. Without him, these three high-level players would be stuck without cloaks."

DragonTalon widened his eyes as the realization hit him like a lightning bolt.

"Oh God, you are right!!! Argggghhh there goes the hope to get the Ice Dragon Cloak!"

I broke into laughter.

"DragonTalon, this is why we should invest in other players. Everyone but you in Twelve already earned their Fire Golem Helmets, but what about the rest?"

DragonTalon rolled his eyes at me.

"What do you want to do, Antares?"

"I want to get ZhaoYun and Livina their helmets. I believe you agree that they are really good. Plus they are 85 already. It would be such a pity to miss out just because we don't have enough damage."

DragonTalon pursed his lips.

"Good luck persuading our guildmates then, Antares."

Yeah. That would indeed be difficult.

I looked at HellWitch and Lazarus who stood just a few meters away from us. These two were decent attackers. Very strong for their levels. If I had to persuade anyone, then I had to start with my own friends.

At 4 PM, Black Puma placed a Pegasus Relic, the summoning orb for Dark Pegasus inside a tree hole. Everyone but Aurendiria stepped back to give some space for BlackPuma to kill the Dark Pegasus.

The Dark Pegasus emerged from the tree with a loud neigh. Its whole body was as black as the night, only the pair of eyes burned with bright red fire.

Aurendiria and BlackPuma buffed each other before BlackPuma went ahead to attack the Dark Pegasus. I saw Divine Guard, Mana Guard, and Iron Body. All of us widened our eyes when the Dark Pegasus stood on its two back feet and spread its wings. While the outer side of the wings was purely black, the inside was pure white. And when the wings were spread, sharp feathers shot out from the inside of the wings and flew at BlackPuma with high speed.