âFor the price of my lifeâŠâ Joshua hesitated.
I replied, âNot enough. I just want your loyalty, so I wonât intervene in other things in your life.â
âSo that was your purpose from the beginning. I didnât approach you; you clearly approached me first.â
I said, âThink whatever you want because thatâs not the point. The important thing is that you caught my eye.â
âI wonderâŠâ
âAbout how things will go when we get out of the dungeon?â I asked.
âYou must be aware of who I am and what my family is like. Let me offer you something. I admit that the dungeon is a hell which is more dangerous than the wild and that my life depends on you.â
Joshua was no longer bewildered.
âI will hire you and give you half the shares of Berlin Telecom. We can be partners not only here, but also outside,â he continued.
I responded, âYou said you will âhireâ me, so how does that mean weâll become partners? This doesnât add up at all. Get your act together.â
ââŠMy bad. Letâs be partners. As you know, we are special. Since Iâve seen your abilities in person, no further explanation is needed. I know your family is quite rich, but letâs be honest.â
Joshua wiped his face with one hand without noticing that the blood on his hand made his face dirty.
âI believe today is a historic turning point. Medieval explorers who opened up the New World had gone through a number of sacrifices, and we are now in the New World. Sacrifice isnât avoidable, but with thatâŠâ he continued.
âYou are so long-winded.â
âWe are doing all this to get more power, right? My parents and I can support you to become stronger. I hope you donât get carried away by your current ability. Look at reality and think about the future when we head out from here.â
Joshua was trying so hard.
âWe havenât even started yet, but youâre already talking about getting out from here. Tsk, tsk,â I said.
âMy offer presupposes that we manage to survive. I guess you can make it happen.â
I asked, âWhat can you do for me?â
For the first time in a while, his eyes brightened.
âIâll give you the partner stake in Berlin Telecome and one hundred million dollars in cash. Also, Iâll introduce your parentsâ business to Germanyâs government, so that they can enlarge the scale. If you want to manage it by yourself, Iâll give you a separate company to do so. Of course, Berlin Telecomâs partnership will be included. Itâs easy for me to offer you all of this as they are under my personal business,â he said.
âThen, we should talk about your family business,â I replied.
âYes, Iâll invite you to the club by convincing the elders in my family. You might not have heard of it, but itâs called the âBilderberg Club,ââ he responded.
Unexpectedly, that name came out of his lips. Apparently, he was quite knowledgeable about Bilderbergâs authority and its secretive characteristics.
We moved to a more private spot, far from the others. He began speaking again, âItâs a secret club that holds world-leading strategic meetings every year. The current members are only from the financial, economic and political sectors, so you and I will be the first ones from other fields.â
âIt will work, right?â I asked.
âYes. Only one senior member of my family is a member of the club now, but imagine the future after we survive from here and our group becomes more powerful. It will be possible to join without any issue,â he replied.
I was about to open my mouth, but he stopped me hurriedly.
âPlease keep listening. I know it sounds like a fantasy, but Bilderberg is an actual club that exists. If we get in thereâŠyou could be elected the next president of the United States despite your ethnicity,â he said.
I stared at his face. The Awakened rarely aged, so he looked the same as he did in my memories. However, compared to the Joshua in my previous life, his current ability to think had not been developed yet.
âYou have been playing this game to get that kind of strength, right? Come with me,â he added.
âIs that why you organized this group?â I questioned.
âLetâs be honest.â
âYou must be stupid. We shouldnât be exposed to society yet,â I said.
âThatâs what I thought, but what you showed me was⊠Maybe, youâll be able to become more powerful than that. Iâm considering the long-term. If you, my family and I work together, we will be unstoppable.â
His eyes deepened, and great ambition began to fill them.
âSo, how much can you support me? One hundred million dollars, a partner stake in Berlin Telecome, and strong support from your family, which might not be possible,â I listed.
âI canât really do much with my family, but Iâm offering the best I can. If you want more money, I can dispose of my property to satisfy your appetite.â
âThatâs why,â I murmured.
âPardon me?â âThatâs why you can never escape from me,â I answered.
âWhat are you talking aboutâŠâ
I said, âSometimes, money isnât everything.â
âThe world outside is dominated by capitalism, and we are considered âfreaksâ in society for now. Perhaps you donât want to admit it, but I might be freer than you outside. So think carefully about my offers,â he replied.
âJoshua.â
âYes?â
I said sharply, âShut up and keep my words in mind.â
He responded, âThat Iâm your guy? The outside world doesnât work that way. Iâm not trying to be difficult, but thatâs the reality. Everyone is afraid of you right now, but⊠there are laws and social rules out there. I sincerely hope you donât contradict yourself. Iâm telling you from the bottom of my heart.â
âWe will see how futile your belief is.â
âSo, thatâs a ânoâ to my offer?â he asked.
âWhat an idiot. You should never ask so flatly in business. You wouldnât have done that if we werenât here, but you must be hectic now.â
Joshua sighed loudly.
âThe groupâs survival depends on you, and donât ruin the reputation you gained from outside,â I continued.
âWhatâs your stance?â
âDonât ask me and think for yourself instead. Iâll only teach you the basic stuff,â I replied.
âSo whyâŠâ
I said bluntly, âYouâre just an amateur who needs my help.â
He shouted agitatedly, âWhy are you so adamant!â
Joshua would fully realize the stark difference between us, even more, when we got out of the dungeon.
âShut the fuck up and figure out how youâre going to use everything that Iâll be teaching you now,â I said.
âAll right⊠Thank you, Lee.â
âIâll explain to you the concept of the âattack squadâ first.â
***
According to the System, five parties with five members could form one attack squad. When the party leaders elected a captain, the group received a buff[1]. The captain had more authority than party leaders as they could not only expel members, but also determine the method of gaining trophies.
The means of collecting trophies in parties were based on the order of completing quests or killing the boss monsters, but the attack squad had one more choice, which was rolling dice. Of course, such methods were meaningless in the past since we killed each other to be the last one to survive and receive all the rewards.
There were twenty-five Awakened total in this dungeon. The mercenaries were left alone, not knowing what to do. The mercenary captain squatted on the ground, fumbling around under the dim glow of a lighter.
Meanwhile, the Awakened began forming into groups of five under Joshuaâs instruction. His orders were simple as he told them not to care about skills or insignias and that he would reorganize the groups again in the future.
However, the Awakened kept approaching me, begging me to join their group. They all spoke in German, so I couldnât comprehend a single word. Braun Nase had to calm them down again. He had run towards me immediately instead of Joshua, and Joshua had stared at him with a sense of betrayal.
âI did it. Make them quiet. Choose me. Please,â Braun Nase said.
On the other hand, the Fourth Virtue⊠No, Michael approached Joshua. The current groups were meaningless as Joshua kept saying that he would reorganize later, but no one listened to him. I chose four people, who then gathered around me. When I pointed at Braun Nase, he smiled brightly as if he had gained the entire world. He looked to have forgotten the fear of the dungeon for a moment.
My party was formed, and I was the party leader and captain at the same time.
[Congratulations. You are the first one to form an attack squad.]
[You have received a âbronze boxâ for being the first one to form the squad.]
[Your Strength has increased by 3, but the increase has been canceled.]
I expected a higher-class box such as platinum, but I got a worthless bronze box. Then, a buff message popped up.
[You have gained the blessing, âToughness.â]
[Toughness (Blessing)
Effect: Resistance to negative effects like Restraint slightly increases. The skill Night Eyes increases by one class.
Class: F]
[Warning: If you leave the squad, the blessing will be removed.]
âThis is how you arrange attack squads. Youâll be able to do it by yourself now,â I said.
âThis isâŠamazingâŠâ
Everyone, including Joshua, was delighted as their visibility expanded due to their upgraded Night Eyes. However, when I disbanded the squad, there was a little disturbance as their visibility narrowed again.
âWould you like to reorganize your team, Lee?â Joshua asked.
âPut Michael, Braun Nase, and two of the most useless ones in my team. The party leader will be Michael,â I replied.
âOkay. Could you do me a favor?â
âWhat is it?â I asked.
âPlease stand next to me,â he looked at me.
Joshua was holding profile documents in one hand and a pen in the other. He began calling the Awakened one by one and compared them to the information on the file. There were quite a few who had lied to him. Although he was unable to distinguish lies, people confessed the truth when they looked at me standing beside Joshua.
After a while, Joshua looked at the mercenary captain with the revised profile, but he didnât call him in. When he called Michael instead, the captain and the mercenaries had become the outsiders of the group. They were just porters from now on as Joshua handed everyoneâs backpacks to them.
When Joshua was almost done reorganizing the parties, I looked at him.
âThe next captain will win a gold box as a reward for being the second person to form a squad.â
âThere is such a thing like that?â he asked.
âYou can get it, but if you think thereâs anyone else who can use it better, you can hand it over to the person. I mean⊠if you really wish to survive, you would have to do it.â