Chapter 397

It took maybe two more hours before Z and the others returned to prepare farming the dungeon. They’d been, apparently, hanging out in his fifth-floor safe zone, which a certain Steve had forgotten to mention, James could actually monitor the Adventurer version of. Something the Developer, who’d left, and returned shortly before the party departed into James’s dungeon, had mentioned offhandedly, after stating he was surprised to see James’s Safe Zone developing so nicely already. Meaning, it was something James was going to check out as soon as he was done following The Knights Who Go Ni’s progress.

The party, similar to how they’d been during their coliseum battle against Rue, as well as the Dungeon Skirmish itself, hadn’t quite hit level 70 just yet. They were close, that was for sure, with Med Ic and Faust at level 69, and the others at 68. For the most part, as they’ve been playing and continuing to face off against James’s mobs, the two caster classes had done a little better job at the whole, not dying situation.

James was eager to just how the party would continue to evolve, and he couldn’t help but feel his excitement growing as they headed out into his new and improved fifth floor. The fourth floor was relatively easy for them to farm now, but his fifth floor, with the mobs at level 72 since James was currently a Tier 5 Rank 8 dungeon, meant the party would still have a good amount of challenge, and also would ensure their level growth continued at a steady pace, as long as they played it smart.

As he thought about it, he realized these massive Dungeon Versus Dungeon events such as Dungeon Wars and the Skirmishes, and the large quantity of experience they handed out to the dungeons, served as a way to ensure, if done properly, a Dungeon wouldn’t stagnate, and it could stay ahead of the level curve of its players. Meaning, even as James raced towards Tier 6 and his new floor, his players would continue to be challenged and have difficult and new content to overcome as they kept climbing. In theory, if utilized properly, James, and the other Dungeon Cores, could actually serve as a never-ending battle tower, for players to constantly grow and push themselves.

Which was something James realized Steve and the others may have been pushing for. Most VRMMOs, after a certain point, hit a wall. People ran out of challenges, and while they could leave themselves to personal tasks, or goals such as leveling all the different professions and such, once level cap was hit, that was it. Here, in DCO, where there was no level cap, and endless possibilities for growth, in theory, there wouldn’t be a point of stopping. There wouldn’t be a peak players could reach. James, the Dungeon Cores in DCO, were an ever-growing mountain for people to continue to attempt to summit. And with the Safe Zones, the Dungeon Gates, and all the other activities such as Dicken Racing, pet mob battles, and such, there were activities for players of all types to enjoy. The more he thought about it, the more he realized, Xander may have been an asshat, but he really had created a game with endless potential.

James pushed his pondering and admiration from his mind, ads the party of five began plowing through the snow carefully, their eyes scanning for enemies. Oak, as always, was in front, outfitted in a mismatch of pirate and cyberpunk gear. Above, Turk flew high, the Giant Eagle scanning the land, looking for any signs of enemies in the distance, helping scout the area for the party of adventurers. Given their party composition, and the tools each one brought to the team, they were, without a doubt, the most efficient group in James’s dungeon. And yet, the snowy winter wonderland they were walking through, was going to be their demise if they weren’t careful.

“Evasive maneuvers.” Z called out as an energy beam roared through the air, singeing one of Turk’s wings. It was a shot from a Painguin, nestled in the mountain range, so far out of sight and range that even the Eagle couldn’t see the attacker. Still, the threat was there, and the party immediately rushed towards the pine trees. They’d been walking for roughly 10 minutes from the front of the Safe Zone town’s walls, across the open snowy white expanse, which gave the Painguins a perfect line of sight for them. Turk, of course, being the sole flying creature in the sky, was an even easier target, and a few more blasts shot towards it. The bird though, per Z’s commands, had begun rapidly shifting its flight patterns, making it a much, much more difficult target to hit.

Even though the Painguins had cybernetic modifications and enhancements, trying to blast a creature over 1500 meters away was difficult, and that was before their decrease to accuracy. Granted, James may have upgraded them to give them decreased penalties when it came to their long-range attacks. By putting three points into upgrades for the Fusion Rifle on the Painguins, the guns now had only a -33% penalty to accuracy, and a -15% damage. Much better than the original -75% to accuracy and -50% to damage. It also changed the appearance of the Fusion rifles, giving them a heavy duty, futuristic sniper rifle look, with a new scope that swirled with energy which the mobs could use to change their magnification on their target.

Still, the party managed to get to the trees without taking any major damage, the single shot on Turk being the only one to actually land, though a few had melted clumps of snow just in front of Z and Elm as they’d been running. Z had jumped over the puddle, but Elm had slid, causing him to fall face first into the snow, cursing amusingly as he got up, his gear covered in partially melted snow. From the string of comments he made as he reached the tree-line, James knew that while not painful, it was annoyingly uncomfortable for the Cosmic Sniper.

“I prefer them armed with a serving tray rather than a fusion rifle.” Elm said after a moment, the others grinning. “Much better when they’re serving out cold drinks.”

“I mean,” Oak pointed at his soaking gear, “you didn’t order an Frozen Apple-tini?”

“I’ll shoot you.” Elm pointed his cybernetic bow towards Oak, even though he was grinning. “Really, wouldn’t be hard to do.”

“Pah, you know if you did we’d just make fun of your crappy aim. What type of Sniper hits their own teammate.”

“The Halo kind.” Z said with a chuckle, and they all broke into laughter. Now that they were in the trees, they were much more relaxed. In part because they couldn’t easily be blasted by the Painguins, and also because while in a wooded area, they were gaining not only increased movement speed, but also increased dodge effects. The higher level Elves got, the more difficult it was to kill them in a forest. Something James was keeping in the back of his mind, for his six-floor. Couldn’t have their racial passive just making them unkillable after all. That wouldn’t be fair, or fun, for anyone.

“Not my fault you guys kept trying to melee people I was sniping.” Elm said, his laughter evident. The group was reminiscing, and it further cemented just how long they’d been gaming together. These were lifelong friends. Something James couldn’t help but feel a slight pang of jealousy at. Other than Rue…his close friends list was, er, nonexistent he supposed.

“Right, well, friendly fire aside.” Oak looked over his teammate, a glowing light finishing up from Turk, who had been getting a passive heal effect from being in close proximity to the Grand Beastmaster. “Shall we begin operation hit level 70?”

Z cheered, his group members cheered, James cheered, and to everyone’s surprise and horror, Sergeant Jenkins cheered.