Chapter 12: Gloria Smith

Teo exhaled a long breath after finding out that no zombies were left standing in the hallway. Their existences were gone in smokes, literally. That’s how the corpses vanish in this dungeon; a reason Teo didn’t know and also never cared.

Seemingly out of danger, he rested his head on his hands and stayed put to relax his overworked muscles. The effects of [Willpowr Aura] were still going strong.

After the adrenaline wore off, the gravity of the situation weighed on him like a mountain. Teo couldn’t believe he was still alive from that encirclement. He could swear he saw the river Styx for a moment there. But, at the same time, he felt a rush, unlike anything he had felt before.

However, It was such a close shave. That level two zombie played him like a fiddle, and he was none the wiser. First, it threw all its level one minions to tire him out. And once he was on his last legs, that damn thing revealed itself to finish the job.

He was lucky that his savior appeared in the nick of time.

Oh yeah, my savior. Teo combed the hallway with his eyes, trying to locate the owner of that feminine voice. Her timely intervention helped him keep his pitiful life; Teo couldn’t be anymore thankful for the woman. Where did she go?

“Hey, where are you looking? I’m over here.” Teo whipped his head in the direction from where the voice came. Standing over where the corpse of the level two zombie should’ve been was a girl who seemed a tad bit younger than he. She looked busy inspecting a shiny piece of rock in her hands which stroke Teo with an odd sense of familiarity. He could swear he had seen it somewhere before.

Is that a gun? From the model, it looks like a custom-made high-voltage plasma rifle. What the hell?

Teo was not surprised to see another human inside the dungeon. What he knew from hearsays among the [Players]; as many as a hundred candidates can enter a single tutorial dungeon at the same time. It was not strange to meet another human who was also going through the tutorial. No, that’s not what struck him odd.

It was the gun that she had strapped to her back. How did she manage to bring something like that inside here?

No human-made objects other than the clothes on your back could pass through the gate that brings you to the tutorial dungeon. It was a well-known and iron-clad rule with no way around it. Yet the mere presence of that gun went against them. There got to be a secret. Or is it one of those open secrets among the player circles?

There were tons of new things Teo learned after coming to the tutorial dungeon that [Players] never mentioned. Some of them didn’t matter much, but the others were game-breaking pieces of information.

“Hmm? Why are you silent? Did a cat get your tongue? Shishi!!” Teo was brought back to reality by the voice of the girl who saved him. He exhaled a breath and sobered himself up.

“Ah, sorry about that. I still haven’t gotten over the shock. Anyway, thank you for saving my sorry ass back there.” There was a bright smile on his face— clearly displaying how grateful he was towards her. Had it not for his paralyzed body, he would have already run over and given her a bear hug. The negative effects were still going strong, it seemed.

“Don’t sweat it. Hey, you can keep this.” His hero threw the shiny rock in her hand toward him. It dropped to the floor and rolled some distance before stopping after hitting Teo’s crossed arms. He squinted at the rock; [Observe] activating on the instinct.

Mana Core(Consumable)

Rank: Common

+1 MAG after consumed.

A chance of awakening a passive skill.

Teo’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline as the value of the shiny stone made itself known. Mana stone? Wait— isn’t it the same rock stuck to that level two zombie’s head? He finally remembered why this rock stuck him with such a sense of familiarity.

“Hmm!? Why are you not picking it up? Was I too rude to throw it like that?” Teo was once again dragged back to reality by his hero. Her words struck a chord in his heart; paired with her upside-down lips and creased brows, it made for a deadly combination. One that was hard to ignore.

“That’s not it. You are not rude at all,” He said, eager to disprove her claim. How could he let her doubt herself after what she did for him? She doesn’t deserve that— at least not in his eyes.

“Then why are you not picking it up?” She inquired, curious. Her eyes glowed purple as they darted over his body, scanning for anything suspicious. “You don’t seem to have any wounds, though. Is everything alright?”

She came over and kneeled beside his head. The plasma rifle settled next to her with one of her hands resting on it. She even had her index finger on its trigger. Despite her friendliness, Teo noticed her caution toward him. He didn’t miss the barrel which was pointing at his chest.

Instead of getting offended, his appreciation for her grew by several notches. Who wouldn’t like a girl who’s not only good-looking but also clever? He didn’t know about others, but Teo certainly liked her.

“My body’s not listening to me. It’s paralyzed.” Teo revealed, still maintaining his bright smile. “Give me some time. I’ll recover soon…. I think.”

“Is it those zombies?”

“Hmm? Nah. Not them.” Teo hurriedly explained after seeing her finger tense on the gun’s trigger. “It’s a side effect of my own skill.”

“Aha. I see.” The girl relaxed her shoulders before making herself comfortable on the floor. Teo exhaled secretly after seeing her fingers pull out of the trigger. He just saw his life flashing through his eyes. This girl is scary.

“I’m Teo. Once again, thank you for saving me.” Teo couraged up to break the ice between them. He felt lonely, thinking that he was all alone in the dungeon. He even considered messing around with Marcy after hunting the level two zombie.

Teo was, by no means, a loner. He liked to make friends and was quite an extrovert. He even made friends with the [Players] he joined as a scavenger on their hunts. Even with their haughty attitudes and condescending mentality towards lower-class citizens, he still managed to leave a good enough impression that they would share some of the hush-hush tales with him.

“Don’t sweat it. But the fact that you don’t recognize me makes it clear that you are not from my base camp. How curious! Anyway, my name’s Gloria from the Smith family.” Gloria introduced herself in an upbeat tone.

Teo noticed her pride to carry the name of Smith with her. It made him wonder if they were some sort of celebrity. For all he knew, she might be from a famous [Player] household. Wait— Smith? If I recall correctly, one of the Elder Frontiers who fought against the monsters for humanity’s sake twenty years ago had Smith as her surname. Is she… you got to be kidding me!

Teo’s heartbeat sped up as he asked tentatively, “you are not related to that Smith, are you?” He had to make sure she wasn’t the one who he thought she is.

Unfortunately, fate hadn’t been kind to him that day. It slapped him across his cheeks with a dose of unpredictable reality.

“Yep. I’m her fourteenth great-granddaughter,” Gloria admitted, her smile persisting.

Teo, on the other hand, lost his smile as his jaw hit the ground within seconds. He unexpectedly met a real celebrity.