I wore my clothes back again and stood in front of the mirror. My cloak had gotten more tattered. I still decided to wear it because it kinda felt cool to wear a tattered cloak.
I was now wearing a new black T-shirt and black trousers, which Anna gave me. I touched my hair, which was reaching my eyes.
"They've gotten way too long."
I always had a messy-type haircut, but now my hair had gotten long, which was affecting my vision.
I should look for a new haircut.
"Store."
The store opened, and again multiple ads popped up on my screen. I removed those ads and went to the search button.
"Good haircut for a cool handsome guy."
That's right—you can change your haircut in the store. Your physical appearance can be improved by using the dreamer's benefits. You can get a free haircut once.
[ Which type of haircut do you want? ]
Hmm..
"Maybe a messy fringe.. I don't know. Do what you like."
[ Changing your haircut ]
[ Success ]
I got my haircut. I looked at the mirror and… nothing much had changed. My hair was only looking messier, which looked good.
"Sigh, my free trial got wasted."
I then started going out of the room. Everyone was waiting for me outside the facility. I got out and saw other rooms filled with other patients.
They were all crying in pain over the injuries they had gotten. Some had lost their leg, hand, face—or their life. The dead bodies were scattered in a corner of the hall of the facility. They were stinking a lot. Basically, the facility was a complete mess.
I walked out of the front entrance and got out of the facility. Anna, Lee Seonyeon, and there were two more men waiting for me.
Anna saw me and moved her hand, then shouted, "Kang Hong! Come fast!"
Seonyeon and the other men looked at me. I ran slowly and got to them.
"You took too long in there."
"I was collecting my equipment."
Anna moved her hand and pointed at the two men.
"Well then, I'll introduce them to you. They are my party members. We've been together since Quest 1."
One of them spoke up.
"I'm Choi Hyunwoo."
Choi Hyunwoo—he's one of the main side cast of Desired End. He actually survived till the end of the Endless Dream. He died in the fight against a higher deity. He got so strong that he was able to kill a Sin himself.
The man next to Hyunwoo spoke.
"Han Minjae."
Han Minjae—he can be called the squad leader, as he has a talent for leading a squad perfectly. His intelligence is the only thing that was able to hold him in Anna's squad. Otherwise, he would've already been expelled because of his lack of fighting skills.
I was now meeting two of the main side cast of Desired End. It was a strange feeling, but it was making me excited. They were the characters written by me, and now I was going to fight alongside them.
"I'm Kang Hong."
I raised my hands in front of them, and Minjae rushed and grabbed my hand.
"Nice to meet you, Hong-ssi! I wish we get along."
It felt like he always wanted to say that. He's really friendly.
"Nice to meet you too."
Then Hyunwoo shook my hand.
"Hong-ssi, we're companions from now on, so let's survive together."
He said it in a good manner.
Anna's squad was really friendly at the beginning, but it changed drastically as they kept losing more members. It's good that I got into this group early.
I'll use this group for my goal.
Anna clapped her hands for us to look towards her.
"Hong and Seonyeon, for your knowledge, we've already cleared a D-rank dungeon till now."
Seonyeon gasped.
"D-rank? Why didn't you start from E-rank?"
"We realized that we're too strong for E-rank, so we gave up on it and left it for newbies. D-rank was also easy."
"So which rank are we going to raid?"
Anna looked back at the jungle.
"We need to end this delusion fast. So we should be raiding a C-rank one, but—"
She looked back at me.
"I'm not going to put my party members lives on the line. I might be able to survive in a C-rank, but you guys are still weak."
"So we'll raid D and E-rank dungeons for today."
"That's a good decision."
Hyunwoo said in a satisfied manner.
I scratched the back of my head. Only Anna can slay a C-rank dungeon guardian easily. Everyone except her is unable to do this in the current party. Of course, I can do it.
Probably not.
Anna looked at her screen.
"There's a D-rank dungeon nearby."
A sword appeared in her hands. It was a normal sword that cost 800CC in the store. She pointed the sword in the direction of the dungeon.
"Let's go."
Anna had bought a digital device called "Maps." This helped her look at the map of the hunting ground. This device can only be used for four days after buying it.
***
We were walking through the forest while Seonyeon looked at me.
"Hong."
She whispered to me.
"What?"
"Should we trust these guys? We just met and now we're in their party."
I looked at the surroundings of the forest.
"I already know that. We can't trust them. But—"
I looked straight into her eyes.
"We need stronger guys in order to rescue Chaeyoung."
"We can do that ourselves!"
"We can't."
Seonyeon looked disturbed by my words.
"What if they betray us?"
"They won't."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Well, they look trustworthy."
"Hong."
"Hm?"
"They are also murderers. They've also taken other lives."
I stopped at her words.
How'd I forget this? What are the chances that I'll survive by sticking to the main protagonist?
How can I say that she'll treat us like others? We are just some randoms she met in a dungeon. Moreover, what if they abandon us in a dungeon?
Multiple questions started roaming around my head, which led to no answer. As I walked, I realized that maybe I was at a disadvantage here. Anna was specifically the only one who was stronger than me.
In simple words, mine and Seonyeon's survival wasn't guaranteed.
Gulp
Maybe she's just testing us by making us raid a D-rank dungeon. If we're weak, then she'll just kill us, or if we're strong, then she'll let us be in the party.
Anna's the leader of this party. At this point, even I—the only person who knows Anna the best—don't know what's going on in her mind.
I was simply in a rattrap. If I don't do things correctly here, then death is just gonna come for me.
We stopped in front of a cave.
Anna looked back and swung her sword.
"This is the dungeon."
The cave was giving off a different aura. It could be easily felt that it was a dungeon. This time, it wasn't a glitched one. It was a—
A real one.