*Well... This is interesting.*
As Jisha continued her dash through the forest, the layout of the terrain piqued her curiosity. To a new player, there was nothing substantially different from the forest thus far, but to trained eyes, a clear path seemed to be carved through the air.
To her, everything from the towering tree limbs to the shrubs on the ground seemed to be pointing in a single direction.
*A mana anomaly this early in the game? Does this mean that mana triangulation is already possible?*
Mana triangulation came in several forms; the one currently present was a type of navigation. In the future, it would be discovered that "mana" was an omnipresent substance in Synergy. Like quantum fields, it was one of the fundamental fabrics of this virtual world.
*And it'll remain virtual for quite a while.*
Since it was a fundamental fabric of the universe, clumps of it could form all sorts of phenomena like how atoms could bond and form molecules.
Before the true nature of mana was discovered, these phenomena were referred to as "mana anomalies", and they came in a myriad of forms.
The one she was witnessing now must have been something akin to a "life force", as all plant life seemed to be expectantly facing an energy source.
This was a highly unusual discovery; in other words, it was akin to "life force" for a front runner!
*I can't *not* check it out now.*
Jisha sprinted towards this newfound discovery.
*Navigation tools... Are still in check.*
Her map seemed to be intact - a good sign.
Mana abnormalities in the atmosphere, sometimes known as "subsystems", could sometimes alter the state of being of physical objects. When venturing into one, it was of utmost importance that one's health and sanity were still in check.
Jisha was always aware of the state of her body; she didn't need to focus to confirm that she was still completely fine.
In addition to this, Tier 0 players could not truly interact with mana, so any "mana storms" could not affect her anyway.
The next step was to check navigational options. If maps, compasses, or other navigational tools were altered, one should immediately leave the area unless there was a 100% chance they knew what they were doing.
Sometimes, the space within a subsystem didn't follow the laws of physics of the outside world. It was possible to become trapped in one, as sometimes one's sense of direction, or even the very concept of direction itself, became distorted.
Fortunately, it didn't seem like this "mana anomaly" was the home of such a "subsystem". And even if it was, Jisha was confident that she could still make her way around an early-game subsystem without any tool assistance.
But the farther she traveled towards what seemed to be the center of this anomaly, the more something seemed off.
*Ugh, I can't exactly tell what's going on, though...*
It was just a gut feeling. Since she was currently Tier 0, she shouldn't be able to detect any mana in the atmosphere. But the strange feeling wouldn't subside.
Everything still looked... relatively normal. The biome was the same. The forest was still quite simple to traverse through; the trees and shrubbery weren't out of the ordinary for a level ~10 area. Monsters' attack patterns were still geared towards absolute beginners.
*Maybe... Hm... It's still too early to come to any conclusions.*
As she ran, she continued to observe.
*Is the mana getting denser?*
This is what she wanted to conclude, however, as a Tier 0 player, it was impossible to know for sure. Jisha could only determine the properties of atmospheric mana from the behavior of her surroundings. It was like how current scientists could not directly observe dark matter but only determine its properties by how it interacted with light matter.
However, if mana was truly getting denser in this direction, there was bound to be a point of interest in the area.
And after several more minutes of running, said point of interest was revealed.
It was the entrance of a cave. It wasn't a large entrance; it was roughly only 10 metron in width. But...
*A dungeon?*
Yes, this cave entrance happened to be the entrance of an instance dungeon. The faint white particles floating around the air was a telltale sign.
Dungeons were special spaces. While in them, contact with the Synergy mainland was reduced. If you were in a dungeon, you would not be able to physically interact with a player in Synergy's Frontier.
Of course, this was natural. At the later levels, the reason for this became increasingly obvious. Why should you be able to be sniped to death by random players if you were trying your hardest to finish a boss fight with a raid party?
*It looks fairly ordinary...*
Though it looked inconspicuous, there was no way a dungeon in a mana-dense location was ordinary... especially since they were still in the infancy stages of the game.
It was highly likely to be more dangerous than an ordinary dungeon. It should be a risky endeavor to explore such a dungeon, especially since Jisha was currently not in a party.
However...
*There's gotta be something special in here.*
Abiding by the front-runner's mantra, Jisha headed inside.
---
"... You're saying that you were planning to kill her this whole time??"
"Of course. Surprised?"
Castle was furious. He'd just been scammed out of top-tier information. As mechanically gifted as he was, he was still a bit naïve when it came to interactions like these. The worst part was, there was nowhere for him to vent his frustration.
He thought he had a perfect plan and persuaded a clan to do his bidding, but in the end, he was the one who was wrung dry...
If his offer had been an item, he could at least yell at them to "give it back", albeit futilely. However, how could he just tell them to "forget the information" he had told them?
He almost completely lost his mind; he considered leaving this party and beating everyone up, but he knew that was impossible. It would be a 1v10. It was an impossible fight to win. But even the concept of "impossible fights" was driving him mad at the moment as a certain player appeared in his mind...
"Ahhhhhhh! F*ck all of you!"
Castle swung his arms rambunctiously at his party members. Friendly fire wasn't permitted in the same party, but the simple act of punching someone with a VR avatar was cathartic.
"Yeah, yeah. Where's the dungeon?" Stein asked, ignoring Castle's tantrum.
This question immediately abated Castle's heated mood.
"Uh, it should be near this cave..."
Currently, Castle was just as confused as Asunder was. He was certain that he had seen the entrance of an instance dungeon in this area. And not just any dungeon - it appeared to be something that didn't exist in the beta.
Castle had claimed the dungeon was "tough", but this was only to sweeten the deal with Asunder. He had no idea if this dungeon would benevolently dispense rewards or not. But now, the dungeon was gone!
Well, it wasn't *completely* gone.
The cave entrance still existed.
However, the telltale white particles that indicated a dungeon's entrance were nowhere to be seen.
What could this mean?
*Shit, shit, shit! I'm so screwed!*
Castle's mind was racing a mile a minute. Stein had already told him about Asunder's current influence in the game. It was an organization that spanned across multiple starter hamlets and would likely be a dominant force in Orchid Town.
Since their current reach was so extensive, Castle was sure he'd be hunted down and killed back to level 0 if Asunder assumed he was lying to them.
*>Stein: What's the situation?*
*>Arcadia Black: Nothing. Just forest.*
*>Cargo Biscuit: Same here, nothing to note.*
*>Stein: Keep looking.*
*How do I get out of here??*
He was safe for now. But at the current rate, his doom was inevitable. He couldn't just run off, either. He'd be killed quickly.
*>Name: Jade Charm*
*>...*
*>Cooldown: 39 minutes, 12 seconds.*
The item he'd used earlier wasn't going to be any help, either. It was an item with a powerful ability, but its drawback was its high cooldown.
*There's no way I'm gonna last 39 minutes. Someone, help...*
As if the heavens heard his plea, a message appeared in the group chat that drew Stein's attention.
*>Quaterniana: ...*
*>Stein: Yana, status?*
*>Quaterniana: I've lost her.*
*>Stein: ...*
Apparently, "Yana" was a player they'd stationed in the Village to keep an eye out for a certain suspicious player. She was tasked with reporting this player's whereabouts, but a problem had clearly arisen.
*>Stein: Well, that was to be expected. Where was the last place you saw her?*
*>Quaterniana: She left via the eastern gate and continued due east. Her mob grinding speed is unprecedentedly quick. I tried to capture a recording, but the file was unplayable. After about 5 minutes of sprinting, her heading shifted to vector three-zero-zero, and this was the last time I saw her. I've tried scouring the area to no avail.*
When he saw this message, Castle had an ominous premonition.
"That's..."
"Hm? Spit it out," Stein demanded. "You're not off the hook here. It's quite obvious this cave isn't a dungeon entrance. You're not lying about this, are you?"
"Ah! Not at all. It's just... Doesn't that heading point straight at us?"
Stein looked at Castle with incredulity.
"Perhaps?"
Since there wasn't an exact coordinate system in the game yet, positions could only be estimated like this. It was clear that Castle's sense of direction was astute, and even Stein seemed impressed by this ability.
But before they could continue that train of thought, they heard footsteps quickly approaching.
"Tch... On guard, everyone," Stein said.
*Ok, this is it.*
While everyone else was distracted by the source of the footsteps, Castle was prepared to make a run for it. To not raise any suspicions, he pretended like he was following orders as well.
He was expecting a fight to break out and was going to flee in the midst of chaos... but the source of the footsteps left him sorely disappointed.
"... Yana?" Stein asked.
"So you were around here as well?" the player called Quaterniana responded.
Castle was dumbfounded. His chance to escape vanished.
"Castle, you're in luck," Stein suddenly said.
"Huh?"
"Even if you've lied about the location of the dungeon, your girlfriend is probably around here. We'll let you off for now."
"Girlfriend? Who..."
When Castle figured out who Stein was referring to, he nearly passed out from anger.
"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!!!!"
Castle threw a tantrum once again.
"... Yeah, you're probably as young as you look..." Stein sighed.
But as he was flailing around, something in the air caught Castle's eye. He immediately stopped screaming and turned to look.
"Wait a second..."
His change in tone was so abrupt everyone turned to hear what he had to say.
As Castle walked within 50 metron of the cave's entrance, a menu popped up on his HUD.
"This is...!"
It was information about an instance dungeon nearby. Castle was overwhelmed with relief; this cave had been a dungeon's entrance all along! He was saved. However...
"Dungeon's in progress?" Stein asked. "You didn't bring your friends to clear it before we could, did you?"
When Castle heard this, he immediately started shaking again.
"N... No. Why would I do something like that?"
Castle wasn't skilled at reading people. If he were a bit more astute, he would realize that Stein was only messing with him. From Stein's perspective, Castle was a young kid who only had gaming on his mind. He was too pure to be able to deceive others.
But from Castle's view, he was currently on the chopping block! He was about to come up with another excuse, but Stein just sighed.
"Calm down, kid. You weren't lying, but someone got here before us. There's nothing else for us to do now but hope the raid party comes out from the entrance."
Castle almost passed out from relief. And soon afterwards, the menu indicated the dungeon had been cleared.
"Get ready," Stein commanded.
If they were lucky, they could engage the raid party as soon as they exited the dungeon from this location.
They moved in to surround the entrance of the cave.
And just as they were about to complete their encirclement, they noticed space ripple in front of them.
From this ripple emerged only a single player.
Typically, a dungeon raid party would have more than one player. Even two players was a very small number of players to attempt to raid a dungeon with.
This player was wearing some form of level and name concealment, so it was impossible to discern their identity.
Or, it would have been if these items were common among the populace.
If one was known to be the only player in the area with a level and name concealment method, ironically, the concealment method became a method of identification instead.
And when Stein determined this player's identity, he was confident that there was no one else in this raid party.
"Rejoice, Castle. You've helped us a great deal. Even though we don't get to explore this dungeon, we can both accomplish our shared goal here, can't we?"
Castle was currently trembling in a combination of rage and excitement. He couldn't wait to fight this player who'd made a fool of him earlier!
Stein, who noticed his excitement, gave the command.
"Everyone, engage!"
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