55 Banque (2/2)
”Did she… get drunk on orange juice?” Leo asked.
Shesmu was speechless too.
”I-I guess so?”
Kazumi then also emptied a bottle of orange juice. After he gulped the last drop, he started laughing.
”Hahaha, it's all fun, it's all fun! Great Master, Master Leo, let's all have fun!”
Shesmu looked at this scene in shock before just laughing it away.
”You gotta learn from the brats. They sure know how to have fun. Leo, cheers!”
”Cheers!”
Shesmu and Leo raised their cup of wine before sipping on it. The party then chatted, drank and laughed for a good while, until new players started coming in.
”So, like I said, Ryan has this weird habit of always looking at the stars for half an hour before going to sleep. I have never seen him, not even once, sleep without going to the roof and looking at the stars. Don't you think that's hick-weird?”
”Yeah, yeah, if you say so.”
Shesmu took a few step back as Leo kept complaining and hiccuping at the same time. For half an hour, Leo haven't stopped talking. The moment he took his first shot, it was as if a bomb exploded. Leo became a chatterbox that couldn't be stopped”
”Hey, Leo, you already said that like three times already. Also, Shesmu's ears are about to burst. Give him a break, will ya?”
For a second, Amaterasu looked like an angel to Shesmu. Wings sprouted out of her back and a halo appeared on top of her head. She then looked at Shesmu and gave him a thumbs up.
”Oh, there is people talking. Were we not the first party to arrive?”
Shesmu's party turned to look at the unknown voice. A party of ten people entered through the palace door. However, this time, there was no panda accompanying them.
”Hello all, were you the party that defeated the boss of the second floor? We didn't find any monster on the last platform.”
A tall blonde man with slick hair that reached his back took the lead and reached with his arm for a handshake with Shesmu.
”Yes, we were the party to slay the first and second floor's boss. May I know your name?”
”Arthur, that is my name.”
If I remember well, this guy was the leader of Everlast. Shame they disbanded later and left the spot of Lord of Cubain to a bunch of noobs.
”Good to meet you Arthur, name is Shesmu.”
”So, the challenge for this floor is one that cannot start without a certain number of participant. I wonder if there are even 50 players left. Around 10 died in the first floor, who knows how many did in the second.”
Arthur then looked at Shesmu's party.
”I guess that all of you are safe, right? We tested everyone in our party to see if they're players or not. I assume it's the same for you guys, right?”
Shesmu looked at Arthur in the eyes for a second, before drifting to the other members. Five of Arthur's teammates never stopped looking at him. The most obvious of the five was a pink haired woman that looked at Arthur with fervor in her eyes. The four other members kept stealing glances at Arthur before whispering things between them.
Oh, so there is some internal conflict. Interesting.
”This is my vice captain. Julia, come here.”
The pink haired girl came forward and handshook Shesmu.
”Hello, my name is Julia and I'm the team captain. Thank you for pioneering the stages. Thanks to you we had a much easier time clearing the tower.”
”Ah, no problem. Here, let me introduce to you my team members. This Leo, Kazumi, and Amaterasu.”
After exchanging some pleasantries and everyone introducing themselves, Arthur brought up the matter with Ryan.
”And, who is that boy sleeping over there?”
”Ah, that's Ryan. He received some shock in the boss fight and the system booted him out. He will be back shortly I believe.”
”Yeah, we had that happen to one of us in the Forest of Beginning,” added Julia. ”The fights are so realistic and the pain feels like the real world. It's no wonder some people can't handle it.”
Julia then looked at Arthur.
”But of course, Arthur is not so weak as to succumb to a mere boss. Tanking, damaging, he can do it all.”
”Hahaha, you flatter me, Julia. Really, I'm not such a heroic character. In fact, you guys who could handle such strong bosses with such a small party in a record time are much more impressive.”
Arthur then came closer to Shesmu before asking, ”Could you please teach us your secrets?”
Shesmu took a step back and said, ”Really, there isn't much of a secret. We just tried our best and our team happen to be a little mechanically gifted, that's all.”
”Haha, what confidence! I like it!”
”Well, let's not just stay here and chat. I'm sure that you all are tired. Here, serve yourself. We can discuss the strategies for the third floor while eating.”