Vol 1 Chapter 28

#(2)

There was one place Kapros hadn't been to yet, despite having hunted through most of the fields in the area: the cave dungeon located west of the city. It was a place too challenging to face alone, so people usually went in parties. Kapros hadn't gone there until now because he disliked hunting with others. However, thinking it might be good to visit once before leaving, he was now walking among the people recruiting parties in one corner of the square, looking for a decent party to join.

"Recruiting party members for the Orc Forest!"

"Recruiting warriors for goblin hunting in the eastern field!"

"Only two spots left, clerics welcome!"

As he was making his way through the crowd of people shouting boisterously, he suddenly heard the words "western cave" that he had been looking for.

"Recruiting party members for the Twilight Cave in the west! Planning to go all the way, so level 30 and above only!"

Level 30 and above... His current level was 32, so it was perfect. As he approached, a swordsman wearing a longsword who had been shouting energetically turned his head towards Kapros.

"Uh... Are you here to join the party?"

He asked with a somewhat subdued expression to Kapros, who had his hood pulled down gloomily. When Kapros nodded, a sharp-looking woman wearing a dagger stepped forward.

"What's your level?"

"32."

At his curt reply, she slightly furrowed her brow before speaking again.

"And your job?"

"Mage."

At his words, the party members suddenly started murmuring.

"He says he's a mage."

"A mage..."

It wasn't hard to guess why they were reacting this way. Currently, mages were beings difficult to find even if one searched all day.

"How far can you cast?"

"3rd circle mastery."

In truth, it was 4th circle mastery, but he deliberately reduced it by one circle, thinking it might become troublesome if he spoke honestly. But even that was enough to make their eyes widen in surprise.

"Wow... That's really impressive. With skills like that, you're more than welcome. What's your name?"

"Kap."

In Mist, it wasn't necessary to give one's real character name for party hunting, so many people used aliases. The male swordsman with the longsword also didn't seem to care whether the name he gave was an alias or real name as he approached.

"I'm Coolt. [ Would you like to join the party? ]"

A notification window appeared in front of Kapros. He nodded to accept.

"[ I accept. ]"

Ding.

- You have joined Coolt's party. Current party: Leader: 1 / Members: 5

With the notification that he had joined the party, Kapros went to stand with the group of party members gathered behind. He could see them glancing at him repeatedly, but he lightly ignored it. Then he realized that including himself, there were five party members, but only three were in front of him.

One male swordsman, the woman who had spoken to him earlier, and another woman wearing priestly robes. So where was the remaining one...

Looking to his side, he saw a man leaning against the wall in the shadows right next to him. Since the names that party members had given when joining appeared above their heads, Kapros could tell that he was the remaining party member.

[Yu-wan]

The man with the name Yu-wan floating above his head seemed to have as much affinity with black as Kapros did, wearing black armor, black clothes, and carrying a black sword. Yu-wan had his arms crossed and eyes closed, giving off an atmosphere of rejecting any conversation, so Kapros quickly lost interest. After that, one more male swordsman joined, and following the instructions of the party leader Coolt, they headed towards the western cave.

"Shall we start with introductions? I'm Coolt, the party leader, and I'm a swordsman aiming to become a knight in the future. Hahaha."

Coolt spoke with a bright attitude, perhaps to lighten the tense atmosphere. As if responding to his intention, the others smiled, but Kapros didn't smile back. The man called Yu-wan was the same.

"I'm Alsina, and I'm in the thief class. But I'm aiming to be the best treasure hunter rather than a pickpocket, so don't worry about your items."

The nimble-looking woman who had spoken to Kapros earlier said, waving her dagger.

"Ah, I'm Rona, a priestess of the healing god. Don't forget to come to me right away if you get hurt."

The cleric wearing a robe-like pure white priestly garment said with a shy smile. Seeing that priestly robe, Kapros was somehow reminded of Kion-hyung and turned his gaze away.

"I'm Ashul. I'm planning to go into the mercenary field in the future."

After the man who had joined last spoke cheerfully, only Kapros and Yu-wan were left. Not wanting to be remembered for long by introducing himself last, Kapros quickly opened his mouth.

"Kap. Mage."

"..."

"Huh... Is that it? That's too simple."

He coldly ignored the words that seemed to expect something more. Then everyone's gaze turned to Yu-wan. Only then did Yu-wan raise his head with an expression that clearly showed he had no choice.

He had a handsome face with dark blue hair, deep and sharp blue eyes, and a prominent nose bridge that caught the eye at once. Someone blushed, but all the nearby men clicked their tongues and turned away. Kapros was not much different. Looks were useless for anything. Come to think of it, the face that came to mind as the most handsome but least desirable to meet was that of Yoon Seok-ho, the Korean branch manager of Saturn.

'...Let's forget about that quickly.'

Kapros shook his head vigorously to shake off Yoon Seok-ho's face.

"Yu-wan. Swordsman."

"..."

Kapros smirked at the introduction even simpler than his own. He felt the man's gaze briefly touch him before turning away again.

The group was dumbfounded for a moment before starting to engage in social conversation among themselves. They seemed to have realized that trying to talk with Kapros and Yu-wan would lead to no further progress in conversation. Thanks to this, Kapros and Yu-wan ended up walking side by side at a distance behind the others, but there was no conversation between them.