Victoria unsheathed her sword and walked into the group of players.
"Healers and priests! Stand back! Heal the players as you are trained to!"
All the healers and priests went to the last row.
"Witchers and mages! With the healers!"
The witchers and mages lined up with the healers and priests.
"Hunters, and rogues! Head on!"
"Archers, and rangers! Back us up!" Victoria walked past the groups after saying, "Warriors, and knights! With me!"
All the hunters, rogues, warriors, and knights dashed at the world serpent. The warriors and knights surrounded the world serpent from one side because it was too big to be surrounded by multiple sides.
The hunters and rogues kept running towards the world serpent with their weapons in their hands.
The archers and rangers loaded up their ranged weapons to support the hunters and rogues.
The witchers and mages charged up their magic attacks and prepared to aid the other players.
The healers had surrounded all the player base from all the sides. They were trained to heal the players in need. Each healer focused on a specific group within a formation and watched over them.
Victoria was in the front line with hunters, rogues, warriors, and knights. While Aria was with the Archers and rangers.
Aria was watching over Victoria, and her safety was her top priority. Aria knew Victoria was very important to Zach, and she couldn't let anything happen to her in her presence.
The groups of players were about to jump on the world serpent, and Victoria was the first one. However, a player ran past everyone with a swift motion and jumped on the world serpent.
The moment later, the world serpent was chopped into pieces, and all the players present heard:
[Floor 50 has been cleared. Proceed through the portal to enter the next floor!]
Everyone was left speechless, and they couldn't comprehend what had just happened. They started talking and glancing at everyone as though they were looking for answers.
Even Victoria was left baffled. But Aria smirked with a scoff and muttered, "Finally."
In the middle, where once the world serpent was crawling, stood a black-haired young man, facing his back to all the players and looking up at the sky.
"…"
He tilted his back and looked at Victoria. Then, he smirked and said, "You didn't call my name. Not going to lie, I am sad."
"Zach!" Victoria exclaimed. "…Zach!"
"Now you called my name twice…" Zach walked to Victoria and stood in front of her with a grin on his face.
He looked at Victoria's chest and saw she was wearing armor.
"I can't believe you really wore armor…"
"Obviously! We are in a dungeon raid…" Victoria squinted her eyes and said, "Did you just… did just one-shot a level 100 boss?!"
"It wasn't a one-shot, though. I had to strike it a couple of times," Zach remarked.
"You killed a boss in two seconds!"
Meanwhile, the other players were bewildered by Zach's presence. Seemingly, they hadn't encountered a player as strong as Zach before.
"He has to be over level 100," a player whispered.
"But who is he?!"
"He is Zach," a girl replied.
"And…?"
"He is our classmate," another player said. "And Zach and Victoria were a couple."
"What?!" the player standing behind them whispered violently. "Vice-captain… you are telling me that someone like her actually has a boyfriend?!"
"Had…"
"So they broke up? Well, obviously. There is no way anyone could tolerate that bitch," he scoffed.
Victoria clapped her hands and said, "We cleared the 50th floor! Now, we will take a 10 minutes break! Rest yourselves because we still have 50 more floors to clear! And they will be more difficult than the first 50!"
All the players formed groups and took rest wherever they could.
Zach, Victoria, and Aria were sitting in the corner, staring at each other with a judging look on their faces.
"Was there any need for such a heroic entry? And all the players were waiting for the boss floor so they could get more EXP, while you just one-shotted it…" Victoria sighed in disbelief and continued, "Before I ask anything else, where is Aurora?"
"Well… things happened, and she can't come…" Zach muttered with a sigh.
"What happened?" Aria asked with a concerned look on her face. "Even when I knocked at her door in the morning, she didn't respond. But then she messaged that she could come later with you. Is she okay?"
Zach nodded and said, "You will know when we go back."
Zach looked at Victoria and said, "You are ready to leave the guild, right?"
Victoria nodded and said, "Everything is set. I am just waiting for this raid to end."
"Why did you even conduct the raid, though?" Zach asked. "The new update messed everything up, right?"
"It would still help the player level up by some degree," Victoria replied with a shrug. "Those who are serious about surviving will get some benefits."
"But there are a lot of players…."
Victoria squinted her eyes at Zach and said, "Care to explain how and when did you get here?"
"I asked Aria about the raid progression, and she told me they were nearing the 50th floor," Zach responded. "So I hurried over and joined the raid on the 49th floor."
Victoria raised her brows after hearing that and asked, "So why didn't you let us know?"
"You were giving such a wonderful and motivational speech; I thought I shouldn't ruin the impact," Zach replied nonchalantly.
"Oh?" Victoria knitted her brows and asked, "And the real reason?"
"You looked pissed, so I kept myself hidden," Zach replied with a straight face.
"Of course, I am pissed…. Idiot. Hmph!" Victoria averted her gaze and said, "If you were going to be late, you should have informed me. I thought you weren't coming or changed your mind about me."
"That's not happening, not even in a million years," Zach said as though he really meant it. However, he wasn't going to come in the raid if Aurora hadn't asked him to.
Of course, Zach planned to tell Victoria if he had decided not to come.
Zach looked into Victoria's eyes with a serious look on his face and said, "I am going to marry Aurora after the raid."
***
Total players in the game- 1201514
0 new players logged in.
143 players died.
====
Author's Note- Dropping bombs when it's peaceful and calm; Zach is born different.