"...Drinks, here, please!"
"...Hey, have you ever tasted the Meat-In-The-Stick special here? It’s insanely delicious!"
"...Looking for any Helpers specialized in Buff Support!"
It was as busy as ever in the Adventurer’s Guild. People had come here to recruit or eat and drink after a long day of questing.
There were even players having a bout of "General’s Game" at a couple of tables, and the sound of footsteps hitting the wooden surface could be heard from across the room.
"Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!"
Machary downed an entire glass of ale in one go, and then slammed it on the table with golden liquid dripping down his chin.
"Ahh, so good!"
He wiped his chin with the back of his hand.
"Is this the thing you mentioned?"
Fang Raon asked as he looked at the board at the back of the guild. It looked like a bounty board, but it wasn’t.
[Recruit Board]
There were pictures of players, their information such as [Class] and [Level] and brief introduction of their character.
The players who wanted to be recruited usually left their contact information on the Recruit Board, and it was a good way to find new party members.
"Yes. I think we should use Recruit Board to recruit the remaining members."
Machary said.
"So you don’t want to invite any other new recruits of Rose Records?"
Fang Raon asked.
"...I don’t want to be rude, but I don’t think they can keep up with us. We are level 2, and they are level 1, so we would need to do a lot of carrying.
"They might also not leave 6th floor for a while, and will try to reach level 2 before going anywhere."
Machary said.
Fang Raon nodded.
He thought what Machary said made a lot of sense, and he would also like to have more level 2 party members.
"Since we are Co-Leading this party. I think we need to discuss now what we are looking for in the party."
Machary said.
"Yeah, let me thi—"
Fang Raon was about to say, but then waitress walked over to their table with a smile on her face, and asked, "Do you want to order anything?"
"A new drink."
Machary lifted his empty cup.
The waitress wrote it down with a smile, and then turned to Fang Raon, who checked the menu, and said.
"Meat-In-The-Stick special, please."
Fang Raon said.
"Coming right away~"
The waitress said with a chirpy voice and headed to the kitchen.
"...Right, what was I saying... I don’t think we need more Warriors. We can handle it just fine with two of us."
Fang Raon said.
"I agree."
Machary said.
"I also don’t think we need Assassins. I am honestly having a hard time figuring out the use of Assassins."
Fang Raon said.
"It’s because Assassins can’t really show their true danger as level 1. They become more dangerous as they level up."
Machary said.
"...Hmm, I don’t think we really need them, I’ll be honest."
Fang Raon said.
"I do agree with you. Players of the Assassin Pathway are more inclined to be solo players, and if they are part of a guild, they are usually used in Guild Wars as such.
"They are extremely formidable when it comes to player-vs-player combat."
Machary added.
"I might sound greedy, but I also don’t think we need ten players. I think a well-balanced party of five can do even better than ten might."
Fang Raon said.
"..."
Machary considered his suggestion and had a conflicted look on his face, as there were pros and cons of going with fewer players.
It was harder to control ten-man parties, and it might become chaotic if one of the players decided not to listen to orders.
It would also mean each player would get less rewards by defeating the floor boss.
On the other hand, it was much safer to have ten players, especially if they get attacked by other players.
"...What kind of party do you have in mind?"
Machary asked.
"Two Warriors, which is us, and a talented Helper that knows how to manage their mana effectively.
"It would suck to have Helper who just spams heal, and doesn’t know what they are doing, so its important to have good one.
"And then, Mage and Tank. I want Mage who can control the battlefield. And Tank, who can effectively draw aggro and protect the team."
Fang Raon said.
"...You are asking quite a lot. Good luck finding such high-quality teammates. They are either already snatched by guilds or have party their own."
Machary said.
"I guess we then need to ’steal’ them."
Fang Raon said with a smile.
"Hahahaha!"
Machary just laughed, thinking he was joking, but then he saw that Fang Raon was serious, and completely quieted down.
’Is he crazy or what?’
At that moment, the waitress brought Machary his drink and Fang Raon the special menu item he had ordered.
Meat-In-The-Stick was, like the name suggested, a skewer of various meats grilled to perfection. It smelled delicious, and even Machary started drooling.
"...Can I have a bite?"
"Nope."
Fang Raon said.
"Tch, waitress, bring me one!"
Machary waved towards the waitress, who smiled, and wrote the order down before heading out to the back.
"You aren’t planning to do something stupid, right? We cannot afford to make enemies of High Rankers."
Machary said.
"High Rankers?"
Fang Raon raised an eyebrow.
"...You really are clueless. Players of level 1 to 3 are called Low Rankers—basically noobs of the game.
"Players of level 4 to 6 are High Rankers. They are already big boys of the tower, and you don’t want to mess with them.
"Then, from level 7 to 9, they are Divine Rankers. I haven’t really kept up with any news of the upper floors lately, but there are only a few Divine Rankers.
"And lastly, level 10... Top Ranker, which has never been reached before, of course, and won’t be reached in a very long time."
Machary said.
"Is there a place anywhere where we can... meet some strong players?"
Fang Raon asked.
Machary looked at him, grinned, and leaned back with a nod.
"There is—the Combat Lounge—where you’ll fight against fellow players. You’ll wage items from your inventory as bets, and the winner gets it all."
Machary said.
"That’s where we will go then."
Fang Raon said with a smile and bit into the Meat-In-The-Stick and devoured the delicious dish in no time at all.