"...And I busted that guy’s head open with my mighty hammer. I am telling you, hammers are really strong in this game!"
"...In the early game, at least. None of these noobs’ shields can withstand hammer strikes, but on the other hand, it must be quite exhausting to swing it around!"
"...Haha, yeah, but I am strong!"
The players laughed among themselves.
"Hah."
Lucas, the gray-haired man, laughed as well and sipped on the alcohol in his ornate goblet.
"...Who is that?"
In that moment, one of the party members looked at the young man who was approaching the table, and he was walking with Poppy.
"...Why is he with Poppy?"
"...Who the fuck is he?"
Lucas looked around with squinted eyes, put the drink down, and stared down at Poppy, who shrank like a frightened animal under his gaze.
"Poppy, who is he, and what are you doing with him?"
Lucas asked angrily.
"A-ah... ah..."
Poppy stammered, terrified by the anger in Lucas’ voice.
She had thought about this day for weeks now, when she was finally going to gather her courage and say, "I am leaving this party!" But now that the time had come, she just couldn’t.
"I am Fang Raon, and I am also leader of my own party. Poppy here will be joining my party, therefore leaving yours, so no hard feelings, alright?"
Fang Raon said with a smile.
Those words angered the members of Lucas’ party.
"...Who the hell do you think you are?"
"...You think you can just steal our members and get away with it?"
"...Poppy, how selfish can you fucking be? We are just about to do the raid as well!"
In that moment, Lucas raised his arm, silencing the angry players, and he coldly looked at Poppy.
"You’ve truly disappointed me, Poppy. You know how valuable Helpers are, and we are just about to do the raid, and then you just decided to leave us? You have let us all down."
"Y-You... Have said the same thing for 3 weeks already. You and others have said that the raid will happen really soon, but we don’t even have the Tower Key yet or the boat..."
Poppy said with a sense of frustration.
"We can get both of those things in a day’s time! We have just finished going through the details of the raids!"
Lucas slammed his fist on the table, and it shook Poppy to her core.
She was really afraid of him.
"You guys sure are good at gaslighting and manipulation. I must take some tips. None of you guys are planning to do the raid. Don’t lie to us."
Fang Raon said with a smile.
"Haaah?"
When they heard his words, the party members shouted, "What the hell do you know?" so loudly that everyone in the bar turned around.
The bartender—who was also the owner—looked suspiciously in their direction.
He could only hope that these players weren’t planning to start a fight inside his bar because the last time that happened, the bar needed repairs worth close to ten thousand square coins!
"You all look like you’ve spent night and day sunbathing. Your skins look like leather, you are here drinking away, and none of you look like you are in any rush to leave this floor.
"I am sure you want to leave one day, which is why you’re so desperately holding onto Poppy, but when is that day?
"I am pretty sure that day isn’t very close. You all are having too much fun on this floor, so you don’t want to leave, am I right?"
Fang Raon said with a smile.
It silenced the party members.
"...You are right, Fang Raon. They are always on the beach, at the bar, or just playing around. When I ask what they’re doing, they always make it seem like they are doing something important!"
Poppy exclaimed.
It was a surprise to her how easily Fang Raon was able to read them and see right through their excuses.
"...Who the hell do you think you are?"
Lucas stood up, and he was tall—close to two meters—and was even taller than Fang Raon.
"You are currently trying to intimidate me to make me back off. It’s your go-to move, isn’t it? You won’t attack me.
"You would be banned from this city, and that’s not what you want, is that right? Thus, you just use your tall stature, deep voice, and scary-looking face to do the job for you."
Fang Raon said with a smile.
It wasn’t every day that he had to look up to see someone’s eyes, but this time, he had to, and he would be lying if he said that he wasn’t a little bit intimidated.
One thing was for sure—he wouldn’t want to meet Lucas on the battlefield, but unfortunately, he had to make him his enemy.
"You’ve made a mistake today. It’s considered taboo in the tower to try to steal a person from another party. This will be remembered."
Lucas said coldly.
"Okay."
Fang Raon said, and then he turned around and left the Player’s Bar with Poppy, but they could still feel their gazes on their backs.
When they left, Lucas and his party sat back down and started whispering something among themselves.
"...They won’t let this be, right?"
Poppy said with a sad tone.
She just wanted to leave the party where she didn’t enjoy being, but it ended up becoming such a big deal.
’Maybe I should’ve stopped playing for a couple months, waited till they left the floor without me, and then come back? I don’t know...’
"They will try something, but it will be alright. My party is strong. Are you ready to leave this floor now?"
Fang Raon asked.
"...Huh?"
Poppy looked at him in surprise.
She didn’t expect him to already be planning to leave this floor behind!
"We were only short of a Helper, but now that we got you, we don’t need to stay here any longer. My friend got a boat already, and then we’ll go get the Tower Key."
Fang Raon said with a smile, and then he sent a message to Machary with the text "I got the Helper."
[Machary: Good! We are over in the docks!]