In a closed tavern, the fireplace is burning brightly.
The tavern was quiet, except for the crackling of firewood from time to time, and the only sound of the oil lamp occasionally exploding.
The yellowed oil lamp dissipates the darkness in the tavern, and the warm light brings a sense of comfort, making people want to lean back on the round chair and take a nap.
The wooden floor exuded a faint fragrance, as if a servant had just mopped it, and it was so smooth that it could almost reflect the human form.
Through the blurred windows of the tavern, one can see the endless darkness and chaos outside.
Like a dangerous and tempting adventure, it fills people with daydreams.
There was an eye-catching notice posted on the wall of the tavern, and a face as pale as if from a lack of blood took up most of the notice.
There is only one round table in the tavern, and there are five round chairs placed aside.
There is a piece of parchment placed on the round table, which seems to contain a map of a certain place.
Following the invisible fluctuations in the space, illusory human figures began to appear on the round chair.
Then the illusory figure slowly stared, and adventurers wearing equipment appeared on the round chairs one by one.
"Are you all here?"
Then a calm male voice sounded, and the tranquility of the tavern was broken.
The man who spoke was sitting on a round chair facing the wooden door of the tavern. Judging from the armor he wore and the holy symbol he wore, he should be a paladin.
"Hmm... I feel like I need a glass of fruit wine, damn the aftereffects of teleportation."
A high-pitched voice replied first.
The paladin turned his head and looked around, but did not see the speaker.
But he didn't find it strange. Instead, he took out a piece of burlap from his backpack and threw it towards the round chair that made the sound:
"Lille, actually I don't mind if you stand on the chair... you just have to step on the burlap."
"Oh, thanks to the generous Elijah, that's exactly what I meant."
A small figure climbed onto the round chair nimbly. It could be seen that the round chair set up for an ordinary body shape was too wide for him.
Under the illumination of the oil lamp, his brown hair, which was neatly tied into strands, reflected an oily luster.
He is about the same size as a normal human child, but the wrinkles on his face as time goes by show that he is no longer young in actual age.
This is a halfling, and judging from the leather armor on his body and the throwing knives and daggers hanging on his waist, he should be a rogue.
"I have arrived."
Then a deep voice appeared, and a strong guy appeared from the void.
His muscles were hunched and covered with various scars.
The most conspicuous thing among them is the ferocious knife mark on his face.
It was just a little short of cutting into his right eye, but it finally stopped under his eyelids.
Fighting in the Net leaves no scars, but this is not the case in the physical world.
This is obviously a warrior who has rich fighting experience and has fought in mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
"Lille, Isaac has arrived, where are Stepan and Jasmine?"
Ilya looked around and then asked.
"I'm here, there seems to be some problem with the transmission."
A crisp female voice responded to him. Her voice seemed a little weak. The aftereffects of teleportation were a rather uncomfortable thing for a mage with a weak constitution.
"Where's Stepan? Has anyone seen him?"
Ilya frowned slightly and said.
They came from the same material world and were put together under the guidance of their ancestors.
But this is their first time to go on an adventure together as a group. Before, they trained and strengthened individually, because the network only provides regular team copies at level 10.
But this time, the precious special scrolls taken out by the ancestors allowed them to have a temporary team copy as a preview before level 10, and the rewards were rich.
For the rest of his teammates, Ilya is mostly at ease.
From the introduction by his predecessors and the occasional communication activities of the team, Ilya roughly understood the character of his teammates.
Leal is an experienced rogue. Although he is old, he has little impact on rogues who are not mainly focused on fighting.
Although there are occasional out-of-touch behaviors, considering the racial characteristics of halflings, Ilya feels that it can be forgiven.
After all, although Lille occasionally behaves irregularly and likes to tease others, he is well-known as a good old man in the town where he lives.
And Isaac is somewhat famous in their small circle, a legendary warrior.
He was born a slave and gained freedom through years of fighting in the gladiatorial arena.
After obtaining his free status, Isaac joined the adventure group of one of Ilya's seniors. Finally, through his outstanding performance in the battle, his senior gave him the right to recommend the comprehensive network.
In the words of his predecessor:
"For the stable material world, you are redundant. You should belong to blood and fire and join the more intense war."
Ilya was initially unwilling to accept an executioner-like figure into his team. He felt that he wanted to keep the team pure and kind.
But in the end, his senior convinced him that the path of kindness is not narrow and single.
Sometimes it is necessary to accept some bloody people, who are on the edge of evil and good.
As a paladin, Ilya has the responsibility and obligation to guide them to the path of light.
However, Ilya looked at the warrior who was wiping his sword with his head lowered and felt quite stressed.
As for Jasmine…
Ilya turned to look at her. She was looking at her spell book, with a blue light flashing in her eyes.
I don't know if I'm recording spells or doing something else.
Ilya didn't know her well because she spent most of her time studying in her mentor's magic tower.
But according to her mentor, she is a serious and rigorous girl.
Finally, Stepan has not come yet.
Ilya's brows couldn't help but frown a little deeper.
As a royal descendant of their huge empire in the material world, it is indeed quite surprising that Stepan chose to join Zongwang and become a bard.
But Ilya, who was designated as the captain by his seniors, felt that he was a big trouble, and the fact that his absence this time confirmed this.
Ilya has no prejudice against nobles, but he doesn't think it's rational for a descendant of the royal family who shoulders the destiny of the empire to choose to become a comprehensive player.
"Okay...it seems that Stepan didn't come for some reason, so let's study the mission briefing of this temporary team copy first."
Ilya summoned his teammates, then spread out the parchment on the round table that recorded the copy information and said.