Chapter 78 - A SEDUCTIVE GENTLEMAN

LUO YAN walked out of the teleportation portal, closely followed by Luo Jin.  They just stepped into Matlock Town – one of the four major towns in Arcadia.  They're now eligible to enter it after reaching level 36.  But what got Luo Yan really excited was that they could now go dungeon raiding.  They're level was now enough to enter a dungeon instance.  Which meant they could now start gathering materials for the crafting of their weapons.   

He already had a dungeon in mind that they could go to.  If the list of dungeons in this VR version was still the same as that of the PC version, that is.  

"Ah Jin, let's go to the Task Hall," he said.

"Are we going to take another task?" Luo Jin asked.  Being in this new town, he thought his second brother would want to sightsee or something. 

"Yes.  But let's look first for the location of the instance portals in this area."

Arcadia was like a big continent that could be divided into four parts.  Those four parts centered around the four major towns.  Of course, there were other places in Arcadia which were not covered by the land surrounding those four towns.  But they were not that many.  So most of the portal instances of dungeons were located on the land area surrounding the four towns.  Of course, there were dungeons which couldn't be found there.  Those could be considered very special.

"Instance portals?" Luo Jin asked, a bit confused.

Luo Yan nodded.  "For the dungeons.  Didn't I tell Ah Jin that most of the materials needed for crafting the best weapon could be found during dungeon raids?"

Yeah, Luo Jin somehow remembered that.  He's not even surprised now how much this brother of his knew about this game.  This probably only showed how much he liked the game.

Luo Yan led the way towards the Task Hall, he already checked in the map earlier where it was located.  While walking, he looked around.  Based on the map of the town, Matlock seemed to be bigger than Olkdale.  It even looked more prosperous.  Maybe because only level 36 players and higher could enter here.  If he went with that assumption, then the remaining two towns would be much bigger and more prosperous than this one.

Soon, they arrived at the Task Hall.  The architecture of the building was no different from the one located at Olkdale Town.  They went inside and Luo Yan first looked for a screen that would show the location of the instance portal.  He immediately found it.  

It was a screen floating on the right side, showing a map.  At the center of it was Matlock Town and surrounding it were five blinking red dots with the name of a place under it and the name of the dungeon instance at the top.  He pulled Luo Jin towards it.  At the bottom of the screen were the words; 'Dungeon Instances'.  He looked at the map and grinned when he found the dungeon he was looking for.

Luo Jin happened to see this grin.  It was the kind of satisfied and excited grin.  "Have you already decided where we should go?"

"Yes.  But we still have a problem."

"Problem?"

"In order to raid a dungeon, at least a team with five members are needed.  But Ah Jin and I are only two, so it's a problem."

Luo Jin clucked his tongue.  "Why does it have to be so troublesome?"

Luo Yan knew that his brother probably didn't want to team up with a group of strangers.  He also didn't want that.  What if they teamed up with a group of pig team mates?  Instead of being an advantage, it would definitely be just the opposite.  But having only two people raiding a dungeon was not allowed.  So what choice did they have?

The only other person he knew in this game was Shen Ji Yun.  Who probably still hadn't logged-in in the game.  Considering how he still hadn't replied to his private message.  So, strangers were their only choice.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but are you two looking for team mates for a dungeon raid?" suddenly asked by a voice behind them.

Luo Yan and Luo Jin both glanced back and saw a male player wearing a white robe.  He had a very approachable face.  The kind that could make friends easily.  Luo Yan stared at him and answered, "Yes, we are."

The guy seemed fl.u.s.tered being looked at by Luo Yan.  But he still continued to say, "Then do you mind teaming up with me and my friends?"

"Before I answer, could I ask what dungeon you and your friends were planning to raid?"

"The Infernal Chasm."

A thought entered Luo Yan's mind and then he smiled.  "Okay, let's team up."

"Hey—"

Luo Yan gazed down at his brother and gave him a reassuring smile.  "It's okay."

Whatever complain Luo Jin wanted to say was stopped by that smile.

"That's great!" the guy said happily.  "My game name is Essaint.  How about you guys?"

"I'm Noctis.  And this is-" Luo Yan stopped, wait- how would he introduce Luo Jin?  Should he just call him Young Master?  Luo Jin would be annoyed to no end if he did that.  But it would be funny as hell.  Should he just do that?  

But before he could, Luo Jin beat him to it.  "I'm Jin."

Luo Yan pouted a bit.  Damn.  He missed his chance.

"Noctis, Jin, nice to meet the both of you," the guy who introduced himself as Essaint said.  "My two friends are waiting at a restaurant near here.  Should we go there?"

Luo Yan smiled.  "Okay."

They went to another branch of Moonriver.  Luo Yan was slightly surprised when Essaint led them to the third floor where the expensive private boxes were.  He stopped in front of one of the private boxes.  He knocked but no one answered.  When he opened it, no one was inside.

"What's this, I thought your friends are waiting here?" Luo Jin said with a bit of a sarcastic tone.

"Sorry, they probably went somewhere.  Those two," he shook his head.  "Could you wait here?  I'll go get them and then we'll immediately go to Infernal Chasm right after."

"Sure, we'll wait here," Luo Yan said very amiably.

Then he walked away.

"Hey, Yan, why are you being so friendly to that guy?  For all we know, he probably wanted to scam us or something," Luo Jin complained.

"You should listen to your little companion, my lovely," suddenly said by a smoky voice on the side.

Luo Yan and Luo Jin turned sharply, because they both didn't feel the presence of the other.  What they saw was a tall man with a lean figure.  He was wearing a black suit that fits him perfectly and was holding a cane like some aristocratic gentleman.  His slick black hair was combed back, showing his clear forehead.  He had a pair of red eyes.  But it was not the same red as Luo Jin's game avatar.  Instead of being similar to rubies, they were more like blood red.  His skin was extremely pale, not the unhealthy pale that Luo Yan had when he first woke up from the coma but more like a natural paleness.  As if he was born with it.  But despite being pale, his lips were as red as ripe cherries.

Just standing there, he was already exuding some kind of seductive atmosphere.  Even the way he moved was charming.

He smiled, the slight arc at the corner of his mouth was enough to make anyone blush.  "That person is most probably trying to use the both of you so he and his friends could successfully clear that dungeon."

Luo Yan stared at this intruding guy and then suddenly smiled sweetly.  "I know."

Then he pulled Luo Jin inside the empty box and closed it.

The man who was left outside was stunned for a moment.  And then he smiled, a real smile this time.  "Interesting."