The five little idiots quickly recovered from the trauma of cleaning the kitchen. Forgetting they had no idea when—or where—their next meal might come from, they devoured their food and drink in record time. At least they had the sense to hold their tongues while the barkeeper lingered behind his counter. Jin, on the other hand, ate much slower, his mood sour.

The stingy system had ripped them off yet again, providing nothing more than dry bread rolls, a few scattered peas, and two laughably thin slices of pork. Their drink was a watery ale so weak it might as well have been straight from a pond. If this was his afterlife, Jin had some serious objections. Couldn’t the system at least make it a little more heavenly? This was outright bullying. And just to rub salt in the wound, the six of them were suddenly and unceremoniously booted outside the HQ as if by magic.

Jin glanced at the log-in counter: over 2,500 days. For that kind of commitment, he felt entirely justified in expecting better treatment.

Rei scratched his head, staring at the HQ building.

“What was that? What happened to our food?”

With the sun barely risen, Jin took the opportunity to share his theory.

“It must’ve been the reset timer. Today’s officially a new day. The merchant caravans will leave in half an hour from the South Gate. If we want to get to Silverledge, we need to meet up with them there.”

Now that the barkeeper was out of sight, Shin’s fear of NPC repercussions vanished.

“Who made you boss? And why are we even going to Silverledge? Sticking around you just keeps getting us in trouble. All that effort, and what did we even get out of it!?”

It was time for a little manipulation. If he didn’t keep the five little idiots alive and under his watch, how could he conduct his “experiments” to kill them and observe the results?

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” Jin said, his tone deliberately nonchalant. “But in Silverledge, you can access the guild and the guild bank. There’s food and drink stored in there, free accommodations, and no need to pay for anything. NPCs can’t enter either. Oh, and you’ll also have access to all the weapons stored in the guild.”

Food and drink might not be enough of a bribe, but weapons? That would do it. What kind of gamer wouldn’t jump at the chance to see real in-game weapons?

Haruto’s face lit up.

“We can see weapons?”

Seiichiro immediately elbowed him in the side.

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you all listening to him?”

Haruto scowled and shoved Seiichiro off.

“Dude! Weapons. Don’t you want to see them? What’s wrong with you? Real-life weapons… we could sell them! If we get enough gold, we can go home, right? Jin?”

Jin shrugged casually. The whole “going home” thing wasn’t exactly a priority for him. Well, it was—mainly because he was determined not to go home. Letting the five little idiots believe there was a chance of escape, though? That was the best way to keep them from freaking out.

“I don’t know. Maybe? Still, if we get some gold coins, we won’t have to do any more trivial jobs like washing up. Sell the low-level items and make some money. If money’s what you need to get out, then it’s a good starting point. Anyway, we need to find the merchants before they leave. If we miss them, it’s a 12-hour wait and a night trip. Or we can spend six hours walking in the sun without food or drink. These copper coins? They’ll only buy you one skin of water or one apple each.”

Rei raised a hand, frowning.

“Can’t we combine them and get something better?”

Of course they could. The game wasn’t completely unfair. Jin just didn’t bother telling them. If he did, the five little idiots would want to go shopping, and they’d never make it to the South Gate in time.

“Sure,” he said, tone clipped. “We can get six skins of water or six apples. I’m going to Silverledge. You five can take your chances in the wild with the mobs if you want. At our level, there’s snakes, pigs, and mushrooms out there.”

Haruto shuddered.

“S-snakes? They… they wouldn’t be poisonous, would they?”

If the system didn’t hurry up and restore him to his former glory, Jin felt he might snap and burn the whole thing down. What kind of idiot didn’t know the difference between venomous and poisonous?

“Snakes are venomous. And yeah, they can kill level-one players who have no gear.”

He knew this all too well. As a warrior, he’d once rushed a group of level-one snakes in grey starting gear, thinking warriors were naturally strong. Without proper equipment, he’d been as squishy as they came and had promptly died. The memory of that embarrassing noob mistake still stung.

Rei, Haruto, and Yuto all turned to look at Seiichiro and Shin. Shin puffed out his chest in an attempt at authority.

“We’ll go find the merchants. Jin, you lead the way. But don’t forget—I’m the leader of this party.”

Oh, how could he possibly forget? Jin had once been a member of their party until they’d booted him out. Not that it stopped Shin from demanding high-level gems from him. The joke, of course, was on Shin, as Jin had only ever provided flawed ones. Yes, he could hold a grudge. The five little idiots had followed a new player to a new game, and Jin hadn’t missed them at all—though he sometimes regretted not showing off just how buff his warrior had become. If they knew, they’d be groveling at his feet for help.

Jin turned and started walking toward the South Gate without acknowledging Shin’s so-called leadership or talking back. Until he’d tested all his theories, he wouldn’t risk driving a wedge between them.