Boran stood in front of the Mission Board for a long time.
He could join people again.
He removed the solo filter.
The board changed at once. Many more missions appeared. Some were simple. Some were not. Most recommended three to five adventurers. A few recommended one defensive class. Some warned about ambushes. Some warned about poison. Some warned about unstable terrain.
Boran’s eyes kept moving.
[FF-RANK MISSION: Rat Den Suppression]
Location: Misty Ruins - Portal 6-B
Party Size: 3-5 Adventurers Recommended
Objective: Clear rat swarms from the outer tunnels and eliminate giant bats in the lower cave.
Estimated Duration: 3-5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate for FF-Rank
Rewards: 30 Gold, 180 XP
Additional Notes: Multiple small enemies. Darkness expected. Recommend crowd control, light source, and one defender.
Misty Ruins. He had heard that name before. From other adventurers. From people complaining about muddy caves, annoying rats, bad smell, and bats that dropped from the ceiling. It was a normal beginner mission.
The reward was better than anything he had done in days.
One frontline defender? That was him.
He hated how fast that thought came. He hated that some part of him still wanted to be useful to strangers. He hated that the words “one frontline defender” made him feel like the mission board was pointing at his face.
Someone stopped beside him.
“Looking at Misty Ruins?”
The voice belonged to a girl about his age. Maybe a little older. She had short black hair tied behind her head, and a long metal staff rested against her shoulder. Not a mage staff, at least not like Sude’s. This one had rings near the top, and small metal charms tied to it with red thread. They clicked softly when she moved.
Boran looked at her, then at the board. “Maybe.”
“Do you have a party?”
“No.”
Another person came up behind her. A tall guy with a wide grin and a bow across his back. His hair was messy, and his leather armor looked new.
“Did you find someone?” the bow guy asked.
“Maybe,” the girl said.
The bow guy looked at Boran. His eyes went immediately to the shield on Boran’s back.
A third person joined them before he could say anything. He was shorter and broad-shouldered, wearing heavy gloves plated over the knuckles and a thick belt lined with small glass bottles.
Behind him walked a fourth person, very neat compared to the others. Clean coat. White gloves. A small book hanging from their belt by a chain. Their hair was light brown and cut evenly at the chin.
The girl with the staff pointed at Boran. “Defender.”
The bow guy’s grin widened. “Really?”
The girl noticed and elbowed the bow guy in the side. “Don’t say it like that.”
“I didn’t mean bad,” he said quickly. “I mean really as in good. We need one.”
Boran looked between them. “For what?”
“Misty Ruins,” the girl said. “We have four people, but no proper frontliner.”
The short guy with the gloves crossed his arms. “And I’m not standing in front of rat swarms alone. I can fight close, but I’m not a shield wall.”
The neat one looked at Boran with calm eyes. “We planned to recruit at the board. You are the first guy with a shield we saw.”
Boran almost laughed at that.
“First Tank you saw?”
The bow guy scratched the back of his head. “There are not many.”
The girl held out a hand. “I’m Lena. Rune Binder.”
Boran stared at her hand for a second, then shook it. “Boran. Tank.”
“I’m Caleb,” the bow guy said. “Archer. Mostly single target.”
The short guy lifted one metal glove. “Bruno. Brawler. I punch things.”
The neat person gave a small nod. “Iris. Field Scribe.”
Boran blinked. “Field Scribe?”
Iris seemed used to the reaction. “Support class. Mapping, identification, weak barrier scripts. I am not a healer but more like a defense buffer.”
“Good to know,” Boran said.
Lena tapped her staff against the floor once. The metal charms clicked. “Rune Binder means I can place small rune marks on surfaces. Slow, burn, bind, flash. Nothing huge yet, but useful if enemies step on them.”
“Sounds good for choke points,” Boran said.
“That’s the idea,” Lena said. “Caleb shoots. Bruno handles anything that gets close. Iris supports. I control space. You stand in front.”
“What level are you?” Bruno asked.
“Two.”
Bruno’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Only two?”
Caleb elbowed him this time. “We’re only two too, genius.”
“I’m three,” Bruno said.
“You’re three because you got last hits on beetles.”
“That is called skill.”
“You stole my kill.”
“Skill issue.”
Boran looked at the mission again. “Have any of you done Misty Ruins before?”
“No,” Lena said.
That was not comforting.
“But I spoke with two parties who did,” she added. “Outer tunnels are mostly rat swarms. They come in groups. They are weak individually, but there are many. The lower cave has giant bats. They hang from the ceiling and attack when disturbed. A light source helps. Noise can wake them.”
Caleb patted his bow. “I can shoot them down.”
Bruno cracked his knuckles. “I can punch them down.”
Iris raised one finger. “Please do not try to punch flying bats unless they are already within reach.”
Bruno looked offended. “I can jump and punch.”
“You cannot jump that high.”
“You don’t know that. Maybe I can. ”
Caleb laughed. Lena sighed like she had already heard this conversation three times.
Boran watched them.
They seemed normal. Too normal.
Lena looked at him more carefully. “Anyway, you don’t have to join us. We can keep looking.”
“I’m in,” Boran said.
Caleb grinned. “Good. Welcome to our humble little group.”
Bruno held out a fist. “Let’s clear rats.”
Boran bumped it with his own.
“Let’s not die,” he said.
Bruno grinned. “That too.”
Lena opened the party interface. Blue panels appeared in front of all of them.
[Party Invitation Received]
[Lena Voss - Level 2 Rune Binder invites you to join their party.]
[Accept?]
He selected yes.
[Party Joined]
[Party Members:]
Lena Voss - Level 2 Rune Binder
Caleb Reed - Level 2 Archer
Bruno Hale - Level 3 Brawler
Iris Vale - Level 2 Field Scribe
Boran Apaydın - Level 2 Tank
Caleb leaned closer to the party list, then looked at Boran again.
“Boran Apaydın,” he read slowly. “That’s a strange name. Where are you from?”
Boran blinked. The question was normal, but it still felt odd to hear it here. In the Hub, people came from everywhere. Some wore armor like medieval knights. Some carried modern guns.
“Türkiye,” Boran said.
Bruno’s eyebrows rose. “Oh. Your English is really good then.”
Boran frowned. “My English?”
“Yeah,” Bruno said. “I mean, no accent at all. You sound like us.”
Iris lifted their eyes from the book. “That is not English.”
Bruno looked at them. “What?”
“It is not English,” Iris said again. “Not exactly. Everyone in the New World speaks through the System language.”
Caleb touched his throat. “System language?”
Lena nodded. “You did not notice?”
“No,” Caleb said.
“Most people don’t at first,” Lena said. “It feels like you are speaking your own language. The words in your head are still yours. But the System changes what comes out, and changes what you hear back.”
Boran had learned this during military preparation, before getting Gate clearance. The instructors had called it System-mediated language conversion. Most recruits had laughed at the name because it sounded too long for something so simple.
Iris continued, calm as always. “So Boran feels like he is speaking Turkish. You feel like you are speaking English. But none of us are actually hearing the original words. The System translates everything into a common New World speech before we understand it.”
Bruno opened his mouth, then closed it. “Ahh! So I just complimented his English for no reason.”
“Yes,” Iris said.
Caleb grinned. “Good job.”
Bruno pointed at Boran. “What about back in the Old World? Is your English good there?”
“Can we just drop this subject already?” Lena said.
Boran shrugged. “I learned English from the media—games, movies, YouTube. Mostly games, really. We had English classes in school, but I didn’t learn anything from them.”
Bruno nodded. “Exactly. I didn’t learn anything from English classes in school either. Fuck that, man. If I can speak English, then I know it, right? Why do you have to teach me grammar, literature, and all that shit? Thank God school’s over.”
“I find them useful,” Boran said. “I liked literature. The more I know my language, the better I can speak. I mean, we’re human, right? All we do is speak our whole lives.”
“I’m with Boran on this,” Lena said. “Let’s go. You can talk on the way.”
Lena accepted the mission.
[MISSION ACCEPTED: RAT DEN SUPPRESSION]
[PORTAL ASSIGNMENT: PORTAL 6-B - MISTY RUINS]
[MISSION TIMER: 24:00:00]
[REPORT TO PORTAL 6-B TO BEGIN MISSION]
Caleb clapped his hands once. “Great. Supplies?”
“I have rope,” Iris said.
“I have two cheap healing salves,” Lena said.
“Fists,” Bruno said.
“You also have food?” Iris asked.
“Nah, fist are—”
“Buy food.”
Bruno groaned. “Fine.”
Boran checked his own balance.
[Current Balance: 118 gold]
It still felt like a lot after having zero. It was not a lot. Not really. But it was enough to buy some things.
“We need a torch,” Boran said.
Lena lifted her staff. “Iris can make light markings.”
“Light markings are not the same as a torch,” Iris said. “They glow on surfaces. Good for paths, poor for wide caves. I recommend two torches minimum.”
Caleb pointed toward the Tavern exit. “Supply stall outside. Cheap stuff.”
They moved together through the Tavern.
Lena walked at the front because she seemed to decide things naturally. Caleb walked beside her and kept talking. Bruno wandered whenever food smelled close. Iris kept checking their little book and muttering numbers.
Boran stayed slightly behind them.
At the supply stall, they bought basic items. Two torches. Spare cloth. A small bottle of lamp oil. Cheap rope. Three pieces of dried meat because Bruno insisted he fought worse when hungry.
Boran bought one torch and two rolls of bandage.
They reached the transit wing.
Portal 6-B stood near the rear part of District B. The gate shimmered with gray light. Through it, Boran could see broken stone, mist, and the dark shape of ruined buildings. The surface rippled quietly.
A sign beside it displayed information.
[PORTAL 6-B: MISTY RUINS]
Recommended Level: 1-4
Environment: Ruined Settlement / Low Visibility / Cave Networks
Active Missions: 5
Lena gathered them a few meters away from the portal.
“Formation,” she said. “Boran front. Bruno behind Boran, left side. Caleb middle right. Iris back center. I stay behind Boran but not too close. If rats swarm, I mark the ground with slow runes. Boran holds them. Bruno clears anything that gets past. Caleb shoots priority targets. Iris marks the route and checks side tunnels.”
Iris nodded. “I can also place light script every twenty meters. It will last four hours.”
“Good,” Lena said.
Caleb raised a hand. “What about bats?”
“We do not wake all of them if we can avoid it,” Lena said. “If they wake anyway, we retreat to a tunnel where they cannot surround us from above.”
Bruno looked disappointed. “I thought we just kill them.”
“We do,” Lena said. “Without being stupid. Ready?”
Boran stepped through first.
The world twisted.
Cold mist wrapped around him before his second foot touched ground. The air smelled wet, old, and rotten.
Misty Ruins appeared around him.
Broken stone houses stood under a pale gray sky. Most had no roofs. Some walls had collapsed into piles of rubble. Grass grew between cracked roads. White mist hung low over everything, thick enough to blur shapes after fifteen meters.
Behind him, the others emerged one by one.
Caleb coughed. “Smells awful.”
Bruno sniffed. “Smells like wet basement.”
Iris looked around and touched a finger to the nearest stone wall. A thin line of blue light appeared on it, forming a small arrow pointing back toward the portal arrival spot.
[MISSION ZONE ENTERED: MISTY RUINS]
[OBJECTIVE 1: Clear Rat Swarms in Outer Tunnels]
[OBJECTIVE 2: Eliminate Giant Bats in Lower Cave]
[PROGRESS: Rat Swarms 0/6]
[PROGRESS: Giant Bats 0/20]
[TIME REMAINING: 23:59:12]
Not too complicated.
Lena pointed down a cracked road. “The tunnel entrance should be north.”
“How do you know?” Caleb asked.
Iris pointed at the interface. “Map marker. My skill.”
“Oh. Right.”
They moved.
Boran took the lead with his Shield raised. The ground was damp under his boots. Small puddles reflected the gray sky. Every ruined doorway looked like something could be hiding inside. Every broken window looked like an eye.
Lena stayed close enough that Boran could hear the charms on her staff click.
Bruno walked to his left, rolling his shoulders every few seconds.
Caleb kept looking into the mist with an arrow already resting on the string.
Iris marked walls as they passed. Small blue arrows and numbers glowed behind them.
After ten minutes, they found the tunnel entrance.
It was a wide stone opening under a collapsed building. Stairs led down into darkness. Cold air flowed up from below, carrying the smell of wet fur and old waste.
Bruno wrinkled his nose. “Rats.”
Caleb adjusted the grip on his bow.
Lena lit the first torch. Yellow light pushed against the darkness, but not far.
Boran looked down the stairs.
Something scratched below.
“I go first,” he said.
The stairs were slippery. Moss grew along the edges. Water dripped from somewhere below. The torchlight moved behind him, throwing his shadow long across the steps.
At the bottom, the tunnel opened into a wide passage. Smaller holes lined the walls. Some were barely large enough for rats. Others were big enough for a crouching person.
Iris placed a light mark near the stair wall. Blue glow mixed with yellow torchlight.
“Main route continues forward,” Iris said. “Side tunnels everywhere.”
The first swarm came three minutes later.
It began with sound. Tiny claws on stone. A lot of them. Boran stopped and raised his shield.
Dozens of small red eyes appeared near the floor. Then bodies followed. Rats the size of house cats poured into the tunnel. Their fur was gray and patchy. Their teeth were too long. Blue labels appeared above the mass, overlapping each other.
[Ruin Rat - Level 1]
[Ruin Rat - Level 1]
[Ruin Rat - Level 1]
Then the swarm label appeared.
[Rat Swarm 1/6]
“Slow rune!” Lena called.
She stepped beside Boran just long enough to strike her staff against the floor. A red symbol flashed on the stone, then spread into a circle.
The rats crossed it and slowed. Their legs moved like they were pushing through mud.
“Nice,” Caleb said.
He fired.
The arrow hit the first rat and pinned it to the ground. Bruno stepped forward and punched another so hard it bounced off the wall. Boran held the center.
Boran tightened his grip on the shield and waited for the rats to reach him.
Caleb fired again. Lena placed another rune, this one smaller and orange. A rat stepped on it and caught fire. It shrieked and ran into two others, setting them smoking too. Bruno stepped past Boran and punched the closest rat before it could touch the shield.
Then Iris drew a blue line in the air, and the first rat bounced off an invisible barrier with a squeak. Caleb shot it before it hit the ground. Lena’s slow rune caught the others. Bruno moved in and crushed two more with his plated gloves.
Boran stood there with his shield raised.
A minute later, it was over. Dead rats covered the floor.
[RAT SWARM CLEARED]
[PROGRESS: Rat Swarms 1/6]
[+20 XP]
“That went well,” Caleb said.
Iris crouched beside a rat corpse. “Loot available. Ruin Rat Tail. Ruin Rat Tooth.”
“Take everything,” Lena said. “We’ll sell later.”
They moved deeper.
The second swarm was bigger. It came from the ceiling firs. Rats dropped from cracks above and landed behind the party. Iris shouted the warning early enough that Bruno and Caleb turned.
Boran wanted to look back, but the front tunnel filled at the same time.
“Hold front!” Lena shouted. “Bruno, back!”
“I’m on it!”
Bruno slammed both fists together. A faint brown glow covered his gloves.
“Stone Knuckle!”
He punched the floor. The shock did not travel far, but it knocked three rats off balance. Caleb shot one near Iris’s boot. Iris placed a blue square in the air like a thin shield, and a rat bounced off it with a squeak.
Boran raised his shield and prepared for the front swarm.
Before the rats reached him, Lena’s rune flashed under their feet. Their charge slowed so much that they looked almost stupid. Caleb turned back and fired past Boran’s shoulder.
“Don’t move!”
Boran froze.
The arrow flew close enough that Boran felt air move near his ear. It struck a rat climbing the wall.
“Maybe warn me before that.”
“I did!”
He wanted to push forward and make space. But every time he chose a target, someone else handled it first.
Bruno punched the ones that slipped around the side. Lena burned the cluster in front. Iris blocked the rats dropping from above. Caleb picked off anything on the walls.
But the fight ended before his shield really mattered.
[RAT SWARM CLEARED]
[PROGRESS: Rat Swarms 2/6]
[+20 XP]
Boran checked the party list.
Everyone was fine. Bruno had lost six HP. Iris untouched. Caleb untouched. Lena untouched.
The tunnels spread wider after that. Iris’s map marks became more important. Without them, Boran was sure they would have gotten lost. He didn’t even understand how it worked. Every passage looked the same. The smell got worse as they went deeper.
They found the third swarm in a storage chamber full of broken crates.
This one was easy because Lena had time to prepare.
She placed three runes before Caleb threw a stone into the room. The rats rushed out. They hit slow, burn, then flash. White light filled the chamber. Half the rats stopped, confused and blind.
Bruno laughed and charged.
They cleared the swarm fast.
[RAT SWARM CLEARED]
[PROGRESS: Rat Swarms 3/6]
They cleared the fourth swarm somewhere near a narrow bridge. They cleared the fifth near an old fountain. They cleared the sixth at the entrance of the lower cave.
Boran walked in front for all of it but nothing reached Boran.
Not once.
[RAT SWARMS CLEARED]
[PROGRESS: Rat Swarms 6/6]
[OBJECTIVE 1 COMPLETE]
More time passed. More arrows flew. More runes flashed.
Then it was over.
[GIANT BATS CLEARED]
[OBJECTIVE 2 COMPLETE]
[MISSION OBJECTIVES COMPLETE]
[Return to Mission Board to claim reward]
Caleb whooped.
Bruno lifted both fists. “Done!”
Lena let out a tired breath. Iris closed their book and nodded.
Boran waited for someone to say something to him.
No one did.
“Let’s go back,” Lena said.
The others opened their interfaces.
Boran did the same, following half a second late.
The portal light took them.
They returned to the Hub in the same order they had entered. Lena first this time. Then Caleb, Bruno, Iris, and Boran at the back.
The clean air of the transit wing felt wrong after the cave. Too bright. Too safe.
Lena walked toward the Mission Board without slowing. Iris followed beside her, already checking something in their book. Bruno and Caleb kept arguing.
Boran followed them.
They reached the Mission Board. Lena touched the panel and selected the completed mission.
[MISSION COMPLETE: RAT DEN SUPPRESSION]
Gold icons flashed around the party.
Caleb grinned. “Nice.”
Bruno opened his balance and whistled. “Finally.”
Iris nodded.
Lena looked relieved. “Good work.”
Boran waited.
Nothing appeared.
No gold. No XP. No mission clear notification.
Maybe it was delayed.
He waited another second. Nothing.
“Lena,” he said.
The others stopped, but not like they were surprised. More like they had been waiting for this part and wanted it to be over quickly.
Boran looked at the mission board, then at his empty notification space.
“I didn’t get anything.”
Caleb looked away first.
Bruno scratched the back of his neck.
Iris closed their book very slowly.
Lena turned to him. Her face was not cruel. That almost made it worse.
“Yeah,” she said. “About that.”
Boran stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Lena pressed her lips together. “We removed you from the party.”
For a moment, Boran did not understand the words.
“When?”
“After the third swarm,” Lena said.
After that, all the walking. All the fighting. All the bats.
He had not been in the party.He had only followed them.
Boran looked at Caleb. “You knew?”
Caleb winced. “It wasn’t personal.”
Bruno lifted both hands. “No hard feelings, man.”
No hard feelings.
The words landed harder than any rat bite could have.
“I would’ve left if you’d told me, you let me think I was helping.” Boran said.
Caleb finally looked at him. “Were you?”
Boran said nothing.
Caleb seemed to regret the words, but he did not take them back.
Bruno sighed. “Look, you didn’t really do anything. I’m not trying to be mean. But you saw it, right? We did most of the work. You just kind of stood there.”
“I was the front,” Boran said.
“But nothing reached the front,” Bruno said.
Lena’s voice became quieter. “We needed the XP. If we kept you in, it would split five ways. We were doing fine with four.”
“You could have told me.”
Caleb shifted his weight. “Come on. Mission was easy. You didn’t get hurt. You can just find another party.”
Bruno gave a weak shrug. “No hard feelings.”
Boran did not answer.
The four of them turned away. Caleb said something about buying better arrows. Bruno answered that food came first.Their voices mixed with the noise of the Hub as they walked away.
Boran stayed where he was.
People moved around him. Some came to the Mission Board, chose missions, and left laughing with their parties.
A voice came from his right.
"That was unfortunate."
Boran turned.
A young man stood a few steps away from the Mission Board. He had pale skin and dark brown, wavy hair that fell to his shoulders. A black, silky cloak hung over his dark clothes. His features were soft and gentle, but there was a strange gleam in his eyes.
Boran stared at him.
"Sorry," the man said. "I heard the last part. I wasn't trying to listen, but they weren't exactly whispering."
Boran looked back at the place where the party had disappeared into the crowd.
"Yeah," he muttered.
"People say strange things when they don't want to feel guilty," the man said with a slight laugh.
Boran did not answer.
The man stepped closer and extended his hand. "My name is William Bennet."