"Okay, I'll brief you on what we'll be doing since the captain isn't here," Ryker said.
The others paid attention.
They all looked at him with keen eyes, causing him to feel a little uncomfortable.
"Gates operate differently from normal space," he began. "Time flows ten times faster inside. One hour out here equals ten hours in there."
He paused, making sure they were following.
"Also, once someone enters a Gate, it closes behind them. No one else can enter until that person either dies or comes out."
Maya's hand shot up. "Wait - how can we all enter if it closes after someone goes in? Would we have to hold hands?"
Before Ryker could answer, Dante grabbed Maya's and Cipher's hands.
"Don't worry, you can hold onto me." He grinned at Ryker. "Vice Captain, get on my back."
Ryker facepalmed.
"Did you not read the handbook?" he asked in exasperation.
Dante and Maya looked to the side in embarrassment.
"Umm, well..." Maya scratched her cheek sheepishly.
"I was training," Dante said quickly. "It's better to get stronger to protect you guys than read the book, right?"
Ryker turned to Cipher. "And you…?"
"I read a bit," Cipher said.
Ryker sighed deeply. "To enter a Gate together, you have to form a party. In a party, you can all go in at the same time. You still have to enter at relatively the same time though - if people are too far apart, the party disbands."
He continued, "In a party, EXP is distributed according to contribution."
Maya interjected immediately. "Wait - I'm a support. Does that mean I won't get any EXP?" Her face fell. "Will I be stuck at F-rank forever?"
"Healing and support count toward contribution too," Cipher explained. "You'll still gain experience."
Her spirits lifted immediately. "Really? That's a relief!"
"Okay, it's just as Brother Cipher said," Ryker confirmed. He summoned his system and formed a party.
The other three saw notifications appear before them, inviting them to join. They all accepted.
"The Gate we're entering is a low-level training Gate," Ryker continued. "The monsters should be F to E-rank. At most D-rank, but nothing higher. So you don't need to worry much - just do your best."
He paused. "This will also be testing how well you perform in combat."
"Alright, that's everything. We can go in now." He turned and moved forward.
The others didn't move.
He looked back. The three were still holding hands.
"What are you guys doing?" he asked.
"We're holding hands just in case, so we don't get separated," Dante explained matter-of-factly.
Ryker stared at them. "We've already formed a party. You don't need to do this. As long as we go in at the same time, we won't be separated."
"Well, it's better to be safe," Dante said.
"Yeah," Maya agreed, nodding.
Ryker looked at Cipher. "You too, brother?"
He hadn't expected even Cipher to go along with this. He'd seemed quite smart compared to the rest.
Cipher scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
Well, this was his first time entering a Gate, so he was a little nervous. He was also worried something might happen due to remnants of the Glitch Class or something. Better to be safe.
Seeing this, Ryker sighed. "Fine."
He extended his hand toward them.
They looked at him with blank expressions.
"What?" he asked.
"I don't have any more hands," Dante said. "Get on my back."
"What?" Ryker's face twisted. How could he do such an embarrassing thing?
"I'll just take Cipher's hand," he said, moving toward Cipher.
"You'll be too far. It's better if we're all together," Dante said.
The others nodded in agreement.
Ryker was about to retort, but seeing their serious looks... "Fine."
He climbed onto Dante's back.
Other teams nearby started looking in their direction.
Ryker buried his face against Dante's back.
"Alright, move now," he said impatiently, voice muffled.
He was going to do this just this once. Since these three were scared of the Gate, he'd let his reputation as vice captain take the hit.
Just this once.
…
The feeling of jumping into the portal was strange - like being pulled into a murky liquid.
His eyes suddenly snapped open.
He wondered if it was a success.
He looked around. The others lay on the floor beside him, also coming to, looking around in confusion. He got up and the others did too.
"Wow, this place is beautiful!" Maya said, gazing around. "Is this really an apocalypse world?"
They stood inside what looked like a luxurious house - pristine walls, elegant furniture, soft lighting and golden statues. Nothing like the ruined wasteland Cipher had expected.
Ryker got their attention. "Listen up. I'll explain what this place is."
They turned to him.
"This place is an area created by the system," he began. "Think of it as a safe zone. No monsters or people from this world can get in here."
He continued, "There are different types of apocalypse worlds. This one is relatively low level, but there are others that are extremely dangerous - worlds that have even captured heroes. If you ever end up in one of those, retreat here immediately to receive the system's protection."
He paused. "This is also the only place you can leave the apocalypse through."
"Leave?" Cipher asked.
"That's right. Leave," Ryker confirmed.
"Don't we need to save the world from the apocalypse?" Cipher asked, confused.
Ryker shook his head. "It's impossible to save a world from apocalypse."
Cipher's eyes widened slightly.
"Well... technically, it's possible if someone was strong enough. Like an S-rank. But we don't have any S-ranks." Ryker's expression was matter-of-fact. "Our mission for raiding these worlds is to look for resources and training. That's it."
Cipher fell into deep thought.
He'd thought that solving the apocalypse would give him information on how to solve his own world's apocalypse. But if he couldn't...
He sighed.
He decided to follow Ryker's instructions for now. If even solving the apocalypse of this low-level world was that hard, he couldn't imagine how the high-level worlds were. It was probably impossible to solve them.
In the end, he just needed more power.
He would continue accumulating more and more power until he could finally figure out the secret of the apocalypse.
"Alright, now that you understand, let's go," Ryker said.
The group of four walked up to the huge golden gate at the far end of the room.
Dante pushed it open.