32 Inside the cave (1/2)

As Merlin and the other players entered the cave with the NPCs, the first thing they noticed was the smell. It was a putrid smell that made them want to puke. The players tried looking if they could lower the setting on the sense of smell like they did when they lowered the pain meter before the battle started.

...

They realized that the game had this kind of settings when they were first attacked. Lonelypants who was a melee class was damaged by one of the monsters and he felt the pain of the attack. That was when the players noticed that in the settings you can reduce the pain you felt. Of course, as modern-day gamers, they didn't want to feel that kind of painful experience in a game, they weren't masochists.

Yet no matter how hard they looked they couldn't find any setting to lower the sense of smell. This meant that they had to deal with the putrid smell. This was the one time the gamers hated the realism of this game.

...

As the group went deeper into the cave they found out that there was no light in the cave. As they stepped in, the group watched as their shadows dissolved into the surrounding darkness. It was dank and the only sound was the dripping water. It was so dark ahead that it looked like they were about to enter an endless abyss. Do the goblins and ogres need no lighting at all? Does that mean they had some sort of night vision, or were they using some other sense to guide them in this darkness?

'If I were like those protagonists in novels, I would have dissected the goblins and figure out what made them tick. But even if I try to do that I won't be able to understand anything.' Raymond couldn't help but sigh. He wasn't some hidden science nerd that knew how to do stuff like that.

'Has the host finally admitted his own lack of intelligence? Should we celebrate once we return?' The system's voice sounded in Raymond's mind. Though robotic it felt like it was genuinely happy, which just irritated Raymond.

'I'm pretty sure a majority of people wouldn't be able to do it as well. It's not because I'm stupid or anything, you need someone that specializes in that field to be able to do it.'

'Is the host being a Tsundere?'

'Huh? Who are you calling a tsundere?!'

As Raymond and the system were once again bickering Roselia spoke to Raymond.

”Guild Master, how should we proceed?”

”Wait a moment.” Hearing Raymond's response Roselia nodded her head and waited. Raymond proceeded to open up his cash up, this was one of the functions that only he has. In it, he could buy almost anything imaginable for a price. Some of the items were also level restricted so he just can't buy things willy nilly.

Raymond scrolled through the cash shop and finally found torches and matches. Each torch cost 10 copper coins which were pretty cheap. Raymond quickly bought thirty-six torches and a few matches. He then gave everyone a torch except for John who doesn't really need it.

With that, the group proceeded to go deeper into the cave. The inside of the cave didn't look naturally formed as numerous pathways appeared as the group went deeper.

”Everyone search around if you see a prisoner bring them back here.” Hearing Raymond's command the usual groups of five went to check each pathway. The players formed a group of their own and started to move around, excited to explore the cave. Since they still hadn't completed their quest by saving two captured women, they had to find them before the NPCs do.

...

Merlin and his group walked through one of the pathways, and at the end was a place that looked like a room of sorts. The smell was worse in this room, as they shined their torches in the area they were surprised at what they saw.

Several naked women were chained to the ground their bodies were thin and had scratches here and there. Some were even pregnant and it was obvious what got them pregnant. Seeing this scene made the players feel horrified especially disguisedfox who was the only girl in the group.

The group of players then started to comfort themselves by saying this is just a game, this is just a game. Some of the women who still had their sanity, when they saw the light spoke to the players.

”Is anyone there, please save us.” The group of players after calming down a bit started to release the prisoners.