16 What are you doing here?

Disoriented by the sudden teleportation, Kaden stumbled and caught his balance. He looked around, finding himself back in the familiar surroundings of the game world near the watering hole. The sun was beginning to set, casting an orange glow over the landscape, the beautiful hues dancing on the surface of the water.

"Seriously, what the heck just happened?" Kaden plopped down on the ground, trying to wrap his head around the whirlwind of events.

But before he could gather his thoughts, a noise interrupted him, and he turned to see a group of players staring at him in utter confusion. They were like a bunch of meerkats, heads swiveling in unison to examine the unexpected intruder.

"What the heck are you all doing here?" Kaden muttered, scratching his head in bewilderment.

"Dude! We should be asking you that question! What the hell are you doing here? Don't you know that the Dark Gods are raiding in this spot?" barked a stout guy who looked like a high schooler.

This guy was decked out in dire wolf hide gear, complete with a bow slung over his shoulder. It was obvious he was into long-range combat, probably sniping his enemies from afar while munching on potato chips.

"Wait. Raid? What nonsense are you talking about? What raid could you possibly do at level-" And then Kaden realized…

Hold on a second. If this dude was wearing that sweet gear, he must be at least level 5.

This was because only level 5 and above could wear the normal dire wolf hide items. Kaden was familiar with these items as they were a commonly sought-after set that was relatively easy to complete and get the completion bonus.

So this meant that he had some serious fighting skills. But how did he get his hands on that gear so fast? Was he an expert player, or just really lucky? And what was with all the other players rocking the same gear? One guy even had the complete set!

'Shit! These guys must be from some big-shot guild!' Kaden thought. He stood up, looked around, and started to walk away in contemplation, but the stout teenager couldn't resist another round of verbal jabs.

"Yo, motherfucker! What did you just say? I'm a level 12 retard! What level are you, huh? Running your mouth at the Dark Gods guild? You better scram before we turn you into a rotting corpse!"

Kaden froze, stopping in his tracks, his expression caught between surprise and amusement. A small smile crept onto his face and vanished just as quickly.

He turned around, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "Hold up, hold up! I must have misunderstood the situation. I'll just be on my merry way. Sorry for barging in."

The teenager huffed with an air of arrogance while his buddies snickered at Kaden's retreat. They turned their attention back to whatever they were doing, assuming the issue was resolved.

Kaden, on the other hand, sauntered off, circled around, and quietly returned to the same spot.

He couldn't resist the urge to have a little fun with this group. After all, thanks to his coma, he hadn't interacted with real people for a long time. How could he let this chance slip by?

Besides, he had just unlocked a new skill from that weird treasure chest event. What better way to test it out than on this group of plump scapegoats?

As for getting the PVP red mark, there was a special quest that required this red mark. Kaden was not planning on doing this quest at the moment, but since an opportunity had presented itself, he might as well get on with it.

With a shit-eating grin on his face, Kaden found a hiding spot in a convenient bush. He crouched down, his eyes glinting with madness. This was going to be interesting.

As he observed his surroundings, Kaden noticed that the huge green snake was nowhere to be seen at the watering hole. The glint from the treasure chest had also vanished.

'Ah, so those two were one-time encounters. Good to know.' His grin widened.

And as for the raid the teenager had blabbered about, Kaden narrowed his eyes, nodding to himself. "It's gotta be the white wolf!" That infamous field boss that popped up in this area.

Sure, Kaden might lack knowledge about higher-level areas, but he was no stranger to these beginner details. Unfortunately, in his previous gaming life, he couldn't even get into a group to raid this field boss. The big guilds hogged all the respawns.

Now that he thought about this, Kaden suddenly remembered the weird thing that the kid had mentioned. 'Dark Gods guild? Wait, isn't that one of the top guilds? Wait, there are already guilds in the game? What the heck?'

For a guild to be formed, a player needed to reach Level 10 and enter the city. This meant that someone had actually gone to the city before him?

Kaden couldn't believe it. He was blowing through levels with his overpowered gear like it was nothing, and still, he was not the first?

"Oh, no freaking way! Just how long have I been stuck in that cursed cave, climbing those blasted stairs?"

Kaden let out a slow exhale, excitement bubbling up inside him. So what if a few measly hours had slipped away? It only added to the badassery of the skill he had just unlocked. And now, it was time to put that bad boy to the test.

"I guess this will tell me if this was all worth it or not. Here goes nothing," Kaden muttered to himself, licking his lips. With a decisive nod, he mentally activated his newly acquired skill, [Obsidian Oath].