The Shelter Game: Me, Starting with a Tenfold Drop Rate

"Hurry, everyone, keep up and start moving!"

Watching Irving's figure as he walked towards the mine, James felt a sense of helplessness. He had no choice but to order the players from his guild to quickly follow.

At this moment, as the guild members walked towards the mine, they whispered among themselves.

"He's just a young lad barely in his twenties. What qualifications does he have to command us?I'm definitely not going to follow his reckless orders. Just don't let him lead us straight into a trap."

"I'll only listen to James's commands. I won't obey anyone else."

"Look at that guy walking so fast, is he in a hurry to get himself killed? Let's not even talk about the mage in the group occupying the mine who can cast freezing spells. With his frail body, he probably can't even handle those few warriors."

"I bet any ordinary player could take him down."

"I really wonder what James sees in him."

Some players in the guild deliberately slowed their pace, just so Irving could reach the mine first. That way, they could stand back and watch the show.

Inside the mine.

A young woman in a black cloak with a delicate face wore a hint of melancholy. She stood before a burly man draped in fur.

"I've taken care of those people for you. Can I go back now?" The young woman asked coldly.

"Sophia, rest assured, we won't go back on our word. However, one of them managed to escape. He might be summoning reinforcements. So we can't let you leave just yet." the burly man chuckled.

Sophia sighed inwardly, a glint of coldness flashing in her eyes. "This is the third mine I've helped you secure. If you push things too far, don't blame me for turning against you..."

The burly man's smile faded as he noticed the faint blue glow emanating from Sophia's staff.

He had witnessed her power firsthand, turning a warrior player into an ice sculpture in an instant.

"Sophia, there's no need to rush. Once you've completely eradicated the guild occupying this mine, I'll immediately send someone to take you back. Additionally, all the promises made earlier will be fulfilled." The burly man assured her.

Sophia's delicate face seemed to be covered with a layer of frost. The people in front of her appeared to be there to protect her, but in reality, they were monitoring her every move.

Although she possessed the strength to kill every last one of them, she couldn't bring herself to do it...

Just then, one of her subordinates came running in from outside, shouting as he ran, "They're here! They're here!"

The burly man in animal skins, who was the leader of the group, darkened his expression. "How many of them are there?"

"Th-three..." the subordinate gasped, out of breath from running.

"Thirty?" the burly man asked. Seeing his subordinate shake his head, a shock ran through him. "Are you saying there are three hundred of them? That shouldn't be possible.There shouldn't be a guild that large in this area."

"No." the subordinate, having caught his breath, quickly explained, "There are three of them. To be precise, two people and a creature that looks like a hunting dog."

The next moment, not only was the burly man in animal skins stunned, but even Sophia's face showed a strange expression.

"Two people dare to come here to die, how ridiculous!" As the burly man in animal skins walked out and saw the two figures in the distance, he sneered. Turning to Sophia, he said, "Sophia, you don't need to act this time. Leave these two fools to us."

With that, the burly man led a dozen men down to the foot of the mountain.

...

On the other side, as they were about to reach the foot of the mountain, Vicky glanced back, her brows furrowed. "Irving, it looks like the rest of the guild hasn't caught up yet. Should we wait for them?"

"Ignore them." Irving's deep eyes focused on the mountain. He could already see a group of people waiting there. "Remember what I told you earlier."

"Don't worry, Irving. I know." Vicky replied.

As a healer and support mage, even though she had activated another talent skill, [Mental Chaos], it could only be used when necessary. After all, at close range, warrior players' physical strength far exceeded that of mages.

As they spoke, the two had already arrived at the foot of the mountain. They saw a burly man dressed in animal skins standing at the front. Behind him followed a large group of subordinates, a total of seventeen. From the weapons these people carried, it was clear that most of them were warriors.

Irving's eyes scanned the group continuously, looking for the mage who, according to James, could cast freezing spells.

"You two are quite bold!" The burly man in animal skins shouted, then squinted and grinned. "If I'm not mistaken, the guild must have sent you, right? Just two of you? That's not even enough to fill our teeth."

Irving didn't respond, not even sparing a glance at the burly man. In his eyes, the mage was the real threat.

But no matter how hard he searched among them, he couldn't find the mage. However, he noticed a detail: all these people had a tattoo on their wrists that resembled a moon.

Irving felt the tattoo looked familiar but couldn't recall where he'd seen it.

"Hey, kid, are you deaf? Our leader is talking to you!" Another shout came from the crowd, and a young man carrying a heavy broadsword stepped forward.

With a swing of his thick arm, the broadsword leapt from his shoulder and pointed at Irving. "Kid, where are the rest of your guild? Tell them to come out now, or I'll cut you in half."

"I'm here to reclaim what's mine." Irving said.

"Reclaim what's yours?" The young man looked slightly stunned, then burst into laughter as if he'd heard the biggest joke. "I think you're out of your mind. There's nothing here that's yours. Even your life is about to end."

"Leave now, and I won't pursue what happened before." Irving said again.

The tattoos on their wrists at least confirmed that they were from a guild or organization in the Other World.

Although he had killed fifteen members of the Green Ivy Group before, that had nothing to do with Irving.

He just wanted to reclaim the mine, nothing more.

As his words fell, a burst of laughter came from the other side.

At this moment, the burly man in animal skins at the front stepped forward and said, "You claim this mine is yours? Do you have any proof? Resources in the Other World are meant to be shared." He paused and glanced at Vicky behind Irving. "Tell you what, I'm in a good mood today. I'll spare your miserable life. Go back and call your guild members over.

But... that beautiful lady behind you will stay with us as a hostage, and that hunting dog you have—looks like some kind of exotic beast cub—will stay too."

"Now, get lost!"

This group didn't regard the young man in front of them seriously, treating him with utter contempt. After speaking, the burly man in animal skins circled around Irving and headed straight for Vicky. "Beauty, this wimp can't protect you, don't be scared..."

"I already gave you a chance." Irving said, his deep eyes flashing coldly. His mental power instantly focused on his staff.

As a dazzling light appeared, a small spark on his staff quickly expanded into a fireball and shot towards the burly man in animal skins closest to him.

"You... how dare you!" The burly man was utterly shocked, completely unprepared. He was blasted away like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the hard rock behind him.

In that moment, the group could no longer laugh.

They watched the fireball explode and scatter sparks in the air, their hearts filled with panic.

"You're... a mage?!" The young man who had provoked earlier stared wide-eyed. Just as he was about to swing his heavy broadsword, he saw a dark shadow flash by.

Little Black darted out, seemingly understanding the conversation. Its black eyes were filled with rage as it bit down on the young man's wrist.

With a crisp snap, his wrist was bitten clean off .This kind of excruciating pain was heart wrenching.

"You little beast!" The young man endured the intense pain and reached out to grab Little Black, but a bizarre scene unfolded...

Little Black suddenly ignited with a purple flame, which instantly set the young man's other hand ablaze!

In mere moments, the purple flame spread over his entire body.

Watching their companion completely engulfed in the purple flames, writhing in agony on the ground, the rest of the group panicked and tried to flee.

However, it was too late.

Behind Irving, specks of light continuously flowed into him.

His staff gathered a light even more dazzling than before, and a fireball with a diameter of about seven or eight meters, like a falling meteorite, crashed down on the frantically fleeing crowd...