Chapter 31: Chapter 31

Although the Players were not used to the mysterious bending of physical common sense under the Rule of Skill, fighting monsters became easier when they became familiar with their skills.

After all, without any supernatural powers, all they could do against monsters were normal slashes, somersaulting or barrel rolls. Aside from being boring, the lack of offensive and evasive moves was very dangerous.

It certainly should be known that fighting against monsters in the real world was not as rigid as the AI in Monster Hunter… moreover, that game has the gimmick called mods.

Meanwhile, the Skull King Spider has lost its advantage of lurking in the miasma to ambush the Players. Instead, caught off guard by the Players’ skills, it was killed by their hands despite being a notch above them in level.

In the end, with the Players’ unending barrages of skills, not only was the Skull King Spider’s years of experience honed into second nature unhelpful, it had also hindered itself.

Additionally, the four Players were companions who had left Kennington Village and had developed a tacit partnership from the very start. At the moment, they were indisputably the most skillful of Players in battle, and by fighting cautiously to avoid the Skull King Spider’s jaws, they easily ground it to death.

In fact, they would have ended the fight even more quickly if each of them did not have to hold up a torch.

Still, it was only when the four Players continued on their journey after the Skull King Spider was killed that they noticed a serious problem.

Visibility in the deadly miasma was a dozen meters—higher than expected, but it remained foggy as ever. Everything beyond what they could see was the same bizarre purple color, with nothing recognizable as markers for direction.

It was virtually impossible to keep track of directions even if they kept in mind their surroundings.

Therefore, after journeying along for a period, the four of them realized that they had gotten lost as if naturally.

In fact, if not for the trail of green blood splattered over the ground after their battle against the Skull King Spider, they would not even have realized that they were going in circles.

“This can’t continue,” Gou Dan scowled and said grimly. “If we keep running blind, we might turn around and leave instead!”

The others were equally serious.

To tell the truth, it would have been alright to have the entire group fall here in the Valley of the Tragic Dead—they would have been heroes who offered their lives for exploring this place.

But to keep running around in circles and suddenly leaving the dungeon from the same entrance you came from was a little embarrassing…

“We don’t really have a solution even if you say that.” Joe sighed feebly, leaning on his sword. “We can’t see the sun or the stars in this damned place. There’s not even a tree around—even the most seasoned of hunters wouldn’t find his direction around here.”

“Should we mark the ground with arrows?” Eleena suggested.

“It won’t work,” Edward replied, shaking his head. “The ground is soft and many revenants walk over it—any mark would quickly vanish. Wasn’t there supposed to be a lot of traces of our fight against that big spider? If not for that trail of blood, none of us would have known we just fought here!”

“Then what should we do?” Gou Dan asked distractedly.

Edward stroked his chin as a twinkle flashed through his eyes. “Actually, I’ve been puzzled all along why the God of Games would insist on having around three to six players in a group to take on this ‘Outskirts—Valley of the Tragic Dead’ mission. It is only after coming inside that I know that a single torch can already cover the range of six people! In other words, the requirement of everyone having their own torch basically means nothing apart from being a ticket to come inside.”

He then turned to the other three and told them what he had in mind. “The God of Games didn’t set the rule of everyone having their own torch to waste our time and energy—being so wise and powerful, he absolutely wouldn’t come up with some boring and mean trick. If I’m not wrong, that requirement itself has to do with clearing this dungeon! In fact, the reason our journey so far had been easy was because some of the weaker revenants wandering in the deadly miasma seemed to fear the power of these torches and would keep their distance.”

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“Edward, what are you trying to say?” Joe the limber one was left utterly confused, whereas Eleena and Gou Dan seemed to vaguely catch on to the idea.

“What I mean to say is,” Edward concluded carefully as if he had stumbled upon a secret that would stun the world, “If we keep stick the torches into the ground, it could help us find our way!”

The torch itself dispersed the miasma and illuminated a single direction, allowing them to see that bit of light even when they were a hundred meters away. Most revenants would not simply attack the torch idle, and apart from ensuring that the torch would not easily be lost, it acted as an alarm to a certain extent: once it vanishes, it indicates that a powerful enemy was behind them!

Furthermore, the clearing conditions of ‘Outskirts—Valley of the Tragic Dead’ was only one percent in each occasion. It was not demanding when it comes to combat, and it works as long as they could cover the effective range.

“I see! You really are the brains, Edward!” Joe exclaimed in understanding.

“That’s for sure! We wouldn’t have thought of it if it wasn’t for you, Edward,” Gou Dan added.

“Edward, you’re awesome!” Eleena cheered softly for Edward as well.

Edward himself scratched the back of his head. “It’s nothing, really,” he said, slightly embarrassed. “Our god is the awesome one who so discreetly hid such clues and hints in the gameplay and exploration process.”

***

Meanwhile, Xi Wei sighed heavily when he saw what happened in the Divine Kingdom.

Dear him. He never thought that far.

The requirement of everyone bringing their own torch was indeed just to delay the Players from entering the dungeon and without deeper meaning. Indeed, Xi Wei never thought that the Players would be lost in direction within the deadly miasma since there were mini-maps whenever he played.

With things having become what it was now, Xi Wei could not just descend before them to tell them they are wrong, and that their god did not think that far.

Therefore, he could only watch as the four youths from Kennington drove their torches into the ground as they kept moving forward, even if their path this time was straight.

It was a pity that when they used the last torch and the exploration incidentally progressed to 0.95% person that a monster hidden in the miasma ambushed them.

Caught defenseless, even Eleena—the best of them did not manage to escape. All four died one after another, and the pioneering expedition to the Valley of the Tragic Dead was hence destroyed.

When they were resurrected beside the Lifestone three days later, they saw Marni, who had been revived earlier bragging to the Players who did not dare to enter the valley.

“I’m telling you—that spider has large round eyes,” he started drawing images in the air as he reached the climax. “I immediately froze in shock. I was ambushed!”

“But why didn’t you attack?” Someone gloated.

“I did, but was insta-killed. What can I say?!” Marni cried regretfully, slapping his own thigh.

“What the hell. A free kill!” Another Player laughed.

“Is it a free kill when it’s the frontline?” Marni remained stubborn.

The Players laughed, filling the area around the Lifestone with a happy atmosphere.