Chapter 160: Into The Edge We Go [4]
What a fun camping trip this was, we made a campfire, set our tents, and do a little bonding over running for our lives. Apart from the activities we’ve made, the four of us also reinforced our trust in each other. Until this asshole came along, which is a total party pooper, seriously if you want to make a good impression. He had already done the basics, points a weapon to threaten someone else’s life, but never did he make eye contact with me. Such a disgraceful asshole, well, it’s far better than getting punched without any kind of warning
"Knight... It’s you... We’ve been looking all over for you, can you lower that sword of yours~"
"Stay back!!! I don’t know why you guys came back... I’ve already done everything to sever my ties with all of you!!! And the first thing I saw was when the four of us are reunited with each other. Not once I didn’t think that you guys would ally yourselves, with someone untrustworthy!!! What’s more, it’s a person that tends to hide dozens of secrets," The enormous injured player, which wore a suit of armor that they called Knight. Was currently standing at their front, whilst the life of their ally was being threatened by his weapon
"Look we can talk this over, Knight your injured you might have gotten a little delusional. Just put your sword down and we can talk this over, in a better and safer place to chat with each other. For now, we have to leave there’s an unknown group that attack us~"
[System: You’ve entered the range of teleportation that was created by an unknown player. The teleportation process has completed its charging phase. Anything that came in contact with the circle will be forcefully teleported to the appointed area]
Colt tried to reason with his injured friend that suddenly disappeared from their sight which also resulted in Zen’s disappearance. They never thought that their next encounter with their cheerful ally. Would become so distant from the memories they have of him, he became more and more hostile. Even points his blade and runs his mouth about how untrustworthy their chosen recruit is. A person who never once tried to harm them in any kind of scenario, that would occur in their lives
[System: You’ve been transported to an unknown location. The minimap shows that your depth is lower than your previous location. The system hypothesizes that the player is inside a hidden underground area. The possibility of a monster spawning isn’t zero. The system advises you to stay wary about your surrounding]
Morris opened his eyes to see that he was teleported to an underground bunker. A place that was filled with enough resources for a person to survive. And a very stable defense and a few protection to ward off any kind of appraisal-like skills. After a few seconds to glimpse into his newly adapted surrounding, he was immediately met with a blade. He responded by blocking its attack after he realizes that it was aimed to pierce his heart
"I would’ve let you slide, but you’re a little too suspicious. Traps that have that kind of magnitude of power, do you think any normal person could get a hold of such a thing? Who are you...? I may have suffered an injury a week or two, but thats not enough to stop someone like me," The voice of the Knight flowed throughout his surroundings. And something within his vicinity was restraining his ability to detect a single flow of energy. Which gave him not a single clue about the exact location of the ranked player
[What now? It’s going to take a long time to find an exit. After all, you’ve entered a place that you possess no knowledge of whatsoever. Also, I have a feeling that you wouldn’t escape this place like your average method. I can feel this place has the power to restrict any kind of teleportation magic from activating]
’It’s alright im gonna mute my broadcasting for a second. It’s a seer-related mission, I need to do this from time to time. It’s a terrible job, but I can’t ignore my purpose,’
[Fine... Make it quick]
[System: You’ve muted the private broadcasting, your contracted deity. Or anyone that has access to your private broadcasting is unable to hear a single word]
"What would you say if I told you that I came here for you specifically? Aren’t you a beta tester? I’m one of the few members of Serilous who survived the fall that came after the war. If you don’t believe me I can recite the beliefs of our group, I know that you’re pretty hostile after what you’ve been through. I know the feeling of being hunted down for the knowledge that we carry. I’ll even put my honor on the line, I won’t let my leader Asterol~"
"Enough!!! I don’t want to hear any more than what you have uttered... It seems that you aren’t lying, I guess that you’re one of the few that he trusted. Never have I heard his name, coming from another person’s mouth apart from my own. Who are you... Even though I have no desire to tear your body apart, why did you want to meet me?" The Knight appeared before him and activated one of the skills that would’ve revealed his true identity
[System: You’ve been targeted by a mental skill called [Lie detector]. Alert this skill will pry on your memories to know if you truly speak the truth. Your skill [Mental fortitude] was higher than the skill that targeted the host. You’re unaffected by the mental skill]
"Why you!!!"
"Isn’t Asterol just an in-game name? We all know that isn’t his real name, more like his cover-up. Plus I don’t know your name, so why should I tell you mine even though you’ve formed a team with those three? You haven’t even told them your real name, so I don’t have a reason to give you such information. If you want to know, how about we take off our appraisal warding items in our hands?" He notices that the unknown character was eagerly trying to appraise his body. Which he used as a means of gaining his trust after the two of them showed their status
([Rewrite system: You’ve met the unknown character Erick Vons, who supposedly is a "support" character of the main character. He’s one of the many characters that weren’t able to find a place inside the novel because the author saw it as a drag. Which resulted in the aforementioned character introduction becoming a big plot hole in the story])
"Zen Bleightrol? Is that your in-game name? It sounds kinda fake so I think it’s your ign, I don’t see anything wrong with your status. So you’re a beta tester as well... Now that I confirmed your identity I think I know what you’re here for. It’s related to the weapon affixes am I right? Believe me, it’s best if you don’t dig deeper into the mystery. Since the thing that I gained was a target aimed at my head. I’ll tell you everything I know, for now, let’s get back to the rest, they might be searching for us as we speak,"
They were immediately teleported back to their previous spot, they didn’t even hear a single person. Nor were there any voices that sounded close to their allies, the only thing they saw was their equipment lying on the ground. Along with a bloody note that tells them about the current location and demand of the players that abducted their allies
"If you’re reading this, then you might have come back to find your allies missing and their equipment inside the ground. We won’t pose any kind of harm against you, as long as you’re willing to come to our location without a single weapon at hand. Don’t even think about planning any kind of scheme, my crew knows that there is another one aside from you ranker,"
On the other side of the note was a map that displayed their current location and the one where they were ordered to arrive. The worst scenario arrived at Erick’s doorstep when his allies were held captive by the very people he tried to escape. He didn’t hesitate to leave his weapons at his current location, however, the player beside him didn’t heed their warnings
"What are you doing!!? Didn’t you read what they demanded!!! We can’t show up while we carry out weapons, do you want them to die?"
"Of course not, but aren’t you forgetting the fact that this place has a variety of ways to make anyone submissive? They’re using them as bait and in the end, you’ll just be strapped onto a color that makes you obedient. I don’t know their exact number, but giving up won’t solve anything,"
"What’s your plan... If you’re so confident in your skills then what do you have to fight against those players!!?" Erick stayed inside the cave until he hears the plan of the player which he hasn’t fully placed his trust
Morris smiled at him and with a flick of his fingertips, he showed him the solution to their problems. That immediately arrived in the form of a player that was riding on top of a grey leopard. While another one was following in its footsteps
"These are my familiars, wouldn’t that be enough to be our winning goal? Why are you amazed I remember that there’s a beta tester in the group aside from me,"
"There are a few of them. However, I haven’t seen anything like this," Most of the familiars that he saw weren’t comparable to what he’s currently seeing. A powerful aura that originated from a beast and was able to grow to a stage where it could show such intimidating pressure. Its fangs could easily rip apart a player if it desires to do so, and yet it was kneeling and displaying such loyalty. To a player that was a third of its size