According to Zhuo Lan’s 10 years of gaming experience[1], this level should be they let the jumping frog chase them down, leading them to the big boss eventually. After killing the big boss, they can clear the level.
“Of course, this conjecture is according to my experience. I can’t guarantee that it’s correct, I’m just throwing out an idea to consider.”
Qin Tan: “Then we should let ourselves be chased by the jumping frog before we can find the big boss?”
Zhuo Lan crossed her hands, “If my assumption is correct.”
Lou Fan frowned. Letting the jumping frog chase after them? gags It’s so disgusting.
Qin Tan nodded, “Then we’ll decide it that way. We should clear this level earlier, so we don’t have to stay on this floor.” Thinking of the frog’s entrails scattered on the ground after he killed it, Qin Tan’s face also turned a little pale.
However, it is still early. Since the group had enough rest, they simply started walking around randomly. Lou Fan patted Furball and asked Furball to find the frogs. Furball stretched out its small paws and spread out in front of Lou Fan.
Lou Fan: …
Holy crap, Furball has gained intelligence huh?! It even took the initiative to ask for food!
Feeling helpless, Lou Fan bared his teeth at Furball and took out 10 butter beans. He said, “After you found the frog, I will give more to you. Right now, there is only this much.”
Fortunately, Furball is very easy to satisfy. After taking the butter beans, it stuffed them into its mouth. Then it jumped to the ground and started running forward.
[Ding dong! The chase mode will start in 10 minutes. The charming jumping frog will be waiting to meet you…]
When the pleasant mechanical sound rang again, it hasn’t had time to say the rest, the group had already seen a huge jumping frog with a height of 3 stories under Furball’s lead. Compared with the previous small frogs they met, this frog looks like a big boss at first glance, looking obviously uglier[2]. The ugliness of a jumping frog is fully expanded by this frog, causing Lou Fan to silently take a few steps back. The mechanical sound disappeared silently, and the giant jumping frog looked down at a group of ant-like people, croaking with excitement.
Wen Lang: “Shit, that’s disgusting!”
Chen Shuyang: “This is the first time I have seen such a repulsive frog. I will never want to eat any types of frogs again.”
Nie Feng yawned, “But bullfrog’s meat is quite tender.”
Lou Fan couldn’t take it anymore and shouted, “Make this a swift fight!” The trembling in his voice is almost uncontrollable.
Furball rushed out when it heard the order. With such a big frog, Lou Fan is afraid that Furball might not be able to handle it, so he is ready to help with his arrows. The arrow is notched on the bow, but before Lou Fan could shoot, the snow-white dumpling can be seen circling quickly around the boss. After a dizzying moment, the huge frog seemed to be skinned by a sharp knife. Pieces of frog skin fell from the body, followed by pieces of frog meat. And so, the whole frog got dismembered by Furball.
“Furball, how can you be more disgusting than Qin Tan?!” Lou Fan yelled.
Qin Tan: “…”
Furball blinked: It’s my fault again?
A door appeared behind the dismembered giant frog, which turned out it got blocked by the frog’s huge body. The group carefully bypassed the horrific minced meat on the ground. Qin Tan is about to open the door when Wen Lang stopped him.
“Urm, Brother Qin, just let Brother Lou do this. This kind of trivial matter should be left for Brother Lou to do. Hehe.”
Qin Tan: … Then he silently let go of the door handle.
Lou Fan looked at the 2 people with an inexplicable expression, not knowing what riddles are they talking about. But he took the initiative to step forward and pushed the door open.
A long staircase appeared before them, with dim wall lamps on either side. The stairs are revolving type, and the group walked down for more than an hour before finally reaching the end. The sudden strong light caused everyone to block their eyes uncomfortably. When they opened their eyes after getting used to the light, they realized that they have arrived at a large dome building. It is somewhat like a European dome building, with a mural painted on the top and surrounded by surrounding 8 pillars.
“Is this inside the maze too?”
The surrounding area is extremely empty. Except for the 8 pillars, there is nothing else to see.
Qin Tan reminded, “Everyone, don’t be careless.”
10 minutes later, nothing happened.
“What the hell is this place?” Wen Lang said irritably and kicked a pillar.
Jiang Dong glared at Wen Lang and scolded, “So anxious to seek death? Don’t touch anything randomly. Else, you won’t even know how you died.”
Yesterday, this man is still affectionate to him. How come he is so mean to him today? Wen Lang looked at Jiang Dong aggrievedly.
Jiang Dong rubbed Wen Lang’s head helplessly. As patiently as he could, like he is comforting a child, he said, “It’s not your first time going on a mission, you can’t be so reckless.”
Wen Lang pouted and nodded reluctantly.
After walking around the domed building, carefully looking at every possible place where something could happen, the group of people found nothing so they simply sat down to rest.
Lou Fan raised his head and stared at the mural above his head. As he is staring at it, he felt like his consciousness is gradually turning blurry. His consciousness seems to be immersed in warm water. It is as if he is not himself, but also himself at the same time. He couldn’t move and could only follow the ups and downs of the water flow. Not sure how long it took, but his body felt soft and powerless. Then, as if he had been washed to the shore, his consciousness became clearer. Slowly, he opened his eyes and he can see the surrounding clearly.
This is a pure white and blank world. There is nothing to see, like being surrounded by the fog and one can’t see very far. Feeling a little confused, he tried to think about something but soon he found that he had forgotten who he is and where he is supposed to be. He could only walk forward unconsciously, keep walking, and walk for a long, long time. But he didn’t feel tired, as if his senses aren’t registering.
“Lou Fan…”
He turned his head and looked around. Who is it? Who is calling what?
“Lou Fan…”
Is the voice calling him? His name is Lou Fan?
That’s right! His name is Lou Fan, so where did he come from?
A huge white wall appeared in front of Lou Fan. There are 2 ancient characters inscribed on the wall. After staring at it for a long time, the words appeared in Lou Fan’s mind – 琉璃(Lazuli).
Lazuli, what is that place?
Stretching out his hand, Lou Fan touched the white wall lightly. The moment he touched it, a wave of ripples spread out, forming a door enough for a person to pass through. Without hesitation, he stepped in and walked passed the door. Scene after scene flashed in front of him, like a movie. After Lou Fan passed through the 5th one, a painting appeared in front of him. Inside the painting, a huge figure is enveloped in white light, and in front of the figure is a group of people as small as ants. A small group of people stood among them, holding something red in their hands. Lou Fan stared blankly at the white figure. Suddenly, he seemed to be able to see the person in it clearer. She smiled at him. The smile is kind and gentle, and it seemed to carry infinite compassion, which astonished his heart.
Lou Fan came back to his sense and he looked around him. The pure white world has disappeared and he is still sitting by the pillar beside Qin Tan. Qin Tan’s eyes are closed and his expression looked like he is struggling internally. All the members around him are also the same with their eyes closed, their expressions dazed. Lou Fan pursed his lips. This level’s checkpoint should be a personal maze for everyone. They can’t rely on others to help them and can only rely on themself. Lou Fan looked at his team members worriedly. When he turned around, he saw Qin Tan open his eyes and looked at him.
Seeing Lou Fan looking over, Qin Tan smiled at him. His face is still a little pale, but Lou Fan looked at his Tang sword and felt that there’s something different about it. Thinking of that, Lou Fan raised his bow and clenched it hard. He only felt a little unusual, but he didn’t know what is different.
Qin Tan also felt that his Tang sword is a little different than usual. He picked it up and took a closer look, but couldn’t tell why it is different.
“Qin Tan, I feel that this checkpoint is a fortunate encounter for us.” Lou Fan said slowly, looking at his other team members with fiery eyes.
Hearing that, Qin Tan showed a shocked expression. Then, as if he understood what Lou Fan is talking about, he slowly replied, “I hope they can persevere.”
“En, even if they missed the opportunity this time, it’s fine as long as they could wake up smoothly.”
Lou Fan raised his watch and glanced at it. The next moment, his eyes widened abruptly, “Qin Tan, there are only 3 days left.”
He just closed his eyes and 2 days are gone. Right now, Lou Fan is a little anxious as he is afraid the rest of the members won’t be able to keep up with the time.
…
2 days later, Lou Fan could only practice fighting with Qin Tan to while the time away, occasionally playing with Furball. He also spent some time observing everyone’s situation. Unfortunately, nothing could be seen from their faces.
That night, Zhuo Lan opened her eyes. There is a hint of joy in her eyes when she saw Lou Fan. Lou Fan greeted her with a smile, only to think that the look in her eyes is different now.
“Why do I feel so hungry?” Zhuo Lan asked with a frown, clutching her protesting stomach.
Lou Fan laughed, “It’s been 4 days, of course you get hungry.”
“4 days?” Zhuo Lan said incredulously, “Didn’t people say humans will die if they don’t drink water for 3 days?”
Lou Fan: “That’s under normal circumstances. But from the moment you came to this world, you are no longer a normal person.”
Hearing that, Zhuo Lan is stunned for a moment. Then she chuckled, not knowing whether it is self-deprecating or something else, “That’s right…” Before Zhuo Lan could finish her sentence, her eyes caught sight of the 2 people lying on the ground. Then she looked at Lou Fan and asked hesitantly, “They, could it be…”
Lou Fan nodded without saying anything. When the 2 people fell to the ground from their sitting pose, he and Qin Tan went over to check and found that they are no longer breathing. Therefore, he is even more worried about his own team members. Lou Fan had to check for their breathing many times every day, afraid that they would leave soundlessly.
Zhuo Lan stared blankly at the 2 people and her expression changed a few times. In her heart, she is glad that she persevered with the little faith and gritted teeth. Otherwise, she will stay in this world forever. How she wished it is a dream, but the feeling of realness made her understand that this is definitely not a dream.
In the early hours of the night, Jiang Dong and Nie Feng’s spirit weapons shone bright orange at the same time. Lou Fan immediately got up from the ground and walked over excitedly. Soon, the two woke up one after another 10 minutes later. They both felt a little unreal when they saw the spirit weapon with an orange glow in their hands.
Lou Fan patted his 2 team members on the shoulders and said, “Good job, you guys finally woke up. Right now, we just have to wait for these 2.”
Jiang Dong looked at Wen Lang with a worried look, and Lou Fan comforted, “It will be fine, you have to trust him. Shuyang will also make it.”
Jiang Dong looked at Lou Fan fixedly. Seeing his firm eyes with a soft smile, somehow, Jiang Dong felt relieved.
Nie Feng’s eyes swept across Chen Shuyang and stopped for a while on the spiritual book in his arms. Unoticeably pressing down his lower lip, he raised his water bottle to drink some water.
At 6.00 am, with 12 hours left before their deadline for completing the task, Lou Fan crouched between Wen Lang and Chen Shuyang. He turned his head left and right, staring intently at the members. When he put his finger under Chen Shuyang’s nose again, he realized that his breathing is normal as usual. Lou Fan sighed, why doesn’t he wake up?!
“Brother Lou, what are you doing?”
Chen Shuyang’s voice seemed to ring loudly beside his ears. Lou Fan turned his head sharply and saw Chen Shuyang staring at him blankly, followed by a rumbling sound in his(CSY) stomach.
“I’m very hungry.”
Lou Fan looked up and down at Chen Shuyang’s body. When he saw Chen Shuyang’s spirit book, he became speechless. Even the upgrade of his spirit weapon is raised so silently. Ain’t that a little too low-key?
Raw word count: 3187
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[1] Banana: Hmm, I think the author should let other people give this info (albeit unuseful) rather than Zhuo Lan. It doesn’t fit her image as a strict higher management staff.
[2] Banana: This is the reason why I said the above info is unuseful, because they found the Boss already :v felt like it’s just filler for the word count.