When Tracer and Gambler arrived at the garden, they found the newly joined guild members struggling with getting close to the blue eggs. Honestly, they could not be blamed for incompetence. Even the Death Princess and Seer would struggle with this. The best person for the job had to be Scorpion. She was basically a body of walking poison and toxins. A small amount from these spiky eggs wouldn’t do much damage. It would be like picking cherries for her.
“You’re not going to be helpful here,” Tracer told the party, attempting to poke at a poisoned spiky egg with his weapon. The egg simply remained unmoving and refused to be shoved into the empty flour sack.
The teen looked offended at Tracer. Who was this newcomer who looked like he was going to die if the wind blew him a little too hard?
Gambler looked at the four runts and sighed. “Go help those in the shooting range. Have you not heard? The healing and stamina buffs require eggs. T
When Party Freedom returned, they saw Party Prayer helping Zen in the kitchen. There were more eggs than they remembered, and Sasha burst through the door just after they settled Controlled Berserker on the floor.“Water eggs are here! I can’t find the black ones anywhere.”Zen thought about it. Why were there no explosive eggs? They hated crowds. If there was one building in the entire academy that did not permit crowding, where would that be?Suddenly, he had his answer. “Library. The black eggs might be in the library.”His answer started a chain reaction. When Sasha heard it, she looked at Party Freedom. Tracer sent the guild and vice guild masters messages about Zen’s guess on the elusive black egg’s location.Almost at once, the response came. Akiko said that she would handle it. On the other hand, Liu Feng said that he would return to base to check on the crafting progress. It was difficult, but he m
When Akiko found the library, it was in such a terrible shape that he didn’t think that the Amazonian would still be around., However, she did find something else that was worth the trip. Black eggs! Already, the Death Princess could sense the hostility coming from the library that looked like its walls were barely holding together. If it wasn’t for the game logic to defy complete structural annihilation, the library would have been blown to smithereens. Capturing one was difficult. Zen might not be able to get more than five eggs even if Akiko was collecting them. Walking into the black egg lair was akin to running across a minefield. However, disarming the black eggs before they exploded was worse than running through a minefield. It was like running through a minefield with a bomb on her neck. Akiko’s training covered many things. Bomb diffusing was something she learned, but that was very different from diffusing an exploding egg. When in doubt, t
After receiving Oritha’s advice, Akiko studied the library. These black eggs had an explosive radius of five metres. It would not be difficult to avoid one explosion but the chain reaction of dodging them wrongly would be catastrophic even if the building was protected by game logic.This was a very tricky situation, so the Death Princess tried to enter the library as carefully as possible. The first step was alright. The eggs did not immediately explode when she stepped on the floor tile.Then, Akiko took a look at the black eggs trembling with anticipation. Some of them further in the back and upper floor of the library did not react, but those closest to her started to move. They slowly switched position and stilled as if waiting for her to take her next step.Akiko did not understand what this meant. Although they had Zen’s overview of the event situation and understood what must be done to win this game without having to kill anyone, this
Oritha did not give a fuck. Whatever her shitty guild and party members were telling her to do, she thought it was dumb. There was no need to run around killing people when they could win by securing the flags. That was the only reason she came to the library, even if she wasn’t a fan of books.Now that the Death Princess wanted to try, she would let her. Besides, these eggs were good. The rumours about Guild Survivor getting their hands on a very talented rookie who excelled in the kitchen made her envious. She had enough of these idiots in Guild Carnage. They don’t even feed her properly, and if it wasn’t for the agreement she had with Felix to support someone with true blood for future survival, she would have left.As the Amazonian made her way to the cafeteria base, she sensed bloodlust from her right and reacted swiftly.The collision made her growl. This opponent wasn’t easy to handle, and Oritha put some distance between them.
At the height of the event just ten minutes before the basilisk spawned, Guild Carnage received a very shocking announcement from the Amazonian.“What the fuck? That bitch!” Johan swore and threw a stick of dynamite that exploded in the distance. He was so mad that he couldn’t stop despite knowing that he was wasting valuable resources.Felix, who was crouching beside him in the laundromat, growled. “That glutton… she’s so dead the next time we see her.”That was a promise.Now that they did not have enough party members, Johan and Felix were no longer part of the Party Death. Thankfully, they still had more than five people, so Guild Carnage did not disband. However, things only started going south after Ortha’s departure.The initial plan to lay in an ambush while the Seer blindly chased after their trail was now disrupted when the other scrubs in their guild reported back that they were now
When Oritha parted with Liu Feng and told him where the two no good rats were hiding, the Seer quickly excused himself with an air of sharpness around him. Although the Amazonian knew that Johan and Felix were capable in battle, she still wondered how badly injured they would end up with the Seer motivated enough to want to smash their bones into powder.Either way, that was a show she could probably ask about or buy in the game highlights after the event ended. Now, the Amazonian had a mission to join the Godly Food party.Liu Feng did Oritha a favour by informing Zen about the unexpected guest. As long as he could feed her something nice, the Amazonian joining them would be a great addition of talent. Besides, he could not see anyone loyal to food as an enemy. In due time, Oritha would prove to be one of their strongest allies. The woman might not be the smartest but she was undoubtedly one of the strongest in combat. Not even he could win against her when it came to
There were only a few more minutes before the Basilisk spawned, but already, the partners in crime hiding it out in the laundromat received their second round of bad news.Party Undead was completely wiped out, and Guild Carnage was disbanded from the lack of members.“Fuck!” Johan hissed and was about to toss another stick of dynamite when Felix stopped him.“Get angry later,” he told the terrorist. “A monster has arrived. I’ll leave him to you.”Before the sneaky mafia leader could escape, Liu Feng sent him flying with an open palm strike from the left. Instead of entering through the door like a normal person, the Seer used stealth and shadow steps to confuse his enemies before launching a surprise attack.Johan cursed as he watched his partner get flung into a dryer. The metal dented, and even if Felix was sturdier than most people, he would have suffered a few cracked bones from that. The Seer’s
After conquering the dojo and successfully executing their revenge mission, Party Freedom received a message from the guild leader requesting for runners to help her collect black eggs. Naturally, they took as many bags as they could from the dojo storage and ran to the library as fast as they could.However, when it rains, it pours. Nobody expected the system announcement to inform them of the boss monster’s awakening in the games room. The spawning location was not far from the library. In fact, it was just downstairs. Talk about perfect timing…Akiko did not know what to do with these black eggs that wouldn’t break open even when dropped. They were as heavy as grenades and were a pain to carry. After activating that device, all the black eggs deactivated and were now free to carry away.She tried opening one, but it would not budge. These eggs were sturdy, and the Death Princess wondered if Zen would be able to manage if she was struggling
Meeting at the entrance of floor tenth’s labyrinth, Zen quickly checked on Party Freedom’s in-game gear. They were not the best, and it was surprising how they made it to floor fifteen using pure skills. Unlike Zen, who relied on many in-game mechanics to compensate for his lack of combat abilities, the others powered through using the polished skills gained from years of training. Compared to them, he felt like a fraud.“You’re going to all need better equipment,” Zen stated after a brief check. “I’ll send Tracer the list of crafting materials I need before logging out to prepare lunch. However, these gears will not get you to the hellish final boss on floor twenty.”Having seen what the demon lord could do, Zen wondered how the party of four climbed half of the labyrinth stage. It was like using a piece of rock to cut sushi.The Minotaur Boss’ loot was the best for crafting armour in preparation for clearing the
After confirming that Party Freedom was still stuck at floor fifteen, Zen confirmed that he would be better off making progress with them instead of slowing the vanguard team.When in doubt, keep to the left.” That was what I did when I cleared the labyrinth floors, including the tenth floor. Anything with a maze-like structure can be easily cleared if you follow a strict path.”…Nobody else spoke about the advice that Liu Feng gave. In theory, that was correct. However, it was easier said than done. Most people would turn back upon discovering a trap or an enemy. Not to mention, some paths might be blocked. What the Seer was telling them was to brute force their way through a maze. If he had a map and a destination, Zen had no doubt that his sworn brother would have broken down all the walls standing in his way to reach the final boss dungeon.“Oh, one more thing. That minotaur boss is actually blind. It makes sense because it has
By the time Zen’s morning alarm went off, the tissues stuffed in his nose had already fallen out during the night. Thankfully, they were not covered in booger or snot. More importantly, the ointment stopped stinking.Checking his ribs and stretching cautiously, Zen immediately noticed the lack of sharp pain in his sides when stretched. Traditional medicine was truly miraculous! At this rate, his fractured ribs might be fully healed in the next few days."You’re up,” Liu Feng noted after he left the bathroom.Last night’s sparring with Akiko loosened his stiff muscles from dungeon diving. The morning workout went smoothly, even if his hunt for Chatura made no progress. Hearing how quickly Zen was able to move, his ribs must be feeling better. The medicine his brother sent was expensive. Thankfully, it worked for civilians too.“Thank you for the ointment,” Zen beamed. “I should make a full recovery in a few days at t
From floor five to floor nine, Zen discovered many changing elements in the virtual world. The dungeon mechanics became more complex as they climbed the floors. It was difficult to believe that until floor ten, they were still in the tutorial stages.Damian’s game guide from floor five was very different from Zen’s version. The cyborg logged every single type of equipment and monster as an encyclopaedia page, including replicated screenshot images. He rated them according to their value, usage, frequency of occurrence, something Zen had not considered, and prices. The floor map was also marked to indicate where they could commonly be located, along with an estimated loot drop guide. Compared to Zen’s walkthrough guide, Damian created a very different and detailed directory.Although their styles were very different, Zen teared up with gratefulness for the guide Damian put together. If Zen excelled at game progression strategy, Damian’s information w
Liu Feng was not pleased to learn that Zen was already considering inviting another troublesome person into his circle after sparring with Akiko. Yet, he could not say he was surprised. In the brief weeks of meeting Zen, he had seen enough to know it would not be the last time either. From the get-go, even Liu Feng had been drawn to the young cook because of this attitude. It was both the young man’s charm and weakness.While the blind teen had enough respect for Chatura, a famous strategist, he hated dealing with snake-like personalities. They already had several ticking time bombs in the Godly Food Party, and the Lau Triad’s influence could only shield Zen from so much harm. Damian Gorski had provoked half the Round Table, and Zen had rejected everyone there. An omerta might be sacred, but it was not always upheld by both parties. There were many ways to cancel an omerta, usually involving the death of one party, and Liu Feng did not wish to crush his younger swor
After finishing his dinner, Zen sipped on the weird concoction called tea from a heavy stainless steel tool holder sterilised in isopropyl alcohol. The cyborg offered to distil and mix some of his alcohol supply into the tea for a ‘better flavour,’ and Zen smartly declined. He did not have a mechanical gut that could be replaced easily. It was best to stick to conventional instant tea in unconventional cups, even if Damian stuck two very different flavours of instant tea in one cup.Although Damian had overheard the conversation in the kitchen, Zen still told him what he knew from Bolt and asked if Damian had a way to verify the information. Due to the many rumours floating around Chatura, it was difficult to know the kind of person she was. It was obvious who spread those rumours.Within thirty minutes, Damian uncovered a lot more than Zen thought was possible. Then again, he should probably not be surprised that the Gorski had such an extensive information ne
Sneaking dinner back to the room, Zen thanked Bolt and Yelena for updating him about the new faction. Although neither invigilator liked the strategist, Chatura was a very powerful person whom Zen found intriguing.Unfortunately, Liu Feng and Akiko were out. They said they would be sparring in the training ground and were not back yet. Sasha and Oritha were still in the gym, making Damian Zen’s only option to discuss this new situation with them.Deciding to take a quick shower, Zen sent Damian a text and asked if he could come over to discuss something confidential in thirty minutes with his dinner. The cyborg took a while to reply, but Zen smiled when he received an affirmation in the middle of his shower.Thirty minutes later, Zen knocked on Damian’s door, freshly showered and with a packed dinner in his other hand. There was nobody in the corridor, so Zen relaxed.Damian opened the door within seconds and welcomed Zen in.“Pardon the me
When Bolt returned with the first aid kit, he was largely relieved to see how Yelena was taking care of Zen. Taking over, he checked on the burn injury that had greatly reduced thanks to the ice cream tub, although the same could not be said of the melting liquid inside.“That might have to go back into the freezer for now,” he gently told Yelena, who agreed.Now that the actual adult was back, Yelena threw the explanation to Bolt. She hated the woman Chatura. There was no way she wanted to explain all the complicated history to Zen when she could barely speak English. Besides, between the two of them, Bolt was supposed to be the smarter one.“Oh, Chatura. Yes… it’s a complicated story,” Bolt frowned. “There are so many rumours and versions about what happened to her before she had been turned into an invigilator here. I’ve never personally met her or talked to her in my time here. However, I don’t think we have a
After spending most of the day in the virtual world, the rest of Party Godly Food excused themselves to hit the gym and stretch their muscles. Damian returned to finish compiling the game guide while Zen worked on preparing dinner. Yelena and Bolt were present, so there was no need for anyone else to keep him company. Not to mention, the kitchen hands were very helpful. Most of the ingredients Zen needed were already prepared. The dirty dishes from the last meal were washed meticulously and left to dry on the counter.“Did you find anything new in the dive this time?” Bolt asked while Zen mixed his seasoning.Zen wanted to make something simple for dinner as they had a heavy tea. Fried rice and some soup will do. There was more than enough for everyone later.“There were new things,” Zen admitted, reluctant to reveal too much information about the new features and unique split-path quests he and Damian had discovered. “However