The labyrinth was fraught with dangers, and entering it would be like throwing their lives away. Not only would they fail to retrieve the young man, but they would likely die inside.
If something happened to that young man, they wouldn’t survive, either.
No one could face the wrath of those big shots.
The players were tense and at a loss. Just as they gritted their teeth and prepared to go after the young man, they saw the staff of the Life and Death Casino chasing after him.
The players immediately stopped, anxiously waiting to see if the staff could bring the young man back.
The staff were definitely more familiar with the labyrinth and were the most likely to retrieve the young man.
However, five minutes passed, and no one came out from the labyrinth entrance.
Eight minutes passed.
Ten minutes passed.
The players were growing impatient. One player looked at the others and asked, “What should we do now?”
Another player gritted his teeth, “Tell them.”
Someone nodded. “Even the staff didn’t come out. If we go in, it will probably be futile. Maybe we can help them find the young man from outside.”
The others had no better ideas and had to use their earpieces to inform those inside the labyrinth that the young man had entered.
Lu Rufeng was quickly approaching the flag when he heard a voice through his earpiece.
“Boss Lu, um... that person has entered the labyrinth.”
Lu Rufeng slowed down. It wasn’t necessary to inform him when others entered the labyrinth, and coupled with the faint scent of ghost orchids he had just caught, Lu Rufeng had a bad feeling.
“Who is that person?”
Lu Rufeng’s voice carried a hint of danger.
Upon hearing Lu Rufeng’s voice, the player pressed his headset, a trace of fear appearing on his face.
But he couldn’t stay silent.
Otherwise, when Lu Rufeng came out, he would definitely meet a very unpleasant end.
The player swallowed hard and then carefully spoke, “It’s... Yan Qing.”
Lu Rufeng’s steps instantly halted, and his voice turned noticeably colder. “Who?”
The player shuddered at Lu Rufeng’s voice, his own voice trembling with fear, “Y-Yan Qing.”
Before looking for their teammate, they had scrutinized the young man’s situation and naturally knew that Yan Qing was the young man’s name in this instance.
The flag was within reach, but Lu Rufeng, expressionless, turned and quickly ran toward the path that had just shown traces.
However, it was clear that he had already missed the best opportunity, as the young man’s presence had vanished.
Moreover, the young man probably knew Lu Rufeng was nearby and had left no further traces.
It was impossible to determine where he had gone.
The same situation happened to the others.
They gave up on finding the flag and started tracking the young man’s movements and presence.
***
Although Ruan Qing did not know the exact actions of those people, he could guess what they would do upon learning he had entered the maze.
The maze’s entrance was right under the players’ noses; they must have seen him enter.
And those players would undoubtedly inform the others.
Ruan Qing was not flustered. After all, the maze was enormous, and finding him would not be an easy task.
The outer part of the maze was not very dangerous, but the deeper one went, the higher the danger level and difficulty.
Naturally, there would be more flags as well.
Without hesitation, Ruan Qing led Han Ze deeper into the maze.
Puzzle and calculation-based doors were no obstacle for Ruan Qing, and only the dangerous mechanism-type doors slowed their progress.
Moreover, the further they went, the more bizarre and terrifying the spaces became, not merely requiring door solutions.
It felt more like an escape room.
For example, in the first space that Ruan Qing and Han Ze entered, it was filled with dolls, and those dolls would come to life and attack the people who entered the space.
Ruan Qing spent a great deal of effort to find the exit of the space.
Ruan Qing looked towards the depths of the maze, his suspicions deepening.
He suspected that this maze was the third district of the Life and Death Casino.
When Ruan Qing had previously looked into the situation of this gambling game, he had vaguely felt that something was off.
Because this gambling game did not quite fit with the other gambling games in the second district of the Life and Death Casino.
In other gambling games, the dangers typically came from the gamblers or the staff.
This was the first time the danger came from the map of the gambling game itself.
Moreover, the mere existence of the maze instilled a sense of fear, a kind of fear that Ruan Qing had only ever felt from the bosses of each game dungeon.
For instance, the eyes in the <Horror Livestream Room> dungeon, the god in the <First High School> dungeon, or the shadow at the end of the <Xishan Residential Area> dungeon.
They were all the biggest bosses in their respective dungeons.
They could not go further into the maze, or it would only become increasingly dangerous.
There was also a high possibility that something uncontrollable might happen.
There weren’t many flags on the outer perimeter of the maze, but they had already collected seven flags.
Even if they headed to the outer perimeter now, they should still be able to collect three more flags.
Ruan Qing held the flags and looked at Han Ze. “Let’s head out.”
“Okay.” Han Ze had no objections and, as always, followed Ruan Qing’s words.
It was as if even if Ruan Qing asked him to die, he would not hesitate.
Han Ze reached out to take Ruan Qing’s hand, but he stopped just as he extended his hand because he saw the bloodstains and dirt on it.
Those were left from the battles during the dangerous encounters.
Because of their journey through the maze, Han Ze looked a bit disheveled.
He was covered in bloodstains, some his own and some from unknown monsters.
Ruan Qing had not passed through any dangerous areas except for those that required mental effort. He remained clean and tidy, almost as if he were on a picnic.
Only his delicate white fingertips were stained with something black.
Han Ze lowered his eyes in silence, then, afraid of being disliked, withdrew his hand and tried to secretly wipe it clean on his clothes.
Seeing this, Ruan Qing directly took Han Ze’s hand. “Let’s go. Before the maze changes, we need to leave here.”
Once the maze changed, the path they had just taken would no longer be passable, and they would have to find a new route.
That would mean having to go through the challenges all over again, which was extremely dangerous.
Ruan Qing had already figured out the pattern of the maze’s changes—it happened once every hour.
And now it had been more than forty minutes since the last change.
They had to leave this place before the next maze change.
When Ruan Qing took his hand, Han Ze’s whole body stiffened. No matter how many times it happened, he was always very rigid.
He could never get used to it.
Han Ze’s dirty, handsome face uncontrollably blushed, and his eyes nervously looked to the side.
Fortunately, his face was already covered with bloodstains, so his blush was not noticeable.
The two of them did not delay any further and quickly ran towards the outer edge.
Because Ruan Qing ran very slowly, Han Ze’s speed was also slowed down, matching Ruan Qing’s pace.
Han Ze wanted to carry or hold Ruan Qing, but Ruan Qing refused.
It wasn’t because Ruan Qing was being stubborn, but because they might encounter danger at any time in the maze, and Han Ze needed to have one hand free in case any monsters attacked.
Otherwise, if something happened to Han Ze, Ruan Qing would surely die in the maze.
Oh no, another boss
ReplyDeleteThank you for the chapter!
not another boss
ReplyDelete