---Third POV---
Hedgehog patted his chest.
"Don't worry, I know the roads around here like the back of my hand."
NeverShowOff nodded, glanced at the final minute ticking down, and stepped toward the hidden passage.
Suddenly, he felt a pull. Turning his head, he saw it was Gaeman holding onto the hook rope in his hand.
The passage below was pitch black, with no light whatsoever, making it impossible to see what lay beneath.
The rope was essential for getting back up.
He looked down in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
Gaeman pointed at the puppet standing frozen in place, then at the dark passage.
NeverShowOff tried to interpret, "You want to come with us?"
"What?" Child immediately turned to refuse. "No way! What's a kid doing tagging along?"
Gaeman stared back at him, his face full of protest.
NeverShowOff agreed and nodded, he thought the same as Child.
"Your role is different from ours, and you can't speak. Coming with us would be pointless."
Since the power of the sirens was entirely in their voices… A mute siren wouldn't just be unhelpful, he'd slow them down.
And unlike players, NPCs were one of a kind. If they died, they wouldn't respawn.
The traveling merchant who sold them the puppets had a good relationship with a player active in Hollow's Edge.
Last night, NeverShowOff had wanted to contact that player to buy a few more puppets. Only to learn he'd died at the hands of a cannibal tribe out in the wasteland.
It had left NeverShowOff regretful for a while.
Gaeman was a purple-named friendly NPC. It was best if nothing happened to him.
He thought he was just worried for their safety and offered some reassurance, "Don't worry, we'll be back soon."
But Gaeman gripped tighter and finally spoke in a hoarse voice.
"I'm useful. The mechanism is indeed on the second floor, but it has nothing to do with the route you planned. I found it by scent. There might be more traps down there. If you take me, your chances of unlocking them are higher!"
NeverShowOff frowned.
If what Gaeman said was true, bringing him along really would help.
But he only had three puppets.
The one next to him, Garble, glanced at the time: 40 seconds.
"No time left."
NeverShowOff took a deep breath and initialized his own puppet.
"You guys go. I'll stay."
As a pure magic user, he didn't have much combat power and would be the least helpful.
Garble nodded without hesitation.
"Alright, I'm heading in first! You two catch up quick!"
Child was stunned. "Huh?"
He was already taking off his puppet's clothes.
This was originally just a side mission, and as a temporary member, he had leeched his way into getting a puppet.
Now he got to keep the spot?
NeverShowOff patted his shoulder. "Time to prove your sincerity."
Then kicked him into the one-person-wide hole.
Gaeman, now dressed, followed right after.
30 seconds.
NeverShowOff dressed the reset puppet in Gaeman's clothes.
20 seconds.
The puppet shrank down to the size of a ten-year-old child. Since it was rushed, the puppet looked nothing like Gaeman.
But being a child, once the hat was on, no one would bother checking the face.
15 seconds.
NeverShowOff and Hedgehog took the three puppets and left the room.
10 seconds.
White mist rose from the floor of the resting area, erasing all traces they had left behind.
5 seconds.
The group of four walked toward the back door of the guild.
3 seconds.
Susan looked up and sighed, "So many high-level mages in town lately."
And today, a young prodigy even showed up.
2 seconds.
Bang.
The back door closed softly.
1 second.
Creak...
The front door cracked open, revealing several silhouettes outside.
---
The countdown hit zero.
A fat, pot-bellied wealthy merchant entered, led in by his servant. He sneezed into a handkerchief.
Hearing the sound, Susan turned around and gave a perfectly timed, polite smile.
"Good morning, Mr. Hohen. Still the same as always?"
Hohen nodded perfunctorily and tossed his handkerchief to a servant.
"Prepare a meditation room for me on the second floor."
With that, he started walking upstairs. Because of the plaza event held by the Mage Guild, he had entered an hour later than usual.
He needed to compress his entire morning schedule.
There was no time to flirt with this little girl who had yet to advance beyond novice magician.
Like promotional work to attract new clients, it'd be best to wrap that up in half an hour.
Given his size, being out and about every day was just too exhausting.
Halfway up the stairs, he paused and turned back, as if remembering something.
"By the way, has any unfamiliar high-level magician been here recently?"
"A high-level one did come by not long ago, but he's already left," Susan replied.
The spark in Hohen's eyes immediately dimmed, and he resumed walking upstairs with a look of irritation.
Susan raised her voice behind him.
"Someone in the trading area brought out a shaping scroll yesterday. You're really not interested in taking a look?"
It was actually a slimming scroll, but saying that directly would be far too unladylike.
All she could do was subtly increase her chances of making a sale.
Hohen's response was the sound of uninterrupted footsteps continuing up the stairs.
---
At the guild's back door, hearing the faint voices from the main hall, Hedgehog tiptoed carefully.
Only once they had stepped into a blind spot and packed away all the puppets did he finally take a deep breath.
"That was close! That voice just now was the NPC we were spying on yesterday. LootGoblin said we had one hour, literally didn't give us even one extra minute!"
No wonder NeverShowOff and Garble kept checking the time.
NeverShowOff had changed into a new outfit and was adjusting the collar.
"Let's go. Can't stay here too long."
Hedgehog stood up, brushing the dust off.
"Where to? Stick with the original plan?"
"We'll go find LootGoblin, and also log out to ask the newbie players what happened with Viktor," NeverShowOff replied.
Their original plan had been to split up and return to their usual routines. After all, it was their first time exploring a boss dungeon, and the chance of a total party wipe was very high.
They just needed to wait until the others died, then hit the forums to find the AFK players and ask for info. But this time, they had an NPC with them.
If possible, it was best to provide some support.
So, LootGoblin, who had special privileges in the guild, was their best bet.
In a quiet corner, two people dressed like mercenaries opened a door and slipped out from a courtyard. Blending smoothly into the street crowd, they turned a corner and disappeared.
---
Meanwhile, on the other side, things weren't going so smoothly for Garble, Child, and the others who had entered the hidden passage.
In the pitch-black space, Child clamped his hand tightly over his mouth, struggling not to scream.
Looking at the system map, he had assumed the Mage Guild's hidden passage would be similar to the underground corridors of the transport branch, maybe a staircase descending into tight corridors, with some magic circles and traps.
But to his shock, it was like an endless pit down there. They had already been falling for a full minute!
Just when he thought he was going to develop acrophobia and claustrophobia from being stuck in this pitch-black tunnel, the sensation of weightlessness on his body quickly faded.
It felt like something under their feet gave them a light push upward.
One by one, the three of them dropped out of a chimney-like tunnel exit.
Thud, thud, smack!
Garble managed to steady himself in time, landing on one knee and narrowly avoiding the tragic fate of landing face-first.
Next to him, Gaeman did a somersault thanks to momentum and landed neatly, clapping his hands afterward.
Only Child crashed to the ground with a loud bang.
Just hearing that made the other two wince in sympathy.
Cough cough!
Spitting out a mouthful of dust, he looked at the panel displaying [92/100] HP and stood up.
"Seriously? No one's even watching and you guys still have to land in style?"
Losing 8 HP was just a minor injury. But being the only one who wiped out? Now that was not great.
Garble shrugged. "Muscle memory."
He was referring to his real-world body.
After surpassing Level 10, he discovered he could control his in-game character's body with much more agility. Even muscle memory from the real world could be perfectly carried over, it was pretty amazing.
Gaeman silently nodded.
As a siren trained in combat instincts from a young age, his reflexes and balance were far beyond that of ordinary people.
Garble looked toward the tunnel exit. It seemed like a two-meter-wide corridor.
Why "seemed"? Because the entire corridor was pitch black, not even a torch in sight. It looked like a place rarely traveled.
Child was still sulking about his embarrassing landing.
"Once we get out of here, I'm training my moves. Damn it, if I faceplant in a cutscene one day, I'll never live it down…"
Just then, Garble's ears twitched, and his expression suddenly turned serious.
"Something's wrong. Run, now!"
As soon as he spoke, the three of them moved almost simultaneously.
Whoosh!
A split second after they left their spot, a shwoop sound came as a volley of arrows shot out from hidden holes in the side wall.
They pierced the spot where the three had just landed. Before they could even catch their breath, the tiles beneath their feet began to shift.
Garble immediately backed away from the loose stone slabs. Looking down, he could faintly see the metallic glint of spikes underneath. He then turned to glance at the arrows embedded in the wall behind them.
Behind them was a deadly trap that could reactivate at any moment. Ahead was a pit nearly three meters wide.
His eyes sharpened.
"This is bad, it's a trap!"
The hidden passage in the public rest area wasn't the correct path to the underground dungeon at all.
Suddenly, a mechanical creak creak echoed from above. There was no time to think.
He shouted urgently, "Jump, now!"
Child turned around, wide-eyed.
"Huh?!"
That was a three-meter pit ahead! Even with a running start, it wouldn't be easy to clear it, right?
He raised the rope in his hand.
"Maybe we can use a tool or something—"
"No time!"
Garble cut him off roughly and leapt first. A short shadow darted past like the wind, actually jumping before him.
Child stared, completely confused.
"Maybe I should've let NeverShowOff take this spot…"
Do racial bonuses make that much of a difference?
The creak creak above had grown loud enough for even him to hear clearly now.
He finished chanting the last line of his spell and dashed toward the wall. Using the momentum from his run, he kicked off the wall a few times, then flipped midair, just barely making it across.
Behind him, a massive stone ball covered in spikes slowly descended.
Child's jaw dropped. "What the hell? Why does everything in here have spikes?"
"Don't just stand there, run!"
Garble yanked him away just in time to dodge a volley of arrows raining down from above.
Child wanted to say, "There's a big pit ahead, no way that ball can follow us," but before he could finish the thought, the collapsed stone slabs on the floor snapped shut again. And the spiked stone ball began rolling toward them across the slightly inclined floor.
He swallowed his words and took off running, cursing as he went.
"Crap crap crap! They really aren't leaving us any way out!"
More traps lay ahead, no less dangerous than the ones behind.
Obstacles and pits appeared nonstop.
Iron cages, giant hammers, corrosive liquid with a stinging stench, and that relentless stone ball chasing right behind them...
He was on edge, his nerves stretched thin, cursing up a storm the entire way.
Garble kept an eye on the big picture. Gaeman, thanks to his small size, managed to handle himself reasonably well.
For the time being, the three of them suffered no major injuries, aside from the mental stress.
Boom!
Jets of flame burst from the corridor ahead.
The high heat warped the very air around them.
Without hesitation, Garble tore off his jacket, swung it hard to deflect part of the flames, and dashed through the gaps.
Child covered his head with both arms and barreled through with gritted teeth.
Gaeman dodged nimbly around the edges of the flames. His body seemed to be surrounded by a faint mist, making the fire far less harmful to him.
Beyond the wall of flames lay the end of the corridor. It branched into two paths.
Garble quickly scanned both sides.
The right corridor was brightly lit.
The left one, though similar in structure, was dim and nearly devoid of light sources.
With the stone ball momentarily left behind, he leaned down and asked, "Which way?"
Gaeman shook his head with a grim expression.
"Both directions reek of blood. At least a hundred people have died here in the past three months."
This tunnel had originally been an entrance for the Mage Guild.
Which meant at least a hundred novice magicians had perished here. Even without a three-month timeframe, for a small town with a population barely in the thousands, that number was terrifying.
Garble's brows knit together tightly.
"Damn it. So Nary Town really isn't as simple as it looks!"
What seemed like a "choice" was really just two paths leading to the same dead end.
He even suspected that even if they survived one corridor, there'd be another fork… then another, or maybe some kind of cage waiting to trap them like prey.
His eyes scanned back and forth between the two passageways.
The corridor they came through had no other light aside from the flame traps, making it easy to trigger a hidden mechanism by accident.
Maybe the brightly lit right corridor… might be the better choice?
Next to him, Child, his skin now red from the flames, rubbed his arms in frustration.
"Seriously?! You're getting decision paralysis now?"
"Usually I don't." Garble shot back.
Child grabbed both of them. "Whatever! I pick left!"
Since the death rate was the same either way, what was the point in overthinking?
Might as well trust in dumb luck!
Without hesitation, he dragged the other two and turned left.
Unfortunately for them, the rolling stone ball reached the fork in the path at that exact moment… And "luckily" chose the left corridor, the same one the three had just escaped into.
The life-or-death chase continued.
---
Clatter.
Five dice spun and rolled inside a dice cup before finally settling.
A burly, red-faced man with a thick beard slammed his hand on the table and stood up, flushed with excitement.
"Ha! Five of a kind! Pay up, pay up!"
Grinning from ear to ear, he stared at the five matching dice, fours, all of them, and greedily pulled all the colorful chips in the betting area over to his side.
This was the most luxurious underground casino in Nary Town. Its interior design was nothing like the buildings above ground.
Carved wall tapestries, ceiling murals, crystal chandeliers, and purple velvet-covered gambling tables, everything oozed refined extravagance, with a hint of modern casino flair.
Just then, a massive signboard at the center of the casino suddenly lit up, projecting a 360-degree, fully 3D image into the air.
The projection clearly displayed a wide, empty corridor.