The Golden Door had been opened after Cerberus' death.
It was difficult to tell what reward was on the other side because the blinding golden light burst open, obscuring anyone who wanted to peek inside. It was also impossible to see through the door's prerequisites.
That said, Jake and others didn't think about them in the heat of the mont.
Since Jake was the closest to The Golden Door, he had a leeway to enter first. He threw himself into the mysterious door's shining embrace.
It took him in.
The high-level assassin from The Ark was in Jake's wake. He shoved the weight of his failure to the depth of his heart and bet everything on entering the secret room.
Alas, the invisible barrier kicked him away.
The golden door also began closing. In a few breaths, it was ajar, leaving only a slice of its golden light. In another few minutes, the door completely shut itself and disappeared.
It was gone.
If it hadn't been for Cerberus' corpse lying sprawled on the ground, the presence of the golden door would have been questionable.
A heavy silence blanketed the dungeon boss' room.
The Alliance and The Ark weren't in a mood to fight. All their plans, preparations, and sches behind the scenes were turned aningless by a re and unknown low-level player who was also an archer!
That smile, underlined by his mask, heavily hung in the minds of The Alliance's mbers.
They went out of their way to make a truce with each other, worked hard on the quest given by the true humans, mobilized all their connections in The Condemned Dungeon to keep an eye on everyone coming in and out, and fought against themselves to get the edge against The First Cerberus, only for a low-level player to snatch everything away!
It was the worst.
They had been completely played and even looked down upon by that man. His smile, as he stood on the legendary boss' carcass, etched itself into the hearts of The Alliance and The Ark.
It was their hidden path that had facilitated the archer's ergence from the ceiling to steal the legendary boss: it was their failure that caused this unbearable sha!
"ALVA!" The Ark's swordsman and leader scread out of his lungs.
Alva timidly peeked from the top, "Yes, sir?"
"HOW?!" The leader asked.
Alva gulped and awkwardly looked down, "His teammates were too botherso! A tank was an undead, and he could even turn off my skills for a second! That hottie also hid her movents in the sparks and shadows and leveraged all her advantages to cleverly stop from using my magic! I also couldn't use any high-level magic, could I? It's not my fault!"
"That hottie? Did you lose your mind again because of a woman?!" the swordsman scread.
Alva paled.
He was seen through… again.
"You horny dog! I'm through with you!" the swordsman spat as he said those words. "I've had it! Get rid of his ugly face before I drag myself up here to personally kill him!"
The assassin of The Ark nodded.
Inwardly, he felt so thankful for Alva's prior shenanigans. Without that man, he would also have been on the receiving end.
anwhile, The Alliance spoke to each other through a voice chat.
"We must secure Cerberus' corpse. It should have a clue to The Second and The Third Cerberus. Cerberus is a three-headed dog, right?"
"Yeah. There should be a loot beneath him, too. The archer shouldn't have had enough ti to pick it up!"
"It ans we have to deal with The Ark!"
"Yes!"
Another battle began then.
After it ended in The Alliance's victory, the high-level players discovered that Cerberus didn't drop any item!
It was impossible, though!
Which ant that the archer must have been lucky enough to sohow pick it up!
The three guilds of The Condemned Dungeon had unconsciously decided their next move.
There was not even a need for a talk or proceedings.
These three put Jake on their hunting list.
After a few ssages from other guild mbers and smaller guilds, Jake's nickna and appearance beca clearer than ever before.
[If any of you notice the player nicknad Archer(click here to see a description of his appearance), you are obliged to hunt him down as a team. Work with all our allied guilds to take him down! In this special case, all guild mbers also ought to ally with The Heavy Spree and The Lions to kill Archer. He has to be zeroed.]
[Reward for each death—100 Gold Coins or a choice of an item from The Guild's Armory.]
Since losing a level was inevitable on the mainland, bringing players back to level one was possible.
Depending on a player, the consequences of losing one's level could be severe.
The consequences aside, it was troubleso to be hunted by various guilds. Players already liked challenging each other over simple things, so such a mobilization could really ss up one's plans.
It was like having a grim reaper dangling above one day and night!
It wouldn't be weird for Jake to leave The Warmonger Empire because of that.
-
'I'm underwater?!' Jake inwardly shouted upon plunging into The Golden Door's embrace.
He was on the other side of The Golden Door.
It didn't teleport him to a grand room filled with lavish items and heaps of golden coins, but it literally chucked him into a pool of unknown water!
It was so red and dense that Jake couldn't see anything around him. Was it blood?
He also wasn't prepared for that, so he didn't inhale deep enough to get a few precious minutes for himself.
It felt like floating in an abyss, waiting to be destroyed!
Jake didn't know the purpose of this red water, so he tried his best to break the surface. Alas, it was like swimming with chains on the ankles and heavy balls dangling off it, as Jake didn't progress.
Finally, his lungs demanded oxygen.
It hurt.
Covering his mouth so as not to let any red water in, Jake desperately looked around. He was now sure he was in a trial that he had to resolve. He thought about Cerberus and what he knew about this dog.
Hades!
Cerberus protected the underworld's entrance!
'Am I ant to die here? I don't know!' Jake was at a loss.
At last, his hands gave in, and his lips parted. He couldn't exert any strength, and his stubbornness couldn't even help him cover his lips.
The red water invaded Jake's mouth and sloshed his throat.
Instantly, Jake's body was thrown into the fire! His cheeks went crimson, and his skin flushed deep red. The liquid was so sharp and bitter, yet Jake felt like he could drink it no end, like he could get addicted to it.
Oxygen was also in this liquid, keeping Jake's mind intact. The pain in his lungs was rapidly mitigated.
That said, Jake wasn't just drinking it.
This liquid was sluicing his blood out!
'Is that… an alcohol, by any chance?' Jake thought… 'Bruh, I promised my drinking virginity to Lukas!'
At that mont, the red liquid—a wine—beca animated. A whirlpool of it swallowed Jake deeper into its nest and all of it began entering Jake through all his holes, literally.
It was sothing Jake would never share with anyone.
It hurt him, turned him nauseated, and made him feel like a helpless pig soon to be butchered. It was like he was on a silver platter, waiting to be gobbled down by a giant.
Jake's vision shook.
He closed his eyes and hid his face in his hand. He was absolutely confused by anything happening on the other side.
After an unknown amount of ti, Jake plumted onto a cold surface.
He dazzlingly opened his eyes and saw the golden, lustrous surroundings. He was stuffed in sothing circular, with its brims far away. .
The ceiling was as black as the darkness itself.
"What happened?" Jake asked aloud, his voice drawling and lazy.
[You have assimilated with the blood wine of the legendary existence, Dionysus.]
[Your stats have been updated.]
[You have learned a new skill—Blood Wine(Legendary)(Passive Skill).]
[You have learned a new skill—Assimilation(Legendary)(Active Skill).]
[You are currently drunk.]
[Your stats have been updated to your state.]
The golden floor beneath Jake broke, cracking like webs of spiders. It shattered into countless sparkling shards that were losing their luster.
Jake was falling into an abyss.
A mont later, he appeared outside The Condemned Dungeon.
Jake was in the forest.
He stood still, confused.
"So… I drank a wine? Lukas… h, he will forgive ." he drawled. He arched his head back and looked at the darkening skies through the clearing in the forest's canopy. His lips were slightly parted, and he couldn't really tell how he felt.
It was such a unique feeling.
Jake felt like he could splatter those clouds with his arrows… like he could release so many at once!
"Woah… that would be cool, ye?" Jake drawled.
That was when soone found Jake.
"Look at that mask! It must be The Archer!"
"Why is he standing so dazed like that?"
"Hell knows! Just kill him and get a hundred gold coins for free!"
Jake threw his head forward.
It looked like it heavily hung down off his neck!
He lifted his eyes, smiling.
That Joker Mask looked as evil as usual!
He smiled from ear to ear.
Jake drawled, "Sup, sup! Guys! I want to hear the lody of my soul—the whistle of my arrows—so much in this joyous state that I will play along with you…"
"He's so drunk! Get him!"
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