You have picked difficulty: Hell.
... Transporting dual users to swampy cave.
A bright light filled my vision, and in an instant...
Ding!
As my vision returned, my eyes adjusted to the surroundings when,
Boom!
A sharp pain surged through my body as Sylvia’s figure fell on .
"Oww! Your freaking heav—"
My words caught in my throat.
’She didn’t hear , right?’
However, she did.
She had heard loud and clear.
Sylvia didn’t say a word and stood from .
’She’s mad, isn’t she?’
I stretched out my hand to grab her shoulder, only for her to swat it away. "Don’t you dare, you perverted, body-shaming creep."
She turned to with blazing eyes. "I might eat a lot, but I’m not fat."
"It was a joke, Sylvia. You definitely aren’t fat. Though, you do have a bit of muscle mass."
"Uhh..." She gasped. "So you’re calling a large mass of muscle now?"
"I definitely didn’t say that."
"So you want to gaslight , Allen?"
Damn, she’s the sa as before.
She looked away, folding her arms across her chest. "I think I made a mistake coming here."
I facepald. "Seriously."
She glanced at briefly from the corner of her eyes. "You’re not mad, right?"
"You’re the one screaming, you know that, right?"
She nudged lightly with her elbow. "If you apologize, I’ll let it go. Though, never call chubby again."
"Yes ma’am, I’m sorry for talking about your weight."
A small smile curved her lips before we both turned to scan the cave.
The VR cave stretched before us, a tangled labyrinth of swampy water and draping green vines.
The air hung heavy with a musky, stale scent, and the low, persistent chirping of crickets echoed off the damp stone walls.
Patches of mist clung to the ground, and the faint dripping of water sowhere deep inside added an eerie rhythm to the stillness.
"Feels like we’re in a horror movie," Sylvia comnted.
I lingered, taking in the sight. "Yeah... tell about it."
"So..." She glanced at , gripping her wooden staff tightly.
Her ears were red as she puffed her cheeks so much that I wanted to squeeze them.
"What are we going to do now that we’re alone?"
However, those kinds of charms won’t work on .
’You’ll have to try harder than that, Jin-ah.’
I looked back to the cave’s entrance. "We’ll be entering."
Sylvia let out a long breath. "Okay, so what’s the plan?"
I nodded.
During the load before the pod activated, I had seen the general layout of the dungeon.
The cave was divided into six segnts: F, E, D, C, B, and A.
The deeper you went, the harder it beca, and it was said that it was impossible for a first-year to enter segnt A.
"Let’s enter first and think later."
In Apex, the VR headsets were set in a way where the user would feel every pain.
So even though death wasn’t possible, there was a real chance that you might go mad from the intensity.
Both Sylvia and I took cautious steps into the cave.
The pungent sll in the air grew even stronger as we moved forward.
"If the sll keeps increasing, I doubt we can get past D," Sylvia muttered, coating her skin with mana.
She was right.
Even without considering the monsters, the sll itself could be deadly.
I couldn’t even imagine eating here.
Bleuh...
I nearly vomited at only the thought.
Grrr!
A loud growl echoed through the cave as both Sylvia and I shifted into combat stances.
"This kind of reminds of the entrance exam," she comnted as I stepped in front of her.
Yeah, it did, and it also reminded of how foolish I was for ignoring the signs.
Such a stain on my na.
Grr! Grrr!
The growls grew closer as a monster erged.
White fur, red eyes, two glowing red horns, and the cute face of a rabbit.
A Horned Rabbit.
Sylvia’s grip on her staff tightened so hard I could hear it in the sudden silence.
Horned Rabbits were F-rank mana beasts, but they were sotis considered B-rank threats because of their skill.
Like every monster, the rabbit had a single skill: "Pack."
This ant they always moved in groups.
Not one or two, but hundreds.
Grrrr!
This ti, the sounds were deafening as over fifty monsters rushed from an opening toward us.
"Allen, duck."
I lowered my posture as icy mana flared in the air.
Four shards of ice flew past , crashing into the rabbits.
"Now."
I muttered, springing forward and activating Flashstep.
In an instant, I was behind the rabbits, hovering in the air.
『User has activated Tier 9 spell: Red Chains』
Five red portals ford around , crackling with chains.
I stuck out two fingers and, with a flick, controlled three of the chains to strike the mana beasts.
The chains pierced through so monsters and electrocuted others.
Ding!
『You have slain...』
『You have earned...』
The remaining monsters lunged at , ignoring Sylvia.
『User has activated Tier 9 spell: Distortion』
I blinked behind the monsters, who had ford a makeshift wall.
I folded my palms together, mimicking a clap.
All my chains flew toward the wall of monsters, circling them until a complete circle trapped the monsters inside.
The mont I pressed my hands closer together,
Boom!
The monsters trapped within exploded in blood and flesh.
Breathing out, I turned back to Sylvia, who was done on her end as well, two shadow soldiers standing by her side.
I moved closer while dodging the corpses and asked,
"You have two affinities?"
I had seen her use shadows before but didn’t know she had ice as well.
She nodded. "Impressed."
"Yes, actually."
She smiled. "Enough of that, let’s keep the montum."
I turned to the area where the horned rabbits had co from. "Don’t forget why we’re here."
She stepped toward . "Yeah, to learn about the three terms of magic."
It was ti to move to the next area.
---
A/N:
Guys, there will be another extra Chapter tomorrow since we’ve reached our first golden ticket milestone of 50.
To learn more about the marks for extra Chapters, join my Discord server.
Peace.
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