That was undoubtedly an old man's shirt—a white tank top style. This item had a high appearance rate in Country C during the summer and was deeply loved by elderly men of all ages.
Its stitches were neat, and the sewing style was completely different from other succubus clothes. It stood out amongst a pile of armor, as abrupt as a hand grenade appearing in a costume drama.
[Homemade Underwear: Hand-sewn intimate clothing.
※Produced by Succubus Malvina]
The two Players examined the clothing inside and out, momentarily speechless.
Anakin dove back into the wardrobe for a more thorough search. She found a pair of large underpants among a pile of cloaks, tailored from beige cloaks, just past the knee in length, with specially sewn deep pockets, and the waist was tied with magically enhanced vines.
Anakin compared the old man's shirt and underpants, falling into deep silence—this style was too similar to a street old man and was entirely out of place in this delicate and beautiful Western fantasy palace.
Solo found a pile of draft paper at the bottom of the drawer, with clothing cutting diagrams drawn on it. "What is… this?"
Anakin approached with the underpants, her gaze suddenly freezing.
It hastily drew designs for cutting the old man's shirt, large underpants, and simple guard clothing. The annotations were modern, in the succubus language, and…
"This is the modern basic method, isn't it?" She muttered. "I have customized armor in Grape Collar. Those NPCs didn't do it this way."
"But succubus can't be Players, so they can't choose this race." Solo stared blankly at the design in his hand. "According to what Doni said, Ma…Knight Ma-something has been friends with the queen since childhood. We have only been trapped for two months."
Anakin's mind was equally confused.
The developers of "Tahe" invited a large number of excellent professional and amateur Players, popular game anchors, gaming KOLs, and even a few people who like to study game culture. This showed that they were full of sincerity.
However, from the current point of view, many scoundrels had mixed in among the Players.
No one knew how they entered the game. These people weren't even in the same novice village as a normal Player, and most joined the Eternal Church… This was the most shocking secret they had discovered so far.
"Hermitage has been exploring the direction of 'the game has problems', right?" Anakin said, her voice dry.
"Yes, 'Mentor' has been leading the group in research."
Solo rigidly sat on the edge of the bed, still holding those few design drawings.
"The most recognized opinion in the Hermitage was the 'Terrorist Attack Theory'—the game has been hijacked and infiltrated by terrorists aiming to achieve some purpose. They said if it were an internal staff going mad, they couldn't bring in so many scumbags."
This was also the view of the vast majority of Players.
Those trapped Players who had been invited by the official to experience the game had a good understanding of the game. The "Homeward Saints", "Amazon," and "Hermitage"—these three guilds had very clear existences.
Solo's "Hermitage" was the only non-combat guild.
It was led by a university professor who loved gaming culture, was independent, and strived to be objective. The members came from all walks of life, hiding in every corner of this world.
The members had only three goals: try to survive, collect information, and figure out what the hell is going on in this world.
Over the past two months, the Players' understanding had gradually unified.
This world was a game hijacked by terrorists. As long as you could find a way to clear the game, everyone might be able to exit.
However…
"Terrorist organizations obtaining login devices and permissions, implanting criminals, I can understand." Anakin stared at the old man's shirt spread out on the bed. "They have no ability and no need to turn people into game monsters, right…?"
Solo swallowed. "Perhaps, it's a game bug. Someone logged into a monster model."
"Everyone has counted the list. Normal Players aren't missing." Anakin clutched the old man's shirt.
"The system is still there. Don't diverge too much. It must be those criminals illegally logging in, creating such bugs… You also said that normal Players aren't missing. We know those monsters aren't our own. Isn't this enough?"
Solo insisted, his voice loud and anxious, containing a trace of fear.
Anakin gave a bitter smile. She knew what he was afraid of. People always preferred to believe what they wanted to believe. No Player was willing to accept the idea that "there may be something wrong with the game itself."
And… And this really didn't prove anything unless they could find that succubus knight and confront her in person.
She hoped those two NPCs could survive safely. This time, she also had to step out of the quest and genuinely investigate this matter.
Various mechanisms collapsed, and characters decayed after logging out. All could be attributed to terrorists destroying the game program.
But if there were really unrelated ordinary people turning into monsters… Could this game still be considered a "game"?
"This world has normal quests, and there is also a Demon King. Except for games, where else would there be a deliberately set final boss?" At the bedside, Rogue Solo was still murmuring softly, not knowing who he wanted to convince. "Defeating the Demon King is clearing the game. Clearing the game means going home… Clearing the game means going home. This must be the case…"
...
"That is part of the Demon King's minions!" A female voice yelled from behind Nol.
The Devil King's minions? …That thing?
Nol looked towards the "Thousand-Hand Nightmare" not far away, while Teest remained the same, ignoring the stranger's words and quickly rushing towards the target nearby.
Nol didn't think that the "Thousand-Hand Nightmare" was very strong. Roughly estimating its strength, it wasn't a match for both of them. However, even at this moment, it was still emitting that strange aura that made him feel uncomfortable all over.
[Teest, danger!] Nol shouted in his mind.
This time, Teest abruptly stopped with a sharp and neat brake and easily jumped back as if inertia didn't exist for him. [What's wrong, honey?]
[What that person said makes sense. We're not in a rush. We should be cautious,] Nol thought.
[But I have a better idea.] Teest's thought came with a smile.
Immediately, Nol watched as Teest changed his step and turned into a silver whirlwind, rushing in the direction where the woman's voice came from.
"What the fuck—!" The woman yelled in a confused common language, leaping out of her hiding place and running away.
She was quite far from them, and Nol could only see a silhouette.
The silhouette was almost like a living skeleton, but healthier than any succubus he had seen. Her clothes were a bit weird, and she was holding something curved overhead in her right hand, the outline resembling a crowbar.
"Wait!" Nol paused for a half-second, not caring about the Nightmare creature. "Wait, I also—"
Before he could shout out, the figure of the succubus disappeared into the fog.
Nol caught up, panting, and gripped the hem of Teest's robe. "She kindly reminded us. Why did you scare her off?!" Damn, she could have been his neighbor!
"Look at the strength, the intention to fight, and the purpose. The instinctive reaction will not lie," Teest said indifferently. "That guy is a female succubus. She's not weak and has no intention of being our enemy. She's very good at escaping, and she has a clear direction of escape. She definitely has a base."
Although Teest appeared polite and gentlemanly on the surface, Nol suspected that this guy automatically regarded all breathing entities as enemies.
Now the compatriot was scared away. Nol rubbed his temples hard and sighed. "Consult me next time."
Teest slightly turned his head. "No. Such probing requires the element of surprise."
Fine. Nol wiped his face.
No matter how much sharp emotion he accumulated, in the face of this guy, they would collapse into a soft feeling of powerlessness.
At least they knew that there might be a succubus neighbor here, and the neighbor seemed to be in a good mental state.
Nol thought for a while on the spot and gently tapped Teest's tail tip.
"Since the person is lost. Let's go back first."
"What do you mean the person is lost? I can continue tracking," Teest muttered.
"Chase now or later, it's all chasing. Give her some time to recover. If we chase now, it's no different from an actual chase." Nol shook his head. "Let's check on that 'Demon King's minion' first."
He had seen the explanation of "Devil King's minions" in history books.
They were mainly distributed around the border of the Desolation Islands and basically didn't appear in inland areas. The book said they were monsters formed by being corrupted by the "aura of the Demon King". They were irrational, uncommunicative, irredeemable, and full of malice towards everything.
The description was vague, and the setting was quite cliché. He didn't know how many times he had seen it in various works.
'Seeing is believing,' Nol thought.
The surrounding area was still a dark nightmare scene, and the monster didn't catch up. Nol skillfully released the invisibility spell and stepped on the path he came by.
By the time he reached the location, Nol almost couldn't hold back and really vomited—
The earth wall he erected had already completely collapsed, and the originally empty ground was now crowded with those "Thousand-Hand Nightmares".
They were packed like City A's subway during peak hours, their bodies almost melting into one another, and it was impossible to distinguish them apart.
A thousand monsters? Ten thousand? Nol couldn't count. He only saw endless, interlacing, skinny arms and the numerous human-like palms on them.
It was as if a new layer of shrubbery made of flesh and blood had grown in the forest.
Nol smelled a strong scent of blood—the wounded monster was surrounded in the middle, with nearby monsters surging incessantly. Along with the blood scent, there was also the faint sound of flesh being torn apart.
The monsters in the outer ring were slowly waving their arms, their fingers slowly twitching, like blind people exploring in a strange environment.
…Here, Nol couldn't use his proudest summoning technique; it was difficult for him to deal with enemies of this scale.
A chill went through Nol's heart.
No wonder the basic requirement of the mission "Survive or Die" was to "leave the Dream Edge alive." Facing these monsters, they seemed to have no choice but to run away.
…How many of these things are there?
…How are they going to break through this sea of monsters' tactics?
…The succubi are surrounded by them layer by layer. What can they do to save the succubi tribe?
"Wow, it would be strange if those succubi could win. Once these things step in, they could crush all the succubi." Teest evidently thought of the same thing and almost whistled.
"Honey, if you want to find out the truth, you don't have much time left."
Nol remained silent.
"You're not still thinking of saving those succubi, are you? From the hands of these things?"
Teest chuckled at the pun about "hands", poking Nol in the chest with the tip of his tail. "No offense, the shadow wolf is much smarter than these filthy things. Although you are very charming, you better not think about getting along with them."
'Indeed,' Nol thought.
The shadow wolf was at least filled with the vitality of normal creatures. The things in front of him only emitted emptiness and death.
Endless terrifying monsters, the walking dead succubi… this problem was really tough.
Nol manipulated the flesh under his collarbone to disappear and casually caught Teest's precious coin. Oddly, even after residing in his stomach acid for a moment, the blood stain on the coin seemed to have seeped into the metal and remained extremely conspicuous.
And the scratches on that gold wheel didn't seem like normal scratches; they looked more like irregularly carved marks.
"You take it back first," Nol said, the flesh in his abdomen silently recovering.
The coin still held his body temperature, lying warmly in his palm. Teest took the coin, casually tossed it in his hand, then slapped it on the back of his hand.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm making a bet with myself," Teest said lightly. "If the coin is heads, I'll assist you—no matter how much I hate it—in saving this tribe; if it's tails, I'll look for a way out first."
He continued, showing a bright smile, "Then, when you fail the 'perfect clearance' challenge, I'll snatch you out of here."
Nol was silent for two seconds. "What's the answer?"
"Unfortunately, it's heads." Teest didn't sound very happy.
"You can actually control the coin flip, right?" Nol couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Unfortunately, yes." Teest sounded even unhappier. "Making a decision is hard. I need a bit of ceremony."
Nol gave up on understanding his thought process. "Thank you for your full support. Is your ceremony done yet?"
"No," Teest said unhappily. "You know, I'm very fickle. So, I need one final step—"
Teest walked in front of Nol and stretched out his hand. The hot coin was pressed again against Nol's lips with just the right amount of force.
The gold sank into the soft, red flesh, and the edge of the coin knocked against Nol's teeth, making a 'clink' sound.
"Please keep it for me," Teest whispered.
"So you won't leave me?"
Nol didn't swallow the coin immediately. Teest's knuckles were resting on his chin, astonishingly warm.
"No, no, no." Teest's voice lifted slightly. "This way, when I want to leave you, I will hesitate—very, very much."
"This way, you will have a chance to grab my tail, honey."
Nol stared at those nearly sincere golden eyes. He slightly opened his lips and swallowed the coin again.
This time, he swallowed slowly, almost provocatively. "Then I will definitely hold on tightly and never let go."
Teest laughed as he withdrew his finger. The hand slowly approached his waist, then swiftly waved—only to see a flash of sword light, and several trees in the distance fell with a crash.
A familiar female voice screamed from the bushes. The person hiding inside was pressed perfectly.
"It seems everyone has the same idea."
Teest rushed towards the bushes. "…Nobody likes to let go of their prey easily."
The author has something to say:
Another neighbor is online! Roughly estimated, there are probably a thousand people in Nol's community?
Neighbor: (Cursing loudly)
Neighbor: You're all being sweet! What do you care about me?!