The next morning, Chen Mo's figure had already appeared in the second labyrinth area on the first floor.
The events of last night caused the name "Shadow" to spread among the higher echelons of the Assault Team, but for him, it was merely clearing a few buzzing flies.
What he cared more about was the abundant experience points and untouched resources in this new area.
The environment of the second labyrinth area was much more eerie and treacherous than the first floor.
Along the winding passages, various twisted fleshy plants grew, and the air was filled with a strange smell, a mix of decay and sweet fishy.
Chen Mo, holding his quenching longsword, walked steadily, like a true shadow, moving silently.
His very existence was the biggest information gap in this death game.
Just as he was about to clear a patch of freshly spawned "Poisonous Fungi," the corner of his eye caught two somewhat disheveled figures.
Mito and Asuna.
Chen Mo stopped, concealed himself behind a giant fern, his gaze calm.
He watched as the two cautiously navigated an area filled with "Bug-Eating Plants," Asuna gripping her rapier, her pretty face etched with tension, while Mito continuously whispered, imparting her experience to her.
"Remember, those Bug-Eating Plants with red fruits are traps. Once broken, the scent will trigger a rampage of all monsters in this area!"
"Understood!" Asuna nodded vigorously, trying to engrave this information into her mind.
Chen Mo withdrew his gaze, not lingering.
He was not a babysitter.
Everyone had to be responsible for their own choices; in this world, innocence and weakness were original sins.
However, just as he rounded to another area, his sword flashing as he cut down a Level 15 "Sickle Mantis," Mito's suppressed cry of alarm suddenly came from afar.
"Asuna! It's a Cloaked Rat!"
Chen Mo's movements paused slightly.
The material for the Stealth Cloak, a top-tier item at this stage.
He did not go over, merely listened intently.
"Really?" A hint of surprise was in Asuna's voice.
"I'll lure it, you keep watch!"
Mito's voice was decisive and quick; clearly, this Closed Beta Player's experience and skill far surpassed Asuna's.
A moment later, intense sounds of battle erupted, mixed with Mito's excited shouts: "It's cornered! Now!"
And in that instant!
"Mito, watch out!"
Asuna's startled cry suddenly rang out, laced with a sob.
She seemed to be trying to protect Mito, who was focused on attacking the Cloaked Rat, and suddenly rushed towards a spider-type monster ambushing from the side.
A sword thrust!
But the monster cunningly recoiled to the side, and Asuna's certain strike, grazing the monster's carapace, accurately and irrevocably pierced into the plump red fruit of a Bug-Eating Plant behind it.
"Pfft—"
A soft sound.
As if a switch had been flipped.
The red juice burst open, and an intensely nauseating sweet fishy smell instantly swept through the entire area like a tsunami.
Mito's face turned instantly pale.
"Asuna! No!"
Before her words finished, the ground began to tremble violently!
"Rustle rustle—"
"Roar—!"
From the depths of the dense forest in all directions, countless crimson points of light ignited, accompanied by hair-raising roars and scraping sounds, rushing madly towards their location!
The monster tide, attracted by the scent, had formed!
"It's over..." Asuna looked at the monsters surrounding them from all sides, her legs weak, almost unable to grip her rapier.
"Asuna, run!"
Mito grabbed the materials dropped by the Cloaked Rat and rushed to Asuna's side, trying to pull her to break through.
But it was too late.
The monsters had already formed an airtight encirclement, completely blocking their only escape route.
Even more terrifying, the impact of the monster tide caused the already unstable forest floor to collapse over large areas!
"Boom!"
The ground beneath Mito's feet instantly cracked, and she only managed to let out a cry of alarm before she, along with the collapsing earth and rocks, fell towards the fault line below!
"Mito!"
Asuna desperately reached out, but only grasped empty air.
Fortunately, Mito displayed the astonishing reflexes of a Closed Beta Player during her fall, grabbing onto a vine hanging from the edge of the fault line and steadying herself, but a deep chasm now separated her and Asuna.
And Asuna was completely isolated in the center of the monster tide.
"Mito! I don't want to die!"
Asuna's cries were drowned out by beastly roars. She swung her rapier, blocking and counterattacking again and again, but her stamina was rapidly depleting, and her HP potions were running low.
Cracks had already appeared on her novice leather armor.
Suddenly!
A massive shadow descended from the sky, engulfing the entire battlefield!
"Thump—!"
A Giant Magic Ape, over five meters tall, crashed to the ground, splitting the earth! He ignored the surrounding small monsters, grabbed a Bug-Eating Plant blocking his way, and roughly stuffed it into his gaping maw to chew.
A long green HP bar appeared in Asuna's vision.
Giant Magic Ape
Wild Elite Monster
Level: 12
HP: 3000 / 3000
Despair.
Utter and complete despair.
Asuna's HP had already fallen into the dangerous red zone. She looked at the insurmountable behemoth before her, then at Mito, who was entangled by small monsters in the distance and equally precarious, and the light in her eyes slowly dimmed.
She gave up struggling.
The Giant Magic Ape's crimson pupils locked onto her, and his large, fan-like hand, carrying a fierce wind that tore through the air, slammed down!
"I'm sorry, Mito..."
Asuna closed her eyes.
Across the chasm, Mito, watching her teammate's HP about to be depleted, also closed her eyes in pain.
"I'm sorry, Asuna, I..."
Boom—!!!
A golden streak of light, dazzling to the extreme, like a sword of dawn tearing through the night, pierced through the dim labyrinth!
The streak of light, at a speed beyond visual limits, precisely struck the Giant Magic Ape's descending arm.
"Furious Stab!"
-312!
A terrifying damage number exploded above the Giant Magic Ape's head!
His massive arm was knocked aside by this immense force, slamming heavily into the ground beside Asuna, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Asuna abruptly opened her eyes.
Mito also looked up at the sky in shock.
A figure descended from the sky, silently landing in front of Asuna.
He held a longsword, his back straight.
Like an insurmountable mountain.