Chapter 38: The World Outside the Cave

Just as Ye Zhiqiu and Hu Wan continued to advance along the labyrinth corridor, the three skeletons carrying logging axes and singing had already reached the entrance of the North Peak Mine.

Looking at the air wall that blocked countless players, Little Shark suddenly waved her hand, stopped Whale Fall and Xiao Wan, and handed the axe to Whale Fall.

Just when Whale Fall and Xiao Wan were confused, she rubbed her hands, did a standing long jump, and bounced outside the cave, passing through the air wall without any obstruction.

"Success! Hahahaha! I am the first player to step onto the new world, ah ah ah—!"

The sky was just brightening, and the autumn ground was very cool, with a layer of damp dew on the steep mountain road.

Added to the fact that the skeleton's feet were the leaky kind, Little Shark, landing on both feet, sat directly on the ground and rolled down the slope in terrified screams.

It was fortunate that she hit a massive rock, otherwise, this slide would have definitely sent her to the bottom of the mountain.

"Crazy..."

Whale Fall walked up speechlessly, reached out and pulled Little Shark, whose head was stuck in her butt, up from the ground, and then knocked her hard on the head.

Holding her forehead that was about to crack, Little Shark's pitiful voice sounded like she was about to cry.

"Damn it... I'm already this miserable! Can't you be a little gentle?"

Knowing this guy was faking it, Whale Fall said unceremoniously.

"What are you talking about, you corpse? At least try to look a bit more beautiful."

"Damn it! Want to fight!"

Just as the two weirdos were pinching each other, Xiao Wan, standing on the slope, had all her attention taken away by the scenery in the distance.

Only to see the brilliant rosy clouds engraved on a corner of the horizon, just like a rising fire. The layered mountain peaks were endless, and looking into the distance, everything was dyed red by the layered forest.

It was truly beautiful.

Perhaps because she had stayed in the mine for too long, the sharp contrast made her feel that this world was so beautiful, and she even had the urge to stay here forever.

Here, she could jump around without any scruples...

She could go anywhere she wanted.

"I didn't expect the world outside the cave to be so wide!"

Looking at Xiao Wan, who was looking into the distance with longing, Whale Fall and Little Shark, who were wrestling, looked at each other, both showing a grin, and let go of the skeleton hands that were entangled together.

"Right? The dog—cough! The planner who hid such good stuff is really too much!"

"So the map outside was already made," Whale Fall walked to Xiao Wan's side, looked into the distance following her gaze, and said with a faint smile, "I thought the outside was all textures... it seems I underestimated the strength of the development team."

Maybe even the human towns on the surface were already made.

Don't go south, right?

It seems it's definitely to the south.

Xiao Wan: "Speaking of which, I couldn't feel it at all in the mine... the sky outside has actually brightened."

Whale Fall: "Yes."

Little Shark: "The morning sun is great!"

Xiao Wan: "I mean... it's also bright in reality, we've been online for almost 24 hours, right? Do you guys play games like this usually?"

Little Shark: "How is that possible! No matter what, being online for 24 hours straight is too exaggerated! We still log off every now and then to walk around, like getting up to eat something."

Xiao Wan looked at the smug Little Shark in a daze, completely unable to understand what the latter was smug about.

Whale Fall smiled slightly and said.

"Yes, Little Shark ate two takeaways today."

Little Shark's whole body stiffened, unable to hold back, she made a coughing motion.

"Cough! I'm still growing, what's wrong with eating a bit more? And don't make it sound like I ate two portions in one meal!"

Whale Fall: "Oh ho? You're almost 20, is there really still hope?"

Little Shark: "Go to hell!!"

Watching the two who started bickering again, Xiao Wan couldn't help but ask one more curious question.

"You two... do you know each other in reality?"

The two looked at each other and spoke in unison.

"Rather than saying we know each other..."

"It's better to say we've known each other for many years!"

"That's great..." Xiao Wan looked at the two with envy, and couldn't help but fantasize about what it would be like if she had friends in reality.

"Let's not talk about this, get ready to work." Whale Fall picked up the two axes left on the ground and threw one to Little Shark.

Xiao Wan: "Wait, do you guys really not need to log off and rest for a while? Like doing some exercise to recover..."

Carrying the axe on her shoulder, Little Shark looked at her strangely.

"What are you talking about?" Whale Fall also looked at her, who was bewildered, as a matter of course.

"Exactly, what are you talking about? We are people from another world, it's enough for Earth to provide some nutrients."

Xiao Wan: "..."

On the other side, in the 'sewer corridor' on the first floor of the labyrinth, the two skeleton soldiers were continuing to push forward.

Ye Zhiqiu had already reached lv5, and was only a line away from lv6.

His current attributes were 4/6/3/1/1, the strongest attribute was still strength, and the second strongest constitution was still a bit away from catching up with the old farmer of the Aos Empire.

Surpassing the living as a skeleton soldier.

By the standards of the undead, this could be considered a remarkable achievement.

The two were originally planning to return the same way, but encountered a lizard-man on the way.

That guy had dark green scales and a short bow on his back, lurking in the dark and waiting for an opportunity.

The two immediately chased after him, but the monster didn't attack, and after realizing he was exposed, turned and ran.

Ye Zhiqiu and Hu Wan chased for a while, but ultimately didn't catch up, and instead came to a strange place.

"Let that guy run away."

Looking at the shadow disappearing in the distance, a regretful expression appeared on Ye Zhiqiu's face.

"Speaking of which, where is this?" Hu Wan looked around, and what came into view was a great hall paved with stone slabs.

Towering granite pillars connected to the dome, and on both sides of the pitch-black steps were extinguished fire basins, extending all the way to the entrance located at the dome.

There was a circle of railings there, with extinguished torches inserted on the railings, just like an abandoned watchtower.

"Don't know..." Ye Zhiqiu also observed the surroundings, only feeling that the situation here was somewhat familiar.

After a long while, he suddenly realized that this place was simply the labyrinth entrance without spider webs!

"So that's it... this place might be another entrance to the labyrinth."

While saying this, a ghostly green light flickered faintly in those deep skeleton eyes.

"Another entrance?!"

Hu Wan was stunned for a moment, and immediately followed Ye Zhiqiu's gaze, looking toward the end of the stairs connecting to the dome.

It really looked a bit like it?!

Ye Zhiqiu pondered and continued.

"From the previous CG animations, it can be inferred that there should be adventurers in this world... however, so far, the only adventurers we've encountered are the few in the cages. In this way, there is only one possibility: the labyrinth entrance we occupy is only one of them, and it might even be the most obscure of all the entrances."

While speaking, he stared intently at the end of the stairs, as if his gaze had already passed through the tightly closed archway and seen the scene behind it.

That should be the human world! "Want to go take a look?"

Ye Zhiqiu looked at Hu Wan, and the latter, as expected, returned him a firm look.

As a closed beta player, how could he miss such an opportunity to experience game content in advance?

"... Let's go take a look!"

The two climbed the stairs, climbed over the watchtower railing, and came to the great door, preparing to open it, only to see the great door creak open by itself.

A middle-aged man wearing standard armor walked in from behind the door, yawning.

He had a mace strapped to his left waist, a flintlock pistol to his right, and was holding a shield worth 50,000 Nether Coins in his left hand.

Probably because he had just come out of a tavern, beer foam was still hanging on his beard, and he was muttering in a language that couldn't be understood.

Both sides met face to face and were stunned on the spot for a moment.

Just as Ye Zhiqiu opened his mouth to say something, the human soldier acted as if he had seen a ghost, threw the shield in his hand at the skeleton, and then turned and ran for his life.

"Undead!!! It's the undead! Ring the bell quickly!!!"

He shouted in surprise while running, and soon disappeared into the darkness, scaring both Ye Zhiqiu and Hu Wan, who were standing at the door, and they were stunned for a while.

Hu Wan: "What is he shouting?!"

Ye Zhiqiu: "... Don't know, maybe 'damn it'."

Just as the two were talking, urgent bell ringing came from behind the door, followed by the sound of running footsteps.

Intuition told Ye Zhiqiu that this was definitely not a good sign.

Without a hint of hesitation, he picked up the shield on the ground and ran down the stairs.

"Run!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 39 =====