Chapter 20: The Only Way Out Is To Go In.

Accompanying the series of loud explosions was a chorus of cheers and laughter. “GWAHahahaHaha!! Serve all of you right! Now rot inside there for eternity!”

We were trapped. Brutus’ men had made sure that they had done so properly by closing all our escape routes. The force of the explosion was so strong that it blew all the flames on the torches along the tunnels away. Within the darkness, all of us were left disoriented. Including me, albeit momentarily.

I gritted my teeth as I cursed him under my breath. “I’ll fucking swear that I will get you after I’m done with this quest, Brutus!” However, I needed to focus on this sudden turn of event.

Looking at the others, I began to think of my next move. Unsurprisingly, the crybaby Sophia was the first to break down. At one corner, Miranda tried to compose herself with a few deep breaths despite shaking at her knees while Alviss went berserk trying to lift out the rubbles that blocked our path. Elly was stricken with fear while Rose was being herself, oblivious to the dangers. Taking stock, we were quite lucky that all of us did not die from the collapsing tunnel.

“That bloody whoreson trapped us in!!” Alviss shouted and it echoed throughout the tunnel. He was right. Taking out a torch and lighted it up, I needed to remain calm and act fast. These might be young players and it would not surprise me if they were never trapped like this before.

“Guys!! I need all of you to take out your torches!” I barked my orders as coldly as possible. “But what good does it do for us?” Miranda was sceptical but I dismissed her fears immediately. “Either we continue deeper into the tunnels or we can stay here answering questions and bickering about it all day long.”

“Can I blow these rubbles with magic, Ghost?” Sophia suddenly suggested but I quickly rejected that notion. “We would trigger more tremors and then we would be lucky if the roof of this tunnel did not fall on us. Under normal circumstances, that would be the best way; to die and respawn at a safe zone. But…” I paused for a while and looked towards the darkness that laid ahead of us. “We would fail our quest. This was not something I could do for now.”

With 30 minutes of real-time life, our quest was in danger of failure. It was my fault that led them here. But before any of my party members started to wallow in self-pity, there was still a chance for us. There would always be a way out.

“Let’s go in and find our way out, deeper in the dungeon.”

After all of them had collected themselves, we started our journey. With the help of the light from our torches, we made our way deeper into the tunnel searching for Popo and his wife. I was expecting that the torches would do more than just lighting our way, but alas it was too much to ask for a game system. Fortunately for us, the tunnel was linear and there were no kobolds or any other monster waiting to attack or ambushed us. However, with the quest timer ticking away rapidly, we hasten our steps.

“Look, Ghost. There are some blood markings on the tunnel wall.” Miranda was the first to notify me. Blessed with night-vision, she could see very well in the dark. I placed the torch nearer to the point when she showed me and true enough, there were blood marks; fresh and…

“Argggghhh!!”

Suddenly I heard a shout. Coming from Sophia, she had tumbled herself onto something. As the torches fell beside her, the object could now be clearly seen; dead kobolds. At least 6 of them.

“These kobolds were killed by something big and blunt.” I inspected the corpse as I pulled Sophia out from the place. “And it was not due to Brutus’ men or he himself either.” The kobold’s body was mangled beyond gruesome; head smashed against the wall or the grounds, bodies were squashed and the innards scattered around. The three girls could not stomach this any longer and I had relieved them to stand elsewhere.

“What about the players or the Bunnians, Ghost?” Alviss who was beside me asked as he tried his best not to vomit. I just shook my head. “No, it was not the players nor the Bunnian’s couple.” Kobolds was at level 50-70s. And Brutus was about level 150. The highest level players would most likely be Sonia, assuming her at level mid-90s. And if the Bunnian couple could deliver such devastating damage, we would never even need to come here.

But the damage was way beyond what anyone here could muster. These were more than just 1HKO; these were possibly 10 times that damage or more. In NPO, the death of creatures was done realistically. Blood and gore were considered the norm. How we killed our enemies would be reflected realistically too. Normal players who were afraid of such things normally avoid venturing into places like these or they would prefer killing other types of enemies.

Miranda who was our designated ‘loot collector’ was excused from her duty for now since she could not stomach pillaging through all the blood and gore that laid around. Though it would disappear after a while leaving some loots, better loots were gathered within a window frame between the time of death and its disappearance by means of special skills that belonged to some jobs. Unfortunately, the rest of us had none of those skills. As we watched the corpse disappeared after some time, I gathered up the normal loots and stashed it.

However, in the back of my mind, something dreaded was waiting to happen. Would Popo and Mimi be safe, now? Or were we too little, too late?

*****

We reached a dead end. A massive wall of stones was laid before us. When we first saw it, all of us look dejected beyond beliefs. We had been attacked by countless of kobolds chasing after us after the initial routes we took and to find out it was a dead end was way too cruel. The other’s willpower was just rudely sapped away. As more footsteps coming towards us signalling the worse, perhaps this was the end of our quest.

Thinking that I too slumped onto the wall as I frantically hit it with all my might. “Why… why had it come to this?!” My voice echoed throughout the whole tunnel. The crying Sophia was being consoled by the fearful Miranda as Elly came and patted my back. Not only we could not escape, but now we had failed our quest. I cursed my luck over and over again. More than anything else, I hated failing my quest and putting others in jeopardy. Looking at the other party members, I thought to myself, what a failure I was.

“Ghost, I think you need to check your quest message.” Alviss’ words suddenly shocked my senses. I immediately opened up my screen. It was blinking at the corner of my screen earlier but I never paid attention to it until now.

Save Popo and Mimi (2)!

Your Master and his wife had been attacked during their travel to the Royal Capital by a large band of kobolds. As his dearest student, you must now rescue them at all cost.

You have now met a dead end with the two Bunnians still not in sight. What will you do? Will you turn back and forfeited this quest or will you continue?

Quest Rank: Event Special

Time left: ----

Completion Requirements:

You have 24 hours of real time to complete this quest. The quest will fail if you exceed the time limit or get yourself killed at any point while this quest is still active.

You must form a party of no less than 3 PCs to help you with the quest. Find them fast and best of luck. Elly and Rose must survive.

Update: With no end in sight, you have now been given an option. Choose wisely.

Quest Reward:

None.

A quest update? And it came with a choice.

Do you want to abandon this quest? Decide carefully and thoroughly with your party members. Only the party leader can decide.

Yes

No.

You will respawn at the nearest safe-zone. The penalty of 24 hours will apply for your character to respawn fully. However, since this is a not death respawn, you will not lose your EXPs, money or items this time.

You will still receive rewards based on the completion of this quest.

However, if you decided to choose this option, both Popo and Mimi would be considered dead.

You will continue with the quest. However, the timer will now be reset.

If you choose this option, you will lose the option of the special respawn given to you.

But, are Popo and Mimi still safe for you to continue?

“Well, you decide Ghost. You are our party leader.” I never expected Alviss to say that among all people. I looked at the rest of our groups and they nodded. For these short amount of time, they had trusted me with such a big decision. I guessed I was wrong about having a party, after all. I was moved a little somehow but just waved it away as I got a decision on my hand to make. The screams of our enemies too at the distance was not helping either.

*****

A couple of years before my untimely ‘retirement’, my squad was assigned to infiltrate a terrorist hideout and to dispose of all known threat in a Middle Eastern country. Located deep in the mountains, it was hell to put it mildly. We were ambushed and chased down a tunnel and with no hope to survive, every member of my squad turned to me to decide; to die fighting or to die running. Pinning ourselves to the dead end of the tunnel, we decided that we would never shame our country and our badge.

We fought until the very last one of us. And as saying went, dead men would tell no tales. Being the lone survivor, no days would go by without me being haunted by those traumatic scenes.

“Papa?” Rose came up and caressed my cheeks. She had been calling for my name and seeing that I gave her no response, she tugged my cheeks a couple of time. Having disposed of a few kobolds, my mind wandered a little.

“What is it, Rose?” Wiping myself from the kobold’s blood that had splattered across my face, I gave out a dry smile to the Rose Alraune. I kicked the dead kobold away and then turned to her as I caressed her leaves a couple of time.

“We have found something over there, Papa.” Pointing her viny arm towards a spot at a corner, I could see Elly and Miranda was there too. “Ohh?” I was surprised by the sudden finding. It took a while but perhaps luck was now on our side. I beckoned Alviss to follow me after he finished off a couple more of the incoming kobolds.

“It’s a stone tablet of some sort lodged deep into the wall. And there some sort of writing on it too.” Miranda explained to me as we came near.

“To enter the Heaven’s high, blood sacrifice must be given. But be careful of what you seek because the God’s Wraths are awaiting.”

Elly suddenly read the script out loud.

“Y-You can read those?” Miranda was surprised. So did the rest of us. Since the decision that I’d made earlier, I had broken the party into 2; Alviss and I became the vanguard while the rest searched the whole place for a way to escape and perhaps a way to save Popo and Mimi. Despite what happened earlier, giving up was never considered. And now, it seemed like Elly had found something.

Looking at us, she gave out a smile and nodded. She then touched the tablet and suddenly, her HP dropped by 25%. I could see her HP dropped immediately from my party screen. “Did the stone just suck her life? But why?”

“Is it some sort of blood sacrifice?” Miranda answered it for me. Alviss nodded, “Yeah, I think all of us should sacrifice our HP to that stone thingy. From my experience playing games, something might happen.” I agreed with those two. But what was that something?

Anyway, it was better than being stuck here and facing the countless kobolds coming after us. But what would have happened next? What would await us at the other side? The thrill got me smiling but this time around, I needed to be more considerate of my party members. They were young, naïve and most probably had not seen the worse of life yet. Unfortunately, NPO was as real as life could come. Preparing for the worse, each of us gave our 25% HP.

Suddenly, the tablet shone. Without warning, a blue light surrounded us and we were transported immediately to an unknown place.

*****

Hall of the Forgotten Old Gods

Congratulations.

You are the first player to discover the Hall of the Forgotten Old Gods. Once a magnificent place fit for the Gods themselves, these hallowed walls now lay in ruins. The Old Gods had left the realm and now, what lurked within was just the memories of old.

Fame +100

EXPs +50,000

Achievement: This Is My First Find has been unlocked. Archaeologist over the world will welcome you amongst them, thus earning yourself proper associations. You may also request them to impart their knowledge if you so desired. The world is vast and needs more explorers like you.

The book ‘Legend of High Asgardia: Part (2) The Forgotten Old Gods’ has been updated!

“Whoa, what is this place? A dungeon? Or a tomb?” All of us were brought to an unknown place that was looked like a necropolis of some sort. Only our torches were illuminating this place. However, the dim lighting did not stop all the girls being excited as they were pleasantly surprised at the findings; rubbing their eyes non-stop and chuckling happily. Alviss too, for all his portrayed coolness, was trying to control his excitement.

We were the first party to find this place after all. Despite whatever emotions we had earlier, it was swept away just like that. I guess the high of finding something that no one else had found before was quite strong within them.

“It looks dead and boring to me. What Old Gods? I see nothing but large pillars and weird inscriptions all over.” I decided to be an arse and blew off some of their excitement. I could not help but to chuckle when they hissed at me for being such a party-pooper.

“Po, is someone there?” Suddenly, I froze in my track. The voice was familiar beside that silly -po- thingy. I turned around and lo and behold, it was Popo. And behind him was his wife.

“Thank god that both of you are safe!!” Elly was the first to ran at them and hugged the couple. She was on her tears as they were reunited once more. I could not help but to be happy to see their faces yet again.

Quest: Save Popo and Mimi (3)

You have found Popo and Mimi. Though they were weak from their ordeals, nonetheless their sight of you had renewed their hope in the survival. For you to had risked your life for them, eternal gratitude alone would not do you justice.

Quest Rank: Event Special

Time left: ----

Completion Requirements:

You must bring your party to exit from this place safely. Elly, Rose, Popo and Mimi must survive. If you fail, all your effort will be for nought.

“How did you guys ended up here?” Mimi asked me, relief that she could see a familiar face. I told them about my quests and introduced them to my party members. After that, it was Mimi’s turn to tell their tales. It seemed that they stumbled across this place as much as we did after having run away from the kobolds. The signs of the bloody scene where the kobolds died earlier were because they triggered a trap. Crushed by an invisible force. Luckily for us, those traps worked only once.

“I see. That’s a relief.” Sophia cupped her breast as she listened to their stories. The gory sight might have churned her stomach inside out, but now she had realized that we were saved because of what happened earlier.

“But not for long. We have a major problem with us. Look!” Popo pointed to us at something. I could not see very well even with the torches we had. However, the look on Miranda’s face was all the cue I needed as Popo explained to me. “Our escape route had been blocked by that monstrosity. We had been hiding here the whole time, not knowing where to go when we saw a door past that monster.”

Mimi chimed in next, “We tried once earlier on but the monster would attack us straight away. Fighting it as much as we like, but we could never even scratch or do anything on it.”

“How about using the same way you entered,” I asked Mimi but the response was not I expected. “Unfortunately, that was a one-way entry.”

“Damn!” I was clutching at straws with the hope of finding an easy way out.

And Miranda’s pale face suggested that she had seen something that might spell even more trouble up ahead. I went and patted her back and she immediately hugged me. I could feel that she was really scared. After letting her composed herself a little, Popo described what was waiting for us.

100 feet tall golem in the shape of a knight wielding an axe. All they could tell me next was the name and its level. Once we heard it, my heart just skipped a beat or two. The rest just fell down lifelessly on the ground, dejected and dismayed.

God’s Wrath, a level 500 enemy was waiting for us next. Well, if that did not help, there was another 6 of it somewhere inside this dreaded Hall of Forgotten Gods. Feck me sideways, really. The moment we stepped out from our hiding place, those golems would start to move. Something that Popo could attest to.

“These monsters move fast despite their size, po. I could not even do anything when it started to crush me with its feet.”

“And you are lucky to escape with your life, you stupid rabbit!” Mimi scolded her husband. Looked like he chewed more than he could eat. His ears dropped a little. He did try his best; I give him that.

“Damn, so we have to go pass that monster?” Alviss brought us back to our earlier conversation. Sophia fidgeted nonstop at the task. “Looks like it, one way or another. But how?” She looked at me as if urging me to decide. And then everyone followed suit. I found it nostalgic when everyone looked at me like that, waiting for my next orders yet again. Flashbacks of my experiences in wars had thought me of one thing; as a leader, we must walk our talk.

Taking a big and deep breath, I took a few steps forwards looking at the darkness below. Furrowing my brows, I looked at the rest of the party. “I’ll go down.”

“Don’t be crazy, Ghost!! You will get killed!”

“Don’t try to be a hero, po!”

“Yeah, listen to your master, please.”

Elly, Popo and Sophia all voiced their immediate disapproval of me immediately. The other two just shook their heads, amplifying the others strong rejection of my notion. To them, I might be crazy, but I knew better who stood the highest chance to escape.

And I was determined. If playing martyr was the only way, so be it. “If it only me, then I could buy you some time to escape. If I’m dead, complete the mission for me, Alviss.”

“B-But…” Alviss was shocked to receive sudden words from me. He stared into my eyes as if I had finally gone nuts, tired and needed to hit the sack. Honestly, if he thought it that way, he was right.

“No buts. Either we do this as a team or we would never go out.” I demanded full cooperation from them. This was not the time all of us to be wusses. We were desperate. I was desperate.

“You are a reckless man. Stupid fool!!” Popo snapped and tried to knock senses into me, but Mimi held him tight. I looked at him sternly. “Heh, maybe I am. But I’m not a coward and I rather need to atone for my mistakes up till now.” As the party leader, when shits hit the fan, it would all fall on me.