Chaos Year 3, Day 110, 12:56 am.

"Urgh!"

[You have suffered drastic damage.]

[You have less than 10% HP left.]

This shit won't even die in peace. Damnit!

"Riri…Healing potions!" My voice sounded raspy unlike usual.

"Right away, Master."

Three bottles of high-quality Healing Potions appeared near my hand on the ground.

Dok dok dok…

I immediately gulped down every bit of the potion from all three bottles.

Whew, finally I can think properly again.

This weird feeling when I was almost dying, even if it was inside the game, was kind of unexplainable. My eyes blurred up, my voice cracked, and I couldn't concentrate or keep the focus, even my thoughts kept spiraling.

This effect annoys me every time. It was apparently added to the game to enhance the player's realistic experience. So much absurdity. It's a fucking game for God's sake.

I got up on my feet and glanced around. Everyone also seemed to be alive at least. My gaze then fell upon my hand, then chest, and legs. A yellow hue covered my whole body. As if my body was glowing with sodium light.

Annette-san, eh. She saved all of us.

This yellow glimmer was an effect of her active skill called Soul Screen. The skill could decrease the damage taken by 40% for 12 seconds.

Soon the hue disappeared and revealed my body to be covered with blood and slimy stuff.

"Uwargh!"

All seven of us groaned together, grossed out by the whole situation.

"Don't come close. You smell!" Hikari pinched her nose shut, watching Shinji standing near her. "What type of body liquid were you soaked in?"

"Fuck you! You smell worse than me." Shinji snorted, twisting his face, and moved away.

"Senpai…"

I turned my head to the left, responding to Pika's call. Her eyes were tearing up, cheeks a bit red, as the inner corner of her brows curved upwards.

She muttered, "I got your dress all wet and dirty."

What the fuck? That sentence is so misleading!

I struggled hard to keep a poker face. But failing to do so, I swirled back, hiding my mouth. But Pika misunderstood that as me being angry.

"I am sorry!" She cried out. "I-I tried using my wind element. But it doesn't work. It keeps sticking on."

"...."

I took a deep breath to calm myself. Then turning back at her, I smiled, "It's fine." My hands rustled through her hair and ears as I patted her. "I'm not angry or anything."

Just like a cat, closing her eyes, she stretched her head forward, as I stroked her hair.

"You are not?" She asked, glancing at me with her large round eyes, but struggling to keep them open.

"Nope!" I replied, finally taking my hands off. "It's just that something got in my eyes back then. But now I'm alright."

Then shifting my focus on others, I suggested, "We need to wash ourselves first, before moving deeper."

"Yeah, changing outfits won't do," Annette-san added, fixing her hair. "This sticky stuff got all over my hair. It even got under my underwear."

"Cough! Cough!"

Shinji and Lynx both started coughing and rasping, hiding their mouths. Boss on the other hand was busy scrolling away on his system interface.

These girls really need to think before they start talking.

Already experiencing this once, I was pretty much prepared for it, so I managed to hold it in. Moreover, right now I could feel Hikari's glare on my back, observing my every action.

If I were to show any reaction or peek at Annette-san a little, certainly my name would be listed in a certain notebook.

"Cough! Ahem!" Clearing his throat, Lynx fixed his demeanor and began, "A-anyway, when I was surveying the area, going ahead of Boss while we were moving together, I heard sounds of water flowing. Let's check out that place. It's not that far away."

"Oh, right…" Pika touched her chin, frowning a bit. "Where did you guys jump down from back then?"

"Yes, now that I think about it…" Hikari squinted her eyes, gazing at Boss with suspicion. "It really was bizarre how Boss suddenly appeared out of nowhere just at the right moment." There was a slight smile on her face, which seemed rather scary, along with her sudden cold voice. "You did not wait for the right moment to jump in like a hero, did you?"

Even though the question was not directed at me, it still made my heart shudder.

"N-noway! Haha… I don't know what you are talking about." Boss looked away, squirming with a crooked smile. "H-hey, look!" Then he pointed above his head, extending his hand at a 45-degree angle. "There's the tunnel we came out from."

Watching Boss all nervous, the suspicions in Hikari's eyes rose. But she just let out a sigh and turned her head toward the pointed direction.

About 30 meters high from the ground, there was a crevice in the steep wall surrounding the arena. It was on the opposite side from where we entered the battleground and from the looks of the opening, it didn't seem forced cracked like ours.

"Pika, Teleport us over there," Boss ordered.

"Okay." Pika, nodding, extended her hand and began murmuring her chant.

Like the last time, we all put our hands over hers. Our slimy hands were all touching each other. At the same time, it was both gross and wholesome.

After teleporting inside the tunnel, we walked for about 5 minutes and reached the end of the tunnel. It opened up to a two-way staircase, one going upward, another down. Lynx led us through the stairway that went up.

No one was in the mood for chatting, all tired after beating the field boss. Well, probably the main reason was the sliminess and its smell. Everyone walked, keeping a bit of distance from each other.

Soon we heard that sound of water streaming and dribbling. But it did not come from above the stairs, but from the other side of the wall to our left.

"Do we break through this wall?" Shinji asked, peeking at me.

"Nah." Lynx grabbed the flambeau attached to the right wall and nudged it toward Pika. "Put the fire out."

"Eh?" Pika glanced around at the others. She looked confused, no, rather scared.

When her big purple eyes locked on mine, I realized right away what those frightened eyes screamed.

Grasping her hand, I smiled, staring into her eyes. "It's alright. I'm right here with you."

I knew about her fear of darkness, but it was not this bad before. Now for some reason, she seemed a bit too vulnerable.

Her grip on my hand strengthened as she nodded, "Alright."

She took out a pebble from her inventory and commanded, "Infuse Wind element!"

An outburst of strong gust was generated around her palm. It extinguished the torch in an instant.

And the whole area turned deep dark. We couldn't even see our own hands for a few seconds. The strength of Pika's grip grew even stronger. My hand even started to hurt.

The heck? Isn't she a mage? Or is it her animal strength? That must be it. So it is true that beastkins have more base physical strength than other races.

Soon our eyes adjusted to the dark and we could discern others slightly.

"Look over there." Lynx's voice reverberated around the dark tunnel.

He seemed to stare at the wall on my left. I also turned toward the wall. Something was written there in green letters.

"It's written with phosphors that glow in the dark," Lynx informed. "I recognized the smell back then."

Well, now I can't smell anything other than the stinking smell of slime.

I felt Pika's hand tremble beneath mine. The next moment, she held onto me, hugging me tightly.

Geez, this annoying armor!

Because of the breastplate on my armor, I couldn't even feel Pika's soft boobs pressing on my body.

Fuck! What am I thinking while a damsel in distress is depending on me?

Shaking off the unnecessary thoughts, I focused on the writings carved into the wall.

"Make… me… wet…?"

I blinked twice reading the sentence on the wall.

The fuck?

"Is this a joke, Lynx?" Hikari's face clearly reflected her disgust, as she pulled back a little.

"What? No!" Lynx retorted. "I didn't write it, I swear."

"No, guys," Boss cut into their argument. "I think the wall really wants to make it wet."

Ah…

"We just need to splash water all over the wall." He added.

Whoever designed this part of the game surely is a man of culture.

Hikari let out a sigh before saying, "We don't have any water element users."

"Yeah, if we had we wouldn't need to look for water in the first place." Annette-san's shoulder dropped.

"Whatever, let's just bust this open." Shinji again proposed. "With all of us, it's a piece of cake. The wall's thin anyway"

Indeed, the wall is not that thick, or else the sound of water wouldn't have come across here. But it's kind of amazing that Shinji knew that.

"Alright let's do it," I spoke out.

Others also nodded. Hikari and Shinji took their stance. Boss also braced himself, clutching the handle of his shield.

"Light Canon!"

"Electro-Magnetic Blast!"

"Haah!"