CHAPTER 47: LAND OF RUINS

"Hey, move!!!"

A man yelled, pushing the girl in front of him.

With no strength to back herself up, her body slammed into the green wall, and she fell to the ground.

Only after he had pushed her did the man realize he had walked into a dead end.

"Dammit! The time is running out."

The man yelled, turning around to take another route, and then found that there was a long line of people behind him.

"Move! Do you want me to die?!" yelled someone from the back of the line.

"Oh, brotherrr, will you move it already?!"

"Yeah, man, what he said."

It didn’t take long for an argument to break out.

No one was willing to turn back despite the man telling them there was no way ahead.

To them, he could be lying so he would get there first.

Just like how the 4th quest offered rewards based on who arrived first, they assumed this to be the same way.

As such, they didn’t want to risk it.

While they were arguing among themselves, the girl who was pushed earlier slowly stood up from the ground.

"E-excuse me... I... I don’t think we are supposed to stay like this for too long—"

Her voice barely sounded out.

She took a single step forward to tap the man’s shoulder when the notification suddenly showed up, hovering over the heads of everyone in the line.

(Listed players have remained still for more than 5 seconds.)

(A penalty has been issued.)

Right before her eyes, she watched as the gruesome sight of the men’s bodies being blown to pieces was scattered all over the place.

The walls were plastered with organs and tissues, and the ground was bathed in a pool of blood.

Of all the people present on the line, only the girl was lucky to be alive.

Her eyes ran deep, obviously traumatized from what she had just witnessed.

Shaking in fear, she didn’t scream, nor did she break down.

That was out of the question. Instead, she moved, her shoes sinking into the blood puddles with every step she took.

Outside the wall of the maze, Jayhan and his group were present.

Since they were no longer in the maze—rather, never in the wall of the maze to begin with—the subquest was never theirs to participate in.

Using Veronica’s C-grade item, Eye of Slons, the group was able to tell what was happening in the maze through her.

The item was a small round object with a single string stretched out of the head and floating around the inner walls of the maze.

Wherever the string went, Veronica could see its surroundings.

In which case, she was unfortunate enough to see multiple people getting their bodies blown to bits for breaking the rules the taskmaster had laid down for them.

"They are blowing up,"

Veronica blurted out, the strings retracting back inside the item, before she puked on the ground.

People who were lucky enough to follow Jayhan and his group when they ran were thanking the gods for their quickness.

Jayhan sighed.

’I didn’t expect leaving the curse to take a whole day. I feel bad, but there was nothing I could do.’

He had already planned on alerting everyone about the next quest anonymously as soon as he left the curse.

As it would seem, fate was not on his side.

Suddenly, Seo Yuna asked a question.

"How did you know we needed to stand here to avoid getting trapped in the walls?"

Jayhan turned around, Kara still holding his hand.

"I have a deep connection with my divine protector; I mentioned this before."

"Quite convenient..."

"I know. Let’s go through the gate before more people start showing up."

Jayhan began to move forward in an attempt to avoid any more questions.

Seo stared at his other free hand, her mind racing toward the thought of grabbing it just as Kara had done with the other.

Alas, before she could make her move, Veronica beat her to it, grabbing Jayhan’s arm close to her chest.

She was shocked but quickly calmed herself down as she followed behind the group.

...

The glowing gate flickered as they began to walk out of it.

As soon as they had all stepped out of the circle, they realized they had entered an unknown area, far from the world they knew.

They were surrounded by white light and total emptiness.

And it turned out that the other groups that were behind them were not present as well.

Still, none of them panicked.

Jayhan was there, and he seemed to be calm.

As such, they were waiting to see what he would do next.

Jayhan stood at the front of the group.

’I remember how the game went, at least for the most part. I can say for certain if the accuracy will be all that helpful, but as long as I am calm, everything should go according to plan.’

Without saying a word to the group, Jayhan began to take slow steps forward.

Kara stayed silent, her eyes occasionally keeping tabs on his survival level.

After walking for a while, the notification he was expecting finally showed itself.

(Congratulations on making it to the X space.)

(As the leader, you are granted the opportunity to pick whatever world the rest of your group members will be transported into.)

Jayhan’s eyes picked up on the three cards dancing in front of him, their backs turned.

And since Jayhan couldn’t move any further than he already was, peeking to see what was written behind the cards was impossible. Nothing could move past the cards.

Jayhan now placed his finger under his jaw, entering deep thought.

’In the game, Seo picked the middle and was sent into a world of dinosaurs. That’s about all I know. If I end up picking a card involving a world I know nothing about, I’ll be cooked.’

He stared at the cards for a while. No matter how long he thought about his options, he was still going to be unsure.

In the end, Jayhan decided to go for the one in the middle.

If he did get the same world as the one Seo picked in the game, then he would be at an advantage since he would know where the stones were.

He took the card in the middle.

’I have made my choice.’

(The selected leader has picked a card.)

(World selected—Land of ruins.)

Jayhan’s jaw would drop to the ground if it could.

’We got the dangerous maps of all the other options? Am I cursed?’

(Land of ruins:) Description: This land is known to be the home of various monsters and spirits. Only the unfortunate find their way there. Survival is not certain; the land does not hold mercy.

With every word he read, Jayhan’s face turned even more pale.

’This can’t be happening. If we do end up in such a place, hide-and-seek won’t be the only thing we have to worry about.’

He knew how scary the monster in the Land of Ruins was, as it was where one of the 12 pillars went during their 5th trial.

Of the 24 groups that entered the Land of Ruins, only 2 made it out alive.

Jayhan could handle himself if it came to abandoning his humanity to survive.

The question was, are his teammates willing to take another life to preserve theirs?

His question was left unanswered, as right after, the world began to collapse on them.

....

In the blink of an eye, everyone found themselves standing in the middle of a thick forest.

The trees that surrounded them were as tall as mountains, and the grasses were so dumpy that even the tiniest of breezes caused them to flutter.

Unlike their former world, the air here was thicker and more dangerous, making every inhale a risk to their throat.

Not to mention the harsh weather as well; even as the sun was shining, they couldn’t help but feel the cold pain licking their skin.

"J Bear, I don’t like this place."

Veronica rubbed her arms, clearly feeling the chill of the weather.

"I find it quite uncomfortable as well. I should probably mention I feel we are being watched." Adonis added.

’He is not wrong; I had the same feeling ever since we stepped out of the portal.’

Jayhan turned around to face the group.

"Let me make something clear before we push on from here," he began.

"As long as we remain in the third quest and in the land of ruins, do not trust anyone, including your group members. Understood?"

"Babe? Is something about to happen?" Kara asked.

Honestly, everyone wanted to ask the same thing, as they knew Jayhan also spoke like that when a huge incident was about to take place.

Jayhan then replied,

"Whether it will happen or not is not something I know. But as of right now, one thing is certain..." he whispered with a stern look.

"The forest is alive."