The World Outside the Cave

As One Leaf Knows Autumn and Hu Wan continued along the corridors of the Maze, the three Skeletons, carrying Logging Axes and singing songs, had already reached the entrance of the North Peak Mine.

Looking at the air wall that had stopped countless players, Xiao Sha suddenly waved her hand, stopping Jing Luo Xiao Wan and the other, and handed the axe to Jing Luo's hand.

Just as Jing Luo and Xiao Wan were confused, she rubbed her hands together, and with a standing long jump, she jumped outside the cave, passing through the air wall without any obstruction.

"It worked! Hahahaha! I'm the first player to set foot in the new world, ahhhh—!"

The sky had just dawned, and the autumn ground was very cold, with a layer of wet dew on the steep mountain road.

In addition, the Skeleton's feet were the kind that let the wind through, Xiao Sha, whose feet landed on the ground, sat down on the ground with a thud, and rolled down the slope in a terrified scream.

Fortunately, she hit a huge rock, otherwise this slide would have taken her to the bottom of the mountain.

"Neurotic..."

Jing Luo walked up with a speechless expression, reached out and pulled Xiao Sha, whose head was stuck on her butt, from the ground, and then knocked her hard on the head.

Covering her forehead that was about to split, Xiao Sha's pitiful voice sounded like she was about to cry.

"Damn it... I'm already so miserable! Aren't you going to show any tenderness?"

Knowing that this guy was pretending, Jing Luo said without any politeness.

"What are you saying, corpse? At least you have to be Moon-hiding, Flower-shaming."

"Damn it! You wanna fight!"

Just as the two living treasures were fighting, Xiao Wan, standing on the slope, had all her attention captured by the scenery in the distance.

The brilliant glow was engraved on the corner of the horizon, like a rising flame. The towering peaks stretched as far as the eye could see, and the view was filled with the autumn red of the layered forests.

It was so beautiful.

Perhaps because she had been in the mine for too long, the stark 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 worries...

She could go anywhere she wanted.

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

Looking at Xiao Wan, who was gazing at the distance with a look of longing, Jing Luo and Xiao Sha, who were wrestling, looked at each other, with smiles on their faces, and released their entangled Skeleton hands.

"Right? The dog who hid this good stuff—cough! The Planner Great One is really too much!"

"So the map outside was already made," Jing Luo walked to Xiao Wan's side, followed her gaze to the distance, 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 have been made.

Don't go south, huh?

Looks like it's right there in the south.

Xiao Wan: "Speaking of which, I couldn't feel it at all when I was in the mine... It's already dawn outside."

Jing Luo: "That's right."

Xiao Sha: "The morning sun is awesome!"

Xiao Wan: "What I mean is... it's already dawn in reality, right? We've been online for almost 24 hours, haven't we? Do you guys usually play games like this?"

Xiao Sha: "How could we! No matter what, being online for 24 hours straight is too exaggerated! We still go offline every now and then to take a walk, like getting up to eat something."

Xiao Wan stared blankly at the smug Xiao Sha, completely unable to understand what the latter was so proud of.

Jing Luo smiled slightly and said.

"That's right, Xiao Sha had two takeout meals today."

Xiao Sha's whole body stiffened, and she couldn't help but cough.

"Cough! I'm still growing, what's wrong with having a big appetite? And don't make it sound like I ate two servings in one meal!"

Jing Luo: "Oh? You're almost 20 years old, is there really still hope?"

Xiao Sha: "Go to hell!"

Watching the two start bickering again, Xiao Wan couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Do you two... know each other in real life?"

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 nice..." Xiao Wan looked at the two with envy, and couldn't help but imagine what it would be like if she had friends in real life.

"Let's not talk about that, let's get ready to work." Jing Luo picked up the two logging axes lying on the ground and threw one of them to Xiao Sha.

Xiao Wan: "Wait, don't you really need to go offline and rest for a while? Like doing some exercise to recover or something..."

Xiao Sha, with the axe on her shoulder, looked at her strangely.

"What are you talking about?"

Jing Luo also looked at her with a blank expression, as if it was only natural.

"That's right, what are you saying? We are people from another world, it's enough to provide some nourishment from Earth."

Xiao Wan: "..."

On the other side, in the "Sewer Corridor" on the first floor of the Maze, two Skeleton Soldiers continued to advance.

One Leaf Knows Autumn 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 little short of catching up with the old farmer of the Os Empire.

Surpassing a living person as a Skeleton Soldier.

By undead standards, this was quite an achievement.

The two were originally planning to return the way they came, but they encountered a Lizardmen along the way.

That guy had dark green scales, carried a Short Bow on his back, and was lurking in the dark, waiting for an opportunity to move.

The two immediately chased after it, but the monster didn't attack, instead turning tail and running as soon as it realized it had been exposed.

One Leaf Knows Autumn and Hu Wan gave chase for a while, but ultimately couldn't catch up, instead arriving at a strange place.

"We let that guy get away."

Looking at the shadow disappearing into the distance, a regretful expression appeared on One Leaf Knows Autumn's face.

"Speaking of which, where is this?" Hu Wan glanced around, taking in a Great Hall paved with stone slabs.

Soaring granite pillars connected to the dome, and on either side of the dark steps were extinguished braziers, extending all the way to the entrance located at the dome.

There, a circle of railings surrounded the area, with extinguished torches stuck on the railings, like an abandoned watchtower.

"I don't know..." One Leaf Knows Autumn also observed the surroundings, feeling that the situation here looked somewhat familiar.

After a long while, he suddenly realized that this was simply the Maze entrance without the cobwebs!

"So that's how it is... This might be another entrance to the Maze."

As he said this, a faint, eerie green light flickered in his deep Skeleton eyes.

"Another entrance?!"

Hu Wan was taken aback, and immediately followed One Leaf Knows Autumn's line of sight, looking towards the end of the staircase connecting to the dome.

It really did look a bit like it?!

One Leaf Knows Autumn pondered and continued.

"Judging from the previous CG animations, there should be adventurers in this world... However, so far, the only adventurers we've encountered are the ones in the cages. In that case, there's only one possibility: the Maze entrance we occupy is just one of them, and it might even be the most unpopular of all the entrances."

As he spoke, he stared intently at the end of the staircase, as if his gaze had already passed through the tightly closed archway, seeing the scene beyond.

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

One Leaf Knows Autumn looked at Hu Wan, who, unsurprisingly, returned a firm look.

As a Closed Beta player, how could he miss this opportunity to experience the game content ahead of time?

"...Let's go check it out!"

The two ascended the steps, climbed over the railing of the watchtower, and came to the door, ready to open it, but the door creaked open on its own.

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

He had a Spiked Mace on his left waist, a Flintlock Gun on his right waist, and a Shield worth 50,000 Hell Money in his left hand.

Probably because he had just come from the tavern, there was still beer foam on his beard, and he was muttering unintelligible words.

The two sides met face to face, and were stunned in place for a moment.

Just as One Leaf Knows Autumn opened his mouth to say something, the human soldier, as if seeing a ghost, smashed the Shield in his hand at the Skeleton, then turned tail and ran.

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

He shouted in alarm as he ran, quickly disappearing into the darkness, startling One Leaf Knows Autumn and Hu Wan, who were at a loss for a moment.

Hu Wan: "What is he shouting?!"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "...Don't know, maybe it's 'haunted'."

As the two were talking, hurried chimes came from behind the door, followed by the sound of running footsteps.

Instinct told One Leaf Knows Autumn that this was definitely not a good sign.

Without the slightest hesitation, he picked up the shield that had fallen on the ground and took off running down the stairs.

"Run!"