One Leaf Knows Autumn's vigilance had been correct.
The two had just run down the stairs when more than twenty fully armed soldiers rushed into the maze right behind them.
The man who had sprinted back earlier to report the news was standing among them.
Seeing that his shield had actually been swiped by a Skeleton Soldier, he was so furious he nearly spat blood.
The commander leading the group did not care about any of that. He directly drew his short Flintlock Gun and aimed it ahead.
"Fire!"
The two players sprinting toward the maze could not understand what he was shouting. They only heard a gunshot behind them, followed by a barrage of crackling gunfire! Lead bullets whizzed wildly through the dark open space, smashing into ancient stone bricks and granite pillars, kicking up clouds of rubble and dust! Luckily, the two sides were already quite far apart.
On top of that, the two were Skeleton Soldiers with their own "ranged evasion buff." Otherwise, they would probably have been done in by that volley!
Even so, One Leaf Knows Autumn watched nervously as a bullet passed through the gap between his ribs and blasted a deep hole into the ground! "Fuck! They're just two skeletons! Did they really have to send an entire division down here after us?!" Hu Wan cursed at the musketeers reloading on the stairs behind them as he ran.
It looked like those Dog Devs were determined not to let them go upstairs. They had even spawned a group of super soldiers specifically to put them down!
Watching the two skeletons vanish into the darkness, the human commander leading the group raised his hand and signaled for the soldiers behind him to stop firing.
"Damn it, we should have fired flares first." The adjutant cursed under his breath, his face still pale with fright.
The moment they heard there were undead, everyone had panicked and forgotten everything they had been trained to do... though it was not as if they trained much in the first place.
They were not so nervous because undead themselves were particularly terrifying, but because undead had appeared inside the maze.
That was not a good sign.
"Should we chase them?" A militiaman swallowed and nervously looked toward the officer beside him.
The officer remained silent. After weighing the pros and cons for a long time, he had already missed the best opportunity to pursue them before finally making a decision.
"...Report to Sheriff Adlai first, then notify the Adventurers' Guild!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yes!"
They were not adventurers. They were merely the town's militia.
Although their duties included guarding the maze entrance, they really were not suited for dangerous work like exploring a maze...
Elsewhere.
The Official Website of Calamity Online.
One Leaf Knows Autumn, who had vanished for most of the day, finally reappeared before the crowd of goofy netizens.
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Brothers! I found another exit from the maze!"
Tables and Stools: "!"
Minotaur Warrior: "You guys went outside?!"
Knowledge Explosion: "Tell us everything!"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "We didn't make it up there. We were just a little short."
Hu Wan: "Fuck, we were just about to go up when a whole bunch of soldiers spawned at the entrance. I nearly ran my legs off."
Gou Shi: "Hahahahaha! Did you guys kick a hornet's nest? (Funny)"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "No idea. Anyway, the human who ran into me looked like he'd seen a ghost."
It took One Leaf Knows Autumn roughly a few minutes to recount what he and Hu Wan had encountered in the maze.
That included discovering the new monsters "Slimes" and "Lizardmen."
The new maps "Sewer Corridor" and "Maze Entrance B."
As well as his analysis of the factions inside the maze and his speculations about the factions on the surface.
Everyone listened with growing fascination.
They had never expected this game, still in its Closed Beta stage, to already be so polished.
There was actually so much new content waiting for them in areas they had yet to explore.
Of course.
That also meant they would soon face new challenges.
Judging from that adventurer's corpse and the reactions of the maze guards upon seeing skeletons, the enemies in the maze were very likely no longer limited to monsters!
Gou Shi: "Looks like a wave of adventurers is about to spawn in the maze. (Funny)"
Boar-Headed Knight: "By the way, which side are we supposed to be on? Monsters? Adventurers?"
Tanghulu: "Obviously, we're a third-party faction."
Knowledge Explosion: "Put nicely, it's a three-way brawl. Put bluntly, we're caught in the middle getting double-teamed. (Sweat)"
Gou Shi: "Exciting. (Funny)"
Can't Afford to Play: "This is seriously raising the difficulty for Lord Demon Lord. (Funny)"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Not necessarily. Even if we're getting double-teamed, we aren't the ones caught in the middle. First, Maze Entrance B is still quite far from where we are. I don't know the distance aboveground, but it took us an entire night to get there. Second, there seems to be a Lizardmen tribe in the Sewer Corridor that can use tools and has organized Slime farming. Surface adventurers will probably have to put in quite some effort to reach our area."
Gou Shi: "Let's make some traps! Ambush them along the only route they can take! (Evil grin)"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "That was my thought too. We can set traps along the unavoidable route between Maze Exit B and Exit A beneath our feet, then leave markers around it that only players can understand. According to the information Lord Demon Lord revealed before, capturing adventurers should bring pretty good rewards."
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Oh, and speaking of rewards, we discovered while farming Slimes that killing monsters can drop magic crystals. We don't know what they're for yet, but we should collect as many as we can."
Knowledge Explosion: "Ah, we found those too."
Village Entrance Old Man: "Rather than saying we found them, Lord Demon Lord had us loot a bunch of corpses."
Roasted Mutton Skewer: "I skinned a hundred spiders last night. I was exhausted. T.T"
Peerless Hero: "But the profits were pretty good. I made 10,000 Hell Money, hahaha!"
Ling Bo Little Devil: "Me too!"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "..."
Gou Shi: "I bet someone is already starting to sweat. (Funny)"
One Leaf Knows Autumn: "..."
The Adventurers' Guild in Thunder City was as busy as ever today.
What differed from usual was that this time, not only were the adventurers searching for commissions in the lobby sweating profusely, even the gentlemen drinking tea and reading newspapers in their second-floor offices had started to sweat.
The cause of all this was a report from Silverpine Forest, northwest of Thunder City.
Something unusual had happened at the maze entrance there.
At the conference table.
Secretary-General Roskin held the report in his hand and gave a brief statement on behalf of Lennon, president of the Thunder City Adventurers' Guild.
"...There has been organized undead activity at the maze entrance in Silverpine Town!"
A man whose beard was so long it dragged across the table, and who looked like a wizard, asked with a grave expression.
"Have there been any casualties?"
His name was Angelo. He was a mage from the Northern Academy Alliance, a resident consultant of the Thunder City Adventurers' Guild, an expert in maze research, and a favored guest of Grand Duke Campbell.
Not only was he exceptionally knowledgeable.
His personal strength was nothing to scoff at either. He had reached Gold-rank twenty years ago.
If Soul Level had not limited his growth, his strength would likely have far exceeded Gold-rank.
Even so, in a place like Thunder City, a Gold-rank powerhouse could still be considered first-rate.
Especially a mage.
"Not for now... As for inside the maze, that is harder to say. Adventurers disappear there every day." Facing Angelo's question, Secretary-General Roskin answered respectfully.
After hearing this, Angelo pondered in silence for a long while. Without saying a word, he rose from the conference table and walked outside.
The people seated around the table exchanged looks, unable to make up their minds for a moment.
An official seated in the corner muttered quietly.
"Since nobody died, what's there to panic about?"
Another official said in a trembling voice.
"But undead... I've heard they don't spawn in dead mazes."
"Not necessarily," an appointed consultant shook his head and said from experience. "Even without a necromancer's influence, some adventurers who die in mazes can become undead... It's the same as those wandering around the forests."
As long as they did not receive Saint Siss's blessing after death and their corpses were not eaten by wild beasts, there was a certain chance they would rise again.
And that chance was not small.
This was even more true for some adventurers who possessed Extraordinary Power. It was said they would become relatively troublesome skeletons.
Just as everyone was breathing a sigh of relief, another consultant seated at the corner of the table suddenly hit the nail on the head.
"But without a Demon Lord's restraint, they would soon be eaten by Slimes..."
The atmosphere around the conference table instantly tensed, and the room erupted into noisy discussion.
"What are you trying to say?"
"The maze core... may be reviving."
"How is that possible?! I've never heard—"
"That is because you lack experience. There are plenty of Demon Lord Territories on the front lines that revive after death. To hell, it is nothing more than sending another Demon Lord!"
"Some time ago... I think I heard from the church that they really did sense fluctuations from a teleportation array. The energy was too weak, though, so they couldn't pinpoint the location..."
"Could another Demon Lord have arrived?!"
The expressions on everyone's faces were varied.
Some were afraid, while others remained expressionless.
And beyond that, there was also a faint, barely perceptible hint of delight.
Demon Lords were terrifying, but that did not necessarily mean they were bad news. It was like how hospitals might go bankrupt if no one got sick.
The Adventurers' Guild would not go bankrupt, but its influence and budget would undoubtedly be cut.
For a maze city that had lost its Demon Lord, they would sooner or later become unnecessary.
Secretary-General Roskin secretly glanced at President Lennon, who had not spoken since the meeting began, and asked quietly.
"Should we report this to the mayor?"
The guild president contemplated for a long time before slowly speaking.
"There is no rush to report it. Even if there is undead activity, it does not necessarily mean it has anything to do with a Demon Lord... Besides, Grand Duke Campbell has not been in good health recently. Mayor Campbell probably has no time for such trivial matters."
In any case, the militia stationed at the maze entrance would report to the local sheriff, and as the news traveled upward layer by layer, it would eventually reach the mayor.
"Let us observe things a little longer."
"Also, raise the commission priority for Silverpine Town by one level. Let the adventurers go inside and take a look first."
Demon Lord Territory.
Today was the third day since Calamity Online officially launched, and also the first day Leon had resolved to gradually remove the invisible wall at the mine entrance and slowly advance outward step by step.
However, what he had not expected was that just as his Demon Lord Territory had begun getting on track, You You, who was monitoring the Official Website, delivered terrible news—
While he had been brewing potions, those players had already gone and provoked the people of Thunder City for him.
Wonderful.
It seemed he no longer needed to worry about how to make the Great Cemetery famous. Before long, a huge wave of adventurers would come flocking over.
The only thing worth being grateful for was that the place was still quite far away. Just winding through the maze took an entire night.
According to those players, there seemed to be a Lizardmen territory between them and Thunder City? Hopefully, those unlucky bastards could hold them off for a while.
Just as Leon was thinking this, a dark green notification window suddenly appeared before him.
Mission: Ensure Closed Beta players maintain an average daily online time of more than 5 hours for three consecutive days (Completed)! Reward: 400 Closed Beta Qualifications!
The completion condition of five hours had been too conservative. Quite a few players had barely logged off yesterday, wishing they could grind more experience before new players joined.
As the mission was completed, 400 Closed Beta Qualifications were automatically distributed to the players who had won the slots.
At the same time.
A new mission was triggered as well, appearing beneath the completed mission.
Mission: For three consecutive days, ensure average daily net Faith Points gains exceed 1,000. Reward: 500 Closed Beta Qualifications!
This mission did not seem too difficult. After all, every player provided 1 Faith Point by default.
With the 400 newly added players included, his average daily Faith Points income had already reached 500.
Though once the players were summoned, the average daily consumption would soon reach 500 as well.
However, Leon suddenly noticed the word "net" in the mission description.
In an instant, he could no longer remain calm.
"Good grief... Even if I wanted to keep a low profile, that won't be possible now."
You You: "There is no choice, Lord Demon Lord. It looks like... we can only launch a large-scale invasion of the surface!"
Leon: "Are you trying to get me killed?"
A Diamond-level Fear Demon was lurking outside!
And he was merely a Steel-level necromancer who had only recently advanced.
You You said quietly.
"B-but... we can't keep hiding forever, can we?"
Perhaps because it had merged with a demon's personality, this fellow was unexpectedly even more eager for battle than Leon himself.
Still, it had a point.
If a Demon Lord did not do some evil, then even if the people outside knew of his existence, they would not take him seriously at all.
Over time, he would become a joke of a Demon Lord, and collecting Faith Points would become difficult.
Leon closed his eyes and fell into thought, trying to find a way to break the deadlock.
Just then, You You's voice suddenly rang out again.
"Lord Demon Lord! Something seems to be happening at the passage to the first floor of the maze!"
Leon was startled.
"Grand Duke Campbell has brought adventurers to attack us?!"
You You: "No, not that... But there is a lizard that can speak human language, and a spider that can speak human language. They are shouting that they want to negotiate with you."
Leon froze for a moment, then immediately thought of something. He stood up and gave an order.
"Tell the players not to touch them yet!"
You You: "I've already stopped them! Oh, and that role-playing thing, the CG animation... Anyway, hurry over!"
Before you continue