Average online for five hours? What is logging off?

The two had just run down the stairs when more than twenty fully armed soldiers rushed into the Maze behind them.

The man who had sprinted back to report was standing among them.

Seeing his Shield being snatched away by a Skeleton Soldier, he almost coughed up blood in anger.

The commanding officer didn't care about that, directly drawing his short Flintlock Gun and aiming it forward.

"Fire!"

The two players sprinting towards the Maze didn't understand what he was shouting, only hearing a gunshot from behind, followed by a barrage of gunfire! Lead bullets whizzed through the dark open space, slamming into the ancient stone bricks and granite pillars, scattering rubble and dust everywhere! Fortunately, the two sides were already far apart.

Plus, the two of them had a built-in "ranged evasion buff" as Skeleton Soldiers, otherwise they might have been done for in that volley!

Even so, One Leaf Knows Autumn still anxiously saw a bullet pass through his ribs, blasting a hole in the ground! "Damn it! Just two Skeletons, do you need to send a whole division to chase us?!" Hu Wan cursed at the musketeers reloading on the stairs behind him as he ran.

It seemed the Dog Devs were deliberately preventing them from going upstairs, and even spawned a bunch of super soldiers to punish them!

Watching the two Skeletons disappear into the darkness, the leading human commander raised his hand, signaling the soldiers behind him to stop firing.

"Damn it, we should have fired flares first." The adjutant grumbled, a look of lingering fear on his face.

Everyone panicked at the mention of undead, forgetting everything they had trained for... although they hadn't trained much in the first place.

Their panic wasn't because the undead were inherently terrifying, but because the undead had appeared in the Maze.

This was not a good sign.

"Should we chase them?" A militiaman swallowed, nervously looking at the officer beside him.

The officer remained silent, weighing the pros and cons for a long time, finally missing the best opportunity to pursue, and then made a decision.

"...Report to Sheriff Adlai first, and notify the Adventurers' Guild!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes!"

They were not adventurers, merely town militiamen.

Although their job included guarding the entrance to the Maze, they were not suited for exploring such a high-risk place...

Meanwhile.

The Calamity Online Official Website.

One Leaf Knows Autumn, who had disappeared for most of the day, finally reappeared in the sight of the group of silly netizens.

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Brothers! I've discovered another exit to the Maze!"

Tables and Stools: "!"

Minotaur Warrior: "You guys went outside?!"

Knowledge Explosion: "Tell us more!"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Didn't go up, almost though."

Hu Wan: "Damn it, we were just about to go up when a bunch of soldiers spawned at the entrance. I almost ran my legs off."

Gou Shi: "Hahahaha! Did you guys stir up a hornet's nest? (Funny)"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Don't know, but the human I ran into looked like he'd seen a ghost."

After about a few minutes, One Leaf Knows Autumn recounted his and Hu Wan's experiences in the Maze.

Including the discovery of new monsters "Slime" and "Lizardmen."

Including the new maps "Sewer Corridor" and "Maze Entrance B."

Including his division of power in the Maze and his speculation about the forces on the surface.

Everyone listened with fascination.

They didn't expect that this game, still in Closed Beta, was already so complete.

In areas they hadn't explored yet, there was so much new content waiting for them.

Of course.

This also meant that they would soon face new challenges.

Judging from the adventurer's corpse and the Maze guards' reaction to the Skeleton Soldiers, the enemies in the Maze might not just be monsters anymore!

Gou Shi: "Looks like a wave of adventurers is about to spawn in the Maze. (Funny)"

Boar-Headed Knight: "Speaking of which, which side do we belong to? Monsters? Adventurers?"

Tanghulu: "Clearly a third-party force, right?"

Knowledge Explosion: "To put it nicely, it's a three-way melee; to put it bluntly, it's being caught in the middle for a mixed doubles beatdown. (Sweat)"

Gou Shi: "Exciting. (Funny)"

Can't Afford to Play: "This wave is really increasing the intensity for Lord Demon Lord. (Funny)"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "It's not that bad. Even if it's a mixed doubles beatdown, we're not the ones getting caught in the middle. First, Maze Entrance B is quite far from our location. I don't know the distance above ground, but it took us all night to get there. Second, there seems to be a Lizardmen tribe in the Sewer Corridor that uses tools and has organized Slime farming. It would probably take a lot of effort for the adventurers on the surface to reach our area."

Gou Shi: "Let's make some traps! Ambush them on their way! (Evil laugh)"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "That's what I was thinking too. We can make some traps on the path between Maze Exit B and Exit A, where we are, and then set up some signs around that only players can understand. According to the information Lord Demon Lord revealed before, capturing adventurers should come with considerable rewards."

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Oh, speaking of rewards, we found that killing monsters drops Magic Crystals when we were farming Slimes. Although we don't know what they're for yet, it's best to collect them as much as possible if we can."

Knowledge Explosion: "Ah, we found that too."

Old Man at the Village Entrance: "Rather than discovering it, it's more like Lord Demon Lord organized us to loot some corpses."

Roasted Mutton Skewer: "I skinned 100 spiders last night, I'm so tired. T.T"

Peerless Hero: "But the returns were pretty good, I earned 10,000 Hell Money, hahaha!"

Ayanami Little Devil: "Me too!"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "..."

Gou Shi: "I bet someone's already sweating. (Winky face)"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "..."

The Thunder City Adventurers' Guild is as busy as ever today.

What's different from usual is that not only are the adventurers in the hall looking for quests, but even the old men sitting in the second-floor office drinking tea and reading newspapers are sweating.

The cause of all this is a report from Silverpine Forest in the northwest of Thunder City.

The Maze entrance there has an unusual situation.

At the conference table.

Secretary Roskin, holding the report in his hand, made a simple statement on behalf of Lennon, the president of the Thunder City Adventurers' Guild.

"...Organized undead activity has appeared at the Maze entrance in Silverpine Town!"

A man with a beard dragging on the table, who looked like a mage, asked with a serious expression.

"Are there any casualties?"

His name is Angelo, a magician from the Northern Academy Alliance, and also a resident consultant of the Thunder City Adventurers' Guild, an expert in the field of Maze research, and a guest of Grand Duke Campbell.

Not only is he knowledgeable.

His own strength is also not to be underestimated, having reached the Gold-rank level as early as twenty years ago.

If the Soul Level hadn't limited his development, his strength would probably be far more than just Gold.

But even so, in a place like Thunder City, a Gold-rank powerhouse is enough to be considered top-notch.

Especially magicians.

"Not yet... As for in the Maze, it's hard to say, adventurers go missing there every day." Secretary Roskin respectfully answered Angelo's question.

Angelo pondered for a long time after hearing this, and left the conference table without saying a word, walking outside.

The people sitting at the conference table looked at each other, unsure of what to do for a while.

An official sitting in the corner muttered in a low voice.

"Since no one's dead, what's the panic about?"

Another official said in a trembling voice.

"But, the undead... are said not to be generated in Mazes where people die."

"Not necessarily," a hired consultant shook his head, speaking from experience, "Even without the bewitchment of a Necromancer, some adventurers who die in the Maze will turn into undead... It's the same as those guys wandering in the forest."

As long as they don't receive Saint Siss's blessing after death, and their bodies aren't eaten by beasts, there's a certain probability that they'll stand up again.

And the probability isn't small.

This is especially true for some adventurers who have mastered Extraordinary Power; it is said that they will also turn into relatively troublesome Skeletons.

However, just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, another consultant sitting at the corner of the table suddenly said pointedly.

"But if there's no Demon Lord to restrain them, they'll soon be eaten by Slimes..."

The atmosphere around the conference table instantly tensed, erupting in a clamorous uproar.

"What are you trying to say?"

"The Maze core... might be reviving."

"How is that possible?! I've never heard of—"

"That's because you're ignorant. There are plenty of Demon Lord Territories that have been resurrected on the front lines. For Hell, it's just a matter of sending another Demon Lord!"

"Recently... I think I heard from the church that they did sense fluctuations in the teleportation array, but the energy was too weak, and they couldn't pinpoint the exact location..."

"Could another Demon Lord be coming?!"

The expressions on everyone's faces varied.

Some showed fear, others were expressionless.

And beyond that, there was also a hint of barely perceptible glee.

Although Demon Lords are terrifying, they don't necessarily mean bad things. It's like if no one gets sick, the hospital might close down.

Although the Adventurers' Guild wouldn't close down, its influence and budget would undoubtedly be reduced.

For a Maze city that has lost its Demon Lord, they will eventually become superfluous.

Secretary-General Roskin quietly looked at Guildmaster Lennon, who had been silent since the beginning of the meeting, and asked in a low voice.

"Should we report this to the mayor?"

The Guildmaster pondered for a long time before slowly saying.

"There's no rush to report it. Even if there's undead activity, it doesn't necessarily mean it's related to a Demon Lord... Besides, Grand Duke Campbell hasn't been feeling well lately, and the mayor probably doesn't have time to deal with such trivial matters."

In any case, the militiamen stationed at the Maze entrance will also report to the local Sheriff, and as the news is passed up layer by layer, it will eventually reach the mayor.

"Let's observe for a while longer."

"Also, increase the commission weight for Silverpine Town by one level, and let the adventurers go in and take a look."

Demon Lord Territory.

Today is the third day since Calamity Online officially launched, and it's also the first day that Leon has resolved to gradually remove the air wall at the entrance of the mine, advancing bit by bit.

However, to his surprise, his Demon Lord Territory had just gotten on the right track when he heard a piece of bad news from You You, who was monitoring the Official Website—

While he was brewing potions, these players had already stirred up trouble with the people of Thunder City for him.

Very good.

It seems he doesn't have to worry about how to make the Great Cemetery famous. Before long, a large wave of adventurers will come flocking.

The only thing to be thankful for is that the place is quite far from him, and it would take a whole night just to get through the Maze.

According to those players, there seems to be a Lizardmen territory between them and Thunder City? Hopefully, those unlucky bastards can hold them off for a while.

Just as Leon was thinking this, a line of dark green pop-up windows suddenly appeared in front of him.

[Mission: Ensure the average daily online time of Closed Beta players exceeds 5 hours for three consecutive days (Completed!)]

[Reward: 400 Closed Beta Qualifications!]

The five-hour mission requirement was still too conservative. Many players didn't even log off a few times yesterday, eager to grind as much experience as possible before the new players entered.

With the completion of the mission, 400 Closed Beta qualifications were automatically distributed to the players who won the spots.

At the same time.

A new mission was also triggered, appearing immediately below the completed mission.

[Mission: For three consecutive days, ensure the average daily net income of Faith Points exceeds 1000 points.]

[Reward: 500 Closed Beta Qualifications!]

This mission didn't seem too difficult. After all, each player would provide 1 Faith Point by default.

Including the 400 newly joined players, his average daily Faith Points income had reached 500.

Although very soon, after the players summoned their units, the average daily consumption would also reach 500.

However, at this moment, Leon suddenly noticed the word "net" in the mission description.

In an instant, he was no longer calm.

"Good heavens... it's hard for me to keep a low profile."

You You: "There's no other way, Lord Demon Lord, it seems... we can only invade the surface world on a large scale!"

Leon: "Do you want me to die?"

Diamond-level Fear Demons were lurking outside!

And he was just a Steel-rank Necromancer who had recently advanced.

You You said softly.

"But, but... we can't just hide forever, right?"

Perhaps it was because she had merged with the personality of a demon, but this guy was unexpectedly more warlike than him.

However, what she said made sense.

If the Demon Lord didn't do anything bad, even if the people outside knew of his existence, they wouldn't take him seriously at all.

Over time, he, the Demon Lord, would become a joke, and it would be difficult to gain Faith Points again.

Leon closed his eyes and fell into deep thought, trying to find a solution to break the situation.

Just then, You You's voice suddenly rang out again.

"Lord Demon Lord! There seems to be something happening at the entrance of the Maze's first floor!"

Leon was shocked.

"Is Grand Duke Campbell leading adventurers to attack?!"

You You: "No, not really... but there's a Lizard that can speak human language, and a spider that can also speak human language, and they're clamoring to negotiate with you."

Leon was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized something, stood up, and ordered.

"Tell the players to leave them alone for now!"

You You: "I've already held them down! Oh, and that role-playing thing, the CG animation... anyway, you'd better get over here quickly!"