Ghost Hitting Wall and the Forgotten Flesh Battlefield

Chapter Sixteen: Ghost Hitting Wall and the Forgotten Flesh Battlefield

"Iris Lizer? And the relationship with this question mark NPC is master-servant? I'm envious."

"Why are you dressed so conservatively, not showing anything! Isn't this 16X? Where are the thigh-highs?!"

"These legs, this waist, this figure, although a bit flat, it's enough to lick for a year!"

"In one day, I want to see this girl's art on Pixiv!!"

Upon seeing the maiden following behind Linton, the male players, shaking off their exhaustion from staying up all night, were like they'd been injected with chicken blood, yelping and howling, causing the female players nearby to shift away in disgust.

Of course, if they hadn't been moving towards Linton, the Necromancer would have been quite happy to watch the show.

"It seems that while you are feared by ordinary people, you are also liked by non-humans."

Iris followed behind Linton, occasionally glancing at the strangely shaped humanoid creatures that had followed them the entire way, and couldn't help but complain to him.

"Actually, they're just a bit strange-looking, but they're definitely human," Linton replied with a wry smile.

He couldn't explain to Iris what players were, because any words about the real world were blocked by the game system and couldn't reach the ears of NPCs.

Iris was about to say more, but a voice from behind interjected between them.

"Hey, hey, how much further is our destination?"

"We're actually already here."

Linton turned his head and answered Greninja's question.

"Don't you guys notice? The sun is about to rise, but there's no light in this forest at all."

The players immediately snapped out of their excitement and looked around.

They were currently in a dense forest, but the light illuminating the area wasn't from the sun or moon, but a faint glow emitted by a type of bluish-green plant.

When they quieted down, the surroundings were deathly silent, and the scene became extremely eerie.

"Are you ready, travelers?"

Linton asked kindly.

"They're here."

The next second, the ground covered in greenery began to undulate, and skeletons emerged like newly hatched chicks.

"Aaaah—"

Linton had clearly overestimated the players' psychological resilience, especially the female players who had come solely for him.

The moment the skeletons appeared, at least two or three players disconnected and vanished on the spot.

However, fortunately, there were enough players. After a moment of shock, they collectively calmed down and became excited.

"For experience! Kill!!"

"For the Alliance!!"

"For my husband!!"

"For... aren't you a guy? Why husband?"

"..."

"Where did you find these people?"

Iris cleaved a small skeleton with her sword and looked at Linton, who had his hands in his pockets as if nothing concerned him, asking in confusion, "Aren't they afraid of death?"

It wasn't surprising that Iris asked.

Except for the few male players organized by Greninja through the "I'll give you 500 coins to help me win" method, who fought somewhat methodically, the other players were almost all reckless fools, only knowing how to charge headfirst with their beginner weapons. Even the healers were fierce like berserkers.

Of course, they weren't afraid. If I could revive infinitely, I wouldn't be afraid either. Linton replied to Iris's question in his mind, but said something else aloud: "Although they are indeed brave, if they keep fighting like this, they won't last long."

After all, the players' levels weren't high yet, and their initial stats were very low. Their HP was at most slightly higher than these small skeletons that Iris could shatter with one blow. If they weren't careful with their actions, they would soon be teleported back to the entrance of the instance.

"Then what? The place you're going to should be very dangerous, right? Without these... mercenaries, how will you get there?"

"Don't I have you?"

Iris rolled her eyes at him. "Don't joke. My stamina is limited, and I can't deal with this many skeletons, even if they are weak."

"I'm not joking," Linton said. "Our target isn't these skeletons. Their mission is just to clear a path for us to meet the real boss. At that time, I'll need your help to deal with him. Let's go, while their attention isn't on us."

Iris complied, sheathed her knight sword, and disappeared silently with Linton amidst the shouts of battle.

The moment the two of them vanished into the mist, a player who had been keeping his eyes on them suddenly kicked a skeleton in front of him to the ground. Without attempting to finish it off for experience, he quietly followed behind, opening the system's recording function.

"Does this count as deceiving them?"

Iris asked, listening to the battle cries that were gradually drifting away, "They are fighting monsters with their lives on the line because of your command, yet we are leaving them behind."

Faced with the maiden's question, Linton couldn't help but chuckle and tease, "It seems our Knight Miss is indeed beautiful and kind-hearted."

Iris raised an eyebrow and retorted dismissively, "It's not that I'm worried about their safety. Whether they live or die has nothing to do with me. I'm just afraid that if your act of abandoning them is exposed, your mercenary group will be blacklisted. You know, how rare are mercenaries who aren't afraid of death? You should establish a cooperative relationship with them for future reuse."

Linton didn't explain Iris's misunderstanding. Instead, he said with a smile, "Don't worry, they came with this many people, and they'll leave with this many people."

"Not letting them follow us is actually for their own good. They are too weak, and the guy we're about to defeat, they wouldn't even qualify as cannon fodder. More numbers won't help..." He paused, then continued, "Wait for me, I need to take off some clothes."

Linton removed the "Hider," unusually exposing his face to the fresh air without reservation.

"Wait a moment!!" Iris felt that familiar closeness again and quickly turned her head away, asking nervously, "Why did you suddenly take off your clothes?"

Linton found Iris's reaction a bit strange.

She had said she didn't feel fear or dislike towards him, so why was she suddenly turning away, unable to look at him?

After thinking about it, Linton assumed she might have misunderstood him.

"Don't worry, I'm not a pervert, I'm just changing out of the robe I was wearing."

"."

That's not what I meant!

Damn soul resonance!

Iris took a few deep breaths, forcibly suppressing the strange feeling in her heart, but still didn't dare to look at Linton's face. She stammered, changing the subject, "You still haven't answered my question, why did you take off your clothes?"

"Didn't you figure it out earlier?"

"What?"

"While people fear me, non-humans also like me," Linton said softly. "Especially strange creatures that linger on the boundary between life and death."

"While I wouldn't say they like me, fully exposing my aura at least prevents us from being inexplicably pounced on by strange guys while we walk."

"If that's the case, then why didn't you take off your hat from the beginning? Why did you still have the mercenaries clear out the skeletons?"

Linton raised a finger: "Firstly, the skeletons are soulless controlled beings and cannot sense my abnormality. Secondly, we must first break the peace of this area to meet the master of the skeletons."

"...You just said you needed me to solve problems, you don't mean you want me to purify them, do you? Let me tell you, I've never received the title of Knight, and I don't have that kind of holy skill."

"No purification is needed, you just need to stick your sword into his throat and send him to meet his master. Follow me and walk back."

"Huh?"

It was then that Iris realized they had, without them knowing, walked to the edge of the forest along the path they had come from.

"Didn't we just come in from this path? Why are we walking through it again?"

Linton glanced at her and asked softly, "Do you really think we're still on the original path?"

"There have been records from the Adventurer's Guild stating that many people, especially when exploring in dark environments, experience a decline in their self-perception, leading adventurers to walk for half a day only to find themselves going in circles. In reality, this is a state of clouded consciousness caused by being misled by a homogeneous environment. Of course, this can also happen under the influence of strong external forces, and common folk usually call this phenomenon..."

"—Ghost Hitting Wall!"

Iris looked up sharply.

The path was still the same path, and the scenery was still the same scenery, but she had a feeling that something had changed...

"What's that sound."

Iris's gaze suddenly sharpened.

On their initial journey, besides the players' conversations, there were no other extraneous noises. But now, the players' voices had long since disappeared, and she seemed to hear the sound of clashing metal and iron constantly echoing in her ears.

"Why do I feel like... I've stumbled into a battlefield where a fight is happening?"

"You're not wrong." Linton raised his eyes slightly, looking towards the open valley not far away.

On the ground stained black with blood, Knights were repeatedly and persistently charging towards Warriors wielding shields and swords, holding their silver knight lances.

"The name of this Secret Realm is..."

"The Forgotten Flesh Battlefield."