A dark mass of Ethereals crowded in from every direction, roaring as they completely sealed off the entire area.
On the screen, the three members of the Cunning Hares were trapped in a desperate situation, holding their ground back-to-back in a tiny area.
At the safest point in the center of their circle, a little Bangboo in a bright red scarf trembled under their protection.
Parallel world · Blue Star
"Whoa! Here it comes! Watching this part during the closed beta got my blood pumping!"
On camera was a petite little lolita with a youthful face. Though she appeared calm on the surface, her viewers all knew she was a legal lolita, already an adult.
The streamer-Xia Linxi.
But because she was uninhibited and often said outrageous things on stream, her viewers had given her a nickname:
Perverted Little Lolita
"I finally made it to this part of the story! That damn hacker actually hacked our computer!
But don't worry, everyone. Our Proxy will use a clever plan to get rid of the hacker later! The Cunning Hares will be fine!"
Comment section:
[Hey, hey, hey! I'm back to watch a lolita play games!]
[Lolicons, get out of the stream and take your electric shocks like good boys!]
[Come to think of it, isn't the protagonist kind of weak? Can they only operate the Bangboo from behind a computer?]
Xia Linxi hurriedly waved her hands.
"Our protagonist is really strong too! Without the protagonist, I don't think anyone who entered a Hollow would be able to get back out.
All right, all right, let's keep watching the story!"
On the computer screen, sharp metallic clangs rang out one after another.
Billy quickly ejected an empty magazine and deftly loaded a fresh one with his mechanical arm.
"Hey! Where the hell did our Proxy go to slack off?"
"We were on a perfectly good escort job, and they just crashed and disconnected halfway through, leaving the three of us stuck in this Hollow to fend for ourselves!
If backup doesn't get here soon, we're finished, and there won't be anyone left to collect our commission!"
Beside him, Nicole wielded her weapon case to knock back the lunging lesser Ethereals. Her pink hair fluttered slightly, and her face was full of impatience.
She could hardly stand Billy's complaining. With no time to waste on distractions, she shot him a fierce glare and spoke sharply and urgently.
"Billy! Shut your mouth and focus on dealing damage! Stop running your mouth when our lives are on the line!"
"The Ethereals around us keep piling up, and our stamina and staying power are nearly gone. If we get distracted and keep messing around, none of us three or the little Bangboo will make it out of Crete Hollow!"
Anby, meanwhile, had said little from beginning to end, perfectly in keeping with her cold, taciturn nature.
Her blade flashed as she swung, every strike precise and fierce, cleanly cutting down the Ethereals that came close. Her movements were crisp.
With the utmost composure, she held one side of the line for the group, silently providing stability in their desperate situation.
Comment section:
[That's our poster girl! She's probably the strongest of the three!]
[Do you even know how valuable white hair is?]
The endless slaughter continued. The number of Ethereals showed no sign of dwindling; instead, they poured out of the Hollow's rifts in an unending stream, completely sealing off every escape route.
The foul aura of Ether filled the surroundings, so oppressive it was hard to breathe, while the icy roars of the Ethereals rang throughout the entire area.
Dense, dark silhouettes of Ethereals surrounded them on all sides, leaving nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
Anby, who had been silently surveying the battlefield, suddenly narrowed her eyes, catching sight of an utterly abnormal phenomenon.
As far as the eye could see, Ethereals covered the battlefield, their dark silhouettes occupying every corner, near and far, their killing intent surging.
But one area to the group's front right was eerily empty.
That area was several meters across and completely clear, without so much as a wisp of foul Ether or a single lesser Ethereal.
It stood out starkly against the desperate scene of the surging horde around it, as if an invisible force had isolated it, creating a deathly silent patch of empty space out of nowhere.
Ever calm and composed, Anby did not hesitate. She immediately leaned close to Nicole, her cool voice cutting through the noisy fighting.
"There's an empty area to the front right. No Ethereal activity. It's probably a safe zone."
Nicole immediately looked up in that direction, quickly sweeping her gaze over the strange clearing as she rapidly weighed their situation.
Their strength was exhausted and their ammunition was dwindling. The endless Ethereals were constantly wearing them down; if they kept holding their ground, they would only be worn to death, with no chance of survival.
She made an instant decision, her gaze turning resolute as she swiftly gave the order.
"Break through! Head straight for that area! We might as well take a gamble instead of sitting here waiting to die!"
Billy immediately sprang into action. Reaching out with a long arm, he carefully scooped the little Bangboo in the red scarf into his embrace.
"All right, all right, boss's orders! Let's risk our lives and break through. Hope that clearing isn't another trap!"
Before he had even finished speaking, the three worked together in perfect sync, seizing a brief gap in the assault to fight their way swiftly toward the eerie empty area.
In the livestream, Xia Linxi was a little confused.
"Huh? That's not right. Why is the story different from the closed beta?
Didn't the three of them just fight their way out in the beta? Am I remembering it wrong?"
Comment section:
[Nope. I'm a veteran who took part in the closed beta too, and I definitely never saw this part of the story in the game.]
[Whoa, they changed the story? Why didn't they say so earlier? Does that mean there might be a new husband?]
[If there's a male character, he's bound to be the streamer's new husband. After all, she falls for every guy she sees.]
After an exhausting, prolonged battle, the three finally broke through the horde and safely reached the edge of the mysterious area.
But the sight before them made everyone freeze.
A soft yet incomparably sacred golden barrier shrouded the clearing ahead, brilliant golden light flowing quietly across it.
The moment those Ethereals approached the golden light, they retreated frantically, as though they had encountered their natural enemy.
The foul Ether rapidly melted away before the golden light, the extreme danger and utter sanctity forming a glaring contrast.
Nicole took a deep breath, suppressing the shock and surprise in her heart. Without the slightest hesitation, she stepped forward and charged straight into the golden barrier.
Anby and Billy followed close behind, entering the domain one after another.
Inside the barrier, there was no trace of the foul aura, no roaring or fighting. The air was clear and mild, its presence warm and comfortable, like a completely different world from the brutal, perilous Hollow outside.
Their minds, tense for so long, suddenly relaxed, and all three were filled with the joy of surviving a catastrophe.
But just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief and cheer quietly, they suddenly noticed Nicole standing frozen in front of them.
Her whole body was tense, her figure motionless, her eyes staring blankly ahead.
She stood there in a daze, as though her soul had left her body, even her breathing slowing unconsciously as she was completely immersed in extreme shock.
Billy sensed that something was wrong. Holding the little Bangboo, he hurriedly followed Nicole's gaze.
The next second, his noisy chatter caught in his throat, and even his mechanical core seemed to stop.
At the far end of their vision stood a cold iron cross. A black-haired young man had been impaled through the body by a long spear, its entire length exuding a chilling aura, pinning him firmly to the center of the cross.
His clothes were torn, his flesh split open, leaving him a mangled, bloody, and utterly tragic sight.
Yet even soaked in blood and covered in wounds, even with his body bound and restrained, his extraordinarily blessed face could not be hidden.
Though stained with blood and battered by hardship, his features remained exquisite and his bone structure refined, his beauty almost beyond mortal, enough to captivate anyone at a glance and fill them with profound shock and heart-pounding awe.