[BONUS] 3/3
The structure of the Mad Lab looked like houses stacked on top of one another. It could be said that it was heavily inspired by steampunk, proved by the building’s bronze surface and gear decorations tastefully placed in every corner.
It was on top of a hill that was in the middle of an island.
Although it was isolated, it was still far from scary — well, only if there weren’t ominous lightning that constantly flashed on its turret. Not to mention the surrounding forest with various dangerous creatures lurking in the dark.
With every clap of thunder, Leonel would flinch and lower his head behind Isolde.
“What’s the plan again?” Ragnar asked, yawning.
Leonel couldn’t help but wonder how Ragnar could keep a bored face in this situation.
Even Ren wore a serious face as if he was scared of something or thinking of the answer for a quiz that he didn’t review for. In short, he was rattled.
Leonel thought wrongly. Unbeknownst to him, Ren was seriously devising a plan, so he could be alone with Evie inside the Mad Lab. And he had come up with a perfect method.
“Listen up. The Mad Doctor is always on the rooftop, as well as the final monsters that need to be defeated, which makes him the final boss.”
“That’s a given,” Sumeri butt in.
“However, we can meet him early.”
At Ren’s words, everyone was silent.
Leonel didn’t know what to feel about meeting the boss earlier than planned — not in Ren’s plan, of course.
The poor guy wasn’t prepared. Wasn’t the final boss the scariest? “R-really?”
Ren nodded. If his memory still served him right, in the past, the developers released a walkthrough of the first Halloween Event after the said event was finished. It was some sort of closure since the said event was short, and the players couldn’t do all of them.
It was where Ren acquired his information.
“Since we’re only here for the items, we don’t need to kill the monsters of this island,” said Ren. “If we reach the Mad Lab without spilling a single drop of blood, then we’ll meet the Doctor, and our real mission will start from there. If not . . . then our mission would be for naught. We could only log out from this server and try another one.”
“If we log out, however, there is no going back to this server,” added Ragnar.
“Can we just get the candies like everybody else? If we win, there are loads of prices waiting for us.” Sumeri suggested.
“True,” Ren agreed. “However, the items we won couldn’t compare to the items we would get here. Besides, do you really want to fight other guilds for the candies, or would you rather get the items and get the hell out of here as soon as possible?”
“We will save a lot of time, too,” Evie said, eyes shining. “Maybe we could do four servers after we’re done here!”
Apparently, Evie still won’t give up on that Thirteenth Hour server.
Isolde nodded. “The more servers we go, the more items for us.” She really didn’t need any monetary rewards since she was already rich. She’d rather have rare items.
“Relax,” Ren told Sumeri. “One item we would get here would be equivalent to the grand prize money if auctioned right.”
Ren was exaggerating, but the truth was still close to what he said.
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“So that’s what the [Invisibility Dud] is for.” Isolde nodded to herself. “I always wonder why we had to bring those together with a couple of potions.”
“That’s right. It’s Hubert’s latest creation, and it came in handy just in time for this event,” Leonel answered her.
“The Dud has an AoE effect, but it would only make us invisible for only three seconds,” said Evie.
“No problem.” Sumeri shrugged. “We’ve brought plenty. It should be enough for us to creep our way into that mansion.”
While everyone was talking, Roz couldn’t help but think how Ren knew about all that stuff when no one shouldn’t. It was the first Halloween Event, and no one was supposed to know about it.
But here they were, and no one seemed to question Ren about how he knew all that stuff.
Roz didn’t dare to question either. He felt like it was not his place to ask. He was just a hitchhiker here, and his opinion didn’t matter. As long as he could get money out of this, he would be fine with anything.
He had bills to pay, and his grandmother needed her medicines.
“Alright, if there are no questions, let’s go.”
The Doctor’s island was small. There were a few trees, some scattered shrubs, and three huts. It had a pebble-covered shoreline topped by a common seaweed.
The west side of the island had a collection of small caves that the players could explore.
But Ren and the others didn’t mind those. They hurried onwards to their destination without looking back.
On their first step toward the forest, they’ve already come across different monsters.
Some creatures had been stitched together from different parts and were clearly crazed by the pain.
There were even two undead bodies that were fused together. They were connected by the torso, so they had three legs, four arms, and two heads which meant double the appetite.
There was also an undead humanoid. A thin man that was only skin and bones. It had a pair of long arms that were stitched together so they would reach his knees. The monster’s belly was also ballooned to a size incompatible with its frame, and there was a cacophony of buzzing sounds being generated from inside it.
Every time it opened its mouth, bees and other insects flew out.
( . . . continuation on NOTES)
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A/N
I caught the flu so only one chap today. 😷
Hope I will be fine tom �
