"Man... I guess we can't afford to show how weak we are now!"
The sleepy-eyed Cat-Faced Angel joked in her usual drowsy manner.
"Haha, totally agree. With everyone showing off their power like this, let's not drag them down. How about we focus on collecting treasure for the group instead?"
Kimhant smiled wryly and suggested. Cat-Faced Angel nodded in agreement, realizing that if she and Kimhant tried to join the fight, they would only get in the way of the skilled players.
Each strike from the five Zombie Kings, though missing the players, still smashed into the stone walls around them. The intense blows caused the cave to shake violently, and soon, large and small rocks started to fall continuously. The air filled with dust, making it almost impossible to see anything.
Boom!
Rocks rained down relentlessly, crashing into many unopened treasure chests. Sensing danger, Cat-Faced Angel quickly summoned her five pets back into their seals, fearing they might be crushed. She and Kimhant continued to frantically open as many treasure chests as possible, determined to make the most of their time in the cave, unafraid of the falling debris.
Finally, one of the Zombie Kings was defeated, but not without a fierce struggle. Each of the Zombie Kings had high defense and a massive health pool, and the first one to fall was the one battling Chang Long and her companions. Without pausing to rest, Chang Long and her pets spread out to assist the others, aiming to end the battle as quickly as possible.
Boom!
Aaaah!
A loud crash echoed through the cave, followed by a scream from Cat-Faced Angel. Kimhant's heart skipped a beat as he rushed toward the sound, calling out to her.
"Cat, Cat, are you okay?"
"Kimhant, I'm fine. A giant treasure chest fell and barely missed my head. I'm trying to open it now, so come help me!"
Cat-Faced Angel's response brought a wave of relief to Kimhant, who quickly made his way toward her voice.
The battle lasted much longer than expected due to the difficult terrain. Chang Long's group had to be cautious of both the falling treasure chests and the rocks crashing down from the ceiling, while the dust clouded the entire cave, severely limiting visibility. Meanwhile, the Zombie Kings seemed unconcerned about the environment, moving with little regard for the obstacles.
Finally, the last Zombie King was defeated. The group had no time to rest as they had to collect treasures from the remaining unopened chests as fast as they could before the falling rocks could destroy them and make the contents disappear. Cat-Faced Angel was still relentlessly searching for the item she had been hoping to find in the Cave of Million, but it remained elusive.
"That's enough. Let's get out of here now. The rocks are about to seal off the exit!"
Oliang shouted a warning as he soared upward to get a clear view of the cave's true condition. From above, where there was less dust, he saw that the five entrances were now blocked by the fallen bodies of the Zombie Kings, which were quickly becoming buried under a growing mound of rocks that sealed off the paths.
Hearing his warning, everyone hurriedly gathered their belongings and sprinted toward the one remaining path that had not yet been completely blocked by falling debris. Cat-Faced Angel hesitated briefly, still searching for the tent she needed for her circus performance, but she knew she had to survive first. There was still a chance she might find it on the way out, but if she died, all her efforts would be for nothing, and the others would be forcibly teleported out of the Cave of Million.
"Come on, Cat. We can't stay in here any longer!"
Kimhant called out, extending his hand to her. She smiled, took his hand, and they ran together toward the path Oliang had indicated.
As they neared the exit, Kimhant tripped and fell. While getting back up, he spotted a small treasure chest that was slightly open, the lock having been dislodged. He quickly grabbed the chest and opened it, smiling at what he found inside.
"Kimhant, are you okay?"
Cat-Faced Angel asked anxiously, as they were still some distance from the exit.
"I'm fine. Let's keep going!"
Kimhant replied as he stood up and ran with her toward the narrowing exit. Just as they made it out, a large rock fell, completely sealing off the passage.
"Let's move on. At least there are no more kings left to fight,"
Chang Long said as she took the lead. This time, no one objected, as there was only one path left to follow.
Along the narrow path, they found more treasure chests hidden along the way, most containing money, gemstones, or gold. Some held items, but these were mostly decorative jewelry, some with special attributes and others without. Cat-Faced Angel noticed that Kimhant had been smiling the whole time and could not help but ask.
"Kimhant, did you find something good? You've been smiling the whole way."
"Yeah, you'll see when we split the loot,"
Kimhant replied with a grin.
"By the way, how did Siegfried from Pendragon end up with elf ears? Does it have something to do with the quest he completed?"
Destiny finally asked, unable to contain his curiosity any longer. With the journey now going smoothly and everyone present, allowing the tension to ease up.
"Not exactly. I might have accidentally met the conditions for a race change, so I had to complete a quest to finalize the transformation. But during the change, I looked pretty hideous, so I had to wear a cloak and mask."
Siegfried responded, carefully avoiding the full truth because if he did, Chang Long might just try to kill him.
"That's amazing. I've heard about different races in the game, but no one has ever managed to uncover the mystery behind them. So far, there hasn't been a single player with a unique race,"
Kimhant exclaimed excitedly. He realized that if he reported this in his newspaper, it would boost sales tenfold. But as his thoughts drifted toward potential profits, he caught Chang Long's knowing gaze, causing him to quickly suppress his excitement.
"You said it happened by accident, which means you don't actually know what triggered your race change, right?"
Chang Long asked, guiding the conversation for Kimhant's benefit. If the details were not clear, reporting on it could mislead readers, potentially leading to his newspaper being banned.
"Uh... yes, that's right! I'm not entirely sure what led to my becoming an elf,"
Siegfried seized the opportunity to embellish further, as revealing that he turned into an elf through becoming an heir of Pirate King Heaven would definitely complicate things.
"By the way, don't you usually have to meet with a race leader to unlock a race? Since you're an elf, does that mean you met one in person!"
Ploychompoo asked eagerly. She had never seen an elf in the game and found it hard to believe they actually existed.
"If that's the case, then we've all met them, but only Siegfried received the race change quest,"
Lidded Wet Trash Can chimed in, causing Destiny, his guildmates, and Cat-Faced Angel to turn their heads in unison.
"You all met real elves!"
They asked, almost in unison, their voices filled with shock and excitement. It was not just Siegfried who had encountered elves; his entire group had.
"Yep. They were really nice, looked great, and were incredibly graceful,"
Kimhant replied.
"And did you meet the leaders of the elf race?"
Ploychompoo asked again.
"Yes, we met both of the elf leaders,"
Siegfried answered with a smile.
"So maybe we need to be accepted by the race leaders first before they offer us the race change quest,"
Ploychompoo speculated, which seemed quite plausible. Even though Siegfried was an heir of Heaven, who was an elf, there was no guarantee he would have become one without the full approval of the two elf leaders: Albeis of Eldar City on the Starting Island, and Volund of Quendi City on the Volcanic Island in the northern part of Europa, now referred to as Fairy Island.
"That sounds interesting. We might be able to find clues about obtaining a race change quest!"
Wet Trash Can exclaimed excitedly, even as he fought off zombies blocking their path.
"Actually, there's someone whose appearance has changed. He's became quite eerie and formidable..."
Chang Long who had been listening quietly for a while spoke up, this caused everyone to turned to her simultaneously.
"Who?"
They asked at the same time.
"Don't know. I don't know him, but he looks like a fight craze. He also seems to be of high-level,"
Chang Long answered, thought back on the event.
"How does he look like?"
Oliang asked.
"He had hair that resembled bright red lion mane, bat-like black wing in the middle of his back, long and arching long claw. His attack was so attack that it could cut off a hydra's neck in a single swipe."
Chang Long recited the male player's look to everyone.
"You know what... The characteristics you just mentioned actually matched one of the Seven Pirate King perfectly. The company has started to release character pictures of the Seven Pirate King on game web boards for player. The trait Chang Long referred to fits with the characteristics of Pirate King Beleth de Montes."
Destiny said.
"Sounds familiar, like I've heard it from somewhere before,"
Chang Long replied, rubbing her chin in thought, even though Devi-chan had brought up this name several times and warned her to stay away.
"We've found the exit, guys. Too bad other exits were blocked, otherwise we might find much more treasures."
Cat-Faced Angel turned around to notify everyone else who was walking behind her as they had been talking. They all turned to the front and saw a streak of light shone through. This meant that they had reached the exit.
"What a pity. Look at the bright side, we're the first group of players who had remained in Cave of Million for the longest time and fond the most treasure chests, so don't be sad,"
Kimhant said proudly.
"Alright! Let's get out so we can rest and share our loot,"
Chang Long suggested, so everyone paused their conversation and focused on getting out of Cave of Million.
Stepping out of Cave of Million, they were all surprised to see that the place they were at was a basin, surrounded by cliff with a pond in the middle. In the heart of the pond was a bright light, shining from something that was floating above the water surface. It was the source of light they all saw from the cave.
"A Wishing Mystery Box!"
Everyone there exclaimed in unison, except for Chang Long and her pets, who all looked confused, not knowing what the Wishing Mystery Box was.
"What mystery box? There's nothing mysterious about it. Look, it's just a clear, empty box with nothing inside,"
Hulu frowned and said as he reached out to touch the glowing box.
"Don't touch it!"
A shout came from almost everyone, except for his master and Kitsune, who did not say anything because they still did not understand what the Wishing Mystery Box was. Hulu jerked back in surprise, quickly withdrawing his hand.
"Why can't I touch it? And why are you all yelling like that and scaring me!"
Hulu snapped back, walking over to stand beside Chang Long and Kitsune, who was holding Fluffy Head-chan.
"The Wishing Mystery Box is an ultra-rare legendary item, even rarer than finding a Sacred Beast pet. Anyone who's not ready shouldn't touch it because the box will randomly grant the first item you think of when you touch it,"
Lidded Wet Trash Can's explanation only made Hulu angrier, as it implied that finding a Sacred Beast like him was easier than finding this stupid mystery box. So, he retaliated by slapping and clawing the young man's face without holding back.
"Ouch! That hurts, Hulu. Why did you scratch my face out of nowhere!"
Wet Trash Can yelled, immediately shoving two blood crystals into his mouth.
"Serves you right! Your bad mouth was asking for it. You're lucky you only got hit with my hand,"
Chang Long said with a laugh, causing the others to laugh along as well.
"Maybe we should take a look at what we've collected so far, so we can figure out what we want from that box,"
Destiny suggested, looking toward Cat-Faced Angel, who was the group leader this time. She had already told everyone that her goal in coming to the Cave of Million was to find a large tent for opening a circus.
The items they had collected included high-level swords ranging from grade 1 to 5, various pieces of jewelry with and without special attributes, a white lace wedding dress that caught the eye of all the women in the group—except for Chang Long and Cat-Faced Angel—large colorful elemental gems that made Hulu's eyes light up as he eagerly nudged Chang Long to take all of them, gold ingots, and most abundantly, money, with every chest containing at least 5,000 coins.
Chang Long found a cottage, an item similar to a tent or shelter, while Kimhant discovered a large, teepee tent, not the circus tent he had initially misunderstood.
"How about we divide everything based on their value, starting with the coin, gold, and elemental gems?"
Oliang suggested. Everyone then helped count the gold ingots and elemental gems, while the coin, which was already in bags, did not need to be counted. After that, they divided the other items by drawing lots, as no one was sure of the exact market value of each item. This way, it was left to luck—whoever was lucky and got something valuable was fortunate, and whoever ended up with something less valuable could not complain, as it was purely a matter of chance.
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