"Choose, lady, or you'll be trapped in here forever!"

Evie wasn't the least bit intimidated by their demanding, squeaky voice. She just wanted to forget about this whole thing.

As much as she felt sorry for hypothetically losing her ATP and items, she thought she should say goodbye to them because she was going to restart her account. Maybe she'd become like Ren and acquire a rare class? Maybe a Necromancer or Chrono Mage?

A DPS role like a Swordsman or a Brute and Monk would be great, so she could be in the front lines while Ren cast his spell at the back.

Evie was too hung up with those ideas that she failed to notice the reason she had for wanting to become one. All of it was related to supporting Ren -- the player whom she wanted to recognize her and also the reason how she became as she was now, standing here inside the belly of a World Boss.

When she finally got back to her senses, she checked her inbox. What if Ren and the others left her a message!?

Why didn't she think of that earlier?!

She turned off her notifications at first because she didn't want to get bothered while she was on this mission. Ever since the mission started, she hadn't looked at it, so she wasn't updated with everything that was happening in the outside world.

'They might be worrying about me right about now,' thought Evie as she checked her screen, ignoring the cries calling for her. She made sure to keep her expectations to a minimum. After all, there were areas where the message feature was disabled.

To both her delight and disappointment, Ren and Ragnar did send her a message.

[Ren: Wherever you are, don't linger in that room, and quickly reach the heart chamber. I'll meet you there]

[Ragnar: You okay? Reply if you are. We're in some kind of a weird room that's like a maze.]

". . ." Evie didn't know what to make of Ren's message. His message sounded like he didn't care one bit about her and only thought about defeating the World Boss. She couldn't explain why it bothered her either.

In comparison, Ragnar's message expressed concern for her.

Not wanting to deal with the complicated emotions she couldn't understand, she decided to ignore them and faced the Djinni on the ground.

Her only option was to choose a Djinni to get to the next room.

"What will happen if I don't choose the correct one?" Evie inquired.

The Djinnis' excited hops abruptly came to a halt, and all of them stared at Evie like she was about to be crucified.

"It's even worse than being crucified . . . you'll be trapped here," said a Djinni.

"Trapped just like us! Inside a bottle!"

"Or until Jibblinplip's consumes you."

Either option wasn't the least bit thrilling.

"Then . . ." Evie skimmed her jawline, thinking as she carefully observed each Djinni on the ground. "I'll choose . . ."

Meanwhile, in another room.

"The tendrils here assault non-ooze creatures and try to make us easy targets for nearby minions!" The Princess hollered at the others.

'You don't say?' Ren mused to himself as he burned another wave of tendrils that came from the walls and floor.

He might seem concentrated on what he was doing, but in reality, his mind was filled with Evie. She hadn't replied to his message, and this got his stomach rolling and his nerves tearing.

He should have gone with his original message of concern before he erased them because it sounded so . . . so obvious?

'Did something happen to her?' Ren's pupils reduced to a size of a dot at the prospect. It was fine, even if she died fighting the ooze and minions. But, if . . . if Evie died in the hands of players, then . . .

Ren cleared his thoughts and refocused himself on the present. Evie would be fine. Her ATP was high enough to defeat the players.

Meanwhile, Ragnar made quick work of the tendrils that rushed to them from the ceiling. Some lashed out but slid back in when they felt the threat.

The other players, who weren't able to act on time, were lifted from the ground and grappled onto the walls. In just a short moment, they were absorbed and reduced to particles.

"Hey, Ren!" Roxy called. "Let's form a temporary group until we find the core! What do you say?"

Roxy and Rox leaped to Ren's side after slashing the tendrils that got in their way. Only the two of them were left. Who knew what fate had befallen their other three members?

"You two are still alive?" asked Ren with deadpan voice.

Rox didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Why do you seem so surprised?"

"I'm all for sticking together," said Ragnar. "In this situation, we can use all the help we can get."

Ren didn't disagree, but neither did he confirm. "Try to keep up, and don't slow us down."

Roxy and Rox grinned at the same time, their canines barging. "Roger that!"

Rox then swiftly checked his surroundings. "Where's Evie, by that way?" He and his sister were amongst the few who knew Evie's real appearance since they were the original group who ventured into Illusion Forest and defeated Rakusha. They made an oath not to disclose her identity to the public thereafter.

At the mention of Evie's name, Ren was once again swallowed with worry. He wanted to slap Rox for mentioning her after he had just barely calmed himself.

"Did you guys get separated?" Roxy questioned further.

And Rox added, "I hope nothing bad happens to her."

". . ." What Ren didn't like about uncertain situations was . . . all kinds of horrifying scenarios were flashing in his head. He was the kind of person who always assumed the worst, so he wouldn't be left hoping and get disappointed in the end.

"Evie can perfectly take care of herself." It was Ragnar who answered with a confident tone. "You should worry about your life," he then muttered under his breath.

"Huh?" Rox didn't quite hear what Ragnar was saying at the end. "What's that?"

"He said to move quickly, or the tendrils will surround us from all sides," Ren replied with a small smile on his lips.

But for some reason, Rox felt terrified -- like something bad would happen to him. On instinct, Rox stepped away from Ren and went closer to his sister.

Rox's worst fear came to a realization when dozens of tendrils surrounded them from all sides.

"Shit!" cursed Roxy and slapped her brother on the head. "It's because you're too slow."

Rox grumbled, "Me? I'm not the one who's constantly checking out Ren and Ragnar."

Roxy slapped Rox again. "Quiet you."

"What now? Can you burn all of them?" Ragnar asked Ren.

Instead of answering, Ren's lips stretched into a grin. "That takes too long, and by that time, those tendrils would have caught us. I have a better idea."

( . . . continuation are in NOTES)