"Agh! A-are they still chasing us?" Leonel asked.

He could've checked it himself, and he was in a convenient position to do so -- especially since Isolde's princess carry was quite stable, but he didn't dare, tightly covering his eyes with both hands.

Leonel wasn't usually clumsy, but he was so scared that his legs went weak, which made him slow and tumbled every other second. Unable to bear looking at him, Isolde picked the big princess up.

Isolde smirked at Leonel's question.

"Yes," Isolde said seriously, wanting to tease the man. "And they're closing the gap!"

"WaAaH! I can't look!"

Leonel thought that he could stomach the sight of monsters, but after personally seeing them with all the disgusting, gory realistic details, he instantly folded.

He already didn't like horror movies, and this realistic version was at least ten times worse. If the former was bad for his heart, then the latter might make it explode in fear.

Leonel pressed his face against Isolde's bosom, causing the latter to blush upon realizing what he had just done.

Their current position was so embarrassing. If it weren't for the setting, Isolde would throw Leonel right away. However, she was sure that he would froze in fear and die once she let him go.

Ren watched them from the side and couldn't help but feel jealous. He also wanted to carry Evie in his arms and calm her down, but she was far from being scared.

On the contrary, his dear girlfriend seemed to be enjoying this.

Ren wondered if Evie was scared of something so he could exploit it. Or . . . should he act like Leonel?

"I'm glad you're here," Leonel said as his embrace on Isolde tightened. "If it weren't for you saving me, I would've already been eaten by those monsters!"

"It's nothing. We're friends, remember?" Isolde flashed a grin at Leonel's way, white teeth shining like pearls.

". . . Y-yes," Leonel squeaked, blinded by Isolde's bright smile.

The two of them were now embracing each other.

Ren felt like he was going to faint from jealousy.

He wanted to push Leonel off a cliff. Or better yet, make him cannon fodder. After all, if he died, then there would be no revival whatsoever until the event was finished.

However, before he could act on his thoughts, they heard voices coming from all directions.

They were shouts and screams, indicating that the players were finally here.

"They're fast," Sumeri muttered.

"They're probably still a few kilometers away. Let's pick up our pace," said Ren.

As they ran into the forest using the [Invisibility Dud], the group eventually stumbled across one of the special monsters that were cut above the rest. It was a giant white spider with the color of snow.

The spider's belly was so big that it was about to burst. It had sixteen legs stitched together, but the odd thing about it was its androgynous body. It had a deathly pale body of a man and long white hair. It was almost skin and bones while its skin was stitched together to form its frame.

Though it couldn't see Ren and the others, it could smell them.

"Not good. Don't engage and make a run for it," said Ren.

The others complied, but the giant spider man was too fast for them to outrun.

Evie had to trap it in an illusion to make time for their group to make a run for it.

"Whew!" Leonel sighed in exasperation. "I thought I would die there!" Scary monsters are really bad for his heart.

Ren sneered. "You're not even running with your own two feet."

Leonel merely stuck out his tongue.

"Let's hurry," Ragnar urged. "It might come after us."

"And it might not be the only one," Sumeri seconded.

Leonel shuddered. "C-can I log out?"

Ragnar gave him a pointed gaze. "There's no logout."

"These monsters aren't even scary," Ren said. "Wait till you go to the other servers, and you'll see hell itself."

Leonel caught his breath. "I shouldn't have come."

"Don't worry, mister," Nikolai chimed in. "You'll get used to it in no time. Look at me. I can run now."

Leonel forced a laugh. "I-is that so?"

"The first thing you should do is walk on your own two feet," said Ren.

"I'm too short, slow, and scared for that shit."

Ren rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Eventually, they managed to make it in one piece outside of the Mad Lab's doors.

The area surrounding the mansion was eerily quiet and isolated. Was there a reason why even monsters avoided it?

Isolde finally put Leonel back on the ground as Ren made his way to the doors and pulled a rope that rang the bell inside.

Holding their breath, the group waited for the door to open.

In just a few seconds, there was light seeping through the outline of the door. The sound of heavy footsteps got louder and louder, then it stopped.

The next second, the hinges of the door creaked, revealing two creatures.

One was a green-haired girl in a maid outfit. Her skin was full of stitches in different color, and her big eyes -- they weren't eyes but black buttons. She had pale lips that were stitched shut.

The other one was a tall guy in a butler's uniform with a black bow tie. Despite being hunched, only the lower half of his face was seen for he was so tall, he passed the height of the door.

Just like the maid, he also had stitches all over his skin that was purple like a cadaver. There were two large screws on both sides of his head, and his lethargic eyes blinked ever so slowly.

The maid giggled, and her mouth opened, causing the stitches to loosen on her lips. "Welcome."

Leonel's eyes went to the back of his head.

Fortunately, Isolde was quick on her feet and pulled him up before he could slump dead on the ground.

The others ignored Leonel and stared at the pair who were waiting for them in front of the door with unabated attention.

( . . . continuation on NOTES)

A/N (Doesn't consume coins)

Hello Guys,

I'm still sick at the moment so expect no chapters sometimes.

By the way, I'm here to promote my other book [My Evil System]. The genre is, OP MC, System, Game Elements, Harem, R18 (no explicit scenes), kingdom building, war, romance

If it's your thing, you can check it out.

WARNING! The MC is weak and wimpy but read until chapter 20+ and decide whether to continue or not. ğŸ™�ğŸ'�

CHEERS!