463 Trap in an a Maze

[BONUS]

Now, what to do? Ren thought to himself.

He didn't bother to evade the vines that shot in his direction. A burst of flame was enough to stop their advance.

Ren was thinking of saving Great Dynasty. Not because he was kind. Everyone knew that he wasn't that nice.

Great Dynasty would be a great Cannon Fodder for him.

Pii's evolution only works one times a day, and Ren still needed to face two High Gods and other bosses when he reached the Queen Fairy's Tomb.

Ren decided.

Multiple [Flames] burst forth in all directions. Ren tried his best to aim at the clustered of Numian Plants that segregated the pinkish smog and saved as many players as he could.

When he burned more than half of the Numian Plants, it was only when the pinkish smog dispersed. The Rangers in Great Dynasty were quick to react and immediately cured their Ascetics, an evolve form of a White Mage. These Ascetics, in return, cast a wide area [Cure] spell, and that was only when Great Dynasty recovered.

They retaliated in kind and killed all of the Numian Plants until there was nothing left.

However, their fifty men strong were reduced to half at that encounter alone. If Ren didn't intervene, then they would really be wiped out on the map. And amongst those who survived was Roni.

A cockroach was really hard to kill. Ren thought to himself.

"Aha!" Hugo had a big smile on his face despite the situation as he went to Ren. "I thought so! You're an NPC, right? You just saved as just now!" A player would never do that!

Ren didn't bother to correct him and said instead, "I am in search of a High God. He is around in this area. If you aid me, you can have all his riches except for a single item that I wanted."

Ren made sure that he was convincing enough as an NPC.

Hugo's face brightened while Roni frowned.

"You heard that, guys?! I was right! There really is something inside this forest!"

"A high God?"

"Did we just stumbled . . . in something good?"

"But could the NPC be trusted?"

"Who cares? We received a quest!"

"There's no quest notification, though."

That at least baffled everyone.

However, the mention of the High God had blurred some of their reasoning. It was so good of an information to pass out.

"Don't worry. Some notifications came in late!" Hugo addressed his members. "We have expended a hundred players for this campaign. We can't go home empty-handed."

At this point, Hugo wanted to take the risk than accept his blunder of killing off more than half their members in Maze Forest and didn't get anything out of it but wasted time and resources.

Hugo patted Ren's shoulder. "Lead the way . . ." he quickly looked over at the man's name on top of his head and uttered his name, "Ren."

At the mention of the name, Roni's frown deepened. Something about the man's height, build, name, and voice was very familiar to him.

But since Ren had a hood covering his face and they couldn't discern his appearance, for it shrouded in darkness, Roni wasn't 100% sure. He had encountered many Ren's in the game, so he might be wrong.

Though that didn't stop Roni from running to Hugo when they started to move and whispered in his ear.

"Boss. Don't you think that NPC is a little shady?"

"I'm counting on it."

"Egh?"

Hugo sighed and rolled his eyes. "It's better to have a shady NPC leading us to who knows where than nothing at all. At least this would lead to somewhere like an event or better yet . . . a boss fight."

". . . But . . . what if this is a trap and we get wiped out?"

"Then we'll try again. The important thing is we know that there's an event here, and we can attempt it again. And as long as one of us remains alive, then we won't be wiped out here."

"But . . . what if he is not really an NPC and he is a player?"

". . ." That was when Hugo paused and looked at Roni straight into his eyes. "He is alone. He doesn't have a guild beside his name. There are at least twenty-plus players here with us. What threat could he possibly pose?

"And besides, do you know of a player that could hide their appearance . . . except maybe Evie of World Conqueror? Even if you wore a helm, your face still showed. And look at him." Hugo pointed at Ren, who stopped every few minutes to forage an area.

"Does it seem like he is a player to you? He is more like an NPC herbalist at this point. His pet is cute, though."

". . ." Roni couldn't retort back.

"Stop being so whiny and move out."

While they were marching deeper into the forest, the group had to stop more often since Ren had to forage for some ingredients.

At first, Hugo and his group didn't mind it, but the constant stopping was getting on their nerves.

"Excuse me, but . . . we don't have all day. Maybe if you can just give us the direction to where this High God is and we wouldn't bother you," said Hugo.

Instead of answering, Ren carefully extracted the mushrooms from the roots of a tree.

"This peculiar mushroom is found in swamps and woodlands where little sunlight passes through the dense treetops." Ren began. "They grew in the areas where nearly everything is covered in the shade, and only a small space is bathed in sunlight for only a few minutes a day."

Hugo didn't know what to do or say when Ren suddenly started to lecture him about plants. "I-is that so?"

Ren showed the mushroom near Hugo's face. "During extraction, it is best to cover the mouth and nose, as the spores cause a disease called 'Tertissa," which induces a fungal growth all over one's body, provoking death within minutes."

Hugo gasped, and he leaped a few steps back and covered his nose and mouth.

Ren stored the mushroom in his inventory and proceeded to say, "Don't worry. An infusion made from the blades of grass growing around it will cure the disease."

It was only when Hugo breathed a big sigh of relief. "You're a herbalist, right? Do those herbs sell well?"

Ren answered in a matter of fact tone, "No. If you sell them in the market, they won't cost much. However, if you sell and trade them to a Herbalist Shop and any Herbalist Guild, they might cost a fortune."

"R-really?"

Ren nodded, tongue sticking out.

Without another word, Hugo went back to his group and ordered all the Ravagers and Rangers to scout for foraging spots and made sure to stock some herbs.

( . . . continuation on NOTES)