Gamers of the Underworld

“Make a fire and prepare the meals.”

“Let’s set up camp!”

“Ah! Why am I always on a night shift?”

“Isn’t a night shift mission good? You can browse the discussion forum and brag about your gaming experience. Or you can sleep and get your reward when you wake up. I wished for a night mission, but I didn’t get it.”

“I want to go and explore!”

The gamers weren’t nervous when they arrived at a dead end, though they noticed the abnormal behavior of the NPCs. Lord Sherlock gazed at the huge wall at the dead end for half a day.

Beside Sherlock, Brainiac stared blankly at the wall.

“Lord Sherlock.” Brainiac faced the wall. Then he looked at the pondering Sherlock and said, “You’ve already…”

“Don’t ask. I already knew.” Sherlock turned to look at Brainiac and said, “You have to continue learning, Brainiac. How about extending your contract for another year?”

“Lord Sherlock, this isn’t a contract problem. As for the relic…”

Sherlock interrupted Brainiac and said, “Relic? What relic?”

“Ah?”

“There is no relic. This is the personal property of Eternal Kingdom’s Dungeon Lord,” Sherlock said firmly.

“Bring my personal property over.”

Brainiac let the gamers transport the statue and chest over.

Under Sherlock’s direction, the gamers moved the statue and the chest in front of the wall of the dead end. They spent a great deal of energy and time to accomplish it.

Apple witnessed the citizens of Eternal Kingdom at work. He didn’t understand what they were doing. Should they not backtrack?

“Lord Sherlock, you’re a genius. When did you discover that the Orcs were the crucial guides to finding the relic? This is a perfect plan. Who would have thought that the Orcs were the blood relatives of Michelangelo?”

While the gamers were busy erecting the statue, Bru spoke incessantly in Sherlock’s mind.

“Blood relatives? How did he breed to let his superior Devil’s blood be contaminated by Orcs? From what I know, Michelangelo was a superior Devil.”

Sherlock spoke with an “Are you an idiot?” tone.

“Er, not blood relations? This isn’t following logic.”

Sherlock didn’t respond to Bru. He walked in front of the wall and placed his hand on the wall while chanting.

Ancient Devil’s Tongue?

Brainiac recognized Sherlock’s chants, but he didn’t understand most of them. Even Brainiac had gaps in his knowledge.

The gamers were expressing their compliments and complaints about the lousy game producer.

Sherlock exerted his dominance to restrain them, and they went into Plot Animation mode.

With Sherlock’s Mana transfusion and chanting, Mana Runes gradually appeared on the wall. Mana Runes also appeared on the statue that was facing the wall.

Everyone gaped in astonishment. The statue emitted booming sounds as though it had come to life. It lifted the huge chest in its hand and threw it against the wall. “Pom!”

The Rune Mana Formation on the chest exploded into blinding brilliance. When the chest hit the wall, the wall started to fold and collapse as though it was opened with a key.

The wall started to collapse and pull back, and behind the wall was a huge crimson vortex that spun in a clockwise direction. There were low moaning sounds coming from the wall. Red flames danced behind the wall, but they didn’t break out of the collapsing wall. The feeling was like…

“Is this a television in the game? Is that a large vortex in the game?”

“No, no, no. Compared to a large vortex, it’s more like the entrance to the mysterious world of ‘Stranger Things’. Even the sounds are similar. I’ll create a post on the discussion forum later.”

“Wait, has the Plot Animation ended?”

“Where is Sherlie?”

“Sherlie?”

While the gamers were chatting, they discovered that Lord Sherlock had disappeared. Without Sherlock’s dominance, they were able to chat and move around as much as they wanted.

The atmosphere became heavy as everyone looked at each other. Brainiac looked very grave.

Apple could hear his own heartbeat and breathing sound. He looked at the “Devil’s Door”, which he had just named it. He didn’t know what was going to happen next.

“The Plot just ended like that? Aren’t we allowed to enter?”

Some gamers placed their hands on the “Devil’s Door”, but they weren’t able to enter. The other gamers also placed their hands on the wall. They weren’t fearful at all.

When the gamers failed to gain access into the “Devil’s Door”, they decided to explore the area and chat with the NPCs to trigger new Plots. Then a mission appeared in their minds:

[Mission Title: Journey Home

Mission Description: Lord Sherlock requires you to return to Eternal Kingdom immediately. Remember to bring the statue and the chest back. They are Lord Sherlock’s private property.

Mission Objective: Escort Lord Sherlock’s private property back to Eternal Kingdom.

Mission Reward: … ]

…

“Lord Sherlock…”

“Lord Sherlock…”

Bru’s voice reverberated in the darkness, but he was unable to get Sherlock’s response. Bru wasn’t even able to feel the presence of Sherlock. He could only feel the Mana connection with Sherlock. It was as though Sherlock had disappeared from the world.

Bru, who was in darkness, started pondering. The Dungeon Lord was missing, and the gamers had lost control of themselves. Only Sherlock’s Mana was still functioning. That proved that Sherlock was still alive and in another special dimension. But that had hindered the communication between Bru and Sherlock.

It was too strange.

“What shall I do now?”

Bru thought for a while and then assigned a new mission:

[Mission Title: Battle Preparation for a Conquest]