Chapter 270: Giant Eye

Chapter 270: Chapter 270: Giant Eye

"There are definitely rewards, yes. I’ve always thought that in this world, the harder you work, the more you gain, but that rule clearly doesn’t apply to path selection. It’s true you get a lot of stuff from that other path, but it all requires a lightning-filled environment to use. It’s useless for most people, and it’s even hard to sell off."

"I see. Good thing I didn’t choose that one."

"Sigh, they’ve really ramped up the difficulty this time. The path-specific monsters are tougher, the path environment is more dangerous, and at this rate, we’ll probably be entering a new Zone by the end of next week. Is the path difficulty, dungeon difficulty, and monster difficulty all going to increase even more? Can anyone really keep up with this pace?"

The person was asking a few too many questions.

It was less of an inquiry and more of an emotional vent.

And the group chat Chrona had created was full of top players from every Zone. They all had different personalities, but there were good people among them.

Artemis handled his emotional outburst masterfully. "Adapt or not, we have to adapt. We don’t have a choice. Complaining won’t solve anything; it just drains your energy. Instead of worrying about whether the difficulty will increase or if we can adapt, we should focus on what’s right in front of us and solve the problems at hand."

The person seemed to be placated by Artemis’s steady tone. The "typing..." indicator at the top of the window flickered a few times, but ultimately, no new message appeared. A brief silence fell over the group chat.

Just then, a user with the ID "Mountainwind" chimed in. He sent a grinning emoji, followed by a message:

"Artemis is right, complaining is useless. I just had my base wrecked by a bunch of burrowing pangolins. If I hadn’t upgraded my mobile cabin, it would’ve fallen apart. Now I’m rebuilding while fighting a guerilla war. Increasing difficulty? Isn’t that a given? If you ask me, the new Zone next week might even be an opportunity. High risk usually means high reward. If you just keep staring at how the monsters and environments are getting harder, you’ll just psych yourself out."

Mountainwind’s words carried a rustic, down-to-earth honesty that broke the tense atmosphere.

His words resonated with many, and after reading a few more messages, Seraphina Sinclair got a general sense of the situation.

The top players... at least the ones in this group chat, were all on the move.

She smiled, relieved, but also felt it was only natural.

’These are the elites from every Zone. If even they were scared and had stopped moving forward, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that humanity would be done for.’

That was one piece of news. The other was about...

A clue to the path boss!

The information came from none other than Mountainwind. He seemed to be a cheerful and generous person who couldn’t be bothered to hoard a little piece of intel.

Most importantly, the path he had chosen was also the Misty Forest.

Seraphina Sinclair read through the conversation, line by line.

After Mountainwind’s bit of banter, the atmosphere in the group livened up considerably. Many began sharing their own experiences in the Misty Forest and their strategies for dealing with monsters.

In the midst of this cheerful exchange, Mountainwind casually dropped another piece of information:

[Mountainwind]: Speaking of which, having my mobile cabin wrecked wasn’t all bad. The monsters left behind a bunch of Supply Boxes, and also a clue.

This immediately cut off the idle chatter from the other survivors.

"A clue? What do you mean?"

"Is it an item? With that name? How strange."

"Don’t tell me it’s like one of those information items from a dungeon?"

The group chat was instantly abuzz with speculation, all of it focused on this item.

Mountainwind, ever generous, saw how interested everyone was and didn’t hold back, directly posting an image.

It was a bit blurry, so Seraphina Sinclair tapped it to get a better look.

Enlarged in the center of the image were two words. She looked closely and saw it was exactly what Mountainwind had mentioned: "A Clue".

’So he’s the literal type.’

’Fair enough.’

The group chat erupted again because of the image:

"..."

"Mountainwind, your naming convention is... certainly unique. (sweating emoji)"

"I thought it was some special item name, but it’s literally just ’A Clue’? Wind, you never fail to deliver!"

"Simple and crude, but effective communication. (thumbs up emoji)"

[Mountainwind]: Hehe, straightforward people do straightforward things! The name doesn’t matter, it’s the content that counts! I’ll post a clearer picture of the pattern on the scroll. Everyone take a look, especially my brothers and sisters who are also in the Misty Forest, and help me figure it out!

Mountainwind immediately sent a high-definition image.

The image loaded, revealing a slightly coarse leather scroll in the background. Its edges were frayed, clearly having weathered much hardship.

In the center of the scroll, a peculiar pattern was drawn with a dark red pigment, like dried blood. The main part of the pattern was a twisted throne made of countless entangled vines and branches, and in the center of the throne...

...sat... although Seraphina Sinclair was reluctant to use that word, the image did indeed show a massive eye, interwoven with white and red, sitting on the throne.

Just by looking at it through the image, Seraphina Sinclair felt an inexplicable chill crawl up her spine. It wasn’t fear, but an instinctual wariness one feels when facing an unknown and immense entity.

The group chat fell silent for a moment, everyone clearly taken aback by the bizarre nature of the drawing.

A few seconds later, people started talking again.

"This... this art style is a bit of a sanity drain. I don’t know why, but... am I thinking what you’re thinking? The path boss of the Misty Forest is... a giant eye on a chair?"

"Hehe, what a coincidence. My first reaction was also that this is the Misty Forest’s boss. It just doesn’t look like a pushover. Anyone run into it?"

"What kind of dumb question is that? If someone had already encountered it, would we still be here guessing? But it really is strange. The moment I saw this thing, I also felt that this was the boss of the path I chose. It’s like a psychological suggestion that just popped into my head."

The people in this group chat had a much deeper understanding of this world than the average survivor in the Zone channel. In the Zone channel, this information would probably be seen as a hint, a kind of system mechanic.

But in this group chat, the first thing everyone thought of was:

"This scroll doesn’t have some kind of Spiritual Pollution, does it?"

"You can’t guard against it! You can never guard against Spiritual Pollution! I’ve already taken an Immunity Crystal, don’t do this to me!"

After a few lines of useless chatter, the conversation in the group was pulled back on topic:

"Mountainwind, besides the pattern, is there any other information on this clue? Or maybe... have you used anything on this Sheepskin Scroll? To check its Description?"

This was what Seraphina Sinclair wanted to ask as well.

She raised an eyebrow and glanced at the name of the person who had asked the question.

It was Frostleaf.

’That fits the impression I have of her,’ Seraphina Sinclair thought.

[Mountainwind]: The thing is just what it is, and that’s all that’s drawn on it. There’s no other information. As for using Insight... I actually haven’t tried that yet. Everyone wait a sec, I’ll go take a look.