Chapter 75 - Dungeon Run (3)

Things would be much different now. Without knowing all the enemy locations, Arthur had to move slower and be more careful.

"So what should we do?" Point Blank asked, her eyes scanning every corner of the city, afraid an enemy might be too close.

Even though enemy positions were randomized, players had tried multiple paths through the city and eventually found the one with the fewest enemies and traps.

It was research that players had done to find the most optimal way through that part of the dungeon.

Arthur had read about it in his past life, and he still remembered a few things.

"I know where to go," he said, "but from now on, I’ll go first and you follow behind."

He switched weapons, putting the bow away and drawing his sword. From here on out, hitting first wasn’t an option. The enemies were the ones doing the ambushing.

With slow, careful steps, Arthur moved through the dark elf city, circling around a few stone houses that were now ruins.

Eventually he stopped and held up his hand for Point Blank to stop too.

"There’s a trap on the ground here," he said. "We have to circle around it and avoid triggering it."

"You know where the traps are too? This is getting out of hand. How do you know so much? Wasn’t the beta test a long time ago?" she asked.

"This isn’t the time to talk about that," Arthur said, crouching near the trap trigger. "There’s a type of land mine on the ground here."

Arthur had something in mind, and he needed Point Blank’s help to pull it off. He stood up and walked back to where she was.

"I want to lure some dark elves over, and when they get close to that land mine, you shoot it with your bow and blow them up," Arthur said. "What do you think?"

He knew this would work. It had been done and proven in his first life. But Point Blank had no idea. To her, it was all just a gamble.

"Are you sure?" she said, frowning. "How would dark elves fall into their own traps? That doesn’t make much sense, does it?"

She had a point. If the dark elves had lived in that city at some point, how could they fall into their own traps? There was a reason behind it, but now wasn’t the time to explain.

"Just trust me," Arthur said, playing that card again. "This will work."

Point Blank had no choice but to go along with it. Arthur was the one calling the shots, so she would follow his lead. And at this point, she was pretty sure he knew more about this dungeon than anyone else.

So Point Blank waited, hiding behind a wooden crate near the back of one of the stone houses. Arthur jumped over the land mine and moved forward.

He only took a few steps before a group of dark elves appeared from behind the trees, all wearing darker elf armor and carrying swords. Two of them had bows.

The moment they spotted Arthur, they charged. The 2 with bows stayed back, taking aim.

Arthur ran too, but not too fast. He needed the dark elves close, not far behind.

Then, as he got near the land mine, Arthur jumped over it and shouted at the same time, "Shoot it!"

Point Blank didn’t hesitate. She fired the second he said that. Her arrow hit the ground, and the moment it pressed down on the pressure plate, the land mine went off.

Arthur was still in the air. The explosion burst behind him as he rolled across the ground. The fire caught him, but he took no damage.

The dark elves chasing him were all dead. The only ones left were the 2 with bows, and they bolted the moment their allies went down. Point Blank stepped out from behind the crate.

"They ran," she said. "I thought enemies had to keep fighting once combat started."

She was still thinking like it was a normal game.

"No, it’s not like that. They aren’t dumb. If we had a tank taunting them with a skill, sure, but we don’t have one."

Point Blank stared at the ground. There was a crater now, and the dark elves lay scattered around it, dead, missing a few body parts.

"I can’t believe that actually worked," she said. "Unbelievable. Also, how did you not get hurt? The fire hit you."

Arthur was immune to fire, but she didn’t need to know that.

"It barely caught me," he said. "Don’t worry. Let’s keep moving."

Killing those dark elves earned them EXP and silver coins, plus 1 drop of a dark elf chest piece.

They moved through the city, staying outside and skipping the ruined stone houses. But then Arthur stepped inside a specific one, and that caught Point Blank’s attention.

There was nothing inside, just a staircase leading underground into some kind of tunnel.

"What’s this?" she asked, staring down into the darkness. "Are we going the right way?"

Arthur nodded. "Yes. Like I said, trust me. There’s a rusty key inside a chest down there, and we need it to open the door to the first boss. We actually need 3 keys total, scattered around this ruined city."

"I think you’re cheating," Point Blank teased. "That’s the only explanation."

"If I was cheating, they would’ve banned me already, wouldn’t they? It’s all legal. Now let’s go, we can’t waste time. And stay ready, there’s a different kind of creature down there."

Arthur went down the stairs first.

"Hand me the lamp," he said.

He had told them to buy supplies before coming in, and an oil lamp was one of them. Point Blank handed it over.

"Much better," she said once he lit it, the narrow corridor coming into view around them. "I like being able to see where I’m walking."

Every step made the wooden floor creak beneath them, the sound echoing down the corridor. Point Blank’s breathing was heavy. She had no idea what was waiting for them at the end.

Arthur did, so he stayed calm. At the end of the small corridor sat a wooden chest, old and worn with a rusty lock.

"Is that the chest with the key?" Point Blank asked.

"Not exactly." Arthur pointed at it. "That chest is fake. It’s actually a monster. We kill it, and then we get the key."

"A monster? Like a mimic chest from other games?"

He nodded. "So you know about those. Good to know you’re a gamer nerd too."

Point Blank laughed and shook her head. "I’m a gamer, yes, but not a nerd. Stop it."

She was being all cute about denying the nerd part, which made it even funnier.

Arthur, though, turned serious right after, his eyes fixed on the chest at the end of the corridor.

"The good thing is, since we already know it’s an enemy, we can open with Sniping Shot and deal a ton of damage right away, maybe nearly kill the thing. The worst case would be if we had no idea and walked up to open it like a couple of idiots," he explained.

With that, Point Blank set the oil lamp down on the floor and pulled out her bow. Arthur did the same.

Both of them nocked their arrows, channeled the skill, and fired at the chest.