“Whether it’s a blessing or a curse, if it’s a curse, we can’t escape it. Let’s take a gamble.”
At the edge of the stone bridge, Elephant Dances gripped his sword tightly, his expression resolute.
“At this point, we have no other choice,” said a weary-looking player.
He was exhausted—both mentally and physically.
“Yeah… let’s go in.”
“Going in might give us a sliver of hope. Staying out here is certain death.”
“I don’t want to see any more of our teammates die.”
“Me neither.”
“Alright then… let’s gamble everything.”
The female player bit her lip and spoke slowly.
Everyone was already worn out.
If they didn’t find a safe place to rest soon, they might collapse from exhaustion.
More importantly, all of them were injured.
If they didn’t get those wounds treated, they probably wouldn’t survive until the closed beta ended.
Especially Elephant Dances—his HP had already dropped below half.
If he didn’t find a way to heal soon, just a few more battles would be enough to send him to the grave.
He didn’t want that kind of ending—not even a little.
Even if the others refused to go in, he would have stepped forward alone.
‘In the end, the only one who can save you is yourself.’
As the thought crossed his mind, Elephant Dances stepped onto the stone bridge.
The five players behind him followed closely.
It was only then that they noticed something squatting by the city gate—a hulking mass of dark gray, like a massive stone.
“What the hell is that thing?! It’s huge!”
“A stone golem? Or a robot?”
“Looks like it might be one of the city’s guards.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling… if that thing moves, one slap from it and we’re done for, Physical death kind of done for!”
“Take out the ‘feeling’ part. We’d definitely be slapped to death!”
“Wouldn’t approaching it recklessly be dangerous?”
Everyone started talking at once.
Only Elephant Dances remained silent as he carefully studied the mechanical construct.
He noticed that it wasn’t just squatting idly—it was leaning forward, its eyes fixed on the river below, as if it were searching for something.
Clearly, whatever was under the river mattered far more to it than the approaching players.
“Dancing Elephant, do you think we should try getting closer to it?” the female player asked, looking over.
This squad had long been operating with Dancing Elephant as their backbone—no one could function without him now.
“Getting closer… should be fine,” Dancing Elephant replied, though he didn’t sound entirely sure.
“Alright, let’s just try approaching it. If things go south, worst case we jump in the river and run for it,” the female player said with a forced smile.
That bitter sense of humor was something she’d been born with.
Hearing her words, everyone’s tense expressions finally eased a little, each person showing a faint smile.
Just then, the mechanical puppet lifted its head and glanced at them, then quickly looked away and returned its gaze to the river.
“Whoo~” A collective sigh of relief passed through the group.
The moment the puppet looked their way, their hearts had nearly stopped.
Now that it couldn’t be bothered to care, it meant their gamble had paid off.
This place was safe.
At least for now.
***
Before long, the group arrived at the city gates.
The mechanical puppet outside still paid them no attention.
“We’re safe. Really safe,” the female player said, grabbing her chest and letting out a long, relieved breath.
The others were visibly thrilled.
Even Dancing Elephant exhaled hard, his expression finally relaxing.
“Let’s head in,” he said.
And with that, the group stepped into Ink City.
***
Meanwhile, in a room inside the city—
“Ahhh! It hurts so much!” Boyang lay on the ground, his eyes wide, mouth twisting in agony.
His condition was different from Bai Xue’s.
She had suffered a sudden spike in her pollution level due to direct contact with a pollutant, causing a fever and disoriented consciousness.
He, on the other hand, had been slowly contaminated through a wound.
In addition to the fever, it felt like his nerves were being cut one by one—he was in so much pain he nearly lost his mind.
“Captain, what’s wrong?! Captain!?” Jimite shouted in panic as he saw Boyang, who had been fine just moments ago, suddenly writhing in pain.
“Hurry… take me… to the alchemy… ha… ha… the alchemy workshop!” Boyang gasped, reaching out blindly like a fish thrown onto dry land, his mouth opening and closing in desperation.
He finally understood what Bai Xue had meant earlier.
The pollution level really was a problem.
“Looks like trouble’s about to begin,” Ye Lian said, swinging her legs as she sat on the worktable.
Her words left Bai Xue completely confused.