Chapter 104: Escape from Predicament

I began to slow my pace slightly to steady my ragged breathing; my stamina had dropped below 20%. Ye Shuang and Long Xin were no better, both panting heavily. If we kept sprinting like this, exhaustion or collapse was inevitable.

Looking up, above us was still a writhing mass of flesh and bone, occasionally spewing stomach acid. The staircase spiraled upward endlessly, seemingly without an end.

“How much farther to the top?” Ye Shuang shouted.

“Who knows! We’ve been climbing nonstop for over an hour, and that damn exit still seems nowhere in sight. And that mysterious creature is right on our heels—maybe it’s a test of endurance now,” I said with a bitter smile.

Terry wasn’t faring much better; his strength was near collapse too. But he gave Lei Jingtian some good news: “We’re almost there! I’ve been counting the steps. If I’m not mistaken, in at most five minutes we’ll reach the passage to the surface!”

The creature behind us roared relentlessly. Each howl was followed by a black shadow lunging upward. Still, it could never quite catch us. After nearly half an hour of this mad dash, and with our stamina nearly depleted, finally, we saw the dawn!

I looked up and saw about thirty meters above us what should be the staircase’s end: a patch of fleshy wall extended outward, joined by living tissue, leading to a roughly two-meter-high cave opening.

A tremendous roar thundered again. Responding to this deafening bellow, the black shadow below us suddenly surged upward further than ever before. The next second, a splash of green liquid hit my right foot.

—586 damage flashed on my screen. I looked down to see my pale leg bone exposed, a sight that chilled me to the bone. Then more liquid sprayed me; although I tried to dodge, a large patch splashed onto my waist and abdomen, instantly corroding a large hole in me—truly horrifying.

More green liquid sprayed upward, all targeting me. “I’m not your enemy!” I thought, but the underground creature clearly paid no heed.

The acidic liquid struck me repeatedly, my health plummeting wildly. White smoke billowed from my body as patches of flesh corroded away. The pain forced me to howl and roar incessantly.

“Damn it! I’m not going to die here, you beast!” I shouted, opening my status screen. What I needed now was speed. Though “Soaring Wings” could greatly increase movement speed, its effect was temporary and short-lived. To escape, I needed absolute speed; otherwise, that creature would melt me away bit by bit.

Steeling myself, I invested all remaining attribute points into agility specialization and activated Soaring Wings. Instantly, my speed exploded.

With a powerful leap, I jumped between Ye Shuang and Long Xin, grabbed both their hands, and at the edge of the staircase, pushed off forcefully to land firmly on that patch of flesh.

Ye Shuang said, “Brother, why did you suddenly speed up?”

I replied, “I’ll tell you later.”

Once steady, we turned to see something pipe-like rising from below. Its top was a huge, grotesque circular maw lined with rows of gleaming white teeth, emitting a revolting stench. Every so often, green liquid dripped from it, hissing as it hit the ground.

???

Level 80 Boss? ???

Seeing that info stunned me for a moment. What kind of creature was this, with no details except that it was an 80-level boss? I had even thought of striking it a few times before leaving, to brag about challenging an 80-level boss.

But after Long Xin threw a fireball that dealt a mere 1 damage, I knew fighting this thing was a pipe dream—the level gap was too vast. I immediately grabbed the two and dashed into the cave behind us. The boss pursued, but its enormous mouth was too big to enter the passage. It could only hiss and roar, the sounds echoing through the fleshy stairwell—filled with fury and frustration.

After running for a while, I discarded the writhing tunnel behind us. But what lay ahead turned our hope into despair. I let go of them and collapsed, my stamina almost completely drained, incapable of even moving. They were no better, sitting beside me. We had run into yet another continuously writhing, occasionally contracting passage. The walls oozed stomach acid—the nightmare place that was essentially a death sentence.

After some stamina recovered, I sat up and tried to use a teleportation scroll to abandon the quest. But it displayed a message: “Cannot use here.” Our last hope was shattered.

Long Xin clung to me, crying, “Brother, I don’t want to die so disgustingly! I don’t! I don’t! Waaahhh!”

Ye Shuang hugged me too, saying, “I don’t want to die either! This damn quest is such a trap!”

I said, “No… it can’t be… Since it’s a quest, there must be a way to solve it… The system wouldn’t create an impossible quest for players. That would be too unreasonable.” I tapped my helmet.

“Brother, what’s that?” Long Xin suddenly called out. I looked where she pointed. Ahead, a bright red thing was writhing, resembling a male lower body, occasionally spraying yellow liquid from the top. It was revolting.

“What the hell is that? So disgusting!”

“Who knows? By the way, Ye Shuang, how much stamina do you have left?” I asked.

Ye Shuang answered.

I said, “Ye Shuang, use the Sky-Splitting Slash Wheel and take that thing out. I can’t stand looking at it.”

Ye Shuang struggled to stand and said, “Yeah, I’m pissed too.” Clenching his fists, he unleashed the Sky-Splitting Slash Wheel. The green spinning blades shot out swiftly, instantly slicing the disgusting thing in two.

“Ah—” Suddenly, after a long silence, the voice of Shadi echoed with a painful moan. A huge hole exploded ahead. Almost simultaneously, the surrounding flesh contracted violently, and a surge of green juice flooded out like crashing waves.

“Take cover behind me!” I shouted, quickly restoring my health and activating a feint attack. Ye Shuang and Long Xin hid behind me. The green liquid slammed into the shield, engulfing us.

After a few seconds, the liquid receded. Protected by the shield, we were unharmed. Before us was a massive hole. Our flickering hope reignited. Then, an earth-shaking roar sounded, a fierce gust blasting us out from the huge opening.

We crashed onto the ground outside and saw a cloud of smoke behind us. Within the fog, a pair of enormous red eyes stared at us, letting out pitiful moans before collapsing with a thunderous sound, disappearing from sight. We finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Checking my experience, I was now at 90%. Leveling up was imminent. Our bodies began to repair at an astonishing speed.

Bones grew back one by one; flesh regenerated in clumps. Within less than a minute, all three of us were fully healed. Such rapid repair only happened during level-ups. Although Long Xin and Ye Shuang each leveled up, it was understandable for them. But my body also healed, suggesting this was some kind of reward.

When our stamina recovered enough to stand, the three of us rose. The system gave no prompt that the quest was complete, so it was still ongoing. At that moment, white beams of light slowly floated before us, drifting and coalescing rapidly into a humanoid form.

This figure stepped forward, drifting closer to us. As it materialized, it revealed a person clad in golden armor, shimmering like pure gold. Long golden hair cascaded like a waterfall behind the armor. Her beautiful, proud face looked even more flawless under the golden glow. As she approached, an overwhelming pressure descended upon us, so intense that we struggled to breathe—a terrifying aura unlike anything we had ever felt.

A question flashed through everyone’s mind: who was this sudden golden-haired beauty?