I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 120, page 1.7, section 37: Lias's Voyage: Hunting Time

The forest glowed with fluorescent light, and fireflies danced in the air.

Fernana held Lias's hand, and the two ran vigorously. She glanced back and saw a man with a long sword walking slowly behind them, his pace slow but always maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far, and no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't widen the gap.

Lias stared ahead, his red eyes dull and lifeless. Like a puppet without a mind of its own, he followed Fernana as she ran. He had given up resisting and was even prepared for death.

The surrounding scenery flashed by, and suddenly Fernana paused slightly in her steps.

"Why did you stop running?" Carter raised an eyebrow and asked slowly.

Fernana pursed her pink lips, gazing at the narrow path ahead. The log bridge was broken; even if she ran across now, she would only fall off the cliff. The distance to the other side was five meters. Normally, it wouldn't be a problem, but now, with a child in her arms, jumping across would be extremely difficult.

But there are hunters behind them, and if they stop, they will surely die.

Let's give it a shot.

Fernana took a deep breath, scooped up Lias, and quickened her pace. Halfway there, she saw the vines tied to stones that she had left by the roadside when she tried to cross the cliff earlier; she bent low and grabbed them as she ran past.

At this moment, they were still five meters away from the cliff. Fernana used one hand to hold Lias and the other hand to swing the vines tied with stones and throw him out. Then she held tightly to the vines with one hand and swung Lias across.

The pebble moved slightly and fell silently off the cliff.

After Fernana safely jumped to the other side, she breathed a sigh of relief and then put Lias down.

"Come with me. I memorized the location of this island a few days ago when I was wandering around. Now we need to take a detour to the beach. Daolin should be almost there too." She hadn't told anyone that her memory was excellent, almost to the point of photographic memory. Memorizing maps and piecing them together in her mind was something she had been doing since she was very young, and it was not difficult for her at all.

"You can escape on your own, don't worry about me," Lias said softly, his head bowed.

"What did you say?" Fernana took a few steps forward and suddenly heard Lias say this, so she asked back.

"You can escape on your own. I've had enough of this. Death is the only true relief for me." Lias's eyes were slightly red, and his voice was trembling with tears.

He had been in a loop for five whole years, repeating the same actions over and over. If he hadn't come to the isolated island, he wouldn't even have known he was in a loop. On February 14th, he suddenly woke up and discovered that he hadn't been repeating the same thing five times, but for five years. His parents hadn't died when the first group of players broke in, but had died five years earlier.

Each time the instance is reset before a player enters, his memory is wiped clean, leaving him completely unaware.

He really has had enough!

How wonderful it would be to free him from this predicament!
I'm really tired...

*Slap!* Fernana slapped him without hesitation, her expression a mixture of reluctance and helplessness. "I didn't want to save you; I just wanted to save myself. Consider it my own growth, finally able to grow up and protect others, after always feeling like I was the one being protected. You can die if you want, but I don't want to!"

“I’m sorry…” Fernna knelt on one knee and hugged him tightly, her cold tears falling onto his neck. “Forgive my selfishness. I wanted to live, so I couldn’t bear to watch you die.”

Lias stood there blankly, his face burning with pain, the cold tears on his neck a reminder of his foolishness.

But what can he do?
So tiring... He's only an 8-year-old child. His time was stopped five years ago when he was trapped in this instance.

He had long since given up hope, because he had already killed his enemy with his own hands, so what was the point of his life now?
"But I don't want to keep going through this cycle... If I don't die, I'll never be able to escape it... Tell me what I should do! What should I do!" Lias wailed.

Fireflies danced in the sky, a pale blue full moon hung halfway in the air, and Lias's innocent cries, filled with pain and despair, pleaded for salvation...

“It’s possible! There must be a way…” Fernna murmured, her amethyst eyes gazing at the glowing leaves.

"How did you get here?" she asked softly, reaching out to wipe Lias's eyes.

“My biological parents suddenly came to me, and then my godfather told me to go home with them. On the way home, they were killed.” But he could never go home, and he didn’t even know where his home was.

“Then…we’ll take you back to your godfather!” Fernana stood up, reached out and touched Lias’s hair, and said softly.

"Godfather...can I really leave...?" Lias could no longer believe, because no one knew whether hope or despair would follow.

Fernana nodded at him and said affirmatively, "Yes, you can! You definitely can!" Even if it wasn't possible, she would definitely try her best to help him.

She pulled a gold coin from her pocket, her amethyst eyes looking down at it with a determined expression. The obverse of the coin depicted a magnificent crown entwined with thorns.
-
[107] King's Gold Coin

Level: Unknown

Introduction: The most precious and rare discontinued currency
Active: To bribe anyone to do anything.
Cooldown time: once

Review: This is a rare, high-value, discontinued coin that will drive everyone crazy, no matter how incredibly lucky you were to acquire it. If you give it to me, you're my dad!!!
-
He had placed this item in her hand before he died, and she thought she would never use it. Fernana didn't know how he had gotten it, but she figured it was about time she ended her mourning.

“Come on, I’ll take you to see your godfather.” Fernana took Lias’s hand and looked at him tenderly as she spoke softly.

"Hmm..." Lias nodded, his expression calm, not entirely convinced, but willing to continue following Fernana as she left.

"Where are you going? Aren't you going to stay and chat?" Carter landed lightly, with a cliff behind him. He jumped over easily without using any tools.

Fernana's pupils contracted sharply. She pulled Lias back and stood in front of him, watching him warily.

“Looks like there’s no escaping it.” Fernana chuckled and bent down to draw a short sword from her thigh.

Her delicate and beautiful face showed no fear or panic; her gentle smile suggested that she was not facing any danger. She took a step forward, her short sword resting against her chest, one hand on the hilt, and said to Carter with a light laugh, "I consider myself quite skilled with my sword. Shall we have a match?"

Players capable of running high-level dungeons are not cannon fodder; it's just that Shui Qi and Daolin were too dominant earlier, leaving Fernana no room to shine.

As I mentioned before, people who use melee weapons are strong in both physical strength and martial arts skills, because if you're not strong in martial arts skills, using melee weapons is just asking for death, since it's close combat.

Fernana is an exceptionally gentle yet resilient girl, and of course, she is also exceptionally intelligent.

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(End of this chapter)