Warriors will die if they charge.

A young man dressed in black with brown hair walked out of the cave entrance with his hands behind his back. He stood in the center of the platform and bowed very politely to the bewildered adventurer.

A bow requires the approval of the recipient, and the three stray dogs, focused on their tasks, clearly did not meet this requirement.

Without warning, Kelly, Duncan, and O'Ha slowly turned towards the young man, maintaining their previous postures without changing at all.

Their fearful eyes did not elicit any reaction from the young man. He nodded in acknowledgment, then clapped his hands lightly, praising the heroic act of fighting the trolls.

"Monsters hidden in caves, lost treasure maps, and people who distrust each other—these are truly timeless themes..." The man smiled politely, placing his hand on his chest.

"My name is Emmael. I unintentionally made a pact with the troll you killed. Clearly, your heroic actions have solved a troublesome matter for me."

"The heroic deeds of the five heroes should be sung by poets, but I am but an unknown person, and my heart has no beautiful notes or melodies..."

What was he trying to say? Was he the mage master of the trolls, ready to deal with the intruding adventurers?

Marcus wanted to ask the mysterious Emma, ​​but his body was out of control, and even his eyes were fixed on the most important nameless person on the stage.

Emma's outstretched hand suddenly clenched into a fist, held it to his chest, and his tone abruptly shifted to a chanting, hymn-like quality, his expression vacant and intoxicated:

"Gold! Believers use gold to honor the gods, merchants use gold to elevate their status, kings need gold to maintain their rule. We trust it so much that nothing in the world can function without gold."

The actor in the center of the stage snapped his fingers crisply, and Marcus suddenly felt something tighten around his neck. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that a smooth obsidian collar had suddenly appeared around the necks of the other people.

A beam of light suddenly entered the cave from the entrance, illuminating the stage. Standing under the spotlight, Emma held up her index finger to her lips, making a shushing gesture, and whispered:

"But trust is a burden; who can bear more trust?"

"Let's play a game... no, a game of praise for your heroic deeds. You will roam my treasure vault and witness the world's many treasures." Emma's index finger swept forward, as if the platform covered in troll silver shavings were his treasure vault:

"You may take away treasures weighing less than one person, whether it be gold, gems, potions, tools, artifacts, or even the means of immortality and rule until the end of time! You are free to take them all."

Emma raised her second finger: "But what you take, in my understanding, is equivalent to a price. The collars you wear are my kind reminder that what you take cannot be let go... Of course, I also understand the contradictory psychology of mortals. You will be given a chance, a chance to let go."

"Given that..." He paused for a moment, looking at the weapons in Duncan and O'Ha's hands, "the quarrel between you heroes conflicts with my principle of disliking violence. Please do not start a fight in the vault."

He snapped his fingers, and a goblin wearing the same obsidian collar as everyone else emerged from the darkness and walked to the center of the stage. With his right hand, Marley stroked the goblin's bald, pointed head and whispered:

"Remember this: for this selfless praise, I have only one request: if the amount taken exceeds the weight of one person, then Emma's curse will be repeated."

The goblin sauntered to the edge of the platform, and the five people's bodies turned along with its steps.

It bent down, its slender hand reaching into the flowing Milky Way, and pulled out a silvery-white troll head that was larger than its entire body.

The goblin was grinning foolishly, seemingly pleased to have found such a huge, shiny thing, but soon, Emma's curse returned as promised.

The obsidian collar turned a dazzling red, transforming into scalding molten lava. Amidst the goblin's joyful laughter, it flowed backwards, seeping into his face, rapidly cooling, and forming a silver mask on his face.

The goblin corpse fell and plunged into the river of silver. The five bodies moved again, and the spotlight that had been shining on Emmael gradually dimmed, just as a curtain was drawn and the world was plunged into darkness.

"Please go ahead."

The actors' curtain call echoed in the darkness. Marcus regained control of his body, and all he could see were two very short lines of pale blue text flickering faintly before his eyes.

[Quest: The Dark Trial]

[Task Description: ...]

[Reward: 1 Legendary Card Scroll]

A legendary card scroll on par with Hammer of Destiny!

There's no description of the task? What's going on?

Let's start with a lottery, hopefully I'll go all in and win something useful right now...

Before the turntable even appeared, a ray of golden light squeezed into my pupils from the edge of my vision, soft, pure, and dazzling. The towering ceiling seemed endless, the acanthus leaf-shaped columns were ornately carved, and the eagle statue holding a water bottle was lifelike—

In the soft light, they displayed the splendor of the gods to mortals. A greedy desire surged into the heroes' hearts, twisting their previous thirst for silver. If you were in a world of endless extravagance, where everything you saw was gold, all disputes would disappear.

"Gold! Delaware, all the fucking gold you love!" Oha knelt on the ground, his forehead slamming against the hard gold tiles. The ecstasy in his eyes surpassed everything. Was this heaven?

No, Heaven is a place where people serve God; this is Hell, an abyss where inner desires run rampant.

The five people were very close together. While the three stray dogs were still ecstatic about the Golden Palace, Marcus had already stopped thinking about the lottery. He lowered his body, roared, and charged towards the stray dogs on his left. He found that the battle staff had disappeared and the injury on his left arm was still there.

But it doesn't matter, he'll take them down.

Bardin's choice was almost identical to Marcus's. At the moment, none of them had any weapons, and a strange black backpack had appeared out of nowhere. He would deal with Oha, the stray dog ​​who posed the greatest threat, first, and then slowly settle accounts with the two remaining traitors.

Two fists, one high and one low, struck Oha simultaneously, aiming for the back of his head and the other for his side. If he were to take both punches squarely, even with his orcish physique, he would probably be on his way to meet his goddess of luck and fortune, Delauri.

An invisible ripple appeared just as the fist was about to make contact, echoing Marcus and Bardin's thoughts simultaneously, echoing Marley's earlier words.

The verbal disputes among you heroes conflict with my principle of disliking violence, so please refrain from fighting in the treasure vault.

"Gan!" Marcus roared in a low voice, kicking the kneeling Oha several times as if he was not going to give up. The ripples blocked the attack, and without the feedback of hitting the obstacle, the punches and kicks became ineffective on the stage.

Once Marcus calmed down, he stopped Bardin from continuing to throw punches and gestured for them to go to another location; they needed to figure out the current situation.

Duncan watched silently as Rye Wine left, a hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes.

After a long while, Kelly finally came to her senses from the golden palace, admiring this miraculous sight that seemed like heaven. She remembered Emma's words and exclaimed, "He must be a god, the god of stray dogs."