Hell Maze (1)

Entering the passage where the treasure was, the inside of the passage was quite wide. Logically thinking, the small distance between each passage was small, yet the road straight ahead was quite wide.

A car could even fit the passage with some spaces left, that's how wide the passage was. On the wall instead of the occasional torches, the passage was lit by flying insects that were as big as a beetle.

The wall was filled with moss and some plants on the road. Liam didn't even spare a glance on those things so it may not be as useful as I thought.

I think the way the team looked at Ronan changed. Everyone, including me, felt that Ronan was a massive cheat in the Tutorial.

We continued to walk down the road cautiously, while also maintaining our pace, not too slow nor too fast.

Treasure chest will always be guarded by boss monsters in the game. Though this was real life, the one behind the Tutorial will also be the same. Liam also helped in making us realize that though those things happen in games, what happened to us was also beyond normal.

Since we entered the second part, I have this nagging feeling that what lies ahead will be useful to me. Not the one we were going to, but a little farther than we were now.

Due to Kevin not having any detection skill, Liam was on the forefront while Kevin was tasked to be last. Arisse was next then Janice to give support if needed. Floryn, Ronan, and I were at the back, behind us was the invisible Kevin.

Since I suggested something to him, Ronan was quiet and in contemplation. So, he didn't see that the way the others looked at him changed. Before, the way they looked at him was between pity and resignation, now they only look at him in a positive view.

"Shh.. I can hear something."

Liam made a shushing sound and stopped us from continuing.

"Kiii!"

"Kiii Kiii Kii!"

After some distance of our walk, what Liam told us came true. We slowly walked towards the light we were seeing. The passage opened up, what we saw was like another world. There were clouds and two moons in the sky, there were also trees inside, like it was really another dimension. Near where we are, which was the entrance, we saw parties of goblins circling a small fire. Some were drinking and eating like they were at a party.

"Sit down."

All of us sat down quickly, yet quietly, so we wouldn't disturb the goblins.

"There's exactly 20 goblins. I think they are the same rank as the goblins we fought before, but I think someone is leading them."

"A higher rank goblin?"

"Yes, there's a tent not far from the goblins partying. Maybe there's more goblins inside or only the higher rank one was inside. We need to kill the goblins quickly or else it might endanger us."

"So what's the plan?"

"Kevin, sneak inside the goblins and carefully listen outside the tent. If there are a lot of goblins or not."

"Okay, then I'm off."

Even if Kevin made noises when walking, due to his passive skill, any living thing or non-living thing will naturally ignore him.

It was an SS+ rank skill! If I'm not a cheat either, maybe I wouldn't even see him. That's how scary Kevin was.

After some time, Kevin slowly made his way back to us. Fortunately all of my teammates were already saved on my Character List so I didn't have to say that embarrassing line when activating the View Character.

When I saw a status window moving towards us, I knew that Kevin was coming back.

"Did you find something?"

"I hear a voice inside like they were praying? I can't understand them so I'm not sure, but I really think the one inside is praying, the goblin inside is alone."

"Then, let's kill the goblins quickly, the one inside might be a goblin mage."

Everyone nodded except Ronan who was still thinking. Liam, Janice, Arisse and Kevin all armed themselves. Kevin didn't ask for my help so I couldn't participate in the battle.

[Warning! You can't participate in the upcoming battle, please raise your affinity with the target 'Liam' first!]

If I have a system, that warning notice will probably appear in my view. But, I didn't have any system with me like the main character, I only have a God who was making jokes on me.

Right from where we're at, I could see Liam and Arisse at the front sometimes a floating status window was appearing from time to time. The Arrows shot from Janice's bow was really timely.

As someone who loves the bow, she was a walking disaster for mages and healers if it was a game.

Liam's moves were truly fantastic. Like a flowing river, his slashes were strong and unstoppable.

Because the goblins were unprepared, the battle soon ended. Our team was truly the strongest. They didn't even break a sweat when dealing with the goblins.

When Liam was almost in the tent, the entrance to the tent was lifted up, and a goblin which was like a shaman appeared. The goblin mage boosted some height compared to other goblins.

"Kiiii! Kiii! Kiii!"

'You killed my companions! Now prepared to die! Fireball!'

Was the line something like that? A fireball burst from the goblin mage's wand that was pointed at Liam.

Liam jumped backwards to avoid the fireball. The fireball wasn't huge nor small but Liam easily dodged it. The fireball burst through the ground, burning the ground. The intensity of the fireball could be felt even where I'm standing.

It was quite powerful even though it looked small!

Liam didn't give any time for the goblin mage to attack. Liam moved swiftly and slashed the goblin mage. The goblin mage raised a blueish shield but it was just like a fragile glass.

The shield broke and a gush of green blood dropped on the ground. The goblin mage tried to attack but Liam didn't give it time before he decapitated the goblin mage.

Just like that, the goblin mage was no more. Liam picked up the goblin mage's staff before shaking his head and throwing it aside.

Janice looked bewildered seeing Liam fight. Arisse was cheering at the side while protecting Janice. Kevin, was... well he sneaked inside the tent without even caring about the battle.

Though our team was strong, I think we all have some missing screws in our brains.

When the cloth of the tent flapped open, Kevin used his Mask of Indifference to make his appearance known.

"I found a skill book inside the chest. I didn't see anything useful besides this. Leader, here."

Kevin gave the skill book to Liam. When Liam inspected the skill book he looked between Kevin and Janice. Sighing, he approached Janice and gave it to her.

"Janice needs it more than you. If we find another skill book, I will give it to you."

"It doesn't matter, Leader, I already saw its description and it doesn't suit me."

"Really? What is the name of the skill book?"

I inserted myself in their conversation because I'm quite curious about what type of skill book that the Hell difficulty gave.

"C rank eye skill. A passive skill that lets you see distance ahead from you while also improving your night vision. The name is Eagle Eye."

Liam explained while looking at Janice. When Janice saw that no one complained, she opened the skill book. When the skill book was opened, it lit up and slowly disappeared.

When Janice learned the skill, her eyes gave a golden glow to it like Liam. It was a vision improving skill which was essential for archers and assassins.

Kevin wasn't greedy for skill especially knowing that his skill was quite good. The only downside was he needed an attack skill to be a lethal assassin. As of the moment, he took a lot of time to kill one goblin.

Janice was stronger than him because she has a passive skill that boosted her piercing attacks.

"I think there's no more treasure in here. So, let's go back."

We went back on where we started where we first saw the four passages. The way back was fast because we had already passed it before so we knew there was no trap waiting for us.

Liam led the way on the fourth passage from the left. Janice also helped because she now has a passive skill that could help us with the dimly lit maze.

Like the second passage, the road on the fourth passage was wide and similar. There might be no way to figure out the right way unless we have the artifact and Ronan at the same time.

Just like Rain, Liam also realized his mistake. Though since his second round he always took the hell difficulty with random parties didn't mean there wouldn't be changes in the future.

Since he started his fifth round, a lot of changes have happened. The first one was Area 1, as long as he could remember no one survived in Area 1 since his transmigration.

Also, there was no Ronan in any round. Liam has a lot of doubts about this round. Yet, he was glad. There were exactly four people who weren't in his past rounds.

Rain, Ronan, Kevin, and Al (Arisse), they weren't on any of his past rounds. The possibility was endless but maybe the Gods helped him this round because he wanted to build his own team.

Liam was aware of the way Kevin looked at Rain like he trusted him with his life. Liam didn't know what happened but the fact that twenty three people survived and they were the first to clear the first part made him realize that this round was different.

Liam recognized all of the people he was with in the past Tutorials but Al wasn't there before. Al replaced the drunk middle-aged man that was supposed to die first, in every round because he was always near the door where the goblins made its first appearance.

Unfortunately, Liam didn't see the middle-aged man or he might find some clues about the changes that happened.

There was a saying that strong people recognize each other when they make contact. Liam felt that these four were all strong beyond his imagination. Though they fell short compared to him, it didn't mean they were useless.

In fact, if he was strong he wouldn't need to regress even once.

The party continued to walk for a few minutes before they saw another wide room. Inside the room were a table full of weapons and another four passages. Janice restocked her arrows before all of them stopped near the four passages.

All of them turned and looked at Ronan. Ronan was still in a daze so Rain touched his head to wake him up.

"Big brother I'm still far from figuring it out."

Ronan looked sad but when he felt that it was too quiet, he looked at his surroundings and figured out why they were looking at him.

Without others telling him what to do, Ronan gently pulled Rain's hand towards the first passage.

When Ronan was done, all of the passages except the third one were all black.

The third one was the only green color so they entered the third passage.

"This maze is really hell. If we don't have Ronan or even the artifact, I don't know what will happen to us."

Rain said in passing while they were walking towards the next room. Like Rain said, Liam was sure that the maze wasn't supposed to be easy. The Hell Maze was turned into a Treasure Maze because of Ronan and the artifact.

The Tutorial changed itself because a lot of strong people who shouldn't be in a team were put together. Whether it was Liam's luck or Rain's luck, the Tutorial changed due to the two of them. Both were an existence that shouldn't be put together.

It was as if a powerful existence was pulling the strings of fate for the two of them to meet.