Chapter 533 - 11.59 First Green Star - Punishment World: 'Hell' (25)
"What the hell!? AHH!!"
Han Ya, Chu Mo, and Lan She were startled by his scream but An Yuan didn't explain it further as the former greenery and bountiful forest from before was slowly changing under his eyes. The green leafy trees were replaced with black trees with red leaves. The ripe fruits from before were now replaced with the blood-soaked limbs of human beings. There's an arm, a leg, and even heads hanging within those trees.
There are lots of them that even the soil under them had turned dark red due to the blood it had absorbed. Seeing the other human limbs held by Chu Mo, An Yuan hurried to throw everything away.
"Throw it. Throw it away. Don't eat it. It's not a fruit!" yelled An Yuan.
The three were bewildered by An Yuan's reaction. They could see how frightened he was at the moment. His face had turned bloodless white and his whole body was trembling. He had even seen him run off to puke.
Arghh~ urghh~ urkk!!!
Han Ya worriedly approached the professor and helped him pat his back. This gentle movement of his was enough to comfort the panicking An Yuan, who immediately hugs him after puking everything inside his stomach.
The three realized that there is something wrong in this forest. Maybe in the eyes of An Yuan, this place is not even a forest.
Chu Mo asked his fake manager, "Subsystem, what is happening?"
[Answering the warden, you are all under the control of an illusion. This one suggests the use of Purification Talisman to remove the debuff state.]
Upon hearing this Lan She pulled out four Purification Talismans from his storage and activated an array to cleanse a certain area that surrounds the four of them. This array could not only clean the land and air, but it also prevents the debuffing state in the mind.
Once the talisman array took effect, the reddish mist they didn't notice upon entering the forest was now can be seen by their eyes. As the scarlet fog fades the real scenery of the said forest now reveals itself.
It was the same as what An Yuan had seen before. Black trees and blood-colored leaves. Human limbs hanging on the tree branches and drops of blood drip down from it tainted the land under with dark crimson shade. Some heads are looking like they've been killed without them knowing as their expression of astonishment was painted on their face as the last visage of their life.
Chu Mo was stunned by the scene, "This is..." then he remembered gathering those so-called fruits in his arms just now, especially when he was about to eat a mango just now and then looking down on his clothes he saw himself covered in human blood. The scent of rust assaulted his nose and he couldn't help but pinch it. "Yuck! Damn fruits you say! Now you are saying I hugged severed limbs in his embrace just now. I almost ate one!!! Fuck!"
Lan She rolled his eyes on him and said, "Who told you to be greedy? Picking everything on sight. Say away you are smelly."
An Yuan grips the clothes of Han Ya and whatever is hiding in this place is not a simple monster.
"Go away. Leave the forest. This place is too eerie as if something is..."
Whoosh~
A black-like tentacle comes attacking them. Thankfully they were already on guard when the scene before them had changed. Han Ya, Lan She, and Chu Mo activate their bloodline and fly out of the forest. But those black tentacle-like things were still trying to catch them.
---
Name: Demonic Human Faced Spider
Race: Demon
A demonic being that lives in hell. He likes to prey on human players and use their limbs to decorate his little backyard. He loves human hearts and organs the most. His tentacles were soaked in the most deadly poison. There is no cure for it except highlight element spells like the sanctuary.
Skill: Illusion, Poison, and Seduction
Weakness: Fire or Ice (Ordinary fire and ice won't work on it)
P.S.: This poison doesn't have any effect on the same race.
---
An Yuan who saw the information about the tentacle-like things was shocked but he immediately informed his teammates about it.
"Don't touch the tentacles like a thing. It's poisonous. It has no cure!" yelled An Yuan. "Its weakness is Fire and Ice. But not the ordinary kind ones."
Hearing this Chu Mo and Lan She dodged the incoming attacks. Chu Mo flung away the tentacles coming towards him with pure strength making it fly in a distance almost getting ripped off with force. Lan She on the other hand used Holy flames, a golden flame made of light elements. He can be used as a Valkyrie who is similar to the angels.
GYAAAKKK!!!
Lan She observes as the tentacles he burns turn to ashes. The other tentacles pulled away upon the contact of the holy fire.
Happily cheering for his lover, Chu Mo said, "Honey~ you're amazing!"
"I can only use the Holy Flames three times a day. I've used the strongest attack just now but all I've burned is a single tentacle. We need to retreat." said Lan She.
"Let's go out of the forest," said An Yuan.
Everyone agreed. Lan She and Chu Mo flew away but Han Ya didn't. He was looking deep within the forest and his face was expressionless. The direction he was looking at was where the black tentacle-like things came from.
An Yuan noticed Han Ya not moving and called his name, "Xiao Ya, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Let's go," said Han Ya as his expression softens while looking at An Yuan. He looks like a human this way unlike when he is staring at the center of the forest just now. Unknown to these two Lan She also noticed his lover staring in that direction.
Lan She whispered and asked, "What's wrong, dear?"
"That hidden demon at the center seems to recognize Han Ya as the Undead Knight under the Evil God," replied Chu Mo to his lover as he whispered back.
"That's good then... if there is no fight. It's better. We need to find the Lords as soon as possible after all" said Lan She.
Once Han Ya flew away with his team, the hidden demon within the forest shakes madly like he met his predator. Those crimson eyes that stared at him reminded him of someone. It was the very same being that had thrown him into this hell.
Within the darkness, a female humanoid with his lower half that of a huge spider was trembling badly in her cave.
"T-That demonic eyes... I know it... It can't be... They... Those lords are not... Not even a human... That just now smells like a human. This is not real. It is not... not them..." their words were repeatedly murmured inside the cave.
Meanwhile the other had returned to the river banks. After An Yuan checks the river is safe to consume except for a few monster fishes hiding in it, his teammates gather some to drink before deciding to take a bath in it.
Among them, Chu Mo, who was covered in blood, was delighted that he could finally clean himself up. Chu Mo and Lan She were the first ones to take a bath while Han Ya and An Yuan prepared lunch. Their lunch is simple noodles and some grilled fish from the river. After all, unlike Hei Anjing no one could cook like a Michelin Chef just anywhere.
An Yuan was stirring 10 gold coins of spicy ramen on the pot and the 5 gold coins egg in it.
[Note: 1 gold coin = 10,000 RMB in the real world.]
"These ordinary spicy noodles with eggs cost 75 gold coins in total. Hahaha~ that's 750,000 RMB. That's my salary for a few months already..." mumbled An Yuan who is an ordinary working professor in reality with a minimum base salary. He is a genius who donated most of his money to charity and lives a humble life. "These noodles are made of gold. The soup is made from the most expensive gold powder. Kekeke~"
Manager Tian said, [Oh my God! Gui Gui your player is losing it!]
[100,000... 200,000... 300,000... 400,000... 500,000... 600,000... 700,000... 800,000... 900,000... 1,000,000 gold coins. ARGH! You fucking gave away a million gold coins to those bastards!? Are you stupid? You're brainless right!?]
Manger Gui finally lost it when he retraced their group account budget history. The 1 million gold coins before were the ones Han Ya lent to Uncle Sid and his team to allow their skills to upgrade for better survival in the Hell of Wrongful Death. Who would have thought that this group would end up betraying Han Ya in the end?
Not only had he lost their money to those bastards, but Han Ya also almost lost his life in the end. If he wasn't the Protagonist Gong falling down to that deep cliff would only mean death. Just remembering the huge gold they've lost because of Han Ya, Manager Gui couldn't help but throw all his anger on the latter's manager instead. He started ramming himself on the small angel.
Manager Gui, [Why the hell didn't you stop him huh!? Are you new to this world? Do you not know how players act in this world huh!!? That's a whole fucking million gold that was wasted.]
An Yuan also scolded Han Ya. "That's right, Xiao Ya. That's a million gold coins! How many noodles can be bought with it!?"
"Sorry... I'll buy you more food in the future. Eat the noodles and don't let it sog or it wouldn't be delicious anymore," said Han Ya as he took a bowl of ramen from before him and fed the angry hamster named An Yuan beside him. "I promise I won't waste money anymore. Don't get angry, A'Yuan."
Only after he was coaxed enough or is it because he sniffed the tempting scent of the spicy ramen that An Yuan stopped being angry.
"You promise~ Now, let's eat these golden noodles and golden eggs. We can't waste money for no reason." said An Yuan who was once again staring at the expensive noodles as if he was forced to eat gold.
Chu Mo and Lan She who just finished their baths overheard their conversation. Chu Mo laughed when he heard how An Yuan treats the extremely expensive ordinary noodles and eggs on the pot before them.
"Hahaha~ If you don't convert the gold to real-world RMB you would be okay ba~," said Chu Mo.
Lan She said as he served his lover a bowl and took another for his own.
"It's not like you can return to the real world forever. This Abyssal world is our reality now. Coming back there as a vacation spot is still possible but forever staying there is not. If one could return to the real world, Player Abyss and this fool beside me would have longed returned to it." said Lan She.
He wanted to cut off An Yuan's hope to return to reality and make him choose to stay in this world with Han Ya instead. This Han Ya is no longer human in reality. As an Abyssal entity born in this world, he is unable to leave this world forever. Which is why in the original plot, after the Protagonist Gong sent the Protagonist Shou in the real world, he could only visit it once every year. But he still needs to return to this place to overlord it. That was his fate. It was only when the Protagonist Shou decided to accompany him in this world that the death of the Evil God was left unjustified.
But right now, the Evil God happens to be Lord God Ye. He cannot be killed no matter what's circumstances. In the first place, Lord Hei would never allow it. The only reason why these two protagonists are still alive is that they haven't caused any harm to Lord God Ye yet. If they did, Lord Hei would have obliterated them on the spot. Didn't he give them a warning already?
An Yuan was started when he heard that he could no longer return to reality.
"I... I can't... return?" asked An Yuan in shock.
Seeing the despaired face of his beloved's face Han Ya couldn't help but pull An Yuan in his embrace. He even glared at Lan She, warning him to stop talking. But who is Lan She, he is a former high god of the highest realm. This little creature who is not even a divinity would never enter his line of sight if he was still the same as his former self.
Chu Mo honestly replied, "You can't if you are weak. You could if you ascended."
Lan She spoke, "Just letting him wake up in reality. Or does he still have anything important in that place that he would leave you here in this world alone after all the sacrifices you had made?"
Han Ya understood the words of Lan She and Chu Mo. He knew that no players had chosen to return to reality. Their bodies in that realm had long died. If they wanted to leave the Abyssal world the only way is to achieve godhood and get permission to the heavenly laws to move through space. But even then, it is impossible to stay in the real world forever.
But as someone who was born in the peaks of the authority of this world, Han Ya knew about the creator's capabilities of this world. If he could replace the current Evil God he should be able to bring An Yuan back to his world. To do so he needs to kill the Evil God but... If he did that his soul would need to stay in the Abyssal World as the new lord and he wouldn't be able to accompany An Yuan to his world.
On the other hand, An Yuan all forgot about his world when he heard Lan She's words. His thoughts were left in disarray with confusion muddling his mind.
Thoughts of An Yuan, 'If I return to my world I can't bring Xiao Ya with me? What is happening? Isn't he supposed to be able to return there with me!?'
Han Ya ignored all the words, Lan She and Chu Mo, the couple has spouted. Seeing how much his beloved wanted to return to reality, he needs to make some plans for the future. Just to give whatever An Yuan wanted, he is willing to betray the creator who had made him.
Han Ya said with a smile, "Don't worry A'Yuan. You can return to your world. I promise you."
Seeing the smile on Han Ya and the hidden determination within those eyes made him shiver for an unknown reason.. He could also see Chu Mo and Lan She pitying the gaze they are giving him as if they already knew what would happen in the future.