"Brother, are we surrounded?" Seeing Vale's extremely grim expression, Victoria's face gradually turned pale.
Vale nodded: "Yes, it seems our survival space has been extremely compressed. Their levels are too high. My special skill will expire in 20 minutes. We have to hide from them first. Once we reach level 10, we'll find a way to escape this forest."
Victoria nodded. Suddenly, she remembered something: "Brother, what about that sister? She helped us just now."
Vale let out a helpless, bitter smile: "There's nothing we can do. We can't even save ourselves now. All we can do is pray to God to protect her. If we meet her again in the future, I'll make it up to her."
After saying that, Vale saw a cave not far ahead and immediately ran toward it.
As Victoria and Vale entered the cave, they were surprised to find that the inside was actually a long, narrow passage that seemed to go on endlessly.
Vale carefully moved forward. After walking about 500 meters, he came across a fork in the cave. There was also a natural stalactite barrier blocking the entrance, which was nearly invisible unless you looked very closely.
Behind the barrier, there was another hidden passage leading into the small cave. "This small cave is pretty good. It could be a good hiding spot in the future," Vale said.
He nodded, then carefully squeezed through the narrow entrance, which only allowed one person to pass at a time.
Victoria quickly followed. Soon, the two of them were stunned—the inside was actually a bedroom-like space, about 200 square meters in size, similar to a regular home.
"Wow, look here! It seems like someone used to live here. There are even furniture items placed!" Victoria said excitedly. Vale observed the
surroundings and indeed found signs of someone living there. He rubbed his chin and thought:
"It's strange, it seems to have been abandoned for a while. I don't know when the owner will come back. Anyway, we need to temporarily stay here and rest. "
"There's still 15 minutes before my special skill ends. We should kill more monsters before it ends and try to reach level 7." Vale said.
Vale checked the server start time: 0 days, 23 hours and 45 minutes. "There's still fifteen minutes left. I can sign in again for the next day's administrator check-in. I wonder how many points I can get now."
Vale was excited. He remembered that his points were tied to his level, although he didn't know the exact formula.
He did know it was definitely more than when he was level 0, and his special skill now lasted much longer than before.
"Victoria, stay here and don't go anywhere. The faint light from the stalactites will help you. You can take any piece and use it as a flashlight."
Victoria nodded, her pink lips slightly parted: "Brother, go quickly and come back soon."
Vale nodded: "Don't worry. By the way, besides the injury value, there's also a stamina value and hunger value. We have to sleep for at least four hours and take in necessary food supplements, just like in the real world. "
"Otherwise, when the stamina or hunger value drops to zero, it will accelerate the decrease of our injury value."
Hearing Vale's words, Victoria indeed felt a bit tired. As her beautiful eyes relaxed, she noticed her stamina and hunger values.
"My hunger value is 50%, I feel okay, but my stamina is only 15%! And it's even flashing a red warning outline."
After hearing that, Vale gently touched her forehead and hair, smiling: "You're silly, Victoria. Take a good rest. "
"Once you enter a meditative state, you can not only recover your injuries but also quickly restore your stamina. I'll bring you something to eat before I come back."
Soon, a figure appeared in Vale's mind — yes, it was Lora.
"I wonder how that female player is doing now. From the way she used her skills and her technique, she's definitely a seasoned veteran player. "
"And she was willing to help me when I was in danger, even though we were just strangers. If she could join us, it would be the best scenario. But the problem is… her fate is uncertain. I don't know if she can survive from those beasts."
Vale's brows furrowed, his eyes filled with concern and hesitation.
He knew that the situation wasn't just about his and Victoria's survival anymore — it was about finding a way out of the encirclement.
And Lora, if she was still alive, could be the most important card in his hand.
"If she's still alive, I have to find her." Vale said quietly, his voice firm. He knew he couldn't let his emotions take over, but deep down, the care and trust he felt for Lora couldn't be easily suppressed.
The more Vale thought about it, the more he felt he had to go check on Lora's condition.
"If there's danger, I can just retreat. If there's a chance to save her, that's even better — as long as there's no immediate threat to her life."
Soon, Vale returned to the spot where he had left. The sky had already turned dark, and a large fire was burning.
The player who had been wearing white clothes and hadn't followed Lora earlier was now standing under a tree, holding a whip, and brutally beating Lora, who was hanging from the tree.
Lora was covered in wounds, bleeding all over, her pupils were dilated, and she looked like she was already dead.
"Stupid bitch! You're faking death again!" The player said, then he pulled down his pants and urinated directly onto Lora's head.
The more Vale thought about it, the more he felt he had to go check on Lora's condition. "If there's danger, I can just retreat. If there's a chance to save her, that's even better — as long as there's no immediate threat to her life."
Soon, Vale returned to the spot where he had left. The sky had already turned dark, and a large fire was burning.
The player who had been wearing white clothes and hadn't followed Lora earlier was now standing under a tree, holding a whip, and brutally beating Lora, who was hanging from the tree.
Lora was covered in wounds, bleeding all over, her pupils were dilated, and she looked like she was already dead.
"Stupid bitch! You're faking death again!" The player said, then he pulled down his pants and urinated directly onto Lora's head.
Under the irritation of the urine, Lora woke up from her unconsciousness with a scream. The members of the city defense squad, still naked, approached her one by one, forming a line and preparing to release their own pressure.
Vale clenched his fists and cursed, "These animals! Are they even human?!"
In her fear and despair, Lora whispered, "Kill me..."
As one of the city defense squad members was slowly moving toward Lora's mouth, Lora suddenly bit down. In an instant, blood splattered everywhere. The member let out a scream, covering his crotch and then kicked Lora in the abdomen.
"Fuck! I gave you a chance!" Lobin, seeing Lora still resisting, walked over. At that moment, Vale took the opportunity while the member was in pain and cast his curse — "Decay Bone."
The member immediately started screaming, "F***! Boss, my body's been cursed! Get me purified!"
Lobin stopped in his tracks and turned around, annoyed. "Just use a purification item, you idiot!"
The member, in pain, replied, "I can't! My injury points are about to fill up! Save me!"
At that moment, Lobin realized the severity of the situation. He immediately gathered the squad to try to save his member.
Vale saw that the group was now gathered, and this was his chance. He quickly ran to Lora's side and pulled her away.
Plop! In his last moments of despair, the member turned into a puddle of sludge.
Lobin's eyes widened. He finally understood — this was the SSS-class talent, the ultimate skill of the curse style — "Decay Bone."
"Ah, it's that guy... Sophia-sama mentioned he was to be captured!" Lobin's eyes lit up with excitement. "Good! This is actually a blessing in disguise. At least I can give an explanation for my subordinate's death."
Vale quickly brought Lora back to the hidden chamber inside the cave. "Please take this lotus flower," Vale said, pulling out a recovery item that had dropped during his battle with Alice. "This medicine can quickly restore your injuries."
Lora looked at the snow lotus in Vale's hand, her eyes filled with despair. "Let me die... my body is already so dirty. I don't have any meaning left in this world."
Vale shook his head, trying to comfort her. "I understand your thoughts, but you should also know that dying like this means nothing. If I were you, I would tear them apart, bone by bone, and send them to hell in their own despair."
Lora listened, her hands trembling. "You're right... I have an unbreakable hatred for these animals! I can't just die like this. I have to send them all to hell!" With that, she snatched the snow lotus from Vale's hand and swallowed it.
After the injury was completely healed, Lora sat up, her expression soft and grateful. "Oh, by the way, I should thank you for saving me. My name is Lora. How should I address you, sir?"
Vale smiled slightly. "Well, I should thank you too. I'm Vale, and this is my sister, Victoria."
Victoria immediately stepped forward with a warm smile. "Hello, Lora-san. I'm Victoria."
Lora quickly nodded. "Thank you both for saving my life. As a repayment, I'm willing to become your subordinate!"
Vale shook his head. "I don't need a servant. If you're willing, Lora, you can be my second-in-command and join us on our journey to level up."
Lora's eyes widened with excitement. "Of course I'm willing! As long as I still have the chance to avenge myself, I'll do anything!"
"That's great! Now we're a three-person team!" Victoria jumped up excitedly.