Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Amidst the chaos, explosions erupted from the rear passage and the tunnels on both sides.

“Damn it! The gnomes have sealed all the exits!” Kanrel shouted in panic.

With the exit blocked, the fog lingered inside the cavern, refusing to disperse. A moment later, the duration of the Iceflow Shield ran out, and the protective barrier surrounding Starry disappeared.

Fortunately, the Battle Puppet seemed unable to continuously unleash too many Thunder Fists, faint thuds of its punches could still be heard echoing through the fog.

Forcing herself to endure the dizziness, Starry leapt lightly off the ground, narrowly dodging the boss’ attack. A big “MISS” floated up in the air.

Starmew, hearing the commotion, quickly fired an Ice Spike, but the attack barely scratched the puppet. That thing was ridiculously tough!

***

“Those old fools… are they trying to blow me up too?!” Polly gritted his teeth. Once the Battle Puppet finished off those outsiders, he could finally test that thing, then he’d like to see what the gnomes could possibly use to stop him.

Suddenly, Polly’s entire body shivered, something had touched him!

“Huh…? Why is this rock so soft…” Liburi mumbled in a daze, rubbing his head.

That last explosion from the gnomes had been brutal. He had nearly lost his life in that blast, if not for his naturally thick hide, he’d have been a corpse by now. Debris from the latest cave explosion had also struck him, nearly knocking him over. In the choking darkness, Liburi barely managed to prop himself up against a “rock.”

Polly held his breath, terrified that the goblin might notice something off. If he got exposed now, it would be disastrous!

“It even feels like it’s moving…” Liburi muttered in confusion.

‘You stupid pig!’

The clueless goblin pressed his hand along the odd, shifting surface.

“…” Polly almost screamed, Liburi’s finger was pressing right into his bellybutton!

“So springy… I’ve gotta see what this thing is.” Liburi poked it again, curiously prodding here and there.

“…”

He had no idea just how much trouble his little game was causing someone else. Polly fought back the overwhelming urge to strangle him, slowly slipping his hand into his pocket to pull out a dagger and silence this idiot for good.

“Liburi! What are you doing over there?” Another goblin’s voice suddenly called out.

“Oh! Kanrel! I found this really bouncy rock! Come check it out!”

“Stop joking around! That terrifying puppet isn’t down yet! If the hero can’t hold it off, we’re all dead!”

“Uh… fine then.” Liburi nodded and walked off reluctantly.

“Ha… ha…” Pollyy exhaled in relief, panting as if he had narrowly escaped death. He had been this close to being discovered.

***

After about half an hour of trekking, several Lava Spiders appeared along the way but were easily dealt with. Even so, over ten Gray Wolves were lost in the skirmishes. Current survivors were 124 out of 489. Hopefully, nothing else went wrong from here.

As they advanced, the temperature gradually began to drop, it seemed they were nearing the end of the path. By the way, they hadn’t encountered the “Mother of Redflame” that Parcio had mentioned.

It was likely still weakened and hiding somewhere deep inside. Since the Lava Spiders that had chased them hadn’t respawned yet, it explained why the monsters in this area were so few. The only reason they had lost some wolves was because of the treacherous terrain.

Before they knew it, the ground beneath their feet was no longer unbearably hot. A few hundred meters ahead, they could already see patches of wild grass. And— a team of seven players came into sight.

‘They got here this fast!?’

No, that couldn’t be. Even with the time lost in battle, players shouldn’t have been able to catch up that quickly. That meant there were only two possibilities.

First, these players were riding high-speed mounts and had taken a shortcut to ambush them. But at this stage of the game, even regular pets were in short supply, let alone rare high-speed mounts. That was unlikely.

Second, they were top-tier explorers mapping out new regions, and by coincidence, they had stumbled upon the same path the wolves took when leaving.

“What do we do, Zane?” Shiu asked.
“Wanderer, go check who they are. Be careful,” Zane said after a moment of thought.
“Got it.”

Wanderer leapt off his Gray Wolf mount, his figure gradually fading into the environment. He wasn’t exactly a top-tier assassin, but when it came to stealth, he prided himself on being among the best. After all, he usually kept a low profile.

The players ahead showed no sign of approaching; it seemed they were discussing strategy among themselves. But Zane wasn’t afraid. He still ranked second on Wynwater City’s leaderboard, and if any assassin tried to sneak up on him, he would detect them in an instant.

Three minutes passed.

“I see them!” Wanderer sent over a screenshot.

At the front stood a young woman with a gentle, refined appearance, holding a staff in her hand. Floating above her head was her ID: “Fairytale Forest.”¹　

“Fairytale Forest!?” Endless Sea exclaimed.
“You know her?”
“Of course I do! She’s the vice guildmaster of Drunken Fairytale!”²　

‘Drunken Fairytale… That name sounds familiar. Right! Weren’t they the ones who scared off Rainflower just a few days ago?’

“The people beside her are all core members of their guild. I’m afraid we’ve run into one of the top teams,” Endless Sea said gravely. Not even when they faced FleetingDream had he sounded this nervous.

“Are they really that strong?” DumbCitrus asked.

“More than just strong,” Endless Sea said. “Fairytale Forest is the signature mage of Drunken Fairytale. Even among all the mages in the national server, she easily ranks within the top fifty!”

“Uh… aren’t you ranked around thirty?” Nangong asked in confusion. “Why be scared of someone ranked fifty? Besides, we’ve got the numbers advantage, we might not lose.”

“No,” Shiu replied, shaking his head. “You can’t compare the solo ranking’s top thirty to the mage ranking’s top fifty.”

He had spent the past few days studying information about Glazed Lycoris Radiata. Lone players rarely had a chance to shine, especially in the mid-to-late stages of the game, when large guilds controlled nearly all the key resources. By then, solo players were few and far between.

Every major guild did their best to recruit and train skilled players with strong tactical awareness. Those left behind inevitably offended one guild or another—some joined, others quit.

A handful formed small independent groups or chose to oppose the big guilds outright, though almost none succeeded. That was why solo rankings beyond the top five were never as prestigious as other leaderboards.

However, with Dreamscape’s heavy promotion, Glazed Lycoris Radiata’s ranking began drawing attention. Unfortunately, most players only saw the surface numbers without understanding the difference.

“Exactly. These people aren’t like the weaklings from Rainflower. If we can avoid fighting them, we should.”

Just as Endless Sea finished speaking, a warning flashed across the party interface: one of their teammates was under attack!

Looking closely, Nameless Wanderer’s HP bar was already down by half, he had been discovered!

The next instant, the remaining half of his HP vanished completely. Once an assassin’s stealth was broken, escape was nearly impossible.

“Damn it! Guess we’re fighting after all!” Endless Sea cursed under his breath.