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The three of them, along with one pet, moved through the forest together.

Zane had gained a rough understanding of the situation here. This illusionary realm had been woven by a special monster native to Spiritwood, the Phantasmal Butterfly. Once someone entered the illusion, their consciousness would become completely immersed within it, leaving their physical body outside as nothing more than a hollow vessel.

The instant he had been touched by the Phantasmal Butterfly earlier, he had already found himself inside the illusion.

Treka had immediately launched an attack on the intruders.

That was because another consciousness within her body had sealed her inside the illusion, and in order to eliminate her, it had already sent in no fewer than ten waves of monsters.

However, none of those attempts had achieved anything, and they had all ended without result.

That was why, no matter what, the illusion had to be dispelled first. There was no telling what might happen to their bodies if they were left outside for too long.

Suddenly thinking of something, Zane asked curiously, “What happens if someone dies inside the illusion?”

“…Their consciousness will perish, and the body will become an empty shell without a soul,” Treka replied solemnly.

“…”
‘You’re not just trying to scare me, are you?’

“However, you are adventurers from another world. There may be some differences.”

The system thoughtfully chimed in with its prompt.

“…”

‘Alright, I get it. You weren’t lying. So could you please let me out now?’ Zane’s heart trembled slightly.

“Ever since I entered this illusion, I’ve lost all sense of time… I don’t even know how long I’ve been trapped here,” the Light Elf said with a sorrowful tone.
“There’s no way to break it?”
“There should be, but I failed.”
“What do you mean? Can’t you try again?”
“Follow me.” Treka stopped speaking and walked ahead.

Zane hurried to follow after her.

***

* **Spiritwood.**

The vast forest was filled with chaotic, overlapping sounds.

At this moment, a chase was unfolding across the woodland. The golden-haired, graceful figure had lost her usual composure, fleeing frantically through the trees as she tried to escape the two terrifying enemies behind her.

One of them was a petite and adorable loli who could transform into a wolf. If she remembered correctly, that white wolf looked remarkably similar to the legendary Swiftshadow Wolf. A wind-aspected wolf that ruled over speed.

The other was an old acquaintance of hers, a peculiar swordsman from another world. The adventurer had beautiful, flowing purple hair and eyes like gleaming rubies.

‘Why? Why is this happening?’

The Phantasmal Butterfly should have already sealed them inside the illusion. She could even sense the unique power fluctuations that belonged to the two pursuers within the illusion itself.

‘This has to be a joke. They can both act on both sides at once?!’¹　

Not only that, the female swordsman’s strength far surpassed what it had been before, while Treka herself had yet to recover to her peak state.

Even though there was an absolute gap in their overall power, no matter what kind of attack she unleashed, it was effortlessly dodged or blocked. Bow, claws, magic, none of it was an exception.

Moreover, the sword aura they occasionally sent her way, combined with their control over natural elements, injured her time and again. Each hit only dealt around ten thousand damage. Such minor wounds could be healed with light-element magic, but the problem was— there was no time to cast it. The moment she slowed down, the terrifying white wolf would catch up. Lightning Rush was no mere decoration.

A glint of intelligence bloomed within her deep crimson eyes. There was no choice but to lure them there. It might affect her subsequent plans, but at this point, there was no longer any room for retreat.

Unaware of the enemy’s thoughts, Starry was like a child who had just been given a new toy, constantly experimenting with new skills and forms.

“In just a few days, you’ve changed this much already… as expected of another me,” Starry muttered to herself in affirmation.

***

* **Within the illusory realm.**

Following Treka as she turned left and right and occasionally accelerated, Zane nearly lost sight of her more than once. It really was impressive that she could remember such a complicated route.

“We’re here.” The elf suddenly stopped.

“Here?” Zane looked around at the surroundings. It was still just a mass of trees. Was there anything special about this place?

She did not respond. Instead, she silently pressed her hand lightly against the ground. A gentle white glow spilled out, and as if responding to some kind of signal, the earth within a three-meter radius gradually turned transparent and vanished.

‘This is… there’s another world beneath?!’ Then Zane realized a crucial fact. He was falling.

“Ahhhhhh!”

Treka had clearly prepared for this in advance. She landed lightly beneath the ground, listening to Zane’s miserable scream as the corners of her mouth curled upward. ‘Serves you right for snacking so leisurely just now.’

With a heavy bang as he hit the ground, the damage number popped up.

Fortunately, the damage was not too high. Even with his main body’s 5,210 HP, it was still manageable.

That thought had barely crossed his mind when another dull thud followed. The Frostfang Tiger slammed down squarely on top of Zane. ‘This is going to kill me!’

And that was not the end of it. Starry landed steadily on top of Starmew, and the unfortunate Zane underneath took yet another hit.

‘With only 5,210 HP to begin with, don’t tell me I’m going to die before even seeing a monster! And you too, Starmew, can you get up already?!’

“Pfft.” Treka could not hold back her laughter.

‘You’re still laughing?!’

***

After they had descended, the ground above them restored itself to its original state. It was truly magical. Of course, that also meant the complete loss of light.

Thankfully, there was the Light Elf. With just a bit of magic, she essentially became a humanoid walking lamp, in every sense of the word.

Behind them were solid stone walls, and only a single path lay ahead.

“It’s just up ahead,” Treka said seriously.

‘Don’t think you can gloss over what just happened like this! I’ll remember this grudge,’ Zane thought viciously. ‘Once I get the chance, I’ll trip you up for sure.’

They followed the path forward, and after about three minutes, a stone wall appeared before them. As if sensing the presence of living beings, the stone wall automatically slid apart to either side.

“This is…?”

“This is the challenge site of the illusory realm,” she explained. “Once you enter, the stone gate will automatically close. You can only leave after defeating the guardian spirit.”

“I see.” Zane nodded. “So how did you get out?”

“Obviously by defeating the guardian spirit,” the elf replied as if it were only natural.

“?”

‘When my head is full of question marks, that’s probably the moment you should ask yourself if your response made any sense.’

Feeling a little embarrassed under Zane’s stare, Treka’s face flushed slightly. “Um… maybe the way I defeated it wasn’t quite right.”

“Forget it. Let’s go in and try first.”

If Treka could clear it solo, then with him added in, wouldn’t this challenge be a walk in the park?

As the three of them and one pet stepped through the stone gate, the door automatically sealed shut behind them.

‘There’s a time limit too?’

At the very top of the enclosed space, a blue countdown timer appeared.

‘Ten minutes? That should be enough.’

At least, that was what Zane thought before seeing the monster’s attributes.

Four stone pillars ahead began to release dark green clusters of elemental energy. They slowly condensed into the illusory shape of a spirit.

‘Only one monster?’

“…”

‘Did I read that wrong?’

He looked again. No mistake. Two million HP, over three thousand attack, around one thousand defense, and it was only a Unique boss.

Did we enter the wrong game?

“As expected… it’s become stronger,” Treka said slowly.