Chapter 429

“They succeeded!”

Evé felt delighted as she sensed that the lifeforce of Boxlunch and his team still remained strong, even after they had leaped into the spatial rift.

At this moment, while her incarnation was still within the temple in Kenorland, her main consciousness had returned back to her Divine Kingdom and was already connected to the game’s system, pinpointing their exact location.

Through her network and she easily located the blue star representing Boxlunch, and directed her focus onto it.

Immediately, her perception shifted and a couple of seconds later, she began to finally see through Boxlunch’s perspective.

Eve: “…”

The first thing that came into her view was an endless expanse of liquid.

“…Water?”

Evé was slightly taken aback as Boxlunch’s visual perception continued to shake and struggle until he finally managed to swim to the water’s surface.

As his head surfaced through, what greeted him was the sight of a shimmering lake.

In that instant, Evé quickly understood what had transpired after these five players entered the spatial rift.

Indeed, they had successfully infiltrated the mysterious demi-realm. However, it seemed that luck wasn’t on their side, as the exit of the portal had opened in mid-air, possibly above a lake, which inevitably caused all of them to fall straight down into it.

Fortunately, Boxlunch appeared to be a good swimmer, as his vision quickly stabilized, his body rising and falling along with the movement of the lake.

Boxlunch remained still for a couple of moments, catching his breath and regaining his composure, before he began making his way towards the shore.

Meanwhile, Evé could also hear the voices of the others from Boxlunch’s perspective, as they let out a string of curses.

“What the hell?! This is ridiculous! Is that portal cursed or something? It dropped us right into a lake?!”

“That really scared the life out of me…good thing I know how to swim.”

“Wait… where’s Optimist?”

“Shit! That guy’s in a full set of heavy armor. Do you think he sank to the bottom?”

“Haha, this is too funny! That guy just picked up the heaviest armor from the shop a few days ago. Is he really going to be the first player to drown?”

Calabash, Chopin, and I-Am-Invincible splashed playfully in the water, their laughter ringing out as they reveled in the misfortune of their fellow friend. Yet it wasn’t spoken in a malicious manner but rather, the typical banter and playful teasing between close friends.

Soon, their team’s chatroom crackled with the panicked voice of Optimist:

“LaughUrsistah! (What are you laughing at, you idiot!) HurryHalpme! (Hurry up and Help me!) Glug glug…” ¹

His voice came out garbled, likely due to swallowing up a lot of water.

“Hahahaha!”

The three burst into laughter once more.

Evé observed them in silence, her gaze fixed on the scene, when Boxlunch’s raspy voice suddenly rang out, stating:

“Bash, help him.”

“Okay!”

Out of Boxlunch’s view, she heard Calabash chanting an incantation with a rhythmic cadence before casting a three-ring magic spell called [Feather Wings] on Optimist, who was quickly sinking to the bottom of the lake.

[Feather Wings] as its name implies, was a mage spell that could make its target light as a feather.

With his weight greatly reduced, Optimist was finally able to swim back up and quickly float to the surface.

Whilst coughing up some water, he swiftly swam towards the shore with the help of his companions, before gasping in sheer relief.

“Fuck! I really thought I was going to die! Thanks, Bash. I’ll definitely treat you to a barbecue once we get back.”

“Heh, no need to thank me, we’re teammates, after all. But since you’re offering to treat me, then I’ll take a whole roasted lamb.”

“… You sure don’t hold back at all, do you?”

“Hahaha!”

The whole team shared another laugh as they swam together towards the shoreline.

Fortunately, they hadn’t fallen into the middle of the lake, so it took them less than three minutes to reach the lake’s edge.

Once they reached the shore, the entire team collapsed like drenched dogs, whilst exchanging glances at each other’s soaked faces before erupting into laughter once more.

Afterward, they then began to survey their surroundings.

From the looks of it, they were currently situated on the edge of a small lake which is surrounded by a dense, lush forest that was just as verdant as the Elven Forest.

However, unlike the ancient towering trees found in Elven Forest, the trees in this demi-realm appeared to be much younger instead.

In addition, the forest floor underneath was blanketed with a thick layer of dead wood and fallen leaves, creating a rich layer of compost.

“By the way, did any of you hear it? I thought I heard someone shouting from the shore when we fell into the water earlier.” one of the players asked while observing their surroundings.

“I didn’t notice anything. All I heard was you guys splashing around. Maybe you just imagined it?”

“Hmm… maybe.”

“Looks like it’s pretty safe around here. I don’t sense any strong presences at all.”

“Yeah, no kidding. I remember Big Sister mentioned that this demi-realm’s energy capacity is only about Upper Silver-rank at most. So, chances are we’re probably the strongest beings in this place, right?”

Meanwhile, Evé, whose currently monitoring their actions, couldn’t help but twitched her lips upon hearing how they refer to her as.  

…Big Sister?

Regardless, the players continued their conversation:

“I didn’t expect the land beyond the portal to be a forest… I thought it would either be a maze or some sort of special space.”

“Yeah, same here. If it weren’t for the weird sky above us, I’d think we were still in Elven Forest.”

The players idly chatted as they looked around the vicinity.

Evé, whose watching through Boxlunch’s perspective, also saw him glanced up at the sky.

Unlike the sky in Seigües, which is highly similar to that of Earth, the sky of this demi-realm is mostly made-up of a blank white expanse.

Not only that, but you can also see some black cracks crisscrossing this sky like electric snakes, which is rather creepy.

“It’s a little scary that the sky above us looks like shattered glass.”

Calabash commented, clicking his tongue in amazement.

However, Evé immediately recognized what those black cracks were.

“Spatial fissures… It seems this demi-realm really is quite unstable. I wonder if it’s because I tried to force my way in twice before,” she mused thoughtfully.

As Evé mulled over the issue of the spatial fissures in the sky, the five players, on the other hand, have gradually familiarized themselves with their surroundings as they began wringing out their drenched clothes.

At the same time, they continued to chat intermittently, whilst also sharing any findings they had discovered.

“The amount of mana around this demi-realm really does seem low. When I cast Feather Wings earlier, the spell mostly just used my own magic power and didn’t gather much resonance with the ambient mana in the surroundings. Moreover, my current MP regeneration rate feels incredibly slow,” Calabash remarked.

“I kind of felt the same…Also, while the scenery here is just as stunning as the Elven Forest, I’ve been feeling this odd, indescribable feeling ever since we arrived. It’s like something is constantly sapping my strength, sort of like I’m being suppressed as if I’ve gotten a debuff on me…but the strange part is, my status screen doesn’t show anything at all.”

The Druid, Chopin added, frowning as he rubbed his nose.

He then glanced at the others. “What about you guys?”

The rest closed their eyes and tried sensing it, but after a moment, they all shook their heads.

“No, I don’t feel anything like that.”

“Same here, but I definitely feel that strange sense of suppression you’re talking about. Honestly, this place feels really… desolate, even though it’s surrounded by such a lush forest.”

“Maybe it’s related to our goal? Who knows, it could be the influence of the Scepter’s fragment. I mean, it’s part of a divine artifact, so it wouldn’t be surprising for it to have some unique effects, right?”

“That’s indeed quite a possibility…”

The whole team brainstormed as they speculated amongst themselves.

They conversed like that for awhile, but having unable to reach a conclusion, they quickly shifted their focus on their next course of action instead:

“So, where do we go from here? I couldn’t find any quest marker in this whole area at all…”

“Should we explore the forest then?”

“We’ll need to pick a direction first, right?”

“Captain, any ideas?”

As they spoke, the group turned to their captain, Boxlunch.

After thinking for a moment, Boxlunch said,

“Let’s ask Zero.”

“…Ask Zero?”

At his suggestion, the others were momentarily stunned, before their eyes lit up as each of them slapped their thighs in realization.

“Of course! How could we forget? Big Sis—uh, Lady Zero had cast that spell on us before we left so that she could still communicate with us even after we entered this realm!”

“Let’s ask her quick! It’s like having a built-in ‘Grandfather’!” ²

“Idiot! Call her ‘Miss’ not Grandfather! your favorability will surely drop if Lady Zero hears you!”

“A-Ahem…”

After their brief humorous exchange, the players began calling out to Evé:

“Lady Zero, are you there?”

“Lady Zero, can you see through our eyes?”

“Lady Zero, where should we go next?”

After hearing their ‘calls,’ Evé, who was already watching their progress through Boxlunch’s perspective, pondered for a moment, cleared her throat, and was about to speak to give them the instructions they needed…

However, just as she was about to do so, the sudden rustling of low bushes that echoed from the nearby forest, made Evé stop as she closed her mouth to assess the situation.

Whilst being accompanied by a crisp female voice, a group of individuals suddenly emerged into the players’ field of vision.

“Brother Nissia! Those people that I saw fall through the lake are still probably there up ahead! Hurry, come and help them!”

The whole team were left stunned as they watched seven or eight figures step out of the brush in front of them.

“Humans?”

At the same time, the other party also responded with surprise, their voices tinged with both confusion and shock as they shouted:

“D-Divine… Divine Clan?!”

¹ 笑你妹呀 – This is a colloquial expression which could be translated roughly as “Laughing at your younger sister!” or “What are you laughing at, you idiot!”

It’s typically used to express disbelief, mockery, or light-hearted teasing in response to something that seems absurd or silly. Overall, it’s often used informally among friends or peers, and the tone can vary depending on the context.

The raw sentence is:

“翘里类呀（笑你妹呀) ！拐酒窝（快救我）！咕嘟咕嘟……”

‘翘里类呀‘ and ‘拐酒窝‘ being an intentional misspelling (to convey that Optimist was drowning) of the words thats in the bracket. ‘咕嘟‘ is just the sfx for drowning.

² The context is that ‘Grandfather‘ being a wise elder that could guide or offer suggestions.

— 429 —

【 DIVINE CLAN 】

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