(This chapter wasn't originally planned; I intended to just mention it briefly. However, seeing that some readers seemed interested yesterday, I added it as a last-minute addition. It's not within the author's area of expertise, so if you find it too drawn out, you can treat it as a side story or skip to the next chapter; it won't affect your reading experience.)
"Enter through the third door."
"Good luck, brave young men."
The boss had a faint smile on his face. Two pale, bony fingers under his long sleeves touched lightly, and a barely perceptible stream of magic shot towards the hidden teleportation array below the door.
At the same time, the challengers excitedly pushed open the door and entered.
After a brief period of slight dizziness.
The group appeared in a graveyard filled with corpses.
"Is...is this house really that big?" A blond boy looked around the empty space, somewhat puzzled.
“Maybe so, but that’s not the point. Didn’t you see the ground? They’re all armless corpses!” another person said nervously.
"Tch, two cowards. Isn't the mission to find the hidden arm?" a red-haired woman said dismissively.
She had just ripped the bones of real undead, so these motionless corpses couldn't scare her at all.
"Alright, time is limited, let's hurry and find clues, the Medal of Heroes awaits us!"
Encouraged by the red-haired woman, the group reluctantly mustered their spirits and began to cautiously investigate.
Half an hour later.
"ah!"
"ah!"
Two screams rang out at the same time.
The crowd rushed towards the sound and saw a huge tombstone. The blond man stumbled out, pointing angrily at a black creature with a severed arm behind him, and said, "What are you yelling about!"
"What's going on?"
"I was rummaging through the corpses when I saw a shadow behind the tombstone. I looked through it and saw this weird, inhuman thing squatting there muttering something. It scared me half to death, and it was even shouting louder than me," the blond boy grumbled.
Everyone looked over.
It was a black undead, muscular and covered in wounds, with its right arm severed at the root.
He seemed very nervous, glancing at his palms from time to time.
The red-haired woman curiously tiptoed over and glanced at it; it seemed to be a line of text.
Upon seeing the other person's severed arm, it dawned on him.
This should be the NPC for this scene, but he's clearly not as experienced as the skeleton from the previous challenge. He hasn't even memorized his lines yet, and he doesn't look scary at all.
The others understood as well. After a brief discussion, one of them stepped forward and mustered his courage to ask, "Hello, is there anything I can do to help you?"
"Brave warriors, an evil monster has stolen our arms. Can you help me get them back? I will offer you my Medal of Heroes as a reward."
The black undead spoke haltingly, taking out several exquisite medals from its hand.
"Of course, that's our goal."
Everyone looked at the medal with excitement and quickly asked, "Where is your arm?"
"Maybe to the west, there's a monster there that likes to stuff things into its belly, and it might have eaten my arm."
"It might be in the north, where there is a greedy monster that loves to collect all kinds of treasures. Maybe it has hidden my arm."
"Hmm... If you really can't find it, go south. There's a generous monster there with eight heads. You can make it offer one of its heads as my arm."
"Please, you must help me," the black undead pleaded.
"It's still a multiple-choice task."
"It sounds weird, but it feels kind of familiar."
"Alright, there are exactly six of us. Let's split into pairs and each go in a different direction," the red-haired woman instructed.
Soon, the group assigned tasks and headed towards their respective destinations.
"Can you smell an increasingly strong stench of decay?" the blond boy asked anxiously.
"A little." The red-haired woman frowned. "I should have gone somewhere else with them. I just washed my hair yesterday, and having this smell makes it all for nothing."
"Sigh, that's not the point. I have a bad feeling, like I'm overlooking something." The blond boy scratched his head in distress.
"Never mind that, let's go, finish the mission as soon as possible and get out of here."
The two quickened their pace and arrived in front of a huge tin-roofed house.
Through the open door, one can see that it is pitch black inside, which looks gloomy and eerie.
"Shall we go in?" The blond boy swallowed hard and instinctively took two steps back.
"Since we're already here..."
The red-haired woman was somewhat pale, clearly not at peace with herself, but giving up like this seemed a little unsatisfying.
After hesitating for a long time, she gritted her teeth, grabbed her companions, and rushed inside.
"Hey, what are you doing!"
The blond boy exclaimed in surprise, and before he could react, he was pulled inside.
In complete darkness, the two stumbled forward.
"There's not even a ray of light, where are we supposed to find the hidden arm..."
Bang!
Snap.
Before the words were finished, the sound of the door closing and locking came at the same time.
At the same time, the entire room suddenly lit up under the illumination of the lighting.
After squinting to adjust to the light, the two felt their hearts skip a beat and turned around at the same time, witnessing a scene they would never forget.
A creature about ten meters tall, its body covered in stitches of rotting flesh, had a gaping, bloody hole in its belly, with countless sharp teeth tearing at its flesh. Its upper body had four arms, each holding a monstrous weapon.
It appeared at the gate without anyone noticing, skillfully locked the gate, and revealed a terrifying smile.
"Are you here to participate in the battle royale?"
The abhorrent creature excitedly patted its belly and strode forward: "Run away as you please!"
The two of them felt their legs go weak and almost collapsed to the ground. Their lips moved, but they couldn't utter a word.
Hatred stopped in his tracks, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.
This was his first day on the job.
According to the training, these ordinary people should run away when they see him, so he follows behind them at a leisurely pace, providing emotional value.
Occasionally, throw them a kitchen knife or a bone chain to provoke them.
Now these two are completely still. What should we do? We've never encountered this before.
The Grim Reaper said we must not harm these mortals, so... how about we go easy on them?
Thinking of this, the abhorrent and benevolent grinned, casually tossing aside the ferocious weapon in its hand. It then lowered its head, rummaging through its belly with its hands, and walked towards the two of them, intending to give them the items to clear the level directly.
Flesh and bones kept seeping out of the huge belly hole.
The two, already terrified, watched as the monster with a ferocious grin walked towards them, and couldn't help but recall what the black undead had said earlier.
"There's a monster there that likes to stuff things into its belly...it wants to stuff us into its belly..."
Oh no, I'm going to be eaten...
Thud... Thud...
As the monster drew closer, the two felt their hearts pounding faster and faster. Suddenly, everything went black, and they collapsed to the ground with a thud, unconscious.
The abomination, which had been eager to approach, froze, somewhat at a loss, and pulled its belly in, trying to cover its sharp teeth.
Then, as if remembering something, he hurriedly banged on the magic circle on the wall.
A flash of light, and two healing angels appeared.
They glanced at the abomination with disdain, then flew in front of the two and raised their hands to release two healing spells.
...
Half an hour later, at the original location, the six people slowly woke up.
"Huh, how did I end up back here again?"
"Don't even mention it. I was already terrified when I saw a dragon's corpse, but I mustered up my courage to go treasure hunting. And then, guess what happened?" a man said with lingering fear. "The dead dragon's eyes suddenly opened, and it just stared straight at me. And then... wait, what happened next? I forgot."
"Now that you mention it, I don't think I remember either. By the way, did you find the arm?"
"No..."
"Looks like we won't be able to get the Hero's Medal then," the group sighed.
"Speaking of that black undead creature, let's go ask and see if there's any other way."
"good."
Everyone stood up and went to look for it, when suddenly they heard a violent tearing sound.
They exchanged a glance and quickly walked over, only to see the black-clad undead behind a huge tombstone turn around in a panic, as if hiding something behind its back.
"You're back so quickly? Did you find my arm?"
“No…” The group stared intently at the black undead’s left arm hidden behind its back.
Snap... Snap...
Drops of blood flowed down his arm.
Everyone swallowed hard, their hearts pounding.
"What...are you hiding behind your back?"
"Sigh, we've been found out."
The black undead's expression darkened, and it took out what it had been hiding behind its back.
It was a perfectly intact body. He forcefully tore off an arm, held it up to his own body, and then disgustedly threw it on the ground.
—Just like the corpses scattered all over the ground, missing their arms.
"This isn't suitable either."
His gaze lingered on one person's right arm, and he chuckled softly.
"I don't know if you two are compatible?"
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