A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 166 I Want to Play a Game with You

Inside the brightly lit laboratory, a group of thirteen people were walking around.

"Let's explore this house first."

It was Katniss who spoke. Ever since she took down the puppet with four shots, everyone had implicitly regarded Katniss as their leader.

When a flock of sheep is leaderless, it needs a sheepdog, and Katniss was the chosen sheepdog.

Katniss quickly entered the house.

The air was thick with the stench of blood. A corpse lay slumped on the table, blood pooling on the floor.

"Did he commit suicide?"

Looking at the gun in the corpse's hand, someone couldn't help but ask.

"It's possible, but we can't rule out the possibility that some crazy mage is behind it."

Katniss didn't pay any attention and instead rummaged through the documents on the table.

"Found it!"

"We have a lead!"

Everyone gathered around, except for Gail, who quietly picked something up.

"Today is the day that official is coming to inspect, and finally, we can go out."

It all feels like a dream… Claire? How could this be! Why would someone turn into a puppet!

The ouroboros...it moved! ...Why, why!

...You must remember, up is down, and down is up.

That's all the content there is; the rest is stained with blood and is obviously unreadable.

"What does this mean?"

The logic is broken and it's inexplicable.

"Those puppets are all transformed humans!"

Katniss took a deep breath, trying to remain calm.

She just killed someone.

What does "Ouroboros" mean?

"How would I know? We've never seen the ouroboros mark before."

"I'll write it down anyway, you never know when I might need it."

Katniss and the others then entered exploration mode, shooting down monsters with pistols and breaking down doors by force if they couldn't be opened.

Sure enough, with guns, horror games aren't scary anymore.

However, Jiang Shuzhou's purpose in firing the gun was to give them hope.

That's what makes it fun.

"Let's change the channel and check out Jess's side."

Pressing the button changed the monitor's view to Jess's group.

"I'm really fed up! Please stop chasing me!"

Ye Chen fled at lightning speed.

The sight of him wielding a large machete was particularly comical.

Although he plays a serial killer, theoretically he should be the one chasing others, but now, due to Jess's deliberate targeting, the situation has been completely reversed.

The civilians have ridiculously powerful flashlights, while Ye Chen only has a broken knife; he can kill someone instantly with a single blow.

This is a joke.

Ye Chen originally planned to just give up. Since the teacher was targeting him like this, why bother fighting? Why not just give it to him directly?

However, after eating a bunch of flashlights, he gave up on the idea.

No one can withstand being bombarded with flashing lights!

My eyes really couldn't take it; it was a double torment of both body and mind.

Taking advantage of the moment when control was not fully established, Ye Chen immediately ran away.

Unexpectedly, these commoners turned against the Heavenly Gang and started chasing after him.

How could he possibly tolerate this?

So, after one slash, he was stared at for a long time.

Only then did he realize that he couldn't kill anyone with a single strike.

There was no other way but to seize the next opening and make a quick escape.

"I'm speechless! What did I do to offend this professor?"

"Why are you targeting me?"

Jiang Shuzhou found it quite amusing to watch Ye Chen being chased around by a group of civilians, ultimately failing to overturn the board and being forcibly restrained.

Then when he switched the camera back, he was shocked to find that someone seemed to be dead.

However, it's not a big problem; Jiang Shuzhou can see the past from here.

"Didn't the map say that this laboratory is underground, and that path is the real way out? Why go deeper?"

The man screamed in despair.

"Up is down, and down is up."

"This is an alchemical maxim. I believe the way out is below; going up here might lead to a deeper level of the laboratory."

"The laboratories on this floor are full of monsters; what if we go down to the next floor..."

Katniss advised the man.

"It doesn't matter. I trust my judgment. Besides, we have guns. Even if we go deeper, we can survive!"

After saying that, the man and the few people who supported him walked away on their own.

All the monsters in this laboratory have been killed, so there's no danger anymore and naturally no need to stick together.

"But……"

Katniss wanted to say something more.

"Katnis, stop talking. There are some people we can't persuade."

Gail spoke up.

"We should go and take a look."

Katniss calmed down and then spoke.

"Are you crazy? What are we going to do?"

"Let's go see if they really went out."

"Perfect, they can scout the way for us."

"Bang bang bang!"

"Aaaaaah!"

After a burst of gunfire and screams, everything fell silent again.

Everyone carefully pulled out their guns and then slowly walked towards the ground exit.

Glug glug.

Five human heads rolled down from above.

Those were the five people who left the team.

Katniss stared at the head, speechless for a long time.

"Do you really think that having a gun means you're fearless?"

Jiang Shuzhou leaned back lazily in his chair.

Katniss was right; the path marked "Second Entrance" leading down was the exit from this game.

The road marked "Exit" leads to a laboratory further down.

The monsters there are at their peak strength and are not afraid of a mere pistol.

Those five heads were thrown by the monsters under Jiang Shuzhou's orders.

It doesn't mean anything by it, it's just for fun.

Katniss and the others were on their way to the second floor.

Clearly, Katniss might be right; the only exit is the second entrance.

But there is still one problem.

There was a huge monster at the entrance to the second floor. Katniss and the others fired more than a dozen bullets at the monster, but to no avail.

Are they destined to be trapped here for the rest of their lives?

Katniss pondered a solution.

"Katnis?"

"Katniss!"

"come over."

As Katniss walked, she heard someone calling her, but the voice was so faint and indistinct that she could hardly hear it. However, when she turned around, the voice disappeared.

Then, the surrounding lights went out, but Katniss could see a strip of lights that remained bright.

This is to give her guidance.

What should I do? Should I trust the guidance?

"I have a way to deal with the monster, but it will come at a small price. Don't worry, you'll survive."

This is Navis?

Katniss heard Jiang Shuzhou's voice, the man who had disappeared at the very beginning.

"A wise choice; I never lie."

Finally, Katniss made up her mind and prepared to take the gamble.

Otherwise, they would either have to go to the more dangerous second level or starve to death here.

Even if she falls into a trap now, she'll be the one who dies.