T0 Gaming Guild Saves the World.

Chapter 23. It was truly worth dying for.

5 [Selectable Avatar Fragments]

Jiang Heyi assigned orange tea. She and Zhong Zemo not only completed the task of luring the monsters excellently, but also survived to the end, providing crucial shelter for everyone in the explosion.

Moreover, Orange Tea itself contains 20 Incarnation Fragments, which will help her unlock this intriguing ability as quickly as possible and broaden everyone's horizons.

Two sets of [Universal Forging Fragments].

It can replace equipment materials of the same or lower quality to complete the forging process.

As mentioned before, obtaining the crafting blueprints for the corresponding set and having them taught to the craftsman will unlock forging. Now that the materials are in place...

Their eyes met, and Zhong Zemo immediately declined, saying, "Don't give it to me, give it to someone else."

His reasoning was similar to what Jiang Heyi had said earlier: the priority should be to strengthen the team's damage output. Even if he forged a sturdy and durable shield to withstand more hits, the others would still be doomed if they couldn't break through his defenses.

"Then you two, one fries and one jailer, will each have one."

Neither the jailer nor the plain fries were touched.

"You don't want anything?"

"I get a lot of materials from regular drops, so I'll save them up first. Once I find the crafting recipe for the Clarity-Bearer equipment, I can just make a set."

The currently available Clarifier set pieces generally possess resistance to darkness and necromancy, making them the best choice for challenging the Underground Temple at this stage. The [Adaptability] equipment produced here, which scales with level, can also be considered endgame gear; therefore, it's advisable to be frugal and continue to hold off on spending.

Seeing that Jiang Heyi had said so, the two accepted the assignment.

While others couldn't help but marvel at Orange Tea's incredible luck, the jailer stroked his chin, his eyes fixed on the siren's torso that hadn't yet dissipated in the very center of the explosion crater.

"Do you think we can take that with us?"

Everyone turned their heads, only to see that the jailer had already walked to the side of the siren's body.

Zhong Zemo laughed: "It's just a scene prop. You can see it, touch it, and pick it up, but you can't put it in your backpack, let alone use it."

The jailer bent down: "You're right, but that's another game. In Proof of the Stars, when something like this happens, you should... hehe!"

It was very heavy. The jailer stumbled and almost fell over after exerting his strength.

"Since nuns' clothes can be stolen and stripped off, there's no reason why this can't be taken. Anyway, nobody else wants it, so I'll take it..."

Gritting his teeth, he shouted out his backpack, and the heavy siren torso in the jailer's hands turned into a beam of light and disappeared.

There was silence.

"Wow, this takes up so much space, there's no room left in my backpack!"

Being able to fit in the backpack means...

[The Corrupted Siren's Body]: The filth of the eternal night is dissipating, the aura of the dead has ceased, and it has returned to tranquility. Perhaps someone will be interested in it, now that it is dead?

The last sentence in the description is quite meaningful.

This thing definitely has other uses!
Without any warning or visual effects, and amidst the rubble from the explosion, they almost overlooked the siren's torso.

It has to be you, jailer.

The death of the Frog-Headed Stitches means that the first level of the underground temple, the "Dust-Cleansing Layer," has been completely conquered. No more monsters will spawn here, and the boundary between reality and illusion will be cleared without any obstacles. According to the map, the teleportation statue located in the Prayer Hall was found.

The second level of the underground temple is the "Defense Level," where the Clear Ones have set up numerous magic arrays, mechanisms, and puppets.

Only a few high-level Clarity Mage resident on the entire floor monitor the operation of the magic array.

Not only Jiang Heyi didn't understand, but everyone else was also puzzled. Why should the dust-cleansing layer be placed above the defense layer? Shouldn't preventing intrusion be the top priority when a large organization establishes its headquarters?

Regardless of the original founders' intentions, given the current situation where the Clarity Ones have been overwhelmed by the Church of Eternal Night, they probably have no way to regret it.

After much hesitation, Jiang Heyi decided to pause the strategy.

They should take their time eating. Their target for this teleportation was the Frog-Headed Stitches. Now that they had achieved their goal, they should take a break and convert what they had gained into real combat power before setting off again.

Jiang Heyi returned to the entrance of the underground temple, wanting to see if Sister Alna would have any special conversation after he killed the first-floor guard.

However, despite it being late at night, Alna did not appear.

"She promised to protect our only escape route, so where is she now?" Zhong Zemo asked in astonishment. "What exactly did she protect?"

Jiang Heyi was a little puzzled. Based on his current experience, it was unlikely that NPCs would disappear without a trace in the game "Proof of the Stars".

Did they trigger some event they were unaware of?
When everyone returned to the Boundary Between Reality and Illusion Guild, the Dragon Girl and the nun craftswoman were still fast asleep on the ground; the intense forging had clearly exhausted them.

"Garlic sprouts."

Garlic Sprout was extracting medicinal essence with the witch doll in preparation for making a magic potion when it heard its master calling it and immediately floated over.

"The guild, can other people visit...?" Jiang Heyi thought for a moment, then rephrased, "Someone like you..."

“I understand what you mean, of course you can,” Garlic Sprouts said with a smile. “You can give the Guild Treasure to the characters you want to invite. They can freely enter and leave the guild with the Guild Treasure, and you can know when they visit and when they leave through me.”

"Is it possible to have a character permanently join a guild?"

"If she's willing, that would also benefit the guild."

The jailer grinned wickedly, "What if she doesn't want to?"

"This is one of the prohibited behaviors in the game, Master. I know what you're thinking. In order for you to continue to enjoy the world of Proof of the Stars, please act with caution."

"Your doll is quite perceptive," the jailer remarked in amazement.

The garlic sprout rubbed against the air and conjured a pink guild gem out of thin air.

The first guild gem is given away for free; subsequent gems require materials to forge.

Jiang Heyi realized that there are some things that the doll might not bring up unless you ask.

The fact that he could become an NPC wasn't mentioned at all in the initial introduction; he only got the answer when he asked on a whim. It seems that harassing Garlic Sprouts is inevitable.

When it comes to who should be given the first guild gem, everyone in the Reality and Illusion Border has the same answer.

……

……

The robbery... oh no, the shopping was during the daytime, and Jiang Heyi returned to Fengjia City late at night.

Leaving the main road of the trade route and entering the dense forest beside it, he was curious whether the shameless witch Mint was still there at this time.

His gaze locked onto the large tree where they had agreed to meet, and after looking around, he couldn't see her anywhere.

"It's so late, they're probably carrying big bags home," Zhong Zemo guessed. "Or maybe they don't believe we'll pay and just slipped away."

"Um~~~"

There was a rustling sound coming from above.

Looking up, on the thick trunk of the ancient tree, a girl with dazed eyes was clinging to the edge, muttering something in a daze.

Do you want [Soul Fragments]?

Just then, the jailer released a light ball. Mint, who was still rubbing her hair and cursing, saw that the people who came were Jiang Heyi and his group, and her eyes immediately lit up.

She didn't care about her image, grabbed the witch's hat and put it on her messy hair, then jumped down.

"They're really back, so fast, it's unbelievable."

Mint looked left and right, and found that everyone was there, all with their limbs intact. A proud smile immediately appeared on her lips.

"Looks like everything went smoothly. My solution worked well, right? Hurry up and say thank you."

Plain Fries said in a flat tone, "You're not planning on letting us come back alive, are you?"

As if she had been greatly wronged, Mint blushed.

Seeing Jiang Heyi staring intently at her hat, she quickly reached out and covered it.

"Is my plan completely useless? Impossible!"

"It worked, but it worked too well." Jiang Heyi recounted the events.

This is what happens in the game. In a real-world context, a close-range explosion would instantly obliterate several novice adventurers along with the frog-headed stitched monster.

Even if Mint were to infuse all of her Unstable Combustion Agents with "ambition," it would be difficult to create a massive explosion that would cause the temple complex to collapse in a chain reaction.

Therefore, during the discussion in the guild, Jailer Bro always felt that there was a problem with Mint's plan.

Hearing about the scale of the explosion, Mint herself was stunned.

She didn't believe that every single potion in her batch was of the highest quality; if they were truly that good, she wouldn't be being chased away by others.

"Wait...you just said that the elemental field was activated in a long corridor?" Mint swallowed hard. "How narrow is the corridor?"

Jiang Heyi recalled, "It seems that the width of the two people's arm spans should be the narrowest area."

Combining the descriptions from others, Mint's eyes widened suddenly, and she looked at everyone at the boundary between reality and illusion with expressions as if she had seen a ghost.

"The elemental mist was triggered. How could you survive with your strength? How could you be unharmed!"

She clutched her head, muttering in a daze, "No, no, no, how could my potions possibly be... but it is, this is..."

"What is elemental fog?" the jailer asked.

"You're a mage, yet you don't even know about elemental mist?"

The jailer replied matter-of-factly, "I don't know, what's wrong?"

There's no tutorial or guide when you enter the game, so how are you supposed to learn about the common knowledge within this worldview?

"You don't understand what 'magic explosion' means?"

I've heard of "explosive combustion" before.

Mint was speechless. She began her lesson in a rare serious tone, like a teacher.

"The elemental mist is a special phenomenon that occurs when the elemental forces are too concentrated and react violently with each other, reaching a critical point. All elements will return to the same elemental sea, merging with each other and spreading like mist."

"Those who are inside will feel an intense burning sensation, and then, with just a little friction, the elemental mist may undergo a violent chain reaction."

The narrow space and the abundant elemental power reverberating and colliding both conditions were met, but Jiang Heyi was puzzled. Wouldn't the elemental mist be easy to control in this way?
“Easy?” Mint exclaimed. “That’s a great power that countless mages specializing in elemental control cannot master even after a lifetime of effort. It’s a mystery that only the highest-ranking mages have a chance to glimpse. And you’re saying it’s simple?”

Zhong Zemo asked curiously, "We triggered it by using your potion."

"Because the elemental fog itself is not difficult to trigger, what is really difficult is controlling it to keep chaining and reacting, and eventually merging together."

“If you want to use your meager elemental power to pry open the fog, try tossing a coin 100 times in a row and get heads every time.” Mint sighed. “I’m using a rather imprecise analogy, since I’m not an elemental expert, but now you should know how lucky you are, right?”

Now I understand... It seems they inadvertently created and witnessed the most amazing magical phenomenon in the world?
Original Fries said, "In other words, when we killed the Frog-Headed Stitches, we accidentally rolled a die that produced enough mist to kill both us and the Stitches, but also the possibility of surviving within that mist?"

"All the energy of the elemental mist was unleashed on the Stitches... This luck is terrifying." Mint was still marveling at this moment, "If even a little bit had leaked out, none of you would have been able to come back."

Thinking back to when they said they'd exchange a breath of good luck from orange tea for a giant firework...

It is indeed one of the most thrilling fireworks in the world; watching it for even a second longer could mean certain death.

"Why are you looking at me...? I almost killed everyone, shouldn't this be bad luck?" Orange Tea couldn't help but shrink back.

"To see such a spectacular sight, it's worth dying for!" the jailer clapped.

(End of this chapter)