It's so painful! So hard! So difficult!

The flames slowly faded, and the mechanical body shattered into pieces like a pile of rubble. Still looking uneasy, Ba released another stream of flame that swept across the ground, burning the debris. After ensuring it was no longer able to move, he relaxed and slumped over the greatsword.

Blood foam spurted from her mouth. Although she didn't have many obvious injuries, the impact she had just received during the battle was immense, and the energy she had consumed was considerable. She was now not far from exhaustion. If she didn't catch her breath, she might collapse after just two steps.

Fortunately, there is no damage to the important organs. I can rely on my body's recovery ability and it will be fine slowly.

Just as Tomoe was thinking this and preparing to walk towards a clean room, another discordant humming sound was heard. From the end of the corridor, another Chaser appeared in front of her.

No way……

After battling one, another appeared. This was the terrifying power of the pursuers' numbers. The possibility of a collision in this building was already high, not to mention the intense battle that had just taken place. Whether it was the movement or the leakage of magic power, it was enough to attract the next one.

It's only natural that they'll be attacked by a group. Since you've already made the option to kill them, you should also be mentally prepared to kill all twelve. For now, you need to stay alert. After all, they're not very smart machines. Just deal with them the same way you just did...

wrong.

When the other party moved a little closer, Ba immediately noticed something "strange".

The pursuer's movements were unusually slow. Furthermore, its structure seemed unstable, teetering on the verge of collapse. Rather than moving forward, it seemed like a drunkard, pacing recklessly in any direction.

The next moment, the pursuer collapsed, shattering into pieces. Its wheels rolled to Ba's feet, like the fragments of a corpse that had awakened others and hurried away, a shocking sight. And the mechanical damage, as if torn and gouged by a wild beast, was undoubtedly a warning of the impending danger.

Heavy footsteps slowly began to sound. They sounded quite far away, but Baba had no desire to escape. It wasn't that she wasn't afraid, but she knew exactly what was happening.

She can't escape.

Her trembling legs made Tomoe grit her teeth. Even if her willpower overrode her instincts, the urge still gripped her. Suppressing the pain, she stood up, sword raised. She prepared for the unknown danger to arrive, as if facing a formidable enemy.

There are five more steps, and it will appear within five steps.

Four steps.

three.

two……

One!

"Hello, you're here too, what a coincidence! Hey, why are you so badly injured?"

A knight in black armor greeted the other person very nonchalantly. And she seemed to have known that Tomoe was here, so she appeared while greeting him. Tomoe breathed a sigh of relief, put his sword heavily on the ground, and took a breath. While resting, he responded,

"You're scaring me to death! If you were there, couldn't you have said something? I thought something serious had happened..."

"But if we're playing hide-and-seek, we should be quieter. Besides, I knew you were there, so I was already moving quickly. Otherwise, it would have been even scarier."

The sound of footsteps is scary. In her heart, Ba couldn't help but protest. However, she didn't want to say more, and she didn't have the energy to do so. Instead, she lowered her head and started talking.

"You were the one who killed that pursuer just now, right?"

"Well, you did a good job too..."

"Who asked you to praise me? What I meant was, since both of us are capable of fighting, let's act together. The pursuer who was originally acting alone is now being hunted by the two of us together. Isn't the role of this hide-and-seek reversed? And—"

Seeing that Ba suddenly started coughing while talking, Bai Lin sighed deeply. Then, she went directly to Ba's side, put one hand on her back and the other on her hind legs.

"What are you doing? Hey, what are you doing—"

Bai Lin ignored the other party's protests and unceremoniously picked up Ba. He then kicked open the door of the adjacent office and overturned the oversized conference table. He then pulled out a comfortable chair and placed Ba on it. He then pulled out another chair and used it as a footrest.

Finally, she leaned against the door, facing the other person's angry and somewhat shameful gaze, and said calmly,

"You're seriously injured and will hold me back. Once you've rested, we'll proceed to the next step. Until then, I'll stay here with you."

"Didn't I say I'd just take care of myself after I got here..."

"Then what cooperation did you just propose to me? What was the purpose of killing the pursuer?"

"That was a coincidence..."

"Okay." Bai Lin laughed, but her laughter made people feel a little painful. She folded her hands and replied calmly,

Chapter 1102 Hold On

"In that case, I didn't leave you here to take care of you. I just thought it was nice to have a wounded little pet here."

"Varied--?!"

Ba glared and was about to lose her temper when a cloak covered her face.

"You're wearing light armor, so it's difficult to wear any other outer garments right now. Cover yourself with this for now, and put it on yourself later. You use fire, right? Repeatedly burning your wounds isn't a good idea, and it's very painful. Keep it covered."

Bai Lin did not give the other party a chance to resist, and arranged everything according to his own ideas. Ba tugged at his cloak, his tone still full of dissatisfaction.

"You... forget it. It's really not suitable for action in this state. It's better to rest for a while."

Ba knew her own strengths. She had underestimated the power of her pursuers. In her current state, it was uncertain whether she could defeat one alone. While the opponent was a self-disciplined puppet, figuring out its tactics would make it easier to execute. However, acting rashly would only make the situation worse. Prioritize your priorities.

"But you don't have to take care of me. Just go and take care of your own business."

She said this to Bai Lin. Bai Lin replied,

"That won't work."

"I can handle it myself."

"I don't think so."

Every time he spoke to Bai Lin, Tomoe felt a surge of anger. After all, Bai Lin was known for his impoliteness.

"What about El? Aren't you worried about her? Why would you bother looking after me here? We have such a good relationship——"

"Al is very strong."

"What do you mean she's very strong? You've only known her for a short time, do you think you know her so well?"

After hearing this, Bai Lin paused slightly, folded his hands, and then slowly said,

"As you said, our relationship isn't good, so it's natural that you don't believe me. However, don't you and El seem to be getting along well? At least believe her."

“…It’s really unreasonable.”

Ba gritted his teeth and then lowered his head. But Bai Lin's voice rang out again.

"Is there someone waiting for you outside?"

"what?"

She looked up and found that Bai Lin had come closer. The latter also pulled a chair for himself and looked at Ba seriously, saying,

"You mentioned your base earlier, and the organizers just pointed out your race. Were you quite impatient then? If my predictions are true, many members of your tribe are imprisoned in this underground palace, correct?"

Bai Lin tried his best to make his attitude appear more moderate, but his calm tone would still hurt Ba Min's sensitive heart.

"What does that have to do with you?!"

Her tone was a little sharp, just like a hedgehog, and she began to be unwilling to talk to Bai Lin.

"Yes, it has nothing to do with me. But you have to understand one thing. Who do you want to save? And how do you save them? You said you wanted to go back and get your share of the food because you wanted to share it with the tribe, right?"

Just like the tough steel shell, Bai Lin rushed towards the thorns, as if he was not afraid of pain at all. Even though Bai Lin was protecting himself at this time, Ba still felt the pressure. However, this did not make her soften her words.

"Don't get me wrong, the tribe is definitely more important to me, and I won't show my kindness to you..."

"I don't need that kind of thing, but you don't need to feel guilty about showing kindness. It's normal. Most people in this world have kindness. And what I want you to understand is that I don't care about ethnicity or strangers."

"What you need to cherish more is yourself. If you fall, you won't be able to save the people you want to save. Know your own abilities and don't push yourself too hard."

These words coming out of Bai Lin's mouth didn't seem very convincing. Forced concern didn't make Ba feel warm, but she also knew that Bai Lin didn't say these words just to make her happy.

"You don't need to say more. I have my own judgment."

She turned her head away and immediately heard a burst of chuckles that irritated her. Then, Bai Lin spoke in a more relaxed tone,

"Have you ever had a drink?"

"No...but I've heard of it. What's the matter? I don't have time for small talk."

"Just now, while we were eating, I gave that uncle a can. In their place, it's normal for office workers to drink and relax after get off work. But do you remember what he said?"

Ba was a little oblivious and shook his head.

"He said he couldn't drink because he had unfinished business, and he admitted he wasn't someone who could resist temptation. But after taking a sip, his tense breath snapped. This is a form of self-awareness."

"At the same time, even that good-for-nothing uncle has the determination to hold on and see things through to the end. It shows that determination is an important condition for success. Perhaps holding yourself to your limits is the right choice..."

"However, you also need to know what to resist and what to ignore. You show kindness to the world, but the world may not be kind to you in return. But what if it does have some kindness? Don't push yourself too hard."

After saying that, Bai Lin stood up and walked back to the door where she was. Ba's eyes flickered, as if she was thinking about what Bai Lin had just said. Her face was a little stiff, as if she had been holding that expression for too long and couldn't smile anymore.

"At least you don't seem like someone who would simply help others."

After a long while, she finally managed to say this. Bai Lin ignored her. It was rare for him to take care of the wounded without saying anything back, and he stood at his post honestly.

Some time later, the two embarked on their journey. Tomoe approached Hakurin about stealth techniques that would keep him hidden from his pursuers, as Hakurin had seemingly taken down his opponent from the shadows, without engaging in direct combat. Hakurin generously shared his knowledge, but Tomoe quickly realized he couldn't learn it.

So, under Ba's slight anger, they changed to an efficient strategy where Ba attracted the enemy from the front and Bai Lin took the opportunity to cut in.

Throughout this process, Ba was often inwardly amazed by Bai Lin's sudden attacks. If the Pursuer's attack was purely mechanical, Bai Lin was simply a more powerful humanoid Pursuer, but with an even greater savage brutality. While ferocious in wreaking havoc, he always executed his opponent with just the right amount of force, never using a single ounce of excess.

The calculations are more precise than machines, but the performance seems like animal instinct.

Chapter 1103 Clearance

Only after reaching this point did she finally realize how powerful Bai Lin was. Despite this, Ba's contribution was no less.

After all, the sooner they killed these damned pursuers, the sooner they could ensure everyone's safety. After a long while, all twelve pursuers had been eliminated by the two of them, completely turning this hide-and-seek farce around. Exhausted, Bachui sat on the ground, leaning against the wall, breathing heavily.

"This is the twelfth channel. We've finally finished processing it..."

"Yeah, they're here too."

Bai Lin looked towards the intersection and saw Katie leading the uncle out from the corner at the right time.

"Did you handle it smoothly? You must be exhausted."

"Fortunately, everything is easy."

Hearing Katie's question, Bai Lin replied,

"I didn't tell you, but you and I don't know. Come, Miss Ba, have some water?"

Katie took the water from Bai Lin and handed it to Ba. Ba took a sip and thanked him. The uncle following behind him still looked a little frightened.

"Are we really safe? Can we really get out? There's so much broken debris here. Have you... dismantled those robots?!"

His tone was extremely shocked, and Katie added on behalf of the uncle,

"The uncle is quite courageous. Although I told him to hide and wait for me just outside the door, his position wasn't very good at first, and he didn't have enough time to hide in a suitable place. So, he thought of using his familiarity with the terrain to make his pursuer fall out of the building."

"It seems like a failure?" Bai Lin took over the conversation.

"That's right. After falling out of the window, the pursuer sprouted spider-like limbs and climbed up. He really has a lot of strange abilities. Yeah, so I arrived just in time and used space magic to take him and hide for a long time. As soon as I realized that your situation was over, I came out."

Katie continued to speak, glancing at the uncle.

"Honestly, I didn't expect the uncle to be so brave. He was worried about you two even when he was hiding, and he said he wanted to go out and help... He's really impressive."

"But, I really didn't expect you two to act together. I was really worried about Ms. Tomoe. I'm so glad that everyone is okay."

Logically, Katie Pello's words had a number of problems. However, magic in this world was inherently varied, and Tomoe was well aware of this, so she didn't dwell on it. She simply stood up after resting, looking at the smiling man, then at the others who had peacefully navigated this.

When I think about the comments I made before joining this game about taking care of myself, I clearly said them to heighten everyone's tension. But now it seems like no one has changed.

It was I, who was the harshest in words, who seemed to be hurt the most.

Ba Fue, I didn't know where to begin. At the end of the day, everything was fine, which was good enough.

Afterwards, the organizers only distributed a small amount of food and water to everyone. Although the game was not difficult for everyone, it was still very difficult, and Ba expressed strong dissatisfaction with this.

However, it is not much if divided equally, but as a reward for her alone, it is a bit generous.

"Uncle also eats our food. We have no shortage of food and water here. Maybe it was really put there for you alone. Just take it and don't think too much. Al and I are full and the whole family is not hungry. You are the only family that needs to take something back."

Bai Lin rejected Ba's proposal to split the property equally, giving this response. No matter what Ba said, Bai Lin continued to joke around while sticking to his own opinion. After that, the four of them continued to walk together.

During this time, in addition to exploring the maze, they also played many games together, gradually forming a basic understanding between them. At the same time, Tomoe also felt something strange.

It wasn't like she hadn't traveled with others before. Some had betrayed the group without a second thought for their own gain, while others had faced everything wholeheartedly only to end up dead. She had never seen these seemingly kind people handle these games so effortlessly.

The game clearly didn't seem much different in terms of difficulty, but how could it feel so different? Tomoe wasn't sure. Perhaps it was because their abilities were so comprehensive, they were able to take others into consideration during the game. He had the ability alone, but he couldn't possibly lead an uncle through the game like that.

To put it bluntly, she had never been so deep into the maze, and it was only with the uncle's guidance that she could walk so easily.

Finally, the three of them arrived in front of a strange door. Her intuition told her that this would be the final game. Ba stopped, stood still, and said,

"Let's part ways now."

"Well, what's wrong?"