Outside the dungeon, Soron, the Youth Guild leader, gathered ten of his most elite hunters.

Most of them had Uncommon potentials, including Soron, a [Flame Warrior], a Rare potential awakener.

"My brother said there’s a maze and a lake inside. It’s a slime dungeon."

Soron looked at the back of his other guild members hoisting his younger brother away, his face dark.

"A slime dungeon with a maze and a lake? Unusual. Is that a new variant? Mutated?"

A young man with round eyeglasses pushed his eyeglasses, his eyes under the glasses glinting sharply.

"No matter. We have to clean this dungeon asap. If a gate break happens— "

A dainty woman holding a short staff clad in white mumbled while clasping her hands in a praying gesture, her face pale.

"No worries! There’s no F-rank dungeons we can’t clear!"

A towering guy clad in armour from head to toe shouted, his voice booming like a lion roar.

"Good. Let’s go in."

Soron motioned at the ten hunters and the ten hunters immediately grouped.

The armoured guy and the white-clad woman stood behind Soron.

The others grouped into two and threes, their formation perfect.

Then, they walked into the glowing gate.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

One by one, their figures vanished.

Wongggg.

The moment the eleven hunters entered the dungeon, Lucien’s eyes swept over from the void, his nose subconsciously twitched.

Hmm. These lambs...

In Lucien’s eyes, the eleven hunters’ energy fluctuation was like a bright light bulb, emitting an inciting smell he couldn’t refuse.

High quality.

Lucien licked his fangs and waved his hands, his voice travelling to the slimes, distant and mysterious.

"Go. Entertain the guests properly."

It’s best to do it...quickly.

Grrrkkkk.

The ground and the wall at the entrance shook, repeating the "fake collapse" like the previous wave.

But this time, the hunters didn’t panic.

The armoured guy at the second line punched the air and shouted,

"Light barrier!"

Wooong.

A light dome appeared, covering all eleven hunters inside.

Tak. Tak. Tak.

The falling rocks were all bounced away, not even a speck of dust got in.

"Let’s go." Soron, walking at the forefront, walked deeper into the cave.

With every step he took, sparks of fire ignited the ground.

Tssshhh.

The ground was charred slightly, the burnt smell wafted in the air.

The ten hunters walked in unison, their bodies straight, eyes scanning their surroundings warily.

Lucien saw the grand display right from the start and he hummed.

It’s time for the dungeon to work.

"Slimes. Retreat."

The slimes obediently retreated, vanishing into the darkness without a trace.

As the light from the dome disappeared deeper into the cave, the wall and ground at the entrance stopped shaking, everything returned to stillness.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Hmm, where are the slimes?" The hunter with eyeglasses walking behind the armoured guy looked around, his voice full of doubts.

"Heh. I think they sensed our power and ran away."

A man with one eye patch over his eye standing next to the eyeglasses man clicked his tongue, his fingers twirled two guns in both hands.

Click. Click.

The guns floated midair, rotating 360° without a dead angle.

Grrrkkkk.

As the group walked deeper, the wall narrowed, and the group once again fell into one straight line.

"So this is the maze."

The eyeglasses guy behind the white-clad woman murmured, he squeezed to the front and nudged Soron.

"This is my specialty."

"Mmm. Go on."

The eyeglasses man stepped to the front and made a circle gesture in the air.

"Adventurer’s Guide, "

The young man murmured and the next second, a compass and a map appeared out of thin air, the compass’ needle rotated several times before pointing in one direction.

The map was dark but lines of walls slowly appeared, exactly the same as the surroundings.

Grrkkk.

As the wall moved, the wall on the map also moved, exactly the same to the beat.

"This way!"

The eyeglasses guy shouted and the hunters followed through.

Grrkkk.

The wall narrowed, trying to separate the hunters, but...

Bump.

The light barrier held the wall back.

Pssskkk!

Sparks appeared and the barrier flickered, yet it didn’t break.

"Go faster! The barrier is cracking!" The armoured guy yelled and those behind sped up silently, their movements in sync.

"Turn left! Turn right! Stop! Turn around! Go, go, go!"

Under Lucien’s watch, the eyeglasses guy’s compass and map accurately found the right path, no matter how many times the walls changed!

In less than several minutes, the group had already crossed half the maze without losing a single member.

Lucien frowned.

These hunters were more capable than he thought.

But...

The real stage isn’t here.

Lucien’s fingers danced in the air.

Grrrkk...

The maze didn’t forcefully squeeze the barrier, just grinding it bit by bit until the group felt a breeze of wind.

The eyeglasses guy shouted,

"The exit is here! Be careful!"

The wall might suddenly slam down heavily, who knows?

The hunters rushed out with all of their might—

The wall didn’t follow.

On the contrary, the wall moved back, yielding, creating...

A space for them.

It was welcoming the guests.

Crack!

Right after the hunters left the maze, the barrier broke into pieces, the light shimmering on their surroundings.

Shaaa...

The eleven hunters were unharmed, but instead of feeling happy, everyone frowned, a sense of danger hit their heart.

"Strange. The maze wasn’t as difficult as the young master said."

A young woman with short black hair spoke, the chains around her waist rattled noisily.

"But Feya died there."

A man with a bandage covering his eyes frowned, he carefully felt the tremor at the maze behind him and his face darkened.

"The walls didn’t even try to move."

It didn’t chase after them desperately or anything.

Could the walls be so...adaptive?

Unless...

"Someone is controlling it."

Soron’s words sent a chill down everyone’s spine and they looked at the vast, dark lake in front of them with even more vigilance.

Could this lake also...be created by "someone"?

"Be careful. The four hunters are all wiped here, " Soron added in a cold voice.

The hunters were silent for a split second before a woman with green hair and leaves dangling on her hair stepped forward, her bark-like skin noticeable even in the dark.

"Soron. I’ll go."

"What? You— "

The green-haired woman walked forward, Soron’s hand brushed the back of her palm and she squeezed his hand briefly.

"I got this."

The woman closed her eyes and stretched both of her hands forward.

WOONGGGG.

A green light appeared from her hands and a tiny seed appeared out of thin air.

Swish.

The woman dropped the seed into the ground.

"Rapid Growth."

Grrrkkkk.

The seed quickly grew into an arm-thick vine dancing in the air like a snake.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Immediately after, she used the second skill—

[Vine Craft]

"Go!"

The vine immediately dived into the lake and more vines grew from the seed, quickly assembling and stretching far across the lake.

Ripple. Ripple.

The vines touched the water surface and brushed against blue figures.

Sizzle.

Black viscous liquid stuck to the vine, the smell of burn and char slowly spread.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The charred vine still stretched into a straight line, both ends anchored deep to both shores.

A simple plank appeared in sight, swaying slightly above the water.

Soron was the first to step forward but—

Burn.

The fire sparks on his feet charred the vine slightly.

!

Soron’s expression sank.

He patted a white-haired guy on the shoulder, his voice shaking.

"Use your skill. I’m sealing mine."

The fire on his heels disappeared.

A ball of burning flame gathered in Soron’s chest, sweat dripped down his forehead.

The white-haired guy paused for a split second before he nodded.

"Yes, guild leader."

[Blinding Mist]

Fweet!

The white-haired guy whistled and a thick mist slowly covered the hunters along with the rest of the vine plank.

Shaaa...

Only white and grey remained, nothing else in sight.

"Let’s go," The white-haired guy whispered, leading the entire hunters to step into the vine plank carefully.

The hunters’ visions were blocked by the mist, all eyes fixed on their own feet.

The white-haired guy’s eyes pierced through the mist, gaze scanning the water warily.

Step.

Ripple.

The water below splashed slightly, but the vine plank only swayed slightly.

"Safe. Walk carefully, " The white-haired guy whispered and the mist slowly moved along with the hunters.

Lucien at the throne room saw the whole scene and his temple twitched, lips pursed.

Very well. The guests want to play longer.

Then...

A sharp glint flashed in Lucien’s four eyes.

"Royal guards."

The four elite slimes hiding deep in the lake paused.

They instinctively lowered their heads slightly as the deep voice echoed in their minds.

"We have...special guests."