Grand Lust Sovereign-Chapter 77: Clearing Floors (2)

Swisssshhhh!

A strong breeze blew above Jackie and Amelia’s heads as the troll sweeped the club.

In between the monster’s legs, Jackie and Amelia slid.

As Julien had instructed, they jumped to the right and without looking back, began running.

To Jackie’s surprise, she found herself running into the right side of a forked path while her master could be seen running into the left one.

The goblins with explosives did not chase them anymore and instead went after her master.

"Oh no… Master is in danger…" Jackie said while running ahead.

"If Master is in danger, why are we running away from him? We should help him!" Amelia interjected.

"We can’t." Jackie shook her head. "If we go back now, either that troll will kill us or the goblin will throw their explosives at us and surround us. Either way, we will die. Master might try to save us and end up dying too."

"What…" Amelia was in disbelief.

"There’s a reason why Master split from us. He put himself as bait so that we can have an easier time!" Jackie exclaimed and dragged Amelia to the front with her.

"Oh lord… why must he do that?"

"I don’t know… just… just keep running…"

As long as they reached the center, they would be reunited with their Master again.

The struggle now was to reach that very center, and Jackie was doing her best to find the way.

Meanwhile…

’What is wrong with these bastards!?!’ Julien cursed while dodging an explosive.

As he had expected, these monsters stopped chasing his companions and instead ran after him when they split. The problem now was that he was the sole person here, and the goblins did not have to think much before throwing their explosives.

There was also a sort-of floor boss type of monster chasing after him.

If he reached a dead end or stopped running, he would die. He had to reach the core of the labyrinth and ascend the Stairway of Ascendance to reach the next floor.

This was a race against time as he had limited stamina and endurance.

’But wait… they are just fifth floor’s monsters…’

’No, never mind… I’m also just a fifth floor’s Player…’

As the realization struck Julien, he ran faster and did not stop.

Though, while in the midst of running, notifications kept ringing in his head.

[Jacqueline Lex Vicross’s Favorability has increased by +1.]

[Jacqueline Lex Vicross’s Favorability has increased by +1.]

.

.

.

[Jacqueline Lex Vicross — Favorability: 81]

[This person favors and trusts you enough to put their life on the line for you.]

[Amelia’s Favorability has increased by +1.]

[Amelia’s Favorability has increased by +1.]

.

.

.

[Amelia — Favorability: 84]

[You are getting closer to being Amelia’s top priority in everything.]

’Wow…’

Julien did not know how their Favorability rose so suddenly, but it was a development he warmly welcomed.

Thinking of them made him guess that they would probably meet him in the core of the labyrinth where the stairs were.

All paths should lead there, unless the two meet a dead end.

Given how he wasn’t with them, the probability of the latter happening was low. It was instead Julien who might meet one and end up getting killed.

Knowing this, he thought, ’I need to do something to lose their tail quickly.’

Julien looked around, trying to find clues to his way out.

He was still running in a narrow passage but there had been a change.

He could see vines growing and the area also seemed damp. This could mean that there was a water source nearby, and a relatively open area.

’However, water could mean danger too…’

He hadn’t learnt swimming yet and there could be water monsters nearby.

As he understood his shortcomings and arrived at a fork, he took the path which did not seem damp and ran away from the water source.

Looking back, he could see that there were only the goblins chasing him and the boss-like monster wasn’t there.

This was good news.

The boss-like monster, due to being huge, had a slower speed and couldn’t run fast enough to catch up to Julien.

Since he was only left with a few of the goblins, the priority now was to exhaust their explosives which they were carrying in a sack.

Julien purposely slowed down and the goblins threw the explosives at him.

He dodged them easily and ran again, then slowed down to bait them.

After a few rounds, when he noticed that the goblins weren’t throwing any more explosives, he stopped.

The goblins stopped as well.

The two had a stare down.

Julien could see a few goblins have their hands within their sacks. They may still have a few explosives with them.

However, he did not falter.

He made a loud shout and ran at the goblin, about to strike them.

Having the tables turn, the goblins were startled and immediately threw their explosives in panic.

Julien knew this would happen and rolled forwards, then got back up and chased after a goblin who’s sack seemed empty.

Slash—!

"Krrrrr!!"

The goblin’s back was slashed and he fell with a thud.

The other goblins immediately began running.

Julien ran after them, but after a few seconds, as he reached a fork, he went in another direction and successfully lost the goblins.

Now, he was in a vine covered passage but the area wasn’t as damp.

Ten minutes later.

Julien found a chest in a corner. Beside it were items like a metal breastplate and chainmail.

’At last! A proper treasure chest!’

He went ahead and was about to lift the chest’s lid, but stopped.

He squinted his eyes, then thought, ’What if it’s a mimic?’

Julien wasn’t the smartest, but was starting to get really cautious due to his cursed background.

This chest may contain something good but may also be a monster that could devour him whole.

It was like Schrödinger’s cat situation, except the odds of there being something bad were much higher.

’What do I do?’

[The constellations are wondering why the Player isn’t opening the chest.]

[The constellation ’Rebel Sage of Heaven’ is yawning due to the lack of action.]

[The constellation ’Eternal Flame of Sky’ has left the channel.]

’Tsk.’

This wasn’t good. He needed viewers in his channel, especially big constellations such as these who could spend a lot of money on sponsorships.

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’It seems there’s no choice but to open the chest quickly and get through it. However, before I do it…’

There had to be some control over things. He couldn’t blindly do everything and get himself in trouble.

’To bring control, I need something which can be easily done anywhere, anytime.’

He took a minute to ponder over this matter, and as his gaze wandered around, he saw a pile of scrap copper coins beside the chest.

’Oh… this would do…’

An idea struck Julien.

He picked up a coin from the pile and looked at it.

’Yes… this seems good enough.’

A coin toss would be enough to act as control for his misfortunes.

Since he was going to be indecisive on a lot of matters due to his cautious nature, a coin toss would do a good job in curbing down the misfortunes.

’Alright. If it’s heads, I won’t open the chest.’ Julien thought as he tossed the coin.

The coin rolled in the air and fell on the ground after a second.

It was heads.

"Oof…"

Julien felt greatly disappointed. He really wanted to open this chest as it was the first ever treasure chest he came across.

’Ah well, it doesn’t matter. I have free will, I can do anything I want. This coin isn’t binding me in any way, so that means…’

Knowing he was free to do whatever he wanted, Julien went ahead and opened the lid of the chest.

Swoooosshh!

Tentacles erupted from the chest and coiled Julien’s body, holding him tightly in place.

"Fuck!"

He should’ve listened to the coin!