Vol. 6 Ch. 30

"You're welcome, women."

"Mom, you have to keep an eye on big sister! The team went straight to the basement at the start of the game."

The game had been running for nearly an hour, and less than ten minutes remained.

Leon needed to notify them immediately.

Otherwise, no one could be sure how complicated the antidote task might be,

and failing it would mean immediate elimination from the game.

"We have to go to the basement to inform the other group.

Aurora, you and Hefei will go with Uncle Constantine to complete the antidote task.

We'll split up so we don’t waste too much time."

Aurora and Hefei obediently nodded.

"Oh, right, Leon. Who should hold this [Roster] item card?" Constantine asked.

Leon thought for a moment and said,

"You’ve already completed five tasks, while we’ve only completed three, including the doll task.

So it’s better for the [Roster] to stay with your group for now."

"And besides, you worked hard earlier to distract the dolls.

Let’s stick to the principle that those who contribute the most get more rewards."

Constantine didn’t decline and slipped the item card into his pocket.

To be honest, when he asked about who should hold the card, he’d been a little nervous.

After all, if someone used the [Roster] to identify him, the Vengeful Spirit faction would be exposed.

Fortunately, the game had just begun, and most of Leon’s attention wasn’t on identifying the Vengeful Spirit players yet.

"Alright, let’s split up and get to it."

"Got it~"

"Muse, be careful~"

"You too, Hefei."

After agreeing on their plan, the two groups left the bedroom.

Leon immediately led his companions toward the basement area.

As soon as they entered, Leon and Muse called into the dimly lit space,

"Mom! Big sister! Sisters, where are you?"

But the only response was their voices echoing into the darkness.

"Let’s keep going. This castle is huge, so the basement must be big too."

"Alright."

Before moving further in, Leon glanced at the countdown on his Memory Stone—72 seconds.

He silently noted the time, in case they couldn’t find Rosvisser and the others in time.

If they lingered too long, even he and Muse could end up poisoned.

The father and daughter duo headed deeper into the basement.

Muse clutched her Memory Stone tightly, glancing down at it every few steps.

Her small face was filled with worry.

"There’s less than ten minutes left. If we don’t find big sister and the others, they’ll get poisoned."

Hearing this, Leon patted her head gently and reassured her,

"Don’t worry, Muse. We’ll definitely find them."

"Okay…"

Despite his reassuring words, Leon unconsciously quickened his pace.

Fortunately, after circling the basement twice, they finally found the "Mom, you have to keep an eye on big sister!" team,

who had just completed a task.

However, the team’s current size perfectly reflected their name—

only Rosvisser and Noa were present. Helena was nowhere to be seen.

"Big sister!"

As soon as Muse saw Noa, she ran over and threw herself into her arms.

Noa’s face showed a hint of confusion. What was wrong with her little sister?

They’d only been apart for less than an hour, and now Muse was acting like this?

"What happened, Muse?" Noa asked softly.

"We… we saw a task prompt. It said you can’t stay in the basement for more than an hour,

or you’ll get poisoned. Now… now… hmm—"

Muse spoke quickly, lowering her head to pull out her Memory Stone,

only to panic even more.

"There’s less than three minutes left. We have to get out of here, big sister!"

"Alright, wait a moment. Mom, hasn’t Helena come back yet?"

Noa turned to look at Rosvisser.

Rosvisser shook her head. "No, I don’t know where she went."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "You split up?"

"Yes, the basement is so big, so we agreed to split up to complete tasks faster.

After finishing one task, we were supposed to meet back here," Rosvisser explained.

"But it’s been over half an hour, and Helena still hasn’t returned."

"Maybe Helena was eaten by a ghost!" Muse raised her hand to offer her theory.

"You all leave the basement first. I’ll go look for Helena," Noa said, turning to leave.

But Muse grabbed her tail and pulled her back.

"No, big sister! You’re almost out of time. You’ll get poisoned!"

"Helena hasn’t come back yet," Noa said, her voice tinged with concern.

"But she doesn’t know about the task prompt. What if she—"

"Noa, the safest option right now is for all of us to leave together," Leon interjected.

He crouched down to meet Noa’s gaze and continued,

"Look, there’s less than ten minutes left. In that short amount of time, there’s a high chance you won’t find Helena, let alone get her out of the basement.

If that happens, you’ll both end up poisoned. How will you complete the antidote task then?"

"But if we leave now and wait for Helena near the basement exit, her bracelet will warn her once she’s poisoned.

She’ll come out to look for the antidote task herself, and by then, we’ll only need to complete one antidote task to solve everything."

"This way, we save time and ensure everyone’s safety. Don’t you agree?"

Noa mulled over her father’s words before nodding. "Alright."

Noa was clever and definitely capable of leading a team as a field commander for the dragon squad.

But sometimes, when it came to Helena, her judgment clouded, and she became stubborn.

Fortunately, her father was level-headed, something Noa quietly felt grateful for.

Without him, even their mother might have ended up poisoned because of her.

As they waited for Helena near the exit, Rosvisser stood next to Leon, her arms crossed as she leaned slightly toward him.

She lowered her voice and asked,

"I want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"If the one missing wasn’t Helena, but me, would you have been this calm and left?"

"Yes, honey, I would," Leon answered immediately.

"I’ll give you one more chance," Rosvisser said, narrowing her eyes.

"No, honey, I wouldn’t," Leon quickly corrected, scratching his head with an awkward laugh.

"I’d tell the kids to wait at the exit and then rush back into the basement to find you."

Rosvisser let out a soft huff but seemed satisfied with the answer.

The couple exchanged playful banter until, about fifteen minutes later, Helena emerged from the basement, hopping toward them.

"Helena!" Noa shouted as she ran over to her.

Helena’s face was a mix of annoyance and exhaustion, though she managed a strained smile.

"Sorry, Noa. Somehow, I ended up getting poisoned."

"It’s alright. Dad found a clue earlier that said staying in the basement for over an hour causes poisoning.

Let’s hurry and find the antidote task now."

"Okay."

This scene didn’t escape the watchful eyes of Muse, who stood behind them.

"Poisoned… and then big sister cares about you… In that case, I should—too!"

Leon flicked Muse’s forehead with a finger.

"If you poison yourself on purpose, you’ll just end up giving your sister more trouble."

Muse, with a teary-eyed pout, said, "Got it, Dad. o(〒︿〒)o

Rosvisser walked over to join Noa and Helena.

"Alright, I’ll take the kids to complete the antidote task. Thanks for the heads-up~"

"You’re welcome, Mom~" Muse replied sweetly.

Rosvisser smiled, squinting her eyes playfully. She waved to Muse and Noa before turning to Leon.

She had expected some kind of warm farewell from him, but instead—

"Women, you’re welcome," Leon said, crossing his arms confidently and standing sideways,

turning his head just enough to leave Rosvisser with a dramatic, exaggerated “cool guy” pose.

Rosvisser rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Idiot."

After muttering her complaint, she took the hands of the two young dragon girls and headed off to find the antidote task.

"Dad."

Muse looked up at her father, who was still basking in his "moment of triumph."

Leon placed one hand over his face, covering one eye, and spoke in a deep, dramatic voice,

"O maiden of the dragons~ are you here to thank me on behalf of your mother?"

Muse: "No. Mom already left."

Leon: "?"

"How rude! I just saved her, you know!"