"Phew!" Zera dropped to the ground, her arms were sore, and sweat had broken out from her forehead. She felt Nayowmi doing the same.
The platform had elevated high enough for any zombies to reach them. They were all clawing at the moving block of cement, grazing their skins.
But since they were already dead, it was hardly making a difference.
"It's not yet over, is it?" Nayowmi murmured. She was clearly exhausted, and Zera felt pity for her. She had been fighting for survival even before Zera and her friends arrived.
To add, Nayowmi had nothing with her. She held no weapons.
Zera shook her head.
"I don't think it will be over until we reach the last stage."
"Well, damn."
Rejoining her friends after the platform reached the second floor, Zera got to her feet; turning to Naywomi, Zera extended a hand towards her.
Nayowmi looked at Zera, her heart welling up with so much emotion. But the winning one was that of guilt.
Nonetheless, she accepted Zera's offer and pulled herself back on her feet.
"From here on, there should be no more secrets among us. We are going to work together to reach the end. And as you have already heard, we aren't here for the reward. So you can take it home. As for my friends and me, we hope we can count on you, Nayowmi. We need the person responsible for throwing us into this mess to pay."
Nayowmi fixed a determined gaze towards Zera. She also considered the other three, eyeing all of them.
"I got nothing much to offer but the knowledge from the previous stages. However, I think some changes have been made."
Zera nodded. She felt relieved to find that, at least, it wasn't just her who took note of the various things that seemed to have changed in the game.
For her and her friends, there were significant changes. She couldn't really say the same thing with Nayowmi or for the rest of the players.
The thought made Zera feel like she and her friends were a particular case. They had been isolated for a specific reason.
Was it because they were all children of people who have a seat in the government? Except for Jaspreth, it was what anyone could say if their backgrounds were to be revealed.
That had Zera feeling a little fearful for what lay waiting for her and her friends. She and Beatrix combined were already going to stir so much chaos among Hearth.
Add to the mix Astherielle.
Could it be possible that this was a political revolution? Only someone in power could create such a discovery and transmigrate them into the game.
Or was it all some mind game, and their bodies were still lying unmoving in the real world?
While Zera's thoughts got her distracted, the game's system had announced their success in completing the particular task.
[Congratulations, Players! You will be able to proceed with a 5-player team! You will all be given a 10 percent boost for your Health Points, Mana Points, and Attack Damage as a reward. You also have gained five health bars to aid you in the next stage! The Priestess wishes you good fortune!]
Like the previous happenstance, they watched a medicine kit appear and land on the ground, which most likely contained the choco bars they had eaten before coming to save Nayowmi.
Jaspreth gave one for each of them. Astherielle accepted it but kept it aside. Almost all of them did the same.
Only Nayowmi hungrily opened the choco bar and munched. The four friends understood. They just had their fair share earlier, but for her, it was the first one she had eaten.
"Okay, now what?" Beatrix asked, stating the obvious.
Just as the question left his lips, the same bluish line had traced another shape of a door on the exact spot where the previous one was before it vanished.
The five players watched as it slowly took shape.
Compared to the elevator one awhile ago, the new door displayed before them had a knob, and it was just a single one.
Its white color somehow made Zera doubt if it was wise to proceed. But seeing as they had no other way out, it was the only way they could continue.
"Oh man," Jaspreth complained. He eyed his friends. "We better brace ourselves in case we are tossed back out into the zombie fest."
Zera nodded. She had her daggers ready, letting Nayowmi keep her gun.
Moving forward, she was thinking of cursing whoever thought it was fun to spiral people into a virtual game and let them experience first-hand what it was like to be faced by monsters you used to imagine and kill in RPGs.
That made Zera clutch the weapon on her hand tight. Her friends followed behind her.
When they were only a few inches away from the white door, Zera paused for a while. She turned to her team and fixed them with a determined gaze.
"No matter what awaits us on the other side, we must persevere," Zera's heart was actually hammering inside her chest. If she was in the real world, she must be palpitating or close to it like she had an overdose of coffee or something.
Though she was never a fan of coffee.
It never worked for her when she tried it once to keep herself awake for a school paper due the next day.
Instead of making her eyes stay open, she had to fight off falling asleep and pinched herself several times before she finally typed in the last words.
After that event, she vowed never to drink coffee and just keep herself hydrated in place of taking anything if she ever had to stay up late once more.
"We must," Beatrix agreed, pulling Zera back to where she was going with what she had stated.
Nodding her head, Zera eyed her friends, a determined expression plastered on her face.
"Here's to us making it to the end. No one is allowed to give up. Do you hear me? No one."