It was a very dangerous situation for both of them. The woman finally felt like she had captured everyone with her tune and grinned. She swayed happily in the music and danced as if she were a mere butterfly that had descended from the heavens.
Noah and Shane stared at her as if they had never seen a beauty with full breasts and an elegant dress. Every curve of her body was visible as her long dress waved in the air.
This was an enchanting scene, and even if it was an illusion, it looked surreal.
Just then, the tune changed. It transformed from something melodious to a more fine-tuned, dangerous sound. The tune altered so naturally that none of them could tell what had changed.
This tune would have sounded familiar to Shane because it had echoed when Noah was about to choke himself to death back then. But at this point, even Shane was out of his mind.
Their ears continued to bleed.
The music continued to sound louder and louder, making Noah even more uncomfortable, but he didn't even frown. He continued to stare at the lady as if he were watching his lover performing an elegant dance.
His hands raised toward his neck and gripped it. Simultaneously, Shane also repeated the motion, capturing his neck in his palms. After that, the duo started putting up the pressure that made them choke up for air, but they didn't stop.
Things didn't seem better at this point for both of them.
Even though Shane had an astral body, it still had lifeforce or vital breath that needed one to breath properly to have a well maintained body. If he failed to breathe, he might even die similar to how mortals would do.
His lifeforce might end up getting exhausted without regulating it at all times with breathing. The good thing about having a free astral body without physical covering was that one could breathe and regulate the vital force of the body automatically.
They wouldn't need to meditate like mortals to be spiritually energized with cosmic powers.
So Shane was having a difficult time because it wasn't getting regulated, and the remaining lifeforce was getting used up slowly, making his body weak and limp.
Ting.
A familiar notification rang in the background. Shane blinked as he came back to his senses. He glanced at the menu notification as he realized what had just happened. His eyes widened at that.
Not only did he fall into the trap of that old lady, but he was also on the verge of death! He cursed under his breath as he used the tool to control the body and quickly pulled out an ice attribute sword to freeze the lady and the pipa. After that, he stepped forward and rushed ahead without looking back.
Only after running for a while, when Noah got the body back, did he sigh and said, "Keep running. I'll check for the exit."
"That was dangerous."
"Yes, so don't stare at the lady for too long," after saying that, Shane glanced at the notification.
It was a message from Dirt. Never had he thought that the robot would save his life in such a situation. He sighed in relief as he felt gratitude from the bottom of his heart.
He opened the text and read it in his mind—
"I have three things to tell you in response to your queries. First, yes, someone has hacked into the system and turned your world into a severe mode of difficulty. The difficulty can't change, but in return for the inconvenience, I will offer you my help."
"The second answer is related to that. I gave you Kinslayer, created specifically by the boss! How's it?! Isn't it wonderful?! It took him so many months to fill it with so much luck through pills and other stuff I cannot tell you about."
"And third, to compensate you, I've updated your radar system. Now, you can locate the direction of the exit. You don't have to keep searching for it every time you run into a difficult situation. How does it work?"
"It works automatically according to your current condition. If you want to find a treasure and exit at the same time, it'll locate both the things on the radar, similar to how a gaming map would do. Ain't I great? C'mon, praise me!"
For the first time, Shane found the robot pleasing to the eye. He nodded and typed a small reply, "Thanks."
He didn't have time to explain too much. So he quickly closed it and opened the updated radar function.
This time, it showed the direction where the exit was located. The red dot was still there, but there was a small text written at the bottom and the level of the monster—
Lady Pipa
Lv. 10
He stared at that for a long time.
F*ck! How come the level was enhanced so much?! No wonder he couldn't kill the monster! He was still at level zero, and he was already being forced to fight off with a level ten monster?
Damn, he wanted out!
Shane took in deep breaths to suppress the anxiety in his heart. This wasn't the time to cry like this! He had to think of a solution to escape!
At this time, the ice that had covered the lady melted away. She instantly teleported in front of him and smiled creepily. Wrinkles on her face were visible at this time as the tune echoed once again.
"I'm done with this monster. I'd never be able to listen to music after today!" Noah glared at the lady and prepared to pull out a weapon from his inventory when Shane stopped him.
"Wait, I have an idea."
"What is it?"
"How about we pluck out the strings with bare hands?"
"Really? Do you want me to lose my hands and die of pain? Just look at how the lady is holding that pipa dearly!" Noah pointed at the old woman's hands that secured the monster weapon in her arms, "I feel like if I raise my hands toward her, she might kill me!"
It was possible, but….
"We don't have another choice. Or do you want to attack her again? That's even more dangerous," Shane reminded his host of what had happened just now, "She will probably end up controlling us both in the blink of an eye."
"Then find me a better earplug!"
"You don't have that kind of money. I already bought the ones using the Crana you got from the viewers," Shane sighed, "Don't you remember? I can't share my money with you."
"Useless system!" Noah took a deep breath and raised his hands, "You better compensate me after this."