Seeing the item's drastic effect, Alab and Althea shared a high-five as they leaped in the air.
Finally, they secured an S-grade item. Aside from this meant a big chance of survival, they could also secure higher-grade items through its aid.
With minutes wasted on their celebration, Alab revealed a grim look as they now had to decide who will hold the item.
Althea of course saw the sudden change in his expression. She uttered, "Really? Do you think I could use a sword, bro?", she smirked.
It was clear that they had developed a deeper friendship. Althea was too comfortable to even call him by a nickname.
"What???! B--bro?! Really? That sucks, siz!", Alab teased in return.
Having realized that Althea could not use a sword, Alab then clenched the item tightly, ensuring that it would not slip out of his hands.
'I shall use this sword to help in upcoming fights', he pondered as he was not able to assist earlier. Once again, his powerlessness was highlighted.
Althea revealed a relieved expression after seeing that the usual vigor in Alab's face had returned. She entrusted the sword to Alab knowing that he wouldn't run away with it.
The two then walked away from the area, not knowing just how much trust they had built in that short time.
—--
On their way, Alab checked the remaining number of players and available items.
[Remaining players: 460 -> 98]
[The available items at the moment are:
F(Rank) - 1 -> 1(number of available item/s)
SSS - 3 items
SSS - 3 -> 2 items
SS - 5 -> 0 item
S - 25 -> 13 items
A - 103 -> 54 items
B - 67 -> 67 items
C - 68 -> 67 items
D - 3 -> 0 item
E - 191 -> 189 items] (one of the two items is the destroyed [Rusty Sword] of Alab)
The number of items had dwindled too much. Alab was fixated on the remaining 2 SSS-grade items and 13 S-grade items.
He was currently in possession of an S-grade item and that meant that there were only 15 items above A-rank remaining!
The battle for the remaining item had now become intense with an unproportional number of players. Twelve items just wouldn't suffice for 98 surviving players.
Alab looked at the F-rank item, just as what his intuition was telling him, it was still in the deeper part of the forest.
'Why is an F-grade item placed in a dangerous part?', he wondered.
As they continued to walk deeper, they were met with a surrounding that was way more gloomy than earlier. It felt like they had crossed another world as the ambiance had changed drastically.
The trees had become more diverse in color. The climate above seemed to brew a storm in wait for their arrival. For that reason, the sunlight was obstructed to pass through, producing a shaded area.
'It's giving me an eerie vibe', Alab thought as he looked at Althea.
She was now fidgeting once more with her dress as her skinny body trembled lightly. Seeing this, Alab patted her on the shoulder.
"It's fine, we are stronger now, remember?", he comforted as he pointed his S-grade sword upfront.
Althea looked at him as she gradually plastered a smile. With a nod, they finally stepped foot in the Inner part of the wilderness.
—---
In the inner part of the wilderness, Hiraya streaked from tree to tree as she suppressed her steps from making noise. Beside her were 7 other girl players with a common goal… stealing the SSS-grade item.
They were now chasing the 'innocent' girl who had a slip of the tongue earlier.
As they tailed the girl, they had been through a lot of hardships. They had crossed the colony of Semanticores who became alerted at their sight. They had been stuck in quicksand and even had to pass through a swamp full of Mutated alligators.
Alas! They were not given a space to breathe as the girl proceeded to run. Her speed became rapid as if the long run didn't exhaust her.
Though wasted, the girls felt relieved as that validated their presumption. The girl was indeed an SSS grade!
Leading the chase, Hiraya hid in a large tree as she saw the girl finally halt on her steps. She scanned her surroundings before she finally entered the cave.
'Is that the location of the SSS-grade item?', Hiraya pondered as she decided to follow the girl.
The cave had a narrow entrance, just enough to fit an adult-size human. The inside was dark as moss overwhelmed the walls of the cave. Hearing that her competitors were about to arrive, Hiraya firmed her resolve and walked inside the cave.
'I will get that SSS-grade item!', she thought with determination.
A minute after Hiraya entered, 7 girls arrived in the area as they panted for air. They were all A-grade players and Hiraya's competitors for the SSS-grade item.
Scanning their surroundings, confusion was flashed on their faces.
"Eh? Where did they go?", a girl wondered as there were no traces of Hiraya or the SSS-grade girl.
A girl among them then walked forward as she looked at the ground. Footsteps of Hiraya were still apparent in the mud, the girl followed the steps and walked for a while until she was met with a dead end… the footsteps had disappeared mysteriously.
Confused, they were unaware that a narrow cave used to settle there earlier. The girls waited for a while, lamenting their pointless chase.
Meanwhile, as Hiraya lunged deeper into the cave, the space became narrower. She was forced to crouch her back, and kneel until enough time was wasted and she was now crawling on the rocky surface.
'Something feels amiss', she pondered as the cave became narrower once more. She doubted that even with her flat body, she wouldn't be able to infiltrate that area.
"That girl clearly has a big bust than me… wait… shit! I have to go out!", Hiraya felt anxiety seeping into her as she realized her mistake.
The girl was chubby size. Her large bust and wide hips couldn't possibly pass through in this narrow cave. Hiraya was way distracted by the SSS-grade item that she missed such details.
She was hastening her feet as she exited the cave backward, but, she had not to crawl back for a minute when the walls of the cave constricted, squeezing her body.
Hiraya had no space to breathe as she felt her flat chest being compressed by the walls. She felt nothing but madness at the moment.
'Argg—', she wept in pain but no voice escaped her mouth. She wailed longer but it felt that her voice was like a broken speaker, unable to produce any noise.
Horrors overwhelmed her as the surrounding mossy walls reflected countless faces of a girl, her bloodshot eyes looked at Hiraya maniacally as she licked her dark lips.
"KWALALALALA, your beautiful body! It will now be mine!",
Hiraya felt her body being touched in different regions. Her chest was being pressed by the walls, and her bottom was being groped by a fat hand.
"KWALALALA!"
At this moment, Hiraya stopped struggling. She didn't know how but she felt that fighting would be pointless…
Tears just evacuated her eyes as her body was continuously assaulted by a lustful hand. Her feet moved involuntarily as they were stretched open.
In her mind, a silhouette of a man appeared in a split second. She didn't know why but she felt a connection with that person somehow.
She desired to struggle but something deep in her mind was stopping her. It was a memory that she had repressed.
'Fighting won't save me…', her burrowed memory told her as she succumbed to her misery.
But, as something rough was about to caress her private part, a deafening shout from a boy and a girl came piercing her ears.
"Wahhhh!!!! Run, Althea! Run!!!", it was the voice of Alab.
On his side was Althea that was running with her tongue out. She was exhausted beyond words but she could not stop cause behind them, a humungous skeleton monster was in the chase.
"Bro, I don't think I can run anym—"
"Do you want me to carry you? Siz?!"
"Ah… no, I can run just fine"
The two kept running. It was a wonder how could they find a space to talk while being chased to death.
In front of them was an open area with a group of girls who had scattered into the wilderness upon seeing the monster.
As they were about to trample on the open area, two girls appeared out of nowhere. It was a fat girl who was lingering atop a beautiful girl. The latter's eyes were soaked wet from tears.
The fat girl revealed an annoyed expression before she covetously gazed at the beautiful girl for the last time and then ran.
"Tsk, I will get your body soon!", uttered her as she fled into the wilderness. As she was fleeing, her sight landed on Althea. Her heart skipped a beat as a new prey joined her hunting list.
'KWALALA, I will get you too!', she laughed.
Hiraya, however, seemed to have been drained of her strength as she lay on the ground, awaiting her death.
"Bro… I think we should help her", Althea screamed as she ran
"You are so kind, siz!", Alab replied as he threw the sword to Althea who barely caught it.
He then stretched his arms as he shouted. "Take care of the sword for me, I will be carrying her"
Althea nodded her head and the moment they reached Hiraya, Alab stopped as he held her in a princess state. Without wasting any time, he proceeded to run.
"Arghh! She is heavier than she looks! Siz", he screamed.