Chapter 46: The Hall of Happiness

"The leaderboard keeps changing. I wonder how Rose and Claire are doing."

Reina dipped her slender white feet into the river while gazing enviously at Raven beside her.

She had been working hard for five days, but Leo’s group had only managed to climb into the top twenty.

Of course, she was still very grateful. Without Raven’s help, she wouldn’t have made it this far.

Leo hadn’t contributed much, and Reina had no idea what he was actually doing right now.

Raven, who was checking his status panel, couldn’t help but laugh.

"To be honest, I don’t know either. Maybe they’re off on some fun adventure?"

Reina rolled her eyes. The next second, she giggled and playfully nudged Raven’s shoulder.

"Does that mean you’re being pampered by two beautiful women?"

Raven was taken aback by her words. But then, he smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, you’re right. I’m starting to look like a gigolo being fed by beautiful women. That’s why..."

He leaned closer, bringing his lips near Reina’s ear.

"Hurry up and get stronger so you can feed me just like they do, okay? I’m looking forward to it."

Reina’s body tensed, and her face immediately flushed bright red.

"[Ding! Gained 3 Affection Points!]"

The affection gauge above her head increased from 96 to 99.

Raven simply smiled at the sight.

"Just one more point. I wonder what kind of chest I’ll get. Could it be silver? Gold? Or even crystal?"

Of the three, he was leaning more toward silver or gold.

After all, Reina’s rating was only S, just like Rose’s.

Except for Claire, who had an SS rating, the other two would probably only give him silver or gold treasure chests.

Raven shifted his gaze forward. A virtual map appeared before him.

The map was huge, measuring about one meter wide and half a meter long.

A small gold-and-blue arrow marked his and Reina’s positions, while orange markers indicated the locations of other players. Red markers represented monsters.

Raven studied the map carefully. The names of the locations and the paths were clearly marked.

Even small or hidden paths were displayed on the map. The names of halls the players had visited, as well as those they hadn’t, were also clearly listed.

Raven zoomed out until he could finally see the overall layout of the ancient site where the third mission was taking place.

"It’s huge..."

No wonder the chances of players running into each other were so slim. The ancient site alone was probably as large as a city on Earth.

Meanwhile, there were only a little over 700 players in the entire area.

"Hmmm? What’s that?"

Raven’s gaze was drawn to a small hall not far from their position. He tapped on it, and the details of the hall appeared before him.

[Information]

Location Name: Hall of Happiness.

Description: One of the halls within the ancient site. The place is extremely dangerous, as it’s home to a Level 12 monster named the "Flower Queen." The Flower Queen is a plant-type monster that can release poisonous pollen, causing anyone who inhales it to become aroused. There are only two ways to escape its effects—kill the monster or release your desires with a member of the opposite sex.

As Raven read the description, a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Isn’t this the perfect place for me to find a reason to win Reina over?"

He glanced at the woman beside him with a meaningful look.

Time was running out. Before Reina and Leo met later, she had to become his woman.

Raven closed the virtual map and stood up, stretching his stiff body.

"I’ve found a great place to hunt."

"Oh? Where?" Reina asked curiously.

Raven simply smiled.

"You’ll find out soon."

...

The Hall of Happiness...

A large, pink-hued hall stretched out before them. It wasn’t as spacious as the hall where Tristan and his group had defeated the baboon monster earlier.

Even so, the Hall of Happiness was still quite large, with vines creeping across the floor and winding up the pillars.

"R-Raven, are you sure you want to enter this hall?" Reina asked hesitantly.

She carefully examined the hall. It looked similar to the others, but there was one striking difference—a giant plant stood right in the center.

The plant was shaped like a rose and stood three meters tall, with sharp roots surrounding its stem.

The roots spread across every corner of the hall, leaving almost no place to step unless there was a root within fifty centimeters.

Reina opened the monster’s status panel. As she read through it, her eyes widened slightly.

"Flower Queen? And its ability is to spew aphrodisiac powder?" she exclaimed in horror.

She quickly turned to Raven and urged him, "Raven, I have a bad feeling about this. I don’t think it’s a good idea to attack it. And it looks like there’s no one else here but us, so we’d better just leave."

Raven crossed his arms over his chest and sneered.

"Run away? Where to?"

Reina fell silent. Before she could say anything, Raven continued.

"Besides, don’t you see that over there?"

He pointed toward a pile of weapons and armor lying on the floor not far from them.

"They’re proof that someone was here before us."

Reina swallowed hard. The fact that only weapons and armor remained could only mean one thing—they had all been devoured by the plants.

"B-But—"

"Hah..." Raven let out a long sigh. "Come on, Reina. Do you really want to keep going like this? You’ll stay weak if you can’t face the challenges ahead."

His words startled Reina. The disappointment in his gaze made her heart ache.

Reina steeled herself and nodded firmly.

"All right. I’m sorry. Let’s go!"

Raven patted her on the head.

"Good..."

...

"Argh!"

"It hurts! My skin is burning! I’m sorry! Argh!"

"I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! Please, stop!"

Six men lay sprawled across the floor, groaning in pain. They looked absolutely pitiful.

Some had burns covering the right side of their faces, while the left side was completely charred.

And, of course, the one responsible was Claire.

"Take that!" she snorted. However, she had no intention of killing them.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to. She simply wasn’t in the "kill zone." If she killed them, she would be punished by the test administrator.

The six men breathed a sigh of relief when they realized she had spared them. At the same time, however, they were furious.

"Just you wait! I’ll kill you in the most painful way possible!" growled the bald man on the left.

Before he could even imagine how he would torture Claire later, she walked toward them and slammed her staff into the ground.

"Give me all your points."

Everyone: "..."