End Online: Volume 4 Read Online Free Page B

from!
    ‘He is below level
50! He must be above the average player to be able to hunt here.’
    I reminisce about when I
started hunting wolves, and the treacherous tactics I had to employ in order to
win. Fighting may be about a head-on collision of power where strength comes
out on top, but victory is determined by tactics.
    “Gahh!” A player off to
the other side cries out as a winged gremlin suddenly appears from the wall,
fluttering over and attacking him from behind. He must have been nearly dead
already because his cry was in frustration at dying. Instantly, nearly a
hundred players look over at the corpse with eyes full of greed. Killing a
winged gremlin may give several silver coins, but a dead player can easily have
over a hundred gold.
    One of the player’s party
members immediately picks up the two sacks of gold on the floor when the corpse
turns into mist and disappears. He sends a threatening glare at all the people
around, warning them that if they attack they will be met with steel and
arrows.
    “Let’s head on up.” I say,
not wanting to be around here in case all these players decide to start some
kind of battle royale.
    With all the current
monsters in the hall occupied by the players, we easily pass through the room.
Pushing open one of the doors at the end, we enter into a corridor leading to
other areas. The layout is quite simple; the hallway extends straight ahead,
with doors on the side every thirty to forty meters.
    “Which way now? There
isn’t much point in staying on the lower levels.” I look towards Mason, the
knowledgeable one of the party.
    “We travel straight
through. Then we pass through another hallway on the right. The staircase up is
on the right hand side of the building.”
    “You certainly know your
way around. Have you been here before?” Prince Charming asks curiously.
    “No. I simply did my
research. I know the general layout of the first three floors.” Mason replies
in a mysterious tone.
    Following his directions,
we travel straight to the entrance of the second floor. We encounter a few
players along the way, half of which are complaining about overcrowding and not
finding a good place to hunt. The other half are celebrating all the loot they
received and levels gained.
    “So this is it!” I exclaim
in amazement.
    “Two hours of walking.
This place is simply too large.” Verde lowers her head and sighs.
    The room is easily twice
the size of any of the other hunting areas. A carpeted staircase spans a third
of the room, running in a straight line up to the second story. Large
quantities of empty bookshelves are lined against the left hand wall of the
room, while the right hand side of the room has rows of innumerable stained
glass windows.
    A shiver runs down my
spine and I can almost feel the presence of a pair of malevolent eyes resting
on me. I stare up at a few of the stained glass windows, trying to see through
them and into the endless abyss behind them.
    Unfortunately, with all
the light being brighter inside the room. The only thing I can see is the
reflection of the ceiling.
    “Am I the only one that
feels like we are being watched?” I nervously ask out loud.
    “I’m sure you are just
imagining it.” Verde gives a slight smile.
    “This is a boss room after
all,” Mason says while nodding. “Perhaps you are getting weird vibes from
that?”
    “No. It actually feels
like something is watching.”
    “I have no idea then. I
don’t have any strange feelings of someone watching.”
    With that our conversation
ends. We walk up the staircase and enter into the second floor shortly
afterwards. The second floor is the same as the first floor. The layout of
corridors and hunting room as well as how crowded it is almost makes me feel
like I am still on the first floor.
    The only difference with
this floor is the monsters. This floor has red-winged gremlins and some form of
shadow demon that can hide itself in the shadows and render physical