My players are too fierce!

Deadly Town, Third Ring Road, Melting Plaza.

The colorful toad used all its strength to run towards the priestess.

He's numb.

He had to dodge the chains the priestess boss lashed at him, as well as the kerosene bottles thrown at him by the strange NPCs.

Even more surprisingly, some shadowy monsters emerged from the horde of corpses that were originally slow to run!

"What is this thing?!"

"Stop it!"

The NPCs panicked. They were fighting the out-of-control priest in front of them, and in just a short moment of distraction, they lost a team member.

The team member was dragged into the flesh altar by the chains, before he even had a chance to scream.

Humans can be distracted, but priestesses cannot.

The NPC, who appeared to be the leader, blushed and ordered his team to hold the priestess back while he personally used his flail to smash the toad's head!

however--

The priestess was faster than him.

A pillar of fire burned him to ashes.

The morale of the other members of the robed group plummeted when their leader was gone!

Completely outmatched, they were called out one by one by the priestess.

[Exploration mission completed]

The toad had no time to process the mission prompts; he was too busy moving around to pay attention to the mission details!

He bypassed the NPCs, the priestess, and the altar, and seeing a crack appear before him, he rushed into it without looking back.

Stopping means certain death, and he can't die like a coward!

Meanwhile, Roland, who was sitting on the sofa in the tavern, counting the ashes that were slowly accumulating, suddenly focused his gaze and looked up in the direction of the Melting Square.

[WARNING! Your player has left the current map!]

[Player [Colorful Toad] has left the Ash Recycling Zone! The next resurrection will require a full refund of resources!]

My players are so proactive?

-

The other end of the crack.

Inside the Giant Star Cave, in a grand church built around a deep abyss, a massive altar, perhaps half the size of a football field, is ablaze with flames.

From time to time, devout believers would voluntarily leap into the altar from a high place, splashing burning oil droplets that landed on the altar like drops of fire rain.

Beneath the altar stood a thin, middle-aged man with a brazier on his head, wearing a black robe embroidered with gold and the blazing sun.

He gazed at the abyss before him, where wooden walkways, one after another, were built along the abyss walls. Countless fanatics worked on them, dedicating everything they had, sending box after box of supplies, along with themselves, into the spiritual rift at the end of the walkways.

Occasionally, believers would tumble and crawl out of the crevice, only to be caught by the tall, white-robed guards standing beside it and thrown into the abyss.

The deeper one goes, the newer the spiritual rift becomes. Those who venture into it, whether priests or deacons, collect spiritual materials for the Church of the Rising Sun.

Beyond the altar's flames, in the almost invisible shadows at the very bottom, the unclean, the mutants, are building a new walkway to connect to the new spiritual rift.

Ah, how beautiful it is to see the believers united as they gather fuel for the new sun!

Every moment deserves to be etched in the Patriarch's Palace!

Archbishop Kane, standing beneath the altar, thought to himself, his eyes filled with fascination.

"Lord Kane," a respectful voice interrupted Kane, "how is the 'Oracle' progressing?"

Kane frowned, his eyes filled with frustration.

If this person hadn't come from the Patriarch's Palace and been considered the Patriarch's eyes and ears, he would have thrown him into this abyss long ago!

He waved his hand dismissively, saying, "Everything is progressing according to plan!"

The Patriarch's Palace doesn't seem to realize that so many spirit realm coordinates are waiting to be explored, and even sending more people would take time!

"Delay may lead to complications, Lord Kane," the man bowed, his tone still respectful, "thank you for understanding His Majesty the Grand Patriarch's good intentions."

Kane waved his hand, indicating that he understood.

The man then retreated into the shadows that even the altar could not illuminate.

Behind Kane, within the high walls of the altar, countless caves were filled with candles, some extinguished, others burning weakly.

Even Kane himself probably couldn't tell where the candles representing that group of soldiers who entered Getaway were—whether they were burning, extinguished, or in some other indescribable state...

While Kane was preoccupied with the Patriarch's envoy, a small disturbance occurred below, near the bottom.

A dazzling toad emerged from a rift in the lower spirit realm.

His stomach churned violently, as if he had been thrown into a washing machine and spun around and around.

"Holy crap!"

A sense of foreboding welled up inside me, just like the warning I received when that giant spider was following me in the culvert!

He rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding being grabbed by the tall guard.

The toad used his hands to support himself as he moved. He saw that the guard looked dazed and was probably an idiot!

Following the direction from which the group of white-robed men had come, I took off running!

Just as the toad turned around, the tall guard seemed to receive an order, stopped his pursuit, and returned to his post.

The white-robed believers, their faces numb with piety, only glanced at the fleeing toad before refocusing their already limited attention on this pilgrimage from which there was no turning back.

After disappearing into a side path, Toad slumped onto the steps, panting heavily, thankful that he had escaped the pursuit of that big oaf.

Holy crap, this new map is amazing!

The modeling, the atmosphere, the lighting!

Is it possible for him to play for free?

What's the situation now? Is he really deep behind enemy lines?

But who is the enemy?

These lunatics have so many elements related to the sun; it's impossible to tell that they share the same faith as the nun.

Could they all be heretics of the Church of the Rising Sun?

That's absolutely insane!

He patted his behind, stood up, and was determined to explore this map that the scoundrel had hidden away.

Fortunately, it was quite bright here, with torches everywhere on the walls, so his arms wouldn't get sore from holding the torches.

Let Grandpa Toad take a look at what's hidden here. Could it be an Easter egg prepared by the game developers for adventurous little players?

Just like the church armory last time!

Um...

Meat hook;...

Restraint chair...

execution rack...

Tiger bench...

Holy crap? What are all these?

Why are all these second-hand items? They still show signs of use!

No way, you lousy game designer! Where are my rewards? Where are my equipment?

"Hey little brother, what are you looking for?"

A childish voice sounded from behind.

The toad stood at attention, obviously frightened.

Without thinking, he lunged forward, trying to create some distance.

Unexpectedly, his move was seen through, and the whip, whistling through the air, struck his legs.

click-

The toad's two little legs changed direction.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"

Although his sense of pain had been greatly reduced, this strange feeling still directly affected his soul, causing a slight pain.

[Sanity -5 (Area effect -50%)]

The toad was forced to sit on the ground, but he realized that even so, he was still taller than the other person.

Is this... a little girl in a white robe holding a whip?

Even the brazier on her head was much smaller than the priestess in the square.

"I..."

Just as he was about to say something, everything went black.

He was kicked offline.

But the smile on the little girl in the white robe became increasingly distorted.

The toy she had finally managed to grab turned to ashes right before her eyes!

"ah!!!"

The mournful wails echoed out, sending chills down the spines of the believers on the plank road.

-

The lobby of the tavern.

Roland breathed a sigh of relief.

Luckily, he kicked the toad offline; otherwise, their current situation would have been troublesome.

These players are just ordinary people; expecting them to have received anti-interrogation training is overestimating them.

But...

Church of the Rising Sun?

interesting.