I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

……

……

Outside the instance, Song Mo let out a loud "Aww!" and sat up from the sofa, like a whale who had failed to pull a gacha pull:

"What's wrong with Merlin...? At least let me see him, don't be so stingy—"

[Player updates dungeon map, world exploration progress +8%]

[Current World Exploration Status: 14%]

[Merlin Dungeon Map:]

【Northern Frontier - Forests, Ridges, Pictish Hunting Grounds】

Risk factors: Arctic monsters, headhunting alien races.

Resources available: Fairy Deer, Fairy Spring, Fairy Berry, Mithril Ore (small amount), Pictite Blue Moss, Pictite Wolf Fang, Frost Resin, Northern Dwarf Copper, Monster Fur, Snow Elf Egg, Raven Feather, Northern Fox...

……

[West Cornish Coast - cliffs, beaches, fishing village ruins, sea caves]

Danger factors: constant crashing waves, frequent storms, hidden reefs and treacherous shoals, and the allure of mermaids singing.

Resources available: Mermaid eggs, Siren scales, Elf ship wood, Tide pearls, seaweed ropes, Stormstones, Siren salt, Dragon bone vines, shipwreck nails, Tide starstone ore, Siren hair, giant seabird eggs, sea sulfur, mother-of-pearl, Coastal wizard grass, whale bones, Siren tears...

……

【Central Brosleyan Forest - Dense forests, frozen soil, streams, abandoned villages.】

Dangerous factors: Corpse Collector, Fog, Blackthorn, Treant.

Resources available: Mist Mushroom, Blackthorn, Frozen Peat, Gray Crow Feather, Gray Crow Egg, Forest Spring Water, Birch Sap, Mist Essence, Ironware, Wild Honey, Mist Bear Skin, Ferns, Gray Wolf Fur, Crow's Eye Stone Vein, Dead Wood Ganoderma...

……

【Eastern Frontier - Norfolk Wasteland - Swamps, wastelands, corpse pits, abandoned villages】

Dangerous factors: The area most severely affected by the plague, where the fog is grayish-green, where convoys of corpse collectors gather, and where Wotigan has sent wild dogs to guard the area...

Southeast London Old City – Ruins of the Old City of Rome, the banks of the Thames, Stonehenge Square, and Wootigan Fortress.

Danger: The undead army under the command of Vortigern is stationed here, searching for the prophesied child who can pull the sword from the stone...

Southwest Avalon Swamp - Swamp, misty lake, reed marshes, lake island.

Danger factors: Lake fairy, water sprite, moving reeds, lake illusions...

……

Special Location: Stranglethorn Vale, Merlin's Old House.

Dangerous factors: Blackthorns, hallucinatory mist, witches that lure passersby, and monsters.

Resources available: Blackthorn King's Thorn, Blackthorn White Flower, Merlin's Relic, Stranglethorn Vale Spring Water, Magic Moss, Blue Flame, Great Mist Elf, White Flower Honey, White Flower Beehive, White Flower Bee Egg, Thorn Tree Heart, Blackthorn Fruit, Dragon Scales (very rare), Mithril Ore (medium), Dwarf Shop (special)

[Hint: The whereabouts of the Archmage Merlin Ambrose are unknown.]

Perhaps he is in his old home in Stranglethorn Vale.

Perhaps you could ask the Lady of the Lake.

Perhaps he is in the Square of the Sword in the Stone, awaiting King Arthur's return.

Nobody knows.

……

A map of Merlin appeared before Song Mo, with every valley and every piece of terrain marked in a special way.

Like the map of a medieval fantasy game, it is slowly unfolding.

……

"Merlin, you stinky socks! What's the difference between giving a hint and not giving one at all? Three hints, aren't they just three routes and three destinations?"

Song Mo rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.

"Let me see—from the player's spawn point to Merlin's Old House in Stranglethorn Vale, even by transportation, it would take at least six days, and that's assuming the route is correct."

At the end of the Song Dynasty, his fingers flew across the map, his brain working at full speed. Accompanied by text, lines emerged from the map, floating in the air:

The illusion of the Lake Fairy gazes toward the old city, while the cannibalistic troll roars, brandishing an axe.

The corpse collectors remained silent, wearing masks, while the undead army under Wotigan's control poured out in full force.

"This route goes through the mist from the abandoned village, then into the central forest, around Avalon Swamp, past the abode of the Lady of the Lake, and finally to Stranglethorn Vale."

"The second clue is to go through the fog from the abandoned village, enter the forest, and head directly to the island in the lake to the southeast, without entering the Avalon Swamp."

"The third clue, the Stone Sword Plaza, is also the longest and most difficult route."

Players must traverse a vast forest, cross the Thames River, cross its banks, and evade the undead army's fortresses before finally reaching the Stone Sword Square.

As Song Mo stared at the undead army scattered across the map and the red mist representing the Black Death, he couldn't resist the urge to rush into the map and give Merlin a good beating:

Are we still playing hide-and-seek at a time like this?

Do you know that Great Britain is about to be destroyed?!

It's really lax to wait for someone to come to you at your age.

And what about King Arthur? Isn't he the chosen one? Save him!

……

……

……

Inside the instance, Tan Moli opened her eyes and found herself lying in a temperature-controlled tent, while Weng Yang leaned against a young girl, breathing steadily.

She instinctively tried to get up to be on guard, only to find that her fingers and toes were bandaged up like white radishes.

"You're awake!"

Upon seeing that Tan Moli was conscious, Kang Xiaojia, who was in charge of taking care of Weng Yang, quickly explained the current situation:

"After Captain Chen brought you back, we guessed that your team might have encountered danger. When we came to look for you, we found your teammates."

Don't worry, we have an alchemist in our team who has already dispelled the Black Death buff from her. She's also taken medicine and just woke up once, so she should be fine soon.

Tan Moli crawled over on all fours to check on Weng Yang's condition. She found that the flush on his face had subsided considerably, and breathed a slight sigh of relief. Only then did she notice Kang Xiaojia's Special Investigations Bureau uniform and badge:

"Are you the [Doctor]? I think I've seen you in the player lobby before."

"It's me. We were all so busy looking at the leaderboards and buying items back then that we forgot to introduce ourselves."

Kang Xiaojia stuck out her tongue, unzipped the tent, revealing several people warming themselves by the fireplace outside:

"That's Wang Lei, that's Jiang Chen, that's Zheng Wenxuan, and you should know our team leader Chen Xi—but she ran into some trouble in the dungeon, so no one can recognize her, haha."

After checking herself and finding that all her props were still on, Tan Moli spoke up somewhat embarrassedly:

"I'm sorry, I previously suspected your captain of having problems—"

"Um..." Kang Xiaojia was about to speak when she saw a completely unfamiliar woman pull back the tent flap and peek half her head in. She immediately became alert, and then heard the woman's familiar, somewhat frustrated and helpless voice:

"It's me..."

"It's the captain!"

Kang Xiaojia chuckled and turned to give Tan Moli a knowing look.

Tan Moli looked slightly confused: "..."

She really didn't understand why she could never remember what Chen Xi looked like.

"...Um...Jasmine, I feel a little breathless."

Suddenly, an unusually weak voice sounded from the side. Tan Moli immediately turned her head and saw Weng Yang, who was wrapped up like an "Indian man," struggling to move in place.

"Weng Yang, you're awake! Is anything bothering you?"

Tan Moli hastily wiped away her tears and hurriedly tugged at Weng Yang's collar to help her breathe.

But Weng Yang's gaze lingered on Tan Moli's radish-like fingers and the bruises on her face. He remained silent for a long time, only gently touching her face.

"Our Jasmine is so brave."

Tan Moli, who had been holding on, could no longer hold back and burst into tears while hugging her.

"I was so scared!! I thought you weren't going to wake up!"

"Those people hit me, but I slashed that bastard with a knife that had touched dead people!"

"How come you didn't see any of my amazing moments?!"