Frilian: The Adventure of the Hero

With their consent, the city hall and the adventurers' guild provided Shane and his companions with very reliable supplies.

Even the "expensive" equipment that he could never afford was available for him to choose from. How thoughtful!

Of course, Shane isn't the kind of person who'll exploit people to the point of exhaustion.

So he only chose 10 standard longswords, 10 shoulder guards, 10 armors, 10 leg guards, 10 wrist guards, 10 lambskin boots, 10 kunai shuriken, 10 fine iron marbles, 10 sets of custom-made clothes, 10 sets of blankets of varying thicknesses... and some tea sets, cookware, tableware, stationery...

Frillie was stunned.

"Alright." Xia En patted his half-full backpack, looking satisfied. "Leave half the space; we still need to scavenge for trash in the maze."

With everything prepared, the two officially entered the maze.

……

Upon entering, Shane immediately understood why this maze instance was called "Upside-Down Land".

They entered another city, Gostan.

Shaen glanced back at what was behind him; like a reflection on water, the maze was a reflection of the real world.

The difference is that it's daytime outside, but nighttime here.

Moreover, there are no residents.

A gentle breeze swept through the empty streets.

The entire city was silent.

Shaun moved closer to Frillie. The feeling of this "ghost town" inexplicably reminded him of many unpleasant scenes.

The two walked slowly down the street, trying to find some useful clues.

After walking several blocks, they found nothing.

No traps were encountered.

We didn't encounter any monsters.

It really does seem to be just an ordinary ghost town.

But Xia En knew in his heart that things were not that simple. How could a high-risk dungeon capable of swallowing up several adventurer teams be just an upside-down, empty city?

If it looks ordinary, then it must be extraordinary inside.

"Frilian, give it a shot."

"?"

"Oh, I mean, try destroying the surrounding buildings, making some noise, and see if you can lure out the monsters."

boom--

Frillien's massive beam of magic swept through the street, flattening a row of houses in front of them. The explosion was deafening, sounding particularly jarring in the empty city. They stood there for a while, but nothing suspicious happened.

"Let's go, let's look for another place."

Xia En turned around.

Then, it almost exploded!

A figure suddenly appeared behind them.

The figure was tall and imposing, with a pair of curved goat horns. His dark gray skin was covered with eerie black patterns, and beneath his thick white hair was a ferocious face like that of a demon, with a mouthful of fangs, making him extremely terrifying.

It was none other than "Guvar the Corrupt Sage"!

Frillie was completely unaware of what was happening behind the scenes. By the time the target appeared and she tried to retaliate, it was too late.

Guval grinned maliciously, looking at Shane and Frilian, "Two more test subjects have arrived."

With that, he snapped his fingers deftly, instantly activating magic and pulling both of them into darkness.

"Come on, try out my new invention, the magic that reverses [miracles]."

"Unlike the [miracle magic] that helps people enter the paradise, this new magic allows people to experience their deepest fears."

"Let me see you trembling."

……

……

"beep--"

"Fifteen minutes left until the exam is over."

Shaun was awakened by the noise. He groggily opened his eyes and found himself sitting in a classroom.

面前的黑板上写着一行大字：第35号考场，高考数学（全国卷）—15:00至17:00。

Huh? What's going on?!

He was shocked. Looking down again, he saw the pristine white test paper on the table, not only blank but also covered in a large spit of saliva.

For a moment, he felt like he couldn't breathe!

"I fell asleep during the college entrance exam? Was everything before just a dream...?"

wrong!

wrong!

wrong!

This is a dream! Wake up!

Snapped.

Xia En slapped himself with all his might.

The blow was so severe that his face swelled up instantly, and even his ears were ringing.

……

……

Fire was all around.

Frillie, however, felt her body getting colder.

The village where she grew up was destroyed; as far as the eye could see, there were only ruins.

The demon general in front of him was laughing wildly, holding the severed limbs of his comrades in his hands.

She wanted to stand up and continue fighting, but all her magic was exhausted, and she couldn't even move her fingers... Was she going to die like this?

A low laugh came from in front of her. The demon general had transformed into a demon king. He stepped forward, his feet crunching on the sticky blood on the ground, and grabbed her by the neck.

"Overestimating one's abilities."

Frillie looked at the corpses of her companions at her feet and did not refute them.

Yes, they overestimated themselves. They lost to the Demon King, and humanity lost hope once again.

They should have stayed in the forest and never come out; it's truly pitiful that they ended up like this.

The next second, Vlame's voice rang out behind her.

She asked Frilian, "Demons cannot understand humans, so Frilian, as an elf, what about you? Do you understand human emotions?"

The sound was like a pebble falling into a deep pool, creating ripples that spread outwards.

In an instant, Vlamé's smiling face transformed into many different shapes.

In the elven village, there was her grandmother who often took care of her, the grandfather who invited her to hitch a ride by the roadside, the child who gave her flowers, Simmel who praised her magic as interesting, Haita who liked to pat her head, Aize who was always as uninterested as she was... and many other people.

Countless faces were intertwined in a chaotic mess.

They grew old, died, disappeared, and finally froze into a blank face.

Empty and desolate, utterly empty.

A wave of indescribable self-reproach and guilt washed over Frillie.

"Volamey, in the end, I still haven't learned anything..."

boom--

A light as bright as day appeared in my field of vision.

It pierced through the darkness around her in an instant.

Hearing Shane's voice:

"Frilian, straight ahead!"

Her vision was filled with white, and she couldn't see anything, but she didn't hesitate. She raised her staff and fired a magical attack straight ahead.

click-

That was the sound of something breaking.

Then came Guvarna's deep, hoarse roar: "Impossible! How could the experiment fail! No—"

At the same time, Shane activated [Swiftness] and arrived in front of Frilian, pulling her into [Goddess's Barrier] in an instant.

Seeing that everyone was alright, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Because of the "Brain Lockdown" stat, which provides strong resistance to mental magic, he regained consciousness shortly after falling into the illusion. However, no matter how he called for Frillie, it was no use, which terrified him.

He can't handle the demons by himself!

Fortunately, the electric shock and flashbang worked once again.

Seeing that Frillie had recovered, he looked at the situation outside the barrier and asked seriously:

"Frilian, can you beat nine Guvals?"