As Ren sprinted ahead, he called out over his shoulder, "Don't touch the save crystal!"
If anyone in their group happened to die, he wanted to make sure they respawned back in the village—not here. For all he knew, Poison Viper might still be waiting outside when they came out.
"Well, that was easy," Leonel puffed, his breathing heavy as the sounds of chaos faded behind them.
Ren shot him a look. "Don't let your guard down. There are still players inside—and beasts to deal with."
He finally slowed his pace once he was certain no one was following them, the echo of their footsteps now the only sound filling the dark, winding tunnel.
Ren slowed to a stop and raised a hand. "Hold up. Catch your breath and check your surroundings. We're close to the Boss's chamber—there should be Arachnids nearby."
He wasn't wrong to be cautious. Arachnids might've been classified as low-level beasts, but that didn't make them any less terrifying. Anyone with ATP in the double digits could handle them, yet their sheer size and appearance were enough to unnerve even veteran players.
These weren't the tiny spiders of the real world. In ARCADIA, Arachnids loomed as large as toddlers—some even bigger—with glistening fangs and slick, chitinous bodies that twitched with unnatural speed.
They hunted in swarms, and their webs were notoriously sticky. A few hits from their web projectiles could easily leave a player paralyzed, cocooned, and helpless—ready to be devoured alive by the skittering horrors that followed.
Leonel whistled. "Wow, talk about a celling full of cobwebs. This room is worse than our house."
There were thick cobwebs everywhere, and only a portion of space was passable.
"Avoid as many webs as you can," Ren said and added, "Arachnids would swarm in our direction if they noticed too much vibration from their webs."
Isolde nodded while Ragnar pressed his lips tight. The both of them already accepted that Ren might be a beta tester from his knowledge of the game.
While Leonel didn't even doubt Ren one bit. He just thought that Ren might have researched the cave beforehand or read the information in some secret forum that only he could find.
A couple of minutes passed, but there was still no sign of the Arachnid spiders.
"Did we enter the wrong cave?" Leonel stopped and scratched his head. "Is it just me, or there are no spiders in sight?"
"The others before us simply killed all the spiders in this area," Ren answered confidently. "They might still be respawning as we speak."
The respawn rate inside the cave depended on its difficulty level—the higher the difficulty, the shorter the respawn time for monsters. Since this was their first attempt, Gargantuan Cave was automatically set to Normal Mode, resulting in a relatively slow respawn cycle.
If they managed to clear the dungeon, higher difficulties such as [Hard], [Nightmare], and even [Sadistic] would unlock, each offering double—or more—of the EXP rewards depending on the chosen level.
While the coveted First Blood rewards would no longer be available, the promise of massive EXP, the prestige of having one's name immortalized on the leaderboard, and the glory of being engraved on the Stone of Fame outside the cave were more than enough to draw countless guilds to challenge it.
All guilds battled each other for the high difficulty and earliest clear time to gain prestige and be well known throughout COVENANT.
It might sound trivial, but prestige was everything when it came to running a guild. The more famous your name, the easier it was to recruit new members—and not just any members, but skilled and dedicated ones.
A guild that consistently appeared on the leaderboards and had its name carved into the Stone of Fame outside major dungeons naturally drew attention from players all across the world, even professionals.
Running a guild wasn't just about pride—it was a thriving business. The Top 20 guilds in COVENANT received exclusive perks: a 20% discount on all shop items, bonus rewards, and even a monthly allowance worth millions of gil, with additional privileges depending on their ranking.
And beyond the rewards was fame. Top guilds and players were treated like celebrities—no, even more than that. Their names were remembered more vividly than the president's, their exploits shared across servers like legends written in digital stone.
That was why almost all players clamored for their guilds and name to be in the top twenty. The fame and money along with it was the dream of many players.
"It's a bad thing, right?" Isolde asked. "We couldn't grind to level our ATP at this rate." Especially her ATP.
Ragnar nodded. "Should we wait for the beasts to respawn first? Maybe try to destroy their cobwebs so they would come in our direction?"
Leonel rapidly shook his head. "Don't! I'm okay with one or two spiders along the way but dozens of them . . ." He shuddered and embraced himself, rubbing away the goosebumps erupting from his body.
"I'm getting hives just from imagining it."
Ragnar shot a look in Leonel's way. "You're a grown-up man. How can you still be afraid of a bunch of spiders?"
"How can you not?" Leonel spat back.
While the two argued, Ren was thinking.
To be honest, Ren was glad that he didn't have to waste time killing small fries like Arachnids spiders. The EXP he would get from killing them was minuscule. He would rather face the Boss now than waste his time on those creatures.
"We could wait for the monsters to respawn," Ren said, glancing at the others, "but we're pressed for time after that mess outside. The other players are probably catching up as we speak. It's best if we head straight to the Boss's lair."
Isolde and Ragnar exchanged uneasy looks. Their strained expressions—somewhere between constipated and conflicted—told Ren exactly what they were thinking.
Leonel grinned, puffing out his chest. "What's wrong? Worried about your low ATP?" He gave Isolde a confident thumbs-up. "Don't sweat it! You've got a powerful dwarf defender right here who'll tank all the hits for you!"
Isolde shook her head. "That's not it. My ATP's still low since I'm basically starting over. I don't want to drag everyone down when we fight the Boss. I think it's better if I stay here and grind for a bit first."
"My ATP is already in the second digit. Though I'm not against to a little bit of grinding," seconded Ragnar.
"You don't have to worry about that," Ren said, eyes fixed on the dark tunnel ahead. "If we move quickly, we might catch up to the players before us and clear out a few Arachnids ourselves."
Isolde's face lit up in realization. Of course. Why hadn't she thought of that sooner?
"I see," Ragnar said, his frown easing back into his usual calm expression. "Then it's better to keep moving. Staying here too long might get us caught between the monsters ahead and the players behind."
With everyone in agreement, the group pushed onward, weaving through the web-laced tunnels. They avoided as many sticky strands as they could, hacking away only at the thicker webs that completely blocked their path as they advanced deeper into the cave's eerie darkness.
Ren was right, Isolde thought. The Arachnid spiders were still dead and hadn't respawn yet. Judging from the number of cobwebs they destroyed, the Arachnid spiders should have been alerted and swarmed in their direction.
Isolde's hope of acquiring EXP through killing spiders was diminishing by the second as they traversed the straightforward path but still no sign of the enemy.
She was getting worried that she would slow the group down because she didn't have enough STR to land critical damage to the Boss.
Her plan was simple—enter the Gargantuan Cave and grind until her ATP reached double digits. It wouldn't be easy; the monsters here were far stronger than the ones in the newbie forest where she had first started grinding.
Still, with Ren and the others by her side, she was confident she could rack up enough EXP to boost her stats in no time. By the time they reached the final Boss, she'd be able to stand on her own two feet—no longer a burden, but a true asset to the team.
Who would have expected that a group of thugs would block the cave entrance and cause problems for everyone?
To her!
I'm very unlucky. Isolde thought.
But then her wide eyes locked onto a familiar slit of faces.
No—those were the ones to blame.
Isolde replayed their features in her head and burned them into memory. Quiet as she looked, a cold promise formed behind her gaze: next time she saw them, she would put bullet holes through their heads.
CLiInNgG!
CLanNg!
Leonel froze mid-step, his shield lowering slightly. "Eh? What's that sound?"
"Could it be . . . ?" Isolde's pointed ears twitched, catching the unmistakable clash of steel echoing through the tunnel. Her eyes lit up, hope sparking to life.
Ren glanced at her, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Rejoice, Isolde. Looks like you'll get that EXP boost after all."
Finally! Isolde cheered inwardly, excitement bubbling in her chest. In one swift motion, she drew her revolver from its holster, her fingers itching for payback and EXP alike.