This strange muffled sound, like something heavy slamming hard into the ground.

They were still over ten meters away from the Mist Monster Forest, yet they clearly felt the tremor transmitted through the ground.

The few newbies were already filled with fear;now encountering this sudden change, they became even more panicked and at a loss.

A flicker of suspicion and alarm also passed through Du Yuheng's eyes as he quickly confirmed with He Yuliang, "Did your previous life experience this?"

"No... but it could also be a timing issue." He Yuliang pondered slightly before counter-asking him, "What about you? Did this kind of muffled sound appear in your reincarnation dreams?"

Du Yuheng shook his head directly, "None of them appeared."

With this information compared, the two exchanged a glance.

After a moment of silence, just as the five newbies thought the two seniors were going to discuss something further...

They discovered that the two seniors had suddenly and tacitly quickened their pace, swiftly heading towards the direction of the Mist Monster Forest.

It seemed they wanted to quickly investigate something.

However, their sudden dash left the five thigh-clutching newbies completely stunned!

They were already at a loss;now suddenly abandoned, they became even more helpless!

Fortunately, no matter how disoriented they were, they subconsciously knew—

In this extremely dangerous world, once separated from their golden thighs, they would likely find it very difficult to survive alone!

So, even though their hearts were filled with terror, they, as if afraid of being left behind, quickly chased after the two seniors' retreating backs heading into the Mist Monster Forest.

Yet, their physical fitness was far inferior to the two seniors'.

Over a distance that wasn't even that long, they could only watch helplessly as the two seniors' figures were completely swallowed by the mist.

But they still had no choice.

Almost summoning the speed of a hundred-meter sprint, they unhesitatingly stepped into the eerie mist along the direction where the seniors had just disappeared.

However, what filled them with despair was...

Once they plunged into the mist, they quickly discovered—

The visible range within the mist was too small!

Their vision was almost limited to a one-meter radius!

When chasing the two seniors earlier, they could still follow by watching their backs.

But now, with their vision restricted, they couldn't see the seniors at all!

This fear of being abandoned was intensified to the extreme in this strange and unfamiliar environment! 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

They hurriedly called out ahead—

"Seniors! Senior He? Senior Du? Where are you? Wait for us!"

Thankfully, the glasses-wearing youth was slightly calmer.

He adjusted his glasses and quickly took charge of the situation:

"Everyone, calm down! Our visual range here is limited;let's hold hands first to avoid anyone else getting separated!"

Upon hearing this, the five youths indeed quickly held hands, as none wanted to face a completely unfamiliar environment alone.

However, it was during this hand-holding that they discovered something else about the mist here: not only was vision limited to a one-meter radius, but sound transmission also struggled to exceed three meters!

So, to facilitate communication, the five of them quickly formed a circle.

Confirming that sound could be transmitted within the circle's range, it was still the glasses-wearing youth who calmly stated:

"In our current situation, trying to find the two seniors to clutch their thighs again is probably very, very difficult..."

"So now, we roughly have two choices—"

"Either, rely on ourselves to find dungeons in this Forest of Oddities and work hard to earn survival stones..."

Hearing this, the other four turned pale.

They were nobodies, without awakened Glyph Pattern Abilities, and their physical fitness was below average...

In school terms, they were certified weaklings!

In such a state, having them tackle dungeons alone...

How is that any different from telling them to actively seek death?

Soon, a voice asked, "What's the second choice?"

The glasses-wearing youth could guess what the other four were thinking and couldn't help but shake his head with a sigh, yet he still stated the second option:

"When we formed the circle earlier, you all circled around me."

"And I was very deliberate in ensuring my feet didn't move."

"That means, the direction behind my back is the direction we entered the Forest of Oddities from..."

"The second choice is, we could perhaps try to leave this Forest of Oddities."

Upon hearing this, the other four youths almost instantly wanted to make their choice.

However, the glasses-wearing youth quickly reminded them, "But think carefully!"

"The five hours from 6:30 to 11:30 are precisely our time to work in the Forest of Oddities, striving to earn survival stones!"

"According to school regulations, during this time, we can only stay in the Forest of Oddities!"

"Of course, we could perhaps also sit and wait at the forest entrance for the five hours to pass..."

"But based on the veteran players' introduction, when leaving the Forest of Oddities, everyone needs to hand over 1 survival stone as a work fee."

"And last night, we already handed over all our assets to the Boss;we simply don't have extra survival stones to pay!"

"Furthermore, if we truly lie flat and slack off, completely not earning any survival stones... we fundamentally cannot survive in this bizarre world!"

The glasses-wearing youth spoke righteously, attempting to persuade these four youths who were almost scared out of their wits.

However, their reason ultimately couldn't overcome their fear.

In the end, one youth offered a compromise:

"How about this—we just entered the Forest of Oddities and didn't run too far;we should be able to retreat back to the entrance quickly."

"Let's retreat to the entrance first and wait, to see if we can encounter other veteran players. If we can, following veteran players would be much safer than tackling dungeons alone, right?"

This suggestion quickly gained approval from the other youths, "I think that's feasible too! Last night, when those veteran players returned from the auditorium to the dorms, almost all of them teleported back right at the last minute!"

"So now, entering the Forest of Oddities for work, those veteran players might also be entering at the last minute!"

"Then if we guard the spot where we just entered the forest, we might really run into veteran players?"

"Maybe we could even run into President Lin? Or veteran players we know?"

Naive youths always hope things develop in a favorable direction.

Unable to persuade them otherwise, the glasses-wearing youth could only nod in agreement.

Truly, time was limited.

If they wanted to wait for veteran players, they only had that little bit of time.

If they still hadn't encountered veteran players after 6:30, they would naturally give up.

Thinking this, the glasses-wearing youth led the team of five, still in their circle formation, retreating along the path they came.

However, the five youths soon discovered something even more bizarre—

"That's not right! The distance we entered the Forest of Oddities couldn't have been more than 5 meters, right?"

"But we've walked back over ten, even dozens of meters! Why haven't we left the Forest of Oddities yet??"

Soon, fear began to spread again.

Some even started questioning the glasses-wearing youth's judgment of direction.

The glasses-wearing youth was speechless, his expression cold as he said, "Even if our choice inclinations differ, I couldn't possibly intentionally choose to get lost! Because then, I'd be lost too!"

"The current situation only has one possibility—"

"There's something wrong with the space in this Forest of Oddities! Maybe when we entered, we crossed a hidden spatial passage! Or maybe the entire forest's space is distorted!"

"Anyway, the retreat path is most likely impassable! We probably have to wait until 11:30 to leave the Forest of Oddities!"

This resolute conclusion almost instantly shattered the remaining four youths' rationality.

For a moment, the atmosphere of despair nearly pushed them to the brink of collapse!

Yet, at this moment of greatest collapse...

The glasses-wearing youth suddenly raised his hand again, saying, "Don't argue yet! Everyone, quiet down! I think I hear something?"

Hearing this, the four despairing youths indeed quieted for a moment.

But only for a moment;soon, a rebellious youth questioned, "How could you possibly hear anything? You yourself just concluded that sound in this mist doesn't travel far!"

"Shut up! Listen carefully!" The glasses-wearing youth glared at the rebellious one.

His assertive attitude indeed bought a longer period of quiet.

Seeing him genuinely listening intently, the other four youths also followed suit, listening carefully.

Soon, one youth suddenly exclaimed in alarm, "There really is a sound! I hear it! It seems like... a cry for help?!"

The glasses-wearing youth's eyes lit up, immediately stating, "Switch places with me."

He and that youth were already adjacent.

After switching places, the glasses-wearing youth listened carefully again, soon pointing in a direction, "It seems to be coming from this way, the cry for help!"

Hearing this, the other three who hadn't heard the sound were somewhat doubtful.

But since they were already lost, they could only suppress their doubts and agree to follow the glasses-wearing youth.

After walking a short distance, soon another youth said, "I hear it too! There really is a cry for help!"

Then, one by one, all five youths heard the cry for help.

However, very bizarrely...

According to their earlier speculation, sound transmission in the mist was also restricted, seemingly limited to a three-meter range.

But they had walked far more than three meters along the direction of the cry for help.

Nearly thirty meters, and they could still hear the cry for help, yet they hadn't discovered anything at all!

Soon, fear took the upper hand again, and someone couldn't help but doubt:

"This is too strange! Could this cry for help not be from a human at all, but bait to lure us in?"

"If we follow the cry for help like this, won't something bad happen?"

The glasses-wearing youth stated firmly, "But we have no other choice."

"And, if it really were bait, it probably wouldn't be this hard to find."

He had a point;the other four, whether they agreed or not, could only obediently shut up.

After all, searching for that cry for help was still better than directly tackling a dungeon.

Thus, led by the glasses-wearing youth, they walked for about ten minutes or so...

And they actually did discover the source of the cry for help!

Because their vision was limited to a one-meter radius, they were initially shocked to find a "wall" blocking their path ahead.

It wasn't until the glasses-wearing youth mentioned "the blind men and the elephant" that they realized this "wall" might be a colossal object.

So, following the principle of the blind men and the elephant, they walked a full circle around this behemoth, feeling it all over.

They finally concluded—

"This seems to be a giant object similar to a water vat or a water bowl?"

"The tremor we heard outside the Forest of Oddities earlier, could it have been this giant thing falling?"

After reaching this conclusion, a wild joy of having narrowly escaped death quickly flashed in the five youths' eyes!

"If this really is the source of the tremor we heard outside the Forest of Oddities, then as long as we wait here, other seniors might soon come looking too!"

"When they also find their way here, we can reunite with the seniors!"

This news rekindled hope within them.

And when fear was restrained, the youths' thinking became much more active.

Soon, someone else speculated, "Rather than saying it's like a water vat or bowl, I think it looks more like a giant water kettle!"

"Don't believe me? Look up from this direction;isn't there something like a black strip extending out? Feels like it should be the kettle's spout?"

"Should we try climbing up along this direction?"

"Such a smooth surface, how do we climb?"

"The five of us forming a human pyramid, we should be able to stack seven or eight meters, right?"

"Let's try;this might be our only remaining way out!"

However, this human pyramid business also has its considerations.

The one standing on the ground inevitably bears more weight.

And the one on top of everyone might be the only one to gain information.

If this person deliberately hides something, it wouldn't be fair to the others.

Nevertheless, the glasses-wearing youth ultimately persuaded the other four to let him be the one standing on top of them.

As for whether he would hide anything?

The glasses-wearing youth was directly speechless, "What are you thinking? The biggest advantage of us staying here is the high likelihood of reuniting with other seniors who come looking!"

"What information could I, a mere small Calamity, possibly hide?"

"Besides, if it weren't for my leadership and persistence, could you have found this place?"

Indeed, the glasses-wearing youth's performance in the Forest of Oddities had contributed the most.

Even if someone else stood at the highest point instead of him, it would probably be hard to convince the others.

Thus, under the glasses-wearing youth's organization, the five began forming a human pyramid, climbing along this giant object suspected to be a kettle.

Due to the sound transmission limitation, their original plan was to maintain the pyramid for three minutes after success, then start removing people from the bottom up.

The bottommost would leave first, letting the feet of the second layer touch the ground.

This way, step by step, they could dismantle the pyramid effect.

However, to their surprise...

Not long after the pyramid succeeded, they suddenly heard that cry for help, which sounded like a tape recorder on loop, finally change!

Originally, it was a continuous "Help... help..."

Suddenly it became, "Who is it? Who... who has come to save me?"

The voice sounded like a clear, cold, yet weak female voice.

Could it be... a female player trapped inside this giant kettle?

But in this wild forest... suddenly a female player appears?

Is this a female player or a female ghost??

For a moment, those campus horror ghost stories resurfaced in the youths' minds.

They even instantly conjured an image of a white-clothed Sadako with long hair covering her face.

Or perhaps, a girl in a bright red coat...

In short, the youths' minds were thrown into chaos, and the entire stacked pyramid began to wobble!

Finally, amidst a series of panicked exclamations, the five-person pyramid, not even lasting a full minute, collapsed just like that...