Child of Destiny

Chapter 2257: Escorts

...

"What kind of stupid requirement is this anyway?" Nala could not help but complain after finally accepting their current predicament.

The timing simply could not have been worse.

They had already reached the final stage of Rook’s hidden questline.

Beyond this ancient gate most likely lay the boss chamber itself—the destination they had spent days trying to reach.

There was no turning back now.

Even if they wanted to search for a male player or convince an NPC to accompany them, doing so would mean abandoning everything they had accomplished.

And that was simply unacceptable.

This was not even their first attempt.

It was already their fifth expedition into this hidden dungeon after failing the previous four runs.

The dungeon itself was absurdly difficult.

Although the system classified it as a five-man instance, the monsters within possessed strength and numbers more befitting a hundred-man expedition dungeon.

Every chamber had been a desperate battle. And every corridor had been littered with traps, elite monsters, and countless mechanisms that could easily wipe out an ordinary party.

If not for the overwhelming individual strength and coordination of the girls from the Empyrean Talons, they would never have reached this place.

Even so, the journey had been anything but easy.

Their consumables had been nearly exhausted as well. Even the resurrection items Arielle had prepared beforehand had already been used during the previous attempts.

If they abandoned the dungeon now, they would have to endure every one of those hellish experiences all over again.

Faced with such problems, they could only turn their heads at one another, seemingly asking each other what to do next.

"Should we call the idiots over? And start over again?" asked Nala after thinking for a considerable time.

Charlotte immediately glanced sideways. "Which one?"

Nala blinked. "Huh?"

"If we really had to bring one..." Charlotte folded her arms. "...which member of the Monster Trio would you choose?"

The question instantly drew everyone’s attention.

Even Miss Bunny and Rook subconsciously looked toward Nala, waiting for her answer.

"..."

Nala suddenly realized that she had unintentionally stepped onto a landmine. "Why are all of you looking at me?"

Rook suddenly smiled. "I think everyone already knows the answer."

Charlotte nodded without hesitation. "Her name basically tells everything."

Nala’s face instantly turned crimson. "W-Why are you bringing that up now!?"

"It suits him," Rook said with a shrug. "The Lion King... and the lioness."

Nala covered her face. "I picked it because I liked the name!"

Charlotte looked at her with a completely straight face. "Sure."

The surrounding atmosphere immediately turned awkward.

Even Arielle quietly looked away, pretending she hadn’t heard anything.

"No!" Nala immediately pointed at her. "If you’re all teasing me... then as the Commander... you are not escaping either!"

"Oh?" A mischievous smile slowly appeared on Rook’s face. "...Now that you mention it."

Arielle froze. "What?"

Rook folded her arms. "You’ve been awfully quiet. Almost suspiciously quiet."

"..."

For the first time in a long while, the Gentle Goddess found herself cornered.

Miss Bunny watched everything unfold before her eyes with keen interest yet also wore a helpless expression. ’These girls... Aren’t we supposed to solve our current problem first?’

’Young people these days...’ she could only sigh helplessly.

In the meantime, Arielle used her quick wittiness to skillfully dodge the question by shifting the topic to the current problem at hand. "I think it is not a good idea to leave the dungeon now."

"Do you remember that special section of the dungeon that keeps on getting difficult whenever we restart the run?" she added with a serious tone.

Hearing this, the girls could not help but recall the specific section of the dungeon that she was referring to before shivering all over their bodies.

It was their fifth run, and they were barely able to go through it. If they reset the run for another time, then clearing that section would most likely become impossible to clear.

"So... are we going to be trapped here?" asked Nala while puckering her lips.

"Maybe..." Miss Bunny thought for a moment. "...there are hidden conditions within the dungeon?"

"Should we look for more clues?" she added.

Arielle nodded as well, feeling that this was their most ideal method at the moment. "Let’s try looking for more clues before deciding whether to restart the run or not."

The girls could only sigh helplessly before getting to work.

Nala, on the other hand, suddenly ran toward Rook and asked. "Jill~! Do you have any kind of special method?"

Rook knitted her brows and asked. "Special Method? What method?"

"You know? That staff between twins..." Nala continued. "That special powers that somehow connect the two of you."

"Maybe you can miraculously swap places within the game?" she added, suggesting something ridiculous.

The girls knew that she was just joking, but they still found it hilarious.

"Even if she can do that, she can’t..." Arielle sighed. "She is the initiator of the quest, so how do you think we are going to progress without her?"

Rook stared at Nala for a long moment before calmly raising the staff in her hand. "Do you want me to hit you with this instead?"

Nala immediately took two steps back before waving both hands. "I was just making a suggestion!"

"A very stupid one," Charlotte, who was usually quiet, muttered under her breath.

"Hey!" Nala puffed her cheeks before crossing both arms. "You can’t blame me. We’ve been stuck here for almost half a day already."

She then raised her hand and began listing. "No monsters. No hidden switches. No secret passages."

"Not even a mysterious old man appearing out of nowhere." She complained

"Even the system is refusing to give us another hint." Miss Bunny silently nodded in agreement. "...This dungeon is unusually straightforward."

"The only obstacle is this gate." She added while turning to the ancient gate.

Hearing those words, Arielle slowly walked toward the ancient gate once more. Her fingers gently brushed across the countless runes engraved upon its surface.

The ancient inscriptions emitted a faint golden radiance before gradually dimming once again.

She carefully examined every symbol one by one, hoping to discover something they had overlooked.

Unfortunately, everything remained exactly the same.

There were no hidden mechanisms, no concealed inscriptions, no puzzles waiting to be solved—only the same infuriating requirement floating before them.

System: Requirement Unfulfilled.

System: A male and a female are required to open this gate.

"..."

Another awkward silence descended upon the group.

Even Miss Bunny could not help rubbing the space between her brows. "This is the first time I’ve lost to a door."

Whoosh!

Almost at the same time, the ancient gate suddenly trembled. The countless runes engraved across its surface began shining one after another, bathing the surroundings in a soft golden radiance.

Swoosh!

The girls instinctively retreated several steps before forming their usual battle formation.

Whatever had just happened, it clearly was not part of the original system notification.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Four pillars of light slowly rose before the ancient gate.

Within each pillar, a human silhouette gradually began taking shape.

"Summons?" Nala frowned.

"No..." Arielle narrowed her eyes. "They’re projections."

The first figure was the easiest to recognize.

As the golden radiance dispersed, Shin’s in-game avatar quietly stood before the gate.

"..."

The atmosphere suddenly became strangely quiet.

Before anyone could react, the second pillar of light dispersed. Leonard’s avatar appeared beside Shin.

Swoosh!

"..."

Almost instinctively, everyone slowly turned toward Arielle and Nala.

The two girls immediately avoided the gaze coming from the three. Their faces had already become as red as tomatoes.

"W-What are you all looking at!?" Nala hurriedly protested.

"No reason," Rook answered without changing her expression.

Swoosh!

The third silhouette gradually solidified. Arthur calmly stepped forward with his usual dignified bearing while wearing his majestic dragon knight’s armor.

This time, everyone quietly shifted their gazes toward Rook.

"..."

Rook remained perfectly composed. At least, she tried very hard to appear that way.

Just as Charlotte was about to say something, the final pillar of light suddenly dispersed.

"...?"

A fourth man appeared before the gate. David, or more widely known as ’Khing’ within the virtual world and dubbed the King of Virtual Games.

This time, the four younger girls simultaneously turned toward Miss Bunny.

Their expressions clearly asked the same question. – "What does this mean, Big Sister?" –

Miss Bunny blinked twice before maintaining an expression of complete innocence. "I have absolutely no idea."

Without missing a beat, she smoothly redirected the conversation. "Though... isn’t this rather interesting?"

"There are five girls standing here..." She slowly swept her gaze across the group. "...yet only four gentlemen appeared."

"So..." A faint smile slowly curved her lips. "...does that mean someone here simply isn’t interested in anyone?"

"..."

"...or perhaps..." She paused deliberately. "...two of you happen to have the same taste in men?"

The entire area instantly fell into complete silence.

Almost instinctively, Arielle and Nala slowly turned toward Charlotte.

"..."

Charlotte noticed their gazes almost immediately. "What?"

On the other hand, Rook looked back and forth between David and Charlotte with a puzzled expression. "Wait. Why are you all looking at her?"

"..."

Arielle merely smiled. For some reason, that gentle smile sent an inexplicable chill down anyone’s spine.

Nala also crossed her arms while wearing an expression that clearly said, ’You know exactly why.’

Charlotte simply sighed. "You two really have nothing better to do."

Rook blinked several times. "Can someone explain what’s going on?"

Before either Arielle or Nala could answer, Miss Bunny suddenly nodded in agreement. "I was about to ask the same thing."

Arielle and Nala simply smiled at one another.

Rook frowned even more. "That only makes me more curious."

Miss Bunny also nodded seriously. "I agree.

...