The party entered the portal, and in a flash of light, disappeared from the palace room, leaving Lester alone.

“Seems like master is really enjoying himself,” the panda said. His grin turned ominous before he continued, “Either way, with how many players already died, he is already strong enough that they stand no chance against him. Ah, I can’t wait to watch them die. Woohoo!”

Lester took out his magic wand, and with a short incantation, poofed out of the chamber.

Meanwhile, Shesmu and his party stood alongside the rest of the players. In front of them were three cave routes.

Dammit, is this a joke? We’re forced to separate this soon already?

Sakura was in no better state than Shesmu. She was shocked at the sudden turn of events. She looked at him with hesitant eyes before whispering, “Guess it’s already time for plan B.”

However, before Shesmu could say anything, a notification appeared in front of him.

[By three they come]

[At three they fall]

[In all three, you shall march and crawl]

“Seems like we’re forced to go in all three directions.” Arthur stepped forward and stood in front of all the players. “From the way the notification was worded, it seems like we’ll need to split. Maybe there are things we need to gather in all three cave routes or something of the sort.”

“Dammit, he is taking control of the situation,” Sakura whispered under her breath. She bit her thumb and her face twitched in nervousness.

“Don’t worry about it.” Shesmu’s words were firm. He looked at her and said, “Your job isn’t to focus on Arthur. Your job is to make sure Hector’s party is clean.”

Sakura stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to control her anxiousness before she nodded her head. “Okay. My bad, shouldn’t have stepped in your job.”

“It’s okay.” Shesmu’s attention was back on Arthur. Now that he proposed for everyone to split, murmurs spread out the parties like wildfire.

“Sure, we can split up. We already did so on the first floor so it’s no problem to do it now too. But how are we going to split?” Hector asked in his iconic deep voice. His voice was the group’s voice. Shesmu didn’t know when, but at some point, Hector gained the respect of all the players.

Okay, now I should propose the mega-party- 

Shesmu’s thoughts were interrupted by Arthur’s response. “Well, first, we need to make a super party.”

Shesmu’s jaw hung slightly agape. It took a few seconds for his mind to register Arthur’s words, but once they did, dread overcame him.

“How?!” Sakura voiced out Shesmu’s thoughts perfectly. Her voice was low enough that only Shesmu and Ryuji could hear her.

“What’s going on, is something the matter?” Ryuji asked. He lightly touched Sakura’s shoulder to make sure she was alright.

“I’m okay, Ryu, it’s just that our plan…”

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“Don’t worry about it,” Shesmu cut in. “Like I said, your job is Hector—mine is Arthur.”

“But-”

“No buts. If we can’t trust each other to be self-reliant, then this whole thing is done.” Shesmu looked at Sakura straight in the eyes and emphasized each word, so as to make sure that she understood what her role was.

“Okay, whatever, you do you. I’m not helping even if I see Arthur transforming into a mega cobra and eating you all.”

Sakura humphed and looked away, while Shesmu chuckled and focused back on Arthur. After his declaration, murmurs spread through the crowd like a wave.

“Okay guys, I know what you’re wondering about. Why would we need a super party? Well, one thing I have been thinking about since even before entering this tower, ever since the guide told us about the monster within us, is how would we deal with a situation where we’re separated.”

Arthur slowed his talk, he gazed at every player and continued with a deeper tone, “I don’t need to tell you this, but the moment we’re separated is when the monster has the highest chance of killing us. If I was the monster, I know for certain that I wouldn’t miss this opportunity.”

Hector cut Arthur midway with a question, “So you want us to make a super party so that we limit the movements of the monster? That way, if he tries to actually kill us one by one, the party which he chooses to go with can tell us about it through telepathic communication?”

“Exactly,” Arthur responded. “What I would hate the most is for us to just separate and not know anything about what’s happening with the other groups, only to go out of the other side and see that a party has already been fully decimated.”

“W-wait, we can use telepathy in this game?” A blue-haired player asked, hesitant.

“Yeah, this game really doesn’t do a good job of explaining its mechanics,” Hector laughed. “Just think “Menu”, go to the communication tab, and you’ll find it somewhere there.”

“Oh, thanks a lot.”

“You’re a lifesaver, dude. I kept looking for something like this since I started and couldn’t find it.”

Many players voiced their appreciation of Hector’s tip. Shesmu grimaced and thought, Well, this game was never one to handhold you.

Arthur coughed twice to bring back everyone’s attention and said, “Okay, guys, I wouldn’t be so shameless as to take the party leader’s position. Whoever you guys want to be the leader, just say it.”

Arthur’s statement triggered a wave of recommendations from the players.

“I think the buff dude would be a good leader,” one of the players said. “Hector was your name, right?”

“Yeah, either Hector or the sword guy from the first floor. I don’t mind either.”

Similar recommendations kept pouring in, making Shesmu smile. He looked at Hector and said, “Seems like the people have talked. You’ll be a great leader.”

Hector scratched his head in embarrassment and said, “And here I was going to throw the job at you. You sly little bastard.”

“I haven’t said anything.” Shesmu shrugged. He looked at the rest of the players and continued, “If you have a problem, take it with them.”

Hector shook his head and looked at the players with a smile. “All of you bastards, come here give me your name so that I add you in the party.”

Players came one by one and Hector added them to his mega party. Soon, it was Arthur’s team’s turn. This time, he didn’t make contact with Shesmu. He just passed next to him like he didn’t exist, told his name to Hector, and made his way back to where he stood before. Alex, who strolled right behind him, was fidgeting nervously and sneaked some glances towards Shesmu—ones that he ignored.

It was then Shesmu’s party’s turn. Sakura entered the mega-party, but just as Shesmu was about to, he remembered Ryan that he was carrying on his back. He was so light that at some point, Shesmu forgot he was carrying him even.

“Ehm, sorry Hector, but I can’t join the mega-party.” He gestured towards Ryan on his back and said, “Gotta stay in the same party as him, or things might go out of wack later.”

Hector scratched his head and said, “That’s fine and all, but what happened to him? You never really told me.”

“Long story, dude. Even I don’t know exactly. But, just in case he does come back later, I wanna stay in the same party as him.”

“Sure, I’m fine with that. But wanna add me as a friend at least? That way you can contact me if things ever go wrong.”

Shesmu scratched his chin for a second and mindlessly said, “Sure, I can do that.” His eyes opened wide as if he was just enlightened.

“Hector, I need to tell you something. I have an idea.”