It's been over five minutes since our battle with the second Minotaur began.

And currently, several arrows with crimson blood coated in them were scattered around just below the Minotaur.

The Minotaur had been extra vigilant since our battle commenced, trying very hard to evade most of my arrows, which were aimed initially at its vital organs.

Only a few moments ago, I managed to prod the unsuspecting beast, with Jasmine, of course.

And it appears now, Jasmine has afforded me another chance to launch another arrow attack.

I positioned my arrow on the string and fired once again.

The arrow flew straight into the Minotaur's eyes this time around and similar to the one before it. It screeched in pain with its mouth agape while it roars in pain.

Another arrow pierced through the wind and plunged into the other eye of the Minotaur.

I didn't wait to hear the Minotaur cry in agony by such an unrelenting concurrent attack.

Instead, I dashed toward it with a body slam, ramming my entire weight toward the Minotaur.

It fell backward with its head, adding weight to one of the pressure plates on the ground.

It raises its head and twenty huge and frightening spikes erupted out from the ground, impaling the massive Minotaur and deforming its body from the head to its chest level.

A short gasp was heard, but soon its mouth, eyes, and head became indistinguishable.

A puddle of blood formed underneath the dead beast, but unfortunately for us, it dropped nothing of value.

[Dead: 2/5.]

"Are you alright? What's your HP?" I asked.

Jasmine chuckled with a hand lightly on her lips. She found it adorable for me to care about her health status right after the Minotaur was down.

"It's 16,"

"That's good to hear,"

"And yours?"

"Still in its max,"

"Oh," she said, then looked at me.

"What?" "What is it? Why are you smiling?" She asked.

"Do you see why you shouldn't take this game lightly?"

" Hmm," She huffed. " There has never been a time when I took this game lightly and besides, I knew you were by my side,"

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

She mumbled the last part, but I heard it still.

"Anyway, I'm pleased to hear you aren't taking this game lightly,"

"Hm, mm" she hummed, skipping behind me with her hands behind her back while following my footsteps to avoid stepping on any more pressure plates.

"Um, Ace?"

"Yeah,"

"Thanks for saving me back there,"

"Don't mention it. It was expected because I know you would do the same,"

A smile appeared on her lips and she was genuinely pleased to hear those words.

"Fufu..... If we were in a movie right now, I would have fallen for you after hearing those words and witnessing such a heroic act,"

" Then I'm glad this isn't a movie,"

"Hoho," A coquettish smile appeared on her face. "Then you want me to fall for you in real life?"

'Yes, I would like that very much. Please,' I kept my thoughts to myself.

But my cheeks reddened while I pondered on the thought.

"Wait a minute. Don't tell me you're falling for me already?" She covered her lips with a gasp.

"How cute," Her cheeks reddened as well.

" Me? Oh please," I scoffed.

"What? Aren't I pretty?"

'Yes, you are and there isn't a man that wouldn't want to pin you down after seeing a face as gorgeous as yours and the size of melons you have.'

I harrumphed to clear my thoughts before I accidentally made my true feelings known. "Um, I've seen better,"

" What? Hmm," She huffed. "You're no fun at all," She turned her head sideways while pouting cutely.

Although, she made sure to follow in my footsteps to avoid making any regrettable mistakes.

She folded her arms and mumbled loud enough for me to hear. "Un, You're just a v.i.r.g.i.n who's too shy to confess his feelings,"

Hearing that, I couldn't help but feel that my pride as a man had been made fun of.

Or maybe it's because what she said was wholly true.

'He-he..... This girl is underestimating the great Ace,' I commented inwardly.

"..." I raised three fingers for her to see.

"What is it?" Jasmine tightened the grip on her sword and gazes around to see if anything was coming our way.

But she soon settled down after hearing what I had to say.

"Three," I said. "I have three beautiful girls waiting for me back home and unlike you, all are charming," I lied.

"Oh, Is that so?" She laughed, returning her sword to her inventory.

"Hm, mm," I nodded. "In fact," I paused while chuckling to myself before adding.

"I can hear all three girls calling my name now from the depths of their hearts, imploring me to return home as soon as possible to fill them all with more out-of-this-world pleasure, the likes of which only I can provide them. Can't you hear them calling …. Ace… Ace..... Ace," The last words were said with a low pitch.

Well, since no one on planet Earth remembers my name, not to mention my face, Jasmine would have guessed that everything I said was a lie.

It appears Jasmine understood I'm trying to maintain my pride as a man who doesn't want to admit he's still a v.i.r.g.i.n, and this made her cheeks redden while chuckling with her hands covering her lips.

"Fufu….liar," she said and we both continued along our paths.

We exchanged words and our faces were filled with nothing but joy as Jasmine continued to trail behind me.

If I'm being honest, I'm glad we both partnered up.

Jasmine has been nothing but fun to be with.

She makes me feel happy and there's never a dull moment, whenever she's with me.

I think this partnership will work.

Anyway, so far, we continued to walk for about half an hour, and it looked like the pressure plates were no longer on this side of the labyrinth.

Our aim, of course, remains the center of the labyrinth, which would most likely be where the last Minotaur resides.

The labyrinth certainly lives up to its name, there has been a bunch of blind alleys along the intricate passageways we walked through.

But now, we approached two pathways, with one leading to the center of the labyrinth while the other leading to a blind alley.

"I'll take the right," Jasmine said before going towards the right side while I headed towards the left.

We had approached a couple of blind alleys before now, and each of them happened to be a dead end with nothing important in them.

I wonder what surprises the labyrinth has in store for us now.

_______

The total number of players currently in the game: 78,000.

The number of deceased players: 5.

The total number of deceased players: 2,000.