As they stepped into the forest, it was as if daylight had suddenly vanished, plunging them into a night unlike any other. This wasn’t the gentle night of moonlight and stars; it was a suffocating darkness, thick and absolute. Without the Glow flowers, they would have stumbled blindly, tripping over every unseen obstacle.

  The Glow flowers cast a soft, protective light around them, forming a small bubble of visibility that allowed them to see just a few steps in any direction. Fenix quickly caught up to ChibiScker, gently nudging him aside. “I’ll lead,” he said.

  “Okay,” ChibiScker replied, stepping back to follow.

  Fenix opened his map, zooming in to get a better sense of their surroundings. The map dispyed the entire forest, with markers indicating the locations of monsters and pnts. He noticed some valuable pnts he could gather, but without their exact locations and being unprepared, he decided to leave them for another time. Using his new map feature, a swarm of red dots appeared, representing the levels and exact positions of every monster in the forest.

  Most of the creatures were manageable, but a few were dangerous enough to kill them if they weren’t cautious—and unfortunately, those were right along their path. Sighing quietly, Fenix began to move forward, with ChibiScker close behind.

  “It’ll take us about three hours to get through this forest, maybe four if we run into trouble,” Fenix whispered. “We need to stay sharp and keep our voices down. We don’t want to attract any monsters.”

  “Got it,” ChibiScker whispered back, his voice barely audible.

  ~

  As they walked deeper into the woods, everything seemed to be going surprisingly well. Despite the tension in the air, they hadn’t encountered any real danger. Their journey through the forest turned out to be more rewarding than either of them had expected.

  Although the forest was teeming with danger, each time Fenix saw a monster's approach on his map he would pull ChibiScker off the path, slipping silently through the trees. It felt like they were walking a fine line, with the monsters’ shadows always close but just out of sight. Still, each turn seemed to bring a new discovery.

  In one clearing, while he and ChibiScker were crouching to hide from a monster, Fenix found a patch of herbs hidden among the leaves. Their sharp scent was invigorating, and though he didn’t know their exact use, the hoarder in him felt that collecting them was necessary.

  A little further on, a tree filled with ripe blue fruit caught his eye. Fenix's eyes lit up when he saw them. These fruits, called Braple, had simir properties to Miracle fruit, making sour things taste sweet. However, they also had an added benefit: when used in desserts, they made pyers invulnerable to poisons.

  Fenix couldn't help but grab every st one of them from the tree. After all, they were hard to find. Once he got his farm he would pnt all of them, because he knew they would come in handy when fighting certain mobs.

  He wasn't the only one who had luck as they tried to leave the woods safely. As they skirted around another unseen threat, ChibiScker’s foot got caught on a root. He stumbled, nearly pitching forward.

  Fenix reached out to steady him, but ChibiScker had already dropped to one knee, his eyes widening in surprise. Half-buried in the dirt was a small gemstone. Just looking at it Fenix knew it had to be worth at least 20 silver coins, if not more.

  ChibiScker picked it up, his mouth open in amazement. “Wow, look at this,” he breathed, turning it over in his hand.

  He gnced at Fenix. The unspoken offer to share the wealth was clear in his eyes, but Fenix just chuckled, waving the gesture away. “Keep it,” he said. The warmth of his smile cut through the chill of the forest. “You found it; it’s yours.”

  With the way things were going, Fenix began to believe they might just make it out of the forest without a single fight. The thought brought a rare sense of ease, but deep down, he knew better. Nothing in this world ever came that easily.

  Two hours ter, as they neared the forest’s edge, just a mile from the exit, the hairs on the back of Fenix’s neck began to prickle. A sense of unease washed over him like a cold wind. It looked like he was right. Getting out of this forest unscathed wouldn’t be that simple.

  Rubbing his forehead in frustration, Fenix leaned toward ChibiScker and whispered, “We’re being stalked by something.”

  “I know,” ChibiScker responded calmly.

  Fenix blinked in surprise. “You knew? Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “It’s my beast sense,” ChibiScker expined. “I didn’t mention it because I didn’t pick up any aggression. It felt more curious than anything.”

  Fenix thought back to how ChibiScker had been acting—the way he would suddenly gnce around, his body tensing as if preparing for an attack that never came. Fenix had written it off as nerves, figuring that ChibiScker was just jumpy from the dark and unsettling atmosphere. The map hadn’t shown any monsters close by, so he hadn’t been too worried. But now, things are starting to add up.

  “Next time, just tell me,” Fenix said, a hint of irritation in his voice. “I’m still wondering why it didn’t show up on the map.”

  ChibiScker rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish expression on his face. “Sorry, I just didn’t think it was important since it wasn’t going to attack.”

  Fenix sighed, gncing at the map again. “It’s fine, but if it’s following us, there’s a reason for it.”

  Fenix checked the map again—they were just ten feet from the exit. He was about to inform ChibiScker when the monster suddenly began rushing toward them. “ChibiScker, get ready! It’s coming fast!”

  ChibiScker’s swords were in his hands instantly, his eyes darting around, searching for any sign of the threat. But there was nothing—no sound, no movement, just darkness pressing in on them. “Where is it?”

  Fenix didn’t have an answer. One moment the monster was charging at them, the next it vanished completely, circling them and reappearing only to disappear again. For a brief moment, Fenix thought it might be a glitch, but then he caught a glimpse of the creature just before it vanished. That’s when it hit him—there was only one skill that could do this.

  “Oh, hell… Chibi, it’s using ‘Hide’!” Fenix hissed, his voice urgent as he summoned a Dreaming Dust potion.

  ‘Hide’ was a rare and dangerous skill, possessed by only a few monsters and obtainable by even fewer pyers. It allowed the user to vanish from sight, even from maps, slipping through the shadows undetected.

  While they couldn’t attack while hidden, it was the perfect tool for ambush, especially when paired with another deadly skill. In the PVP arena, ‘Hide’ was legendary—nearly impossible to counter and devastating in the right hands.

  And now, they were up against it in the worst possible situation.