Volume 1, Chapter 25: The Eye-Catching Statue, The Jumping Statue

Li Chuan quickly stepped back, then carefully scanned the grove for the stone statue.

"It's actually in the tree?"

Li Chuan found the culprit: a damaged, monkey-shaped statue hanging from the branches.

[Staring Stone Statue: Green]
[HP: 1000/1000]
[Lv15, a cursed, eerie stone statue. It will attack anything within its range that is not looking directly at it!]
[Attack Range: 8-meter radius. Attack Method: Arrows. Trigger Time: 5 seconds. Weakness marked!]

Attacking anything not looking at it...
Li Chuan felt a pang of sympathy for the players who had died in this area previously.
Damn it, if one didn't have the Appraisal skill, even a god would have taken a couple of arrows here.

Li Chuan blinked repeatedly to ensure he wouldn't make any fundamental mistakes, then slowly stepped into the range of the Staring Stone Statue.
Approaching the statue, Li Chuan drew his longsword and, glaring fixedly at the figure, began to hack away mercilessly.
At this moment, looks could truly kill.

...

[Ding! Killed Lv15 Staring Stone Statue (Elite) *1, EXP +30]

"Sigh, the experience points are too low. Daily quests are much faster."
"Eh? What’s that?"

As Li Chuan picked up the "Cursed Energy Core" from the ground, the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of something shimmering with gold.
Only a corner of the golden object was exposed from beneath the tangled, withered vines; the rest was hidden from view.
Anticipation rose in Li Chuan’s heart. After confirming there were no other statues nearby, he immediately moved over to the shimmering object.

[Golden Key: An essential item for clearing the first main quest.]
[Description: Aside from this, it seems to have no other use.]

"This is the clearance key? Great! Finally, I don't have to suffer in this place anymore!"
Li Chuan tucked the key away with delight and headed back along a different route.
He didn't want to take the same path back, as that would limit his potential gains.

[Hopping Stone Statue: Cyan]
[HP: 1500/1500]
[Lv20, a cursed, eerie stone statue. It will attack any living thing within its range that does not advance by hopping!]
[Attack Range: 30-meter radius. Attack Method: Strangulation. Trigger Time: 1 second. Weakness marked!]

Shocked! Absolutely shocked!
Li Chuan had just been celebrating finding two golden keys when he appraised the stats of the kangaroo-like statue standing right beside them.
A one-second trigger time! That gave absolutely no room for error!
But then again, if one knew the taboo of this statue, hopping forward shouldn't be dangerous, provided one was extremely careful.

...

"Let’s do this!"

Li Chuan shook out his limbs, found his orientation, and leaped with both feet together, hopping into the range of the Hopping Stone Statue like a zombie from an old Master Lam movie.
It was honestly absurd—who designed the abilities of these cursed statues? It felt like a child’s prank.

...

"Guild leader, I’ve found another key! No, two!"
In the deadwood forest, a player standing on high ground with a short bow and binoculars exclaimed in surprise.
Behind him, Gao Han, surrounded by several other players, looked up in delight.

"What’s the distance?"
Finding two keys at this juncture was undoubtedly a relief for Gao Han.
Her ten-person exploration team had lost three members and only secured one golden key; the losses were far outweighing the gains. If things continued this way, she feared the remaining members might lose heart and quit.

The archer observed intently.
"Over forty meters! But I see someone—I see clearly, he has the green 'Cold-Blooded' title above his head. It’s that Cold-Blooded guy; he’s about to get the keys!"

Gao Han’s expression tightened instantly.
"Hurry! We must reach the keys before he does!"

...

Li Chuan was hopping along vigorously when he suddenly caught sight of a few figures approaching.
Are they the ones? The so-called "Illuminati."
The organization led by Gao Han was known as the Illuminati; it was frequently mentioned in the chat channels, so Li Chuan was aware of them.

"Don't come over!"
Li Chuan was returning from the depths of the deadwood forest, effectively moving toward them. Seeing that they were about to enter the range of the Hopping Stone Statue, he issued an instinctive warning.

"Bullshit! You want us to leave all the keys to you?"
A short, level-nine assassin cursed and sprinted toward the keys.

*Whoosh.*

The withered vines scattered across the forest floor suddenly erupted, thousands of them coiling toward the thief like pythons.
Gao Han shouted immediately, "Ice Shield!"
This was a mage skill she had acquired after reaching level ten. Relying on this high-defense skill, she had already saved her subordinates' lives several times.
But this time, she underestimated the power of the cyan-grade Hopping Stone Statue.

Under the shocked gazes of the group, an ice-blue shell suddenly rose around the thief, but it lasted only two seconds before shattering with a *crack*. The vines tightened instantly, and blood sprayed in a flash.

*Ah!*

The assassin’s scream was short and shrill.
The blood-stained vines slowly retracted, and the thief’s body gradually dissolved into light, leaving behind only a few gray-white pieces of equipment and some bread on the ground.

"A-Cheng!"

"Guild leader, A-Cheng is dead!"
Gao Han quickly raised a hand to stop her subordinates.
"Everyone stop. Don't move forward."

Li Chuan frowned.
"I told you not to come over."
With that, he continued hopping toward the keys.

The short-haired girl looked at the keys with a hint of greed.
"Sister Han, what do we do?"
Gao Han knew the character of this "Cold-Blooded" player well. If he got the keys, he wouldn't share them easily. Only by consolidating the keys in her own hands could she ensure true fairness.

"He’s figured out the rules of this area. Just copy his hopping and we’ll be fine. Zongqing Shengse, you go. I’ll cover you with my Ice Shield."
The warrior player nicknamed "Zongqing Shengse" shook his head immediately.
"No, I’m not going. Your Ice Shield can’t protect me."

His refusal made Gao Han’s face turn ugly.
"You!"
"Fine! Then I’ll go myself!"
The archer hurried to stop her.
"Guild leader! Don't go. You’re a mage; you should stay in the back and provide cover. Let me do it. I’m not like some cowards who fear death!"
Zongqing Shengse’s face flushed red, and he wanted to retort but ultimately stayed silent.

*Tap, tap, tap.*

The archer hopped forward a few meters and, realizing he was truly safe, grinned at the others behind him.
"The guild leader’s analysis was correct!"
"Wait for my good news, guild leader!"

Li Chuan was now less than ten meters from the statue. Even seeing that the archer had learned how to avoid the taboo, he wasn't worried.
Because no matter how you looked at it, the archer couldn't possibly be faster than him.

*Tap, tap, tap.*
*Tap, tap, tap.*

In the lonely atmosphere of the deadwood forest, the two of them approached the statue from different directions.
Just as Li Chuan was only a meter or two away from the two golden keys:

"Don't move! Move again and I’ll shoot!"