The last skeleton crumpled into the ground, lifeless, again.

  Wade wasn't sure how much experience he'd gotten from all that, since Eri had actually been the less effective one of the pair. For a cranky old demon, Bael had been oddly… powerful.

  Eri clicked his jaws a few times. The tip of his greatsword prodding the last one, as if waiting for it to get back up and try again. The helmet he now wore rattled loosely on his head, and the skeleton had to grab the chin and turn it around so he could continue to see. But that wouldn't stop him from holding onto his prize.

  The health bar on his downed enemy showed 0%. They wouldn't be getting back up.

  "A good fight before the end. Clean work." Bael's borrowed sword glowed as he easily stabbed it into the ground, then nodded at the skeleton before turning to Wade. "Unless you've got a miracle tucked away somewhere, this is where we part ways. I'd rather finish it now than wait for the pain to start. You've got an hour, perhaps less, before you'll wish you had."

  Wade fumbled for his phone, fingers slightly shaking from the adrenaline as he unlocked the screen. "Wait, I might have something!"

  "And that would be?" Bael watched with what looked like grim patience while Medy stayed on the ground, looking up at him as if he were their last hope.

  "Let me double check something first." He said, then turned to his phone and spoke english. "Play, if I use the early escape key and go back to Earth, am I still going to die over there horribly?"

  The response came immediately.

  What you leave Earth with is what you come back home with, minus whatever Market's blessing helps you smuggle out (￣▽￣)ノ

  Which meant he wasn't coming home with mana necrosis if he noped out of here early.

  "Thank fuck." Wade sighed in relief. That made things a lot easier. At least right now.

  And then a more immediate problem reared its head as Wade heard roaring further out in the tunnels, along with the sound of things.

  Likely dangerous things.

  Frankly everything in this deathtrap of a world was dangerous, question was how much.

  "Whatever you're asking your god for, ask faster." Bael said, one hand reaching for the sword again, his tail swishing nervously in a circle. "Noise travels fast here. Hunger follows faster."

  Bael had it right, but Wade was pretty sure the immediate attraction here was from the lure trap debuff currently active on the group.

  "They're not as bad as blackrot." Medy said from the ground. "We could technically kill some of these bigger things. Compared to larger Blackrotten creatures, I mean."

  "Technically?" Wade asked, giving her a side eye.

  "Well, like, I've never seen one of the bigger ones here killed?"

  "Survival here isn't about winning fights. It's about finding holes too small for whatever's chasing you to follow." Bael grunted, trying to fast forward what Medy would have eventually said.

  "Yeah, what he said." Medy nodded. "Most guards I've been with just run for their life. They'll eat one or three of us, and the rest can outrun and hide."

  …

  Yeah no, Wade wasn't going to deal with that bullshit while progressively dealing with fatal radiation sickness. He turned back to the phone.

  "Is the lure trap debuff also going to get cleared on going to Earth?"

  What are you gonna attract? An IRS audit? Rats eating your ramen packages? (??ω??)

  That wasn't what Wade was asking about, he was more worried this lure trap debuff would follow him into Earth and then partially into the next round.

  But on the other hand... "Oi, those are serious issues to consider." Wade seethed on principle. The IRS wouldn't be a problem… yet. Wade hadn't engaged in any illicit behavior thus far, and they couldn't read his mind to know his future schemes.

  On the other hand, those ramen packages were valuable. He'd gotten a mass bulk on discount and that godly discount hadn't come back for-

  He shook his head, trying to clear his mania for a moment while he focused on less important issues, like life or death. "I'd be fine if I died or escaped alive both ways, right? Everything bad happening to me gets wiped out."

  The sounds were getting closer.

  Yeh. But imho, I'd use the key to extract even if you can just die and save it for another time. Easy come easy go, plus two coins for the demon team behind you.

  Wade narrowed his eyes. He would have expected Play to put keeping that key for a better time above the lives of the two demons here.

  Play didn't give advice that would benefit others, just himself and herself. Which meant, she was either considering two coins gained from the quests worth the price of giving the key up, or there was another angle here.

  "What's your other reasons on using the key?"

  We got no idea what the assassin shapeshifter thing was, but it came with a plan. A good one. That worries me.

  Wade put two and two together. "You think the assassin doesn't know about the early extract we got. So using the key would ruin whatever it's planning by default."

  Yeh (b ?▽?)b

  Well, between dying here while keeping the key, or using the key to get the other two demons back home plus all that extra loot and his current bags back home for next time, the answer was a no-brainer to him. Messing with the assassin's plan was just a cherry on top.

  Bael and Medy should help a lot, you should tell them not to kill themselves off early asap. Get them in on the plan early.

  He turned to the other two demons with a nod, "We're still going home to Earth, I'll use a one-time early escape to end the round early and you two come with me back home."

  The instant cheer on Medy's face was like a thousand suns. She instantly bolted off the ground, looking to grab Wade in a hug before Bael's hand snapped out, yanked her shirt collar, and held her back like one would hold a misbehaving cat by the scruff.

  "None of that." He said, exasperated. "Danger is coming, you need to prepare and fight."

  "Yeah, no I get it! Screw this whole place, I want to live!"

  Wade got another phone buzz.

  But tbh this is like the perfect training ground rn, so don't come here until you absolutely gotta. Find a nice extraction point, and then camp until you can't anymore (???)

  "…What do you mean?"

  you have a debuff attracting loot and quest XP bags directly to you, unlimited mana to practice with, and you're already dying anyway. Might as well go all out, fight some monsters and power-train using mana until you're about to keel over. Oh, make sure you get Eri to pickaxe a few crystals to bring home with you.

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

  "I don't think I've seen a more Play answer in my life than this one."

  quit being so dramatic Michael~ by the time you're puking, you still got a good couple of hours before you really start dying! ?(>??)

  "What does your god say?" Bael asked, noticing Wade's short term celebration here had been interrupted after reading the messages on that phone.

  His ears were twitching, as was his sword. Pointing different directions as he tracked the monsters out there. Wade could hear the skittering. Something large was beyond the lake, moving in the darkness.

  And it was debating which direction to come from, given how Bael was constantly moving his sword left to right, tracking the options. Had it spotted them already? Or was it still coming to investigate the sound?

  The phone buzzed again in his hand one more time, Wade checked it real quick before answering back.

  btw assassin will probably be coming after here when he's sure you're basically defenseless, so maybe three to four hours? Just extract when you start puking and you'll be fiiine~ You'd be gone long before he shows up here

  Wade sighed. "She says we should go pick fights with the local wildlife until I'm about to die, then escape before that guy shows up looking to finish the job."

  "What? Why delay anything?"

  "Because as an Earth human, I have very little practice with using mana, so might as well go all out here and learn as much as I can."

  "Absolute idiocy." Bael snorted. "We're already on the edge of life or death here, and you wish to remain for a few more minutes of practice? Use your spell, get us out of here. We'll keep you protected until you are prepared."

  "Well, there's another issue, more for me than you." Wade said, "I'll be coming back here tomorrow, exactly at the same spot that I end up leaving from today. So here in the Arcane Realm. I need a plan on surviving that. That's more what I'm trying to handle first." Wade looked down at the scattered suits. This was how people down here actually survived, so best to start there. "These arcanonaught suits, can we grab some of the pieces here and fix them into something I can wear tomorrow?"

  Bael grunted. "Depends. Does Earth have Adamantite?"

  "Uh, no?"

  "Then you are out of luck, mortal."

  "Why do we need that in specific?" Wade asked, "Could we find a workaround?"

  "Adamantite blocks mana from passing through it." Bael said. "There's no workaround to this, it's the core element. One of four metals, like mithril, that mana works with."

  "It's not metal, it's got elements of life in it." Medy said, "From an alchemy point of view I mean. Like calcium. It's more a mineral than a metal."

  "Scholar lessons later." Bael said. "Ideas to help the mortal out now."

  "Wade said he'd reappear right where he leaves, right?"

  "Yep, that's what I said." Wade confirmed.

  "Okay, so, maybe we find their Coffin?" Medy pointed a hand at the dead miners all around, "I mean they had to have a base somewhere right? We find the exploration lead, grab his homecompass and then use that to backtrack back to their original Coffin. Should be safe from the mana pressure inside there. So long as he reappears inside the Coffin, he should be fine right?"

  "High chances it's broken down." Bael shook his head. "Look at them. Fully cleaned bones. Too clean for scavengers. It's years of decay before they'd end like this."

  "Exactly the point!" Medy insisted. "If they were completely preserved, it'd mean we're in a zone with mana that's too dense for things to even rot here. Like, higher up in the driftlands where everything freezes over. So that means we're probably in low to mid pressure ranges right here. Coffins really start getting unreliable in the high pressure ranges, we could be lucky if their Coffin is in the region."

  "Different parts of this place have different density?" Wade asked. Somewhat made sense in his mind, of course there'd be regions to this world.

  "There are. But no reason to travel there. Mining expeditions chase high yields, not safety." Bael said, doubling down. "These miners wouldn't waste resources setting up in low density."

  "Maybe it used to be a denser region?" Medy shrugged, "If it's been long enough for them to rot like this, could have been enough time. But I mean, if we go with Wade's first plan here with the suits, all the tools to maintain those would be back at their base including Adamantite. Even if the Coffin itself has imploded by now, all the tools would still be in the area, right? If we bring those back to Earth, I'm sure we can get something working in under a day."

  Bael sighed, "Fine. You have a point with the materials. Go take a look. But be prepared to support me, whatever is out there, it's sizing us up."

  Medy scrambled off the floor and looked over the nearest dead skeleton, spotting something and crawling over as fast as she could. "Let me check what the atmosphere here reads." She grabbed something off a chestplate that looked like another smaller compass. Then tapped it a few times. "Oh, I was right! We're in a low pressure zone!" She turned the little glass needle instrument over so Bael could watch, but the old demon kept his eyes fixed at what was beyond in the shadows.

  "What's the rating?" Bael asked instead, weapon tracking something across the glowing lake.

  "It reads only seventeen point six-ish." Medy answered back, "Don't think I've ever seen a reading this low, we're pretty safe here!"

  "I mean, I'm dying in 5 hours or so." Wade interjected. "So not sure it's exactly safe here."

  Bael laughed at that, "There is nowhere safe in this realm, only places where you'll die slower if you make a mistake."

  There was one final rustle up ahead, and then everything went quiet.

  The kind of quiet Wade really didn't like.

  New Personal quest: Challenge Gauntlet - An enemy forty levels or higher above you is hunting you down. Evade or defeat your hunter. Reward: One storefront coin and one randomized additional stat point if your pursuer is eliminated.

  "Medy, find the lead faster." Bael hissed. "Whatever's out there, it's now sneaking up on us."

  The demons sword was slowly moving to their right, away from the lake's direction and down one of the darker sloping tunnels. A sort of pathway leading slightly up. There wasn't any streams of liquid mana there to glow or show any light, which meant it was pitch black beyond there.

  Identify. Wade thought. But whatever it was, no bar showed up yet. Which meant it was likely still out of range.

  "Found it!" Medy called out, by the ruins of another dead body. "This was the lead, and looking over the homing compass… uh, looks like their base was somewhere that direction." She pointed a finger, directly down the path Bael was aiming his blade at, and slightly upwards. "Oh. Maybe we can take the long way around?"

  "Mortal, grab what parts of these suits you can carry. Be prepared to find their base imploded. If there is no one alive to maintain a Coffin, something always breaks. The tools and material will be what we're after."

  Wade started looking around for what he could stuff in his backpack, "Eri! Find a helmet that isn't broken and yank it off!"

  The skeleton clicked his jaw once, going to work finding a second helmet for his boss. Sharing was caring.

  Don't forget to loot a mana crystal down here, you need to get Eri to mine it!!

  "Why Er-"

  The nameplate showed up in that instant, rushing straight for the group from maximum range up directly into view.

  A massive centipede-like monster burst from the shadows, looming over Bael, hundreds of legs tipped with sharp claws stabbing toward the demon.

  It screeched, diving straight for the demon, a set of massive jaws opened wide.

  Bael extended a hand out and a torrent of flames came forth, causing the creature to stagger backwards.

  Level 81 Mana burrorower - 99%

  Yeah no chance Bael could fight that thing and win, even with his equipment and skills. And they might not have time to fight this thing and find the mining base.

  "RUN!" Bael called out, hand slapping the ground, forcing a glowing translucent wall of power to seal up the cavern the monster had been forced back into.

  It immediately got to work attacking that, dozens of claws scratching at the surface. Screeching the entire time in pure anger.

  Medy got back on her hooves, turned and started rushing ahead, grabbing Wade by the sleeve. "Go-go-go! We need to find a small hiding nook! Keep your eyes peeled for anything we can squeeze in!"

  On the other hand Wade was going through plan after plan at 200 frames per second.

  The arcanonaught suit plan wasn't guaranteed to be fixed back on Earth, even if they did get the tools and material from the mining base.

  And neither would finding the home base of these old miners. Whatever their little HQ was, just about anything could have happened to it over time rendering it non-functional.

  He needed a plan C. Something that was guaranteed to keep him alive.

  Lootbox item? Store-bought item with a coin? Again, none of it was guaranteed.

  There was a solution here. A way out. Wade could feel it. He'd learned enough tricks, had enough knowledge, and had the System to abuse.

  There was an exploit somewhere.

  Wade went through the facts.

  Mana poisoning.

  Caused by excess mana within the body.

  Which meant damage over time until death.

  Which the System treated like a debuff.

  Which would require either constant healing, debuff removal, or dying.

  Both debuff removal and dying were not long term solutions, because the moment he stepped back here, he'd be debuffed again.

  Could he find a way to outheal the damage then? It would require moderately powerful health regeneration that wasn't magic based. Mana poisoning was killing him, but the timeline was in hours, not minutes. The healing didn't need to be powerful. Just constant and non-magical.

  Something from Earth?

  Or…

  Anti-mana.

  Blackrot is completely destroyed by mana outside a living host - but it does the opposite inside a living body - and destroys all mana within the host.

  Which meant blackrotten creatures could easily exist anywhere they wanted to in this realm. Even his current fatal damage could be easily outhealed. They were naturally adapted to living in this realm without issue.

  If he couldn't fix an arcanonaught suit, he could become the organic version of the suit itself.

  Only problem was that his brain wouldn't be blackrotten, and thus susceptible to death by mana poisoning.

  Which was why the locals here probably never used blackrot to protect themselves - they couldn't have it both ways. Their body might be resistant to mana poisoning, but their heads weren't. Or their heads were, but then the blackrot would be in control of them.

  But Wade was different. He had the System. And the System could apply the blackrotten buff along with the entire regeneration, if enough of it infected his body - all while he stayed in control.

  Assuming he had a mithril collar.

  Which he did, exactly one, in his backpack.

  "ERI!" Wade called out, still getting dragged by Medy. In the last seconds, Wade desperately pointed back at their starting point.

  At all the mud and dirt that had been cut and transported with them here.

  Including anything currently buried deeper inside.

  "GET ME A BUG!"