Chapter 21: Lost

Lost in the Lost Woods, Bai Yu leaned against a massive tree, a blade of grass dangling from his lips. He gazed up at Ma Fei perched in the branches. "Sigh... guiding newbies is such a pain. I have to carve out time to teach them. I'm exhausted."

Bai Yu stretched languidly. "I wonder what those two are up to outside, probably having the time of their lives while we're stuck here."

The "two" Bai Yu referred to were the other two team members who hadn't entered the Secret Realm.

"They're our classmates," he continued. "As long as they don't drag us down, I wouldn't mind having them in our group."

But Ma Fei remained silent, unmoved by Bai Yu's words.

Bai Yu's words struck Ma Fei as strangely unsettling.

A nagging unease crept into Ma Fei's mind. He pulled out his phone. "What time did we enter the Secret Realm today?"

Bai Yu blinked, puzzled by the sudden question, but answered truthfully, "Around 2:30 PM."

He tilted his head. "Why the sudden question?"

Ma Fei checked the time on his phone, his expression darkening abruptly.

Bai Yu's heart skipped a beat. What's going on? he wondered. But lacking the physical prowess of a Melee Class, he couldn't climb the tree. All he could do was shout from below, "Hey! What's going on up there?"

Ma Fei pulled up the time display on his phone and turned it to show Bai Yu. "It's exactly four o'clock now. That means we've only been here for an hour and a half."

Bai Yu's eyes widened as the realization hit him. He slapped his forehead. "The time... it hasn't slowed down much at all!"

"And... we barely even had to teach them anything!"

Bai Yu thought back. He realized it was true. He had initially assumed Ke Lu and Su Rou were novices based on his preconceived notions. But upon reflection, apart from their initial awkwardness, the two women had quickly integrated into the team, requiring minimal guidance.

Just then, Shi Lei's voice boomed, "What are you guys doing? Assemble!"

It was time to move forward.

Bai Yu seized the opportunity to slip beside Shi Lei and whispered, "Captain, we just made a discovery..."

But he noticed a mischievous glint in Shi Lei's eyes.

"Hey, Captain, are you even listening?!" Bai Yu protested, only to have Shi Lei ruffle his hair roughly.

Shi Lei chuckled. "You two are pretty observant, huh?"

Ma Fei caught up, understanding Shi Lei's reaction immediately. "Captain, you noticed it too?"

"Tch," Shi Lei muttered irritably, scratching his head. He'd just argued with them and was already eating his words.

"They barely qualify to join us," he conceded grudgingly, quickly finding a face-saving excuse. "Old Liu said they were insistent on joining and refused to change their minds."

"Since that's the case, I guess I'll reluctantly accept them."

Reluctantly? Ma Fei thought sarcastically. If that's "reluctantly," we're all going to get kicked out.

"I think we should tell the others first. We're a team, after all."

With that, he pulled out his phone and texted the two teammates outside who were still unaware of the situation.

Meanwhile,

The group had reached the most crucial trial in the Lost Woods: pathfinding.

The Lost Woods was a labyrinth of countless, nearly indistinguishable forks in the road—hence its name.

It was like a real-life version of those childhood "spot the difference" games, only far more challenging.

These forks had stumped countless students, explaining why this Secret Realm—despite having relatively easy-to-defeat monsters—had garnered thousands of complaints online.

Even with detailed walkthroughs in hand, many students struggled to identify the correct paths, cementing the Secret Realm's notorious reputation.

Not to mention, this was the first time Shi Lei and his group had entered this Secret Realm, and the first time they were looking at the strategy guide.

Under the watchful eyes of his companions, Shi Lei spent five minutes meticulously comparing every blade of grass and every tree to the guide, his brow furrowing into a tight knot.

He pounded his solid chest with a resounding thud, declaring with unwavering conviction, "Go left! Absolutely no doubt about it!"

"Stop."

Just as the others were about to instinctively turn left, a crisp, cold voice cut through the air, halting their movements with undeniable authority.

Su Rou naturally trusted her best friend Ke Lu without reservation far more than Shi Lei. She immediately stopped in her tracks, gliding gracefully to Ke Lu's side, and looped her arm through hers. "LuLu, which way do you think we should go? I'll follow your lead."

"Straight ahead," Ke Lu replied concisely, her tone radiating unshakeable confidence.

Shi Lei's eyebrows shot up. Crossing his arms and tilting his chin slightly, his bronze face bristled with defiance and skepticism. "Explain yourself?"

He had just spent five full minutes studying the strategy guide. Compared to Ke Lu's baseless assertion, Shi Lei clearly trusted his own judgment more.

He flipped his phone around, illuminating the screen, and tossed it to Ke Lu.

"I've got the strategy guide right here, and my eyes aren't blind. So tell me, where exactly did I go wrong?"

Ke Lu wasn't surprised Shi Lei had gotten lost. After all, getting lost was the main challenge of this Secret Realm. The intersections all looked virtually identical, making it easy to make mistakes if you tried to distinguish them based on appearance alone.

As for how Ke Lu could tell the difference, it certainly wasn't by comparing the paths.

Seeing Shi Lei's skepticism, Ke Lu remained calm. She slowly retrieved her own phone, tapped the screen a few times, and pulled up a clear map of the Secret Realm's entrance area.

"We entered through the south entrance," she said, smoothly drawing a clear red line across the screen with her stylus.

"After entering, we passed twelve intersections, taking the following turns: left, center, right... We defeated two waves of Woodland Wolves, a Poison Claw Monkey nest, and... traveled approximately 3.7 kilometers."

Her voice was steady, her logic meticulous, and every detail was accurate. It was as if she had a sophisticated navigation system built into her very being.

Then, she turned the screen to Shi Lei and tapped their current location with her stylus.

"Based on this route and direction, we are currently located here on the strategy guide map."

"The guide you're holding," she said, glancing at the phone in his hand, "provides a detailed description and illustration of this fork in the road on page 57, lower half. It explicitly recommends taking the middle path."

Shi Lei frowned, his expression a mix of skepticism and uncertainty as his fingers impatiently swiped across the screen, quickly flipping to page 57.

His eyes rapidly scanned the text and accompanying diagrams at the bottom of the page, and his face paled slightly.

If Ke Lu's analysis was correct, then the middle path was indeed the correct choice.

Yet Shi Lei's brow remained furrowed, the lingering doubt coiling in his mind like a persistent vine.

Yes, her reasoning might seem sound, and her analysis appears rigorous.

But the margin for error is far too slim!

Any slight deviation could point to a different path, leading to a completely wrong answer.

Moreover, the map's locations are scaled down, further amplifying potential calculation errors.

Could Ke Lu truly guarantee that every step, every turn, every battle position from the moment they entered the Secret Realm until now has been perfectly imprinted in her mind, without a single error?

If Ke Lu's words held true,

What terrifying spatial memory and real-time path-tracking abilities must she possess?

Su Rou, naturally trusting Ke Lu's analysis, compared it to the map and exclaimed in astonishment, "How is your brain wired so differently from ours?"

Ke Lu replied with disarming simplicity, "Is it really that difficult? I just remembered it after one look."