84: Stickers

Because of the professionalism Cheng Zhen had shown earlier, Brother Tian had already labeled him as 'reliable'.

Now, hearing him speak, Brother Tian couldn't help but feel worried.

Aside from some very famous Raiders (strategy-users), some veterans used aliases because they were worried about encountering enemies. Brother Tian used an alias precisely because he didn't want to run into anyone from a certain guild.

However, after interacting with him now, he felt that this 'Robinson' was very capable and reliable, and didn't seem to be a member of his rival faction. If Robinson's concerns were real, then they truly needed to be careful in battle.

So, Brother Tian informed Cheng Zhen of his skill's effect:

Skill: Have you seen fists as big as a sandbag?

Effect: When using this skill, both fists gain power and size enhancement. When attacking with sandbags as a ranged weapon, deal 2x critical damage to enemies who have never seen a sandbag.

Remark: I've seen it, I've really seen it!

Combining both ranged and melee attacks, it was indeed a good skill. And since Brother Tian had strengthened it with an intermediate potion, his combat power must not be low.

A Shi, who was being watched by the others, then also spoke: "My skill can interfere with the target's vision, making it difficult for enemy attacks to hit for a short time, and has a chance to cause a few seconds of blindness."

It could protect teammates at critical moments, which was also decent.

The group discussed the possible situations that might arise, made some preparations, and then continued searching for the map box.

This time, they targeted a child who wet the bed in the middle of the night and found the map box in a diaper that had no smell but also seemed to have a smell.

However, when Mba was handling the diaper to get the box, he accidentally touched the child, and the family of three snowmen instantly dissipated, turning into a pile of white snow.

Everyone was tense at first, but no other situations arose, so they took the map and left as before.

The dungeon message also showed new changes:

Beep, after activation, open the box within the time limit to obtain the Ice Snow City map (3), reduce the enemy's actions by ■ ■ each time, and you can rewind one ▲. If the time limit is exceeded, the enemy will increase their actions by ■ ■ each time.

The number of actions each time? Or something else?

With doubts, the group headed to the next location.

The familiar house remained, its unchanging appearance slightly reassuring everyone.

"This is the fourth time, isn't it...?" A Shi mumbled. Seeing no anomalies around, he pushed open a door as before.

"Then let's keep looking... Ah!!!"

A snowman suddenly appeared in front of him, its smiling expression looking warm and hospitable.

Creak—

Sounds came from the surrounding doorways.

Snowmen appeared at the entrances, all with the same smile, welcoming the new day.

And the new visitors.

All the snowmen had the same smile on their faces, as if their facial muscles were fixed, unable to make any other expressions. Then, their bodies seemed to float, moving sideways towards Cheng Zhen and the others.

Bang—

A Shi pulled out a stick from his inventory and fiercely struck the snowman that had suddenly appeared in front of him.

The snowman's smiling face instantly shattered into pieces, and its body also fell apart, scattered across the ground.

"That's it?"

A Shi was a bit surprised. He had expected the snowman monsters to be difficult to deal with once activated, but he didn't expect them to be the same as before, disappearing with just a touch.

The others, who had been on high alert, also didn't expect the opponents to still be so weak.

Brother Tian tentatively used his skill to smash the snowman approaching him, and in an instant, several snowmen were scattered across the ground.

Mba also protected Cheng Zhen, blocking three snowmen that approached him. Mba didn't even use much force, and the snowmen, like flying snow, lightly covered the ground.

Because the monsters were too weak, the group fell into confusion.

They couldn't understand why these things were just given away like this.

"There are only about twenty snowmen, they shouldn't pose a threat to us, right?"

Lizi looked around. The other few had easily knocked down several, and the rest were also weak.

As everyone was thinking about how to find map clues from the remaining snowmen, the sound of the wind and snow suddenly grew louder. The snowmen that had disappeared with a touch earlier actually reassembled themselves in the wind and snow.

They still wore smiles, much like office workers forcing a smile after being fed empty promises by their boss.

The group became alert again, thinking that the reshaped snowman monsters would be strengthened.

But they still weren't. A salted fish remains a salted fish even if it flips over, and snowmen returning to life didn't turn into reinforced concrete people; they still shattered with a touch.

Could it be that they were trying to exhaust their stamina?

But if you brought a few huskies, they might actually make everyone pant. A few snowmen really didn't offer any challenge.

"How strange..." Lizi cautiously took two steps back. "They just keep surrounding us like this, what exactly is their purpose?"

"I don't know."

A Shi frowned, also avoiding the snowmen that were sticking to him like Lizi. "Is there some special attack? Like not being able to be touched on certain parts?"

Cheng Zhen was also thinking about what these snowmen were trying to do, so he told Mba to go stand still and see what they could do.

Mba did as he was told, and then was slowly surrounded by four snowmen.

Under everyone's gaze, the snowmen stuck to Mba's body, then shattered into pieces again.

"Your Majesty, they themselves... Achoo!"

Mba wanted to say that he had obediently not fought back, but before he could finish speaking, he sneezed and couldn't help but shiver.

"So cold..."

Mba suddenly felt waves of cold, as if his clothes' warmth and Lizi's skill had suddenly become ineffective.

At the same time, Cheng Zhen also received a dungeon notification—

Beep, your warrior 'Mba' has been afflicted with 11 stacks of 'Chilling Curse'.

Chilling Curse: For every 10 stacks, different degrees of 'Extreme Cold' effect will be applied based on the current stack count.

Current status: Defense -10%, Stamina -10%, Movement Speed -10%.

11 stacks?

Looking at the dissipated snow on the ground, Cheng Zhen immediately understood.

"Don't touch those snowmen again!"

Cheng Zhen shouted, stopping Brother Tian's movements.

"Those snowmen will apply a curse effect. Breaking one adds a stack, and if it stacks too high, we're done for!"

When Mba first handled the sleeping snowman, he had probably already gotten the 'Chilling Curse' on him, but it hadn't shown any effects then, so they didn't know.

Afterward, Mba touched the child's family of three, the three snowmen that had approached earlier, and the four snowmen that came to test him, accumulating 11 stacks of the curse.

At this moment, he was already shivering, feeling extremely cold even with Lizi's skill active.

If the Raiders (strategy-users) triggered these effects, the later stages would likely be difficult!

The three people, alerted by Cheng Zhen, also immediately changed their expressions and quickly retreated.

But the snowmen ignored them, like magnets, drawn to the group to stick to them.

"Retreat first... Huh? Behind?!"

Brother Tian wanted everyone to retreat, but suddenly hit an invisible air wall that blocked everyone's escape route!