The Shelter Game: Me, Starting with a Tenfold Drop Rate

Although James and Nick had been doing their best to escape in the face of life-threatening danger, the distance between them and Irving was closing rapidly.

"What are we going to do? Irving is about to catch up with us! If we can't come up with a solution, he will definitely kill us all! The expression on his face is incredibly fierce; he is not going to let us go," Nick said, slightly panicking.

Even though he had been a member of the Angel Guild for some time, Nick had never dealt with such troublesome issues before. James, on the other hand, had never joined the Angel Guild, but he had served as the president of the Green Ivy Company. Moreover, he had collaborated with Irving for a long time.

Therefore, when faced with a crisis, Nick naturally sought James's opinion.

James frowned at that moment. He also didn't know what kind of countermeasure to take. Even though he had worked with Irving for a long time, he didn't have much understanding of him. Irving had always been somewhat cautious around James during their collaboration.

Thus, James offered no response. Nick felt he had to come up with a solution on his own.

"You don't need to deceive me like this anymore! Do you think I would believe your lies?" Just as Nick was deep in thought about a counter plan, Irving's cold voice echoed from not far behind him.

Nick turned his head slightly and caught a glimpse of Irving's murderous expression out of the corner of his eye. At this moment, Irving had raised his staff, the tip of which was glowing with blue light.

Although Nick didn't know much about Irving, he could sense the immense power contained in the blue light at the tip of the staff. Suddenly, Nick realized he had to dodge this attack.

So, he quickly shifted his body and rolled to the side.

James's reaction time wasn't as fast as Nick's, and he couldn't avoid Irving's attack in the same way. Under the impact of the powerful magic, James was thrown away.

However, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing for James; at least he could temporarily escape Irving's pursuit.

Irving glanced at James, who was flung away. He thought that James had sustained severe damage, and even if he couldn't eliminate him right away, he should shift his attack focus to Nick, who had just successfully dodged his strike.

When Irving turned his gaze toward Nick, Nick's expression turned extremely fearful.

"I am your companion! I am not your enemy! Why are you attacking me?" At that moment, Nick felt utterly desperate.

He could no longer continue to escape because, while dodging Irving's attack, he had collided with a rock and fallen to the ground. Therefore, Nick hoped to find another way to stop Irving.

Irving coldly sneered as he slowly walked up to Nick's side.

"You say you are my companion? How can you prove that you are my companion? Just a moment ago, an illusion of mine appeared right in front of me. Do you think that by disguising yourself as my companion, I will believe you?"

Irving pointed his staff at Nick, who was lying on the ground. The only reason Irving hadn't launched an immediate attack was that he wanted to hear what Nick had to say.

Nick seized this opportunity. His mind raced, and he quickly conceived a possible method that he believed might succeed.

"We have collaborated for a long time. There are certain things that only the two of us know, like the crisis we faced in Shadow City. For example, the way we worked together against Elder Lawrence.

Aren't these experiences unique to us? Is there anyone else who would know about these events besides you and me? The fact that I can mention these matters means that I am indeed the real Nick, not an enemy disguised as an illusion, as you claim."

Nick quickly shared some crucial information.

After hearing this, Irving's expression changed slightly. He had to admit that this information was indeed known only to him and Nick. However, Irving was not willing to trust him just yet.

"What you said is true; only I and Nick know these things. But you haven't provided any specific details. You better clarify all the details of your actions."

Irving spoke with a still icy tone. However, to Nick, the fact that Irving was allowing him to continue speaking meant that, to some extent, Irving had been persuaded.

Nick then recounted all the details of their actions that he knew. The details he mentioned were thorough and comprehensive. Some of the details were even things that Irving himself could hardly remember, but Nick recalled them very clearly.

After Nick finished speaking, Irving's expression finally softened a bit.

"It seems you really are my companion, Nick." Irving let out a slow sigh and extended his hand toward Nick.

Nick grasped Irving's hand and stood up.

"Since you are my companion, you should explain everything to me promptly. If you had made things clear earlier, I wouldn't have had to chase you down so desperately," Irving said, slightly complaining to Nick.

A wry smile appeared on Nick's face. "We did want to clarify things with you at the time. But you didn't give us a chance at all. During your pursuit, we had no opportunity to explain ourselves."

"You? Isn't it just you here?" Irving detected some inconsistency in Nick's words.

It was then that Nick suddenly realized, "Where's James? He was with me the whole time. He wouldn't have been killed by your magic attack, would he?!"

Nick looked extremely anxious. He began glancing around, searching for any sign of James.

Irving also started to look for James.

Eventually, the two of them found James lying on the ground not far away. James was in very poor condition.

"How powerful was the magic you just used?" Nick asked Irving, still feeling shaken.

"I thought you were illusions created by the power of the abyss, so I used the strongest spell I had," Irving admitted, feeling a bit guilty. He realized that the power of the spell he had used was indeed too overwhelming. Although James hadn't been directly hit, he was still severely injured.

"We should focus on healing James for now. I have some healing potions; if he takes them, he should recover quickly," Irving said, pulling out some healing potions from his pocket.

After James took the potions, he managed to regain some strength. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and the moment he saw Irving, he became extremely frightened.

He began to struggle, trying to distance himself from Irving.

"Calm down! Calm down!" Nick quickly said to James. "Irving won't attack us again. He only attacked us earlier because he mistook us for illusions created by the power of the abyss."

Nick hurriedly explained.

It was only then that James began to calm down a bit.

"Are you really not going to attack us?" James asked Irving, his voice tinged with skepticism.

Irving nodded. "Of course not. I'm sure you are my companions. I would never attack my own allies. The previous attack was simply because I misjudged your identities."

Irving's words finally reassured James.

The three of them then began to regroup in place. During the recovery process, they also began discussing their action plan moving forward.

"Even though this place looks exactly like Starling City, it is not Starling City; this is the abyss region. The shelter game has informed me that this is a completely new area," Irving shared the information he had.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

After hearing this, both James and Nick felt a sense of amazement.

"I can't believe there are places in the abyss region that look exactly like Starling City. It's beyond my imagination. I always thought the abyss region would be filled with monsters," Nick remarked as he glanced around at the scenery, reflecting on it.

James nodded in agreement with Nick's statement but didn't add much more.

"We need to get out of here as soon as possible. Even though we haven't faced the corruption of the abyss yet, the longer we stay here, the more dangerous our situation will become," Irving continued without paying much attention to James and Nick's sentiments.

James and Nick didn't oppose this; after their battle with the Abyssal Demon, they had developed a deep fear of the abyss's power. If there was a way to quickly leave the abyss region, both James and Nick would naturally support it.

"I haven't found the exit yet, but I've identified areas where the abyss's power is weaker. If we continue along this main road, we should be able to find a potential exit. However, before we do that, we need to ensure James is back to his best condition. Right now, he's not fit to travel with us, and we will certainly encounter many dangers in our upcoming actions," Irving had already considered all the situations.

James and Nick only needed to follow his lead.

So, the three of them stayed in place for a temporary rest.

The scenery around them had not changed at all; they were surrounded by crumbling buildings. However, in the distance, the landscape transformed dramatically. One crumbling high-rise after another vanished into the pitch-black abyss.

In the lightless areas, terrifying roars echoed continuously.

These horrific sounds belonged to the monsters of the abyss.

The monsters had already noticed Irving and the others, but they did not attack; they could sense that Irving was exceptionally powerful.

The illusions Irving had seen not long ago were created by these abyssal monsters. They aimed to use the illusions to shatter Irving's spirit, hoping to prevent him from being able to confront them directly in battle.

However, Irving successfully countered the illusions created by the Abyssal Monsters, which was something the Abyssal Monsters had not anticipated.