Chapter 277 - The Golden Key

Li Ying suddenly winced as she felt something biting her leg and when she looked down, even though she couldn't spot the mosquito that had bit her, she still ended up spotting something even more interesting. 

Her eyes went wide open and her muscles tensed up as a result when she slowly realized what it could be. 

She gulped as she stood up and kept her eyes on the ground. 

She was sure that she was the only one who was seeing this.

Even Zhihao who had played LHA's maze of death didn't know this... 

The answer was always right there. 

It was always under them and yet they had all been too blind. 

Li Ying didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry at this moment. 

She didn't want to win and she was the player at the current last position, however, with this sudden realization, she was the one with the golden key. The one who could very possibly win the final level. 

The system had tricked them yet again and all the other players were headed the wrong way.

Li Ying scoffed as she rubbed her head and wondered what she was supposed to do next. 

They had all thought and somehow come to believe that the maze of death would be a round structure or a cube, however, although this was true for the real LHA's maze of death, it need not be true for this one as well. 

None of the players seemed to have expected the maze of death to actually be shaped more complex than just a circle or a square. Even Li Ying wouldn't be able to confidently say that she could have seen this coming. 

For some odd reason, this maze of death was actually shaped like a spider and this meant that the center was not that easy to find. 

The maze was huge so it was only natural that the players were not able to realize this. 

Li Ying gulped as he lifted her phone once again and took a closer look at the surrounding area that was displayed on the top of the player's screen. 

She couldn't help but feel as if God was playing a trick on her as she noticed that all the players were headed for the same center which was in fact the center of the spider's head. 

The real direction they needed to head for was the spider's chest region but that complete area was empty since no players had managed to go there. 

This was perhaps also the reason why Wang Guiying was not able to save himself by running to the center of the maze because the spot that he had concluded to be the center was in fact, a fake one made to confuse him. 

Li Ying gulped as she carefully started walking towards the other side of the maze and when she was sure that her theory was right, she immediately crouched down to the ground and took a photo of the plain tiles that were arranged in a unique pattern. 

This pattern was also the reason why she was able to understand the truth because this pattern was the map of the maze. 

The answer that they were looking for was below their feet this all time but it was truly a wonder that none of the players managed to see it. 

Li Ying gulped as she brainstormed herself to come up with a plan. 

She didn't want to win this level so this information was basically useless for her, however, there was a player that she wanted to see winning and this information could certainly make her hopes come true. 

If Huang Zhen had a golden map then he would probably be able to win, however, Huang Zhen was too far away from the girl and there was no way Li Ying would be able to reach him if she ran through the maze. 

There were too many triggers and traps that would slow her down and if she was not able to reach him soon enough, there would certainly be another player smart enough to realize what she had just come to know. 

She needed to seize this opportunity somehow and she needed to help Huang Zhen so Li Ying gulped as she looked up and a suicidal plan suddenly became the only solution her brain could come up with. 

Li Ying took a sharp breath in as she stepped back and calmed herself down before keeping her phone securely back in her pocket. 

She ran forward and jumped as she tried to climb the wall but the wall was too tall and smooth so it was only natural that she wasn't able to do anything with this. 

However, the girl was determined as she looked up and marked the spot that she was able to reach before she calculated the approximate height of the wall. 

She also calculated how much time it was going to take her with a certain speed and method. 

Li Ying was much alike her brother when coming up with quick decisions and when she was sure that she had calculated everything in her mind, she went over towards a corner and with her hands on either side of the two walls, she jumped and tried to climb up. 

This was also a method that had been previously used by Wang GuiYing however because the man had suddenly been distracted and panicked because of the crawling deaths, he was unable to reach all the way to the top and if it hadn't been for Zhou Xinyi then he would have surely been eliminated after falling into the mouth of those creatures.

However, Li Ying's condition was much different. She hadn't triggered a trap and was simply climbing up so she had nothing to worry about. She was focused and determined. 

Li Ying slipped a few times and fell down, even scraping her knee in the process but the blood didn't seem to have affected her much as she tore a piece of her cloth and tied it around her knee before trying to climb up once again. 

After multiple attempts of trying and failing, somehow she was able to find a comfortable sweet spot and she climbed all the way up to the top of the maze. 

"That brat better be thankful," Li Ying muttered to herself as she stepped on top of the maze and tried to see if the invisible laser net worked or not. 

As expected, it was working well and good since it obstructed her from going back into the maze. 

Li Ying looked around and took out her phone as she tried to find the direction where Huang Zhen was and when she was able to pinpoint the location down, she started to run. 

At first, there was nobody following her but after some time, when Li Ying suddenly had a bit of a bad gut feeling, she glanced back to see that the expected villain was finally here to hunt her down. 

It was the invisible creature that had eliminated both Wang GuiYing and Zhou Xinyi. 

"Ahhh! I hate running!!!" The girl screamed at the top of her lungs as she increased her speed. 

Her only purpose was to reach Huang Zhen and now this creature was the only thing that could stop her from doing that, however, Li Ying wasn't going to let the system win this time. 

She ran faster than she had ever run before in her life and when she finally managed to reach the area where Huang Zhen was, she threw the phone down and shouted, "Take a look, you idiot!" 

A player would not be able to go back to the maze but the same could not be said about objects. 

Since this phone was clearly not a player, it went through the laser net and Huang Zhen managed to catch it even though the boy was shocked to the core at the girl who suddenly popped out of nowhere and threw a phone down at him. 

"What the...?!" The boy muttered in disbelief as he looked up and watched Li Ying disappear into thin air. 

"..." 

He felt a chill go down his spine as he rubbed his eyes and wondered if he had just seen a ghost or an illusion. 

[Player Yingli has been eliminated!] 

The system was as lively as ever as it announced and Huang Zhen's eyes widened as he slowly understood the situation. 

The boy gulped as he looked down at the phone carefully before turning on the screen and the first thing that he was able to see was the photo of the floor. 

The boy was thoroughly confused and for a second, he even held the belief that it was probably one of those crazy things that the girl would occasionally do. 

His confusion was only natural considering the fact that she had left no instructions for him to follow, however, after a solid few minutes of thinking, he finally realized that there was something odd about the way the floor was designed.

After that, it didn't take the boy long to understand that he was just given the golden key.