[BONUS]

"They said so in the warning that it would be . . . extreme," added Ren. "So, no complaining now~."

"How would I know what they meant by extreme . . ." Leonel groaned. "They should have provided a short clip of what to expect."

"R-right?" agreed Nikolai.

"Where's the fun in that?" Evie immediately protested. "There would be less shock value and horror experience if everyone knew what to expect."

"E-Evie . . ." Leonel wanted to cry. How was she so brave?

While they chatted, the group eventually reached the last spiral staircase that led to the rooftop.

They saw lightning and heard wailing cries from creatures, making them pause.

Seeing the group stop moving, Nano was losing her patience, and her face warped in anger. The stitches loosened around her lips, showing sharp rows of jagged teeth. Her head turned twice its original size, with her hair standing on the edge.

"MOVE!" She yelled before her face immediately went back to normal, and smiled. "Please."

The other gasped and quickly followed her to the final staircase.

The maid was short-tempered, reminding the group of Alice back at HQ. They should have brought her along so she could meet her fellow creatures.

Finally, the group reached the roof of the lab, where the Doctor brought life to her creations.

The focal point of the roof was a spiraling set of nested copper rings that attracted lightning.

In the far corner, the Doctor stood atop a dais as she brought life to her latest creations.

Beside her, there were carts with surgical instruments, a stretcher, and several tables stacked with half-filled jars of Soul Honey on one side.

Continuous forks of lightning stabbed a set of circular copper spinning rings. Lying on a dais was a body being jolted by blue and purple bolts of electricity.

A peal of thunder roared in the heavens, and in response, the body cried back.

A new monster was rising!

Leonel shrieked and hid behind Isolde while the latter patted Leonel's head to calm him down.

Nikolai scrambled to his sister's protection while Sumeri's lips skewed to the side from the sight.

Ragnar and Roz only watched with great interest.

Evie stared without blinking, afraid to miss something.

As for Ren, he was still thinking about the Mad Lab and how he could get Evie to be alone with him.

When the monster awakened, it was visibly terrified, like a baby unfamiliar with its surroundings. The monster pulled off the straps holding it into the dais and ran to the edge of the tower, leaping into the forest below.

The next sound that followed was the clicking of a tongue and a notable raspy voice of a woman.

"Tsk. Another failed one."

"Doctor, your guests are here~" Nano announced.

The tall woman's shoulder-length red curly hair swayed as she turned to face the group. Only then did they notice that she was wearing goggles.

On her head, she had a clockwork hat, and on her lips was black lipstick. Just like her other creations, she also had stitches that could be seen in her exposed skin.

"Ah! Good day. I am Dr. Frida, and I welcome you to my house," she greeted and immediately added, "I saw your group from the observatory. You're the only players that are avoiding my creations, and this got me curious . . ."

Dr. Frida took a step closer to Ren's group. The gears in her goggles rotated like clocks, but her eyes were forever kept in the shadows of the glasses.

"Do you want to align with me and defend my mansion against the other players heading this way? I'll handsomely reward you, of course."

Ren breathed a sigh when he heard the Doctor's words, and he answered. "Sure."

"Egh?" Leonel whipped his head over at Ren. Like always, his friend left out important details.

The others merely threw a glance at Ren's way. They were already used to Ren and his ways. Though they were still surprised, they didn't protest and gave their complete trust in his decisions.

Ren was a bug. That was what others often called him.

"Splendid!" Doctor Frida smiled the first time showcasing her set of unusually very white and straight teeth.

"Now . . . here's the deal. I will alter your body first so you can move around my mansion unhindered. And then all you have to do is"

"W-wait. Wait. Wait. Wait." Leonel stepped in and asked with a large gulp. "W-what do you mean . . . alter?"

The others didn't expect it as well, and the only one who was excited was Evie. The girl's heart was practically rising to her throat, and she was almost gasping for air.

Ren looked at her weirdly when he heard her ragged breathing. Nevertheless, he was happy that he could make her happy . . . even though the source of her happiness was weird.

"Just like I said, I will alter your body, and you will become my creations," Doctor Frida answered like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"H-huh?" Leonel trembled, and he shifted his attention to his friend. "R-Ren?"

"Please wait for a minute," Ren said to the Doctor and called for a quick meeting.

"Ren, w-what does she mean a-alter?" Leonel asked with a broken voice.

"Like becoming a monster like the others?" Isolde inquired while thinking and saying out loud, "Maybe having multiple arms?"

Leonel weakened just the thought of it.

"Do we really have to do it?" Sumeri questioned, worried about Nikolai's reaction.

"We have to," Evie answered with a steadfast tone. "It's for the quest, right?"

"Right," Ren agreed.

"N-no way! I'm already scared of the monsters here, and you want me to become like them?!"

"Listen first," Ren cut in. "If we aligned with the Doctor, she would modify our body and increase our chosen skill or spell to two levels, but our HP would suffer as an after-effect.

"And don't worry. Our bodies will return to normal once we're finished with this server, and our HP will be back to normal as well. But the increase of levels in our skills will forever remain.

( . . . continuation on NOTES)