Martial Online.

"…" Ambrose wiped the blood off the floor using his boot and then headed to the nearest stair as he was thinking about logging out soon.

The crimson blood that was staining his right hand made his skin crawl as he began to think about the worst possibility.

'It must be just some kind of bug.' Ambrose thought and nodded. 'I have taken medical tests weekly, and nothing seemed to be wrong, so how could I possibly be suddenly dying?

'That doesn't make any sense.'

He relaxed his tense muscles and was about to head over to the bottom floor, but then he came across one of the training facility's sauna rooms.

'A sauna, huh.' Ambrose thought as he considered taking a moment to relax and unwind before continuing on his way.

'Well, my legs are quite sore and my mind is mudded, so a short sauna break could actually do very good.'

Ambrose stepped through the sliding doors and walked into a changing room to find a towel and a locker to store his belongings.

There were several empty lockers available, so he chose one in the corner for privacy. He also heard the sound of running water coming from the showers, signaling that there were already players using the facilities.

Luckily, there was one for men and one for women.

He didn't want to accidentally walk into women showering, as it would be a quick way to ruin his reputation.

After placing all his clothes inside the inventory and standing naked in front of the locker, he took a towel and wrapped it around his waist to maintain his modesty.

His perfect physique was on full display, with every muscle defined and sculpted.

With the towel around his waist, he left the locker and entered the sauna area, where some were showering and others were relaxing in the heat.

A chatter and sound of water landing on the hot rocks wafted from the nearby saunas, and the steam hung heavily in the air, creating a hazy and tranquil atmosphere.

"Whoo…" Ambrose took in the warmth and closed his eyes, feeling the stress melt away.

He then found himself in an empty sauna and settled in for a relaxing session of heat therapy.

As he grabbed the ladle, he threw the water onto the hot coals, releasing a burst of steam.

The sweat dripped down his face, cleansing his pores and rejuvenating his body.

He then leaned against the hot wooden wall, feeling the warmth seep into his tired muscles. His eyes were closed as he shut out all the worried thoughts and simply focused on the present moment.

At that moment, he heard the door to the sauna open, and based on the footsteps, he could tell that two people had just entered.

'Wasn't there any other empty saunas?' Ambrose didn't open his eyes, even though he felt slightly annoyed, but he didn't want to ruin his mood over something as trivial as that.

"Oh, it's you." One of the people sat beside him and spoke with a somewhat familiar voice.

Ambrose opened his eyes and looked beside him.

At first, he couldn't tell who he was because of the steam that filled the room, but then he barely recognized the person.

"You're…" Ambrose bit his lip as he was deep in thought.

"Julian." A half-naked man, with only a towel around his waist, said.

He was obviously a middle-aged man, but his body was surprisingly fit and well-toned.

He was none other than the legendary Saint Julian, and beside him, a crystal-haired man named Zadkiel sat with his back against the hot wooden wall, engrossed in the warmth of the sauna with a peaceful smile on his face.

"Right, Hightown, was it?" Ambrose asked with a slight nod.

"That's right." Julian leaned against the hot wooden wall and spoke with a monotone voice. "Congratulations for qualifying."

"Thank you; same to you." Ambrose nodded.

After the brief conversation, both stayed silent and stared at the same stove as if they were lost in their thoughts.

Zadkiel opened his eyes with a smile on his face and glanced at the two people, who were clearly not very talkative. In that aspect, they both seemed very similar.

"My name's Zadkiel. Nice to meet you." He reached out his hand past Julian and shook Ambrose's hand.

"Ambrose." Ambrose replied while awkwardly shaking the hand.

"You two know each other?" Zadkiel pulled back his hand and asked with a smile.

"We've met before, yes." Ambrose nodded but didn't think they exactly knew each other.

Julian nodded without breaking his own silence.

"I see." Zadkiel laughed. "Well, it's a small world, after all. Who is your teammate, if I may ask?"

"Moriarty, I'm not sure if you know him." Ambrose replied and looked away from Zadkiel's gaze.

"Ahah, Moriarty." Zadkiel chuckled and leaned back while crossing his legs without caring whether the towel would drop. "I know him, all right."

"Oh, you do?" Ambrose asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

However, after a slight remembering, he remembered that Moriarty was supposed to be a big streamer, so it wasn't a surprise for most players to know him.

"Ahah, yeah." Zadkiel nodded. "I was in the same school as him."

Ambrose looked more surprised, as they didn't expect them to be that close.

"We competed in the same archery, basketball, and chess tournaments." Zadkiel said before chuckling.

"I, of course, won them all while he got second. I also always won him in the exams, so I suppose that he never really won anything when I was there. Well, I ain't going to school anymore, so maybe he has finally won something, haha."

'I guess this might be the reason why Moriarty wants to win so badly.' Ambrose crossed his arms in thought. 'Is it because of this person?'

"Have you tried looking for the clues?" Julian asked curiously while stopping Zadkiel from boasting even further.

"I did, for a few hours in the library." Ambrose sighed and closed his eyes. "No luck. If there was something, I would've found it."

"We found a single symbol on the fourth floor's bank." Julian said. "The symbol showed a stove with steam rising out of it."

Ambrose turned to the sauna stove and narrowed his eyes. "A sauna stove."

"Aigh, Julian, why did you tell him that?" Zadkiel wryly smiled before laughing. "Not that we care. Yes, we expect the next hint to be somewhere in here."

"I can only think of a single place where the hint can be hidden." Ambrose looked at the stove with a complex expression. "In one of those rocks."

"Huh." Zadkiel rubbed his chin and laughed. "It would be pretty hidden, I agree."

"Sigh, I came here to relax, and now I have to go back to working again." Ambrose groaned and stood up, sweat dripping down his well-defined physique.

"Ah, what'cha doing…" Zadkiel asked curiously, leaning in closer to get a better look.

"Well, this." Ambrose grabbed one of the steaming hot rocks from the stove and watched as

his hand turned bright red from the intense heat.

"Oof!" Zadkiel grinned and stood up. "You're crazy; I like that."

Julian also stood up with a monotone expression, as if he expected nothing less. They joined Ambrose in the stove and started picking up the rocks while searching for any symbols.

At last, Julian picked up a hand-sized rock and saw a faint engraving of the number 1111 on its surface.

Ambrose and Zadkiel looked at the engraving and came to a simple conclusion.

"The clue is in room 1111."

"I didn't see any numbers on those rooms." Ambrose said with a frown.

"Haha, fuck." Zadkiel grinned. "The developers really want us to work hard for this, don't they?"

"They want us to count the rooms one by one till we find room 1111." Julian said with a dull voice.

"Sigh." Ambrose sighed and rubbed his eyes. "All the relaxation I received is now gone. This is going to be a long night."