Chapter 19 The Last Floor

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/Step step.../

Dale descended to what he calculated to be 6-7 meters before he arrived at a flat dark hallway.

The light of the surface was still behind him, so at the very least, it wasn't like one of those instances where the entrance closes on you...

/Lit.../

He took out a small lantern from his inventory, putting it on his waist before liting it up, it wasn't much but with his enhanced senses, a lot of the passageway became that much clearer.

"So far nothing. Forward."

Dale crouched slightly so his shield could block more of his body, calculating each of his steps.

He wasn't slow or fast, going on his way through the Dungeon.

/2 minutes later…/

"This is quite a big door… A big door for an unnecessarily long hallway..."

Dale walked through the long corridor and eventually arrived in front of a heavy door.

He expected to be met with heavy resistance, but he quickly noticed how all of the traps had been deactivated, probably by the people that went in before him.

One more thing to thank them for.

"It looks like the doors open outward... Heh, this shouldn't be a problem."

/Creeeeak!/

He used his strength to press the doors, and soon enough, they started to open…

/Shua!/

From the crack between the doors, faint purple smoke started to fall like cold air inside a fridge, making his skin tingle as Dale started coughing!

"COUGH COUGH! What is this? COUGH!"

[You've inhaled Rotten miasma]

[You've been inflicted with Rotten lungs x1]

[Rotten lungs

Description: The miasma is slowly rotting your body, however, it isn't strong enough to affect your skin yet, but it is slowly crawling into your sensitive lungs.

The longer you stay in it, the worse it will get, and if it passes x10 then it will pass from a simple affliction to a long-term disease.

]

[Your body resists its corruption]

"Cough... Shit..."

[Sudden Quest, Rotten tomb has been generated]

[Description: The underground labyrinths of Resko used to be nothing but a place filled with simple yet dangerous beasts and mechanical traps, but it's now filled with rotten miasma and death.

This unknown Miasma has been accumulating for years and it has now been released outside of the gates that once sealed it.

Be it a curse, or a blessing, the miasma has yet to reach a critical point, but it will soon start to spill outside and affect the lives of the residents of Resko.

Requirements:

Find the source of the Miasma and purge it before it's too late 0/1

Time until the Miasma descends to the Village: 4 hours, 24 minutes, 45 seconds…

]

"Well then… Fuck me." He said with an angry expression

Dale immediately took out an antidote potion and shugged it down, and as expected, the affliction gauge disappeared, but it soon came back once he breathed in more Miasma.

It didn't rise by much, but it was rising, though considering he had resisted it, this level of increase was manageable.

Because of this, he had to start counting his antidote potions.

"It seems I can't stop it, but I can cure it if necessary and reset its timer…"

Dale pulled his mask up and covered his face, it isn't going to do much but it should have some effect.

"Constitution is a very important stat right now, but so is the Explorer sense… What should I do?..."

After thinking for a bit, he found out what to do.

'I'll start with the Skill but if it gets too hard and my body can't take on the Miasma, then I will put on my armor and increase my stats to resist this Miasma.'

"I don't have time to waste!"

Dale calmed down his breathing and started marching, faster than before…

…

/9 minutes later…/

Dale continued to walk through the corridors, he saw rooms of many kinds, abandoned and filled with dust and old things.

Most of the stuff in them was now rotten and broken, but it was possible to understand these were the dorms of the priests of the Church and where they kept their things.

However, Dale did not encounter a single trap or monster…

/Clack!/

"!"

'Looks like I thought too much.'

In front of Dale was a pile of bones, but the moment he approached it, it started to rise…

Black and white bones with hollow skulls gazing eerily at him. No sounds, no magical effect, just that eerie unnatural stare.

(Images?)

[Rotten Skeletal Beast: Rodent]

[Rotten Skeletal Beast: Rodent]

[Rotten Skeletal Beast: Canine]

Three skeletons, one of a rather big dog, and two of wolf-like rats.

Next to their names was Skull and 5 bones crisscrossing it. Meaning they were challenge Level's 40-50 creatures…

/FWUSH!/

Without a word, they dashed to him in a messy manner, tripping over each other and they tried to approach him.

"..."

Dale kept a straight face, he wasn't scared, how many times had he delved deep into dark places and fought scary monsters over the years?

However, he was tense, one wrong move meant his death after all…

"HA!"

Dale swung his spear, hitting the open mouth of the Wolf monster as he kicked one of the rats towards the wall.

/Crack!/

The sounds of bone-breaking and crumbling were heard in the silent corridors…

/Half a minute later/

"... Things are starting to make sense. It seems the creatures that once habited this place were turned into horrendous skeletons."

"Not only that, I have time to finish this Dungeon quickly else my character may get permanently debuffed…"

'It hasn't been long and I don't like this but… I will change my armor… I hope it works.'

Dale grabbed his rune blade and checked if it would give him the bonus for being in a ruin… And the result was a success!

He quickly put in the entire set and enjoyed the bonus stats…

[…

Strength: 70(112); Constitution: 70(114); Dexterity: 70(110); Mental Power: 45(85); Reflexes: 45(87); Mana: 20(60)

Temporary Skills: Glyph Activation 2-Star (Active); Glyph Ignition 3-Star (Active)

…

Current Effects:

Aspect of Might -> All Stats +15

Body Reformation -> Natural Healing and Stamina recovery speed has been increased

Commander of the Vault Guardians Set -> All Stats +15 while in a Ruin

Ruin's Guardian Glyph Blade -> +10 to all Stats while in a Ruin

Black Iron Spear -> Strength and Constitution +2

Black Iron Shield -> Constitution and Reflexes +2

Rotten lungs x1 -> Minimal decrease in stamina recovery and slight impairment to breathing

…

]

[Ding]

[Rotten lungs x1 has been purged due to your body's high constitution]

Dale looked all around him and smiled.

"I knew I was right for keeping this set…"

'I don't know how long my body will resist the miasma, and I lost my Explorer's sense, so I need to be careful…'

Dale, clad in heavy armor, with a glimmering sword on his back, a black shield in his left hand, and a black spear in his right hand continued on with his conquest!

…

/3 Hours later…/

/Clang!/

/SLASH!/

/Block!/

Dale could be seen fighting in a large hall against a skeleton clad in heavy armor just like him. It had a large chipped sword and its armor was broken in many places, showing its bones.

Like the others, there was no shining soul or flame-like other classic undead, just an eerie walking skeleton rising in the darkness.

They never made any noises, just the rattling of bones and metal...

(Image)

[Rotting Undead Knight

Challenge Level: 60-70]

(I will put the challenge Level like this from now on unless it's a specific situation)

"Ha!"

/Clang!/

/Fwoosh!/

/Crack!/

"Haa… Fucking hell… It's over." Said Dale as he sat on the ground tired

'Being a HardCore player is both good and bad, killing trash mobs is simple, but when I meet a strong mob it becomes a battle of life and death…'

'If I get cut in the neck it's game over 90% of the time, and it hurts like hell to be grazed by a sword... The same can be said for the creatures I fight but...'

'Worse, some creatures won't even take normal damage, forcing me to use other tactics…'

'For example, this guy, he had armor, if attack his armor… Nothing happens, while a standard player would simply deal reduced damage.'

'Unless I am strong enough to bypass the armor, or if I am precise enough to hit its weak points, it well... Does its job as armor.'

"There are many things to consider… In any case… I crushed him."

'My physical strength was more than high enough to send him to his knees, the problem was that I was sieged by 8 of them at the same time.'

"Phew... I'm already 10 times better."

'Having high Constitution is such a wonder, my stamina recovery is great.'

"In any case..."

'I went all around the place, I explored the first, second, third, and fourth floors, but I found nothing.'

'The Dungeon got more and more run down the deeper I went, and the monsters started to get stronger and the miasma thicker.'

'The first floor was only a few big animal skeletons, the second floor was where insect exoskeletons started to attack me… It was bizarre but it happened.'

'On the third-floor things got a bit bad since the miasma started to affect me again, and Human skeletons started to appear.'

'And here on the fourth floor, the miasma got so thick it formed puddles on the floor, if I touch it my meter will rise by a rather significant amount.'

'Armed and stronger skeletons also started to appear… Overall, the danger level for monsters rose by 5 on every floor.'

"There were no traps on the way here, literally everything was either broken or rusty, so that didn't become a problem… However, there was no loot for me to grab either…"

'But really man, who would go all the way down here to store such a thing…'

[1 hour, 3 minutes, 5 seconds]

"Just over an hour… If things continue like this, I should be able to do at most 1 or 2 more floors before the timer runs out..."

'Did I commit a mistake? Should I have brought an NPC with me on this raid?'

Doubting some things and after resting for a little while, Dale got up and made his way down the stairs to the next floor.

...

/The 5th floor.../

The first thing he noticed was that the stairs were covered with a dark mist…

[You have entered an area filled with dense Rotting miasma]

[You've been inflicted with Rotten skin x1]

[Rotten lungs x3 -> x6]

[Your stamina recovery has considerably reduced]

"COUGH! FUCK! Cough!"

'I feel as if I breathed 5 cigars at once… And I never smoked.'

'I need to get away from this cursed place… Just how was someone supposed to finish this Dungeon?'

'Was this some sort of high-end content that I somehow stumbled upon before the right time?...'

'If I didn't have these high Stats, I would've liked already suffered the Disease Debuff...'

Dale removed his helmet and drank another antidote potion, reducing the stacks from 6 to 0.

He also placed a bandana around his face, it was little, but he hoped it could improve his condition a little.

"Dammit…"

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Notes