Chapter 22: Adult Centipede Skeleton

Chapter 22: Adult Centipede Skeleton

A door stood at the end of the first floor of the mall. An otherworldly light seeped underneath it and brightened the area around it.

At this moment, it unlocked with a gentle click, and immediately afterwards, players rushed through it like a stampede of animals.

They were eager and nervous to enter the second floor.

The ones who didn't do very well on the first floor were desperate to do well on the second floor.

At the mission board, most of the missions belonging to the second floor were already taken; only the remaining few were left.

Adam looked at the mission board, saw the last remaining second-floor missions, and looked uninterested. However, he was very interested in one of the missions on the top of the board, which was ignored by other players.

'These missions are called All-Missions, and can be completed on any floor.' Adam took one of the mission posters and looked at it with a thoughtful smile.

***

[Mission: Find and destroy the Baby Centipede Skeleton]

[Rank: F]

[Floor: Any]

[Description: A race of Chaosbeings that often live in dark, damp basement areas. They can often be found on any floor, as they are one of the most common Chaosbeings found in the dungeon]

[Reward: 5,000 points]

***

'F-ranked mission.' Adam folded the poster and stuffed it inside his pocket. 'It's not the hardest mission available, but for Coinfeeders, F-ranked missions can be extremely deadly.

'However, I don't care about the Baby Centipede Skeleton itself. Instead, it's what follows and why Dean's discovery was so shocking and crucial.'

He nodded and then headed towards the door to the second floor. It was wide open, and he couldn't see anything except bright light.

After Adam stepped through the door, his figure disappeared amid the light and vanished from the Safe Area.

On the second floor of the mall, Muriel took out her notepad and scribbled something down.

"What mission did your player take?" A voice came behind her.

Muriel turned to her side and saw Ron lean on the railing, looking down towards the door of the second floor.

"F-ranked, All-Mission." Muriel replied. "An ordinary find and destroy Chaosbeing mission."

However, when Adam's eyes got used to the darkness, he didn't see the centipede anywhere.

But then Adam slowly drew his shortsword and approached the cracked wall at the end of the basement. It looked like it had been punched really hard and was about to collapse.

He took a deep breath and put the shield in front of his body, then tackled the wall with all his might.

Crash—the wall crumbled apart, and dust clouds filled the air.

At that moment, a chilly breeze swept through the basement, and the clicking sound echoed throughout the room, as if there were hundreds of locks disengaging at the same time.

Adam took out a torch and matchstick, which he purchased from a merchant store, and lit up the torch.

As the torch lit up the small area around him, he then hurled it through the broken wall and into the vast darkness beyond.

As the torch illuminated the darkness, its yellowish light revealed a creepy skeleton nearly thirty meters long and five meters high. The skeleton had over a hundred legs, all sharp and deadly.

At the moment when the torch landed on the ground, the ground shook like an earthquake had struck the town, and then the skeleton turned towards the crumpled wall in the distance, and even though it couldn't see, it could sense a nearby presence.

If this sight were seen by Ron and others, their faces would pale as this creature wasn't Baby Centipede Skeleton.

Instead, it was a nearly mature Adult Centipede Skeleton—when it was discovered by Dean five years later, it was fully mature and had caused enormous amounts of damage throughout the second floor, killing most of the players.

It was too much for Coinfeeders to deal with, and thus, some mercenaries working in the Safe Area had to step in and kill the centipede. It was one of the rare instances when they had to actually intervene.

"Hah..." Adam's face paled with a twitching lip. 'Didn't those so-called Chaosbeing experts say that one of the Baby Centipede Skeleton's must've had some kind of surprise evolution, starting in 2150 and lasting five years?

'The evolution should have started this year, and yet, it looks like he has been evolving for a few years at least.

'Chaosbeing experts my fucking ass.'

Smash—the Centipede Skeleton stabbed the ground with one of its legs that had a length of four to five meters. That single leg had more strength than a harpoon, and it could easily pierce through any metal.

Adam slowly started backing off, feeling slightly regretful that he believed those fools who called themselves as Chaosbeing experts.

At that moment, the Centipede Skeleton shot forward, its hundred legs moving in unison as it lunged towards Adam.

Adam quickly ran up the stairs, stormed out of the basement, and jumped out of the window like a rabbit escaping its predator.

At that moment, the building behind him crumbled like a house of cards, and then the Centipede Skeleton jumped out of the ground, its disgusting body and long, spindly legs stretching out towards the sky.

"Shit..." Adam jumped to his feet, moved the shield in front of him, and put the shield into a counter-attack stance. There was no time for regrets.

'It's still not as strong as it will be in five years, but can I defeat it as Coinfeeder?' Adam closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then slammed his eyes open with renewed vigor in his eyes.

"Fuck it, I'll try!"