Villagegramps: “...Maybe the development team is keeping us in suspense. The black screen is to lay the groundwork for a future surprise.”
Peerlessdragonemperor: “Like unleashing a big dump on us?”
Villagegramps: “...”
Bingtanghulu: “Surprise my head! I want to play the game!”
Lambskewers: “Where’s the character creation page?! I want to create my character!”
Excitednetizen: “That’s right! Hayaku!”
Autumnleaf: “Chill, everyone! The game is still in development, so maybe that’s all the content they have. I’d rather have this crystal ball covered in clothes transition than stop the demo.”
Dragonslayer: “What the heck? You’re playing the game?”
Explodingknowledge: “They must be shills!”
Unyieldinglife: “I don’t care! Everyone is a shill till someone gives me a helmet!!! (Frenzied)”
Autumnleaf: “Helmet? You don’t need a helmet. Just a pair of goggles suffice... (Sweats)”
Orcknight: “Holy shit! Bro, something is happening. Go online quick!”
Autumnleaf: “?!”
Hungryhungry: “I’ll kill you all if you scam me once more! (Angry)”
The forum had been in an uproar since a certain NPC covered the crystal ball, but the development team refused to utter a word regarding the matter up to this point.
Zhao Jinyan had been observing the situation.
The forum commenters could be divided into two groups. One group believed that the development team had developed a state-of-the-art, virtual reality RPG, whereas the other group didn’t believe the developer’s claims and the legitimacy of the promotional video.
‘Isn’t AI technology trending nowadays? It’s not tough to generate a video.’
And Zhao Jinyan was leaning toward the latter group.
A full-immersion, virtual reality game sounded too much like an exaggeration. Even if the technology existed, why would the first thing it was used for a game? Surely there must be more profitable choices out there!
To Zhao Jinyan’s shock, a few people on the forum appeared to have started playing the game after the release of the closed beta.
It had only been hours since the closed beta’s release, but their responses seemed genuine, especially when they even brought out some hypnosis theory.
‘It can’t be that these people are AI too?’
This was what surprised him the most. Could a game, which had only been announced a few days ago, acquire fiercely loyal fans with just a promotional video?
“...Or is the game really that amazing?” Zhao Jinyan murmured in a dilemma.
After some hesitation, he picked up his phone and bought the cheapest second-hand VR gear he could find on the net.
‘A full-immersion, virtual reality game... I can’t believe I’m going all in. 《Calamity Online》’s development team better don’t disappoint me!’
...
Thunderbuzz City’s prosperous areas were focused in the southeast, where the port was.
Conversely, the further north one headed, the more desolate the streets became.
Venturing outside the north gate, the tattered huts cramped along the city walls resembled cowsheds, and the many little alleys looked like wrinkles on the vast land. Ŗ�
These huts were often destroyed and rebuilt due to frequent skirmishes, so those living here struggled to make a living.
Roan followed Chris and soon met her party members.
Unsurprisingly, it was the same four fierce-looking brothers he had spotted in the tavern, but they warmly greeted Roan as if it was their first time meeting. They even cracked lewd jokes with him to warm up the atmosphere.
One was a bald man named Amu. He was a Copper-tier berserker dual-wielding battle axes.
The remaining three were Lakeson, Bant, and Hugo. One was an Iron-tier dual blader, and the other two were scouts without transcendent powers.
‘This is a veteran party exploring the labyrinth? Even Egor is more intimidating than them...’
Having spent three years in the Demon King Academy, a place overflowing with Silver-tier demons and undead, he was disappointed in these fellows.
“Where’s the entrance to the labyrinth? When do we begin?” Roan excitedly asked as if he couldn’t wait to dive in.
His excitement spurred Chris’ laughter.
“Calm down, will ya? The labyrinth has many entrances. Ya gonna get lost if ya recklessly barge in. The secret passageway is up north, so we’ll have to take a wagon there. Ya should first rent a room to put down ya luggage. I’ll go with ya.”
Roan was her type. It would be a waste not to have a taste before lopping off his head.
It would also be a hassle to lug his luggage back. It would be easier to have him deposit his luggage in an inn and return with the key later to retrieve it.
But Roan abhorred trouble and couldn’t be bothered to make a trip back, so he ignored her hint and shyly replied, “It’s fine. I have some materials in my bag. I can concoct medicine on the spot if someone gets hurt.”
Chris stared at him in astonishment. “Ya can concoct potions?”
“Of course!” Roan nodded with a smile. “I know many formulae, including recovery serums and energy potions.”
“Amazing! Lad, I didn’t expect you to be equipped with such skills!” The bald Amu patted his shoulder as he laughed. He wrapped his arm around Roan as he continued, “You’re going to be a huge asset to our party!”
“Haha, you’re too kind.” Roan laughed in embarrassment.
“Let’s quickly settle... I mean, find the demon king’s treasury so that we can come back and sleep.” Hugo, one of the two scouts, impatiently interjected as he yawned. He leaped onto one of the wagons along the street and said, “The Northpeak Shaft.”
Upon hearing the destination, the coach nervously asked, “You’re heading there at this timing?”
The sky was already a tint of dusk yellow, and it would be nightfall in at most two hours. They were still in human territory, but it would be a stretch to say they were safe.
The southwest was the lizardmen’s turf, and undead wandered in the northern mountains.
Not to mention the ones that they truly had to guard against in the dead of the night were not undead but humans harboring malevolent thoughts.
“Cut the crap and get moving,” Hugo tossed the coach some silver coins and impatiently urged.
The coach eyed the silver coins in a dilemma, but he eventually decided to take his business.
So, the party got onto the wagon, and after a thirty-minute bumpy ride, they arrived at the labyrinth’s northernmost entrance.
This used to be a mining shaft under the famous Andes Clan, rich in decent quality metal, coal, and ores. Once, a miner was expanding the shaft with explosives when he inadvertently blasted an opening to the labyrinth.
Since then, the mining shaft became a playground for undead beings and demons.
This entrance was near the labyrinth’s borders, so it was nigh impossible to find anything valuable here. That was why adventurers were hesitant to explore this area unless there was special reason to do so.
The coach refused to go up the mountain, so the party had to alight at the foot of the mountain.
Chris took a deep breath, then the edges of her lips suddenly crept upward. “Have you heard? There’s a saying those without faith become homeless undead when they die.”
“I think I have heard about it. Why are you asking that out of the blue?”
It was the same both on the surface and in the netherworld.
Other than the clergymen serving the Demon God, most humans, demonoids, and lower demons lose most of their memories when they die and turn into undead. This was not the handiwork of necromancers but the fate of most living beings since the real Netherworld’s collapse in the Second Epoch.
Using an analogy, it was similar to a few divine robbers trashing a public toilet and stealing the toilet bowls back to their homes. However, none of them knew how to manage toilets, so toilets became a highly scarce resource.
Only the privileged few got to poop on toilet bowls, whereas the others could only poop in their pants.
Those who turned into undead belonged to the latter category.
Among them were wrongfully killed witches like Madam Susan, the poor souls who didn’t have money to be buried in churches, and the unlucky ones who died in places where the holy light couldn’t reach, such as the netherworld or the labyrinths.
‘Nobles probably have an exclusive channel for afterlife.’
He wasn’t sure for the surface, but that was how things were in the netherworld. High demons usually wouldn’t die, but even if they accidentally dropped dead, they would still be reincarnated as high demons in their next life.
Roan suddenly realized what these fellows were planning and nearly burst into laughter.
‘So, they went through the trouble of bringing me into the labyrinth because they are worried that I am a noble and might report them to Saint Sisto after dying... but do you think Saint Sisto is that free to bother with such petty things?
‘Or maybe the Adventurer Guild has a blacklist system too.’
“Later, I learned they are just too poor to afford holy water. Hahaha!” Chris suddenly laughed aloud halfway through her monologue. “That’s why being poor is such a frightening thing!”
“Indeed.” Roan nodded earnestly. “I understand how it feels to have no money in the pocket.”
“Is it? Doesn’t seem so to me. Your ring looks expensive, and your skin tone... I’m guessing you’re a noble from the Ors Empire,” Chris said with a chuckle. “But my dear Cin... little brother, you have nothing to worry about. Unlike people like us, you will be reincarnated into a good household. Just be more careful in your next life... Ah, I nearly forgot we’re in a labyrinth. There might be no next time.”
“I see... What you’re after is not the demon king’s treasure but me?” Roan slowly unveiled an unnerving smile. “What a pity. I considered conferring you as my generals for bringing me back to my throne.”
“Chris, you talk too much. Hurry up and send him on his way,” Lakeson scoffed while casually brandishing his swords.
Suddenly, his hand slipped and a sword flew out and brushed past Hugo.
Hugo immediately broke out in cold sweat, having nearly lost his mind. He glared at Lakeson and roared, “What are you doing?!”
Lakeson was stunned too.
Even if his condition was off today, he should have been at least able to hold his sword properly!
“I
Before he could finish his sentence, his body suddenly collapsed to the ground as if someone had siphoned his strength away.
The other party members were dumbstruck.
Bant, who had been silent the whole trip, was the first one to react. He raised his flintlock at Roan and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A bullet burst forth and struck Roan.
But Roan smiled at Bant as if it was nothing.
“Stone Skin.”
Goosebumps rose all over Chris’ body. She finally understood why she had felt so uncomfortable all this while.
“That fellow isn’t Iron-tier! Kill him now!” she shrieked.
“AHHH!!!”
Amu charged at Roan, furiously swinging his axes as if raising a storm.
But history repeated itself.
A second later, he followed the footsteps of the dual blader and collapsed to the ground. Professor Lilith’s ring had siphoned away every last bit of his strength.
Roan had been slowly eating away at their strength ever since they entered the shaft, just that he had refrained from taking everything away in one shot.
“It’s too late.”
Roan murmured an incantation before dropping an ink-green cube from his right hand. It fell with a clang onto the magic formation he had drawn with his shoe.
Ksha!
A dark gray sculpture rose from the ground.
At the same time, the skeletons lying along the sides of the tunnel rose to their feet. Holding pickaxes in their hands, their empty sockets gleamed with coldness.
Sensing that things had gone awry, Bant, despite his composure thus far, screamed. He tossed away the flintlock he was reloading and fled right away.
Barely two steps later, the skeletons had already encircled him to smash him into bits with their pickaxes.
Hugo tried to resist, but as soon as he raised his dagger, his entire body suddenly slumped to the ground. He could only watch in horror as the skeletons surrounded him.
“What did you do?!” Amu struggled with all his might in an attempt to stand up.
He was the Silver Scimitar’s only Copper-tier, yet he found himself helpless against this self-proclaimed Iron-tier mage.
Chris realized that the man they were trying to rob was far stronger than them, and her eyes bulged in horror. Her face paled in despair.
“Y-you are a necromancer?!”
Standing at the center of a pentagram that glowed with a dim green light, Roan watched his faith climb up a satisfied heart.
【Faith +1】
【Faith +2】
【...】
‘It feels not bad terrorizing others.’
It wasn’t much compared to what he got during his graduation ceremony, but it was better than nothing.
‘Ah, I should share the joy.’
“Necromancer?”
Roan took out a turbid crystal sphere from his robe as he admired the looks of despair around him. It was time to reap one last wave of faith.
“Call me demon king.”