The reward obtained after overcoming Areina’s challenge.
The secret temple within the exclusive dungeon managed by the Ilseom Guild.
It’s a temple filled with the energy of ultimate potential, making it a dangerous place for me.
‘Since I have to check it out eventually, it’s better to investigate first before bringing the kids along, as it could also be Areina’s trap.’
If I bring my companions, I might attain unexpected rewards, so I had been planning to check this place out alone at some point.
‘Well, this works out.’
I flew straight to where the Ilseom Guild was located.
It wasn’t far from home, but feeling like I was left alone in this world, I summoned ‘Gori’ to fly with me.
“Beeee!”
“Clap, Clap, Clap.”
Gori seemed to enjoy just looking at me, nuzzling against my cheek.
Using the map I received from Ilseom, I landed in a suitable spot and not long after, spotted three hunters who appeared to be Ilseom Guild members.
They were boasting about how incredible they were the previous night in front of a faintly red gate.
I reverted Gori to its original form and activated my ability.
[Stealth]
[Darkness Phantom Illusion]
Separated from the world, I smoothly passed by them and soon entered another world through the gate.
Whooooooosh—
The gate was an unsettling red hue, but felt no different from any normal dungeon.
‘Wow— the air is really heavy.’
Entering a dense forest, I was first captivated by the sight of towering trees and enormous flowers blooming.
‘Everything is so gigantic. They’re smaller than the trees in Weasel’s dungeon, but they seem way more vibrant.’
It felt like stepping into a primeval forest with an extremely high oxygen concentration. I sensed hundreds of various animals and plants that the system didn’t classify as monsters, making me slightly dizzy.
Thanks to the map provided by Ilseom, a golden dot began to flicker in my mind a short distance away.
‘The distance feels off. It seems close, yet far away.’
For now, I decided to run slowly to give myself time to adapt to the environment.
‘My body definitely feels heavy. It’s like being a sponge soaked in water.’
It wasn’t just a feeling.
– Entered the dungeon ‘Origin of the Parasitic Bloodline.’
– A red moon is rising. All attributes decrease by 20%.
‘What?! Are you kidding? What kind of restriction is this?’
While I noticed the gate was slightly red, I relaxed thinking it was fine since the world’s inhabitants had disappeared. However, I was taken aback by the sudden restrictions of this incredible dungeon.
‘Did Ilseom hide this information? It’s possible, but why?’
Looking up, I saw two massive red moons rising, spaced apart to fill my view.
‘I don’t care; let’s go. I’m here to die anyway.’
While I considered flying, I decided to run for the sake of scouting as well.
But before I could move far, I was overwhelmed by countless clingy creatures.
Thwack—! Gotcha!
“Argh! Damn these things!”
A carnivorous plant the size of a small car kept crashing into me, making me switch from Lightning Armor’s [Combat Type] to Flame Armor’s [Combat Type] to keep moving.
– Kyaaaaaaaaa!!
The carnivorous plants that ignited upon even a brush against me.
‘Even if these guys are just about swallowing things, isn’t a monster of that size deserving of the title?’
Even while continuously taking down large monsters, I couldn’t help but feel regret that [Thievery] wasn’t activating. Even if it did, what would I have to steal?
But after killing one particularly huge plant, I detected a slightly sweet scent and decided to split its plump stem that had burned to a crisp.
Slash—
‘Whoa?! What’s all this?’
Splitting the stem caused some sticky liquid to pour out.
– Obtained nectar of the Typhon Flower!
‘Oh… Nectar?’
I tossed it into my space and hurried down the path.
I was intrigued about the ecosystem of this world, but right now, urgency took precedence.
While I dashed toward the Temple of Light, insects and plants attacked me from all sides.
To me, as a skeleton, they held little significance, but I couldn’t be sure how my companions would fare here.
‘Some of them must be venomous. There may also be some carrying unknown diseases. Even considering Eun-young’s capabilities, this place might not be easy at all.’
Moreover, the three types of monsters Ilseom had informed me about hadn’t appeared yet.
‘The Blood Mosquitoes should be the dominant presence here. Why aren’t they coming near?’
I was picking up on numerous horrific-looking mosquitoes within my detection range, but they were maintaining their distance from me, which was puzzling.
Suddenly, I had a realization.
‘Ah… I don’t have blood.’
Mosquitoes are sensitive to sweat, carbon dioxide from breaths, and even perfume smells.
But I didn’t produce any of that and, crucially, I had no blood to taste.
If these creatures were akin to those in our world, then there was no reason for the fiery skeleton to approach.
‘I’ll hit the temple first and deal with them later.’
Sizzling—
For a few hours, I ran, creating a small path with the energy of lightning.
‘Ah, seriously! This map is weird! Why is it so far?’
I felt like I had been running for nearly an hour, yet I had barely covered a fraction of the distance.
‘And stronger monsters are starting to show up. Is that beetle like creature the ‘Minescarabe’?’
They fire bombs from their reproductive organs, and I sensed their thick exoskeleton wasn’t unremarkable.
Deeper in, I spotted a larval monster covered in what seemed like very expensive jewels.
That larva was known as ‘Frizkana’ and, though it was currently hidden, it was said to be a primary target for the inhabitants of this world.
It looked the weakest in appearance, but according to Ilseom’s tier classification, it’s rated the highest among the monsters in this dungeon.
Even in my current state, if I directly handled its attack, I might suffer damage due to low defenses.
I kept a close watch on their movements and finally arrived at the location indicated on the map.
‘Hmm… This is it, but there’s nothing here.’
In this dense forest, a place where not even a blade of grass was growing; clearly, the temple was hidden here.
I minimized the wave of my senses and cautiously floated through the air, ready for any unexpected attacks.
Then a message popped up.
– Would you like to enter ‘Areina’s Temple of Light’?
‘…Enters.’
Immediately, my body was shifted to another space.
*
Today was already my third shift.
‘At this point, I’m starting to feel a bit nauseous.’
I thought I’d gotten pretty accustomed to teleporting through summoning portals, but thanks to Areina, I was feeling an unpleasant sensation again. Damn Evil God.
‘By the way, this place oozes a vibe that I shouldn’t be here.’
Though it was not overwhelmingly massive, the intricately patterned structure and indecipherable characters combined to create an artistic space.
The dust settling on the floor almost felt like it was imbued with a sacred aura.
Silver structures of extremely beautiful goddess statues were crafted on either side, yet I deliberately turned my gaze away knowing that one of those women was Areina.
As I took a step into the seemingly endless corridor, the anticipated message appeared.
– The goddess who guards the light and loves justice repels evil energies!
– All undead attributes decrease to below half!
Kooom—!
Along with the message, I unknowingly pressed my hands to the ground.
‘Ugh— that damn girl! I almost kneeled!’
It was more than just a steep reduction in attributes; a force aimed at subduing me was pressing in.
‘Areina definitely called me here to mess with me.’
I gritted my teeth, fully convinced of that.
‘At least it’s fortunate that the restrictions don’t overlap.’
If the previous -20% attribute decrease was compounded with this -50%, it would have been tantamount to a death sentence; thankfully, that wasn’t the case.
‘Something feels…’
My conviction that Areina had summoned me to prank me didn’t last long.
Passing through the brilliant entrance, the corridor began to darken.
Numerous bones of dead people rested against the walls.
‘What happened here?’
I approached what seemed like human bones but found no visible wounds.
‘There’s really no information floating up.’
Tap—
Crunch—
Even the slightest touch turned the bones to dust.
‘I can’t even use this as bomb material.’
As I examined several bones belonging to dozens of people, I noticed a common trait.
‘It wasn’t without injury. There are faint traces left on the cervical vertebrae.’
It seemed that something very sharp had slightly scraped the bones.
‘This is…’
Suddenly, a rustling sound echoed throughout the corridor.
‘Even though my senses are halved, I can still detect up to 4km… The fact that I’m already hearing this much noise means how many are there?’
Repulsive creatures were running, shaking their long snouts wildly.
In that moment, a small quest appeared in my mind.
– Please defeat the ‘Blood Mosquito Variant’ that governs the ‘Corrupted Temple of Light’ and avenge the unfairly slain priests of light!
This felt like a quest filled with selfish motives.
The reward was even vaguely presented.
‘I suppose it’s for this. Areina winning the bet seems to benefit her alone!’
If the corrupted temple of light were cleaned up, wouldn’t ‘Areina’s’ power recover even slightly?
I had no intention of working for that annoying god, but I had to grit my teeth for the sake of reward and immediately entered a battle stance.
‘Right now, my attributes have dropped to the level of when I was at level 60. The Blood Mosquito’s rank varies from C to B. And if it’s a variant, surely… it must be an A-rank monster.’
It seemed I was in for a tough fight.
Of course, I didn’t come here to die, but I also wasn’t willing to die easily.
Clapclapclap— Clap—
“Eurgh…”
Swarms of something crawled along the ceiling of the corridor.
Long snouts and huge eyes that made up half their heads.
The little spikes densely packed throughout their bodies were enough to send chills down my spine.
Overall, they bore a striking resemblance to mosquitoes, but their arms and legs were solid like orcs.
‘No matter how much my attributes have dropped, I won’t go down easily to these bug suckers!’
[Skeleton Bomb]
Kwahh-kwahh-kwahh!!
As I soared through the air, I initiated the battle with the skeleton bombs I created in intervals.
It seemed the critters weren’t dim-witted; they didn’t immediately respond to my attacks and instead tried to surround me.
[Manhwa Portal]
“Bring it on, filthy mosquito bastards!”
Raaawwwr—
Endless waves of Blood Mosquitoes surged forward, making it completely sensible to choose the skill [Manhwa Portal] for a one vs many battle.
As the invulnerable state took effect, the mosquitoes attempted to jab their snouts into me over and over.
“….?!”
Blocked by [Invincible], the probing snouts swerved awkwardly, creating a comically distressing scene for the mosquitoes.
Moments later, from my ballooning body, a plethora of magic projectiles erupted.
Puffpuffpuffpuffpuffbang──!
– You have defeated ‘Blood Mosquito’!
– You have defeated ‘Blood Mosquito’!
– You have defeated ‘Blood Mosquito’!
.
.
.
I expended nearly 600 magic power to obliterate the disgusting mosquitoes swarming me.
– Discovered a hidden quest linked to the trait [Thievery]!
‘Huh? What’s this now?’
– Acquire 500 ‘Blood Mosquito’ tokens and steal their ‘racial traits’!
‘Their racial traits are the reward?!’
Things I couldn’t steal even with the ability of [Thievery] were now offered as a reward.
If it’s a hidden quest like this, I welcome it at any time. But do these mosquito bastards not even have a skill?
They seemed to be monsters with a single function, merely consuming blood to enhance their physical capabilities.
Since I couldn’t steal their traits or skills, maybe they felt compelled to present a quest to bestow a reward?
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