Rat Tide! Monster Siege!

Rat Tide! Monster Siege!

At Lord Gachi's command, all the ratmen in North Peak Mine erupted into a frenzy, grinding their teeth as they prepared to pounce and tear the invaders to pieces.

Meanwhile, the players grinding monsters in the mine were still completely unaware.

After finishing off a Slave Rat cornered against the wall, the Boar-Headed Knight eagerly stepped forward, cut off its tail with a small knife, and tied it to his ribcage.

"Ten! 1,000 Hell Money in the bag! Hehehe!"

The Minotaur Warrior, carrying a shortsword and shield, followed behind him, communicating in creaky noises.

"Keep it up. You only need ten more for 50 Contribution Points."

Boar-Headed Knight: "Damn! Why are there still so many?!"

Minotaur Warrior: "You AFKed for too long. These rats were pretty easy to catch at the beginning. You could've finished quickly."

He had already collected all twenty tails long ago. The only reason he was still grinding monsters was to keep his good buddy company.

If he had not been accompanying this useless bastard, he would probably have been mining with those life-profession players by now.

Mining 1,000 pounds of coal or Iron Ore also rewarded 50 Contribution Points.

By maxing out those two daily quests with the highest returns, one could earn 100 Contribution Points a day.

With some effort, he could reach Black Iron in ten days. By then, the world would be his oyster.

The Boar-Headed Knight wore a miserable expression and could not help muttering a curse.

"Fuck... Saint Siss."

The Minotaur Warrior grinned and deliberately asked the obvious.

"The Demon Lord was the one who banned your account. Why are you cursing Saint Siss?"

The Boar-Headed Knight rolled his eyes.

"Mind your own business! I'll curse whoever I want!"

"Hahaha!"

Done teasing his good buddy, the Minotaur Warrior walked ahead with his shield, ready to find the next unlucky little rat.

However, at that moment, a violent tremor shook the ground not far ahead of the two Skeleton Soldiers.

It felt as if an army of thousands was charging forward, accompanied by earth-shaking cries.

The Boar-Headed Knight's jaw dropped as he stared blankly into the darkness ahead.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Having noticed the disturbance as well, the Minotaur Warrior's gaze instantly sharpened.

"Something's not right, bro..."

By the usual logic, either an elite monster had spawned, or it was a BOSS.

Yet neither seemed likely.

As the earth-shaking tremors drew closer and closer, he knew there was no time to hesitate. He decisively threw away his equipment and dragged his good buddy aside.

"What are you doing?!" The Boar-Headed Knight froze at the Minotaur Warrior's actions.

"Playing dead! What else?! We're just two Skeleton Soldiers. If we run into a boss, aren't we just free kills?!"

Come to think of it, he still did not know how death worked in this game. If he had to spectate for two or three days, that would be miserable.

"Playing dead?! That works?!"

"Why wouldn't it? Isn't that basic undead behavior?! Stop talking and lie down when I tell you to!"

Put that way, it actually made sense.

The two Skeleton Soldiers lay motionless on the ground, as though they had been dead for ages.

Before long, the earth-shaking tremors finally reached them.

And at that moment, the tense Boar-Headed Knight finally saw what had caused the quake.

"Holy shit..."

Rats!

Tens of thousands of rats as tall as half a man!

Some were well-equipped, armored and carrying blades. Others wore ragged clothes and had only their bare paws.

Yet without exception, every sharp-fanged face was filled with savage ferocity.

The Boar-Headed Knight could not help wondering whether, if these rats got serious, they could even overrun the Cave Spiders at the maze entrance. Why had they bothered hiding in the mine and making it their home?

The Rat swarm thundered past the two Skeleton Soldiers, kicking up a vast cloud of dust.

Fortunately, just as the Minotaur Warrior had said, the rats did not notice either of them.

The deafening noise finally faded into the distance, seemingly headed toward the Demon Lord Territory.

The Minotaur Warrior shook his head and stood up. Looking at his crushed shield, he finally sighed and picked up only his shortsword.

After finally evolving into a Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Fighter, he had now devolved back into a Skeleton Grunt.

What a massive loss!

"...Damn, have these rats gone crazy?"

"No idea. Maybe we killed so many that they've snapped..."

Over the course of a single morning, every player in the mine had tied twenty tails around their waist. At the very least, they had slaughtered seven or eight hundred ratmen.

The Minotaur Warrior reasonably concluded that either a mage was chanting spells behind those ratmen, or there was a giant rat giving them orders.

"...What do we do next?" the Boar-Headed Knight asked, looking at him.

Going home was definitely no longer an option, and going forward seemed like a dead end too.

The Minotaur Warrior scratched the back of his head, unable to make up his mind for a moment. He asked tentatively, "Uh... how about we report it on the Official Website first?"

"And then?"

"And then... we keep going and see what's ahead? What if we find a boss?"

"Damn it! You just said we couldn't beat it!"

"We don't necessarily have to beat it. Isn't there still a line in the quest log? Discovering a new landmark gets rewards too... A BOSS room should count as a new landmark, right?"

The Boar-Headed Knight shot the guy a sidelong glance.

The same person who had been scared shitless at the mention of a boss just now was suddenly eager to give it a try again.

Still, he wanted to see what a boss looked like too, so he did not stop him.

As for dying?

Then they died.

It was only a game, anyway. If you hadn't died seventy or eighty times, how could you call yourself a player? "Fine, I'll go take a look with you."

"Wait a moment. I'm going to check the Official Website first!"

With that, the Minotaur Warrior crouched by the wall, turned into a corpse once more, and logged off to file a report.

Deep within the Demon Lord Territory, near the entrance to the first floor of the maze, several thieves crouching inside the Stone Prison trembled uncontrollably.

That evil mage... no, that evil Demon Lord was even more cunning than they had imagined. He would give them a bite to eat, then immediately use dark magic to suck them half to death.

The sensation was terrible, like being hollowed out by illness, as though their souls were being sucked away.

"I can't... I can't hold on much longer... Anyone, please save me."

Am, whose entire body was covered in bulging muscles, had already suffered a mental breakdown and dropped to his knees.

The berserker with the highest level in the Silver Scimitar, and the most rugged image, had unexpectedly been the first to break.

Chris did not have the strength to laugh at him.

Because she felt she was about to break too.

"What do you think... that guy plans to do with us?" Greyhound asked in terror, trembling as he looked at Lexon, the greatswordsman who was still forcing himself to endure.

"I don't know..."

Lexon shook his head. Beneath his damp fringe, his eyes were filled with gloom and regret.

If they had known that guy was so dangerous, they should not have waited until they were inside the mine to make their move.

"...I've never dealt with a necromancer before."

"There aren't any necromancers in Underground Street?" Greyhound swallowed and asked shakily.

Compared to these seasoned veterans, he was just a country boy who had only recently entered the trade.

One reason he had joined the Silver Scimitar was to get rich overnight, but the bigger reason was a certain woman.

Chris shot the kid a sidelong glance, her hollow eyes staring straight ahead.

"Underground Street... when you get down to it, it's just a bunch of thieves who do dirty work and hopeless poor people. As for necromancers... they're enemies only the armies of the noble lords need to worry about."

So-called necromancers were heretics among heretics. Only the utterly evil hell would pardon their sins.

They had betrayed not only the faith of Saint Siss, but also the moral order of humanity itself.

It was said that a Silver-level necromancer could create disasters that even Gold-rank and Platinum Grade knights found troublesome.

She had only ever heard rumors about such rare beings.

At that moment, Lexon, who had been resting with his eyes half-closed, suddenly opened them wide.

"There's movement."

Chris reacted as well. She rolled over onto her stomach and listened carefully.

As a thief, scouting was what she did best. Although that skill was not always reliable, this disturbance was anything but ordinary. There was no way she could have misheard it.

"It's a Rat Tide!"

Her face instantly went pale. She sprang up from the ground and threw herself against the sturdy Stone Prison, pounding the indestructible stone bars with all her strength.

"Hey! Is anyone alive?! Can you hear me?! Let us out!"

No one answered.

A few skeletons did tilt their heads toward her, but judging from their clattering jaws, they clearly did not understand a word she said.

That bastard...

He had thrown them in here!

Her weak, limp fists could do nothing to the stone cage. Chris's eyes were filled with despair as she wailed in a hoarse voice.

"Um... Q-Quinn... you're nearby, aren't you?! Please—"

"Enough. Shut up!"

A voice like thunder cut off her pleading. A pitch-black figure stood directly in the middle of the mine tunnel.

The man with purple-black hair held a Magic Wand in his hand. His arrogant face was full of impatience, as though he did not care in the slightest about the Rat swarm rushing toward them.

Chris stared at him with wide eyes.

Lexon beside her was no different, his eyes filled with stunned disbelief.

Had this guy gone mad? Or—

Having dealt with corpses all year long, did he simply have no idea what a Rat Tide meant?

"You're this scared over a few little rats... Also, mind your attitude. You're my prisoners. Did you think I was joking?"

When that sharp gaze shot toward her, Chris's face turned even paler. She immediately moved away from the stone bars, stumbled, and collapsed onto the ground.

Leon shifted his gaze away from the prisoners and swung the Magic Wand in his right hand as he recited a spell.

"Awaken—"

"My servant!"

In a corner not far away, the corpse that had already begun to rot and stink swayed as it rose from the ground.

Chunks of flesh dripped from its body, and not a trace of expression could be seen on its dull face.

At the blasphemous sight, the prisoners swallowed hard, too terrified to say a word.

That was their teammate, Bond—

Leon watched the corpse, a hint of surprise appearing between his brows.

This guy was clearly an Ordinary Person without Extraordinary Power, yet his Soul Level was Bronze? Fine.

As a puppet, his potential was far higher than that of an ordinary puppet.

Controlling the puppet named Bond, Leon ordered him to pick up the greatsword on the ground—the one players could not even lift—and guard the area around the demon statue.

Then he gave You You an order.

"You You, gather all the players. Tell them the monsters have begun attacking the city!"

"As long as they hold off this wave, in addition to the quest's base rewards, every player will receive an extra 10,000 Hell Money and 100 contribution points!"

"If they can't hold it, tell them to look forward to the next closed beta!"