Underground City

This is a very powerful curse!

Never mind what continuously weakening bodily functions mean.

The "Instant Death Judgment" that occurs once every 72 hours is enough to make anyone's blood run cold.

Although the conditions for the "Instant Death Judgment" are extremely harsh.

But what if? What if an extremely low-probability event occurred, then Roger's life would be forfeit!

Therefore, the moment he discovered the curse, Roger put aside all his current affairs and treated it with the utmost seriousness.

He began to reflect on the source of the curse.

As everyone knows, a medium is required to cast a curse.

Roger had been hunting Gray Dwarves recently and hadn't touched anything else suspicious.

Then the medium for the curse could only be those Gray Dwarves he had killed!

"Is it because I killed too many Gray Dwarves that it formed a medium in a sense?"

Roger vaguely guessed the truth.

And when he tried to focus his attention on the black eye on the back of his hand, a strange scene flickered in his mind: raging flames burned the bodies of suffering Gray Dwarves; a Gray Dwarf with a remarkably long beard knelt on the ground with his hands raised, then suddenly jumped up and performed an unknown dance; the dance movements were bizarre, resembling those of a reptile;

He muttered some fragmented phrases, some in Gray Dwarf language, some in Underground Common Tongue, and even some in Human Common Tongue.

Among the Human Common Tongue that Roger could understand, "Dad" and "Mom" were repeatedly mentioned.

Finally.

That row of Gray Dwarves was burned to death alive.

The dancing Gray Dwarf used a giant black pen, dipped it in their bone ash, and solemnly drew a huge symbol on the ground.

That symbol was exactly like the black pupil on Roger's hand.

"The so-called 'Bloodline Curse' is a curse that can only be cast by sacrificing one's parents or even all blood relatives?"

Seeing this scene, Roger was somewhat stunned.

These Gray Dwarves are too ruthless! To kill him, they first sacrificed their parents to the heavens? "Could he be the Leader who has been outwitting me from the shadows?"

Roger felt it was a bit troublesome.

The troublesome part wasn't the curse itself.

In fact, for him, it wasn't difficult to break this curse.

He just needed to level up 10 times in one go.

For every 10 professional levels he gained, the Hidden Hero template would purify all negative effects.

Including this seemingly invincible Bloodline Curse.

But unless absolutely necessary, Roger wouldn't easily squander his experience points!

Another way to resolve the Bloodline Curse was to kill the person casting it in the video.

Ever since this black eye appeared on the back of his hand, he could vaguely sense the direction of the caster.

However, the other party was not in the Swamp Land.

Instead, they were in that sprawling Underground City!

This was precisely where Roger found it troublesome.

He had discovered the entrance to the Underground City half a year ago but had been hesitant to enter.

The reason was simple.

In the Swamp Land, with the cover of reeds and mist, it was a fool's dream for the Gray Dwarves to capture Roger, who was protected by Ladder Cloud Steps.

But it was different in the Underground City.

That was the Gray Dwarves' territory.

So even though he coveted the martial arts ruins that might exist there, he still restrained his desire to explore the Underground City.

Originally, his plan was to kill all the Gray Dwarves in the Swamp Land first.

But the appearance of the "Bloodline Curse" directly shattered that possibility.

He had to make a choice.

Weighing the options, he chose to brave the Underground City.

Not going meant giving up 9 levels of experience.

By going, at least there was a chance to retain some of it.

As for whether he could retreat unharmed.

Roger was confident in that regard.

After deciding to enter the Underground City.

Roger quickly prepared his adventuring supplies and equipment.

To confuse the Gray Dwarves.

He even went near the walls before departing to kill a few monsters.

Afterward, he rapidly changed his route and ran all the way to the Underground City entrance deep within the Swamp Land.

He pushed aside the hidden entrance covered by reeds.

Roger took a deep breath, crouched, and squeezed inside.

The tunnel was narrow and damp.

There was an indescribable stuffiness.

Unlike the Underground City Roger had imagined, the underground passages in the Swamp Land were also filled with thick moisture.

Using his Dim Light Vision, he saw many unknown plants growing wildly in the corners.

A large portion of them were various types of moss.

From time to time, water droplets seeped from above, dripping onto Roger's hat brim, giving him the illusion of walking through a water curtain cave.

He walked diagonally downward for about six to seven kilometers, and the path ahead suddenly opened up.

The humidity was also gradually decreasing.

Following the curse's perception, Roger continued forward with great caution.

When he passed through a Stalagmite Forest.

He ran headfirst into a not-so-intense fight.

It was an adventurer wearing a thick cloak.

His opponent was a group of patrolling Swamp Gray Dwarves.

The adventurer's movements were sharp; he dispatched the entire group of Swamp Gray Dwarves in a flash.

Roger noticed.

He was using a scimitar, and his entire body was wrapped in the cloak, with not an inch of skin exposed.

His hood must have been enchanted, as Roger couldn't see his face.

"Hm?"

After killing the Gray Dwarves, the adventurer also noticed Roger.

Before Roger could speak, the person coldly said, "Not a Gray Dwarf? Lucky you."

"But listen closely, no matter who you are, just don't get in my way of killing Gray Dwarves."

"If you intend to stop me, I won't hold back."

His voice was strange, sounding particularly rough, likely an intentional effect.

"I'm here to kill Gray Dwarves."

Roger stared fixedly at the other person.

At that moment, his heart felt a slight tremor.

Immediately afterward, the back of his left hand began to heat up.

They stared at each other for about ten seconds.

Finally, Roger tentatively asked:

"You're also cursed?"

During that tremor, he clearly felt that the other person, like himself, bore the mark of the Bloodline Curse!

The person remained silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.

Just as Roger was about to say something more.

The person suddenly lunged forward.

The scimitar in his hand flashed like lightning, cutting towards Roger's neck with extreme sharpness!

Roger calmly dodged the scimitar, and with a backhand thrust, brought out the Qing Fu Sword.

The opponent's agility was exceptional, and his body's flexibility was astonishingly good.

Facing the direct thrust of the Qing Fu Sword, he leaned his upper body backward to the side, dodging the sword at an incredibly exaggerated angle.

And his body still maintained excellent balance.

However, what he didn't expect was that Roger's thrust wasn't aimed at his face at all.

In a flash of lightning.

The tip of the Qing Fu Sword rotated slightly, and with a gentle upward flick, it moved downward.

The adventurer's hood cord was severed, and it quietly fell to the ground under the force of gravity.

Roger got a clear look at his face.

Upon skin as dark as the night.

Adorned with delicate features and a flushed gaze.

Hidden beneath this hood was a genuine Drow! (Note 1)

And a girl at that.

The Drow girl grabbed the hood from the ground and put it back on.

She lowered her weapon.

Her large, pearl-like eyes stared at Roger for a long time before she said softly:

"If you're looking for a companion, you're qualified."

Roger raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

(Note 1: Drow, also known as dark elves.) (Note 1 Addendum: I agonized over this note for a long time. It feels awkward to add a note for something so widely known, but I was worried some new readers might not know what a Drow is, so I debated it repeatedly. In the end, I decided it was better to be a little awkward.)