Do You Have a Problem?
Although the invasion campaign was a bit of a hassle, players were still really looking forward to [Dark Souls] – which isn't surprising.
After all, neither Nine Provinces nor Prison Rock currently has any SSS-rated civilian dungeons.
How could the first instance of this kind of content not be interesting?
Players from Nine Provinces need no introduction.
While Lu Xiu's previous dungeons were indeed grueling, the rewards were truly exceptional. The reason why lower and mid-level players in the Nine Provinces Arena were able to win more than they lost this time was largely due to the rewards from Lu Xiu's dungeons.
As for the torment—that's just how people are; once they receive a good reward, they tend to consciously ignore or downplay the torment they endured during the process.
Just like jogging, it's hard to remember the pain of pushing your limits during the run; the most memorable moment is always crossing the finish line.
As for Prison Rock.
During this period, they fought fiercely with the players from Nine Provinces, and more or less encountered people like Du Shu, who knew that the powerful and chaotic skills of the Nine Provinces players all came from Lu Xiu's dungeons.
It's certain that I envy and want it.
Not to mention that this dungeon is rated SSS, something that players in Nine Provinces have never encountered before, and the rewards might be even better. How could they not be tempted?
Although they had just been slaughtered by those unreasonable invading monsters yesterday, leaving them questioning their existence, and although their intuition was frantically warning them that this dungeon would be extremely difficult.
But in the face of the SSS rating, which represents a certain pinnacle, all fear and hesitation are forcibly suppressed by the desire for powerful skill items.
High risk often means unimaginably high returns.
People die for wealth, birds die for food.
Not to mention, this time the system has also turned it into a public arena for two-way racing.
Clearing dungeons is not just about becoming stronger and acquiring better skills and items, but also about conquering the fifty districts of each capital city and the massive amount of battle merits that come with them.
Under dual stimulation.
Whether they were players from Nine Provinces or Prison Rock, they were all basically waiting for the dungeon to be released that day.
The instance has just been released.
soon.
A bunch of players clicked "Enter" immediately, plunging headlong into the world of Dark Souls.
Rein, a player from Prison Rock, was among the first group to click and enter the dungeon.
Looking at the countdown in my line of sight.
Rein took a deep breath, his anticipation reaching its peak.
He had been craving the strange and powerful skills of the players in Nine Provinces for a long time.
During this period in the arena, he suffered quite a few losses at the hands of players from Nine Provinces.
Why should I?!
Why is it that those Nine Provinces players, whose stats are clearly lower than mine, become stronger as their health decreases? And why can they pull out a bunch of strange items all the time?
He was really indignant.
Because these were all arenas he could have won!
And he encountered more and more of these things later on—and he became increasingly unwilling to accept it.
But now, finally, the chance to turn things around has arrived!
Although he knew that this [Dark Souls] dungeon was definitely not simple, both yesterday's invading monsters and the SSS rating proved it.
But it only takes five days.
He refused to believe he couldn't clear this dungeon!
Absolutely impossible!
Rein's eyes were filled with undisguised fanaticism and greed.
This is an SSS-level dungeon! The rewards for clearing it will definitely be better than any dungeon rewards the people of Nine Provinces have ever obtained before!
Even if the player in Prison Rock only gets one reward, as long as the completion score is high enough to get the core skill reward, combined with his already strong base stats, that's enough!
After all, players in Nine Provinces might not be able to complete the game within five days!
He secretly vowed that as long as he could obtain the skill reward from the SSS dungeon, he would crush all those Nine Provinces players who had defeated him in the arena with their unorthodox tactics!
As for danger?
Rein shook his head, recalling the invading monsters he had slaughtered the previous day.
The reason yesterday's invading monsters were so terrifying was purely because of their high stats and the fact that players didn't understand the dungeon's mechanics. However, there are no such problems when entering a dungeon, because no matter how high the dungeon's rating or how difficult it is, it will always follow a fundamental logic—gradual progression.
Simply put...
No matter how extreme the dungeon is, the initial difficulty is definitely within the range that a normal player can handle.
This is to provide players with space to familiarize themselves with the mechanics and learn.
Otherwise, there's no point in launching dungeons, because not many people can clear them.
Rein, on the other hand, has absolute confidence in his learning and adaptability.
As long as he figures out the combat mechanics of this dungeon and learns gradually, no monster will become more than a stepping stone on his path to becoming stronger.
"Bring it on."
Just as his heart was surging with emotion.
finally.
The dungeon has been unlocked.
He entered the instance almost immediately.
A flash of Bai Guang.
In an instant, Rein was swallowed up by endless darkness.
Just when he thought the screen would light up soon, and he would see the dungeon scene directly as he usually did when entering a dungeon, he was about to...
But it turned out that there wasn't.
He couldn't even move.
It can only be viewed from an outsider's perspective—the beginning of the Dark Souls world.
In ancient times----
The world was not yet divided, shrouded in a thick fog.
"Everywhere were gray rocks, towering trees, and immortal dragons."
A hoarse female voice echoed faintly in the void.
A low, trembling, elderly woman's voice began to murmur the story of the ancient times in the Dark Souls world.
And as she narrated...
The image spread out in the darkness like ink splashed on a canvas.
The fog billowed and swirl.
On the vast, gray-white land, desolate and barren, towering ancient trees stand silently, their canopies blocking out the sun.
Beneath the great tree, Ancient Dragon, its body as massive as a mountain range, covered in thick scales and possessing enormous wings, surveyed this desolate world with absolute dominance.
Rein's eyes widened slowly, then his pupils suddenly contracted.
Because right in front of him stood an Ancient Dragon, looking at him like a sculpture, or perhaps gazing ahead. Its massive body, combined with the gloomy environment, exuded an overwhelming sense of oppression.
But one day— the First Flame was lit.
"All these differences, therefore, lead to—"
But before Rein could think further, the scene suddenly changed.
In the Abyss of darkness, a tiny, yet vibrant, flame suddenly ignited.
"Cold and hot."
Life and death.
"Light and darkness."
Orange-red sparks drifted by, bringing a glimmer of light.
Subsequently, Mars appeared more and more frequently.
Finally, it seemed they had arrived at a dark cave.
Not far away.
A raging fire burned, illuminating the cave and accompanied by waves of heat.
Several dark, human-shaped figures stumbled to their feet on the ground in front of the raging fire, gazing longingly at the flames.
"Then."
"Several species, born from darkness, were lured by the flames and found the Lord Souls around them."
"The First of the Dead, Nito."
A monster made of human skeletons, seemingly a collection of corpses, slowly extended its skeletal arms.
Flames danced in the skull's palm, illuminating the monster's face.
"The Witch of Izalith and Daughters of Chaos".
A hooded sorceress, whose features revealed her to be female, raised her dirty hands and cupped them in front of her chest, as if holding up a flame before her.
The camera slowly zooms out, revealing many other Witch around her dressed in the same attire, raising their hands and holding up flames.
"Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight, and his knights."
A tall, white-haired old man wearing a crown gripped the hilt of a sword with both hands upside down, while raging flames burned fiercely before him.
Behind him, the gleam of the knight's armor shimmered faintly.
"And, Furtive Pygmy that no one has ever seen."
Finally, a shadowy figure, whose appearance was indistinct, knelt beside the fire, holding the flames in its hands, and slowly stood up.
It is like a priceless treasure.
"They gained the power of the king and challenged the Ancient Dragon."
Gwyn's lightning pierced through the rock-like scales.
"The Witch's flames formed a storm."
"Nito liberated the miasma of death."
"Seath the Scaleless, Sith, betrayed the ancient Ancient Dragon, causing Ancient Dragon defeat."
The scene changes.
Gwyn, the Witch, and Nito appeared one after another, unleashing their divine powers and bringing change to this once unchanging world, challenging the ancient Ancient Dragon that originally ruled the world.
And at the end of the scene.
A pure white ancient Ancient Dragon stood atop a mountain of dragon skeletons, roaring towards the sky.
Accompanied by a roar.
A flash of white light.
The tense and exciting music suddenly changed.
"The Age of Fire has begun."
Rein ascended uncontrollably, then broke through the clouds and found that the world was no longer gray. A vast city-state built against the mountain appeared in his field of vision, bathed in sunlight, announcing the arrival of a new era.
"But the fire will eventually go out, and then only darkness will remain."
"The fire is about to go out."
"Light cannot illuminate the world, and the night continues endlessly."
"And the cursed Darksign began to appear among the people—"
An unmarked cemetery.
A pair of fair hands reached out, as if to grasp, and gently cupped the sparks flying in mid-air.
She was a woman with white hair, kneeling on the ground, holding the scattered sparks, her hands placed on her chest, her head bowed, praying for the corpse lying on the ground.
The knight's corpse in front of her, though its armor was still gleaming, had a body as withered as dry firewood.
The woman reached out and stroked the knight's withered face.
Rein was completely stunned.
He even forgot to breathe, his eyes filled with astonishment and shock.
He had assumed that the dungeon created by the Nine Provinces Architect would be more difficult, and the process might be different from the Prison Rock dungeon.
But I never expected it to be so different----
He never imagined that this dungeon called [Dark Souls] would possess such a magnificent, profound, and unique worldview.
Let alone unofficial fan-made versions.
Even the system's dungeons don't have this kind of world view.
The dungeon built by the Architect of Nine Provinces looks like this...?
It's truly... shocking.
Helag.
never mind.
Helag simply couldn't create something like that.
And just as he was thinking this...
"However, the fire will eventually go out, and darkness will soon descend."
"Now, only tiny sparks remain of the fire, and on many people, cursed Darksign have appeared—"
The narrator's voice gradually became low and mournful, carrying a sense of despair at the inability to defy fate.
And Rein found himself in a dark dungeon, where the flames of a torch illuminated a corner, moving slowly across the dungeon corridor.
The iron doors on both sides of the corridor were rusty, and some withered, corpse-like humanoid creatures reached out as if they wanted to go out.
In the corridor, there was a humanoid creature that looked exactly like a mummified corpse, sitting there and occasionally moving.
Rats covered in pustules, lifeless creatures, the occasional dripping sound, a dark and enclosed dungeon—
The camera continues to zoom in.
The narration started again.
"In the kingdom, undead cursed by the Darksign will be arrested and sent north."
"They will be locked up in jail until the end of the world."
Rein entered the innermost cell, where an undead man wearing only underwear was crouching in the corner.
"And this is your fate."
Accompanied by the final, low voice of the narrator.
Rein's vision went black.
[Loading complete.]
[Role: The Chosen Undead]
The last line of system notification disappeared before my eyes.
That grand, Epic feeling was instantly stripped away.
Rein opened his eyes abruptly and found himself in a dark, damp, and narrow stone chamber that reeked of a strong stench.
He has become that immortal being squatting in the corner.
----Are they really going to play an immortal?
I thought I'd be Roleplay Instance.
Rein took a deep breath, temporarily suppressing the immense shock and excitement he felt at the start of the dungeon.
Forget about Ancient Dragon and First Flame; no matter how grand the background, the first level is just a beginner's village to help him get familiar with the controls!
bring it on.
Let's see the quality of the SSS-level dungeon.
When he had that thought...
Bang.
A corpse suddenly fell from the sky in front of him, with Bai Guang emanating from above it.
Rein was startled and looked up.
He just happened to see a knight glance down at him, then turn and leave.
What's the meaning?
Rein was somewhat puzzled, then circled around before finally touching the physical Bai Guang.
They successfully obtained a key to the prison.
prison----
Rein took a few steps forward.
really.
This is the key to his prison; he really needs to play the role of an immortal.
That's normal, though. You can tell from the opening cinematic that the world is about to be extinguished, and the Darksign is cursing ordinary people. It's not surprising that the player plays the role of the cursed protagonist.
The story of a cursed immortal who ultimately saves the world is indeed quite Epic.
As Rein pondered this, he walked out of the cell, checking his backpack as he did so.
He had a weapon, but it was just a broken sword.
Extremely poor properties.
Rein checked his weapons, equipped them, and casually slashed at the mummies wandering in the corridor.
The mummified corpse died after just a few cuts.
Based on the red marks on the ground, it's quite clear that this is a teaching activity.
He said!
The dungeons will definitely be implemented gradually.
How could it possibly start like an invasion, with dragons and Demon to fight?
Take it slow! Fight it step by step!
How could we possibly lose!
Rein sheathed his sword, quickly reviewed the tutorial and guide for the dungeon on the ground, and continued forward.
But before he could take two steps, he saw a huge figure looming behind the iron fence on the right side of the corridor.
"What----?!"
When Rein saw the large, shadowy figure, he suddenly felt something was amiss, for some reason.
But something felt off, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
But soon...
His idea disappeared, after all, his desire to explore was still very strong.
Rein began to follow the red markings on the ground that served as instructions, and continued forward.
He attacked any zombies he saw, then groped his way to the stairs and climbed up.
The light suddenly became bright.
He arrived in front of a building.
Not far from the building, in an open space, there was a Bonfire with a sword stuck in it.
Rein went to the Bonfire and lit Bonfire according to the instructions.
Next.
A pop-up window explaining the Bonfire rest mechanism appeared.
"----Players can actually leave to rest around each Bonfire?! Who can't beat this dungeon?!"
Upon seeing the explanation of the relevant mechanism, Rein was first taken aback, then overjoyed!
In this situation...
How could you possibly not be able to beat the game!
"I thought the SSS dungeon was some kind of amazing thing! I thought that Architect named Lu Xiu was incredible for clearing it in one go, but it turns out he could cheat!"
He stood up from beside the Bonfire!
I'm a little excited.
If he was 50% confident of clearing the dungeon before entering it!
Now!
He's already 80% there!
Who can't beat this?!
As he excitedly pondered this, Rein walked to the door of a building not far away and pushed it open.
There's only this one direction to go now, so there's no need to think too much about it.
He braced his hands on the door and slowly pushed it open.
Inside the door was a spacious room resembling a church.
"Church----?"
Rein glanced at the scene inside the door, then walked forward, preparing to explore the surroundings to see if there was anything he could collect.
But he had just stepped inside.
A dark shadow flashed by and disappeared.
Next.
A colossal Demon, wielding a massive dragon-tooth club, suddenly descended from the sky—
Bang-
Dust and debris rose up at its feet!
The stirring, Epic music began!
At the bottom of the game screen, the BOSS's name and health bar appear!
[The Asylum Demon]
"?????
Rein was stunned, and before he could react...
Accompanied by rousing background music, the Asylum Demon leaped up, raised the massive wooden mallet in its hand, and slammed it down.
Bang!
The entire building seemed to be trembling.
Rein's health bar dropped by two-thirds.
He finally realized what was happening, frantically rolling around before slashing at the Asylum Demon.
The broken sword in his hand struck the Demon.
Good news! The Demon's health bar has been reduced!
The bad news is, it only decreased by one-twentieth!
"----What!!!!!"
Seeing the Asylum Demon's health bar decrease slightly.
Rein immediately yelled something.
Then the next second.
The Asylum Demon raised its massive dragon tooth club high and brought it down.
Rein's health bar was completely reduced to zero.
[YOUDIED]
A blood-red, glaring notification appeared, and his vision turned red.
In the brief moment after his death, during which his consciousness paused, he saw the enormous Demon still relentlessly attacking.
That was incredibly powerful and energetic.
Next.
A flash of Bai Guang.
Rein appeared at his residence.
The copy failed.
"??????"
Rein appeared to be in a dazed, out-of-body state.
The sunlight outside the window was a bit dazzling, but the blood-red words "[YOUDIED]" lingered in his mind.
He looked at his hands, then at the system notification in front of him, his brain frantically rebooting as he tried to understand what had happened in those less than ten seconds.
"----What is that?"
finally.
Rein understood and let out a murmur of disbelief.
What happened to the promise of gradual progress?!
What happened to the tutorial level being meant to familiarize you with the mechanics?!
He had just walked out of the cell! He only had a loincloth and a broken sword that was too dull to even cut into a mummified corpse!
All told, he only stayed in the instance for less than five minutes!
Then.
Push open a door.
A Demon over ten meters tall, wielding a dragon tooth club thicker than his entire body, slammed down from above, accompanied by a deafening symphony!
Not only was the damage ridiculously high, but when he slashed down, the Demon's health bar only dropped by a pitifully small amount!
Boss battle?!
This is a boss battle?!
What kind of crazy dungeon is this?!
Is this supposed to be beaten up?!
"What is that?!"
Rein's face slowly turned bright red. "Can you kill that thing with a broken sword? Is that Architect from Nine Provinces named Lu Xiu out of her mind?! Who puts a monster like that in their starting village?!"
He originally thought that allowing players to rest at the fire pit and exit the instance was a feature of this high-difficulty instance.
He originally thought that as long as he worked steadily and diligently, he would definitely be able to crush them with his learning ability.
But reality gave him a resounding slap in the face.
He died in less than five minutes!
Rein was panting heavily, his chest heaving, his eyes filled with resentment and anger.
Is there another way?
Or is it a problem with the playing style?
I don't believe it!
Rein gritted his teeth and brought up the System Panel again.
Although the humiliation of being instantly defeated made his blood boil, he still did not give up.
"Again!"
A flash of Bai Guang, Rein's figure vanished once more.
soon.
Rein returned to the original spot and confirmed that there was only one path.
We can only fight.
The problem might be with the playing style.
The rolling motion mentioned in the teaching must be used.
With this thought in mind, he pushed open the door again and went inside.
The boss made his appearance as promised.
this time.
Rein was on high alert.
Roll!
Dodge!
Slash!
But the boss only lost one-twentieth of its health.
Moreover, it has an extremely high aggression drive and a very high attack power.
They don't engage in any sweet talk with the players; they just kill them in two hits.
[YOUDIED]
The glaring lettering caught Rein's eye for the second time.
With a familiar flash of Bai Guang, Rein was kicked out of the instance once again and returned to Prison Rock.
5
A few minutes later.
Rein sat in the chair, clutching his hair tightly with both hands, panting heavily.
Sit still for about three seconds.
Bang!
He kicked over the table in front of him.
What is that?!
What on earth is this?!
This is impossible to win!
Why?!
The dungeon really asks players to fight monsters whose defenses are practically unbreakable right from the start?! And with that rusty, broken sword?!
He's only wearing a loincloth?!
Are you kidding me?! What kind of joke is this from the Architect of Nine Provinces?!
Is this a game or a form of punishment?!
Rein was trembling with rage.
He had just pushed his skills to their current limit.
Roll, dodge, and slash whenever there's an opening.
But what good is that?! This Demon's dragon tooth club is not only incredibly powerful, but its attack range is also ridiculously large! If your roll is even slightly off-time, and you get grazed on the edge, your health bar will be instantly reduced to zero!
What made him even more desperate was that the tiny amount of damage he inflicted on the Demon with all his might was like scratching it!
"No—something's definitely wrong—"
Rein forcibly suppressed his anger, frantically recalling the brief battle that had just taken place in the church room.
Is there anything we've missed?
Suddenly, an image flashed through his mind.
Yes! On the floor of that church room, there also seems to be a mark emitting a faint red glow! Just like the instructional mark in the corridor that taught him how to roll!
Is there some hidden combat hint there? Or a mechanism that can significantly weaken the boss?
As if grasping at a last straw, Rein gritted his teeth again, clinging to this conjecture.
"I refuse to believe we can't find a way to break this deadlock!"
A flash of Bai Guang.
Standing before that massive wooden church door for the third time, Rein took a deep breath and then flung the door open.
Boom!
The familiar sound descended from the sky, the familiar deafening roar.
But this time, Rein didn't even glance at the Asylum Demon wielding the Dragon Fang Hammer.
He rolled directly toward the red mark on the floor in the center of the room.
Check!
Rein's heart pounded, eagerly awaiting the Architect for clearing the level or the trigger mechanism.
However.
On the red mark, only two words slowly emerged.
[Run!]
Rein trembled, staring at those two words, feeling a surge of heat rush to the top of his head!
Blood pressure spiked in that instant.
His vision went black.
At that moment, he almost fainted from anger because of those two words!
Run!
I went through all that trouble, died so many times, and came here looking for a walkthrough, only to find this mark and all you left was the word "Run!"?!
Just as Rein's mind went blank at this humorous scene.
call-
The Asylum Demon's thick wooden mallet, accompanied by a mournful whistling sound, slammed heavily into his back.
There was absolutely no suspense.
[YOUDIED]
The fourth time.
When Rein re-entered the dungeon, he was completely numb.
He Open Gate, listened to the rousing music, abandoned all dignity, and scrambled to his feet.
He completely ignored the ferocious Demon behind him and frantically fled around the empty church room like a headless fly.
Just when he was about to be cornered.
Finally! In a dark and inconspicuous corner on the left side of the Boss's room, he discovered a narrow entrance with a faint torch burning.
Without a second thought, Rein performed a clumsy forward roll and plunged headfirst into the hole.
A rusty iron gate fell behind us.
The exhilarating boss battle music vanished instantly, and the Demon's enormous roar and heavy footsteps were also shut out on the other side of the wall.
Is it safe?
Rein was stunned.
It's safe now?
Rein slumped in the narrow, dark corridor, listening to the sounds of the Demon smashing the wall next door. For some reason, his eyes suddenly stung, and he felt an urge to cry.
He felt so wronged the first time he entered the instance----
They actually ran away!!!
The way to escape this Asylum Demon is to run away like a dog with its tail between its legs!
That's outrageous!
They gave me a broken, rotten sword right off the bat.
Then the players are immediately confronted with the boss!
Knowing the players couldn't win, they hid the exit in such a concealed place!
There have been no notifications yet!
Less than twenty minutes?
He died three times!!!
You're insane!!!
This moment.
Rein leaned against the wall, feeling only anger, unaware of what was happening.
In this SSS-rank dungeon called [Dark Souls], the most difficult thing to deal with might not be the enemies with ridiculously high stats, but rather—the undisguised and omnipresent malice!
but.
Some players in Nine Provinces seem to have already realized this----
Nine Provinces Forum.
The first post related to [Dark Souls], made by a player who entered the dungeon, has finally appeared!
The title of that post was -
[Lu Xiu, are you out of your mind?! Why are you doing this in a dungeon?!]