BXBX NOVEL Chapter 34.2: Crazy Undead
Chapter 34.2: Crazy Undead
With their plan settled, Hal, who was usually annoyed to death by players, displayed an unprecedented sense of dedication during the day\'s work shift. He attentively observed the undead performing tasks under his supervision with a sharp and focused gaze.
"When will these laborious days of bricklaying end!"
"Damn it! My last bit of Potential won\'t increase no matter what!"
"Who mixed this batch of cement? It\'s so watery that it won\'t stick. Why wasn\'t it rejected?"
"I used the money earned from manual labor to buy lipstick for my wife. She said she won\'t forcefully take off my helmet next time…"
"Are we going to the Spider Cave tonight?"
"You still intend to go? Haven\'t you lost enough equipment?"
"I feel that there\'s no point in farming monsters at the Spider Cave. Just picking up equipment would probably make us a fortune…"
Although there were only about a dozen or so undead, the noise made by these bunch created a bustling vibe resembling that of a marketplace. On top of that, the noise from Tuttle\'s and Finley\'s sites added on to the background sound. Hal\'s temples were throbbing, and he had the urge to draw his longsword and go on a rampage…
Hal exerted utmost self-control to suppress his irritation. Just then, an undead ran over, screaming and shouting.
"Hey, hey, have you heard? Ou Huang has already gone for job advancement. The first mage in the game has appeared!"
"Whoa, f*ck! Is that true?"
"That guy was level 1 the moment he logged in and could change jobs once he ground enough reputation. That\'s why he\'s faster than others."
"That\'s so unfair! My Potential is only 32!"
"Who told the damn developers to make Potential random? Even if you are unlucky, all you can do is accept that fact."
"How about we go and kill Lord Yang? Everyone would be on equal footing if we all can\'t change jobs!"
Hal\'s entire body trembled.
Players, who were used to the incessant chatter while laboring away, didn\'t find anything wrong with these exchanges, and they continued to chat.
"Dream on. Even Wife Vanilla and the gang are screaming for mercy and begging for their lives when dealing with level 1 spiders. A level-3 giant rat has the achievement of mass slaughtering players. And you even dream of challenging Lord Yang, whose information can\'t even be seen with \'Identify\'? Wake up, brother!" Another player diligently slogging away said mockingly.
"Yeah, it\'s more feasible to kill advanced NPCs that exploit us using reputation," another player chimed in while pointing at Hal. "This NPC is level 5 and probably easier to kill than Lord Yang. Brother, how about you practice your skills on this one?"
The string known as rationality in Hal\'s mind snapped. Face darkened, he drew his longsword and charged at the skeleton that was pointing its dirty bony finger at him.
"What the heck? Just a couple of words and an NPC will attack?!" Fortunately, that player wasn\'t too near Hal and immediately sprinted away.
"Waahaha!"
"Hahahaha! I\'m dying of laughter!"
"Run quick! Once you are out of range, the NPC won\'t chase you anymore!"
"This Hal is even quicker than Tuttle next door… What the hell! Why is he charging at me!" The next player that caught Hal\'s attention jumped up and ran away, shouting as he fled, "Calm down, Hal-san, I was just kidding! I\'m your undead friend~"
"F*ck, hahahaha!"
"Enough, you guys! Can\'t you all stop teasing the NPC?"
"Sooner or later, I\'m gonna die from laughing thanks to you guys!"
"Give the NPC back quickly! I need to submit a quest!"
Tuttle, hearing all the laughter and excitement coming from Hal\'s end, was surprised at how quickly the latter changed and immediately bonded with those undead he had always been complaining about…
Turning over to look, Tuttle then realized that Hal was maniacally chasing after and trying to cut down a skeleton that was jumping and hopping all over the place.
Tuttle: "…"
The player that was interacting with Tuttle noticed that the NPC was no longer paying attention and stepped forward, blocking Tuttle\'s line of sight, and shoved the muddy quest item in front of the NPC\'s face. "Tuttle Joe, I want to complete the quest. Got it? Hey? Hello?"
After enduring another day of work, the former bandit trio gathered for dinner.
"I don\'t think it\'s possible," Hal said with a grim expression. "It\'s too difficult to find undead that are less crazy among these lunatics."
Tuttle and Finley: "…"
While they both felt Hal\'s lack of patience was an issue, those undead were indeed a big issue as well. No matter how many times they had witnessed it before, both of them found it difficult to get used to the gleeful and mocking laughter of the undead when their own comrades were being attacked.
"Haa…" The three sighed simultaneously.
"It\'s too early to give up. This is only the first day," said Tuttle in a bid to boost his compatriots\' spirits. "These undead are quite… individualistic. From their conversations, I firmly believe that we can at least communicate successfully with some of them. As long as we have enough patience, surely some undead that are willing to assist us in assassinating Yang at the crucial moment can be found."
Hal was silent for a bit, then said, "You misunderstood me, Tuttle. It isn\'t difficult to send an undead to assassinate Yang. These illogical lunatics have no reverence for Yang, who summoned them, nor do they consider him their master. The challenge lies in how to communicate with these undead in a normal manner."
Tuttle and Finley: "…"
"The worst part is that in the eyes of these undead, the difference between Lord Yang and us may simply be whether we are easier to assassinate," Hal said in frustration. "There\'s no guarantee that these undead won\'t target us. Don\'t forget, Yang initially said that these unruly undead will kill any target they can, regardless of the cost."
Tuttle\'s face immediately became rigid.
Truth be told, due to the ease at which these undead could be killed, he had long forgotten Yang\'s warning…
But at the thought of how these undead, undeterred by defeat, had been relentlessly rushing into the Spider Cave that Yang had made a path to, Tuttle couldn\'t help but shudder.
Finley\'s face was even darker than Tuttle\'s.
This Treasure Expert was the most reliable strategist apart from Tuttle during the era of the Sacred Crows. When Hal and Tuttle felt discouraged by the setback of the plan, he had already delved deeper into the matter. "Hey, guys, I have an unpleasant speculation… Could it be that these crazed skeletons summoned by Yang aren\'t ordinary undead?"
Tuttle asked at once, "What\'s your take, Finley?"
"While Yang claims that he never accepted it, he is known on the Navalon wanted list as \'Nightmare Butcher.\'"
Taking a deep breath, Finley continued, "These skeletons that he summoned as subjects may indeed be different from the typical undead army of a black mage. They are far from sluggish, highly agile, and possess considerable intelligence while being downright crazy. This level of intelligence is not something ordinary summoned creatures would possess."
As Tuttle and Hal heard this, their entire bodies bristled with unease.
Finley\'s tone got increasingly worked up. "Could it be that these undead aren\'t the undead we thought they were but rather beings from a higher dimension that transcend our understanding?
"The reason they appear in the fragile form of skeletons is either because their true forms cannot enter the material plane or because Yang has temporarily restricted their power in order to \'tame\' them and make them appear weak, as we see them now.
"The evidence is what Hal has mentioned; these undead aren\'t bound by summoning contracts and are actually capable of harboring murderous intent toward Yang! I can\'t even imagine what level of terrifying creatures their true forms might be!"
Finley\'s conjecture left Hal dumbfounded, while Tuttle found himself speechless.
As if the fog that had been obscuring his vision was suddenly blown away, Hal instantly recalled his numerous doubts and his voice trembled. "Yes, yes… Yang himself said that these undead would keep getting stronger. But if they were just ordinary skeletons, how could they possibly grow stronger? Damn it, we shouldn\'t have come here in the first place. We were deceived by that evil bastard pretending to be friendly, and we were fooled by the supplies he generously offered us!"
"Someone like the \'Nightmare Butcher\' is perfectly capable of doing such things! Goddamn it! Is this fella trying to cause a calamity?!" Tuttle exclaimed as well, his forehead completely covered in a cold sweat.
"It\'s time to make a decision, guys." Finley exhaled sharply. "We have to take a gamble: either slink away in the night and hope he won\'t chase after us, knowing that we possess his secret… or kill him! We have to do it before these dangerous and terrifying creatures are successfully \'tamed\' and reveal their true power!"
The atmosphere among the three had become extremely tense.
They didn\'t believe for a moment that the evil black mage would spare them. It was a childish view to hold. After all, that devious man had purposely gone all the way to the Sorensen Mountains to deceive them and bring them here!
"Let\'s do it!" Hal gritted his teeth determinedly. "Regardless of what madness this black mage is scheming, there\'s no need for us to go along with his madness."
Having been bandits for several years, these guys could indeed be daring when they needed to. The trio immediately dug into their meal, filling their stomachs before scattering to contact the others…
———
Tang Jia, Zheng Qingyue, Yang Ying, Jia Luo, and Ji Tang gathered at the spawn point and formed a team, heading toward the northeast corner of the town.
"In the game, one hour is equivalent to half an hour in real life. NPCs that grant reputation for job advancements only give out quests during specific time slots: from 4:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., and from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. As for zombie NPCs\' quests, they are available at all times."
While moving, Zheng Qingyue enthusiastically introduced the game to the new friend they had made. "You can only stay logged in for 12 hours a day, which means 24 hours of game time. Since your initial Potential is quite high, you should calculate the best times to log in and try to maximize the time periods where you can gain reputation each day."
"Understood. I\'ll calculate my login time carefully from now on." Ji Tang nodded.
"It\'s your first day playing, so just use up your login time today." Tang Jia confidently waved her hand. "Today, while I was with the big group to farm monsters, I found a place where even a small team can farm safely. Let\'s go and test it out. If it works, we\'ll gather materials to exchange for reputation points for Qingyue. Once she changes her job to a support class, our squad will become stronger!"
Regardless of whether Ji Tang understood or not, he nodded repeatedly.
In any game, female players were more willing to play with newcomers, and this full-immersive game was no exception.
Zheng Qingyue helplessly stared at Tang Jia, then turned to their new teammate and added, "Don\'t listen to her nonsense all the time. She\'s completely unreliable at times. Anyway, let\'s treat this trip as sightseeing and be prepared to be kicked offline…"
"Ah, it\'s Boss Unceasing Entropy!"
Two players running toward them spotted Unceasing Entropy\'s ID and stopped while waving and greeting her.
"Hello," Zheng Qingyue politely nodded to the two players.
"Boss, do you want to join us for a hidden quest?" The two players didn\'t view themselves as outsiders and ran over excitedly. "It seems like we\'ve stumbled upon a major quest—a quest to assassinate Lord Yang!"
"So exciting?!" Tang Jia remarked gleefully.