74: The Land of the Dead, Part One

The Land of the Dead, Part One

With all of her equipment on her, Charlotte left her home feeling ready for war. 

Low-level, beginner-friendly war, but war nonetheless. She was frightened, to an extent, but equally as excited. 

Outside of a few fights at the start of the Unity Trials, Charlotte hadn't done much monster hunting. No, once the world realized humanity wouldn't go extinct, at least not yet, Charlotte immediately tried to think of ways to make money without fighting. 

So, this was a half-new experience for her. 

[Maybe I could do an interview with my teammates after the dungeon's done! Are there any journalists doing dungeons actively? If there aren't, this could actually be a huge opportunity to stand out!] 

She was downright giddy. 

The white-level dungeon she would be taking on today appeared in sight. It was located at the gates of a school. The players who Charlotte would be accompanying today stood just a short distance away from it, all wearing very, very cheap armor, just like Charlotte was, and all with emotionless, barely-awake expressions on their faces. They stood out quite harshly from the kids around them walking in and out of the school, casually. 

It was a little jarring to see this place be as lively as it probably was before the Unity Trials, with a portal to another world in the middle of it. The only thing preventing some of these kids from going into the dungeon themselves was some lazily-placed yellow tape around it and a couple of old, bored guards standing by. 

Not exactly the safest setup in the world, but a testament to how, already, some people had gotten used to this way of life. 

[Never underestimate humanity's ability to adjust, I guess.] 

Looking at the players' statuses, Charlotte found that out of the three players ahead, only one of them was at a lower level than her. 

The team, including her, was composed of four players. One archer, that being Charlotte herself, who was still level 5. One level 7 tank, wearing iron armor that had carried so many holes it was as if its previous owner had died via firing squad. One level 6 healer, whose head dropped low before he yanked it back up, showing how the man was half-asleep. And, one level 4 lancer, a girl holding up a spear that was almost twice her own size. 

Completely unimpressive, unimportant players who were all just here to make a quick buck. Such was often the case with low-level dungeon clearing. 

Sneaking a quick glance at the portal, Charlotte took in its recommendations. 

{Forgotten Castle of Altus Mora}

{Mimimum Players Required: 4}

{Players: 3/8}

{Recommended Level: 5}

Charlotte, the extrovert that she was, raised a hand high, smiled wide, and approached them. 

"Hi! Sorry to keep you waiting, mes amours." Their eyes all fell on her as she arrived. If any of these people recognized her, they didn't show it. "Name's Charlotte. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" She asked, putting up a pair of peace signs and sticking her tongue out a little.

They looked at each other, blinked, and looked back at her.

"Sure," one of them said. 

[... Okay, not the most sociable people in the world, but, whatever. I just wanna get paid!] Her goal reemerged in her mind's eye. [Just you wait, Neve Stephens. I'll be donating to you like a drunk, neglected husband at a strip club soon enough!] 

---

{Neve}

[Hm? I just got chills. Is someone talking about me? Uh, nah. I'm probably just nervous.] 

The healer cut through the first floor and was standing at the portal leading to the second. Ahlakan, who stood next to Neve, stared up at this portal with almost the same amount of awe that she did at the last one. 

"... We just walk in and are taken to someplace else? That's incredible!" 

"It's something, alright." 

"Neve," Erin called out and the healer looked over at her. "Can we expect danger on the other side of this?" She asked, glancing over at Ahlakan subtly. 

"No. The place this takes us to will be safe. After that, though... Remember that knight we fought? The last fight of the temple. All of the enemies beyond that point are going to be as strong as it." 

"... Excuse me?" Erin asked, blinking twice as she stared at Neve in disbelief. "If that is the case, why in the world are we marching toward them like this? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" 

"Because I have to fight them to get to the guy I'm looking for. That's all," Neve shrugged. "Besides. I'm going to have to go through here at some point before I can actually leave. I have no way back to my own home until I do. So, yeah." 

[Honestly, leveling up any further could just make things harder unnecessarily. Even if I was to be, say, level 100, it would be pretty unlikely for me to be able to beat groups of level 100 enemies by myself. Or, with just Erin by my side... Hell, now that I think about it, I may have over-leveled for this. Damn. I honestly hadn't even considered that to be possible.] 

The looming dread of having to face dozens of enemies who were each as strong as that final boss from the Hall of the Luminous was suddenly and swiftly overpowered by the uncomfortable feeling of sweat pooling in her cleavage. So, Neve walked forward. 

Moving from empty, lonely plains to a desert under a dark, red sky, Neve returned to the Second Floor. 

The bodies were gone, but the tents and equipment the players had purchased before everything went wrong were all still here. 

Ahlakan, who had, of course, heard that stuff about Neve getting herself killed, looked scared as she appeared beside the human. The healer smiled back at her, though, as reassuringly as she could.

"Don't worry. Like I said, nothing to be afraid of here." 

Th nulin woman considered those words and then breathed in slowly. As she calmed down, Neve looked ahead at the crimson wasteland around her. 

Opening up her map, she looked and found the boss marked on the other end. 

[... I've already seen the type of enemies that could pop up here once. So, there was one thing that I can verify about what Tamira said just going off of what I saw. That being that even though all of these enemies are going to be around my level, the majority of them should still be simple and straightforward.]

Ahlakan and Erin walked around, having taken Neve's statement about there not being any enemies around to heart. They gawked at their surroundings, Neve guessed that Erin was wondering if perhaps they'd returned to Roha Vala while Ahlakan was probably wondering if they were indeed still in the same world as before. 

[If you have the stats to handle it, I assume there really shouldn't be much difference between, say, a level 20 zombie and a level 60 one. Only one way to find out.] 

"Hey," Neve called to Erin. "Let's head out. I want to see what this place will be like."

---

"Did we somehow end up back at my home?" Erin asked. 

"Heh, I knew you were thinking that." The two of them moved through the dirt path at the end of the camp. Neve nearly glanced back at Ahlakan, who was still there, but she tried to focus.

Simplistic enemies or not, things were going to be dangerous. 

[I should keep an eye out for any materials too. Ores or flowers and whatever else. If it turns out that Tamira lied and I get anything low-level I'm actually just going to kill her.] 

"Well, it is understandable, is it not?" Erin's eyes went up to the sky, a solemn expression gracing her face. "The Mirror of Life is directly over me. I can't say I've seen land like this before, but the sky is familiar."

"Mirror of life?" 

"Yes. Perhaps your kind sees it differently, but among my people, blood *is* life. Growing up, I was taught that the sky was painted that way by the Makers, a sign of the life that filled the world. A mirror of the world, showing its radiance. What is your sky like?" 

"Hm. Our sky is blue like it was before we came in here." 

"Does it signify anything?" 

"Not really, no. By the way," Neve told her, "there are enemies buried in the sand up ahead. Be careful." 

"Buried? What threat do they pose, then?" 

"Thing is, they're buried but they aren't dead. Once you get close enough, they reach up, grab you, and come out to fight."

"Like those enemies we saw rising out from their coffins?"

"Now you're getting it."

"... Maybe this isn't my world after all. I hope not, anyway."0

Soon after she said that, Erin stopped. She put a hand up and blocked Neve's path, stopping her as well. 

"What is it?" Neve asked though she could guess what this was about, given that they had been about to enter the spot on the map where Neve and the other players had been attacked. 

"It's too quiet here," Erin stated. "Maybe what you said has made me paranoid but this whole area is giving me a bad feeling." 

[No,] Neve thought, suppressing a smile. [Your instincts are just really good.] 

"The enemies I talked about are probably going to be here. They were very easy to beat when I last saw them. Aim for their heads and don't let them surround you." 

"I will do my best. Stay here. It's probably better if I walk up and bait them out." 

"Alright. Don't get yourself killed, though."

"That's not exactly a problem for me. It's you I have to worry about. Especially with how sometimes it feels like you're determined to die."

Slithering forward then, it took no time at all before a hand appeared, shooting up from the ground like something out of a horror movie.

What was actually terrifying though was that it was not alone. 

No, it brought with it a great many other limbs breaking through the dirt, all around Erin.

[... Hm. That could be a problem. Let's see what they're like, though.] 

pqdm.com