Leave a comment

Going back a little in time.

“Aaaaagh!”

A sudden scream pierced the air, followed by the sight of a man – no, a player – tumbling down a narrow passage like a wheel. With a thump, he careened out of a hole and plummeted into a swamp, creating a colossal splash. Concurrently, various life forms in the vicinity opened their bloodshot eyes in unison and fixed their gaze upon the lake, twisting their bodies and closing in on the hapless player.

“Oof! I nearly drowned!” exclaimed the man as he surfaced instantly and expelled a mouthful of swamp water, then adjusted his nonexistent gold-rimmed glasses. It was none other than S.K.Y., who had been rolling around in an attempt to evade a pursuing boar and had ended up here.

“If it wasn’t for this lake, I would have fallen to my death from such a height,” S.K.Y. mused as he gazed up at the hole above him, which was at least fifteen meters off the ground. “Where am I?” Although he was relieved to be unharmed, he couldn’t shake off his unease until he had grasped the situation. Surveying his surroundings, he observed that the dark stone walls were encrusted with glowing moss, while an ancient and sturdy staircase led up to a platform situated above the swamp. There appeared to be something of interest up there.

“These stairs and platform appear to be man-made, possibly a sacrificial altar from ancient times,” S.K.Y. speculated, his eyes gleaming with intelligence. “The maze’s creators likely stored treasures on it!” The notion of discovering an Easter egg in the game filled him with excitement. With that in mind, S.K.Y. remained oblivious to the unusual movements in the water below.

“Aha, fortune favors the bold. I must be a very lucky man!” S.K.Y. exclaimed with elation, even though he had not yet discovered the elusive Easter egg and had lost his composure. He failed to consider the possibility of lurking danger in this place, such as the one that presented itself with a sudden hiss. Hundreds of snakes with pitch-black skin had encircled him and were now hissing menacingly.

“Goodness gracious!” S.K.Y. cried out in horror, feeling his heart almost leap out of his chest at the sight of the menacing snakes. As soon as he shouted, the snakes launched their attack, revealing their sharp fangs and lunging towards him.

“Auuuuugh!” S.K.Y. cried out in panic, but he managed to recall his training and draw his sword, swinging it wildly around him. Miraculously, his random attacks managed to strike the black snakes, slicing them into pieces.

‘These snakes are so weak! I can take them all down!’ S.K.Y. thought to himself triumphantly as he finally took notice of the black snakes’ low levels, all of them cannon fodder below Level five. He quickly regained his composure and became a god of war, slicing through the snakes as if they were mere vegetables.

After a few minutes of intense fighting, S.K.Y. finally emerged victorious. “Huff… Huff… It’s finally over,” he panted, looking at the floating corpses of the snakes. The swamp water was now completely murky and disturbed.

Unbeknownst to him, as he calmed down, countless red lines surrounded his lower torso within the murky water, melding into him unnoticed. “Strange. I killed so many snakes, but I’m not tired at all. In fact, I feel more and more energetic,” S.K.Y. pondered. Killing low-level monsters like the snakes shouldn’t have taken much effort, but it would be exhausting to kill so many. Perplexed, S.K.Y. decided to give up on pondering and focus on reaching the shore first.

The water swirled around him as he swiftly reached the shore.

As he looked down, he noticed that the bricks on the ground were surprisingly well-preserved, as if time had no effect on them.

‘Monsters won’t pop out suddenly, right?’

He scanned his surroundings and remained cautious. As they say, once bitten twice shy, S.K.Y. was truly traumatized by his previous encounter. If those black snakes had a higher level, he would have surely been killed.

The area around him was silent. After waiting in place for some time and hearing nothing, he carefully proceeded forward and slowly climbed the stone stairs. Each step he took brought more relief, and he continued his ascent cautiously.

After ten minutes of carefully climbing the stone stairs, S.K.Y. finally reached the top and was faced with a structure that resembled an altar. Something appeared to be enshrined inside of it.

‘As expected, there is a treasure!’

Though he was unable to see it clearly from his distance, the object exuded an aura so powerful that it sent shivers down his spine.

‘Let’s hope there’s no traps…’ At this point, with the treasure ahead of him, he would never stop. ‘Who cares about any traps. Fortune favors the bold!’

He proceeded even more cautiously, and as he approached the altar, he noticed that dozens of stone soldier statues were concealed by the stone walls around him. If it weren’t for their stone composition, he would have mistaken them for living humans.

‘Be careful, be careful!’

Taking a deep breath, he cautiously approached the altar and inspected the object that was being enshrined in it. As he drew closer, he could see that it was a beautiful black crown. With trembling hands, he reached out and slowly extended his hand towards it.

‘I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine!’

He was overcome with nervousness, knowing that most problems arose at the very last step of any plan. Slowly, he extended his hand towards the crown, which was placed atop the altar. The sound of a tap echoed in the silence as his hand made contact with the black crown.

Being cautious of the thorns, he tried to handle it gently, but the crown pierced through his armored gauntlet and pricked his fingers. Blood started to drip from his wound onto the crown.

Strangely, the crown seemed to absorb the droplet of blood, leaving him bewildered.

Immediately after, information appeared in front of his eyes.

Headgear: Abyss Crown　
Level: Unknown
Level Restriction: None
Attribute: Dark
Durability: ???

Strength +99
Intelligence +99
Agility +99
Endurance +99

Special Effect 1: ???
Special Effect 2: ???
Special Effect 3: ???
Special Effect 4: ???
Special Effect 5: ???

Description: This is a mysterious crown that was sealed here by the founding Emperor of the Jade Empire. It seems to serve a special purpose. If one could awaken it, they would attain unimaginable power. And a great opportunity.

“Jackpot!” S.K.Y.’s excitement grew as he read the item description. It was clear that this was no ordinary piece of equipment. If he could awaken its power, it had the potential to become a powerful artifact.

Rumble!

Just as he was about to take [Abyss Crown] with him, the ground beneath him began to shake violently. Suddenly, the stone soldiers’ eyes began to emit a dark red light and they appeared to come to life, stepping off the stone walls and moving towards him.

“F̲u̲c̲k̲, there is really a trap!”

S.K.Y. hastily stowed the [Abyss Crown] in his backpack and turned to flee as dozens of stone soldiers over Level 50 charged towards him, their eyes glowing with dark red light. But before he could escape, a black stone spear suddenly struck him, piercing through his body and puncturing his heart. As excruciating pain coursed through his body, S.K.Y. once again tasted the bitter embrace of death.

On the other side, Yaeger and her team were in the process of clearing the eighth floor. It wouldn’t take them long to succeed. Meanwhile, an ice-blue energy entity above them opened its eyes wide when S.K.Y. was killed.

“%&%……%*(#”

It muttered something incomprehensible, but no one in the area was able to hear it.