As soon as Jisha's foot hit the darkened grass, a wave of discomfort assuaged her body.
*>System message: New biome discovered - Traveling Corrupted Land.*
*>You are the first player to discover this biome! Dispensing rewards:*
*>+1 Silverium*
*Oh?*
1 Silverium had been awarded to her coin pouch for discovering this biome. For the current Fae Sol, this was a ludicrous amount of money.
To put this in context, 100 Copper could be exchanged for 1 Bronzium, and 100 Bronzium could be exchanged for 1 Silverium. She essentially had gained 10,000 Copper.
*Well, I guess it makes sense.*
Synergy incentivized exploration, and the system would give exploration-related rewards quite often.
Traveling Corrupted Land was not a common biome, and it was extremely unlikely for it to show up where it did. Hence, the reward was fair. In fact, it might have even been lacking.
*I forgot about biome discovery rewards. New biomes were so rare in the end game...*
Jisha was going to take everything she could get in this game, including more discovery rewards... and the Boss of this Corrupted Land.
*I wonder where it could be...*
At the center of every Traveling Corrupted Land, there would be a boss monster that was the source of the corrupting miasma. If she could find and defeat it, the system would undoubtedly reward her handsomely.
Jisha continued running deeper and deeper into the Corrupted Land.
-1
*Looks like it's started.*
After entering this biome, Fae Sol was exposed to miasma that was dangerous to normal players. Unlike poison gas, which could only be ingested by breathing, miasma could negatively impact a body just by coming into contact with it.
*Doesn't look like this one's too dangerous, though.*
She had only lost 1 HP after a couple of minutes, so it was clear that this was a low-level Corrupted Land.
*Gotta hurry up, though.*
No matter how slow the HP corrosion was, it was still faster than her natural regeneration. She couldn't idle.
-1
After several more minutes of running, Jisha encountered her first mob in this land.
*>Name: Corrupted Air*
*>Level: 5*
It was a massive purple gas cloud that hung in the air, blocking her path forward.
*The first level 5 mob I encounter is not currently killable. That's fun.*
Though it was called Corrupted Air, in reality, this cloud comprised thousands of small organisms that could float. These organisms thrived on the miasma of the area, making them dangerous to the touch. Jisha would need a stronger area-of-effect attack to be able to wipe them out; it was impossible to do significant damage with pellets slightly smaller than her palm.
Whether she liked it or not, Jisha would have to detour around them.
-1
As she got closer and closer to the center of the Corrupted Land, the grass turned a more vivid shade of purple. She had encountered a decent number of monsters so far, but they were all slow.
*I could have killed them, but I might need all of my ammo for the Boss.*
She had a small idea as to how strong this Boss would be after seeing the levels of the various mobs in the biome. After all, the Boss was the source of the corruption. The difficulty of the surrounding Corrupted Land was directly proportional to the strength of the Boss.
It was still better to save her ammo. The return on investment was much higher for slaying a higher difficulty creature.
-1
The grass was now almost a translucent purple, and the rate at which she took ambient damage was increasing.
-1
Finally, in the distance, through the wilted trees and dead leaves, Jisha caught a glimpse of the Biome Boss.
*>Name: Corrupted Tamaskan Devil*
*>Level: 7*
*Yep, it's strong alright.*
If it was an ordinary level 7 monster, Jisha would have been able to kill it with ease. However, this was not a level 7 common mob, but a level 7 Biome Boss. Despite being described by the same number, the two were not on the same playing field.
*It's also unfortunately hideous.*
If a new player were to see this, they would experience quite the shock. This dog-like creature was not at all like the overly-cutesy mobs Jisha had seen so far. First of all, it was much bigger than an ordinary dog. Even while standing on all fours, it was a bit taller than the current Fae Sol.
It was limping, its fur was falling off, and it was covered in bald spots. Its eyes also appeared cloudy and almost bloodshot. Some of its mouth was torn off, too, exposing its sharp teeth for the world to see.
*It was probably cute in the past. That sucks.*
In the past, this monster could have been an ordinary Tamaskan dog, and they were pretty adorable. It was a different story now. All Jisha had to do now was put it out of its misery... also known as collecting its loot.
*I'm so kind... I'll hold on to your valuables for safekeeping!*