Chereads / SSS-class ranker returns / Chapter 15 - Plague Curse (3)

Chapter 15 - Plague Curse (3)

"crazy."

Only then did it come to mind, the fatal bug in the sewer quest that had occurred in the early days.

This bug, also known as the 'Plague Extermination Incident', was a bug in which the 'plague' that spreads from the jewel of the plague was contagious to those who did not hold the jewel.

"Is it a problem that you came too early?"

The reason why this bug was known late at the time was that it was known only after a long time had passed, and it was only known after the plague 10 series had already been activated or the sewer dungeon had been completely cleared.

Even then, the jewel of the plague came out every time the sewer dungeon was cleared. However, by the time the user who obtained the Plague Gem came to Steroian, the number of visitors to the wizard guild had already decreased, and people did not know the existence of this bug at first.

However, now that Rokan has penetrated the place where he was about to explode as a person, it was natural that a wide-scale contagion had occurred.

"At least, death would stop the contagion."

Lorkhan was quite familiar with this curse. It was a very famous event, and some scholars published papers such as "The Outbreak of an Epidemic in the Virtual World" and "Examples of Actual Spreading Paths of an Epidemic" based on this incident, which became an issue.

It was only natural that the city was turned upside down as the contagious curse that continuously gnaws at life without being cured by potions or user skills until a special cure was drunk.

"NPCs… … I must avoid it."

At least the users did die, but merchants and guild-related NPCs did not die because they had the 'immortality' setting for convenience, and powerful NPCs of knight-level or higher also became sick but did not die, becoming a medium that continuously carried the plague.

By this point, even those who barely survived had no choice but to abandon the city and leave. Even if you barely survive and enter the village, it is meaningless because you cannot contact NPCs.

In the end, The Road's rookie system 'Condor' stepped forward to separate the space and eliminate all plague curses at once to eliminate the problem, but an emergency patch had to be carried out, such as removing the immortality effect of merchant NPCs, and users There was an uproar.

"That user was not punished, probably"

Despite such a firm response, the reason why controversy remained and was talked about was because there was no punishment for users who abused the bug in the first place. It is true that a bug occurred, but it was just a setting error, and there was no personal fault or malicious intent.

For similar reasons, damage compensation or recovery for users who died was not carried out. That this is also part of the progression of the game.

Thanks to that, it was the sly users who were like a pack of wild beasts. It intentionally infects the plague, recovers health, and chases after it, and when it dies, it bounces with the dropped item.

However, the items and experience were not restored to the end.

"That means… … It must be said that there is no harm in eating it."

In front of Lokhan's eyes, recalling old memories, the appearance of items floating above dozens of corpses caught his eye.

None were alive. So, if you don't contact the wizard guild NPC, you won't get the plague again, and you won't know who took the item.

When he went down to the first floor, fearing that other users would be annoying, Rokhan, who even thought about jumping out of the window, hurriedly went downstairs and grabbed the items.

Most of the items were for beginners, and even those items were exclusively for wizards, but there were quite a lot of them, so it seemed like it would make a lot of money if sold.

* * *

As soon as I packed all the things I needed to take care of, there was a commotion outside. It seemed that some of the users who were cursed with the plague had gone out.

"Aaaagh!"

"How do you do this!"

"Priests! There is no priest class, please purify... … !"

'… … There's no need to hang out there.'

After escaping from some users screaming like zombies and making a fuss, it became quiet. It seemed that the curse had not spread far yet.

Rokan immediately went around the weapon shop and armor shop and sold the stolen items. There was no 'auction hall' in Cton, and it was not a grandiose item to be put up for auction, so it was disposed of at random in the store.

Item owners would shed bloody tears if they found out, but it didn't matter. Because that's their case.

However, at least one of them was kept and not sold.

[Cowardly Wizard's Ring][Magic]

An escape ring made by a cowardly wizard.

-If you shout 'Escape' once a day, you move back 3 meters.

- Charged State: 1/1

- Waiting time to recharge: 0:00

It was a ring with survival skills. The option was only one skill, and the grade was only magic, but there were not many items with survival skills, so there were quite a few people who wore it even after leveling up quite a bit.

"Oh, I mean I've already got this, but it's worth it since you won't know its value yet."

If he had been deprived of this, he would have felt sick to his stomach, but the lost wizard would only get as hot as the fact that he had lost a magic grade item. Because the control is still weak, you probably don't even know how to use it properly.

But he wasn't. For Rokhan, having one survival period lacking in the melee class meant that he had an extra life.

"Thank you for writing it well."

Lokhan thanked the unknown opponent and moved again.

"Let's see, I told you to spend the free money"

Shopping is next. With the money accumulated thanks to the unexpected windfall, Lokhan happily shopped for items.

I bought some fabric, stocked up on bandages, filled up with antidote, potions, and food, and also bought a throwing hatchet and some armor that I didn't want to buy yet.

However, in the case of armor, we focused on options rather than defense. Even if the defense power is terrible, I bought the equipment with additional strength, agility, stamina, and tenacity stats first. As a result, I didn't spend much money.

"At this level, I'll probably use it up to level 50."

In terms of defense, it would have to be changed every time the level went up, but in the case of armor with options, it was quite usable up to level 50.

Anyway, things with good defense and options were expensive and difficult to obtain. It wasn't that he raised his abilities by several tens.

'now… … Let's bounce.'

After completing his preparations, Rokhan hurriedly left the city.

It was because even he could not guess how far the curse of the plague would spread this time.

At least, I wasn't going to go back until Condor noticed the seriousness and proceeded with an emergency patch.

"In three days… … That's fine."

Three days later, we decided to meet up with Steroian again. Exquisitely, three days was a time that fit perfectly with his plan.

* * *

"Let's see. Cemetery... … It was east."

The place Rokan found was a cemetery located in the eastern part of town.

It's a strange thing. The cemetery was literally just a graveyard, and it was an area where it had already been confirmed that there was nothing there.

There were countless people who came and snooped around to see if there were any undead monsters to hunt, but it was concluded online that no one had been rescued and it was just a background.

'It's just innocent people.'

But Rokan thought differently. No, it was information, not thought.

The information he knew was originally going to be released a month or two later than now, so it was natural that others did not know.

"found."

As soon as Lokhan entered the cemetery, what he was looking for was someone else's prosthetic leg.

[Grave Keeper's Prosthetic Leg] [Normal]

A prosthetic leg lost by a footless gravekeeper. I think you will like it if you bring it.

A gravekeeper's prosthetic leg guarding a cemetery. If you try to find it and bring it back, you will only get yelled at and kicked out, let alone rewarded, so now it is a japtem that no one pays attention to, but Lokhan smiled and picked it up. And he found a certain grave instead of a gravekeeper.

"Here."

Click. Drurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

What he was looking for was a tombstone with a small groove.

When the gravekeeper's prosthetic leg was inserted into the groove, an accident occurred. The tomb was opened and a staircase was created.

[You have found the secret dungeon 'Cemetery Under the Moon'.]

[Awesome achievement! I applaud your insight as the first to discover the hidden secret dungeon.]

[The title 'Explorer' has been acquired.]

[You are the first recipient of this title.]

[First] [Explorer] [Rare]

You have the gift of a seeker who has unlocked hidden secrets with your keen senses and unique insight.

[Retention effect]

- Increased visual acuity.

-[Night vision] effect to correct vision even at night.

-Finding a hidden device with a low probability.

In addition, he even won a rare title.

Eyesight correction and night vision were good, but the hidden device detection probability option was also honey. If there is a hidden device nearby, it's a low probability, but the light will twinkle to let you know.

This means that even if Lokhan doesn't know about it, he can find a hidden device or location.

"Good."

Satisfied with options that are simple but quite helpful in the long run, Rokhan happily entered the dungeon.

[You have entered the secret dungeon 'Cemetery Under the Moon'.]

Koo Goo Goo!

At the same time as I entered, I heard something grandiose from the direction I entered.

The road they came from has not disappeared, but the road from outside is closed. Because secret dungeons allow only one person or party to enter.

Of course, you can find a prosthetic leg that must have appeared somewhere in the cemetery again and open the door to enter, but until then, no one would have known that there was a dungeon here. It wasn't a secret dungeon for nothing.

[Experience gained for 3 days is increased by 30% as the first entry bonus.]

[The first entry bonus increases the drop rate by 30% for 3 days.]

This was followed by the privilege of first admission.

First entry bonus for three days.

During the three days of free time given to him, Rokhan intended to suck honey properly here.

"Then, shall we go wash honey?"

There was only darkness, not knowing what was inside, but Rokhan didn't care and strode out. He didn't even need time to adjust to the deep darkness because of his night vision, but he knew the torch would soon light up.

Roaring!

After walking a little further, a torch on the wall magically ignited and a passage appeared.

It was a road made by digging a tunnel, and it was damp, so it felt like a cave, but it didn't matter to him at all. It was just that the atmosphere seemed like a ghost would pop out at any moment, but it didn't mean that my abilities were being cut. The only reason why ghosts were scary to Rokan was that they couldn't be cut.

"Oh, it's not a ghost, but it's similar."

dalgrak dalgrak!

As if the nobleman couldn't do it, soon the protagonists of the dungeon appeared.

[Old Grave Skeleton][Lv 25]

It was an undead called a skeleton or a skeleton.

"What are undead people who can't even regenerate!"

Even so, the materials were poor and they were made for a long time, so they were people who couldn't use their strength properly. There was no regenerative ability, a unique ability of the undead, and the rusted weapon was unmatched.

Quick!

Rokhan rushed in like crazy, and one blow broke the guy's skull.

The skull was split in two with a dull sensation. This was also one of the reasons Rokhan visited this place. I can't be an opponent, but the taste is worth using.

"Uracha!"

Lorkhan caught the leg of an old tomb skeleton that charged one after another and swung the orcish battle ax sideways. Thanks to the ignorant muscle strength, the foot and leg cracked or the bone was broken.

Pogak Pogak Pogak!

Enjoying the pleasant sensation of his hand, Rokhan pulverized the bones of an old tomb skeleton.

There were five opponents, but it was a meaningless number to Rokhan.

[You have leveled up.]

As soon as you catch five, five more. As soon as I smashed them without showing any signs of exhaustion, the effect of leveling up appeared. Even if the drop items are terrible, the undead's characteristic is that they give more experience than other races.

On top of that, when the first bonus, the effect of the Noooohyeokga title, and the significant level difference were added, a level that others could only raise after hours of hard work rose in just one minute.

"This is fine."

Rokan's level was now 21.

Climbing this level wasn't easy even with a party, so if ordinary people saw it, it would have been frightening. But to Rokhan, all of this was as natural as breathing.

Rather, as if Rokhan warmed up, he gradually increased his speed and began to advance deeper into the dungeon.

And in just 10 minutes, I had cleared a third of the dungeon.