Chereads / Dungeon Core: Plague System / Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: First Blood

Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: First Blood

[Intruders detected, please defend your dungeon.]

[Failure to do so will result in loss and damage to the dungeon.]

[Success in defending the dungeon will result in reimbursement for all damages.]

Looking at the prompts, Hale couldn't help but be surprised. It seemed like someone had found his dungeon. The question is, were they players or NPCs?

Although it was rare for NPCs to go into dungeons it wasn't impossible.

He could only pray that they were players because NPCs had more variables compared to players.

Without wasting his time, he scanned the entirety of the dungeon. The dungeon was his body, everything that happened here, he could easily see.

Scanning through the gloomy swamp he found his targets.

A group of players.

How could he tell?

Different from NPCs he could see a player tag above their heads.

'Snow Flower, Boundless Plates, Heavy Stone, Hnnnn, ExINT, and Fae. Hmm... what an interesting group. Most of them I've never heard of, but there are a few that would become famous. Snow Flower, Boundless Plates, and Fae.'

'Snow Flower would become one of the most famous streamers for the game. This is pretty good for me, as I can use his popularity to advertise my dungeon. Boundless Plates and Fae would become top-tier players who would set records for the fastest clears in countless dungeons. What a good group, I'm very lucky.'

'Let's see how they perform.'

...

"Haha look at us, we're gonna become famous." Boundless Plates laughed arrogantly. He had already taken countless screenshots and was bragging about it on the forum.

"I hope you guys fail."

"Damn it, how did you guys even find a dungeon?"

A lot of people had flocked to his post, as the views continued to increase. Interactions were heavy, as countless players prayed on their downfall while expressing their envy.

Of course, Boundless Plates, as a keyboard warrior, would reply and mock them. The post was full of atmosphere. This was simply his character. 

Although he would become a top-tier player, he hadn't reached his true potential yet, so currently he was just a troll.

"It's just that this place is dark, we can barely see a few meters ahead of us," Heavy Stone casually commented.

They could barely make sense of their surroundings. All they saw were twisting trees that reached the sky, plants that were composed of gnarled branches littered with sharp thorns, and dark murky water. Not only that the visibility was so low, because of the lack of light.

There was no sun in Hale's dungeon.

Dungeons existed in their own space, some things that seemed illogical, were simply logical inside dungeons. With sunlight here, how else could this creepy atmosphere be made?

"It seems like we're on a small island. We have to be careful of any attacks, with the low visibility, it wouldn't be surprising for there to be any sneak attacks." 

"What do you think Snow Flower? You've been quiet recently."

Snow Flower usually talked a lot, not because he was the interactive type, but mostly because he had to talk and engage with the viewers. The only problem? How could he manage to talk with his viewers when he was busy being disgusted?

It even got worse because at least there was sunlight outside but inside this dungeon, the situation had gotten even worse.

So Snow Flower just nodded in agreement with a pale look in his eyes.

"Okay then, let's stick together. It would be a shame to throw this chance away. What if there was a special reward for being the first group to clear a dungeon?" Boundless Plates happily commentated, lacking any sense of danger.

Agreeing with him, the rest of the group decided to move together.

The grass that they walked on was soggy and wet. If they exerted too much power their feet would get trapped in the dirt.

As they edged closer to the strange plants, they got more tense. Although they weren't able to tell what the plants did, just from looks alone. It didn't look too good. Any plant with thorns was a sign of a bad omen.

Boundless Plates came the closest to the Widow's Fang. When he saw that nothing had happened, he let his guard down, but in that moment of carelessness. The branch struck at him.

He tried to roll away, but it barely scraped the skin of his leg.

'Few, just a scratch.' 

[You have taken 5 damage.]

[You have been inflicted with poison. You will lose 10 HP every 5 seconds, this status will last for 30 seconds.]

'WTF!'

'Just a scratch and I'm poisoned? MF what kind of dungeon is this?'

The good news was he that had 300 HP. Although he hadn't used any of his attribute points, his attributes had increased by small points with each level. He was level 4, and with each increase in level, he gained 50+ Maximum HP.

So his HP was now 285/300.

"Be careful, these plants are poisonous," Boundless Plates had lost his previous demeanor, now replaced with a solemn look.

"How bad is the poison?"

"It does 10 damage every 5 seconds, lasting for 30 seconds."

Hearing his words, the rest of the group sucked in a breath of cold air. This was bad news for them. None of them could currently remove or deal with poison. Antidotes were expensive and rare, and none of them were priests, considering that they weren't even level 5 yet.

"Brother Plates," Snow Flower flashed a charming smile.

"Would you mind being the tank? You're already poisoned, what's the harm of being poisoned even more? Maybe you'll unlock a unique skill that will give you poison resistance."

Hearing his words, Boundless Plates's face dropped. He thought that he would say a few kind words, but isn't he just asking him to be a meat shield?

He wanted to punch his handsome face in, but considering their situation. He only could sigh and agree. It was his carelessness that caused him to be poisoned anyway, as long as they clear the dungeon, everything will be fine.

"Fine."

With his forced agreement. The group continued to explore the island until they found a path without the weird-looking plants.

The path led to murky water, which hosted purple lily-like plants, whose roots reached the depth of the brown water.

Seeing the situation, Snow Flower gave an encouraging look, as he cheered for Boundless Plates to take the lead. Boundless Plates, seeing the situation dived into the water.

[Continued interaction with the murky water will poison you.]

Hearing the cold mechanical voice, Boundless Plates hurriedly paddled back to shore. But, unbeknownst to him, he was already prey to a monster that had been lurking beneath the water of the swamp.

Its body was scarily still as it watched the human reach closer and closer to the shore.

When it seemed that he was about to make it. It struck.

Bang!

The sound of an explosion boomed through the air. The water erupts around it. Its movement was fast and it struck viciously.

Boundless Plates was viciously attacked and dragged to the depths of the water by an alligator that had its jaws around his legs.

[You have been attacked by a Swamp Alligator.]

[Damage Taken: 100*1.5 (Sneak Attack) = 150]

[You have been inflicted with poison (10HP/5s). This status will last for 30 seconds and continuously refresh until you escape the poisoned water.]

Boundless Plates could only let out a terrified scream while cursing the cruelty of this dungeon. Before he was promptly dragged into the terrifying depth of the water.

The rest of the group could only watch in helplessness as he was dragged away. 5 seconds later they received a prompt.

[Your party member 'Boundless Plates' has been killed.]

Their eyes twitching, they now wondered if they had been too hasty and had just sent themselves to death, this dungeon was too hard! Not only that, they couldn't leave until they all either wiped or they cleared it.

Cursing they all hurriedly ran in a different direction. They had decided it was better to endure the thorny branches than to be prey to a terrifying alligator.

...

[Player eliminated, you have received '50 Dungeon Points'.]

Watching how Boundless Plates died. Hale could only thank him for his selfless sacrifices and generosity. With his death, he finally earned Dungeon Points.

He now hoped the other would swiftly follow their brother to death.