Chapter 62: The Mystery Hidden in the Inscription

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: The Mystery Hidden in the Inscription

"Let’s clear the Ruins City storyline first." Yu Zhun looked at Ji Xiaoyu, who was eagerly waving her Magic Staff beside him. "Once we clear it, we’ll get the token to leave the Dungeon. That way, even if we run into trouble later on, we can exit the Dungeon in time."

"I don’t want to exit!" Ji Xiaoyu still remembered the guilds outside watching the spectacle. "If we don’t clear it, they’ll definitely laugh at us."

"Don’t worry, we’ll clear it," Yu Zhun said with a smile. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

He had barely taken a single step when a loud RUSTLE quickly emerged from the nearby ruins, as if something were stirring. The next moment, a humanoid monster, standing a full three meters tall and covered entirely in dark green scales, shoved aside a collapsed stone wall.

As the sunlight hit it, wisps of white mist began to rise from the monster’s body, as if it were being corroded. Red numbers constantly popped up above its head, indicating it was losing health almost every second. Yet, when it looked at Yu Zhun and Ji Xiaoyu, its eyes filled with greed and bloodlust, and it charged wildly at them without hesitation.

[Dragon Slave (Lv15)]

[Attributes:

Health: 25,000

Mana: 600

Physical Attack: 1,200

Magic Attack: 0

Physical Defense: 400

Magic Defense: 400]

"Not bad. Its stats are higher than those of a Blood Corpse."

Just as Yu Zhun was earnestly evaluating and comparing the two Dungeons of the same level, an ice cone shot straight out from behind him, striking the charging Dragon Slave.

[Health -32,218]

The Dragon Slave died instantly. Looking at the excited rich girl behind him, the corners of Yu Zhun’s mouth twitched slightly. He felt that clearing out small mobs was a job that no longer required him to lift a finger.

Yu Zhun’s gaze returned to the fallen Dragon Slave. Under the sunlight, the dead creature rapidly vaporized. In just a few seconds, all that remained in its place was a hard, black scale. He picked up the scale, and the two continued moving forward.

The first phase of the Under the Buried Dragon storyline was exceptionally simple. This was because the emerging Dragon Slaves were not only vulnerable to player attacks, but they would also constantly lose health as long as they were exposed to sunlight. Every monster and boss in Under the Dragon Burial City was afraid of light. Players, on the other hand, were completely unaffected by environmental factors in this Dungeon, unlike in Bloody City, which required a speedrun.

In the first storyline, Ruins City, there were a total of thirty-six Dragon Slaves. Every time a Dragon Slave died, it would drop one Dragon Scale. By collecting all thirty-six Dragon Scales, players could synthesize the token to leave the Dungeon, the Dragon’s Emblem. Because the Dragon Slaves feared light, weaker players only needed to stall for time to successfully obtain the Dragon Scales.

However, this environmental buff only existed in the first storyline.

Using the same method to kill the remaining thirty-five Dragon Slaves, Yu Zhun gathered all the Dragon Scales together. A flash of light flickered, leaving only a dragon-engraved badge in his hand.

"We’ve got the token." Ji Xiaoyu revealed a joyful expression. "Shall we proceed directly to the second storyline, Life and Death Corridor, now?"

"No rush." Yu Zhun looked around and quickly locked his eyes onto a tunnel entrance not far away. That was the starting point of the second storyline, Life and Death Corridor. However, that wasn’t his goal. His target was the stone tablet standing right next to the tunnel entrance.

Striding over to the stone tablet, Yu Zhun’s gaze swept over the inscription.

[City Lord Zhanhar rallied everyone in the Dragon Burial City and finally slew the Evil Dragon that had committed countless atrocities.]

[However, the Evil Dragon’s strength far exceeded everyone’s imagination.]

[Under the Evil Dragon’s dying counterattack, the Dragon Burial City was reduced to ruins. Under its dying Curse, fewer than one in ten residents of the Dragon Burial City survived. The vast majority turned into mindless, light-fearing Dragon Slaves.]

[Such a Curse is truly malicious to the extreme for us who believe in the God of Light.]

[As the Dragon Slayer, the great City Lord Zhanhar suffered a Curse far worse than anyone else. But the resilience bestowed upon him by the God of Light allowed him to maintain his sanity. Taking the light-fearing Dragon Slaves, he built an Underground City beneath the Dragon Burial City, slumbering in eternal darkness where light can never reach.]

[This is the only path leading to the Underground City, but unless necessary, please do not disturb the slumber of the City Lord and the Dragon Slaves.]

"Just as I thought." After carefully reading the inscription, a look of certainty appeared in Yu Zhun’s eyes.

"The guides should have mentioned the inscription, right?" Ji Xiaoyu had also done her homework in advance. Hearing this, she looked over curiously. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes," Yu Zhun nodded. "Unlike Bloody City, the backstory here wasn’t pieced together by guide makers. It’s explicitly carved on the stone tablet, so let’s assume it’s true for now. Since the backstory uses descriptive phrases like ’fewer than one in ten survived’ and ’the vast majority,’ doesn’t that imply there’s actually a small minority of residents who didn’t turn into Dragon Slaves?"

"Huh?" Ji Xiaoyu blinked. She had never considered this question. "The Dragon Slaves are brutal and bloodthirsty. Even if there were residents who didn’t turn into Dragon Slaves, shouldn’t they have been wiped out by them?"

"Logically, yes," Yu Zhun nodded. "And that brings me to my second question. Why are there Dragon Slaves in Ruins City? The less rational a creature is, the more it acts on instinct. Given the Dragon Slaves’ fear of light, they should prefer to stay in the lightless Underground City rather than coming up to the surface ruins, cowering under stone walls during the day and only coming out at night."

"...To increase the difficulty for us players?" Ji Xiaoyu blinked again. This was her first time tackling a new Dungeon with Yu Zhun, and his thought process left her deeply shocked. Just by looking at an inscription, he could actually deduce this much?

"To everything in the Dungeon, players are intruders. So, the Dragon Slaves couldn’t possibly exist in the ruins in advance because of us," Yu Zhun shook his head. "They were ordered to do so by someone stronger. If I’m not mistaken, it should be City Lord Zhanhar. After all, he’s the only one who maintained his sanity and has enough strength to issue commands. And for him to make such an unreasonable demand..."

"It’s to look for something or someone?" Ji Xiaoyu finally kept up with Yu Zhun’s train of thought, her eyes widening in realization. Before this, she hadn’t found any of it strange. But right now, after listening to Yu Zhun’s thoughts, she suddenly felt that his deduction made perfect sense. At this moment, she couldn’t help but recall her grandfather’s words, telling her to watch and learn more after entering the Dungeon with Yu Zhun.

"Let’s assume they are looking for living people—that is, the residents of the Dragon Burial City who weren’t turned into Dragon Slaves." Yu Zhun wore a thoughtful expression. "So, where would these residents be?"

"Well..." Ji Xiaoyu’s gaze swept over the stone tablet, trying to find clues from the original inscription. Soon, her eyes narrowed slightly. "Could it be... related to the God of Light?"