LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 1
[Level: 44]
Race: Death Knight
Constant Traits: [Advanced Swordsmanship], [Natural Healing]
Used Traits: [Enhancement Arts], [Evolution Arts]
Status…
“This is real.”
A status window clearly appeared in front of me.
After denying reality for two hours, I finally accepted it.
A game possession. Something so unreal that I’d only seen in webtoons or web novels was happening to me.
“Sigh.”
A breath laced with coldness escaped. Not the breath of the living but that of the dead. It reminded me again of the reality that I had become a Death Knight.
Even my reflection in the clear spring water looked absurdly grotesque.
Instead of a face, all I saw was a skull reminiscent of a medieval plague doctor’s crow mask. On top of it were antlers that looked like deer antlers, and dull white hair that lacked color and vitality hung down.
My body was hidden under black iron armor, but it was probably all bones. Just as I remembered.
Of all games to possess, it had to be “72 Dungeons,” and to make matters worse, it was on Undead difficulty!
Disregarding my pathetic situation, now what?
What can I do? For now, I just need to survive.
These days, it’s all about dungeon conquering and monster hunting. The moment a human spots me, I’m destined to be chased by a hunting party.
Isn’t the reason for the extreme Undead difficulty the human factions in the first place?
“Well, at least having a status window is a blessing.”
The basic stats I checked through the status window were decent.
But does that mean I’m overpowered? Not at all.
I’m just a Death Knight, an advanced Undead.
The only difference is the used traits, which are Enhancement Arts and Evolution Arts.
In fact, contrary to being a Death Knight, this character’s original class was “Enhancement Mage.”
The reason I randomly turned into an Undead was due to the Easter egg.
Anyway, an Enhancement Mage fights by enhancing weapons or evolving summoned monsters—correction, making them fight.
So what about now? All enhanced weapons have disappeared, and the same goes for summoned monsters.
The used traits have remained intact though.
“Yeah. Better than nothing, I guess.”
At least it hasn’t been reset.
Evolution Arts don’t help me right now.
I can’t apply them to myself, only to a summoned monster.
Since I don’t have a high-tier Lich or even a baby Skeleton summoned monster, it’s about as useful as a rock.
Compared to that, Enhancement Arts? Every piece of equipment a Death Knight starts with is A-grade. If I enhance them well, I might just become an equipment-fueled overpowered Death Knight.
Creeeak, creeeak.
Pulling out the greatsword from the rusted sheath strapped to my back was a struggle. It felt like nails scraping on a chalkboard, sending shivers down my fingers.
Finally managing to pull out the greatsword and looking at it, a status window notification appeared.
[Black Knight’s Black Iron Greatsword(A)]
[Durability: 90]
[Enhancement Probability: 10%]
[Warning! If the enhancement fails, it will automatically be destroyed!]
[If enhancement fails, the cooldown will reset.]
[Would you like to enhance the Death Knight’s Black Iron Greatsword?]
[YES/NO]
“Destroy it, huh?”
Did I misread that? There wasn’t such a setting originally, right?
In the game, even if you failed, you just had to wait an hour before retrying, and kept rolling until it succeeded.
Is this reality really slapping me with such a lousy penalty?
…No way, could there be more?
[Death Knight’s Black Iron Armor (A)]
[Enhancement Probability: 4%]
[Warning! If the enhancement fails, it will automatically be destroyed!]
[Death Knight’s Black Iron Gauntlet (A)]
[Enhancement Probability: 8%]
[Warning! If the enhancement fails, it will automatically be destroyed!]
[Death Knight’s Black Iron Helmet (A)]
[Enhancement Probability: 6%]
[Warning! If the enhancement fails, it will automatically be destroyed!]
My hopes, which I thought wouldn’t go down like this, flickered out like a dying ember.
No, don’t crumble here.
If I think there were no inherent traits from the beginning, it eases my mind.
Positively. Positive mindset.
Who am I? A Death Knight that barely ever dies.
Not needing to eat, sleep, or even take a dump? This is totally a lucky break!
I’m already breezing through survival without lifting a finger.
The crucial part was finding a way to hide my body without being detected by humans.
The forest I’m in looks blatantly dangerous. I can spot traps sporadically set by humans, and there are plenty of felled trees.
It’s practically advertising, “Hey, there’s a human village nearby!”
Wandering around in broad daylight would be as good as signing my own death warrant.
Moreover, this place has a spring.
Where there’s water, wild beasts gather, and hunters patrol around to catch those beasts. Setting traps nearby is probably for that reason too.
Exaggerating a bit, they might have seen me through the brush. Let’s pray that never happened.
‘I shouldn’t move recklessly right now.’
During the day, villagers might wander into the forest, while the nighttime forest is perilous for humans.
If I want to avoid humans, the dark night would be the perfect time. Above all, undead take damage when exposed to sunlight for extended periods.
For a Death Knight like me, night will become a splendid cloak.
If I only had a stealth ability among my traits, but sadly I’m a spellcaster.
Is there a good hiding spot until night falls?
In a forest with sparse foliage, there should be plenty of places to conceal myself.
Let’s search for a spot where undead thrive, somewhere shaded from the sun.
No kindness? How about digging a hole and burying myself alive?
“Hmm?”
Just then, I spotted a hole obscured by vines and a large rock.
Thanks to the vines, it was almost unnoticeable from a distance, like a hidden cave.
“Perfect.”
It already had natural cover, so there was no reason to refuse.
*
“Hey, newbie. This is your first dungeon exploration, huh?”
“Y-yeah? Were we heading to a dungeon?”
“Explorers treat dungeons like a stroll in the park. Why are you getting scared? Come on, newbie, puff out your chest!”
Thud! Thud!
With a thundering slap on the back, Henry almost toppled over.
The senior explorers laughed heartily at his reaction.
He laughed foolishly.
“Ha… Seriously… why does that guy look so much like a girl?”
“If he was born a girl, he would have been popular. Even now, he’s got plenty of fans among those weird guys, Henry.”
“Haha…”
Henry awkwardly scratched his cheek and laughed along.
The Wemad Ivory Exploration Team. Not particularly famous, just one among the many exploration teams scattered across the region.
Only a handful of them made a living from exploration, while most were just loafers hoping to strike it rich by finding hidden treasures.
Despite their mindsets, experience couldn’t be ignored.
Except for the rookie Henry, the team members had been living as explorers for over a year, and their captain had decades of experience as a seasoned adventurer.
“Isn’t that it, Captain? The place those villagers mentioned.”
“Looks like it.”
“Holy cow, if you don’t look closely, you wouldn’t even know. But it doesn’t look like ruins at all.”
“Better than just standing still.”
“That’s true.”
Climbing to the middle of the mountain behind the village, they found a cave hidden under vines and rocks.
Just looking at the entrance was creepy and gloomy, but to the exploration team, it felt as homey as their own house.
As they entered, the captain led the way, and the team followed without hesitation.
‘Are we really going in there?’
Only Henry stood frozen.
He had only heard rumors that ancient ruins were in such eerie places.
But there was a big difference between hearing about something and seeing it.
Would anyone boldly step into such a terrifying cave? It looked just like a dungeon!
While he had wanted to strike it rich like the others, Henry realized this time, unlike before, that this job couldn’t be done with a reckless mindset.
“What are you doing there? Rookie? Hey, Rookie! Henry!!!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Damn it. There’s a limit to how panicky a rookie can be. Get it together.”
“I’m sorry, senpai!”
His late footsteps weren’t exactly light.
As the exploration team entered the cave, the leading member lit a fire with some oily firewood.
As visibility improved, there was nothing particularly shocking. Henry, who had been tense, let out a sigh of relief.
“Why? Were you scared?”
“Uh, yeah. A little.”
“A little my ass. Your face is as white as a sheet. I get it, though. The first time you step in here, it feels less like ruins and more like a dungeon, right?”
“How did you know?”
“It’s the same for everyone. We’re all just people.”
The low ceiling of the cave echoed their voices.
It could have been noisy, but there was no voice to silence them.
Even with their old exploration habits, human instinct feared the dark, and setting this atmosphere in the gloom brought them peace of mind.
“Did I tease you about going to a dungeon for no reason?”
“Haha. True. If you’d tricked us, I would’ve really thought it was a dungeon.”
“We couldn’t even go. If it’s an exploration team, why would we go shouting like the extermination squad?”
The members who knew of Henry’s clumsiness chuckled softly.
Henry, wanting to ignore it, blurted out some random words to change the subject.
“But this can’t be a real dungeon, right?”
“Right? You think we’d just waltz in here without any prior research? We know what we’re getting into.”
“I figured it all out before entering.”
“Is it for real? It’s really not here?”
“This little brat is just full of fear. Why don’t you try thinking? According to the villagers, this cave has been around for a long time, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Don’t you think there might be someone among those people who thinks like you? Even if there’s no report, if a place like this is discovered, the extermination guild will probably come by at least once to identify the mana.”
There are many ways to differentiate whether it’s a dungeon from the outside.
Most of the time, it can be definitely identified through mana detection.
In fact, only places that have undergone mana identification are registered as dungeons by the extermination guild.
Caves with exploration teams are already recognized as just caves, and they couldn’t be suspected as ruins either.
While staying in the village, I heard the chief say that if you’re an explorer, you should check it out at least once, and I just happened to be itching to go.
“Ah, who knows? This could be a dungeon.”
“…Excuse me?”
For an instant, Henry’s face turned pale.
The senior tried to hold back a laugh as he continued speaking.
“Do you know about irregular dungeons?”
“Wh-what is that?”
“Sometimes there are dungeons that can’t be detected from the outside. No matter how skilled the wizard is, it doesn’t make sense. Those are called irregular dungeons, you know? Anyway, it could very well be that this place is an irregular dungeon.”
gulp Henry’s throat trembled.
The senior noticed it, his eyes curving into a crescent moon. Teasing scared newbies was a specialty of seniors.
“Irregular dungeons are much more dangerous than regular ones. I told you, it’s a dungeon that can’t be identified for mana from the outside. Why do you think that is?”
“Just now, you said it’s meaningless…”
“Ah, clumsy little brat! It means there’s nothing known, but many speculations exist. Do you know what the extermination guild’s most prominent speculation is? Mana concealment.”
“Concealment?”
“Right. What if the dungeon boss can hide the mana of the dungeon? Then it would mean it had some kind of intent. And that means the boss is much stronger and has intelligence. Actually discovered irregular dungeons are among the 72 dungeons, and they are considered to be top-tier.”
“72 dungeons!”
The origin of dungeons, also known as the public enemy of humanity, the 72 dungeons.
If children are scared of the old witch, the 72 dungeons are a source of fear for people of all ages.
Already pale, Henry’s lips trembled.
If this really is an irregular dungeon, doesn’t that mean it’s also among the 72 dungeons?
“If this is an irregular dungeon, we’re all done for. We’ll all just scream and die, right? Well, if we cried loudly when we were born, we should die even louder.”
“That’s enough, Jack. Stop messing with the newbie.”
“Yeah, yeah. Seeing your expression, I figured if I keep going, you’d wet yourself.”
Clang, clang.
Then, a sound echoed out of nowhere, not from their chatter but from the darkness beyond.
“Shh!”
Starting with the captain at the front, the team members began to notice something suspicious.
The deputy turned off the torch and lit a lantern. Then, as he reached out toward the darkness ahead, everyone froze in place.
A dark suit of armor that blended with the shadows. A face not of a person, but of a skull.
As the Death Knight turned its head, fierce red eyes glowed ominously.