Hey guys, we still have a lot of bonus chapters left to post!!
I did say I would be stopping with the Power Stones goals... But you guys really outdid yourselves with the Golden Tickets.
Not that I'm complaining, thank you all very much! I'll keep doing my best.
Though... Cough... We may have to make so alterations to this rewards system...
Otherwise, once the Power stones co back... I'll die.
I'm not kidding, right now, we're already posting more chapters than before with two chapters a week thanks to these bonus chapters.
If Power Stones co back and with the fact, I'll be making those chapters from scratch... I won't be able to keep up.
I would like so ideas on that, but right now, I was forced to make so severe decisions regarding this situation and ca up with this:
First, all rewards are not additive, aning, we can only get one tier for each of the Bonus collums.
And second, the bonus chapters will be posted all at once on Monday or in the following days.
350PS - 1 Extra Chapter
550PS - 2 Extra Chapters
750PS - 3 Extra Chapters
1000PS - 5 Extra Chapters (I don't actually think we'll ever get here...)
50 Golden Tickets - 1 Extra Chapter
100 Golden Tickets - 2 Extra Chapter
130 Golden Tickets - 3 Extra Chapter
I'll still post all bonus chapters we got this week no problem, but I had to once again rise the bar because we were rising a bit too fast...
I really did not want to complain, but if we go this fast I'll really fall onto the ground with cramps in my hands.
In comparison, we are around at 350 Power Stones and 80 Golden Tickets, so these numbers are an indicator that we'll definitely have more than 2 Bonus chapters a week.
In comparison, even without the Power Stones, we already have 3 chapters to be posted.
I would like suggestions of course, like if this is abusive, manipulative if I should decrease the numbers, increase them, and so on.
Aside from that, I don't want to have you guys too fixated on this, go on to the chapter and tell what you thought of it at the end.
It's a fairly large chapter, 3.9K words.
Peace!
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/A few minutes later…/
/Splash... Splash.../
"Urg..."
"I barely even got inside and I already hate this place."
Dale entered the Subrged Sewers, imdiately noticing the difference.
The deeper he went into the sewers, the higher the water level rose, to the point that the entire ground beca subrged in a few fingers' worth of water.
"My boots are fucking wet… This is super uncomfortable…"
'I'll have to prepare a special pair of boots if I wish to raid this place next ti.'
'Until then, I'll have to be happy with this, as I can't even take them out else I would lose the set effect.'
He looked around, trying to figure out what made this place different from the other section of the sewers.
But apart from the water on the ground, everything looked the sa, it was still the sewers, although everything looked a bit moldier.
The walls were filled with moss and strange fungi, so so big they covered the entire ceiling.
Sotis, he would stop to collect a few of them, for no real reason really apart from doing so.
Anyone can harvest materials, albeit so, like ores, need special tools or higher requirents to be collected.
However, despite all being able to do so, it doesn't an all are equal.
So are better than others, and so have better tools than others...
Standard Mode players would need to have special Skills to properly harvest these without decreasing their value, because different from HardCore Mode players, they didn't go through a manual process to harvest them, but through an in-ga progress bar that filled up over ti.
The simple but reliable "press 'this' to loot".
It was very fast so it wasn't that boring, and if they wanted to, they could disable this feature and do it manually, however, the chances of screwing sothing up increased.
If they believed their real Skills surpassed the ones their character had, then why not?
HardCore players on the other hand needed to know what they were doing on a much more fundantal level to harvest a "Perfect Quality" material.
Albeit, even though, in a real-life scenario, denting one of these fungi a little wouldn't really make a difference on their overall quality and effects, by the ga's evaluation chanisms, that was a flaw that reduced its overall value.
But for Dale, that wasn't really his priority right now.
Previously, he had to gather High-quality materials to get a High Score in his Quest Herb Chain, so it was safe to assu such a thing might happen again as he progressed in the Questline.
Yet, he couldn't waste most of his ti researching how to harvest these, it would take too much ti and unfortunately, wasn't worthy compared to the other things he could indeed spend his ti on.
So he would just grab a knife and carefully cut them out as he walked around, his thod of choosing them was simple, the stranger they looked, the better.
On that note, by pushing the mold and moss around, he could see clear marks of water on the walls, a few high up, enough to subrge him, probably caused during the rainy season, and a few others closer to the ground, probably the water level during the drought season.
Still, despite all of this, why was Dale in this Dungeon? Well, it was simply due to his instincts.
The Subrged Sewers were a secret area of the Sewers, so he thought that, if he was going farm levels, why not in this place since he could explore while he was at it?
He had already figured out that hunting in the forest was simply not possible as it was too dangerous, and hunting in the Catacombs is inefficient due to the scarcity of creatures and the fact that their drop items are complete trash.
Hunting in the normal Sewers isn't any faster than doing so in the Catacombs, although the loot there might be a bit better…
So taking all of that from the equation, the only possible place is this one.
At the very least, even if the conditions within were similar to the normal Sewers since this was a Hidden Area, he expected to see sothing a bit unusual.
So he decided to visit it and see for himself if it was a good place to farm a few Levels or not.
If it wasn't he wouldn't mind going back to the sewers and hunting the creatures that live there, it wouldn't change things much.
He didn't know what to expect from this Hidden Area, in fact, he didn't even know much about the Sewers themselves.
What kinds of monsters spawned there and their frequency, the materials he could farm there, and what kind of loot to expect...
Would this Hidden Area be harder? With tons of Variant monsters? Or sothing completely different?
So because of this, he equipped his best armor, and sure enough, due to how abandoned this place was, he gained the boost to all of his Stats, pressing forward into this unknown location.
/Fwoosh/
As he did so, Dale took out his tal spear, swinging it around.
"It's light… Perhaps too light, I feel as if this doesn't have any power…"
'This Black Iron Spear isn't good enough.'
/Unsheath.../
/Swoosh!/
He then unsheathed the Glyph Blade, swinging it around rapidly.
'The sword feels a bit better at the very least, but it feels... Lacking.'
'My gear is already starting to fall behind my level... No, it already has.'
'I'm almost Level 30 but I'm using Level 5 gear… Worst, I'm a sole player using armor geared towards raiding.'
'The only reason the Commander of the Vault Guardians set is still my main one is because of its buffs, but overall, it's not really that significant anymore.'
'The Set is focused towards Team play, and it's a complete waste to gear myself like this just to get 25 to all base Stats and 2 Temporary Skills from the Sword.'
'The Stat boost is nice, but now, it's just lacking for what I should be able to wear.'
"This armor is almost a detrint to due to how bulky it is." Dale said as he moved his arms around
'The gear requirents of this set haven't changed, but my Stats are almost 5 tis that if not more by now, so I should've been wearing sothing appropriate.'
'There is the impact factor, but now, I don't think that's enough anymore considering the Villagers already consider highly, I don't need to look overly cool anymore.'
'And wearing this could also pose as a risk since, if the players tried to dig around, they could eventually figure out that the items I got from the players during their failed raid of the Church weren't enough to make a full set of this shit.'
'Previously, I was overgeared, but now, I'm severely undergeared...'
"At least, I have arranged a new Set to replace this one."
'The equipnt I got previously during the adventure to the Southern Wall is still being repaired by Bar, and it'll probably take so ti for enough pieces to be fixed to form a full set.'
'Everything points out for that set to be amazing.'
'Though... Albeit laughable, I'm worrying that I may not even et the requirents to use it in the first place...'
Dale stopped, suddenly having a 'Eureka!' mont.
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that!"
'Equipnt wasn't the only thing I got in the Wall!'
Dale opened his inventory and sorted it by using a Keyword: Trinkets.
Or in other words, an accessory.
But what was even an Accessory? What was its point in the overall sche of things?
Considering all of the armor pieces one already had access to, was it really necessary to have more slots to etch things to?
Rember, there are about 7 slots for Trinkets and 8 slots for armor.
(N1)
Even if all couldn't be worn at the sa ti in most circumstances, it was still quite a bit of extra slots for items to be worn.
At least, that was the case for Standard players… Hardcore players weren't limited by equipnt slots.
And as so tested, it was indeed possible for them to wear 5 rings on each hand, albeit, if their effects were too far apart or contradictory, the player in question could end up dying or suffering a huge debuff from what was literally an overwhelming amount of power.
So may say that's unbalanced, but Hardcore players have only one life, if they fall, it's ga over.
In any case, in essence, an accessory was a wearable piece of equipnt whose main purpose was to boost one's Stats.
In the Beta, they were available to be acquired and experinted on, but once the ga launched, no matter how much a player searched, they would only be faced with failure as they weren't acquirable in the Tutorial anymore.
At least not in a usable state...
It was probably done so as an attempt from the developers to have all players start on more equal ground, even if that didn't change things much.
"Here it is…" Dale mumbled as he grabbed a small Ring
'I forgot about those, but I did collect so Accessories from the soldiers' corpses…'
'And although a few are completely unusable, so are in a sowhat decent state.'
'I'll have to properly inspect them and see if there's soone that can fix the rest when I'm done with this…'
Dale smiled and walked deeper into the Sewers.
…
/Around 4 hours later…/
/SPLAT!/
Dale swung his tal spear and crushed a large, ball-shaped moss-like creature, sending it back onto the water where it slowly dissolved.
[Ding]
[You slew a Moss Giant]
[2% Level xp]
[Level up]
[You were the first player to reach Level 30!]
[You have achieved Level 30, your previous special privilege has been worn off]
[For being the first to reach Level 30, all Quest rewards will be improved and the likeness of triggering one has increased significantly]
[This privilege will last until the player reaches Level 40]
[Would you like to leave your na in the Hall of Fa?]
"No." Dale said loudly
'So the privilege this ti is centered around Quests? I'll have to see how much of an improvent that actually is, but for now, it seems quite underwhelming.'
"In any case, for now, I won't have to worry about Levels for a while."
'I leveled up about 3 tis in 4 hours, even if the privilege wore off, if we take that out of the picture, if I were to farm here, it would've taken 8 hours to do the sa.'
'So 8 hours to go from the end of Level 27 to 30, which can be rounded up to 2 levels, 28 to 29, and 29 to 30, about 4 hours per Level.'
'Considering the progressive increase in difficulty as you Level up, I would imagine that if I were to remain here for the remainder of the day, I would definitely be able to reach Level 33 before midnight.'
'And this is a leveling speed in an already discovered Dungeon, most people in the top 1000 are likely farming Hidden Dungeons with the boosts from first discovery, just like my GrandUncle.'
'And they have teams to increase the efficiency of everything, from monster gathering to loot collection, I do everything alone.'
'Even then, I'm faster, there is no need to worry about it all.'
'With this new privilege, I'll likely gain more XP from Quests as well, so I should focus my attention there.'
'But just to be safe, I'll keep paying attention to the rankings, and if they start to catch up to , I'll spend a few hours in the Dungeon and that should be enough get in the clear.'
'Because different from them, as I Level up, the expectation is for my Leveling speed to increase, while in their case, it's only downhill from there.'
'aning that... I should use this ti to train more.'
"Still... A goal… I need a goal."
After thinking for a small mont, Dale thought:
'Alright, my Short-term goal will be to grow strong enough so I can start hunting in the forest.'
'The current Village Event will last 2 weeks, so that will be the ti I'll set for myself.'
'Technically, I can already hunt there, but the danger of eting sothing I can't handle is high.'
'Until then, I can raise my Level and wait for my Armor to get ready while also fixing these Trinkets, pretty much, get myself in top condition.'
'Perhaps get more Skills from the books, or raise my current ones...'
'So that will be my goal, to beco strong enough so that I can at least flee if things take a bad turn in the forest.'
'This ties well with my Mid-term priorities as I also have many Quests that need to explore outside, so getting stronger goes well with those.'
'I could also use the ti to study the old books more, gather information, and...'
"Create a Clear Strategy." He said with a small smile as he closed his Quest nu
With a small nod, Dale turned around and left the sewers, making his way to Testros' house.
…
/At the sa ti, deeper in the forest…/
An old man could be seen sitting on top of a large rock, staring at the bright sun in the sky.
He would watch the birds fly away and the insects sing under the golden sun.
He seed at peace and in harmony with the world around him, until another man approached him… Disrupting his thoughts.
He was old as well, about middle-aged.
"Now that we're alone... Answer my question, and don't lie..."
"Not to ." He said emotionally as he put his right arm on a tree nearby
"Tell the truth, how long will the rations last?"
"..."
The old man remained silent. Ignoring his question as he raised his head to stare at a cute red bird as it danced around another bird.
'Nature sure is beautiful...' He thought deeply as he saw the strange scene
/Step.../
The middle-aged man approached him with a frown, a mix of pain and anger.
"Don't feign ignorance now, just tell the truth, there's no point in hiding it from !"
"Just what... What is the truth about this operation?" He said as he closed his eyes deeply
The truth was that... He already knew things were bad.
He didn't want to hear the truth, he didn't want to face reality and bear these responsibilities...
But he had to, he had to know just how long they had left.
"... A little over a month." The old man replied in a raspy voice after he let out a sigh
"A month?!... W-What about the cost?" The middle-aged man asked as he realized things weren't as 'good' as they seed
"To last that long... We'll probably have to abandon the old and the weak, if we don't, at most 3 weeks."
"If we abandon morals and resort to everything we can, it should be possible to have everyone last for around a month and a half."
"If the children..."
"SHUT IT! DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT... Dammit!" The man exclaid as he kicked a rock on the ground, sending it flying toward a tree like a bullet
/Caw caw.../
The startled birds flew to the skies as the stone crashed against the tree.
"Three weeks... So we only have that long… How despairing."
"..."
But the old man remained silent.
"We only have one shot at this." The old man said deeply without turning his head from the forest in front of him
"But things don't look promising, that's why we must push it harder."
"Now, more than ever, the forest is in chaos, and traverse has beco nigh impossible."
"Previously, we could guarantee a safe pass to all of our warriors to the other side, but our plan was to safely move everyone together…"
"We stuck to that for years, decades, we were making progress... But not anymore."
"What we know about the forest has been thrown out of the window, and now, even so of our strongest warriors may die out there."
"However, if enemies outside weren't enough we have to face internal disputes as well, and so are now willing to abandon the weak to save themselves... Not that they're wrong."
"It is already difficult to keep them here, they want to leave but we can't afford that, because if they do, they'll all die."
"The longer we take the bigger their distress will be."
"... So that was why you pushed the plan forward?" The newcor asked as he cald down a little
'The old man nodded slowly.'
"Yes, it is harsh and cruel, but if they leave, we die, but if they remain, they'll die as well, and at most we'll live for a bit longer."
"They know that, and they'll not allow themselves to perish like this, they're not Legendary Heroes, they're people like you and ."
"If it wasn't for us making use of their families to hold them here... Can you take responsibility for that?"
"..."
"That is why I was forced to send them on their way, a last mission, a do-or-die situation."
"And this ti, if they fail, then they'll likely leave as we won't have the strength to hold them back anymore... I won't have the heart to do so..."
/Tremble.../
"What's the purpose of all of this then?!" The newcor asked as he stomped on the ground, making the area tremble
"Wasn't it always the sa? Survival." The old man replied slowly
"For the past few decades we tried to reach the other side, many thods were employed, so went further than others, and the Apex of these attempts was Project Burnout, that at the ti, was on the verge of completion."
"Alas, fate had other ideas for us..."
"Our ti has run out, and now, our only hope of escaping has been cut."
The old man turned his face for the first ti, facing the newcor.
He looked to be on the verge of death, he was so old even his eyes were now gaping holes, his nose was twisted, his skin was soggy, his hair was extrely thin...
"You'll have to make a choice soon, for the others, Project Burnout was scrapped so we could live longer of its husk, but that isn't the truth."
"What?! Be clear with !"
"The project never ended, we never scraped anything, we just made use of our reserve resources to give that impression, materials no one even knew we had, and never will..."
"The simple truth is that we lost access to the Main base when 'that' appeared in the forest and we were forced to evacuate or endanger losing everything we worked for the last few decades." He said as he touched his empty eyes
"The project itself has already finished, at the ti we were only finishing the final check-ups to make sure nothing bad would happen."
"This operation is ant to check the condition of the project, and hopefully, start it."
"But at what cost? What about the fucking cost!?" The man asked angrily as he tightened his fists
"... Don't make say that, you know very well how I feel." The old man said in a depressed tone as he looked at the towering wall in the distance
He turned his face towards the sun once more and said:
"Make your choice, participate in the mission, or remain behind."
"... But if I go, who will protect the Village? You're all throwing all of your cards into a single basket! What if it fails?!"
"Nothing changes then."
"We all die." The old man replied plainly
He seed calm, no fluctuations could be heard in his voice...
"..."
The other man seed conflicted, biting his lips in anger.
But he raised his head once more, convinced.
"I'll stay, soone has to, otherwise, all of this will be for nothing."
/Chuckle/
The old man laughed a little.
"I expected this to happen, though, at the sa ti, I wished for you to go." He said as he got up from the rock
He took out a small dagger, passing it on to the man.
"Everyone has agreed to participate in this mission, and this includes ... As I'm the last of the original Division Commanders..."
"Even if that holds no purpose anymore."
"Only I have the authority to open the Bunker, so I have to go, don't make repeat it."
"From our Scavengers to our Warriors, you'll be left alone to fend for everyone else."
"I imagine you know why right?"
"..."
The man closed his fists in anger.
'They are more worried about their own lives than the welfare of the people that raised them… A bunch of cowards!'
'But I... Can't bla them, they already did a lot... Too much in fact...'
The old man gave him the knife, closing his hand around it as he placed it on his hand
"... This knife... It contains a special purpose."
"Inside my house, you'll find a small blue obelisk stone, it's now all covered in dust and gri, but that is irrelevant."
"Stab the knife there, and you'll know what to do."
"You must resist for at least 2 weeks, alone, without any help, and lacking supplies since we'll bring most of it with us as if we fail, we won't be coming back."
"Do you think you can do it?"
"..."
/Grasp/
The man held onto the knife with everything he had.
"I'll make it happen."
"Good."
"As the Commander in charge, I give you the authority to make whatever decisions you find appropriate for the sake of the preservation of the legacy of the Southern Corps..."
/Shine.../
In the middle-aged man's chest pocket, sothing seed to shine montarily as the old man turned around, walking away.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to et again..."
"I won't die old man." He said with a smile
"Neither will I."
"... I outlived many, Champions... Heroes... Legends, people of conviction and power..."
"And I don't plan on eting them in the afterlife yet, I would be too embarrassed to do." The old man replied with a small chuckle
"I promise you that, no matter what happens outside, I'll be back." The old man said without turning his back
"..."
The newcor stared at the blue sky with his knife in hand, it was heavy, it was the weight of his responsibility.
…
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Notes
I hope you liked the chapter!
Before you go, rember what I said about premium? I'm still thinking about it, if I should do it or not.
How would you guys react if I did it? Would you guys drop, and continue following with one chap a day?
I'm seeking so feedback on it to know how I should proceed.
I particularly would like to try this as it's a new experience, but I wouldn't want to kick so of my old-ti supporters in the nut by suddenly blocking everything.
If I do follow through with it, I'll leave a post in all chapters like an announcent just in case there are so readers trying to catch up, as it would be very sad to suddenty be locked up from a story you were following for the last few days.
That's about it.
See ya!
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