Chapter 10: Skill Overuse
As the dungeon gate disappeared, Lucien’s body was thrown out of the twisting void without a gate.
The feeling of crossing a dinsion was as dizzying as before but now, it was worse because Lucien’s consciousness was slipping away.
Bang!
Lucien fell to the asphalt street, followed by Mumu falling onto his back.
"Ughh..."
His entire body ached, he couldn’t even lift a single finger and he could feel his soul slowly trying to leave his body.
He just conquered one dungeon and expanded his house—
He can’t die like this!
But no matter how unwilling, Lucien couldn’t even open his eyes.
The street was silent, the citizens had all evacuated the mont Lucien entered the gate— to avoid an energy leak that could harm ordinary people like them.
The hunters and bureaus were busy with an E-rank gate break half a city away.
With so few hunters in the city, no one would co to this secluded place before the problem there was solved.
Mumu, the sole living being beside Lucien, could feel Lucien’s life force slowly becoming faint.
"Muuuu!" The sli cub instantly burst into tears.
-Bad uncle! Don’t die! Mumu doesn’t wanna die! QAQ
If the landlord died, the dungeon would be destroyed and naturally, all of them would die!
The slis who couldn’t leave the dungeon without the landlord’s permission, all felt the sa crisis.
The sli king and queen paced around anxiously as they tried to communicate with their son through their special network.
King: Glurg! Son! Bring the lord to the main dungeon! Don’t let him die!
Queen: Glurg! Baby, your family’s fate is in your hands!
"Mu! Mu??"
-W-what? Mom? Dad? How do I bring the bad uncle in?? I’m so small! I can’t—
King: Glurg! Man up! We slis are strong! Don’t underestimate yourself!
Queen: Glurg. Baby, the main dungeon’s yard is just a few ters away. You can do this.
Being scolded by his father and persuaded by his mother, Mumu finally gritted his non-existent teeth, clamped down on Lucien’s clothes and...
Started to drag the limp man towards the yard.
Sizzle. Sizzle.
The baby sli’s corrosive saliva slowly lted the fabric, but Mumu would grab another intact fabric and pull the unconscious Lucien with all of its might.
"Muuuu! Muuuu!"
Mumu is strong! Mumu isn’t useless!
Sowhere Mumu couldn’t see, the system popped up another red panel.
Zzzt. Zzzt. [Landlord’s life force: 30%]
Mumu’s body trembled. He forced his tiny body to pull Lucien, who was ten tis bigger than him, all through sheer determination.
Sizzle. Sizzle.
Tear.
Mumu’s wound he got from the previous "at shield experience" that had sowhat healed tore open again.
His blue sli essence slowly leaked out of his body.
That essence...was essentially Mumu’s blood.
Tak. Tak.
"Muuu!"
Three ters.
Zzzt. Zzzt. [Life force: 20%]
The blue sli essence soaked the street, leaving a slimy trail behind.
"Muuu!!"
Two ters.
Zzzt! Zzzt!
[Life force: 10%]
More and more essence leaked out. Mumu’s own life force dropped drastically by half.
"Muu..."
One ter.
Zzzt! Zzttt! [Life force: 5%]
Mumu felt double images in his eyes.
He couldn’t feel his mouth anymore and his strength slowly left his body.
But...bad uncle...save...and mom...dad...
Mumu gritted his teeth and before he lost consciousness—
He threw himself and Lucien’s body right into Lucien’s front yard.
0 ter.
Bang!
Mumu instantly lost consciousness and Lucien’s life force dropped to dangerous 3%!
Lucien had essentially entered a coma and Mumu was no better.
The sli queen and king who could feel the two people’s life forces already burst into tears.
Ah! Their son!
The lord!
Please, hang on—
It was at this ti that the soil beneath Lucien and Mumu’s bodies gently moved.
Shrik. Shrik.
The ground rolled like a tide, gently bringing the two people into the house.
Bang!
The door opened on its own and once the two bodies entered the tiled floor, the floor gently moved like a wave, carrying them straight to Lucien’s bedroom and the tenant bedroom respectively.
The mont the two people entered their own rooms, an invisible force gently embraced them, injecting a trickle of energy into their exhausted bodies.
The system belatedly popped up a new interface that Lucien didn’t see.
DING! [Energy recovery array (Basic) is detected.]
[Recovering energy ?????? ]
[Estimated full energy recovery: 24 hours]
If other hunters who almost died due to skill overuse and energy drain saw the 24 hours label, they would have sold themselves to enter Lucien’s house.
Dude! That’s like several days faster than everyone else!
Lucien was "dead" for five hours straight until the sun set before his depleted energy recovered to 20%— around 4% increase per hour.
His 3% life force slowly went up all the way to 50%.
Once Lucien was out of danger, the bed in Lucien’s bedroom gently pushed Lucien out and the floor imdiately moved, bringing Lucien straight to the bathroom.
If Lucien was awake, he would have scread at his bathroom’s drastic change—
The ceiling turned into stalactites, the floor was slimy, the bathtub beca a strange pool of water— and the size.
The small bathroom that one could even touch the wall while standing suddenly beca as vast as a bathhouse!
The bathroom was essentially turned into a mini dungeon.
The mont Lucien entered the bathroom, white mist sprayed out and invisible germs, viruses and any other contaminations were slowly absorbed by the mist.
DING! [Purification Array (Basic) is detected.]
[Contamination cleansing: 100%]
[Curse and poison purification: 50%]
Lucien’s now-clean body was imdiately hoisted back to the bedroom but when his unconscious body passed through the small living room, the TV flickered and booted on its own.
"Civil City Awakener News."
"The hunters from our Frontier District, Fringe Continent, is going to enter the Death Zone near our Civil City— "
"A total of...hunters..."
"Going to the outer...circle...these three...streets..."
Drone images of three streets shrouded in mist and gloom appeared on the screen, giving a glimpse of each street’s trademark shop and signs.
The sound from the TV beca fainter as Lucien’s body was laid down on the bed.
Tick. Tick.
The sound of clock ticking echoed in the silent house and the clock’s arms slowly hit number 12.
Tick.
It was midnight.
"Expe...di...tion..."
The sound from the TV was intermittent, as if the signal was unstable.
Flicker. Flicker.
The screen flickered, various colored lines flashed. It looked like a kind of disturbance.
Shhhhh....
The mist around the house flickered.
The void slowly twisted and distorted.
It started from a faint ripple and then slowly beca bigger and bigger—
Until the twisting void swallowed the house whole.
Lucien, deep in his sleep, only felt the sa dizzying sensation as when he "teleported" to enter the gate.
He didn’t see the scenes outside of the window flickered and vanished, replaced by a blinking heart-shaped neon light of a pub.
Bzzztt. Bzzztt.
"Yale...street...at the Fallen...City..."
The TV’s screen showed a flicker of a pub with a...familiar glowing pink heart neon sign.
Bzzztt. Bzzztt.
The TV’s screen flickered even faster than before and as the void slowly stopped twisting—
The TV’s screen darkened.
A red sign flickered at the center.
[No signal]
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