Chapter 71

Level Up IlDanSimPanGwan – Episode 71 (71/227)

Episode 71: Light and Shadow (2)

Warode’s godhood wasn’t solely the “God of Light.”

There were six other divine ranks besides Her, each with their own following of six churches spread across the continent.

The gods of Tranquility, Darkness, and Silence all referred to the same divine rank, “Hin.”

While the Church of Light that followed “Lu” was known for its extreme and radical tendencies, making it the second most unconventional church, Hin’s Shadow Church took things further as the least popular church in Warode.

And the reason was clear.

“Silence”

Followers of the Shadow Church carried a crippling penalty: they couldn’t speak under any circumstances.

If they accidentally spoke or conversed, their “Divine Favor” stat would drastically drop.

Complete disconnection from communication with everyone—no exceptions.

This was hands down the worst penalty in Warode, universally acknowledged as the hallmark of the Shadow Church’s prestige.

Ssssss…

The chilling frost emanating from Nesha’s dagger, glowing with dark light, was the defining feature showing she was a follower of Hin and a member of the exclusive job class, “Shadow Sentinel.”

Just as the Inquisitor had the iconic skill “Sacred Flame,” the Shadow Sentinel’s “Dark Frost” was equally distinctive.

“You must be having a rough time.”

“You too.”

“…”

Eil and Nesha momentarily fell silent, fully understanding each other without needing much conversation.

Given they belonged to two of the most conceptually strong churches—the notoriously unique Church of Light and the Shadow Church—it was natural they understood each other.

[‘Light Judge Lu’ shows signs of discomfort.]

[She thinks you’re getting too cozy with a potential rival.]

Generally, players from other churches were seen as rivals by the Church of Light, especially since Hin, whom Nesha followed, was a deity with contrasting traits to Lu.

The two deities representing the polar opposites of light and darkness were deeply interconnected yet warily cautious of each other, maintaining a complex relationship.

Of course, while there were other deities with contrasting attributes like light and darkness, this dynamic was unique to them.

With her sole Apostle fraternizing with a follower of Hin, the Goddess clearly wasn’t pleased.

However, things were different for Eil and Nesha.

Though technically on opposing sides, they were still players who got along well.

They’d already fought fiercely before, gaining mutual respect for each other’s skills, and being trapped somewhere made unnecessary conflict pointless.

Sure, if someone stamped the heresy mark above his head or assigned a special quest, conflict might be unavoidable, but the relationship between Lu and Hin wasn’t that bad.

Simply put, they were competitors.

“So, what’s the plan now?”

Eil spoke first.

Nesha scribbled another note with her dagger.

“First we get out.”

“What after that?”

“Cost of betrayal.”

Seemingly finding full sentences too troublesome, Nesha just wrote single words, which Eil perfectly understood, smirking slightly.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

[A party has been formed!]

The two men, who had been crouching, stood up simultaneously.

As the holy water’s effect wore off, the flames blocking the way extinguished, and monsters waiting in ambush poured out of the passage.

Kweeiiik!

Undead creatures with reddish skin screamed as they approached.

Drooling hungrily for human flesh, they surged forward.

Tsststst!

Whooshhh!

Black frost and white flames erupted from their weapons.

Eil and Nesha charged into battle.

Over a hundred monsters clashed violently with the two players.

Crash!

Eil’s mighty swing of his longsword cleanly bisected a monster with its mouth wide open.

In the path carved by his sword, undead-hating white flames erupted, causing surrounding monsters to hesitate.

But the monsters surrounding them didn’t dwindle easily.

Unfazed by the pressure of the undead horde, Eil continued slashing through them.

At one point, an undead behind him aimed for his back, but before it could get close, its head was pierced by Nesha’s dagger, tumbling to the ground.

The reverse situation happened just the same.

When a monster targeted Nesha’s back, Eil immediately blocked it and chopped off its neck.

Trusting each other’s backs, they fended off the waves of monsters. Despite sharing only brief words moments ago, they fought without worrying about each other’s backs.

‘Level 28… A mob-type monster? Even so, starting with this many is rare.’

Even in the midst of the intense battle, Eil checked the status windows popping up to gather information.

The undead monsters he faced all shared reddish skin but varied wildly in appearance, yet they were all level 28 monsters.

True to their undead nature, they showed weakness to holy and fire attributes, making them easier for Eil to handle.

After both had slashed through dozens of monsters…

Boom!

The last monster finally fell.

“Huff… Somehow we managed.”

Eil sighed deeply, planting his sword.

Though no one died and they won safely, their appearances were a mess.

Sticky undead blood clung everywhere.

Surprisingly though, all the blood was from the undead monsters.

Despite looking disheveled, Eil and Nesha had only lost a bit of HP.

They’d taken a few hits they could easily endure, resulting in minor cuts or grazes.

It was hard to believe this was their first party play together given how well their synergy matched.

Moreover, neither seemed particularly exhausted, breathing only slightly heavier.

As proof, Nesha, after putting away her dagger, didn’t take time to rest and immediately moved toward the passage where the monsters had emerged.

“Wait…!”

But Eil called her back.

Nesha turned around curiously, and Eil pointed at the monster corpses with a matter-of-fact expression.

“We should loot them first.”

Monster corpses shimmering with silvery light.

An indication of possible loot, and no reason to pass them up.

Nodding, Nesha sat cross-legged on a corpse, folding her arms as she waited for Eil.

“… Aren’t you going to loot items?”

“Only bosses.”

“Damn… You must be loaded. Jealous.”

Chuckling, Eil muttered enviously.

He’d heard a few times about users who started with abundant funds from cash transactions, skipping item collection from regular monsters altogether.

They bought potions and equipment from the auction house and only bothered looting when skill books were involved—something unimaginable to Eil.

‘Might as well be jealous, but this works out for me.’

Though envious, it worked in Eil’s favor.

Since he got double the loot share.

Considering the large number of scattered monster corpses, a significant amount of gold and items dropped.

Having obtained satisfying loot, Eil didn’t stop there, pulling out a dissection knife.

“…”

“Sorry, just a sec.”

Looking somewhat sheepish, Eil apologized then expertly plunged his blade into the carcass.

His skillful movements cutting through tough hides and bones were noticeably faster than average, efficiently butchering over a dozen monsters in the blink of an eye.

– Item acquired!

[Rare] Luck Stone

“It came out…!”

The red-glowing gem resting on his palm.

A consumable item called “Luck Stone” obtainable with low probability when butchering undead or beast-type monsters like these current ones.

Unlike skill books, it was a fairly rare untradable item with quite specialized functions.

Something that wouldn’t normally appear through regular looting, and most people who didn’t bother with butchering wouldn’t even know about this acquisition method.

Of course, even among players interested in butchering, remembering detailed item acquisition methods like Eil did was rather unusual.

Even Nesha watching nearby seemed startled by the appearance of the luck stone.

Continuing to butcher more monsters, Eil motioned for Nesha to come closer, pushing one finished carcass her way.

“?!”

When Nesha reflexively looted the item, a red luck stone appeared in her hand too.

It was one for her, after patiently waiting while he looted and butchered over a hundred monsters.

After finishing butchering all remaining monsters, Eil ended up obtaining five luck stones, rising satisfied from his seat.

‘Just getting six luck stones from killing barely over a hundred means… If I haven’t suddenly become ridiculously lucky, this isn’t an ordinary dungeon.’

Considering the typical drop rate of luck stones, consistently getting items at such high probabilities would break balance.

So it was correct to view this as a one-time dungeon without monster respawns. And heading toward the passage with Nesha, evidence soon appeared confirming his guess.

[Hidden Dungeon ‘Village of Annihilation’ First Scenario Completed!]

[Partial EXP Gained!]

[Level Up!]