Meanwhile-
While the town was in shock from the many clones working, three armed clones approached the Coal Dungeon entrance.
"I hope those townfolk won't make too much trouble for us," Sonia said, shotgun resting on her shoulder.
"At worst, we disturbed the peace, and we will be fined for it." Nidawei shrugged.
"If that is the case, we can just move somewhere else and build our own town. We can grind skills all the same." Asher smiled.
"Good idea, Boss!" Sonia gave a thumbs up.
"But I do wonder if they would let us do this in libraries within the city." Nidawei rubbed her chin.
"No need to overthink it. We can later leave our clones in the City, and they will continue reading for us while we do other things." Asher relaxedly said.
The other two nodded as they arrived at the dungeon entrance.
The entrance to the dungeon was a blue portal that covered the whole entrance, being a hole in the cliffside. They saw miners and slaves enter and exit the dungeon, carrying large amounts of mined coal on their backs before unloading it into carts outside. After recording a loaded cart, they moved it to the nearby train station, where it would be dumped into a storage facility, waiting for transport.
As a Coal Mining town, Coalfell naturally had a train track connected to it. However, it only came once a week due to the relatively small and remote place, and it was at the very fringes of the country they were in.
The trio then soon arrived before the portal, but when they were about to enter, the coal transportation supervisor noticed them and hurriedly stopped them.
"Wait, you three, stop!"
The trio curiously looked over and saw a weathered man in his 50s, wearing smudged work clothes from the coal.
"What is it, mister?" Sonia smiled and asked.
The man was dazed for a moment by Sonia's beauty, but quickly shook his head and hurriedly spoke.
"You three are the rumored Hell Challengers who arrived in town, right?!"
"That would be us." Asher nodded.
"Then don't you know about the difficulty spike in dungeons?! You could get killed if you go inside that maw of death!" The supervisor said, pointing to the portal.
"We know that we would enter the Hell Difficulty instance, yes." Nidawei nodded and replied.
Every dungeon in this world had four difficulty levels, adjusted to the real-life difficulty level of the challenger.
For example, those on Normal Difficulty would enter the Normal Dungeon. Anyone inside the Normal Dungeon at the moment could interact with one another normally. However, those on Hard Difficulty would enter the Hard Difficulty instance, and the difficulty level of the creatures within is adjusted, and only those on Hard Difficulty can interact with them. Of course, the rewards are also much better. The same logic goes to Nightmare Difficulty... and Hell Difficulty.
"Then you should know how hard it is, right?! I hear the monsters on Hell Difficulty are many times stronger than those on even Nightmare Difficulty. You could get yourselves killed! Unlike us, you only have one life!" The supervisor anxiously said.
In his view, even if they could take down a few bandits, it couldn't compare with the horrors of Hell Difficulty. After all, the monsters inside were of the same difficulty as the challenger, meaning the attribute gain was a reflection of what an equal-level challenger would normally have.
That is to say, a lvl 100 mob on Normal Difficulty would only be about a lvl 30-40 on Hard Difficulty or a lvl 10-15 on Nightmare difficulty. So what about Hell Difficulty? The most optimistic estimate is lvl 5, while it might also be just the level 3-4 mobs.
Hell Challengers were rare, so he didn't know, but he could only imagine.
Hearing him say all this, the trio gently smiled.
"Don't worry, these are disposable clone bodies, so even if we die, we would only lose a bit of equipment," Nidawei said.
"Disposable clones...???" The supervisor blinked in incomprehension.
"Exactly, so you shouldn't worry," Asher added.
"I shouldn't worry..." The supervisor muttered, still not understanding what was going on.
"Yeah, so return to your work and pretend nothing happened," Sonia added.
And then, the trio entered the dungeon, leaving the stunned supervisor behind.
Just as he was stunned, he heard a commotion from the town, and someone ran to him and spoke.
"Old Maky, you gotta see this! Those crazy Hell Challengers cloned themselves and turned into a whole construction crew!"
The supervisor strangely looked at the dungeon and sighed.
"Why was I even worried?"
.
.
.
|
You have entered the Dungeon: Small Coal Mine(lvl 1-30, Hell Difficulty) |
After entering the dungeon, the trio first checked their mental state and confirmed they were still connected to the meditating main bodies.
"Good. It seems like this place operates within this world, not a separate reality. Perhaps a folded space?" Asher mused.
"Maybe. But wherever this is, it is certainly not far enough to disconnect us." Sonia said.
As clone bodies, they were essentially soulless and mindless flesh puppets, remote-controlled artificial limbs and organs. Even their ability to use their given brain was reliant on their connection to the main body. If they were, say, in another reality, any clone they left would become vegetables.
"Well, it is good to know we can do this as well," Asher said as he began observing the surroundings.
The place looked like a generic early 1900s mine, with wooden support beams and a metal railway with an actual cart. It was also lit by electric lamps connected to the ceiling. As for the power cables? They didn't need them. The dungeon itself IS the power source.
"These dungeon props are interesting. I hear they can't be destroyed?" Nidawei muttered, observing the lantern about 10m away.
"Only one way to find out!" Sonia said, raising her shotgun and firing a shell.
Bang* Dang*
The shell created some sparks on the lamp, and it swayed, but nothing else happened.
"Hah... Not a scratch." Sonia raised an eyebrow.
"It is a permanent game gimmick. You can't destroy it... At least, not with that low firepower." Asher shook his head.
"However, the mining cart is movable," Nidawei said, pushing the cart forward, and it indeed moved.
"It is how they usually move the mined coal, after all," Sonia said.
And then, she glanced at Asher.
"But since we have Boss, the infinite storage container, we don't need it."
"Honey's ability to use his powers even through a clone is indeed envious." Nidawei sighed.
"I can't really use everything. My strongest moves could only be used by the real body." Asher warily said.
Most of Asher's powers didn't depend on distance or his physical body, but on perception. Since his clones shared their senses and perception, the main body Asher could conjure some long-distance abilities, like his Storage.
"Well, let's go. I want to see just how difficult this so-called Hell Difficulty is." Sonia said and walked forward.
The other two nodded and followed beside her.
And soon, they found their first opponent. It was a short, ugly thing, with a head shaped like an American football with droopy ears, attached to a spindly body in rags, holding a mining pick and a protective helmet.
Tick* Tick* Tick*
The yellow dwarf-sized thing idly mined at a location, not really producing ore, but rather as a form of some script. It didn't notice them yet, seemingly still focused on mining.
"Gremlin, hah?" Asher muttered.
He then used his Reality Perception to scan it. And what he found made his jaw turn slack.
"Fuck... you're kidding me." Asher's face twitched.
"Fuck this game..." Sonia's lips twitched.
"The developers of this game are more sadistic than I am," Nidawei added.
|
Status Name: - Base Stats: Special Stats: Skills: Mining(lvl 9), Pickaxe Combat(lvl 9), Unarmed Combat(lvl 9), Fitness(lvl 9), Magic Manipulation(lvl 9), Earth Magic(lvl 9),... Racial Skills: Tough Skin(Max), Earth Resistance(Max), Night Vision(Max), Drilling Claws(Max),... |
A mere lvl 3 mob monster on Hell Difficulty was almost comparable to a lvl 100 full-level Normal Difficulty Player!
If this wasn't a sick joke, they didn't know what was!
"Are people actually meant to beat Hell Difficulty? If the increase in power is linear, then a lvl 1,000 mob would have 33,000 stat points in every basic stat, 10,000 in special stats, and multiple lvl 3,000 skills." Sonia voiced her doubts.
"That indeed sounds like insanity." Asher nodded in agreement.
"Maybe the developer just didn't want anyone to complete his game?" Nidawei made a bold guess.
"It is one possibility... but another is that the developers just had very high expectations for the challengers. I mean, we can definitely clear this game, given enough time." Asher pointed out.
"According to the sources, the Final Boss always has 3 times the overall stats of the same-level mobs and full-level skills. We should be able to do this... given we can build some powerful equipment with our production skills, and the final level is 1,000." Nidawei said after some thought.
The trio looked at one another with wary expressions.
"For now, let's just clear the first ten levels," Asher said.
"Good!" Sonia said, raising her shotgun at the Gremlin and opening fire.
Bang*
Splat* Splat* Splat* Dang* Dang* Dang*
The pellets barely penetrated the skin, causing a few minor wounds, while most of them just bounced off.
"KRAK!" The Gremlin exclaimed in shock and anger.
"Tsk. Our regular guns are useless!" Sonia clicked her tongue, tossing away the gun like garbage.
"Probably only anti-material rifles can cause enough damage." Asher figured.
"It's charging." Nidawei pointed at the Gremlin, which charged over at a speed that its small body shouldn't normally have.
"I'll handle it." The shortstack calmly walked forward.
"KREE KREE!!!" The Gremlin shouted, jumping and swinging the pickaxe down.
However, Sonia didn't even bother dodging. She merely extended her hand and caught the pickaxe.
Grasp*
The Gremlin froze mid-air, unable to move. Before it could even react, Sonia's retaliation came in the form of an open-handed slap.
PA* CRACK* BANG* BOOM*
The Gremlin crashed into the mine wall, its body broken and twitching for a moment in a bloody mess before not moving anymore.
|
Your Group Killed a lvl 3 Mine Gremlin(Hell Difficulty) |
"Lowly Vermin." Sonia coldly spat, still holding the pickaxe.
However, the next moment, the pickaxe she held vanished along with the Gremlin. Where it died, a crystal was formed, along with a... pickaxe.
"Fucking game logic." Sonia facepalmed.
"Well, at least we got a drop item on the first try. Training our Luck paid off." Nidawei said, picking up the two items.
"Let's see their properties." Asher leaned over and checked.
|
Name: Gremlin's Shoddy Pickaxe(Hell Difficulty) Requirements: Level 3, Related Class, 99 Strength, 99 Endurance Effects:
Description: A shoddy pickaxe used by the lowliest of Gremlins. |
"Holy fuck." Asher gapped.
"That's a Shoddy Pickaxe from a lvl 3 mob?" Nidawei blinked.
"This game is broken." Sonia cursed.
They then looked at the crystal.
|
Name: Extreme Magic Crystal(lvl 3) Description: Useful as a magical energy source or for crafting. |
"I don't even know how to rate this?" Asher warily said.
"Let's just keep it for now," Nidawei said.
"Yeah, let's clear all the monsters on the floor. We can then decide on what to do." Sonia added, taking the pickaxe as her melee weapon.
And so, the trio of clones continued exploring the dungeon.
