Chapter 30 - The Worsening Plague
Everyone was lost in thought.
Jhin looked down at his hand.
"Better harvest than I expected."
〈Scarecrow’s Thorn Gauntlet〉
A gauntlet woven from the thorns and body of the Wilow King. Solid, but vulnerable to fire.
Required Level: 80
Attack: 120
Grade: A
Special Skill: [Thorns]
Normally, it functioned as a regular gauntlet. But in a pinch, he could use the mechanism on the back of his hand to summon dagger-like thorns.
Depending on how it was used, its versatility was exceptional.
Especially for him — with "Heavenly Weapon Body," he wasn’t limited in what weapons he could wield.
It had always been a hassle relying solely on the "Crude Greatsword."
Finally, he had a decent weapon.
"If I had this back then, hunting the Wilow King would’ve been way easier."
And that wasn’t the only reward.
After massacring the plants and taking down the Wilow King, his level had jumped by three.
Now, he was sitting just shy of level 40.
It was insane progress.
"In just a day after escaping Trial nexus, I leveled up ten times."
But really, it made sense.
He had conquered a D-rank dungeon while only level 32, and now he’d soloed an E-rank dungeon boss.
Of course the experience points had been generous.
After all, he was doing things no one at his level should be able to do. The amount of EXP he earned was off the charts.
"Guess that just means I was stuck at level 30 for way too long."
Ninety days.
He had maxed out his stat caps with Trial nexus rewards and had been stacking level-up points and bonus points ever since.
Not to mention — the skill proficiency he accumulated over those ninety days was unmatched.
"At this rate, I could start challenging D-rank dungeons soon."
With a few more unused skills and a suitable weapon ready, he’d be leveling up like a storm.
He’d quickly close the gap between himself and other players.
"The average ranker level already passed 100, right?"
Remembering the offhand comment Luke had made, Jhin realized how far behind he really was.
Rankers at level 100 probably had battle strength way beyond their actual level.
Even Millie, at level 78, could easily show combat power over 100 when she got serious.
And the others?
"Plus, Millie was ranked 12th... She was supposed to be the weakest among the TOP-Tier."
Even if Millie wasn’t using her main weapon — a sniper rifle — the other top rankers would be even stronger.
That made things all the more alarming.
Jhin turned his eyes to Luke, who was wandering ahead.
He looked like a hollow shell. When Jhin got closer, he heard the man muttering to himself.
"That can’t be... It’s a lie. There’s no way... It’s impossible..."
Luke’s state was suspicious. But there wasn’t even time to ask what was going on.
Millie suddenly loaded her pistol.
She spoke calmly.
"Signs of battle."
The surroundings definitely didn’t look normal — bloodstains, chaos everywhere.
First, the blood.
On top of a wrecked car, someone was sprawled out.
One of the survivors who had returned earlier.
Caleb approached and checked his pulse, then shook his head grimly.
"Already dead."
The group quicked their pace toward Stoneveil City Station.
As they descended the stairs, the already dim surroundings grew pitch black, with not a speck of light.
"...Is anyone there?"
An empty voice echoed out.
It was a terrible place, but this had been the only survivor camp around. Now, it was deathly silent.
Only traces remained that someone had once been there.
Jhin’s eyes sharpened.
"There are battle marks here too."
But something about them was strange.
It wasn’t just people running outward — signs of people rushing inward, clashing and paTalaing, overlapped messily.
Maybe a chaotic battle broke out.
Jhin thought of one possibility.
"Something came out from inside."
Exchanging a glance with Caleb, Jhin began searching the platform seriously.
And soon, he reached a conclusion.
"Dungeon disease."
"Huh?"
"The dungeon sickness — it’s worsened."
Luke, distracted, tripped over a fallen body and landed hard.
He froze, staring wide-eyed at the corpse — its bloodshot eyes staring back.
"Uwaaaagh!"
The dungeon sickness had worsened.
There were no signs of Skeleton intrusions or any monsters — only the symptoms of the disease.
But dungeon sickness shouldn’t have spiked like this.
If anything, after conquering the Death Garden, the disease should’ve weakened.
Why was it getting worse?
Millie voiced the same doubt.
"The source dungeon was cleared. How could more spore viruses leak in?"
There shouldn’t have been any new infections.
That was what was supposed to happen.
"Ugh..."
Suddenly, a faint groan echoed nearby.
Everyone immediately turned toward the sound.
There — pinned beneath collapsed rubble — was a young man.
Caleb rushed forward and shook his shoulder.
"Ugh..."
"Hey, can you hear me?"
"Ugh, wh-where am I?"
Jhin quickly pulled out a potion — but frowned as system messages popped up.
[Cannot use potion on this target.]
[’Resurrection Potion’ required.]
A death sentence from the system.
Jhin looked down at the man’s legs.All nerves severed, blood circulation already lost.
Even his highest-grade potions wouldn’t help.
Without a Resurrection Potion, he was as good as dead.
The only reason he was still alive at all was because he was a Player.
Barely, just barely clinging to a sliver of HP.
Jhin silently stowed away the healing potion and took out a green vial instead.
〈Paralysis Potion〉
"Drink this. It’ll ease the pain."
As the potion flowed into the man’s body, the effect took hold.
His body stiffened like a log — but he was no longer writhing in agony.
"You okay? Can you hear me?"
"...Detective?"
Caleb gave a grim smile.
"What the hell happened here?"
The man’s bleary eyes darted back and forth.
And after a moment, he finally opened his mouth.