Fake Dungeon

After I recruited Brass, I went towards the location where I had left Mark and the others. Although small, having as much manpower as possible in this kind of action was pretty important.

"Where are we?" asked Brass.

"We are at a secret entrance on the north side of the city. Not a lot of people know about this passage, so I will appreciate it if you keep it a secret."

"North? I thought the battles between the undead were happening in the south. Aren't we here for the Necromancer?"

Most of the undead were focused on the south side, and since controlling undead wasn't easy over long distances, many thought the Necromancer would be in the south too. But that was wrong.

"I'll explain after we get out of here."

"Why didn't we take the north gate? Wouldn't it be easier if we went from there?"

It was true. Passing the north gate was the best possible way of getting out of the city. But I left my ID card as a guarantee at the potion shop. To pass through a gate without any ID, one was required to pay a fee, and I didn't have the money on me.

"I said I'll explain everything," I said in frustration.

The narrow path of the hidden passageway was truly bothersome, but Brass didn't seem bothered at all.

After we got out of the hidden path and walked for a while, we stumbled upon many out-of-shape trees in the area. I couldn't say for a fact, but by watching Brass's face, I could tell it might be the Dark Mana's doing.

This wasn't great for Aloraz. This tainted forest could contaminate the monsters in the area and make them go on a rampage once again. I needed to stop it before everything got tainted with Dark Mana.

Brass and I walked for an hour, and then I saw what we were looking for. Mark was sitting on a big stone while Kevin and Carl were sleeping quietly.

Mark noticed us from afar and began to talk while walking toward us, "I really thought you forgot about us."

"Don't worry. I went and brought a friend to help us with our undead situation."

"Well, I don't think you need your 'friend' anymore. Literally, more than a hundred skeletons crossed here a long time ago. We are doomed," he said after looking at Brass.

"I wasn't expecting you guys to take care of everything to begin with. With each passing day, the number of undead will increase, and if we don't take care of the people behind it, the city will collapse."

"What do you mean by that? Is someone controlling the undead?" said Mark, confused.

Brass and Mark were waiting patiently for my answer. I realized I hadn't explained anything to Mark and the others.

I opened my mouth and said, "The undead are here due to the Necromancer commands, and I know their hideout, thanks to a reliable informant."

Mark looked perplexed while Brass seemed to be thinking calmly. I wasn't expecting to tell another lie for this [Event], but I didn't have any choice.

"Alright, so what are we going to do?" asked Brass.

"We are going towards Gray Tip Mountain in the north. We are going to stop the Necromancer once and for all."

Mark quickly went and woke Kevin and Carl, and we departed for the mountain. Along the way, I introduced Brass to the others. It didn't take us long to reach the mountain entrance.

We established a camping area far from the mountain. With Carl's help, we found that a cave was heavily guarded by some elite undead, which meant that cave was our destination.

But attacking the cave was a bad idea since the Necromancer had a detailed plan to destroy the city, which meant they surely installed many security measures in their hideout.

"… So rushing in without a plan is suicide," I said.

"What do you mean? All we need to do is be careful about the traps and kill all the undead we see," said Brass, agitated, unlike his usual calm demeanor.

"I know you really want to kill them, but we will die 100% if we enter that cave right now. Don't you think this is a little strange? For example, how did they manage to summon this many undead out of nowhere, or what is their actual reason for attacking Aloraz?"

"Fine… tell us your plan."

The others quickly focused their attention on me.

"I have a plan. A plan to destroy the Necromancer hideout and [Save] Aloraz."

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[ Skill "Save & Reset: Save" Activated ]

[ 987/1/26 14:43 has been saved as the new Checkpoint ]

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"Alright, tell us about it," said Mark.

I didn't have any plans. It was true that I knew many things about [Doomed Fantasy], but that didn't mean I could do everything I wanted. I simply didn't have the required power to destroy the Necromancer easily, but that didn't mean I couldn't finish this [Event].

I had [Save & Reset]. I could do anything without any consequence and then return to where I was with a single word.

All I needed was more information and data.

In the first [Reset], Kevin and I began to visit the cave and locate any important rooms inside it. The cave had a maze-like characteristic as a defense mechanism, which didn't take me long to crack.

"Hey, it's been more than 2 hours since we entered the cave. Shouldn't we go back?"

"We don't need to. [Reset]"

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[ Skill "Save & Reset: Reset" Activated ]

[ Restarting From the Recent Checkpoint ]

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After some [Resets] for investigation, I entered the cave alone to see if my theories about the cave were true.

"Hey, who's there?" said the mysterious hooded figure.

"Oh, it looks like I have been found out," I said mockingly.

I decided to expose myself to those who were close to the entrance to see which organization they belonged to. I could tell easily that the guy I encountered wasn't a [Necromancer].

"HAHA, you think you could pass without me noticing?" he said.

Well, I was passing him without any problem in my past [Resets], but that wasn't the main point.

"Please forgive me. I am just a normal farmer who ran from the city. My carriage was attacked by the undead, and my horses ran away. Please help me!" I said while acting helpless.

"It seems like you know nothing," he said, covering his whole face with a wicked smile.

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[ Opponent Used "Chain Bind" Skill ]

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He used a low-tier Dark Mage skill, which meant he had 'just' finished his first job advancement. In terms of level, he was higher than me, but his magic was super sloppy to the point that I could break free from his bind easily, but I didn't.

"W-what is that? Why are you doing this?" I said while my body was wrapped around a black chain.

"HAHAHA, you should blame your own destiny for betraying you. We are the Dark Mages who cause the undead havoc."

"Wh-what? Please don't hurt me. I have a family to feed!" My acting was untraceable, and I relied on it for the time being.

"Well, I can't do that. After all, this is only for the rise of our Supreme Leader."

Upon hearing the words "Supreme Leader," I could easily eliminate more than half of the Dark organizations that I knew of.

"Please let me go. I won't tell anyone about this. Please spare me."

"If you didn't know our location, I might let you leave (lie), but since you now know, I need to kill you."

"N-no, don't do that. At least let me ask a question."

"HAHAHA, fine. I, The Great Dark Mage, Keilo, will answer your question."

"W-which supreme leader are you talking about?"

"Oho, is this your question? Well, it doesn't matter since you're going to die anyway. We follow the path of corruption and chaos, and the one who leads the way is the holder of the Demonic Horn, Dark Ascended Vulture."

With that sentence, I could easily tell who was behind all of this. They call themselves the Demonic Bloodline.

The Demonic Bloodline wasn't very popular at the story's beginning, but I, of all people, know what a pain in the ass they might be. They are one of the strongest and most villainous dark organizations, with a stupid goal of world destruction.

Their leader was one of the Bad Ending makers in the game, due to his stupidly overpowering special skill, [Corpse Absorption].

"Ah, finally, why can't every third-rate villain stop yapping about their stupid plan?" I said while breaking out of my made-up character.

"What?!" The shock on the hooded figure was quite pleasing.

"Thanks to you, I now know how to deal with this place. And by the way, [Reset]."

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[ Skill "Save & Reset: Reset" Activated ]

[ Restarting From the Recent Checkpoint ]