--- The Corrupted Glades

*Sploosh!* *Drip!* *Drip!* *Drip!*

He arrived at the shore of the mini-island in the middle of the lake and directly walked towards the little kids who were floating near the trees. To his surprise, the kids also moved towards him, who seemed to be happy to see him. It weirded him out. Maybe they badly needed some help? is what he thought.

[Lexy Moonbow(S-) Lvl.1

HP: 1 MAtk: 0

Skills: Dark Coating, Weaken, Float

Drops: n/a

Status: Cursed, Restless Spirit]

(Hidden: Requires 1,000 Charm to approach. Follow the twins to trigger quest: Madness End.)

[Elly Moonbow(S-) Lvl.1

HP:1 MAtk:0

Skills: Light Coating, Blessing, Float

Drop: n/a

Status: Cursed, Restless Spirit]

(Hidden: Requires 1,000 Charm to approach. Follow the twins to trigger quest: Madness End.)

Approaching him were two little girls, about three years old. One has waist-length pure white hair, while the other has shoulder-length pure black hair; aside from that difference, they have similar looks with cute doll-like faces. They were barefoot and wearing ragged dresses with some holes and tears all over.

'Sure enough, there's a quest! And what's with the Charm requirement? Do they expect everyone to have that much Charm?'

"Um... Hello kids!"

""...""

'Huh? Are they mute?'

The girls just nodded at him without breaking eye contact. Afterwards, they held his hands, urging him to follow them.

'Well, the quest will start if I follow them...'

[Ding! A Quest has been triggered!

Title: Madness End (S)

Description: Follow the twins into the corrupted glades.

Quest Rewards: Unknown.]

'Oh? An S-rank quest! Where's the glade, though? Is it inside this small patch of trees?'

The twins dragged him to the trees in the middle of the small island. There was a circular open space surrounded by trees. And then a portal appeared at the very center of the open space.

[Everglade Entrance: The only way to enter the glades. A one time instance/dungeon area. Clear it and it's corruption to obtain the Everglades.]

"A one time dungeon huh...? What does it mean with 'obtain'...?"

""...""

He murmured while inspecting the portal. The twins held his hands tighter while looking at him with puppy eyes, as if asking him to help them.

"Alright, Let's go!"

Without hesitation, he entered the portal. The twins had a cute smile on their adorable doll-like faces. He even had the urge to pinch them, but held it back.

[You entered the Everglades. Monsters: Corrupted Animals(D+ - B+), Corrupted Ents(C+), Corrupted Spirits(B+), Mad King(A+)]

'Huh? That's it? I thought this will have an S rank boss...'

[Quest Update: Purify the glades by destroying the orb of corruption. Note: Beware of the poisonous mist and the corrupted creatures that prowl within the glades.]

'Oh, so I just need to find and destroy an orb...I'm sure Mad King was guarding it. And poison? Heh! I'm immune to that. Good thing I found that skill in the hidden realms of the beginner's village...

"Let's g- Huh? I see...let's go!"

The twins turned into a small ball of light and darkness and began circling around him, surprising him a bit. He then marched forward to explore the corrupted glades. Excitement filled his eyes as he wondered what kind of awesome loot he may find.

*Slosh!* *Slosh!* *Slosh!*

"Ugh! What the hell...!"

The ground was covered in a sticky green goo-like substance, and the grass was like a sticky tentacle-like jelly that he was stepping on. Every step he took made a weird sound. The air has a rancid smell, and he's already on the verge of puking.

"Man, I will take a long, nice bath after I log out later. No wonder these girls turn into a floating ball...So unfair! I'd rather be in the sewers than here. This is definitely the hardest part of this quest!"

""...""

[Camouflage]!

After using camouflage, he ran fast to end this quest as soon as possible, as he didn't want to stay here any longer. He had invisibility anyway, so he's not afraid of being found. Only heavenly-ranked monsters and above had the capability of detecting him. And the detection still depends on the skill's rank.

[Corrupted Ent(C+) Lvl. 45

HP: 2,500,000 Atk: 45,000

Skills: Lacerate, Corruption, Entangle

Drops: Gold Coins, Ironwood, Skillbooks]

[Corrupted Bear(B+) Lvl. 45

HP:11,000,000 Atk: 95,000

Skills: Maul, Corruption, Warcry

Drops: Gold Coins, Leather, Skillbooks]

[Corrupted Spirit(B+) Lvl. 45

HP: 6,500,000 Atk: 250,000

Skills: Wail, Corruption, Spirit Eyes, Ethereal, Floating

Drops: Spirit Stone, Ectoplasm, Skillbooks (Hidden: Spirit Necklace).]

'They have very few skills, but that corruption skill seems to be awesome; that ghost drops spirit stones and has a hidden accessory too; and that spirit eye seems useful as well. Even though I don't like staying here, these types of monsters are limited, and I might not encounter them for a long time in the future.'

Notching his arrow, he aimed at the ghost creature.

[Powershot]! *Swooosh!* *Fwip!* -Miss *Thunk!*

'Huh?'

*Screech!* *ROAR!*

"Oh shoot, Run!"

His attack missed the target, or rather, it passed through, hitting the rotting tree behind the ghost. After his invisibility broke, the ghost detected him, as well as the rest of the monsters.

[Etheral(S): Passive trait. Does not take any physical damage. But takes twice the magic and elemental attacks.]

"I guess it makes sense...?" [Blink]! [Camouflage]!

""...""

The twins unconsciously rolled their eyes. Having no idea why they did that...

He blinked out and turned invisible, but they were still on his tail, which dumbfounded him.

"Huh? What now? Is my Camouflage not working? This ghost is fast too! Tsk!"

[Spirit Eyes(S): Passive. Peers through the soul of the living. Can detect any living creatures, bypassing its invisibility.]

"I see... What an amazing ability! I want that!"

[Magic Missile]! *Whiwiw!* *Bam!* x25 -11,900 x25

"Crap, my magic attacks are too weak! I guess this is my weakness huh...?"

He used one of his targeted magical spells on the ghost but was too dissatisfied with its damage output. If the mages around the world heard his complaint, they might curse him nonstop.

"Phew...how about this?"

[Entangling Web]! *Thud!* *Screeech!*

'Yes, now!' [Blink]!...[Blink]!...[Blink]!...

He ran fast with occasional blinks without looking back. He had no choice but to run with his tail between his legs, as he only had two targeted magic spells and they dealt too little damage, not to mention the long cooldown.

*Huff* *Huff* *Huff*

"It's a good thing that the web didn't pass through. Is it because it's considered magic? Bah, whatever. What matters is that it worked!'

*Sighs!*

"Now what to do? My magic is too weak for that shit. I seriously want that spirit eye skill."

He thought hard and even looked inside his inventory to see if there was anything that could help him with his current predicament, but he couldn't find anything that could. He doesn't want to give up that awesome skill, but he had no other choice but to press on while avoiding the ghosts.

**Clingiling!**

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the twins in glowing ball form glowed brightly, the white one twice and the black one once, then dimmed down and passed the glow to him.

[Dark Coating(A): Coats your body with darkness element. Adds darkness elemental to your physical attacks that deals extra 100% damage and gains +100% Armor. Lasts 2 hours.]

[Light Coating(A): Coats your body with light element. Adds light elemental to your physical attacks that deals extra 100% damage and gains +100% Armor. Lasts 2 hours.]

[Blessing(A): +100% DMG, 50% Crit. Rate, Doubles MS, Doubles Armor. Lasts 2 hours.]

"This...Nice one! Thank you, Little Lexy, Little Elly!"

""...""

[Light and Darkness Buff with Blessing detected! Fusing buffs...]

"Huh?"

[Blessing of Light and Darkness(S): +500% DMG, +500% Armor, 3x MS, Attacks will always crit; Physical Attacks becomes elemental; +1000% DMG to corrupted beings. Immune to corruption. Lasts for 1 day. Each player can only recieve the buff once per month.]

'Oh my god...!'

"Yeah! Hahaha! You shitty ghosts, time for payback!"

""..."" 'Big brother, we're ghosts too you know?' is what's probably in the twin's mind.

Chris laughed out loudly without any care if he gets discovered by monsters or not, as well as the small, unconscious dissatisfaction of the twins. With the buff on him, he will start his massacre and skill book hoarding, and there are spirit stones to be had too.