Dead or not Dead?
*** Chen Murong's point of view. ***
"Acheeew!" Huilong sneezed very hard and rubbed his nose. The wind took some of the smoke in his direction and irritated his face. If you noticed, his eyes also began tearing now.
"Aahh, who cares! I'm hungry as hell!" Huilong cried and went further to the grilled site to get his second BBQ stick. While he was doing that, uncle Chen Fang suddenly asked.
"Come to think of it. What will happen if we die in the dungeon? Would our spiritual energy accumulations be reduced by 10%, as the system told us?"
I paused my eating and answered. "No, uncle. That will be the case if we fail to find the key or decide to leave the dungeon early by activating the portal on another side. If our spiritual senses have already been awakened, we will lose our spiritual senses and need to be reawakened again. If we haven't awakened yet, we will die."
"You mean we will be really dead?!" Huilong was quite shocked upon hearing this. At first, he thought it was like the online game that he played where everyone could be revived and sent to restart outside of the dungeon.
"Yes, you will die for real," I said to verify the statement I made before.
"Then, if we enter the dungeon and awaken again, does it mean we will have an additional life a second time?" Uncle Chen Fang continued asking to confirm his assumption.
"Yes, and you could have third, fourth, and so on… That is also why the "Awakening spiritual sense" is always listed as one of the rewards. Otherwise, there would be no sense to have that choice to choose in the first place since everyone would be automatically awakened at the beginning of the apocalypse. In the future, if you take a risk on a more difficult dungeon and die, most people will go back to a much easier dungeon to reawaken their spiritual senses first before reattempting the difficult ones." I clarified and continued to add the warning.
"However, this rule is only applied in the dungeon, though. If we die outside of the dungeon, we will go to the afterlife realm for good."
"I see." Uncle Chen Fang noddingly replied.
At this time, some family members had almost finished their meals. After gulping down a cup of apple juice, Chen Yawen wiped her mouth and said. "So, it will be our turn tomorrow?"
"Yes, grandma. For tomorrow, it will be me, Dawei, uncle, mom, and you." I replied.
Huilong grabbed some tissues to wipe BBQ source from his nose and said. "Ahhh. It is not my turn yet?"
"Your turn will be next," I said with a smile on my face.
Chen Dong cleared his throat and said. "We will all have a chance to go in anyway. What is the rush?"
Huilong nodded with that response, but he was still pouting. He did not want to went in last. He knew what his dad meant, but he still felt a little bit unsatisfied. Somehow, he was always the latest in his family. But he can't complain, can he? He thought.
So, the dinner was continued for about half an hour while the sun was setting down. The sunset that evening was spectacular, though. After an enjoyable BBQ, my family and I wrapped up the eating site and departed to our tents to rest.
…..
…..
The next morning, as arranged yesterday, the next group that entered the dungeon was Chen Murong, Chen Dawei, Chen Fang, Chen Yawen, and Chen Yiren. Before seeing the wolf's number on the second round of dungeon, Murong actually would like to bring Huilong and Yilin along too instead of Dawei and uncle Fang. However, after seeing a significant increase in the number of the wolf, he decided to play it safe for now. That was why he told his family about the order to go into the dungeon this way. With Dawei and uncle Fang, there should be no danger. His family only has to stay here longer for two more days.
This decision also turned out to be correct later...
The second dungeon clearing had a good result. Not only was no one injured in the process, but they also got a few nice items. They got three non-limit occupation artifacts that could be used right now. Thinking of that, Murong recalled the details of the three things in his mind.
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Item status
Name: Purple wolf leather shoes
Class: Soldier
Grade: D
Active skill: Increase movement speed +4 level
No cooldown limits.
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Item status
Name: Purple wolf leather belt
Class: Soldier
Grade: D
Passive skill: Increase spiritual defense +4 level
No cooldown limits.
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Item status
Name: Purple wolf leather hat
Class: Soldier
Grade: D
Active skill: Increase spiritual attack +4 level
No cooldown limits.
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These were not superb items per se, but they were good enough for the beginner. They could give him an edge advantage over the adversary or help him escape a dangerous situation.
So far, everything had proceeded as planned. But at the third dungeon run, there was an unexpected event. The dungeon had a major transformation! He knew that the dungeon would eventually upgrade, but it evolved faster than he anticipated.
"Ding! Silver wolf, a beast of the soldier rank, level 5 detected." The usual system's announcement sounded in the Murong group's mind when the silver wolf suddenly showed up in their sights with shiny fur.
"What! This is bad." Murong spoke with a worried face and signaled everyone to retreat quietly. He then continued to explain to the rest about this beast after their group was far enough from it.
"This is a level 5 beast. Compare to level 2 beast, black wolf, they are significantly different. Our gun would not be able to cause a substantial injury in its body. While our bullets could penetrate its skin, it will disintegrate, and its wound will heal quickly. It seems the dungeon is evolved due to our previous clearings. Though, it is too fast than what I remember."
"Then, how will we kill it?" Dawei promptly asked.
"The dungeon would not give us an impossible task. Usually, there would be a natural enemy of this wolf or something that could make this wolf weaker in the dungeon. It is the rule of stable nature ecology."
"Here, I have several silver bullets. If we mixed these bullets with the potion from Wolfbane and Moonwort, these bullets should be able to penetrate its skin and slow its disintegration. These two plants should be here somewhere. We could separate into two groups and try to look for them. Let's say about 1 hour, and we will regroup?"
"Sound good, but how are they look like?" Chen Fang asked for more details.
"Wolfbane has leaves that are rounded, and it is palmately divided into 4-6 well-lobed segments. It has purple flowers that are helmet-shaped, and it can grow up from the floor from 1 foot to 1 meter tall. As for Moonwort, it is small, with fleshy roots, and reproduces by spores shed into the air. One part of the leaf is fernlike, and the other carries the clusters of sporangia or spore cases." Murong slightly paused and added after seeing some confusing faces. "Basically, you guys are looking for a big purple flower plant and a small green plant with a lot of spores."
"That is easier to understand," Huilong said with a chuckle.
"Any questions?" Murong asked the team, and they all shook their faces as responses.
"Since there is no question, let's begin finding the plants," Murong concluded and led the way to survey the area around.