C182: My current situation is little embarrassing!

On the side of the cemetery, I found a path that led downward, which elicited dopamine within me.

"Sure enough, this path should be the right one! But it doesn't look like the Undead Town mentioned earlier. It's more like an underground ruin."

Looking downward, Song Ren muttered to himself.

But right now, he didn't care about details. He just ran forward with no hesitation.

The souls had been consumed during the recent leveling. With just three digits of souls remaining, what's there to fear? The burden is gone, and now he is a free bird.

As Song Ren steps deeper, he saw a dark opening and dove straight in like a free bird who escape its cage which is the fire shrine.

At the same time, the name of the new scene appeared at the top of the screen: The Catacombs.

"NICE! This is it! As long as I pass through this underground cemetery, I should be able to reach the underground ruins!"

Seeing the name of the new scene, Song Ren was excited. After all, underground ruins and underground cemetery were similar, with both being underground. He felt there must be some connection between the two.

He completely forgot the village mentioned by the Disheartened Brother earlier.

"The damage is so high! Sure enough, the new work not only improved the map and level design but also made small improvements in monsters values from the previous work!"

While traversing the catacombs, Song Ren encountered two skeleton monsters wielding knives. One struck, and his HP dropped by half.

Due to being overweight, he wasn't wearing any armor. Watching his health dwindle rapidly, he managed to escape just in time. He then took a sip of the Estus to recover the lost health.

"If I were an ordinary rookie player, I'd fight a bit here," he thought.

"But as a fire passer who's been through hundreds of deaths, I know all too well the tricks here!" The two skeleton soldiers approaching were nothing more than minor obstacles. Song Ren chuckled, as if he had returned to his wise self from the days since undead village.

At this moment, I am not fighting alone! Countless lab rats are standing behind me.

The view ahead decreased as I move down. Fortunately, the background music isn't eerie, and there are torches on the walls for illumination. Otherwise, it would quickly turn into a horror game.

There are three skeletons on the path that don't seem easy to handle, but, I run fast.

I dodge the soldiers on the road with swift movements. When I reach the steps, I roll and fall, but I didn't think much about it and continued forward.

Some skeleton soldiers wielding long swords blocked my path. Following the strategic insight of avoiding fights, I choose to go around them.

Then, my eagles eyes spot a hole in the wall on the left.

A corpse rolls in, and ahead of me is a lantern ghost with a large fireball in its hand. Aside, it is an unlit bonfire.

Next to the lantern-wielding corpse is an obvious switch.

As the fireball is thrown at me, I hurriedly roll to dodge and then run to light the bonfire.

After lighting it, I finally feel relieved. I pick up the hammer and rush to the lantern-wielding mage, striking wildly.

Its movements are stiff, and there's not much threat except for a little extra health.

"Sure enough, this game is full of spite! The big ball in the Undead Prison before, and now this lantern-wielding corpse!" (The character is frequently using the last version of dark soul for comparison)

"A bonfire, a lantern-wielding monster that amplifies the fireball! Normal players, unprepared, would stare directly at the bonfire and get hit by the fireball."

'This is desperation?'

'This is blowing up newbie mentalities? That's how I played the previous game, and was hit at many fires. And, most players would be killed by the fireball and likely have their spirits crushed,' I thought while feeling the future warmth of the bonfire while being overwhelmed by my thought.

It's a shame that I'm playing this game by myself, with no one here to watch this masterclass.

Thinking of this, I took my phone, and send a message: "How's your progress, Zhang? The difficulty has increased!"

On the other side, Zhang Yi, who had just arrived at Undead Town outside the city, was surrounded by skeleton soldiers and is sent back to the campfire. He saw the message from me and looked at the ["You are dead!"] Screen.

Zhang Yi replied with understanding, "Yeah! The damage by the mobs is higher than in the previous game! And they attract a lot of attention during battle. Their desire to attack is much stronger."

I reply while playing: "Really? And it's devious. The first bonfire even had a lantern corpse that throws the fireball at you."

"??????? A lantern corpse? Isn't the first bonfire just a group of undead soldiers in an Undead Town outside the city, with an attic guarded by an archer?" Zhang Yi was momentarily stunned.

Meanwhile, in the underground cemetery:

"Shhhhhh...!"

Song Ren, who was directly slashed by two skeletons holding long swords and is sent back to the bonfire. Nearby him stood the living corpse with a lantern, was stunned when he read Zhang Yi's message.

Undead town outside the city!?

Not the catacombs!?

Song Ren seemed to recall something bad, and even as the Lantern shot him two big fireballs, he didn't notice the [You are dead!] message.

At this point, Zhang Yi's message continued:

"Old Song, did you run into the wrong map? I ran the wrong map too, and ended up in a place called ancient ruins."

"I will tell you, that place is really something! The few living corpses at the door. I can't resist them and are similar to mini bosses, and once you go deeper, there are ghosts. They attack one by one, though. The most important part is that I couldn't hit them. It's like fighting real ghosts!"

"I think it's a high-level map only accessible later in the game, placed next to the Fire link Sacrificial Field."

"Old Song, are you alright?"

Zhang Yi asked with concern, but he didn't wait for a reply from Song Ren, as he continued his game.

Looking at the text message from Zhang Yi on his phone, and then at the lantern monster who was still repeatedly attacking him, Song Ren picked up his phone with a trembling hand and replied,"Not good... My situation is a little grim!"

Little grim? More than just a little.

Song Ren soon realized an even more critical issue:

When he arrived at this underground cemetery, he had rolled down the steps. As everyone knows, undead have no knees, so there was no way to go back the same way.

More importantly, he had lit the bonfire in front of him.

Unlike previous games, this bonfire didn't have a teleportation function.

This meant that after his death, he will be resurrected at this bonfire.

To return to the Fire link shrine, he would have to find another way!

As he looked at the Lantern Mage still tirelessly launching fireballs at him, Song Ren's is thinking about a new start.