30: Starting the Nightmare Difficulty!

With the Vampire Baron's fury, the entrance to the Crimson Tomb dungeon gradually shifted from a translucent state to a color resembling blood, exuding a sinister aura. At the same time, every team currently attempting to tackle the dungeon received a system message.

"The sleeping Vampire Baron has been awakened, and his fury now blankets the entire Crimson Tomb."

Ding! "Monster attack power increased by 20%, attack speed increased by 20%!"

Beneath every monster's health bar, a new buff appeared—Baron's Wrath.

What was already a challenging fight for the teams quickly turned into a disaster.

The revival points erupted in frustration, with players venting their anger by cursing the game's developers.

They had had enough.

The difficulty was just absurd.

And yet, they couldn't understand why the Vampire Baron had suddenly appeared. And why did the dungeon monsters become stronger? Was this really necessary?

Although Baron's Wrath didn't increase the monsters' health or defense, the boost in attack power and speed was devastating. Many teams struggled to keep the main tank alive with continuous healing, but with the sudden surge in monster damage, the tanks became as fragile as paper and couldn't withstand the damage.

Without a tank to draw the aggro, the rest of the team were sitting ducks.

Realizing the dire situation, many players chose to abandon their dungeon attempts and return to leveling. They weren't worried; they were sure they would be able to beat the dungeon once they reached level ten.

Meanwhile, Drake, who was busy leveling, heard reports from his subordinates and decided to pull several elite teams out of the dungeon to focus on leveling. For now, the first kill of the Crimson Tomb was out of reach.

As for the sudden increase in difficulty, Drake speculated that Blackshade had likely played a part in it.

He couldn't help but feel excited. He was curious how long it would take Blackshade to clear this dungeon and which difficulty he would choose.

"If there are no surprises, it must be the Nightmare difficulty."

Drake thought, a fire of competition lighting up in his eyes.

Blackshade's appearance had reignited the competitive spirit in him. He was determined to make a name for himself in ExoGenesis and show Blackshade what he was capable of!

...

Meanwhile, Tristan, the instigator of all this, was choosing the dungeon difficulty.

One of the more player-friendly features of ExoGenesis was the ability to select a dungeon difficulty directly without needing to clear each level individually.

It wasn't that the earlier difficulties were too hard—it was just that it took too much time. Clearing the first three difficulties would reward players with first-kill bonuses and some decent loot, but it didn't hold much significance for Tristan.

He had already made a plan: once he defeated the Vampire Baron, he would expose the village chief, activate the main city teleportation array, and complete his first class advancement with the class trainer.

With his mind focused, Tristan selected the Nightmare difficulty.

Ding! "You have selected Nightmare difficulty. Please be aware that there have been unknown changes to this difficulty. Proceed with caution."

"Are you sure you want to proceed with Nightmare difficulty?"

"Yes."

As Tristan confirmed his choice, the dungeon entrance began to glow with starlight. He smiled and stepped forward.

Upon entering the dungeon, Tristan immediately heard the howls of wolves in the distance. But unlike before, these howls had a hoarse quality to them. Tristan knew immediately that the Wolf King had been transformed into an undead wolf, its body rotting, which explained the change in its howl.

Simultaneously, a low, mocking laugh echoed through the dungeon.

"I smell fresh flesh, so delicious. Intruder, I will drain the last drop of your blood."

"Go, my slaves, bring the intruders to me. I will feast!"

With the Vampire Baron's command, the entire Crimson Tomb was filled with excited, bloodthirsty howls.

These were the sounds of the blood vampire's minions.

Thud thud thud.

Chaotic footsteps came from all directions. In the dim light, horrific creatures quickly climbed the walls and rushed toward the dungeon entrance.

Tristan's gaze swept over them as the monster stats flashed before him.

Awakened Blood Vampire Minion

Level: 10

Health: 10,000

Attack: 400 (+80)

Defense: 280

Skills: Bite, Disease Infection, Bloody Tracking

Description: Adventurers who entered here years ago were turned into minions by the Vampire Baron and now loyally guard the tomb.

...

The monsters were level 10, with 10,000 health, high attack power, and defense—definitely mini-Bosses in the wild. Yet in this dungeon, they were just the ordinary mobs.

This was the Nightmare difficulty!

Even though the dungeon was capped at level 10, it was still formidable.

A group of blood vampire minions rushed forward only to stop dead in their tracks.

Where was the enemy?

They could smell the scent of a living human in the air, but they couldn't locate the intruder.

A Stealth enemy!

The blood vampire minions immediately adjusted their strategy and gathered together.

They had encountered Stealth enemies before and knew their weakness: the range of their attacks was small, and to strike, they had to leave Stealth, putting themselves in the enemy's range.

As soon as the enemy stepped out of Stealth, the minions would rush in and tear them apart, offering their remains to the Baron.

The minions had a solid plan—but they were up against Tristan, the one and only ranged assassin.

-11503! (Weak Spot Attack)

One blood vampire minion was hit in the head with a flying dagger, its health instantly depleted, and it fell dead to the ground.

Ding! "You killed a level 10 blood vampire minion. You gained 200 experience points. Experience limit locked, extra experience is added to the experience pool."

With the experience in hand, Tristan immediately activated Shadow Stealth.

The remaining blood vampire minions were stunned.

They could sense the enemy's presence.

But moments later, the enemy vanished.

This was the usual trick used by Stealth enemies—they had seen it before.

But this time, they had to admit, they hadn't seen this before.

The scent of the enemy was coming from dozens of meters away.

"How can a Stealth enemy attack from so far away?"

Could it be a ranger?

But no, rangers didn't Stealth.

The blood vampire minions were bewildered, realizing their usual tactics weren't working anymore.

According to their script, after the enemy took out a hapless victim, they were supposed to be vulnerable before reentering Stealth. They should have been able to overwhelm the enemy, but this time something was different.

What went wrong?

Before they could answer their own question, another blood vampire minion dropped dead.

As before, the minions could sense the presence of a living human for a split second.

Still dozens of meters away.

Growl! Growl!

Some of the minions couldn't contain their bloodlust and charged toward the source of the scent, their claws wildly swinging in the air as they tried to find the enemy.

But it was all in vain.

After several seconds, the minion swinging its claws froze, its health drained, and it fell to the ground, its last thought a confused one.