Chapter 195: Hidden Room

Damn it, how could things go wrong at a time like this!

If she had known, she would have been better off using Mental Shock to take out the Goblin Igniter!

Yun Mu thought to herself with a hint of regret.

But honestly, this couldn't be blamed on her either.

Who could have guessed that not only would the Burning status fail to trigger, but even Dabai's attack skill would be dodged by the opponent?

She was simply too unlucky! 【The Goblin Igniter begins its action!】

"Ya!"

Yun Mu felt as if she saw a trace of a mocking smile on the Goblin Igniter's face, yet when she observed its expression carefully, she realized it was merely excitement before it lit the cannon fuse.

【Ignite!】

The scorching torch touched the fuse at the rear of the Goblin Cannon lightly, and under Yun Mu's nervous gaze, the fuse gradually burned away. 【188mm of Justice!】

"Boom!!"

A dull explosion rang out from the barrel of the Goblin Cannon, and under Yun Mu's blank expression, a scarlet damage number popped up from the top of the Goblin Cannon.

【-30!】

"Th-this, did it misfire?" Yun Mu said, somewhat surprised.

She recalled the Goblin Cannon's trait, the effect of 【Shoddy Craftsmanship】, and her expression suddenly became somewhat strange.

Unexpected, truly unexpected; she had thought that failing to apply the Burning status and having Dabai's subsequent attack dodged was already unlucky enough.

As it turned out, the enemy's Goblin Cannon had actually misfired! Heaven really is helping me!

【Lucy begins her action!】

It was Lucy's turn, and Yun Mu gave a "hehe" laugh, saying: "I won't give you a chance to fire a second time!"

After finishing her sentence, she immediately ordered: "Lucy, use the Transformation skill, then use Blood Magic, Blood Arrow Technique!"

【Pressure +15】

"Why do I have to do this kind of thing"

Lucy complained as she raised her hand, and a large number of blood-colored arrows flew out from behind her, shooting toward the location of the Goblin Cannon and the Goblin Igniter.

【-13!】

【-35!】

"Ugh..."

The Goblin Igniter let out a wail, and its body immediately turned into fly ash and dissipated.

【Scarlet Knight begins its action!】

"It's over."

Glancing at the remaining HP of the Goblin Cannon, Yun Mu spoke and ordered: "Scarlet Knight, use the skill Thrust!"

When facing a single enemy, there was no need for the Scarlet Knight to use Scarlet Slash; Thrust still dealt higher damage.

Yun Mu thought in her heart.

"Hah!"

The Scarlet Knight gripped the hilt of the Scarlet Cross Sword with both hands and thrust it forcefully toward the Goblin Cannon! 【-26!】 (Critical Hit!) "A beautiful strike!" Yun Mu praised.

【You have achieved victory in battle!】

【Detected the effect of the player's Path 【Desire】, roll the dice? Yes/No】 "Of course."

Yun Mu nodded and said.

The familiar 20-sided Dice refreshed on the Game Panel, and she tapped it lightly on the panel with her intent; the Desire Dice immediately began to spin rapidly.

Soon, accompanied by a wisp of silver-gray light, the face of the dice showing the number 14 appeared before her.

【14】

【Affected by the 【Desire Dice】, the loot you harvested in this battle has increased by 14%!

You obtained 【Gold Coin】 *2662!】 (Desire Dice +14%, Pickpocketing +7%)

【You obtained a large amount of EXP!】 (Desire Dice +14%)

【You obtained the item 【Key to an Unknown Room (White)】】 【A Brass Key that can open an unknown room; perhaps you could search around here for a while?】

"Ah, the number of Gold Coins has actually broken ten thousand."

With another two thousand Gold Coins accounted for, Yun Mu glanced at the amount of Gold Coins in her inventory and said with some surprise.

【Gold Coin: 10292】

Besides that, she had also obtained a white-quality key.

"Can it open an unknown room?"

She picked up the Brass Key that had dropped to the ground after the Goblin Cannon died and thought thoughtfully.

"How about calling out the Treasure Chest?" Lucy, who was to the side, suggested at this moment.

"When it comes to finding treasure, the Treasure Chest is much better at this than those Experts!"

"The Treasure Chest can be used like that?" Yun Mu said, somewhat surprised.

Thinking about it carefully, it is a Treasure Chest after all; if it couldn't find treasure, the items inside it couldn't just appear out of thin air, right?

While exclaiming that she had learned something new, Yun Mu summoned Chester from the Game Panel.

"Gaba gaba!"

After being summoned, Chester immediately began to spin around excitedly at Yun Mu's feet.

"Don't mess around..."

Yun Mu squatted down, slapped Chester's treasure chest lid forcefully, took out the Brass Key she had just picked up, waved it in front of its face?, and asked:

"Xiaoqie, can you help me find the room for this key?"

"Gaba?"

Chester seemed to tilt the Treasure Chest lid in confusion; just as Yun Mu thought it wouldn't work, she saw Chester stick out its tongue, gently coil it around the Brass Key in her hand, and swallow it into its belly.

"Gaba gaba."

As if savoring the taste of the key, Chester kept opening and closing the Treasure Chest lid, much like a human smacking their lips.

"Tui~"

Spitting the Brass Key out of its mouth in one go, Chester ran off into the distance with lightning speed.

"Hey, wait!"

Too busy to be disgusted by the saliva, Yun Mu hurriedly picked up the Brass Key from the ground and followed in Chester's footsteps.

The group arrived at a corner of the Elite Challenge area; after clearing away a large number of wooden barrels, crates, and other debris, a trapdoor reinforced with iron bars appeared on the wooden platform floor.

"Gaba gaba!"

Chester swung its large pink tongue and shouted excitedly.

"Is this it?"

Feeling the emotions transmitted through the contract, Yun Mu roughly understood its meaning and asked.

"Gaba!"

After receiving an affirmative answer, she crouched down, took out the Brass Key she had just obtained, and gently inserted it into the iron lock of the trapdoor.

Click.

The sound of the key engaging the lock core came from within; Yun Mu's face lit up with joy, and she immediately turned the Brass Key in her hand to lift the trapdoor on the floor.

A dark staircase leading underground appeared before the group.

【You have discovered 【Hidden Area: Abandoned Goblin Cellar Lv22 (Elite)】, enter?】【Note: There is a probability of a 【Hidden Area】 existing in every Dungeon, and there is at most one.】

【You may exit at any time after entering the 【Hidden Area】, but you will be unable to enter the 【Hidden Area】 again after exiting.】 "There's actually a hidden area?"

Interesting. A look of interest appeared on Yun Mu's face; since it was only Lv22, as long as it wasn't an Expert-level Dungeon difficulty, she felt she could go down and give it a try.

Hmm. Judging by her current strength, there shouldn't be any problems.

Even if she really encountered an accident, couldn't she just exit and run away at any time?

It would be a pity to give up without even going in to take a look.

Thinking of this, she decisively chose yes.

Walking down the dark stairs into the cellar, an indescribable stench mixed with a large amount of dust rushed into her nasal cavity.

The foul stench reminded Yun Mu of some unpleasant memories.

"I've really had enough..."

Forcing herself to suppress the urge to exit the 【Hidden Area】 right now, Yun Mu led the group toward the depths of the cellar. "This place used to... seem to be a prison?" Looking at the many stone bars on both sides of the walkway and the square rooms behind the bars, Yun Mu speculated.

"This is indeed a prison," Lucy glanced at a withered bone in the room on the right and said, "Although the vast majority of Goblins have low intelligence, a relatively complete set of rules has actually formed within them."

"Goblins who make mistakes are locked up as punishment, and living creatures captured in battle are also thrown into specially built cells."

"Besides being a prison, this is also a cellar for storing food and spoils of war, though I don't know why it has been abandoned for so long."

Lucy lightly drew her finger across the wall and looked at the dust on her fingertip as she spoke.

"I sense the aura of the Undead, meow~" Eve followed behind the group with a calm expression, seemingly unaffected by the smell in the cellar.

"Undead, huh?" A thoughtful expression appeared on Lucy's face; she thought for a moment and said, "This is probably the reason why this place was abandoned."

"An extremely poor sanitary environment will give rise to a large number of corpses, and since Goblins are very lazy creatures, these corpses are not disposed of in time, which catalyzes the birth of Undead creatures."

"In this kind of environment, as long as one Undead is born, it will cause a chain reaction-like effect."

She paused, her expression suddenly becoming somewhat serious, and said, "Everyone be careful. If it were just an outbreak of a large number of low-level Undead, it shouldn't be enough to make a camp of Goblins abandon this place."

"I imagine some sort of troublesome fellow must have been catalyzed..." she said.

"Mm."

Yun Mu nodded, keeping Lucy's warning in mind.

She led the group through the long, narrow corridor and soon arrived in an open room.

This place seemed to have been a warehouse, but now that it was abandoned, most of the food stored inside had rotted, creating a putrid stench.

And in the deepest corner of the room, the sharp-eyed Yun Mu immediately saw a shadow wriggling... "Aooooooo~~~"

A deep howl suddenly reached her ears, and Yun Mu felt a blur before her eyes; a skeleton head shrouded in yellow robes, wearing a crown, and emitting ghostly blue Ghost Fire appeared before her! 【Battle Start!】

【You have encountered an enemy—【Undead Witch Lv22 (Elite)】】 【Undead Witch Lv22 (Elite) Max HP: 88 Race: Undead

Attack 35, Spell Strength 38, Defense 35, Resilience 4, Dodge 15, Speed 20, Precision Correction 25, Critical Hit 1% Traits: Undead (Necromancy effect +15%, immune to Poisoning and other negative states, damage taken from Divine attribute +30%), Osteoporosis (damage taken from blunt weapon strikes +25%)

Skills: Undead Summoning, Dead Resurrection, Reveal True Form, Undead Shield, Hell Traction.】 【Current Turn: 1】

【Player Yun Mu acts first!】

Mental Shock, I must use Mental Shock immediately!

Startled by the opponent suddenly appearing in front of her, Yun Mu thought without hesitation.

【Mental Shock!】

【-77!】

Powerful mental energy condensed together and struck hard inside the Undead Witch's skull; having just appeared, the opponent's HP immediately dropped to 11! 【Undead Witch begins its turn!】

【Undead Summoning!】

The yellow-robed Undead Witch spread its arms, and three ghostly blue magic circles appeared in front of it.

And within the ghostly blue light released by the magic circles, three figures slowly emerged.

【Skeleton Guard Lv20 (Elite) Max HP: 50 Omitted

Attack 25, Spell Strength 5, Defense 40, Resilience 8, Dodge 20, Speed 16, Precision Correction 30, Critical Hit 6% Omitted

Skills: Cleave, Thrust, Guard】 【Skeleton Priest Lv20 (Elite) Max HP: 35 Omitted

Attack Power 10, Spell Strength 25, Defense 20, Resilience 4, Dodge 50, Speed 17, Precision Correction 25, Critical Hit 4% omitted

Skills: Heal, Judgment】【Skeleton Archer lv20 (Elite) Max HP: 30 omitted

Attack Power 25, Spell Strength 5, Defense 16, Resilience 5, Dodge 45, Speed 20, Precision Correction 45, Critical Hit 18% omitted

Skills: Snipe, Hasty Shot】 Three lv20 Undead skeletons were summoned by the Corpse Witch. Yun Mu glanced roughly at their attributes and discovered that the speeds of these guys were 16 points, 17 points, and 20 points, respectively.

In other words, the next character to act will be 【Skeleton Archer begins action!】

【Snipe!】

Wearing a tattered cloak and holding a wooden longbow, the Skeleton Archer pulled back the bowstring, aimed at Lucy's position, and shot an arrow! Puchi!

The arrow hit Lucy in the chest, and a conspicuous damage number jumped out from above her head.

【-15!】

【Lucy's current HP: 29/44】

【Skeleton Priest begins action!】

【Heal!】

Wearing a light gray Church robe and holding a tattered Codex, the Skeleton Priest held the Codex high and released a ghostly blue light, shrouding the head of the Corpse Witch at position number four.

【+25!】

【Corpse Witch: 36/88】

【Bloodline Living Corpse begins action!】

Too lazy to complain about why a priest could become Undead, or even be able to cast an Undead version of a Heal spell, Yun Mu opened her mouth to command:

"Dabai, use the skill Counterattack Guard on Lucy!"

"Roar!!"

Dabai stood in front of Lucy and let out a fierce Roar.

【Counterattack】

【Defense +60%】

【Skeleton Guard begins action!】

Wearing armor made of metal, holding a sword in his right hand and a shield in his left, the Skeleton Guard held his shield high, blocking in front of the Corpse Witch.

【Guard!】

【Defense +80%!】

"Hiss, these guys are a bit difficult to deal with," Yun Mu frowned slightly, thinking with a headache.

At this moment, it was Lucy's turn to act.

"Hmm," after thinking for a moment, she said: "Lucy, use the Immoral Notebook skill Immoral Pleasure on me."

"No problem."

Lucy took the Immoral Notebook hanging from her waist and flipped open the pages of the notebook.

A pink mist flew out from the notebook, shrouding Yun Mu's body.

【Damage Correction +10%】

【Critical Hit +5%】

【Desire +5】

PS: Finally finished writing.

I shouldn't have gone to watch anime halfway through; I accidentally finished watching Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

It made me stay up all night to finish writing the novel.

emmm (End of chapter)