Chapter 400: Beast Den

【You have encountered an enemy—Rotten Wood Mimic lv60 (Master)】

The detailed information of the mimic popped up on the Game Panel, but the scene of entering battle that she had imagined did not occur.

Before Yun Mu could react, the Dwarves beside her swarmed forward, hacking away at the mimic with War Hammers, long spears, and iron swords, chopping it into a pile of rotten wood in less than half a minute.

After the mimic died, the items it carried and the mimic's core emerged, radiating an eerie purple light.

Of course, it was only eerie in Yun Mu's opinion, and these purple lights were visible only to her.

Seeing that the surrounding Dwarves had no reaction to it, she picked them up and tossed them into the space within the Divine Blood Pendant.

【You have obtained the item 【Mimic Core (Purple)】 and the equipment 【Rotten Wood Staff (Purple)】】 【Rotten Wood Staff (Purple)】

【Focus +3】

【Passive Skill: Contemplation】

【When holding this equipment and resting its tip on the ground while rubbing your chin with the other hand, contemplation speed increases by 40%, inspiration increases by 35%, and there is a 0.01% probability of triggering 【Eureka.】】

【Passive Skill: Rolling Sludge】

【After the tip of the staff has rested on the ground for more than 5 seconds, a puddle of sludge will be summoned; the sludge will only disappear when the staff is moved away.】

【This is a... well, a staff used by a wise man, filled with a unique scent. It can help you speed up your thinking to solve those complex puzzles; the only thing to be careful of is not to drown in the sludge.】

What is this thing? Yun Mu looked at the wooden staff in her hand with some disgust. Of course, she wasn't disgusted by the equipment effects—oh no, should she say she was disgusted by the equipment effects? The skill effect of accelerating thinking and inspiration with a chance to trigger Eureka sounded great, but the fact that using the Contemplation skill would trigger Rolling Sludge made it a bit hard to judge.

She would find time to test it after the Dungeon ended to see how it performed.

If it really didn't work, she could stop contemplating before five seconds were up, then continue contemplating, stalling the activation condition of the Rolling Sludge skill.

That didn't seem quite right; who could withstand such frequent interruptions while focusing on thinking?

Did using this staff mean she could only endure the sludge!?

Forget it.

Not thinking about this matter for now, Yun Mu looked at the other item in her hand.

【Mimic Core】

An item obtained after defeating a Master-level mimic, one grade higher in quality than a 【Mimic Heart】.

This thing is actually the main body of a mimic; if left alone, a new mimic will be born after a period of time.

But the problem is that this thing is very difficult to destroy, and it will inexplicably disappear if stored, which is also the reason why mimics have been able to remain active to this day.

Uh, actually, it doesn't count as being that active... Yun Mu hadn't even encountered one in the real world.

This information was all written on the item panel, so she would just assume that what was written there was correct.

She would just keep it for Chester to eat as a snack. There were a few too many Dwarves around right now, and she was afraid that if Chester came out, he would be hacked to death before she could explain.

"Let me handle this kind of thing next time." Just then, after confirming that the mimic had been thoroughly hacked to death, the Dwarf holding the War Hammer came before Yun Mu.

He seemed to be smiling, but he was wearing a helmet, so Yun Mu couldn't tell.

"This thing is much more useful than those two little trinkets in your hands," he said, weighing the hammer in his hand.

If it were a mimic, one strike with this hammer would surely reveal its form; if it weren't a mimic, it would merely break the lock on top.

To be fair, when Yun Mu used to play a certain Soul game, she also liked to swing her sword at every chest she encountered to test whether it was a mimic.

Until she met a type in a certain Ring that was fine after one hit, but would trigger a trap when opened... ****, you deserve to die.

Ahem, back to the main topic.

After dealing with the mimic encountered on the way, not long after, another wooden chest appeared before everyone.

Only, this wooden chest looked much more exquisite than the one the previous mimic had disguised itself as, and it even had some kind of pattern on it that looked like flames.

"This..."

The lead Dwarf who had previously said to leave such chests to him stood before the wooden chest holding his War Hammer, his expression very conflicted, hesitating to swing his hammer.

"What's wrong?" Yun Mu was a bit puzzled, not knowing what he was hesitating about.

And just then, the other party completely lowered the War Hammer in his hand, turned to look at her, and said, "You open it instead."

Without waiting for Yun Mu to ask, he explained: "The pattern carved on this is called the Blazing Long-Stripe, which represents the sacrificial items of the Flame Clan; in other words, the things here are to be sacrificed to the gods."

"Try not to break it," he said.

"Then leave it to me!" Hearing this, Yun Mu decisively took on the task of lockpicking.

Items sacrificed to the gods?

Wouldn't that mean there was a possibility of opening very rare items or equipment inside? As for whether she could get the items opened—she would definitely be able to get them!

After all, this was a Reward Area, and when she had picked up the mimic's drops earlier, the surrounding Dwarves had no special reaction.

This showed that in the game Dungeon, these Dwarves had issues with their perception, and she didn't need to worry about that aspect.

She just needed to focus on lockpicking.

However, there was one point that still needed attention, and that was the mimic... although it had already appeared once, no one could be certain if it would appear a second time.

Although she personally thought it wouldn't, she still had to be careful when she needed to be.

Staying vigilant, Yun Mu skillfully took out her lockpick from her bosom and began to fiddle with the iron lock hanging on the wooden chest.

Click.

The lockpick held in her right fingers suddenly snapped, and Yun Mu raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Oh my, it's quite complex.

Her Lockpicking skill was at lv6; it didn't look very high, but it was actually already at a level that could be called an Expert.

She could only say it was worthy of being a Dwarf's item; it seemed she would have to get a little serious.

Taking a new set of lockpicks from her bosom, Yun Mu looked serious as she inserted it into the core of the iron lock.

Like this, like this, and then like this... that's right, right here, open for me!

Snap.

A crisp sound came from inside the iron lock, and Yun Mu's expression brightened.

It's open! No tentacles or fangs emerged from within; it seems this was just an ordinary Treasure Chest.

She lifted the lid with her hand, and a striking orange-yellow radiance shone upon her face.

It's Legendary, Legendary-grade equipment!

Oh, I hit the jackpot! The Game Panel notifications followed one after another.

【Congratulations on opening a Treasure Chest, you have obtained the item 【Gold Coin】*29212 (Pickpocketing +9%) You have obtained the equipment 【Molten Shield (Orange)】

Your passive skill 【Lockpicking lv6】 has increased to 【Lockpicking lv7】! 【Precision Correction +5%】

【Critical Hit +2%】】 【Molten Shield (Orange)】

【Defense +25/Toughness +2/Displacement Resistance +60%】

【Passive Skill · Molten】

【Immune to fire damage below Legendary rank, and when 【Molten Shield】 is equipped, all melee weapons gain 【Fire Attribute Enchantment.】】

【Fire Attribute Enchantment: Deals additional fire damage equal to 35% of attack power, with a 65% probability of inflicting the 【Burning】 effect on the enemy.】

【Burning: Deals 8 damage per turn, lasting for three turns.】

【Passive Skill · Scorching Flame】

【Provides the wearer with a shield equal to half their own defense each turn; when attacked by an enemy, there is a 45% probability of causing the enemy to enter the 【Burning】 state.】

【The last piece of equipment forged by Varnado, the most legendary craftsman of the Flame Clan, originally intended to be presented to the Forge and Flame God for review, but for some reason, it appeared here.】

Twenty-five points of defense!

Immune to fire damage below Legendary! Automatically adds Fire Attribute Enchantment to weapons! Provides a shield value equal to half the wearer's defense each turn! Besides that, attacking enemies and being attacked by enemies can both inflict the Burning state! Is this the strength that Orange Legendary-grade equipment should have? Yun Mu glanced at her other Legendary equipment: 【Decay Touch】, 【Red Oil Candle】, 【Heavy Magic Ice Staff Modified】, 【Frost Queen's Sigh】, and 【Atlas Painting】. My goodness, super—well, it doesn't seem that overpowered either.

The defense bonus is high, which is good.

Fire immunity will be useful when encountering enemies who play with fire.

But the Fire Attribute Enchantment can only be utilized by melee weapons, and as for inflicting Burning when attacked... that requires the enemy to actually hit you! It needs a character with Taunt or defensive skills to maximize the potential of this shield.

However, even ignoring those, just using it as a piece of armor that adds twenty-five defense and provides a shield is quite desirable.

Yun Mu was already very satisfied! Back to reality, after Yun Mu opened the chest, the surrounding Dwarves immediately gathered around.

But with that Dwarf holding the War Hammer there, no one immediately squeezed through the crowd.

"Most of the things here can no longer be used." The leading Dwarf rummaged through the items in the chest and finally only took out something that looked like a token.

As for the wooden chest with the Flame Clan patterns on the surface, because it was relatively large and inconvenient to carry, it was ultimately abandoned here.

However, before leaving, the Dwarves simply reinforced it and placed it on a stone platform that could shelter it from the Rain.

This would allow the chest to last a bit longer, and perhaps they could recover it when they returned.

The group continued forward, and before long, a new path appeared before Yun Mu, only, just like before, there was still only one option.

【Rest Area】

Yun Mu guessed that they might be entering the plot segment where the Dwarves rest.

After all, it was impossible to keep traveling the whole time.

Moreover, Yun Mu noticed that as they advanced, the surrounding environment was constantly changing.

The originally dense fungi were gradually being covered by moss, and the ground underfoot no longer seemed as soft and Damp as before.

Sure enough, after she stepped onto the path to the Rest Area, the Dwarf walking beside her spoke up: "Finally crossed the Fungal Path, we need to find a place to rest next."

"There is a mine not far ahead; after the Portal opened, it was abandoned, so we will Camp there tonight."

Yun Mu saw him take a pocket watch from his bosom to check it while he spoke, presumably to confirm the time.

The casing of the pocket watch seemed to be iron, with some rust on it; besides that, she also saw many polished marks on the casing.

Hmm, it seems the Dwarves haven't invented stainless steel either.

Yun Mu was certainly not bored enough to pay attention to the other party's pocket watch; she just wanted to take a look at the time.

If she hadn't misread it just now, and if the time on the pocket watch was correct, it was around 4:40 PM, and there was still some time until nightfall.

But honestly, it didn't seem to make much difference whether it was dark or light underground.

It was just that the Dwarves needed to rest.

Eh? These Dwarves, who are all Master-level, need to rest after only one day of action?

Game Dungeon, look at the plot you designed! she complained in her heart.

After walking forward for about another half hour, a tall machine clearly used for unloading cargo appeared before the group, and to the east of this machine was an unmanned mine.

It could be seen that the people here had left in a great hurry when they evacuated; the ground was covered with messy ore and mine caps, and two suspected mining mechanisms covered in moss were left here.

"Alright, start Camping!"

Following the order from the leading Dwarf, the surrounding Dwarves immediately relaxed, and one by one, they began to take out the items needed for Camping from their backpacks.

Setting up tents, lighting a Bonfire, boiling water, preparing food—these Dwarves, who looked rough and burly, were actually quite methodical in their work.

Yun Mu and the others watched this scene with great interest until she was called to the Bonfire by the Dwarf who looked up.

After seeing her sit down, the other party handed her a cup of water, the kind that had just been boiled.

"Thanks." Yun Mu thanked him and, without standing on ceremony, drank it all in one go.

Mere boiling water couldn't hurt her in the slightest.

Speaking of which, shouldn't Dwarves be drinking alcohol? Yun Mu apologized for the stereotype in her mind.

"You're welcome." The Dwarf took off the helmet on his head and likewise drank the freshly boiled water in one gulp.

"Refreshing!" Letting out a long breath, he looked at Yun Mu and said, "Let me introduce myself, my name is Laidun, and I am the captain of this squad."

"You should have heard about our situation; because of that beast tide a few days ago, we were forced to separate from the army, and currently, if we want to catch up, we can only go this way..."

Laidun said, taking out a map and drawing a circle on a road with his finger.

"This is?" Yun Mu certainly hadn't heard about the situation of Laidun's squad, but it didn't matter.

Just as that saying goes—I don't know who I am, and I don't know where I am, I only know that I'm about to start a massacre!

Just follow the plot and it will be fine; the Dungeon will always be cleared.

After hearing Yun Mu's words, Laidun replied with a serious expression: "This is the Beast Cave."

A look of recollection appeared on his face: "A dangerous area covered in moss and ferns, filled with stagnant puddles everywhere, and hiding a great many predators—at least, that was its state before the corruption spread there."

"As for now, I am not sure, but I can be certain that it must have become even more dangerous than before!"

"If we want to pass through there, we must be cautious."

(End of chapter)