Chapter 5 The Wandering Dwarf (1/2)
—'You have entered the opposite shore of the Spirited Lake of the Undead.'
When the Feather Drop skill's effect ended, Lin Jie fell to the ground.
The Spirited Lake of the Undead was a magical lake. When players fell into it, they would be damaged by decomposition for 50 points per second. Any person's first instinct upon getting damaged by this would be to escape as soon as they could!
However, if one could withstand more than 20 ticks of the corrosive damage, they would gain a [Corrosive Immunity] buff, allowing them to become immune for 30 seconds to the damage from the Spirited Lake of the Undead. This 30-second window would be enough to swim across to the other end of the lake. However, with the help of the Feather Drop Gem, Lin Jie had saved a great deal of time.
The opposite shore of the Spirited Lake of the Undead was one of the few places where monsters would not respawn.
The cold and damp ground granted visibility of the dense pile of bones. The dead bodies of humans and various creatures were strewn everywhere like trash.
Lin Jie looked around and found a dying Dwarf on the shore, which looked like a mass grave. His eyes were seemingly peacefully closed. If it had not been for his shivering lips, anyone would have thought he was dead.
That NPC had no name, or rather, his name was simply 'The Wandering Dwarf.' In his previous life, the first player to arrive there was known as the 'Seven Ears,' who was a young hothead. When he had attained level 10, he had been shocked to discover the Spirited Lake of the Undead hidden in the Stumbling Forest. Hence, he had started his heroic but tragic adventure.
The first time he had entered the water, he had died!
The second time he had entered the water, he had died!
When he first triggered the [Undead Immunity] sequence of events, he had only been level 5. After Seven Ears had completed his mission, he had arrogantly pasted the entire process of the mission on the forum and even displayed the reward for completing the mission - the Perfect Potion Mastery.
That had caused countless adventurers who had been hesitating along the lake to feel much regret. Lady luck only dawned upon the prepared—that adage was not for show.
Seven Ears had made a name for himself through the Perfect Potion Mastery, and had been bought over for a high salary by the Kingdom of Glory, eventually becoming known as the 'Potion King'!
Recalling his previous life, the images in Lin Jie's mind gradually became clearer. He had a shocking memory of the in-game data and stats. When Seven Ears had announced the flow of the mission, even though it could no longer be replicated, Lin Jie could still remember it.
To save the Wandering Dwarf, one needed to fork out 10 pieces of fresh meat, which had the same effect as bread but was better-tasting and hence cost as much as one bronze coin per piece. Even Lin Jie could not afford that huge amount of extra cash.
However, the Spirited Lake of the Undead contained many piranhas, whose flesh could serve as a substitute, just weaker.
Lin Jie gathered a few pieces of rotten, maggot-infested flesh on the land filled with dead bodies and carried the flesh towards the Spirited Lake of the Undead. In reality, due to the overly pronounced simulative nature of The New Age, players had to overcome their own psychological issues first. If one were weak, timid and did not dare to face the abominable-looking Undead, one would find it very difficult to survive in the later stages of the game.
Hence, The New Age had become the training ground for females to steel them up.
[Rotten Flesh]: Consumable, reduces 20 health points every second, lasts for 10 seconds.
Lin Jie felt a deathly chill and hurled the Rotten Flesh into the water. The smell of blood and flesh spread throughout the Spirited Lake of the Undead, and the piranhas swimming around in the lake eagerly rushed over. One piranha bit the Rotten Flesh and tore it apart. However, Lin Jie's finger was cut by the tearing as well.
-8!
Blood spread among the lake. Hundreds of piranhas excitedly hovered below the water surface. It seemed like they wished they had legs so that they could rush up to the land and devour Lin Jie!
”Come up kids.” Lin Jie had no fear, as he held up a huge piece of Rotten Flesh and threw it in the air. The enticing smell captured the eager looks of the piranhas, as the flesh landed on the land.
The hungry and tortured piranhas could not resist the urge of consuming the Rotten Flesh, as they jumped out of the water to devour the flesh.
-20!
-20!
…
Having lost the nourishment of the water, the health points of the piranhas dipped sharply, and they ended up dying.
Lin Jie was glad, as he used his long sword to slice off the piranhas' gills and stored them in his bag.
In reality, the mouth of the piranha was two-thirds of its body, and hence the lips that were full of sharp teeth could not be consumed. The tail was poisonous as well. The only part that could be consumed was the disgusting gills.
Lin Jie replicated the same method and gained 10 sets of piranha gills.
'This thing has a much smaller amount than fresh meat…' Lin Jie looked at the piranha gills which filled merely half of his palm and then glanced at the piranhas waiting eagerly at him to throw them more Rotten Flesh. He let out an evil smile, dug a hole in the ground half a yard deep and threw all the Rotten Flesh!
'Flop… flop…'
Hundreds of piranhas jumped onto the land and madly sank their teeth into the flesh, losing their lives after a few seconds.
—'You have gained piranha gills.'
—'You have gained piranha gills.'
…
Lin Jie looked at his bag. He had 101 pieces of fish gills which should be enough to feed that dwarf.
Carrying a bag full of his spoils, Lin Jie walked to the Wandering Dwarf.
”Save me… give me food… please…” the Wandering Dwarf's eyes suddenly opened, as he feebly spoke.
—'Do you accept the Wandering Dwarf's request?'
”Yes!” Lin Jie thought about it and retrieved some bread for him.
”Smack!”
The Wandering Dwarf hit the bread away with his palm and shouted, ”I don't eat these! Give me something edible!”
-120!