Medusa’s shrine was not the only affected thing on this floor. Zen could also figure out the traces of death in the area by using his ability to detect miasma and contamination. There was unrest in this land, and the goddess’s power had long disappeared. Whatever had been guarding this land had probably died and disrupted the natural power balance, creating this mess. Thankfully, Zen already knew the general location where to start his search. Restoring the shrine after uncovering the secret to this messed-up floor’s lore was easy.
“The snake hazmat suit is ready,” Damian chimed over the party call. “I’m sending it in the shared storage. It should automatically fit you. We have more than enough snakeskin for one person. Test it for leaks first and use your mushroom mask as a poisonous gas filter.”Zen thanked Damian and tried on the newly crafted suit. The snakeskin pattern made it look more like a patch quilt than a hazmat sStocking up on bottles of holy water was the right thing to do. Zen blessed one bottle and walked to the edge of the crater to test its efficiency. The bottle of holy water managed to purify a small area of contaminated land. However, the poisonous sludge remained. Clearing it out would most likely require a huge fire. Unfortunately, Zen did not have any means to do it himself. He would have to leave this for the Naga tribe to figure out.The most important thing to do was to bless the wyvern’s corpse and help its soul cross over to remove the source of contamination and miasma. The energy of death surrounded the wyvern skeleton thickly, but Zen remained unfazed. This was nothing compared to the thick miasma of evil energy on the previous floor.Offering the wyvern corpse a prayer he learned, Zen dispelled the resentment and regrets of the late poison wyvern. The prayer created a small miracle, clearing all the poisonous smog with a blast of holy power coming down fr
As the last to visit the final boss dungeon on the sixth floor, Zen was not expecting the Lamia Queen’s boss chamber to look like an amethyst mine. He thought it would be closer to a poisonous swamp, bubbling with dangerous toxic geysers similar to the volcano crater.It took him so long to finish the side quest that Damian had begun to examine the new crafting materials that Zen gathered. The other members of Godly Food Party also took a leisure break on the seventh floor while waiting for Zen. Liu Feng had taken on the unofficial task of testing the limits of their shared party inventory. All Zen read in his notifications was an increasing amount of carrots and truffles in their inventory. The carrots were more common than the truffles for obvious reasons. However, his sworn brother did not have any intentions of slowing down. Every minute Zen spent appreciating the amethyst cave, he received ten more carrots and maybe two more truffles.Finally teleporting to the
Instead of appearing from burrows in the ground, the moon rabbits dropped from the sky in little bubbles that floated downwards. Sasha and Oritha wasted no time, shooting them down one by one. Even Damian equipped his modified wand and fired it repeatedly using a compressed air spell.In a wordless tandem, Akiko and Liu Feng stepped into the carrot field and decimated the baby bunnies from space. If Zen were honest, it looked closer to an alien attack than a rabbit attack. Although the moon rabbit kittens were adorable, they were also crazy about carrots.Skree!It was a horrible sound to hear as baby bunnies died. The unluckier ones died in their bubbles, while the luckier monsters managed to touch the ground for a few seconds before they became meat pastes or skewers, depending on who they met first. Oritha’s Boomerang cut down many floating bunnies. Her amplified giant strength created sonic booms with every throw. Yet, the number of invaders could not
Before Zen could announce the unique main quest, Damian snorted.“You know, I once told my parents that the day I will have friends of my age who weren’t mechanical robots would be the day pigs fly. Who would have seen this coming?”Unable to hold back a chuckle, Liu Feng let a puff of air escape his lips at the lame joke attempt. Despite his Chinese upbringing in the triad, he still understood the English joke. However, it was lost in translation on the girls who only wondered if flying pigs were more delicious than running ones.Refusing to comment on the joke, Zen calmly reminded the ladies that they needed the wings of those flying hogs.“If you can catch one and get their meat as a loot, I can try cooking it,” he reasoned, listing the number of pork-related recipes he knew.“I want them barbecued with spices,” Oritha demanded when Zen brought up kebabs. “But don’t put them in the bread. I’ll ea
The hog hunt lasted less than fifteen minutes. With such skilful party members, it was only expected. However, it was the first time Zen had seen the Shady Merchant behaving in such a derogatory manner. The madman went through all five stages of grief within seconds of seeing Zen’s trade.“Absurd! Absolutely unacceptable! This is a scam, a scam, I say! Mother, what have I done to deserve this karma? I’m only but a mere merchant boy looking to make a living, and they want me to sell my soul. I would rather die!”Given the looks his party members were giving the shady merchant behind Zen’s back, the NPC quickly retracted his words.“On second thoughts, I’m too young to die. How about this? I’ll give you another good deal. One wing for five credits. How does that sound? I’ll buy the whole damn bulk off your hands and only give you enough scrolls for your party. One wing for six special scrolls. I won’t sell this
After fooling around for a while, the boys finally used their new skill scrolls. Zen gifted the special scrolls to Charlie, Remi, Benjamin and Jessica, explaining what they did and their value. When they could finally preview the side quests available, Zen decided he wanted to do both side quests on this floor.“I’ll go speak with the farmer,” Zen informed his party. “If the Shady Merchant gives out the new main quest, please let me know!”Damian looked at the side quest rewards and decided to ignore them. There was no merit in completing them. If anything, he preferred tormenting the Shady Merchant by piling wings on top of the struggling man and teasing him by offering fake help. Sasha cheered for the cyborg as he ran circles around the frustrated merchant who was trying to snatch back one of his ‘stolen’ goods.Zen ignored the cyborg’s shenanigans. He had new cooking and brewing recipes to collect. With these two new
Although the side quest did not have any penalties for failing, Zen found it quite annoying. Already, he had failed the reverse game of Minesweeper eight times. He was going to refer to it as the Groundsweeper now.“Are there no cheats?” he wondered. “This is too hard.”Oritha and Sasha, intrigued, attempted the game of Groundsweeper but failed. It was hardly surprising. With a shovel that would break after ten digs, that meant Zen could only use it to dig up truffles when he had confirmed their location. If he used it on the wrong spot, he would never be able to collect all ten truffles needed for the side quest. However, the other device he was given was a sniffing farm dog that only worked for treats. The number of treats the farmer would give Zen for each attempt was limited to ten. That meant Zen could not use the sniffer dog carelessly.Zen initially turned to Liu Feng and Akiko for help. However, the Death Princess wasn’t good at s
Cooking without a kitchen felt anti-climatic. Zen hated using the system skills and game mechanics to craft food. It felt very impersonal, but they were short on time. The evasion cake was not just any cake. It was the key to survival against the boss monster. His party might be able to take care of the monster within five minutes, but there was no meaning in it if Zen died during the first wave of attack. Yet, it was the worst cake Zen had ever created in history.Of course, the dungeon creator thought to include Lores in this dungeon. Zen was almost certain there was a hidden side quest somewhere. However, he did not have the luxury of time to explore them when he was getting carried to the vanguard members.“According to Greek mythology, when Medusa was slain, she birthed two children that belonged to Poseidon. The flying hogs we saw earlier were Chrysaor’s descendants. However, the boss is the actual twin brother of the flying hog. You wouldn’t guess
From floor five to floor nine, Zen discovered many changing elements in the virtual world. The dungeon mechanics became more complex as they climbed the floors. It was difficult to believe that until floor ten, they were still in the tutorial stages.Damian’s game guide from floor five was very different from Zen’s version. The cyborg logged every single type of equipment and monster as an encyclopaedia page, including replicated screenshot images. He rated them according to their value, usage, frequency of occurrence, something Zen had not considered, and prices. The floor map was also marked to indicate where they could commonly be located, along with an estimated loot drop guide. Compared to Zen’s walkthrough guide, Damian created a very different and detailed directory.Although their styles were very different, Zen teared up with gratefulness for the guide Damian put together. If Zen excelled at game progression strategy, Damian’s information w
Liu Feng was not pleased to learn that Zen was already considering inviting another troublesome person into his circle after sparring with Akiko. Yet, he could not say he was surprised. In the brief weeks of meeting Zen, he had seen enough to know it would not be the last time either. From the get-go, even Liu Feng had been drawn to the young cook because of this attitude. It was both the young man’s charm and weakness.While the blind teen had enough respect for Chatura, a famous strategist, he hated dealing with snake-like personalities. They already had several ticking time bombs in the Godly Food Party, and the Lau Triad’s influence could only shield Zen from so much harm. Damian Gorski had provoked half the Round Table, and Zen had rejected everyone there. An omerta might be sacred, but it was not always upheld by both parties. There were many ways to cancel an omerta, usually involving the death of one party, and Liu Feng did not wish to crush his younger swor
After finishing his dinner, Zen sipped on the weird concoction called tea from a heavy stainless steel tool holder sterilised in isopropyl alcohol. The cyborg offered to distil and mix some of his alcohol supply into the tea for a ‘better flavour,’ and Zen smartly declined. He did not have a mechanical gut that could be replaced easily. It was best to stick to conventional instant tea in unconventional cups, even if Damian stuck two very different flavours of instant tea in one cup.Although Damian had overheard the conversation in the kitchen, Zen still told him what he knew from Bolt and asked if Damian had a way to verify the information. Due to the many rumours floating around Chatura, it was difficult to know the kind of person she was. It was obvious who spread those rumours.Within thirty minutes, Damian uncovered a lot more than Zen thought was possible. Then again, he should probably not be surprised that the Gorski had such an extensive information ne
Sneaking dinner back to the room, Zen thanked Bolt and Yelena for updating him about the new faction. Although neither invigilator liked the strategist, Chatura was a very powerful person whom Zen found intriguing.Unfortunately, Liu Feng and Akiko were out. They said they would be sparring in the training ground and were not back yet. Sasha and Oritha were still in the gym, making Damian Zen’s only option to discuss this new situation with them.Deciding to take a quick shower, Zen sent Damian a text and asked if he could come over to discuss something confidential in thirty minutes with his dinner. The cyborg took a while to reply, but Zen smiled when he received an affirmation in the middle of his shower.Thirty minutes later, Zen knocked on Damian’s door, freshly showered and with a packed dinner in his other hand. There was nobody in the corridor, so Zen relaxed.Damian opened the door within seconds and welcomed Zen in.“Pardon the me
When Bolt returned with the first aid kit, he was largely relieved to see how Yelena was taking care of Zen. Taking over, he checked on the burn injury that had greatly reduced thanks to the ice cream tub, although the same could not be said of the melting liquid inside.“That might have to go back into the freezer for now,” he gently told Yelena, who agreed.Now that the actual adult was back, Yelena threw the explanation to Bolt. She hated the woman Chatura. There was no way she wanted to explain all the complicated history to Zen when she could barely speak English. Besides, between the two of them, Bolt was supposed to be the smarter one.“Oh, Chatura. Yes… it’s a complicated story,” Bolt frowned. “There are so many rumours and versions about what happened to her before she had been turned into an invigilator here. I’ve never personally met her or talked to her in my time here. However, I don’t think we have a
After spending most of the day in the virtual world, the rest of Party Godly Food excused themselves to hit the gym and stretch their muscles. Damian returned to finish compiling the game guide while Zen worked on preparing dinner. Yelena and Bolt were present, so there was no need for anyone else to keep him company. Not to mention, the kitchen hands were very helpful. Most of the ingredients Zen needed were already prepared. The dirty dishes from the last meal were washed meticulously and left to dry on the counter.“Did you find anything new in the dive this time?” Bolt asked while Zen mixed his seasoning.Zen wanted to make something simple for dinner as they had a heavy tea. Fried rice and some soup will do. There was more than enough for everyone later.“There were new things,” Zen admitted, reluctant to reveal too much information about the new features and unique split-path quests he and Damian had discovered. “However
Collecting the rewards for successfully defeating John’s cousin, the party members of Godly Food jumped into the portal leading to the next floor. Zen knew that the dungeon had different themes on every ten floors. The tenth floor of each themed stage would be different from the other stages in difficulty. It was why the vanguard team struggled with the twentieth floor’s boss. In addition to the stage mechanic’s difference, the final boss was also tougher to deal with. If not for the monstrous capabilities of the combatants, Zen doubted they could breeze through the first ten floors as quickly as they did.Anticipating a village or town vibe similar to the other floors from before, Zen was stunned to find himself in a rocky cave full of darkness. It had ominous vibes, and only Liu Feng moved confidently in the darkness. Everyone else minimised exploring further without a light source.“We’ll log out here,” Akiko informed Damian. “Y
After entering the boss dungeon den, Zen shivered. It wasn’t similar to a wolf’s den. If anything, it appeared closer to an actual dungeon, as if someone had deliberately attempted to imprison the boss here. The stale smell of dogs and many broken chains of different sizes on the ground spoke volumes about John’s cousin.Unlike the short werewolf, who remained in his werewolf form constantly, the boss was a monster who could transform. Depending on the moon cycle, it could be a violent and bloodthirsty monster or a broken man who lived in constant fear and misery of his curse.“He changes according to the moon cycle once the rampage begins,” Akiko explained. “I took a while to figure out how to kill him, even on the first run. He’s immune to damage on a blood moon. We need to finish it as soon as possible.”With a full party participating in a boss battle, Zen had faith they could conclude it before even the blood moon p
Finally approaching the final boss’s cave, Zen wondered if the storyline would change because they had let Han murder John brutally. His body had been hacked into pieces and scattered around the rotting forest. The maggots would get to it soon and reduce it to bones. Yet, the cruel butchering session remained fresh in Zen’s mind.Everyone in the party knew that feeling all too well. Having lived in the underworld, they sympathised with Zen, who had lived like a civilian his whole life. Although not everyone participated directly in the act of murder, they knew what it meant to take a life. Even Damian had seen it happen. He knew how to interrogate for information and was quite adept at the craft when required.“Don’t think too much about it,” Liu Feng was the first to break the silence. “He wasn’t even real. This is a game designed by the Godfather to find the next successor. It’s just another test.”Even if it wer