You have defeated the Crypt Keeper!

Congratulations! You have reached level 5!

HP increased to 1,120.

Received 6 free characteristic points.

[Quick Strike] has been upgraded to level 2! The number of strikes has been increased to 7.

After the final blow, the Crypt Keeper burst into red flames, all its bones cracked simultaneously and collapsed to the ground, crumbling. Now it's just a pile of bone dust.

Unfortunately, the same fate befell its sword, staff, and robe. I guess I expected too much from an initial boss, but they could have at least left the robe as loot.

Taking it down was more tedious than difficult. I quickly learned the algorithm of its attacks, following Patrick's advice to land a few hits (thanks to the ability, it came in handy) and hide behind the columns. This bastard desperately tried to knock them down, but it wasn't prescribed by the game, so nothing came of it.

The luck blessing incredibly helped in dodging the lightning, although even so, it managed to hit. If not for this passive, I might have gotten enough face-punching experience to satisfy the Crypt Keeper's standards. It was a bit painful, but the potion saved me.

But, first and foremost, this fight will forever be remembered for our banter—the boss made unflattering jokes about my parents and promised to pass me around, while I called it a low-level doll for noobs. This is clearly something extraordinary for Enchantia, as during the process I was given a trait:

[Undead Buddy].

You easily find common ground with the undead and have deep conversations with them. Cemeteries and crypts are your second home! Characters of the "Undead" race initially have a positive opinion of you. When in contact with the undead, you get a +20% bonus to CHA. You have an increased ability for necromancy.

The last part is extremely useful. Necromancy is one of the most powerful types of magic, it's essential to master it to reach a high level. I'll learn it anyway.

But the first two bonuses look like a trashy joke. What the hell is charisma when in contact with the undead? However, it's too early to complain. As I now understand, you never know what to expect here. Patrick is right, the real Enchantia is radically different from the picture on the internet. And that's cool!

As for the loot, only one item dropped:

Received [Energy Urn].

It's a medium-sized gray metal urn with green patterns along it. Its description says that it "accumulates the life energy of surrounding objects (not the owner), thus increasing regeneration by 10%". It also says that it can be upgraded to epic quality.

I don't know about upgrades, but as a starter item—it'll come in handy. Extra regeneration won't hurt, I can take quite a bit of damage from mobs of my level.

There was no other loot. After attaching the urn to my robe (I think the absorption of life energy will be more effective this way), I call up the statistics to assess overall progress and distribute free points.

Name: Unknown07 (Dean Carter).

Level: 5.

Race: Human.

Class: None.

XP: 214/735.

HP: 1,120/1,120.

MP: 0/0.

STR: 3(+1).

AGI: 4.

INT: 5(+2).

VIT: 2(+2).

CHA: 3.

PER: 5(+1).

Abilities: [Blessing of the Goddess of Luck (Passive)], [Quick Strike (Active, level 2)].

Traits: [Arachnophobia], [Undead Buddy].

Well... Not bad compared to the first check, if you don't take into account that I was abusing the thing with higher level mobs. But it already feels like the leveling process is slowing down.

Getting to level 10 is crucial, as the game isn't fully complete until you've reached it. Once you've reached level 10, you'll be able to choose your class, which will determine how you progress.

The system reads every little detail of the playstyle and itself offers suitable classes. I don't know how they do it, but the mechanic is excellent. Just the fact that I bought a robe increased the chance that I'd get a mage.

But even if I don't, no one forces you to choose a class at level 10. You can continue to play and level up, and the system will offer new classes as you progress. And some mega-hardcore players purposely don't choose a class at all.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

By my rough calculations, to reach level 10 I need to raid 2-3 dungeons higher in level, or 5-7 dungeons of my level. It's desirable to manage to buy and use the scroll before level 10.

And now—time for the glitch report!

I call up the menu, press the red triangle with an exclamation mark inside and select "Real-time game bug". This is one of about thirty report points. Among them are quite strange ones, like "Intentional summoning of a huge number of swamp frogs". I've read that these frogs have a specific model and spamming them leads to severe lags or server crashes. But to allocate a whole point for this...

I don't have time to close the menu when she materializes not far from me. Tall, strict black and blue uniform similar to an officer's, shoulder-length gray hair, bright blue eyes, and a white mask covering the lower half of her face. I feel a small thrill inside, I'm seeing Amethyra in person for the first time—the AI responsible for enforcing rules and game integrity. Her unofficial nickname is "Pirate's Bane", because when trying to pirate the game, she punches you in the face and automatically enters your biometric data into the "eternal ban" database.

Looking closer, I notice that Amethyra's gaze is too unfriendly, expressing something close to contempt. Of course, I'm not the cause of it, an AI with such a function should have corresponding appearance attributes. From a design perspective, it's cool—the look of a strong and tough woman perfectly embodies the law in Enchantia. But still, when someone looks at you like that, it's quite uncomfortable.

Although, I can't deny that sometimes I imagine how such a strong and tough woman lays me on the bed, handcuffs me and... Uh, I got distracted.

Interesting: Amethyra wasn't given a last name, like all the other AIs of the same type, except Bellatrix. This once again proves some peculiarity of Miss Lobby.

"Hello, user number FN-48-297-081-H63!" she said loudly but strictly. "You have submitted a complaint under the 'Real-time game bug' section, please describe the problem."

I briefly recounted the situation with the boss to her, softening the details. She listened to the end, checked the entire timeline of the location from the previous save and looked at me again.

"Your complaint has been confirmed. Distorted content has been detected that violates the 'Ethics' clause in the artificial intelligence section. The content has been temporarily frozen until the problem is resolved. On behalf of 'Dream Gate Software', I thank you for discovering the error and contributing to the improvement of Enchantia!" she said nobly and made a gesture with her hand, after which she usually disappears.

"Wait, don't I get a reward?" I was stunned. She turned her attention back to me, her look much more irritated.

Wow, is it supposed to be like that?

"You would have received it immediately after fixing the error, it usually takes less than a day. However, if you insist, then..."

Amethyra froze for a second and then it displayed:

Received profile badge [Quality Commission Member].

Conditions for receiving: contribute to the improvement of Enchantia through a report of an error or rule violation.

The badge icon showed Amethyra saluting. Cool, now this dominating woman is always with me in my profile... uh, but that's not what I wanted!

"I thought you gave gold as a reward," I was amazed.

"That's correct, however, the scale of the error you discovered is not significant enough for a gold reward. I thank you for your contribution to improving Enchantia and wish you a pleasant game!"

Saying this, she dissolved into the air, leaving only black and blue flying particles.

What a major letdown. What then, in the developers' understanding, is a "significant scale"?

I finally understood that I don't like Amethyra. The title of the most popular NPC should remain with Bellatrix.

Well, at least the badge is something, I'm sure not everyone has it. Okay, it's time to go outside, the crypt's atmosphere is already seriously pressing. I want the next dungeon to be more colorful. Maybe Patrick has already returned.

Holding the miraculously surviving torch, I began to climb up, searching every nook and cranny for undiscovered loot. Unsuccessfully.

I hang the torch back on the wall, go outside and turn the music back on. The melody with beautiful mystical motifs coupled with the beautiful view of the forest and a pleasant breeze lift my mood. After this dusty basement, it's even more beautiful here.

Patrick... is not here. I searched the bushes where we sat and walked around the perimeter of the crypt. No one. In total, I spent about fifty minutes in the dungeon, I had a strong expectation of his disapproving snort. So what to do?

In general, I can find the next dungeon myself. But then we'll separate, and we do have an agreement about help. I should try to contact him.

I go to friends—Patrick is still on the server. Good, maybe he's just delayed.

Unknown07 (Dean Carter): I raided the Crypt, already level 5!!! Bro, where are you?)

I'll wait for an answer, then decide something.

I settled down in about the same bushes so that Patrick and I wouldn't waste extra time searching for each other later. Meanwhile, I'll think about whether to go for high-level dungeons or take a break from the risk.

If going for high-level, then I should look for level 7-8 to maximize experience. But it will be significantly more difficult than going to level 3 when I was level 1... What are these goblins?

My thoughts were interrupted by three yellow-green creatures about thigh-high coming out from behind the trees. They have huge ears, noses, they're dressed in some kind of brown battle rags, with small knives in both hands. But most attention-grabbing are their cunning eyes and way of communication—acrid giggles.

Really, they're just walking and each one throws a short giggle. It sounds incredibly absurd, like a poorly edited audio track.

Wandering neutrals? Damn, I've always disliked goblins. Do they even live in magical forests? They look weak, I should approach, but carefully, they might be hostile. Or they might give a quest.

I show myself from behind the bushes. The goblins immediately notice me and start... discontentedly giggling, jumping in place and waving their knives.

What the...? Well, guess they're hostile.

It looks... If I were watching this as someone's stream, I'd piss myself laughing. However, I'm playing myself and don't know what to expect, so I'm a bit scared.

After "giggling" something among themselves, they abruptly changed their giggles to some kind of battle cry, if you can call it that, and hopped forward, gradually separating. They decided to surround me.

Very, very strange shit, need to react.

Drawing my sword, I lunge at the one on the right. I swing, but suddenly stumble on some stone and fly at the goblin with my body. I mentally slap myself on the forehead and prepare for the wonderful sensation of knives in my body, but as I fall, I just... crush it?

It lets out an angry giggle in the form of a death rattle and disintegrates into magical particles. For full confirmation, I look at the experience bar—3 units added.

What the hell, 3???!! Are they negative level or something?

I run to the goblin in the center, surprised, and gently kick it with my foot. With a funny giggle-grunt, it crashes into a tree and disintegrates into the same particles.

I roll to the last one and pierce its palm with my sword. With a familiar angry giggle, it screams and repeats the fate of the others.

I didn't know about the existence of such weak goblins, where did they come from here anyway? Something's fishy here... a hidden quest?

I don't have time to fully comprehend the situation—more giggling can be heard to my left. I turn around and see about seven goblins lined up at a short distance from each other, waving their knives and heading in my direction.

Too many for wandering mobs of one type. And they also resemble a path.

After brief consideration of "yes" and "no", I decide to take the bait and run to scatter the goblins. Patrick hasn't answered anyway, and something unclear and intriguing has emerged here.