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CHAPTER 18 – UNDER CONSTRUCTION
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Atlas was a lone wolf, he had joined RR to improve his ability to socialize with people. Sadly, it did not turned out well; he wasn't good at approaching strangers, much less talk to them. Atlas also had a straight personality, whenever he thought of things needed to be done, he would just do it. Instead of waiting at city gates for parties, he went straight into the fields to fight. This caused him to be alone all the time.
Atlas was a warrior. After days of solo hunting Bears, he reached level 32. Thinking of a change in environment, he decided his next training area to be Lair of Litvart. The Lair was a popular place recommended by higher levels in the forum.
Lair of Litvart was a low level dungeon consisting of Kobolds and Goblins. These were the first sentient monsters that players could fight. Fighting armed Kobolds gave a different 'feel' compared to hunting wolves, even though both had dog-faces. For players who would eventually turn to PvP, getting used to fighting armored enemies was vital.
*****
Reaching the Lair, Atlas found the place very different from pictures and videos he saw from the forums. The cave of the Lair was the same, but the area was surrounded by a wooden fence. In the middle of the fence was the entrance consisting of wooden swing gates below an arch. 'Under Construction' was written on an arch. Entering the area, Atlas got a message:
You have entered 'Under construction'
Being curious, Atlas moved into the area, avoiding the shacks lined up at the far end, he also noticed some rabbits and a cat lazing around, but decided to ignore them. Observing the area, he found a target to move towards, something that looked like stall located right beside the cave entrance. There, he was greeted by a little girl no more then 12 years old.
“Hello adventurer, this place is under construction” She said
“What do you mean?” Atlas questioned
“Just what I said, this place is under construction, if you meant the cave, that is the Lair of Liavit. The owner said there will be changes in the cave, so I am here to inform everyone who wants to enter.”
“What kind of changes are there?” Atlas asked, slightly puzzled.
“The Lair is now filled with poisonous beings, the owner said there is nothing interesting inside, they are just smoking out bugs, so I am to tell people to leave, or enter at their own risk.”
The little girl then pointed board behind her, listing to a price of goods she sold.
Liar of Litvart - Temporary stall
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Meaty Soup – 50 coppers
Minor Health Potion – 5 silvers
Minor Mana Potion – 5 silvers
Antidote – 8 silvers
Noisy Horn – 10 silvers
“I sell antidotes, so if you want to enter, I can sell you some!” The girl cheerfully said.
The price of food and potion were reasonable but the antidote cost 20x the price sold in towns. This made Atlas curious, there wasn't suppose to be any poisonous monsters nearby. Unless what she said about the Lair was true. There was also an additional item of interest, the Noisy Horn.
Unlike the other items, Noisy Horn was written in bigger, bold, colored words
After selling the loot he gathered while hunting bears, Atlas bought a 'Meaty Soup', and started eating. He had been on a diet of only rye bread for several days and welcomed a delicious meal. Finding the food worthy of its price, he bought more while asking:
“Give me 10 more of those Meaty Soup, but what is that Noisy Horn?”
“According to the owner, there are Treants 2 hours south of here, they are around Level 40. Treants like to hide themselves, so you will need this horn or something that produce loud noises to irritate them. You can try stabbing trees randomly to find them too.”
“Thanks for the information, I am Atlas, can we be friends?” Atlas asked.
“Sure! I am Annie, my twin sister Anna is sleeping in the shack over there. We will be running a shop in Serabroug when our mission here ends. Come buy things from us” Annie smiled happily.
Atlas was in deep thought. He initially suspected the girl to be a player, preventing other players from entering the cave for reasons unknown. But she had proven to be an NPC because his friend-list had remained empty even after befriending her. Words of NPCs were more trustworthy then a player's, so he believed her.
Regardless of the warning, his curiosity of knowing what happened in the cave won over all thoughts. He had some antidotes from doing quest during his newbie days, and those became helpful now. He was glad he didn't throw them away.
Just as he wanted to step in, he almost bumped into someone exiting the cave.
You have been poisoned!
Your life is decreasing continuously.
Atlas instinctively hopped backward 5 steps and examined the situation. 3 player just exit the cave, all had their faces darkened, indicating they were poisoned. From their outfit, Atlas deduced them to be a male Archer, a female Mage and a Priest. The Priest was periodically healing himself and his teammates to keep their health up.
Looking at Atlas whose face was also darkened, the archer absently scratched his head.
“Ummm... sorry for getting you poisoned too”
“No worries, but what is down there poisoning everyone?” Atlas asked
“Plague rats” the Priest supplied
“Lots of them, and they give puny exp” the Mage added unhappily
The group then spread out, standing at least 3 meters from each other, with the priest starting to use his 'Cure Poison' Spell on them one by one. Atlas took a glimpse inside the cave while waiting for his turn. It was a greenish smoky environment, with small rats running around. All his senses were screaming not to venture further.
After getting his poison cured by the priest, he sat down with the group for discussion.
“Plague rats are extremely troublesome, they are less then lv20 but poison everything they touch”
“You can get poisoned too, just by standing within 2 meters of someone infected”
“The plague poison is disgustingly irritating”
“I think the Poison Fumes are worse, they spread all over the place”
“There is no way to grind in this place now”
“Is this related to the place being under construction?”
“That is highly possible, everyone got that status message when they entered this place”
“There is the NPC girl too, selling antidotes at insane prices”
“I have never ever heard of RR doing updates like this”
“Neither do I, but this place is out of business, we need to hunt elsewhere”
“How about the Treants that NPC girl recommend?”
Looking at Atlas, the archer asked
“Don't mind me asking, you looked like a warrior, can you tank Treants?”
“I don't know, never fought Treants before,I am currently over level 30, I got bored of soloing bears”
“Ah! If you can solo bears, you should do good, want to party?” asked the priest
“Sure! I'm Atlas, nice to meet you. ” Atlas
“I'm Adrian, she is Lindy and he is Joseph” the archer introduced the team
“Want to be friends?”
Atlas was extremely happy, he finally made some friends and got into a party. The trio lack a tanker, so they welcomed him happily. As for their future adventures, that would be for another time.
*****
The forums for beginners were in an uproar.
Plenty of post were found talking about Lair of Litvart becoming a poison infested dungeon.
- Could it be a quest?
- Why don't you go check it out
- I don't have much HP, but any high levels want to sort this out
- High levels don't have time to play in low level dungeons
- NPCs don't lie, so they there is nothing interesting in there
- Are you sure NPC cannot lie?
- NPCs can mislead like those sage using tricky words, but they don't lie outright. The NPC girl said nothing is in there.
- I will explain how it works, by the way, I have a doctorate in Logical Thinking. The AI program found some bugs, so it consolidate all the buggy codes together in a dungeon. They put annoying monsters to guard the cave in order to chase players away. The poison from plague rats and the poison mist can hardly kill anyone that could reach the place. Below the lair would most likely be corrupted data, so entering is not wise, you may even end up losing your character. The proof is them placing an NPC merchant at the entrance to redirect players to other hunting locations. Has anyone ever meet an NPCs that tell you information without familiarity? OR have anyone of you met NPCs randomly putting up a stall in front of a dungeon?
- Dear sir, your logic amaze me!
- I too agree with the above.
*****
- Time rewind back to when Bunny flashed her evil evil smile. -
To keep players away, there needed to be irritating monsters; Monsters that gave debuffs. Players like to fight straight forward battles; Something akin to street brawling, where one didn't need to think, simply just hit the enemy and block/dodge their attack. With a healer present, they could even just focus on attacking, while their health constantly replenished
Bears, Treants, Kobolds, Goblins... just to name a few, were simple 'attack to kill' enemies. They didn't cause irregular statues, they didn't have unique attacks and their skills revolves around dealing more damage or simple bleeding that heals after each battle. Even the boss monsters just had improved speed and strength. These were monsters players like to hunt.
Ghost, Banshee, Undead Priest, these monsters uses curses, which stayed after battles, they were avoided like plague. Sirens, Dryads, Lamia charm their enemies creating confusion, another set of monsters heavily avoid by players. Poisonous Snakes, Spiders and Scorpions, these garner little interest from players too.
What Bunny had were Plague Rats found deep in the sewers. The 'plague' effect scattered among the infected, causing whole parties to be easily poisoned. Even if the poison wasn't deadly, the psychological effect of being poisoned would turn many people off. In addition, they gave pathetic exp, making them the BEST material to use for chasing other players away.
But just throwing Plague rats at the entrance of the Lair would not dissuade other players from entering. They needed a reason to believe plague rats filled the area. This was where the name of the Ranch came into play. By using the options of the ranch, Bunny disable everything related to the display of ownership, simply showing the name 'Under Construction' to any player who entered.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The plan was simple, creating an illusion of RR doing an upgrade on the dungeon. That way, introduction of plague rats into the dungeon would not seem suspicious.
“Will other player buy the story?” Bunny asked herself. “Obviously Not!”
This had nothing to do with other players wanting to find the truth. The real problem lies in each player having their own priority scales. If they accepted the illusion, they ended up losing a good hunting ground. On the other side, they would only need to spent a few hours up to a few days to explore the Lair to see through the bluff. Even if the event was real, players would still wander around the dungeon due to opportunity cost.
To improve on the situation, Bunny needed not only to convince players, she also had to redirect their attention. If what the players would lose was a hunting ground, just provide an alternative place and they would disperse;
“Would you spent an extra day on rumors for a hunting ground when you are already told of another similar one nearby?” That should be the question players ask themselves.
Lance used to hunt in this region, so he knew of a 'Treants Park', a place where those moving trees reside. It wasn't some big secret, but people seldom mention it; Treants were bad fighters, with easy to dodge attacks, a good sources of easy Exp, but for loot, they mostly drop wood, which was both bulky and cheap. Bunny decided to use this information as a diversion.
The last step was to hire NPCs to greet other players and to give them the location of the 'Treant Park'. The NPCs would both intensify the bluff while reducing the motivation for players seeking truth. Players did not trust other players, but they believed the words of NPCs easily.
Bunny used her familiarity with the orphanage to hire the Lair's spokespeople. She had been eying the twin sisters Anna and Annie ever since her ranch expanded. As the ranch produced more things, Bunny had been tempted to hire one of the girls to handle a store specifically for selling her ranch produce.
Both girls were not shy around strangers, could communicate well and most importantly they aspire to become merchants. Getting them to become spokespeople of the Lair was extremely easy when told they would take turns to look after a stall. Bunny also paid them well; 5 gold were given to the twins for 2 months of work with safety, living quarters and food covered. The girls had reveal they would start their own shop in Serabroug with the money earned, so Bunny promised them she would consign products from her ranch for them to sell.
With all things thought out, Bunny asked herself again: “Will other player buy this new story?”
*****
Weekend came again quickly in the real world. Within the RR, another 28 days passed. Bunny and her friends arrived at the Lair of Litvart. The mobile ranch had be set up and the twins took their position a week earlier, with 10 rabbits and Meow for security reasons.
Gene wasn't idling around while Bunny made her 'exclusive' plan. He got himself a Bear as an animal companion. The Bear had red fur and carried both him and Angel on their way to the Lair, leaving more space on Bunny's carriage for food and necessities. According to Gene, the bear was a cub, as he was influenced by her picking the young ones for easier training. Bunny didn't want to know how big an adult bear would be if the cub already stand at 2 meters tall, but she did use her 'Growth Stall' on the animal by the request of Gene.
First thing the trio needed to do was to ensure the Lair was empty of players. Annie had told Bunny no new players entered, and 2 groups left. Anna added that there was a lone adventurer who left with extremely sad eyes; He gave her the feeling his world was ending.
Ignoring gossips, Bunny and co. started their search. Moving down floor by floor, the trio scouted the whole Lair and found themselves alone. They had avoided the worst case scenario of having players still wandering around the lair. Even though the trio and animals' levels were much lower compared to goblins, Bunny and her troop of 60 animals had a large numerical advantages, good usage of formation and three healers. Killing the goblins took time, but they were able to move all over the Lair without much risk.
Instead of screeching, Bunny started using her Harp playing as the source of sound for her skill Echolocation. It caused less stress on her throat while improving her musical skills. Moving around playing her harp while listening to feedback, Bunny found a hidden passageway at the deepest part of the lair. Within were pinky sized bugs instead of goblins, a good source of proteins for those interested. While the humans felt their skin crawl, the rabbits and squirrels happily feasted.
127 Plague rats were released near the entrance. They had be thoroughly 'trained' to infect then escape, so they do not die easily. The rat's level were kept low due to two reasons: Firstly, Bunny had no intention to evolve them, and secondly, they were disposable deterrent, giving as much trouble and give as little exp as possible. Boxes of bugs were transported daily from the depths to the rats as food, keeping their health and satiety level up.
Evolved minks which seemed to be immune to plague poison were camped near the rats to help kill any kobolds that sometimes spawn near the entrance. The minks were given specific instructions to hide if players arrive, which they could easy do with their color changing coats. To stick to Bunny's bluff, the cave needed to appear empty except the plague rats.
Other then the twins, Bunny also hired another boy named Aaron with similar terms. Aaron aspired to be a teamster, so he was tasked to ferrying goods between the Lair to Bunny's Ranch in the city. Food and other necessities was needed at the mobile ranch, while loot and food cooked were sent back for storage and sale. The carriage was replaced with a cart for goods transport, which also became a lazing place for Nyaa and 4 rabbits. Aaron was initially uncertain about the animals' role, but was awed when they easily extinguished a pack of 6 wolves that ambushed the cart.
To Bunny's surprise, Angel learned the Blacksmith skill. Bunny had never heard of any priest swinging hammers in a forge... then again, priestesses focused on archery were just as rare. Loot dropped by the residents of Litvart consisted of iron pieces, some weak gears and coins. Since the loot was split evenly, Angel made her share consisting of mostly things she could melt and reforge. During lull times, she would take out her portable stove and melt them into ingots. Bunny felt that Angel would become the first pseudo paladin archer in the game... A priestess with triple layered heavy armor using a bow.
*****
Three game days passed easily, with a small army running undisturbed around the Lair. Bunny and co. were leveling up at an incredible pace. Bunny gain proficiency in her skill Phantasm Calling by calling even more animals into the Lair. With each level, reduction of health and man of the summoned were lessened.
A rabbit reported something interesting, using Gene's Life-Link skill, the humans were able to hear the rabbit talk. It said in a small voice: “Big monster in cave of the bugs”
Not making much sense of the report, the trio went into the bug infested cave. The randomly crawling bugs were gone, so the trio decided to explore deeper into the cave. The cave had several forks, using Echolocation, Bunny found the design to be similar to hotel corridor, with rooms on each side. Instead of doors, there were splits in the cave, while rooms were replaced by dead-end tunnels guarded by something that gave a fuzzy respond.
After tell her finding to her team, they proceed into one of 'rooms' to see the monster.
“Ewww, gross looking worm” Angel exclaimed
“Do you really think worms grow that huge?” Bunny replied pointing at the monster
“It looks cute” Gene said, which made the other two look at him with funny expressions.
What the trio found was a huge worm draped in carapace. It looked like an 2m long millipede without the legs and adding a wide mouth. The bugs that used to loiter around the area were all swarming around the worm like thousands of flies over dung. Looking at the trio, the huge worm spewed light green smoke which filled the area quickly.
You have been poisoned!
Your life is decreasing continuously.
“Awww... poison again? Are we cursed with always meeting poison enemies?” Bunny grumbled
*Sigh* Angel agreed with a sigh, then started chanting her Mass Cure spell
Gene just switched his focus between the worm and Bunny.
“Gene! Don't give me that puppy look, I don't think I want to keep it as a pet.” Bunny grunted
“Hmph, you kept those rats, why not a worm too” Gene pouted, this was the first time he was assertive, but Bunny felt it was wrong on so many levels.
“Wait... I think Gene has a point.” Angel suddenly declared after much thought.
Bunny caught on, and the trio slowly carried the worm up near the entrance of the Lair. At its new location, the worm started spewing poison fumes periodically causing the air around the area to have a light greenish tint.
Luckily neither the worm, minks nor the plague rats mind sharing the area. They didn't seem to poison each other, while the bugs that came along became munchies for the minks and rats.
Bunny was studying her Phantasm Encyclopedia
“I thought those bugs grow into worms, but they are not related at all, they formed a closed ecosystem and parasite on each other. The bugs feed on mucus excreted by the worm while the worm eat them.”
Looking up to see Gene trying to make an animal contract with the worm, Bunny sighed and interrupted.
“Gene, we need to carry two more worms up here, you want wait so you could get a bigger or smaller one?”
“Ok, I want a bigger one” Gene nodded and the trio went back deeper into the Lair to carry worms.
It seemed that Gene was getting more accustomed to Bunny's presence, so he stopped using 'Ummm' in front of every sentence. Bunny didn't mind Gene being more relax around her, but his taste in animal companions still made her shudder. Both the bear and worm.
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