Spook quickly covered himself once again, but the damage was done. There was no way his helper hadn’t seen him at such a close range. Even the darkness couldn’t save him from this blunder.

Feeling a bit of trepidation, he looked at his benefactor and prepared to bullshit his way out.

But before he could get a single word across, the orc clasped a hand on his shoulder with an astonished expression.

“That is some crazy cosmetic you have there! How did you get that skeleton mask? Was it from a Mystery Skin Box?” Yimyo fervently shook Spook. “I spent over five hundred dollars on those boxes, and all I got was junk. It’s rigged, I tell you!”

Hold on. Does this orc think I’m wearing a cosmetic item? Spook thought as he wobbled back and forth in the orc’s rough grasp.

“Yeah, that’s right,” lied Spook as he extracted himself from the orc’s grip. “I got really lucky on the skin box, and I got this skeleton mask. I spent a lot of money on it too.”

This was an excellent opportunity for Spook to play off his mistake. It was way easier to convince Yimyo that he was wearing a cash shop costume rather than him playing as an actual skeleton. Except there was no way in hell he would ever spend real money on a game. He just couldn’t afford to waste money. Especially not on in-game purchases.

Yimyo shook his head and grinned, revealing a pearly set of pointy tusks that reflected in the moonlight.

“That is amazing. I wish I had other people’s luck when I buy mystery boxes. I always have shit luck when it comes to gambling. So whats your class, Spook?”

“I’m a pugilist.” Spook figured there was no point in lying.

“A pugilist? I’ve never heard of that class. What does it do? Does it have cool weapons like my Bloodgeon here?” Yimyo brought out a rather sharp and hefty battleaxe from his inventory, swinging it around with ease.

“Umm, not that I know. I have punching and kicking skills. I guess you could say I’m similar to an MMA fighter,” replied Spook, nervously eyeing the whirling battleaxe as he cautiously took a step backward. He was reasonably certain PvP wasn’t allowed inside the village’s safe zone, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

Spook could have sworn he saw a disappointed look briefly cross the orc’s face but wasn’t sure if the darkness was playing tricks on his eyes. It was almost as if Yimyo had been slightly crestfallen to hear that he didn’t use weapons to fight.

He quickly changed the subject, sensing the conversation was dying down.

“What are you doing all the way out here in Jot? Are you also a new player like me?” asked Spook.

At this, Yimyo’s face brightened up again.

“Actually, this is my second character! I got bored of playing on my level 15 human berserker, so I swapped to playing an orc. I just came back from farming some foxes outside of the village. I was just about to head to the Crawling Cavern to kill some golems for some crafting materials. I’m trying to upgrade my battleaxe,” explained Yimyo.

Spook couldn’t help but feel amused at the orc’s story. It seemed Yimyo enjoyed playing beefy characters that got up close and personal. He had expected the orc to be a new player but was surprised to find out that Yimyo was an experienced player.

Suddenly a thought occurred to him. There wasn’t anything in the quest that said he had to complete John’s request solo.

“Hey, I’m headed to the Crawling Cavern myself. Do you want to form a party with me? I need to hunt Mane Lizards and Flame Golems,” asked Spook.

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Yimyo excitedly clapped his back, almost sending him tumbling to the ground once more.

“Of course I’d be down to party! We’ll have a better time fighting together anyways,” Yimyo chuckled loudly.

A system message popped up in Spook’s vision.

[Player is sending you a Party Invite

Join Party?

Accept/Decline]

Spook tapped Accept, and Yimyo’s name turned from white to bright green. A health bar also appeared next to an icon of Yimyo’s face in the top right of Spook’s vision.

“Looking forward to fighting with you, Spook,” said Yimyo, extending a thick hand to Spook.

“Likewise,” replied Spook as he firmly shook the orc’s hand. “Let’s do this.”

----------------------------------------

It didn’t take long for the pair to arrive at the cemetery. The orc and skeleton had followed Spook’s quest arrow over. The yellow arrow suddenly disappeared as they got near the mausoleums.

Looks like that’s all the help I’m getting.

“Damn, what happened here? Someone dug through the graves?” whistled Yimyo as they came upon Spook’s handiwork. Overturned dirt was everywhere, and the shovels were still on the ground.

“Yeah, must’ve been a graverobber,” Spook hurriedly walked past the holes and inspected the nearest mausoleum. He didn’t want the orc poking around too much. He already had a hard enough time explaining his appearance.

The entrance to this mausoleum looked rather new. Graystone was piled eight feet high in a rectangular shape, and four pillars adorned the exterior. A gilded bronze door greeted Spook as he probed around the perimeter of the building.

He placed a hand on the door and pushed it open, expecting to see some kind of secret entrance into the Crawling Cavern.

But to his surprise, there was nothing inside.

Spook sighed internally. There are so many more mausoleums to inspect. I counted at least twenty in the cemetery. This is going to take us forever.

Then Yimyo’s voice called out.

“Yo, Spook, that’s the wrong one, man. The entrance is over here.”

Spook stepped back out to see the green orc motioning to a rather dilapidated looking mausoleum standing near the outskirts of the cemetery. He made his way over and joined up with Yimyo at the front of the building.

“You sure the entrance is in this one? It looks pretty rundown,” said Spook doubtfully as he examined the mausoleum.

“That’s the whole point. People always avoid looking in this one because it looks so deteriorated compared to the other ones,” grinned Yimyo.

The orc pushed open the door with a grunt, raising a cloud of dust as the creaky doors swung open.

This game is too realistic sometimes. Spook thought as he choked on the fine dust.

There was no light inside, but his eyes had adjusted to the darkness a long time ago. It was completely empty except for a single coffin made of white marble placed in the center of the room.

“Where’s the entrance?” asked Spook. He didn’t see any sign of a hole or a teleportation portal or anything that remotely resembled a special entrance.

“Over there,” grunted Yimyo, pointing at the white coffin.

If Spook had eyebrows, he would have raised them right then and there. Is the coffin the entrance? Surely he’s joking.

The pair made their way to the middle, stopping directly before the coffin. Yimyo signaled for Spook to grab the other side of the coffin top. With heavy grunts, they lifted the cover and threw it to the side.

The yellow quest arrow suddenly reappeared above the opened coffin and pointed straight down.

A yawning hole gaped up at Spook as he stared into a bottomless abyss. It was pitch black as far as he could see. A metal ladder clung to the inside, the bars stained with rust.

[Entrance to Crawling Cavern

Warning: Monster-Rich Area

Party Play is recommended]

Suddenly, an unearthly screech echoed from below, causing Spook to jump out of his skin.

“What the hell was that?!”

“That’s just a Mane Lizard calling,” laughed Yimyo.

The green orc proceeded to haul himself over the edge carefully and started descending into the darkness. Yimyo peered up at Spook and beckoned with a hand to follow him.

“Let’s go. We’ve got monsters to kill.”