“Who are you?”
The three players standing by the gate asked in surprise at Adam, more as a gut reaction than as an actual demand for information.
As for Adam himself, he is shocked to see such an unlikely trio. Fortunately, the look of surprise on his face was too far to be noticed by the unexpected guests- and even if they did, it would have likely been brushed off as a shock to see another player in the crypt.
Adam responded casually and waved his arm as a way of saying hello, but didn’t give out his name.
While he already removed his name from the ranking, there’s a fair to good chance that his name is still a hot topic amongst gamers.
Then, as if there’s nothing unusual with the entire situation, he resumed picking up the loot from the fallen Paladins.
But his thoughts are as loud as the Fireballs he had been throwing mere moments ago.
Paladin Rebecca Rivers, Saintess Jessica Williams, and Dexter the Murderer.
So, these three were acquainted with each other?
Is this how Rebecca acquired the Paladin’s Set? But something doesn’t feel right.
They don’t seem particularly high-leveled and their gear are abysmal. There is no way they would have survived this crypt in their current state.
No, this can’t be the time she acquired the set.
And indeed Adam is right. Their presence here so early on is none other than due to Adam’s actions itself.
***
In Adam’s first life, the trio discovered the crypt a few weeks later than they did this time around. But while they had an easy time looting the place due to Adam clearing the first three floors, the crypt was crawling with powerful undead in their original exploration.
They had no choice but to very slowly either sneak past the enemies or kite them and kill them one at a time. With their level and equipment, It was an immense challenge. But they had no other option but to continue.
Just as they couldn’t find an exit now, the trio also couldn’t find an exit then so they had no choice but to proceed deeper into the crypt. Each chamber is as tough as a boss fight but they persevered.
And in the process, their skills were honed with every chamber they cleared.
As for the loot, their collection was also much slower originally so they weren’t able to secure as much funds as they were hoping for.
Flora Guild argued that since they don’t have much to sell, even if the weapons’ damage is better than most, it still doesn’t make up for the low durability and low quantity.
Slowly, but surely, they reached the 3rd floor where the wall and chest mimic were hiding.
It took them several deaths before they successfully cleared it.
A few deaths in eliminating the draugrs, a few deaths from the traps, and a few deaths from discovering the mimic- from each of the mimics.
By the time players were busy doing quests from the fortress, the trio was still struggling against the mimics. But they did not give up.
More specifically, Rebecca didn’t while Jessica is considering deleting her character to restart.
Dexter, of course, supported Rebecca.
The mimics in particular brought them much frustration. It was shocking enough to see Dexter eaten by the chest mimic, but it was a nasty surprise when another mimic- a wall mimic, ate the sisters in one fell swoop while they were trying to save Dexter.
But after reviving, Dexter had the realization that both the wall mimic and chest mimic aren’t undead. If they are undead, why eat three humans?.
So instead of approaching them for combat, he shot several poisoned arrows at both monsters.
To the delight of the trio, the poison worked and the two mimics that gave them so much headache were no more.
It was then that they claimed the mimic’s loot and the Soul Effigy of the Paladin Knight-Commander.
Unlike Adam who chose not to use the Soul Effigy until it was forcibly activated, Rebecca used the effigy as soon as she found it. There she received the quest much earlier than Adam did.
And as a bonus, the trio received a Paladin’s holy buff that aided them in completing the quest. They even went back to the 1st and 2nd floors to kill the enemies they once sneaked past on.
Slowly, but surely, they have regained their loss of level and time with the sheer amount of essence they gained from their kills.
The Paladin’s buff is strong enough that it gave the trio the means to clear the succeeding floors with relative ease until they reached the 11th floor.
In the boss room, the events happened much the same as it did with Adam.
After they have proven themselves as capable fighters, the undead knights issue a challenge for a duel.
While Adam was challenged to a one-on-one duel, the trio was allowed to fight as a team against one Heretic Revenant after another.
With every battle against the undead knights, the trio developed their skills. Even Dexter who initially only joined the sisters due to his unrequited crush ended up enjoying the game genuinely throughout the course of their raid.
But now, for better and for worse, these events will never come to pass due to Adam’s actions.
A defining moment for the trio has been stripped away from them.
***
Adam, having no idea on how the events originally unfolded, is thinking on how to turn this encounter to his advantage.
While he is surprised to see three well-known figures in the future, he is not at all worried about how his actions might have negatively changed things due to his interference. Though it did bother him initially when he found the Paladin’s Set for the first time, he had since made his peace with it.
His very actions are changing everything around him in small and unnoticeable ways. This just so happens to be a noticeable action as he recognized the set and knew who it belonged to.
But looking at it another way, how is this any different from him looting half the stuff in the hidden room that originally belonged to Maxima?
Maybe he’s changed things for the worse for some of the players, but maybe he also changed things for the better.
Either way, pondering on it will not do him or anyone else any good.
He can only move forward and do his best with the current cards he has on hand.
And the cards that he has on hands are pretty formidable: knowledge and experience from the future.
While he cannot control everything, he can at least prepare for the things he knows will come. Isn’t that what he’s been doing since he regressed?
He was initially thinking of how to pass the set to Rebecca to give her a much needed boost. But upon learning that she is acquainted with other future figures, he needed to do something.
In particular, he needs to do something about the most dangerous variable: Dexter.
During Adam’s first life, Dexter came to be known as Dexter the Murderer.
As one can infer with his nickname, he became a menace.
Rumor has it that a day before the start of the apocalypse, Dexter went to his school and did something horrible that has alarmingly become so common in today's day and age. However, due to the monsters suddenly appearing worldwide, he was able to escape from the confusion and developed his abilities in the real world.
Whether or not it’s true that is never confirmed. But what is confirmed is that he eventually murdered Rebecca Rivers. Rumors say they were lovers, but others say he is just a stalker who has been rejected time and time again by Rebecca during her pro-gaming days.
But at this very moment, Adam is not looking at a mass murderer, or a crazed stalked. He only sees a young man in his late teens.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
And as for Dexter himself, he sees a potential threat to his romantic fantasy.
***
“Um, hello?” asked Rebecca tentatively. “Can I ask you something?”
She had to raise her voice as there’s a fair bit of distance between them and the man.
“Sure.” the man responded back.
“The undead from the upper floors, was it you who killed them?” she asked.
“Yes.” said Adam simply. "And I just finished the boss fights in this floor."
He gestured to the dozens of corpses of the Heretic Revenants.
“No way. He’s just showing off,” snorted Dexter. “You saw how high-leveled the zombies are, right? No way he could do it.”
“Yeah, but…” Rebecca’s voice trailed.
Dexter would normally take Rebecca’s side on nearly anything. But this time, he’s taking a stance.
He's like a young cat who sensed a threat to his meal. While his snarl and claws are too young to be of a threat, it can nevertheless be an annoyance.
Unfortunately, most of what Dexter is about to say are doubts the sisters themselves are thinking. But fortunately, Adam is patient.
“He most likely found another entrance and ended up here.” said Dex. His brain working at unbelievable speeds trying to come up with something logical.
“That’s possible, but what if he really did kill them?” asked Jess.
It was Rebecca who answered this time.
“Look at his gear. That looks like the ones a pro-guild member wears.” she said quietly, noting the superior quality of the figure’s equipment. “I hear the stats of those are far better than what most have.”
“It’s far better than any set we’ve seen so far," she continued. “That is why Flora is buying the weapons we’re selling them in the first place, they needed the weapons in huge quantities to keep up with their rivals.”
“But that still doesn’t justify how all the undead were killed.” Dexter countered. “Even if he has good weapons, no one is strong enough to kill that many enemies alone.”
“But what if he’s not alone?” Rebecca responded. “Maybe his team was wiped out and he was the only survivor of the fight. He did say it was a boss fight.”
She observed the man in the center of the chamber, there was faint smoke coming out of his body and his ragged appearance indicated he had been in an intense fight.
At this point, the man joined their conversation.
“Actually, I am alone.” the man said suddenly. “But I really did kill all those undead from the upper floors.”
The trio were surprised, not just from his answer but the fact that he even joined the conversation in the first place.
There is quite a bit of distance from the entrance to where the man is located. And the trio was having a conversation in relatively low voices. How did he hear them when he’s so far away?
“You can hear us?” asked Jess incredulously.
“Yes, I can hear you from where I am.” confirmed the man. Then he helpfully explained. “My Perception stat is a bit higher than non-rangers. It enhanced my senses.”
There was a moment of silence.
The trio is composed of a warrior, a cleric, and a toxin herbalist. None of their class requires a high perception stat so they did not know of this effect.
But before anyone can say anything further, the three doors that closed during the duel once again opened.
Brrrrrrr! Brrrrrrr! Brrrrrrr!
Another batch of Draugrs came rushing in- about a dozen of them. No doubt the seal on the doors was lifted too when the duel against the knights ended. And all the loud explosions of Adam's fireballs would have definitely lured any undead on the other side of the doors.
Although the trio has not encountered a “living” Draugr yet, they can tell at a glance that its level is higher than them.
That, and the fact that they are horribly outnumbered means it’s a hopeless fight.
The trio exchanged a quick glance at each other. They know they don't stand a chance against that many. Unfortunately, they haven’t found the exit yet so they’re bound to be hunted down by the Draugrs.
Worse case scenario, they will be trapped here and doomed to be perma-killed by the Draugrs every time they respawned.
But just as this grim ending started to manifest in their minds, the cloaked man is stepped forward.
“Don’t worry," the man assured the trio. "I got this."
In his hand, a ball of fire materialized, an intense red flame covered in a majestic gold-colored aura.
Then he threw the fireball on the incoming group of draugrs.
KA-BOOOOOM!
And with a flash of understanding, they realized what- or rather, who, was causing the explosions they heard earlier.
It wasn't a dynamite, that's for sure.
The man cast another Fireball.
KA-BOOOOOM!
“He-hey, sis!” said Jess in disbelief, pointing at the crowd of draugrs. “Look at the damage!”
-292, -291, -294…
Above the heads of the monsters, the trio are seeing figures they didn’t know were possible.
While the trio is in the process of understanding what they were seeing, the man threw another fireball.
KA-BOOOOOM!
Their party’s individual damage barely reached 200s- and that's from targeting a dormant zombie. Yet this mysterious player is dealing more than double that against obviously high-level undead.
And it wasn't just the initial damage, the fire engulfed the undead on fire dealing additional damage-over-time.
It didn’t take long for the man to dispatch the draugrs.
After the man has confirmed that there are no more enemies, he went back to looting the bodies of the undead.
“That’s not possible!” exclaimed Dexter in astonishment. “He has to be hacking, it’s a bug!”
With three Fireballs, the Draugrs were all defeated.
They’ve seen how pro gamers fight. And they know that neither Cole nor his brother is anywhere near capable of what the man before them just did.
“No, Dex.” said Rebecca softly. “There are no bugs in this game.”
“Then it-it-it has to be an artifact, or something!” countered Dexter. “That’s the only way to explain it then!”
They couldn’t help but stare back at the man who easily dispatched high-level undead. And then, it was only then that they noticed the bodies that the man was looting.
They look to be undead knights. Although the weapons and armor looks visibly old, they can tell that it is far more valuable than the ones they’ve been looting. A quick estimate would be nearly thrice times valuable than the loot they previously sold.
What’s more, the knights would have been more powerful than the draugr he dispatched just now.
“Who are you?” asked Rebecca.
In contrast to their question earlier, this time she’s earnestly curious about the man’s identity.
“I’m just an independent player.” said the man simply. “No one of note.”
“Ha! So he’s not even a professional.” scoffed Dexter. “I bet he just found a good item by luck. That’s why he can do that kind of damage.”
Dexter wasn’t even bothering to keep his voice down at this point. He wants to be heard by the man.
But Jessica, trying to keep things pleasant, made a friendlier approach.
“Did you take damage from the fight earlier?" she offered with a smile. "I’m a cleric, I can heal you.”
“No, thank you.” the man shook his head. “I already drank a health potion so my HP is back in full.”
“Hah! Bet he’s just saying that to try and impress you.” jeered Dexter. “Dude, she’s got a boyfriend.”
But the man’s response captured the twin’s attention.
Potions are such a rare commodity and only the wealthiest players and biggest guild has access to it.
The only reason the trio had been able to grind as they could is because of Jessica’s healing. But even that had its limit when she ran out of mana.
While Dexter is an herbalist, his skill is about extracting or creating poisonous compounds, not restorative ones.
Even when Cole and his brother assisted them the other day, they still didn’t give a potion to them. This goes to show how scarce the potion is at this stage in the game.
After all, with no store to purchase it from in-game, how can players regularly acquire potions?
“Potions?” Rebecca skeptically asked. “I heard only guilds have those right now. And even they have it in short supply.”
“See Rebecca? He’s just saying that to sound mysterious and impressive.” said Dexter. “And also, that's the second time you asked him who he is yet he hasn’t even given you his name yet.”
But the man smiled at them. And then he answered all their questions.
“That’s right, potions. I can make them as I’m an alchemist.” said the man casually. “Oh, and my name is Adam.”
Silence.
While they instinctively didn’t believe it, with Dexter making an extra effort to reject it, everything that they have seen so far matches with the man’s claim.
Of course, they have heard of the mysterious player who saved the chamber players from being annihilated.
Who has not heard of Adam, the First Potioneer?
The True Number 1?
The Top Contributor?
After all, they were personally in the Battle of the Chamber of Sacrifice!
He was the top player of the Lorikan server until his name suddenly vanished from the rankings. Yet, instead of his name falling out of the news cycle, this mystery made it even more appealing to rumor lovers. Even now, many of the Chamber players consider Tyler as just a place holder '#1' while believing that Adam is still secretly the top player.
“Adam… as in THE Adam.” asked Rebecca. “Are you the top player?”
“Well, no. Not anymore.” shrugged Adam. “I took my name off the list. Didn’t want all attention, you see.”
“You can’t be. You- you- you,” stuttered Dexter.
He’s trying to find a way to deny Adam’s claim but couldn’t find any ground.
The Adam that they know of has made an amazing performance and was recognized as the top contributor of the first quest; both system and player, no one disputed his status as the top contributor.
He showed up just in time to provide potions to the players. And in doing so, he single-handedly turned the tide to the player’s favor.
Not only that, but he also joined the battle and killed many monsters with his amazing swordsmanship and powerful fire spells- and they witnessed this first hand in battle.
The same powerful spells that they just witnessed moments ago.
And now that they’ve gotten closer, they notice that his armor looks a lot like the armor worn by the top contributor… and they could have sworn both the dagger and sword in his waist are the same weapons he used.
Before the trio could say another word, Adam said something that successfully locked in their attention.
“Speaking of potions, I have several to trade. I’m happy to trade them if you have found some items of value.”