A bit rattled by what he had read so far, Michael stopped in his tracks. His sudden shout and stopping in the middle of the road puzzled his party members.
Before they could ask anything, they saw him turn to Gonk with a severe look on his face.
"Can you handle this Side Quest with only the three of you?"
[Did something happen?](Gonk)
"Yes. Something pretty damn important as well."
[It shouldn't be an issue. That huge walking tree over there should be Mochrann. Based on the Quest details, we should only have to bring him around and kill the monsters that come too close to it during the suppression ritual.](Gonk)
Pondering for a while, the Necromancer nodded after reading the Side Quest description himself.
[ Side Quest issued - A Sliver of Light
Objective: Speak to Mochrann
Description: To cleanse the Dark Thicket, you must escort Shob'ha's familiar, Mochrann, to the worst area and protect it while it performs the ritual. ]
Nodding, he took a deep breath and patted Gonk's shoulder.
"I'll leave these two in your hands. If things go sideways, just run away and return. We'll figure out something after my return. As for you two, be safe and don't do anything foolish. I mean it."
[Okay...](Neyrelle)
[*Pout* I'm always well-behaved.](Evelyn)
The little Druid was a bit annoyed at being treated like a child, but Neyrelle saw how flustered the Necromancer was, so she simply agreed without saying anything else.
Even if she was curious, she knew Michael would share the details with them later.
Watching the trio approach the large treant and begin walking toward the Dark Thicket, the one left behind took a deep breath and used fast travel to return to Kyovashad.
He quickly left the plaza and went to the Pink Palace without hesitation. On his way there, he used his Ring of Communication to 'summon' the representatives, as well as Hellen and her sisters.
As he was the first to arrive, he kindly asked the kitchen staff to serve some drinks and snacks and stared at the notification dazedly.
Now that he had time to go through the details, his face kept changing with each sentence he read.
Aylin appeared behind him at some point, but he was so absorbed in reading that he didn't notice her presence. The Sorceress frowned and patted his shoulder, making him almost jump out of his skin.
[Is it that bad?](Aylin)
"*Sigh* I... probably not. Overall, it might even be a good thing. But it might spell death for me if I step wrongly."
[That sounds problematic.](Hella)
[You said it is related to the Nightmare Dungeons?](Mei)
"Yes. I'm sorry for calling you on such short notice."
Seeing the six sisters return together, Michael wondered if they had gone shopping before he called them back.
The girls also noticed his slightly pale face, and even the imp Tia kept quiet while waiting for an explanation. Helen approached him worriedly, but he took her hand into his while also smiling at a concerned Mina.
"As I mentioned, Natalia, Mira, and Celeste will also join us. Beatrice is busy chasing after the Pale Man with Lorath, it seems, so we'll fill her in on the details later."
Half an hour later, the three Wanderer representatives also arrived, though they were a bit shocked by the somber mood.
Everyone hoped the situation wasn't too crazy, quietly exchanging greetings and nibbling on snacks while the 'host' who summoned them all gathered his thoughts.
"Since it would take too long to explain, I'll directly share the message I've got from the Sanctuary first."
Seeing the women nod, Michael smiled and grabbed Mina's hand on his left and Helen's on his right while the two girls also took the hands of the others, creating a human circle at the table.
The Sanctuary's message appeared before the eyes of the 'crowd.'
[ Congratulations, Wanderer!
You have been selected to participate in the closed beta Event concerning the new way Nightmare Dungeons will function in the future.
After receiving your feedback and taking it into consideration, the Sanctuary negotiated with the other two powers, and all future Nightmare Dungeons would take the divers into a new realm: the Burning Hells!
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
It must be noted that more than 30% of the Sanctuary's capabilities are being spent on ensuring restrictions are placed on demons higher than Level 50 and the fairness of Nightmare Dungeons.
By handing over the rights to create the Dungeon to the Burning Hells, the Sanctuary would be able to further empower the Wanderers, who aim to become stronger.
A simple example would be adding the Regional Progress perk to every Wanderer above Level 50.
Warning!
Since this would be the first time someone would cross over into a Dungeon created by the Burning Hells, a high chance of mortality exists!
Furthermore, only your soul has been found compatible with inter-realm travel so far. Therefore, the Sanctuary asks for your cooperation for the test run.
Warning!
While the Sanctuary would be able to protect your soul in case of imminent death, there still exists the possibility of the devil nobility playing tricks and causing the Wanderer's true death, with no means of revival.
Warning!
While the Sanctuary can protect your soul in case of normal death, huge damage would be incurred in the process. In order to balance the damage, a Wanderer could lose anywhere between 5 to 10 Levels on each death.
The Wanderer is expected to participate in the closed beta Event eight days from now.
Number of participants: 1
Time remaining: 191 hours, 20 minutes, 26 seconds. ]
Everyone remained silent after reading through the message.
In the end, it was Tia who couldn't keep quiet anymore.
[So... is this thanks to your 'suggestion' of invading the Burning Hells that day?](Tia)
This question brought mixed reactions to the girls' faces, and even Michael felt like slapping his cheap mouth a couple of times.
From the looks of it, the Sanctuary found a way through which it could hand over part of its job to the Burning Hells for the Nightmare Dungeons, allowing it to further empower those Wanderers who wanted to keep improving.
The Necromancer didn't want to consider how the Nightmare Dungeons would change now that their location would no longer be a 'pocket dimension' but rather the actual Burning Hells.
[Can you refuse?](Mina)
"I'm afraid not. When I asked, I got another message back saying that I would be automatically teleported into the 'Tutorial' Nightmare Dungeon when the timer hit zero."
[What about having someone else go instead?](Helen)
"Not possible for now. Apparently, my soul is a bit special. I'm not sure if it's related to my connection to Lilith or a different reason altogether, but other Wanderers are not capable of moving between the two realms yet. According to the answer I got back, their souls would dissipate before they even covered half the distance between the two realms."
What Michael kept quiet about was how the system mentioned his transmigration to this world, strengthening his soul, therefore making him the only suitable candidate for the test run.
[I am not familiar with the words 'closed beta,' but I am assuming it's a private Event where only you would join, correct?](Natalia)
"Yes. Simply put, the Sanctuary wants me to test the difficulty of the new Nightmare Dungeon. Through my dive, it would collect information on what to improve and how to better facilitate the survival of the participants in the future."
[I see. You haven't tried clearing a Nightmare Dungeon before, but it's amazingly tricky to do solo. As you've probably heard, the number and quality of the monsters increase tremendously, and that is after the Sanctuary restricts them sufficiently.](Natalia)
[Your meaning is that now that the Sanctuary hands over the reins to the Burning Hells, the difficulty would be further increased?](Aylin)
[I am afraid so. Furthermore, I don't think level restrictions would be applied in the new Nightmare Dungeons. Or if they did, the ceiling would be much higher.](Natalia)
The Necromancer frowned, remembering that the monsters he met earlier today were higher than his own by more than five levels.
He didn't like the idea of facing a horde of enemies, all more than ten levels above him. Leaving aside the difference in attributes and Life Points, their Resistance would also be much higher, while his might be lowered as a trick on the devils' part.
[Uhm, I don't want to appear insensitive, but what is this Regional Progress the Sanctuary mentioned?](Mira)
Seeing everyone's eyes turn on him, Michael smiled at a frowning Helen and shared his interface with them.
Gasps immediately followed since, as expected, they were taken aback after seeing the rewards.
"As you can see, reaching the fifth tier in each region would award the Wanderer with two skill points, one extra potion capacity, +80 maximum Obols capacity, and four Paragon points."
[Leaving the 400 maximum Obols aside, that's ten skill points, five extra potion capacity, and 20 Paragon points...](Mira)
Everyone took a deep breath, trying to calm themselves. He had previously talked with Helen about it, and she agreed that for a high-level Wanderer, having these perks would signify a massive boost in combat power, as well as a possible change of skill build due to the ten extra skill points.
Not only that, but after opening the Paragon Board, each Wanderer would only get four points per level from Level 50 onward. That also meant that the number of Paragon points they could gain was limited.
But now, the possibility of adding five levels worth of Paragon points was offered, meaning that they might be able to further enforce some Nodes or even activate more Paragon Boards.
The Necromancer didn't know what the nodes and boards were. But seeing how the girls at the table now had a really awkward look on their faces, he understood how tempted they were to ask him to go to this 'closed beta Event.'
"Leaving aside the possible rewards, I asked for your attendance to help me make a plan for the future. First of all, I need more information about Nightmare Dungeons in general, even if the new type created by the Burning Hell might differ. Second, we need to prepare for both scenarios where I successfully return and where I don't. If I do, it means that you can also venture into these new places. If I don't, it means that they are much more dangerous than we initially expected."
[Wouldn't the Sanctuary abandon the idea if you die? After all, I doubt it would feed the souls of high-level Wanderers to the Burning Hells for no reason.](Celeste)
"Well... it can't back away anymore, I'm afraid. It hasn't been confirmed yet, but the mention of a negotiation between the 'other two powers' means that both Burning Hells and the High Heavens agreed. With that being said, do you still think the Sanctuary can casually take back its words?"
Hearing that the feathery bigshots were also involved, the women's faces changed. The implications were clear!
["The Burning Hells could view this as an opportunity to acquire high-level Wanderer souls with minimal effort and resources. Maintaining Dungeons, especially Nightmare Dungeons, can be incredibly expensive. A successful clear without casualties on our part would have a significant economic impact on the devil's treasury. If the Burning Hells agreed to this, it would suggest that having the Nightmare Dungeon on their territory is less expensive for them."](Helen)
[I am more worried about why the High Heavens agreed.](Hella)
"You mean..."
[They might be using you and us in the future as a probe. To see exactly how strong the Burning Hells are, in case they want to launch an invasion campaign against the demons.](Hella)
The situation kept getting more complicated by the second, but Michael became strangely calmer instead.
Remembering how jealous Helen was of his Regional Progress back then, imagining them both clearing Dungeons or completing Quests for the points they granted made him smile.
Also, through this measure, the continent's mid to high powerhouses would become even stronger.
'Not only that, but the reason why it mentioned the Regional Progress to begin with was to emotionally manipulate me into agreeing. As a transmigrator, I have a better chance of surviving the teleportation to the Burning Hells. Then, through observing my progress during the Nightmare Dungeon, it can optimize the difficulty in order to prevent needless deaths. Even if it's on the demons' territory, if the Sanctuary wants to make changes, the Burning Hells can only compromise. It's only that being treated as a lab rat without any rewards is a bit annoying.'
[Michael?](Helen)
"Hmm? Sorry, I was a bit lost in thought. The bottom line is that I can't not go, so I might as well prepare. That's why I need your help. In these eight days, please help me gather as much information as possible about what is usually encountered in Nightmare Dungeons. Even if the location changed, the Sanctuary wouldn't allow it to become completely different, so the chances of encountering similar Events or the Dungeon Quests remaining the same are pretty high."
If there was one thing he kept to himself, it was that the Sanctuary suggested he bring sufficient water, food, and camping accommodations to last him at least a month.