Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?

[Dark Ring]

[Mark appearing on the cursed Undead Man]

[People with this mark won’t die; even if killed, they’ll resurrect, and sooner or later become mindless Animated Corpses or Wandering Souls, thus they are expelled from their homeland]

"Ah..."

Temude stared at the Dark Ring on his chest in a daze for a few seconds before realizing and instinctively exclaimed:

"I’ve become an Undead!?"

Not long after.

"This thing... doesn’t seem to affect me at all."

Temude kept touching and examining the Dark Ring on his chest, trying various methods to remove it, but all to no avail. He also attempted to inject magic power fighting qi into his chest to stimulate the Dark Ring, but it didn’t work either.

This ring was like a tattoo imprinted firmly on his body, serving as decoration without any other noticeable effects for now.

Logically, if no danger was found for the moment, there was no need to remain on constant alert, but its presence still made Temude’s heart race.

For it was also considered an ominous sign, and according to the various intelligence provided by Sain Dungeon, it was indeed a very sinister object!

The Dark Ring signifies a curse; once it appears, one becomes an Undead and undergoes humanity loss, eventually turning into an Animated Corpse.

Well-known adventurers like Solar and Jack Baldor are both Undead; the former has an alternate line where he turns into an Animated Corpse, and the latter decisively commits suicide to prevent becoming one.

Speaking of which, isn’t the Onion Knight an Undead? How did he succeed in committing suicide?

Temude looked at his chest and sighed, "Will I too lose my humanity?"

This question is only known to the heavens.

Currently, the only effect of the Dark Ring is as a limited skin, presumably a reward for the extinguishing ending.

He doesn’t want it at all, it’s just like a black mark in his history.

So, after the appearance of the Dark Ring, does he still count as a human?

"Shwaa—"

At this moment, the prison ceiling finally opened, and the familiar Oscar from Astara glanced at him, throwing down the prison key.

"Finally here."

Temude picked up the key and, with a "click," unlocked the cell door, setting out.

The structure of the Northern Undead Asylum is quite simple; once cleared, it’s hard to forget, and now he could rely on his memory for a speedrun.

But just as he took a step toward the path he remembered, he suddenly paused, turning to look at the prison key discarded on the ground.

"I activated the cycle, so..."

The world of Sain Dungeon refreshed, resetting everything to before he traversed those areas, and the residual shadow characters scattered across various regions hadn’t taken further actions.

"So some things I can try to change them?"

Looking at the prison key reminded him of Oscar, whose ultimate fate was to pass the Elemental Bottle to adventurers in the Northern Undead Asylum before dying like a supporting character, with his cause of death unknown, only that he died in a nearly hidden room.

That room is revealed only when the wall is smashed by a Giant Stone falling off the stairs, but before then, no one knew how Oscar got in.

Temude halted, lost in thought.

It is widely known that residual shadow characters in Sain Dungeon act based on adventurers’ exploration reaching certain nodes.

These nodes might be adventurers arriving at a certain scene, obtaining certain items, or defeating certain enemies.

Once adventurers trigger these nodes, residual shadow characters directly appear at their next phase’s designated location, displaying the corresponding state, skipping any intermediate process.

This feels unreal, but all Dungeon residual shadow characters behave this way, and adventurers are accustomed to it.

"Then the node that leads to Oscar’s death is..."

The Giant Stone tumbling down the steps?

This was not deduced by Temude himself but the result of adventurers brainstorming together, and despite reaching such a conclusion, nobody has successfully saved Oscar yet.

Because they have no idea what exactly to do before encountering the dying figure after triggering the Giant Stone roll to constitute a successful rescue.

Even Skyrim Strategy Group among others failed to find a method to save him.

"I have to give it a try."

Temude suddenly resolved.

If he didn’t at least attempt this, what would his cycle be worth? Cycles exist to bring change!

He strode out of the prison, first retrieving weapons and equipment hidden within a Treasure Chest based on his memory, then taking an unconventional path, clambering up and down the bumpy walls of the Undead Asylum to navigate between levels!

Previously, reaching the upper or lower levels always required finding the stairs, yet heading to the stairs means potentially encountering the rolling Giant Stone, which almost certainly seals Oscar’s fate.

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