Dungeon Designer: Bringing Smiles to the World!

Key to the Sick Village

The key, which had been swallowed by the gluttonous dragon, was covered in saliva, but this did not affect its use; it could open most doors in Blighttown.

Sick Village, true to its name, is a village full of sick people, so much so that even the most filthy and lowly residents of the Undead Town refuse to go near it.

Legend has it that deep within Blighttown, the Gluttonous Dragon slumbers, guarding the entrance to Izalith.

In the sick village, the only safe place was the campfire.

The firewood in the campfire is the bones of the immortal.

Unburnt bone fragments can be used as new firewood.

If you're going to eat death, then pray to death.

With the help of the clues, Rivers and Grace finally realized where they were.

Looking at the name mentioned in the prompt, Rivers muttered to herself, "Gluttonous Dragon... a species I've never heard of before. Was it the one that let out that roar?"

Just as Rivers was pondering what the "campfire" mentioned in the second half of the hint was, Grace, who had walked to the inside of the cabin, suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"Rive, come quick! There's a campfire here!"

On the floor inside the cabin, a warm campfire was burning quietly.

However, the firewood for the campfire was not wood, but human bones.

A spiral sword was stuck in the center of the campfire, its blade glowing red-hot.

Warm, eerie.

The two completely different feelings blended together very naturally, as if this campfire was meant to be there.

"It's so warm..."

Grace, drawn by the campfire, took a step forward, but Rivers stopped her with a hand.

As a former Gold-level adventurer, Rivera wouldn't easily believe the information in that hint.

Who knows if this campfire is actually a safe spot? What if it's some kind of hidden mimic monster?

Picking up a pebble from the ground and throwing it, the campfire that was hit remained unchanged, continuing to burn quietly.

Even so, Rivers did not stop testing the waters. After several attempts, she finally confirmed that the campfire in front of her was indeed safe.

The two sat down by the campfire, the warm firelight washing away their fatigue.

Grace stared at the campfire in front of her and asked, "Rive, are there safe places like this in other dungeons?"

The attendant shook her head.

Dungeons are always looking for ways to kill adventurers, so how could they possibly provide fixed safe spots?

Not to mention, this campfire also has a similar effect to a prayer for energy restoration.

Rivers looked down at the key in her hand, and Grace leaned closer. Both of them noticed a sentence on the note.

Legend has it that deep within Blighttown, the Gluttonous Dragon slumbers, guarding the entrance to Izalith.

"Izaris, I think that word appeared in the story we saw before." Grace scratched her head, not quite remembering it.

Fortunately, River remembered clearly and said, "The witches of Izaris and the daughters of Chaos, they obtained the power and soul of the king, and together with the first dead man, Nit, the Lord of the Sun, Gwyn and his knights, and the dwarves whom no one had ever seen, they challenged the ancient dragons and ushered in the Age of Fire."

At this point, Rivers turned to look at the campfire beside her.

Is this bonfire a manifestation of fire?

What was originally just a story to listen to has now become connected to the mechanics of a real-world dungeon.

Since the description of the campfire in the hint is true, what about the rest?

Rivers looked at the black iron key in her hand.

For example, this key can open most of the doors in the Sicks Village, or there is an entrance to Izalith in the Sicks Village?

Rivers subconsciously thought the latter was impossible, after all, the [Taifa Dungeon] was only a level 2 dungeon, how could it be constructed to have such a huge area?

Rivera put the key away and stood up.

In any case, the immediate priority is to explore the surroundings, figure out the distribution of those deformed monsters, and find a way to reunite with Elisa and Joel, who may still be alive.

If the campfire is the safest spot, then perhaps...

Rivers looked at Grace, who took out a white bone fragment from her pocket: "I found this by the campfire just now. I think it's called the [Return Bone Fragment]. You can use this to leave the dungeon directly."

Upon examining the bone fragment, the prompt reappeared.

[Return to bone fragments]

The white bone fragments, now reduced to ashes, can be used to return to the campfire where you last rested, or to leave the dungeon.

The firewood for the campfire is made from the bones of the immortals, and a few bones possess the power of returning to their source.

Even after they turn to bones, they are still drawn to fire.

However, since you've decided to leave this world, you must have to give up some precious things, right?

Fire, firewood, no one dies.

The recurring use of these three words is enough to illustrate the importance of these concepts.

However, Rivers didn't pay attention to these things at first; instead, she found them strange.

It's important to know that while most mid-to-high-level dungeons allow adventurers to leave midway, they still have to rely entirely on themselves to return to the entrance via the same route, or use teleportation spells or something similar.

The dungeon lord isn't so kind as to offer items for leaving.

Well, it seems that our Shadow Assassin, and most of the dungeon lords, don't understand the principle of sustainable development and exploiting resources to the point of exhaustion.

In the words that Rogge explained to the lich Horak:

"Letting adventurers leave more easily is to make them want to come back more. The secrets buried in the Blighttown will continue to attract these greedy adventurers until they are deeply involved, providing a constant stream of negative emotional energy."

We can't just beat adventurers with sticks; we have to give them some carrots too.

On the other hand, from a more utilitarian perspective, death doesn't actually put much pressure on these adventurers who can be resurrected. They can simply rest in the city for a few days and naturally don't contribute much energy.

It would be better to let them use the [Return Bone Shard] to frequently enter the dungeon for exploration, which would actually extract more energy.

Rivers returned the bone fragment to Grace, instructing her, "If you encounter any danger, use this to leave the dungeon immediately."

Unfortunately, she only had one [Return Bone Fragment] on hand, otherwise River would definitely have tried it to see if its effects were real or not.

"Okay, okay, go find Elisa and Mr. Joel now." Grace waved her hand with a smile.

She nodded silently and turned to leave.

Once the door was closed, Grace, who remained by the campfire, finally lost her smile.

Being a burden to others is not a pleasant feeling.

Grace had thought that she, as a priestess, could be of great use in the dungeon filled with undead creatures, but the result was the same as before. Her purification prayers had no effect on the monsters at all, and she was still the fragile healer.

The series of setbacks made Grace a little withdrawn and doubt her own strength and luck. Was she really going to fail to clear the dungeon twice in a row?

Staring at the quietly burning campfire in front of her, the priestess girl fell into deep thought.