Chapter 63: Crafting the Antidote
The second quest was also an easy feat. However, the problem in this case was the spawn rate.
Weak Zombies were simply too scarce. They spent too much time hunting for them one at a
time. It was lucky that the game had a shared party kill system. As long as the party members
did not stray too far away from each other, any Weak Zombie that Zhang Yang killed will also be
counted as a kill for the rest of the team. The same went for anyone else. Still, they had to spend
an hour to be able to kill a total of 20 Weak Zombies.
âThis pisses me off!â Drizzler was a temperamental girl. She could not endure any form of slow
progress that required patience. âArgh! I donât care how sad or pitiful the girl is. If she gives out
another quest that requires me to run around again, Iâd smack her upside down!â
âWaaâŚhaaâŚâ Drizzler broke down. âArghâŚwhy couldnât I steel my resolveâŚwaa waaâŚI just
canât help it! Look at her! She is so sad! Now I am sad!â Drizzler failed at her attempt to be
âHaha! It canât be helped! Letâs continue on!â
[A Test of Strength (3)] (Difficulty level: C)
Quest description: Emmy requires you to further prove your strength! Kill 50 Obese Ghouls to
prove it. You can find this monster in the Desolated Ghostly Flatlands north of the village.
Progress: Killed Obese Ghoul 0/50
Luckily the third quest was also a kill quest. Even though the kill count increased, the time
taken to complete this quest was much faster than the previous one! Unlike the low spawn rate
of Weak Zombies or the low drop rate of the [Bone Finger], the Obese Ghoulsâ spawn rate was so
high that they managed to finish the quest in no time.
âI swear that this time! I will just dump this quest if Emmy issues another quest like this!
Hmph! I will definitely walk the talk!â said Drizzler on their way back to the NPC.
Zhang Yang snickered. âDrizzler, youâre a pot calling the kettle black!â
âHuh? Black? Iâm not racist!â
âNo Drizzler. Itâs means that youâre the epitome of irony.â
âNoob tank! I curse you to love guys instead of girls!â
âWoah there! Little brat! You really hate me donât you!â
âThey see me rollinâ they hatinââŚâ Fatty Han started to sing the song that was viral on the
When they arrived at the village, they killed themselves again to talk with Emmy.
âBig brothers, elder sisters. Emmy has faith in your strength! You indeed have the strength to
help us!â said the girl with her reddish eyes. âAbout 7 days ago, a Necromancer visited our
village. With just a wave of his hand, he casted a greenish cloud of poison and engulfed the
entire village, killing every single one of us!â
âBig brothers, elder sisters, this Necromancer is evil! Not only has he taken our bodies, he even
dragged our souls! Emmyâs parents, grandparents, and all of the villagersÍž he has taken the
souls of everyone! Please, Emmy begs you! Please save them! Please save their souls!â
Her sob was the only sound in the silent village.
âW-Would you *hick* help Emmy?â
With her puppy eyes, she begged the party.
âWooâŚâ Drizzler cried like a baby. Her cries were at first soft and appropriate, even, but
eventually turned downright outrageous. âWaaahâŚthatâs so sad! Sheâs so sad! Waaaah!â
âEmmy has to warn you! The Necromancer is very strong! You will have to make necessary
preparations. You will need to gather ingredients to make an antidote for the Necromancerâs
poison! Without it, you wonât stand a chance against him!â
âDing! Emmy has a quest for you: To Craft an Antidote. Will you accept it?â
[To Craft an Antidote] (Difficultly level: A)
Quest description: To resist the Necromancerâs poison, you would have to craft an antidote to
dispel the poison mist he releases! Moon Orchids can be found in the Mossy Forest. Zombie
Mushrooms can be found in the Desolated Ghostly Flatlands. The Frog King can be found in the
Progress: Collected Moon Orchid 0/10 Zombie Mushroom 0/10 Frog Kingâs Blood 0/1
After putting in some thought, Zhang Yang decided to split the team to search for the
âLittle Snow and the brat, you guys go collect the Moon Orchid at the Mossy Forest. Fatty,
Hundred Shot, and myself will go to the Desolated Ghostly Flatlands for the Zombie
Mushrooms. Please rendezvous at this spot once everyone had gathered the ingredient. We will
take on the Frog King together!â
Everyone began heading out in their assigned direction but Fatty Han had some reservations.
He insisted that he should be in the same party as Little Snow and Drizzler. After a little
struggle, he was forcefully kicked back to Zhang Yangâs side by the girls. Reluctantly, Fatty Han
rejoined and headed to the Desolated Ghostly Flatland.
The Desolated Ghostly Flatland was a training ground for players above Level 20. As many of
the monsters here were higher than Level 25, their aggro range was much wider. Zhang Yang
and the other 2 Hunters quickly found themselves caught up in huge mobs after just a few
Zombie Mushrooms could be found growing in the earth, hidden and buried on the side of a
copse. The mushrooms were dark in color and if you did not pay attention, you could easily
walk pass them! The 3 of them made very slow progress as they were preoccupied in battles
most of the time. On the other side of the village, Drizzler had an equally hard time finding the
Moon Orchid. She had been complaining continuously in the party channel.
After wasting a whole 2 hours of killing and plucking, they successfully gathered 50 of each
ingredient. Once they completed their gathering, they met back at the village. After a quick stat
rep, they headed to the Misty Swamp, to fight the highly anticipated Frog King!
The Misty Swamp was located at the other side of the Mossy Forest, which was considered to be
a Level 20 to 30 training ground. Since most casual players were still at around Level 15, this
training ground was completely empty. With the absence of any being, this place was made to
be more cool and creepy. Bubbles formed constantly within the mud of the swamp, releasing an
extremely foul smell when the black-gooey globes burst.
âUrghâŚit smellsâŚâ Drizzler voice was muffled as both Little Snow and she covered their
mouths and pinched their noses. Her cheeks were puffed up and she looked like she was going
to be sick at any moment.
âGo to the main setting window and open the Realism tab. There, you can adjust the Smell
Setting to your liking. You could even turn it off if you want to. That way, you can remove the
stinking smell!â Zhang Yang turned around after giving the advice. He had bigger things to
worry about. Right now, Zhang Yang was stressed out. The entire swamp is so big, where is the
Frog King exactly? Even if he was a man from the future that came back with valuable
information, he was still a humanÍž and an imperfect one at that!
âLooks like I have no choice. Iâll sweep the area a la old fashion!â Zhang Yang sighed heavily and
walked deeper into the swamp. Usually, the boss would spawn at an areaâs highest peak, or the
center of the area, or even at the deepest floor. The mini-map would have an indicator that
represented the quest monster. However, it would only appear in the map when youâre at a
There was a pathway in the swamp, but the pathway was small and narrow. You could slip and
fall into the mud and receive a certain amount of damage. The monsters in this area were
mostly hidden in the mud. It would only jump put and attack when a player entered its aggro
Some of the monsters available here were Steel-Skinned Frogs, Greyback Crocodile, and also
the Dark Piranha. Every single monster here was in no shortage in terms of revolting, repulsive
and disgusting appearances. Little Snow and Drizzler were constantly complaining about the
designing ability of the developers.
As they fought their way further into the swamp, they arrived at a huge muddy plain. In the
center of the thick fog, they could see a large object crouched over, itâs back silhouetted like a
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Everyone was alerted of its presence and they checked their mini map to make sure. They found
it! A yellow blinking dot appeared!
They slowly approached the object and as they were close enough, they could clearly identify it.
There, sitting in the center of the muddy plain, with its glowing pair of dark gleaming eyes, was
a 10 meter tall blood red giant frog. Its presence gave off a mystical magical evil aura! The
gigantic frog opened its mouth and croaked as loud as thunder!
[Venomous Frog King] (Green-Copper)
âHah! It is a boss!â Fatty Han was delighted. âWe can get equipment!â
Zhang Yang did not share the same excitement as Fatty Han. He was on full alert.
Even though this boss did not seem to be any harder than a dungeon boss, he did not possess
enough information about this boss to safely fight it! A wild boss was not the same as a
dungeon boss. If a dungeon boss was raided as often as possible, players would have extensive
information about its skill or ability and they would be able to form a perfect strategy to fight it.
However, this was not the case for wild bosses. The rate of encountering a wild boss was so low
that the information about it was extremely scarce!
Zhang Yang had never encountered this boss before in his previous life, which was why he did
not know a single thing about this bossâs skill.
âWeâll have to go in blind for now. Letâs give it a shot!â
Zhang Yang pulled out his sword.
âLetâs go! Prepare for battle!â
With only two steps forward, Zhang Yang had entered the bossâ aggro range, triggering the boss
to croak loudly and turned its enormous body towards Zhang Yang. The boss jumped and
tackled Zhang Yang, while at the same moment, Zhang Yang activated <Charge>. Both of their
attacks met in the air and both of them fell down. Completely unaffected by Zhang Yangâs stun
effect, it opened its wide mouth and attacked Zhang Yang.
Zhang Yang quickly turned to face the Frog King and landed an attack on it.
When the Frog King received Zhang Yangâs attack, it croaked loudly and opened its mouth wide.
A foul-smelled liquid came flying out and hit Zhang Yang.
âDing! You have received the effect of Foul Poison (1 stack). Receiving 200 Nature Damage every
3 seconds for 15 seconds!â
âShit! Itâs strong!â Zhang Yang had never expected the poison to be so powerful. It inflicted a
strong DoT damage with just one stack! Zhang Yang could not imagine what would have
happened to him if he received more stacks of the effect!
The rest of the party quickly started their attack while Little Snow instantly casted a
<Regeneration> and chanted a healing spell.
Just within a few hits, the Frog King spat another wad of poison, stacking another layer of DoT
on Zhang Yang. In just half a minute, Zhang Yang had 5 layers of DoT effect, taking away 800
Luckily the DoT effect was capped at 5 stacks. If it was unlimited stack, Zhang Yang could
literally die in just a few seconds.
âHmph! Such an easy boss! Just a little while more before my finishing strike!â Fatty Han
âDing! Venomous Frog King has used <Poison Spray>!â
A dark reddish liquid spewed everywhere, hitting every one. Upon contact, their body glowed in
a deep red color. Beneath their feet, there was a circle sized red mist measuring approximately 1
meter in diameter. A debuff icon appeared on everyoneâs head.
[Contagious Poison]: You have been poisoned. Receiving 100 Nature Damage every 3 seconds for
15 seconds! This poison will spread and infect others. Damage is increased by 300% for every
Zhang Yang understood the gravity of the situation and quickly called out. âSpread out! Donât
group together! Little brat! Go and fight behind the boss! Keep at least 2 meters away from me!â
His call was a little too late. Since Little Snow, Hundred Shots, and Fatty Han are ranged
characters, they were all standing close to each other. When the <Poison Spray> landed on
them, their poison infected each other, totaling up to 3 times infection and 900% increased
They had received 1000 damage every 3 seconds!
Zhang Yang and Drizzler had infected each other, receiving 2 times infections.
Little Snow then frantically casted <Holy Prayers>, followed by <Regeneration>, <Holy Shield>,
and regular healing spell. However, as everyone was losing HP at a tremendous speed, she could
not keep up with the healing and died.
âDing! Player Slim and Handsome had died!â
âDing! Player Hundred Shots had died!â
âDing! Player Little Snow had died!â
Once the healer was down, Zhang Yang and Drizzler could not escape their imminent doom.
They struggled to hang on for a few more seconds but eventually died after that.
With no players left to attack it, the Frog King resetted, hopping back to its original spot and
croaked. Whether it was a victorious warcry or an automated NPC behavioral pattern, no one