Facing the Death Rite Bird once again, what was the Group planning to do?
Just two words:
Bait it.
"Bastard! Come hit me if you dare!"
Luluwo stood at the very edge of the cliff, shouting at the top of her lungs. Behind her yawned a bottomless abyss, violent winds howling as if doing everything they could to sweep her off her feet.
Worried that she wasn't eye-catching enough, she even spread out her chains and flailed them wildly, fluttering like an enormous moth.
However, this ridiculous display failed to attract the Death Rite Bird's attention in the slightest.
Its focus was locked entirely on Belto, who was hopping and dodging frantically not far ahead.
"Captain, save me!"
Belto was on the verge of cardiac arrest. Being chased by a monster of that size would terrify anyone.
What made it worse was the dense aura of "death" surrounding the Death Rite Bird, constantly eroding his sanity. It felt like his mind was being scraped away bit by bit.
The creature was clearly toying with its prey. Every time it was about to catch Belto, it deliberately slowed down, keeping him trapped in a state of relentless, suffocating panic.
Mira and Ais tried to rush in to save him, but the Death Rite Bird ignored them just as completely.
Their attacks struck the monster, yet the damage was so negligible it might as well have been inflicted with a nail clipper.
Can you even fight this thing without nerfing it first?
Even a "dead bird" would get irritated by constant harassment. The corpses fused into its wings raised their spears in unison, and a dangerous aura instantly spread across the entire area.
They didn't know what was coming—but they knew one thing.
Dodge.
Countless illusory spears rained down from the sky. Getting skewered by one wouldn't just turn you into a kebab—it would be far worse.
"Tsk."
Luluwo clicked her tongue, clearly irritated. She wanted to go save Belto, but the spear rain completely cut off her route.
Belto glanced back.
The grotesque head of the Death Rite Bird was staring straight at him.
A chill ran up his spine.
When he looked forward again, he realized—without noticing when—it was already the edge of the cliff.
Wait… the cliff edge?!
A flash of inspiration struck him. His expression hardened as resolve took hold, and he suddenly activated a combat skill, his speed skyrocketing as he charged straight ahead.
From the outside, it looked like a desperate attempt to escape the Death Rite Bird's attack range.
But how could it allow that?
With a powerful flap of its wings, the Death Rite Bird took off and immediately dove downward, clearly intending to crush Belto into paste with a full-speed aerial charge!
"Heh—got you!"
Just as he reached the cliff edge with nowhere left to go, Belto let out a strange laugh.
By all appearances, he had run himself into a dead end.
The skill he used was infamously nicknamed Heavenly Pitfall—it granted tremendous speed, but once activated, it couldn't be stopped until its duration ended.
Straight ahead was the cliff.
Left or right meant entering the spear-summoning ritual zone.
Undeniably, a hopeless situation.
So why was he laughing?
Because the Death Rite Bird was charging toward him.
—or rather—
Charging toward the cliff.
"Hahahahaha!"
Belto burst into wild laughter as he calmly spread his arms and plunged off the edge.
His unrestrained laughter echoed between heaven and earth—arrogant, fearless, and utterly unrepentant.
"Belto!"
Tears welled up in Luluwo's eyes as she reached toward his falling figure.
"I won't forget your sacrifice!"
"You guys are really addicted to overacting, huh."
Mira cut in sharply, though her gaze was fixed firmly on the Death Rite Bird, brimming with anticipation.
If they really could kill it by making it fall—
Then the rewards would be—
Everyone in the Group stared intently at the monster, chanting silently in their hearts.
Fall.
Fall.
Fall!
As if answering their prayers, the Death Rite Bird charged to the very edge of the cliff, half its body hanging over empty space!
Fall!
"—Screee!"
Its claws scraped violently against the ground, producing a piercing shriek. As everyone instinctively covered their ears, something utterly despairing happened.
The Death Rite Bird stopped.
Not only did it halt itself with its claws, but the hooked staff in its hand also provided tremendous braking force.
But—
"This… isn't logical…"
Luluwo muttered in disbelief.
"It was clearly about to fall just now, but suddenly it stopped—like it hit something. There's no way it did that with claws alone!"
She had seen it clearly.
Right before falling, the Death Rite Bird had collided with air.
In the language of this world, that meant the Death Rite Bird was blessed by the wind.
If Wade were explaining it, the answer would be simple:
There was an air wall near the cliff—and it only affected monsters.
Trying to kill the Death Rite Bird by making it fall was actually a solid idea.
Unfortunately, it was still far too naïve.
The Death Rite Bird could be killed by falling—but it was never going to be that easy.
As for how to truly skip the fight, that was something adventurers would have to discover on their own.
Not long after, the Group was wiped out once again.
By the bonfire, Luluwo gnawed on her fingernails in frustration.
"Beating the Death Rite Bird head-on is absurdly hard. We need to weaken it completely to have any chance."
"With no nerfs at all… is this even something humans are meant to beat?"
"And killing it by making it fall doesn't work either. There's some kind of Wind Barrier near the cliff. It doesn't affect us, and there's no way to dispel it."
"Damn it… my head's a mess. I can't think straight."
She stood up, planning to challenge the Bell-Calling Boat and the Demi-Human Swordmaster again, then fight a fully weakened Death Rite Bird to see if that would change anything.
She rummaged through her pockets, found nothing, and turned to Belto.
"Do we have any calming potions left? I'm exhausted."
Belto shook his head before even checking his bag.
"Why didn't you buy more?" Luluwo scolded him.
Belto looked at her sincerely.
"Captain, we're broke."
"…Huh?"
Only then did Luluwo realize that after days of high-intensity dungeon exploration, they had completely forgotten to take commissions. They hadn't had any income for a long time.
On top of that, their earlier cooperation with the Darkwraith had drained a massive amount of funds—they'd practically emptied their savings.
As a result, the Group's balance was now exactly zero.
Luluwo's face went pale—almost matching their bank balance.
"M-my… my money…"
"Don't worry, Captain."
Belto pushed up his glasses and confidently pulled out a thick stack of manuscript paper.
"I've already prepared a simple guide targeting Father Gascoigne. With this, we'll definitely survive this rough patch."
"Good! Good!" Luluwo gave him an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "As expected of you!"
"But, Captain."
The glare reflecting off Belto's lenses carried a heavy pressure.
"If we really want to get through this financial crisis, then for the next few days, you're going to follow my commands unconditionally."
Deep resentment seeped into his voice. He had clearly reached the limit of his tolerance for the captain's reckless spending.
"…Okay."
Luluwo nodded, guilt written all over her face.
That very night, a new guide appeared on the Adventurers' Guild board:
"The Ultra-Convenient Warrior Jar Event Guide — Even Miners Can Learn It!"
"Was this made by the Luluwo Group? I dunno… I don't really trust them."
"It only costs as much as a chicken leg. Just buy it and take a look."
"Huh? This actually sounds pretty reasonable… I kind of want to try it."
"Try it? Too bad the Count isn't handing out free teleport crystals anymore, or I'd go with you."
That night, the guide spread quietly through a small circle—like a jar of wine slowly fermenting, waiting for the right moment to amaze the world.
The next day, people began trying it.
Most failed at first.
The tombstones weren't indestructible, and theory on paper always fell short of practice. No matter how detailed the tombstone distribution map was, some people simply couldn't trap the priest consistently in real combat.
Those who failed began voicing their doubts.
"Isn't this guide full of errors? The priest barely charges when I fight him."
"Damn scammers! I can't trap him at all!"
But the small number who succeeded spoke up in defense.
"You can't do it? Then why can I? Maybe look for the problem in yourself."
"This guide is insane. Brain clear in one try—I'm a genius!"
"For newbies like me, this guide is genuinely super helpful. They even mark different situations in detail—it's really thoughtful."
With controversy came attention.
At the perfect moment, the Luluwo Group stepped forward.
To prove the guide's authenticity, they offered to personally lead buyers through live runs—charging only one copper coin per person as a symbolic fee.
There were five members in the Group. Split up, each could guide nine adventurers into the dungeon, providing real-time instruction on how to use the guide.
It was rare to see guide creators personally step into the field to teach others how to use their own work.
"They're confident enough to show up in person. That means the guide must be legit."
Especially after every member of the Group successfully demonstrated trapping Father Gascoigne in live combat, public trust skyrocketed.
Before long, this "skip-class" guide spread far and wide—far beyond what Belto had ever imagined.
The reason soon became obvious.
Among adventurer-circulated guides, those truly aimed at low-tier players were exceedingly rare.
They had filled a massive market gap.
The Group's funds recovered rapidly. They wouldn't get rich from guides like this, but at least their future dungeon runs would no longer be starved for resources.
More importantly, the guide brought them something even more valuable than money:
Reputation.
And a good reputation.
Soon, investors approached the Group, offering funding to support their explorations.
Not long after, Luluwo experienced what felt like a sudden breakthrough—as if someone had enlightened her overnight.
They struck while the iron was hot, releasing a beginner-friendly guide for the Catacombs' Death Knight route.
They gathered accounts from ordinary adventurers who had suffered through that area, analyzed the common stumbling points, refined their strategies again and again, and produced a guide tailored specifically for newcomers.
How thorough was it?
They even analyzed the behavior patterns of weak mobs like skeletons, listing their most common attacks and corresponding countermeasures.
These countermeasures were further broken down by class—warriors, assassins, mages, and other mainstream professions.
Of course, monster behavior in reality was highly random. They focused only on the most obvious patterns.
Even so, the workload was enormous.
Every member of the Group visibly lost weight.
And then—competitors appeared.
The market responded instantly. Once the Luluwo Group set the precedent, many other teams followed suit, releasing their own "clumsy-player" guides.
With the Death Knight route already covered, they shifted to other areas—Farron Keep, forests, even the Gourmet zones.
The roguelike content in the Catacombs was also discovered, and its rewards tempted countless adventurers.
Statistics showed that out of every ten people entering the Sein Dungeon, three were now aiming specifically for roguelike mode.
That ratio was terrifying, considering how many people entered daily just to gather food ingredients or mine.
Naturally, people wanted guides for roguelike stages—but with their extreme randomness, such guides couldn't be produced casually.
All anyone could do was gradually record the effects of blessings and the outcomes of different event choices.
Once enough data accumulated, exploration would become far more efficient.
But amid the craze, low-quality guides also emerged. Using them recklessly often turned dungeon runs into complete disasters.
This time, the Group remained calm, steadily producing high-quality guides. The pace was slow, but the value was undeniable.
Gradually, their reputation solidified.
The fame Luluwo had once chased so desperately arrived quietly—just as they were focused solely on making money.
Fate was a strange thing.
And today, an unexpected visitor knocked on the Group's door.
Luluwo opened it to find a strange elf standing outside.
"Hello. I'm here to discuss cooperation."
Stella brushed her hair behind her ear and smiled.
Luluwo froze on the spot.
The very next day, she joined an organization called the Warrior of Sunlight Training Program as a specially appointed instructor.
The organization was jointly founded by Stella and the Fire Church, aimed at training newly appointed Warriors of Sunlight—teaching them how to fight both humans and monsters so they could better assist others.
Assistance and invasion had become mainstream gameplay options. With sufficient strength, one could rapidly accumulate souls for leveling—it was extremely efficient.
As a result, people from other cities flocked in to become helpers or invaders.
The Church's goal was evangelism.
Stella's involvement, however, was purely personal interest.
Luluwo's guides were perfect for training newcomers. That was why they invited her.
Despite the warm welcome, Luluwo felt strangely out of place.
She—who had personally ushered in the era of mass invasions—was now surrounded by Warriors of Sunlight, listening daily to slogans like "Defeat all invaders."
Just thinking about it felt… complicated.
Each Warrior's graduation gift was a slave hood. By now, Luluwo had nearly gone numb to the sight.
Days passed, and the Dungeon continued to produce new surprises.
An adventurer named Wallace published a book titled "Ten Thousand Ways to Die in the Sein Dungeon," which sold incredibly well.
A Historical Study of Farron Keep followed shortly after, fully popularizing the story of the Undead Legion—some people even went to lay flowers at the fortress gates.
The notice board added a roguelike section titled "Endless Cycle Case Files," documenting encountered events and blessings with daily updates.
A red commission—The Golden Figure in the Hunting Forest—hung prominently in the guild, alongside High-Price Purchase: Fragmented Paintings of the Wolf Knight, posted by Dalchester.
Buying: Teardrop Larva—unsurprisingly posted by Sword Saint, who still hadn't obtained this precious respec item.
[Who Can Help Me Kill That Damn Golem] — Roger
[Buying Anti-Lightning Magic Items] — Vilde
Today was another perfectly ordinary day.
As agreed, Luluwo accompanied a group of Warrior of Sunlight trainees to the entrance of the Sein Dungeon, preparing to drill them.
But as she stood before the teleport gate, a strange feeling crept over her.
Something was different today.
She couldn't say what—but it felt wrong.
Then she noticed it.
"Why is the teleport gate closed?!"