Teest was lying on a pile of Nol's bones, too weak to stand. Nol didn't rush him. After straining his nerves for more than twenty hours, Nol himself was extremely exhausted. After all, no one had specified that the reward had to be received standing.
The reward was as he had predicted. For defeating a hidden boss beyond his level, Nol gained a large amount of experience points, plus a rare item corresponding to the "raider's profession".
[Guardian's Phylactery: After devouring, you can evolve into the rare undead monster "Lich". The most proficient skill will undergo mutation enhancement.
※First clear special reward. Only for undead creatures to use; not tradable.]
Countless white fragments of light exploded, and the little black box that had just fallen into the water appeared before him.
Without thinking, Nol grabbed the box and took a bite.
The box seemed to be made of leather, about the size of an apple, with the hardness of an apple. But it tasted indescribably disgusting, as if he was chewing on rotten meat. If it weren't for the fact that skeleton soldiers had no sense of taste, Nol would have vomited violently.
Honestly, evolving now wasn't cost-effective.
This thing could cause a skill to mutate, and the higher the level, the rarer the skill that mutated, the better. At the moment, the highest proficiency skill Nol had was the lowest level "Devour", a skill every undead creature had.
But he had no choice. A lich had a physical body and could disguise itself as a normal person, which was what he desperately needed.
The black box was thus swallowed by Nol and magically disappeared inside the skeleton.
The next instant, there was a surge of dark light, and the scattered bones on the ground were held together by some force, forcibly assembled. Then, withered flesh crawled onto the skeleton, and dim organs appeared between the ribs.
Organs, muscles, skin, hair.
The flesh gradually became whole, fresh, and plump. Nol raised his right arm and saw a familiar palm. He sighed in satisfaction and used up all the reward experience points—
[Lich – Lv.20]
[HP: 52,617/52,617 | MP: 43,780/43,780]
[Strength: 2,004 | Agility: 1,301 | Intelligence: 2,685 | Physical Defense: 3,416 | Magic Defense: 4,520]
[Status: Fire and light attribute attacks deal 500% damage.]
Not long after, the mutated skill was fresh out of the oven:
[Skill: Devour Lv. Max → Heretical Devour [Elementary]]
[Heretical Devour [Elementary]: The devourable object changes from "undead creatures" to "all species"; devouring the target's flesh will gain experience points and randomly acquire one of the target's skills; this ability can only be used on a single target once.]
[Note: The higher the target's strength, the higher the failure rate. Can have up to 3 acquired skills.]
[※"Heretical Devour" can be upgraded with the evolution of the holder.]
The properties after evolution were excellent, and the mutated skill could also be used. Now he could easily protect himself. The misfortune ended here. As long as he "divorced" Teest, he could pretend to be a common person and live freely outside…
[Warning, abnormal behavior detected.]
…Huh?
[Combat level comparison completed. It is judged to be an abnormal means of conquering. Initiating—— Initiating—— Initiating——]
The sweet female voice mechanically repeated, and Nol instinctively held his breath.
[——Initiating curse punishment.] The system finally gave its conclusion.
…What the hell?
Indeed, it was theoretically impossible for them to win this battle. Normally, game developers wouldn't enter the game and remember all the mechanisms of the boss. He could understand the system's misjudgment. Under normal circumstances, they would just freeze the account, and the Player could appeal.
Why was it a "curse"? This punishment was too weird.
As Nol was pondering, the status bar flickered as if it had poor signal. It changed from light blue to blood red, and its content also changed—
[Lich – Lv.20]
[HP: 100/100 [Permanently Locked] | MP: 100/100 [Permanently Locked]]
[Strength: 20 [-99%] | Agility: 13 [-99%] | Intelligence: 2,685 | Physical Defense: 34 [-99%] | Magic Defense: 45 [-99%]]
[Status: The curse "Physical Destruction [Undispellable]" permanently effective.]
Nol slowly extended his hand and poked the underlined "Physical Destruction". Sure enough, the system gave a thoughtful explanation.
[※ Physical Destruction: Under special conditions, it can occur by repeatedly using spells that counter your own attributes. The severity and duration of the curse depend on the specific circumstances. Equipment and medicinal gains are proportionally discounted.]
His HP and MP were directly locked, and his various attributes were reduced by 99%. The curse couldn't be dispelled, and it was permanently effective. His "Physical Destruction" was directly pulled at maximum strength.
In the end, it left him with a normal "intelligence" attribute, plus a poison attack that canceled the fire and light weaknesses inherited by undead monsters. However, when one's defense was permanently reduced by 99%, whether they had a weakness or not didn't really matter.
Nol sat quietly in place, staring at his desolate status bar.
…Until a piece of red curtain covered his naked body.
"You're younger than I thought, Mr. Mage," a voice said. "Hey, even if we're married, you don't have to be so… candid."
Nol raised his head and looked at Teest, who was barely standing.
"You don't look too happy." Teest swayed a bit and sat down next to Nol. "What, are you cursed too?"
"What do you mean cursed 'too'?" Nol finally pulled his attention back.
Teest chuckled. "I got an extra curse, called 'God's Forsaken, the kind that can't be dispelled. Who knows, maybe God just doesn't like this kind of weak-to-strong drama."
"I've never heard of this curse," Nol said truthfully.
"Physical Destruction" he knew. Black mages using healing spells, holy knights using black magic—all would have a "Physical Destruction" state. But he really didn't know anything about "God's Forsaken".
His game had been added with too many miscellaneous things. Nol has started to get used to it.
"The curse doesn't have much effect on my body." Teest shrugged. "But it forbids me, uh, from using anything related to divine power."
He was vague, but Nol knew what that meant.
"God" was a euphemistic term for system functions. If he didn't guess wrong, Teest couldn't change his face from now on, he couldn't buy various official gift packs, and he was forbidden to trade with other Players through the shop system. What was worse, he couldn't team up normally, let alone join any guild.
Next, Teest would have to face all enemies alone.
"But I don't think the impact is serious. You lose some, you gain some." Teest grimaced and started washing his bloody hair, seemingly very nonchalant. "What about you? What's your curse?"
When Nol finished explaining from the perspective of a "game NPC", Teest's mouth gaped, and the hand washing his head stiffened in mid-air.
"Bud, you're too miserable," he sincerely lamented. "So, you're not much stronger than a skeleton soldier now. I still have to escort you home."
Nol nodded. "That's the case."
After explaining to Teest, he also calmed down a bit.
Regardless, he now had a human form and could return to human society. As for the issue of combat power… It was just another game problem. Since he could find a way to deal with Lich Valdorlock, he could solve this one.
Nol adjusted the decaying mantle on his body, looking at the stagnant water at the foot of the stairs.
His appearance was almost identical to that of the modern human "Xu Yue".
Black hair with slightly longer bangs that just covered the back of his nape. His features were very handsome and distinguished, with somewhat deep contours, slightly melancholic. But compared to a real western appearance, his brows and eyes were softer. His face was still pale from being overworked, his lips lacked color, and his physique hadn't changed—
He used to pay great attention to health management, maintaining a slim and strong figure with no obesity from being overworked, but he didn't have time to go to the gym, so this strength was just that of an ordinary person. In this world, he could probably be considered skinny.
The only change was his eyes.
His pupils had turned into the bright blue typical of undead creatures, faintly glowing in the dark, like two clusters of will-o'-wisps. Nol sighed. When he left here, he would have to find a way to cover them.
"Never mind, let's get divorced first," Nol said to Teest.
Teest nodded and cheerfully took out the little idol. In an instant, the little idol collapsed into dust in his palm. Seeing Teest's face gradually turn pale, Nol suddenly realized the problem—this man's curse seemed to be called "God's Forsaken".
Teest was abandoned by the system, unable to operate any contracts, including, of course, the marriage contract.
Normally, Nol could also unilaterally terminate the marriage. So he took the last little idol and tried to activate it through prayer. Regrettably, nothing happened.
The idol only regarded him as a roadside stone. God knows if he was implicated by Teest's curse or if he himself had a problem.
They challenged a task beyond their level, which not only brought impossible curses but also impossible bugs. Nol tightly pursed his lips. After bearing such an outrageous curse, he thought he couldn't be any unluckier.
But as it turns out, he really could.
"It seems we can't separate for now, honey." Teest shook the sand off his hand, his tone a bit heavy.
Nol was silent for a moment. "First, let's find the loot, then leave… Where did you come from?"
Actually, he knew the answer.
"Three Forks Road Village, not far from here." Sure enough, Teest muttered.
"Then go to Three Forks Road Village." Nol stood up and tied the curtain around himself, making it into a simple robe. "Let's deal with the curse separately. If it's just to dissolve the marriage contract, I think I have a way."
"I wanted to say earlier, you're not an ordinary mage, are you? You know everything," Teest half-jokingly said. "Even the mysterious lich is so familiar to you, I believe it if you say you're the Pope of some church… What did you believe in before you died, the Goddess of Life? The Eternal Son? Or something else?"
'Great,' Nol thought. 'I don't recognize any of these "gods" you're talking about.'
Unless the creators of the game thought there was too little controversy, they wouldn't design too many or too heavy religious elements. At best, they would have a vague orthodox religion in the background, a few beautiful scenic spots, and distinctive NPCs.
Forget about religion, even the war elements in "Tahe" were few—those bloody wars with a western fantasy flavor only appeared in historical settings. "Tahe" was positioned as a light-hearted game. Most of the conflict settings were simple "A good, B bad".
As a result, now a Player stood in front of him and asked, "What did you believe in before you died?"
A bona fide atheist, thank you.
But Nol certainly couldn't say that. He kept a straight face and chose a softer answer—
"I have no faith," he said solemnly. "I only believe in myself."
Teest's smile slightly froze. He subtly looked at Nol for a while, and the smile suddenly grew larger. Eventually, he laughed out loud.
"Sorry. After all, it's a privacy issue. I was being rude." His tone was extremely sincere. "Let's get this place sorted out and try to go back early—we are on our honeymoon after all."
Having said that, Teest was about to stand up, but was held down by Nol.
"…?"
"Your injuries." Nol threw several healing spells on Teest—with his current attributes, he could only use minor healing spells—Teest's ghastly face quickly healed, becoming pleasant to look at again.
"Isn't the healing spell harmful to you?"
"Not now. Instead, your face is spiritually attacking me," Nol said grimly. "Well, it looks much better now."
"Such praise, honey." Teest straightened up and said ceremoniously, "Is there anything you need me to do for you?"
"Yes." Nol was straightforward. "Since I have my loot, you must also have your spoils."
"Show me. Maybe I can give you some inspiration."
The author has something to say:
Cool text1 golden finger2, but a trial version for members. The whole experience lasted just three seconds.
1Genre in web novels, which generally have a protagonist that often has a strong, dominant role with their conflicts resolved smoothly and satisfyingly, allowing readers to experience a sense of triumph and accomplishment. These elements include such things as the main character gaining unexpected power ups, exacting satisfying revenge, or achieving significant success, which gives the reader a cool (refreshing) [Shuang] (爽) feeling.
2In the context of a novel, particularly those involving games or leveling up systems, it refers to special advantages, privileges, or cheat-like abilities that the protagonist possesses, which help them to overcome difficulties and progress in the story much faster or easier than others.
Nol: ...Give me my attribute values back!!!Believe in him, he'll find a way ☆