"Ding! You have discovered the new map - Underworld! Reputation increased by 10,000!"
I snapped out of it and opened the map, indeed it showed "Underworld??"
Out of habit, I went to scratch my chin, only to be startled by the sight of my own bony hand. I looked down at my body, now transformed into a slender skeleton, especially noticing the bare pelvic bone beneath. I suddenly felt a strange emptiness in my chest...
"Ding! You are nourished by the aura of the Underworld, increasing all attributes by 1 point! This effect activates every 10 minutes!"
My eyes brightened at the prospect of increased attributes. Checking the status panel, I was pleased.
Character name: GreenwoodWindy Race: ??? Class: ??? Level: 1 Health: 10/10 Mana: 210/210 Physical Attack: 2-2 Magical Attack: 29-29 Physical Defense: 1-1 Magical Defense: 1-1 Strength: 2 Constitution: 1 Agility: 3 Intelligence: 29 Spirit: 21
Under the attributes panel, there was a status bar indicating the reason for the attribute increase.
Aura of the Underworld: As an undead, you are being nourished by the aura of the Underworld, gaining 1 point to all attributes every 10 minutes.
My race and class had turned into "???", likely because a skeleton was no longer considered human, and my new race and class were undetermined. I remembered the hidden task I had triggered and decided to check it out. Sure enough, there was an unclaimed hidden task in the task panel.
"Ding! Would you like to accept the hidden task - Hope of the Underworld?"
Of course, I accepted the task!
"Ding! You have accepted the hidden task - Hope of the Underworld!" "You have gained the class - Underworld Disciple!" "You have gained the title - Hope of the Underworld!" "You have gained the talents - Aura of the Underworld, Undead Physiology, Underworld Vision!" "You have gained the skill - Call of the Underworld!"
A series of notifications filled me with excitement. Checking my character attributes, the race and class were no longer "???".
Race: Undead Class: Underworld Disciple
Next were the racial talents, akin to passive skills.
Aura of the Underworld: As you awaken from the Underworld, you emit a strong aura that affects nearby units—Undead units gain a 50% increase in all attributes, while units of the Dark faction gain a 20% increase, and units of the Light faction experience a 20% decrease.
Undead Physiology: Having returned from the dead, you are no longer susceptible to true death—Undying Body: When you die, you will turn into a pile of bones and resurrect after a certain time. The resurrection time depends on the degree of damage, and you cannot be resurrected once your bones are purified by holy light.
Underworld Vision: Eyes imbued with the aura of the Underworld, granting the ability to discern the essence of things—Scrying: Can investigate information about objects within ten levels of your own.
Lastly, there were the active skills. Opening the skill panel, I was surprised to see two skills, in addition to the newly acquired Call of the Underworld.
Call of the Underworld: Coming from the contaminated aura of the Underworld, this spell carries a corrosive effect on its attacks.
Undead players: Skeleton mage's summoning skill?” an archer was dumbfounded. "I'll be damned! Did a monster just run into the newbie village?" "It might be a quest! Grab it before it escapes!" a group of players surged forward.
I ran for my life, with a crowd of players hot on my heels. Though I had no idea why I was being chased, I had to shake them off first. Finally getting rid of my pursuers, I found myself in an unfamiliar location, trying to figure out why I had been chased.
Name: GreenwoodWindy Title: Hope of the Underworld Race: Undead Class: Underworld Disciple Level: 1 Quality: Common Health: 40/50 Mana: 250/250 Physical Attack: 6-6 Magical Attack: 33-33 Physical Defense: 5-5 Magical Defense: 5-5 Strength: 6 Constitution: 5 Agility: 7 Intelligence: 33 Spirit: 25 Talents: Aura of the Underworld, Undead Physiology, Underworld Vision Skills: Call of the Underworld The attributes had slightly increased after spending some time in the Underworld, but what caught my attention was the addition of a quality attribute! What's going on? Quality wasn't something seen in character attributes before. It typically applied to items, equipment, monsters, and such—white for common, blue for elite or bronze, silver for silver, gold for gold, red for legendary or lord, and purple for mythic.
How come I now have a quality attribute? I didn't remember seeing it before, and it seemed to have just appeared. I couldn't make heads or tails of it, so I decided to ignore it for now.
With only 50 health points in total, the 10 I lost earlier had automatically replenished. Thankfully, this skeleton body was lightweight, fast, and had a small surface area, allowing arrows to pass through without causing harm. That's why I didn't lose much health when I got hit.