Chapter 10: Vivienne

【Affected by the skill “Spirit Shriek,” you have lost the ability to move for 10 seconds.】

Although Mo Ming’s combat proficiency was at a level that transcended humanity, he was, after all, currently in a game and could not defy its rules through his own power alone.
After being hit by a control skill from a Head-tier monster 8 levels higher than him, even Mo Ming couldn’t turn the situation around.

After being hit by 【Spirit Shriek】, Mo Ming immediately lost control of his body, forced to remain frozen in the posture he was in when the skill hit.

Although there were equipment and skills in 【Horizon】 that could reduce or even remove the effects of control skills, those were obviously not things that could be obtained at this stage.
Coupled with the immense level suppression, Mo Ming could only stand there obediently and take his punishment… If there was any good news, it was probably that the skill 【Spirit Shriek】 dealt no damage and didn’t send him straight home.

But being forced to stand still for 10 seconds in front of the Defiled Spirit, for a Mo Ming with only 45 health points, what was the difference from being instantly killed?

The skill 【Spirit Shriek】 seemed to be the Defiled Spirit’s ultimate move, with certain usage restrictions and costs.
After using it, the Defiled Spirit immediately became somewhat weakened, and its already translucent body became slightly more transparent.

The Defiled Spirit didn’t immediately send Mo Ming home.
Instead, it bent over and caught its breath… if ghosts could even breathe.
After about 2 or 3 seconds, the Defiled Spirit finally straightened up, brandished its claws at Mo Ming, and prepared to send this upstart back to the Respawn Altar to properly reflect on his past deeds.

And Mo Ming, at this moment, could only watch the Defiled Spirit’s actions with a helpless expression—there were still a full 5 seconds left before the control effect of 【Spirit Shriek】 ended, which was more than enough time for him to die several times over.

But before the Defiled Spirit could make its move, a woman’s voice suddenly came from within the cave, from the direction of the magic circle—

“What’s going on?
Why is it so noisy?”

As soon as this voice sounded, the Defiled Spirit immediately stopped its attack and, without looking back, floated towards the depths of the cave, leaving Mo Ming just standing there.

“???” Mo Ming remained frozen in place, watching dumbfounded as the Defiled Spirit just left… but the control effect on him hadn’t worn off yet, so he couldn’t do anything even if he wanted to.

Even after the control duration of 【Spirit Shriek】 ended, Mo Ming still stood there foolishly without moving.
This sudden turn of events left him at a loss for what to do.

The Defiled Spirit had just run off, but Mo Ming’s quest was not yet complete.
According to the usual progression in games, he should continue to chase after it.
However, based on what had just happened, it was obvious that Mo Ming couldn’t defeat the Defiled Spirit, let alone the owner of the voice that had summoned it with a single sentence… Chasing after them now seemed a bit like overestimating his own abilities.

Although he had absolute confidence in his own strength, Mo Ming was very clear in his heart: he was currently in a game, a level 4 novice player… He was too weak right now.

Before Mo Ming could hesitate for long, that voice sounded again.

“Don’t just stand there.
Come over.”

Since she had said so, Mo Ming walked over without hesitation.

Mo Ming walked all the way to the end of the mine, to the place where the magic circle was… There hadn’t been a single monster here besides the Defiled Spirit before, but now there was a Mine Skelerat.

Although that Mine Skelerat looked exactly the same as the ones Mo Ming had encountered along the way, this one didn’t pounce on him like its brethren.
Instead, it stood up on its two hind legs and waved its two front paws at Mo Ming.

Although the sight of a rat skeleton waving its limbs was very bizarre, Mo Ming more or less understood what this Mine Skelerat meant—it was signaling for him to touch the magic circle.

Thinking about what the voice had said earlier, and his own previous deductions, Mo Ming reached out and pressed his hand against the magic circle.

However, Mo Ming didn’t feel the expected sensation.
His hand passed directly through the wall engraved with the magic circle, sinking completely into the rock, as if the wall in front of him was just a projection.

Then, a “tap tap tap” sound came from beside Mo Ming’s feet—the Mine Skelerat was hopping in place, and the sound just now was its small bony claws hitting the ground.

Seeing Mo Ming turn his head to look, the Skelerat immediately stopped jumping and darted straight into the wall in front of it.
Then, the Skelerat stuck half of its body out from the wall and waved its small claws at Mo Ming again, as if to say, “You can come in here.
Hurry up.”

The wall… or rather, the magic circle on the wall, seemed to be a portal connecting two different spaces.
One moment, Mo Ming was ramming his head into the wall; the next, he had appeared in another place.

Although it seemed like he had arrived in another place, it still felt like he was somewhere underground—the place Mo Ming was now in was like a huge space created by hollowing out the inside of a rock layer.
The surroundings were all made of a pale blue, slightly transparent, unknown rock.
The ground and walls seemed to have been specially finished, appearing very flat and smooth.

Around the perimeter and in the center of this cylindrical space were five octahedrons emitting a white light, providing illumination for the area.
Extremely thick chains were wrapped around these octahedrons.
These chains not only bound the octahedrons but also linked all five of them together.

But what was most eye-catching was, naturally, the magnificent mansion located in the very center of this space.
The mansion was of a Western architectural style, with black as its main color, looking very exquisite.

On either side of the main entrance stood two Defiled Spirits—one of which was the one that had just fought with Mo Ming.
These two Defiled Spirits had shed their previous frenzied image and stood dutifully by the door, like maids awaiting their master’s departure.

And near this building, or rather, within this space, hundreds of Mine Skelerats were wandering aimlessly, while some Mine Skelebats were flying about in the sky.
Without exception, these monsters ignored Mo Ming’s existence, as if they were neutral creatures that would not attack on sight.

Alright, not all the monsters ignored Mo Ming—the Mine Skelerat that had led him in was currently looking at him.

Seeing Mo Ming’s attention on it, the Skelerat nodded, then ran directly to the side of the building.

When the Mine Skelerat reached the main entrance, the door suddenly opened, and a woman walked out with elegant steps.

From her facial features, the woman appeared to be of Western descent.
She had waist-length, pale white hair, and her eyes were gray-black except for their red irises.
Her skin had a very sickly pallor, which was strikingly accentuated by the black long dress she wore.

After walking out of the house, the woman spoke directly to Mo Ming:

“Adventurer, state your name and your purpose for coming here.”

This voice was the same one Mo Ming had heard from outside.
It seemed she was the master of this place… and the two Defiled Spirits standing by her side seemed to be truly servant-like existences.

Generally speaking, a master’s strength would certainly be far greater than their servants’.
The Defiled Spirit was a level 12 Head-tier monster, so this woman… no matter what, was definitely not someone Mo Ming could defeat with his current strength.

“Born Without a Name,” Mo Ming wasn’t foolish enough to give out his real name.

“Born Without a Name… Then, your purpose?” The woman nodded and continued to ask.

“I’ve come to find…” Mo Ming had intended to answer directly, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he suddenly remembered what the blacksmith uncle had said back then.

【Help me go to the second floor of the mine to the west of the village and bring back a ring.】

“Bring back a ring.”

Bringing something back and finding something, although they sound similar, are actually a bit different.

Looking at the current progression of the quest, the blacksmith uncle must have known about the existence of the woman before him.

“You’ve come to find something?” The woman raised an eyebrow and continued to ask.

“Yes, Blacksmith Hu asked me to come here and bring a ring back to him,” Mo Ming continued to answer—the name “Blacksmith Hu” was something he had seen in the quest description.
Although he had only glanced at it, he had remembered it.

“Old Hu…” Hearing the name Mo Ming mentioned, a trace of sadness flashed across the woman’s face.

Seeing the woman’s expression, thinking about the ring the quest required him to find, and the surrounding undead creatures… it seemed to be a sad story.

“…” Mo Ming stood there without saying a word.

“Is this what he was talking about?” The woman waved her hand, and a ring enveloped in white light floated from her hand to Mo Ming.

The moment Mo Ming reached out and took the ring, a system notification sounded in his ear.

【Obtained item: Vivienne’s Resolve】

Only then did Mo Ming realize that NPC names could be viewed directly, and the name of the female NPC before him was Vivienne.

Vivienne Beren—that was her full name.

“Thank you,” Mo Ming bowed slightly to Vivienne and said his thanks.

“You’re welcome,” Vivienne waved her hand.
“If there’s nothing else, please leave… You can exit from over there.”

Since the quest was completed and Vivienne had asked him to leave, Mo Ming naturally had no intention of lingering.

Although he had many questions in his mind, Mo Ming didn’t ask them directly… It would be better to ask the blacksmith uncle after he returned.

Perhaps because all the undead creatures were under Vivienne’s control, when Mo Ming was leaving, none of them attacked him again.
However, it was only the undead creatures on the second floor that didn’t attack him; the Mine Rats on the first floor would still attack upon seeing him.

The only challenge on the way back was the three Mine Rats guarding the entrance on the first floor, but Mo Ming spent over half an hour running back and forth between the entrances of the second and first floors to cheese them to death.
After dealing with those three rats, there was nothing else that could stump him.

However, just as he was about to leave the mine, he was stopped again by an elite-grade Mine Rat.

Mo Ming had no interest in fighting normal rats, but there was no reason to let an elite monster go.
He immediately raised his sword and met the pouncing elite rat.

【-1】 Mo Ming’s attack still couldn’t break its defense.

After landing this strike, Mo Ming looked at the health bar above the elite Mine Rat’s head with some confusion—this elite rat only had 2/3 of its health remaining.

“Do they mass-produce low-health elite monsters here?” The two elite monsters he had encountered in the game were both at low health, and both were encountered here, which made Mo Ming wonder aloud.

Mo Ming, who paid no attention to the outside world, naturally had no idea what had happened here while he was deep inside the mine.