“Rogue-class Alpha? What do you mean by that?” Shade asked a slight tinge of hesitation in her voice. The genie’s dark countenance deepened, her colors turning a blotchy mix of black and gray.

Spook grimaced and shook his head. “When a certain amount of monsters die, there is a low chance for an Alpha to spawn. The Alpha is a stronger version of its regular counterparts but gives better drops when killed. Typically, the recommendation is to have a party of at least three players. A basic Alpha hunting group will consist of a tank, healer, and DPS.”

“High-risk, high reward,” Shade stated, snapping her fingers. “Well, it seems to me that the two of us don’t quite meet the recommended criteria.”

Spook blinked slowly in agreement.

It was true. Both Spook and Shade were incapable of casting healing spells, and both of them were undoubtedly not tanks. However, now that he thought about it, Shade seemed more like a pseudo-tank because of the cloning ability. Theoretically, if she couldn’t die, Shade could somewhat soak damage without lasting consequences. Temporarily, of course.

“But that doesn’t explain the problem at hand here. What’s the difference between a regular Alpha and a Rogue-class Alpha?” Shade questioned, interrupting Spook’s train of thought.

“People found out that there exists a variant of Alpha monsters known as a ‘Rogue-class.’ A Rogue-class Alpha can make decisions outside of the monster’s independent design, meaning territory restrictions and expected behavior aren’t applicable,” Spook explained.

“True to its name, it's gone rogue, hasn't it?” Shade smiled amusedly.

Spook gave the genie a silent nod and thought back to when he had first learned about the Alpha v1.0 update.

When the patch had first dropped for this new content, people had surmised it must have been a typo or a prank. However, people soon realized that it wasn’t a bug. Rogue-class Alphas were real and dangerous. The intended design of the rogue-class was to introduce elements of surprise and unpredictability to PvM.

At first, teams wiped over and over, trying to kill a rogue-class Alpha. None of the standard PvM tactics worked on them. But that was intended. To take down a rogue-class Alpha, a player had to think outside the box. Conventional tactics wouldn’t work on a non-conventional boss.

A light tremor shook through the cavern, followed by the faint echo of a feral growl. There was no doubt about it. The rogue-class Alpha was somewhere below them. If they wanted to proceed any further, they would have to venture into the Flame Golems' dens.

Spook beckoned for Shade to follow him and descended to the next level. Each step into the darkness reminded him more and more of a horror game. Anything could be lurking around the corner. He could be walking straight into the maws of the rogue Alpha. As an avid follower of Inside Online, he was all too familiar with death's consequences in the game.

PvP and PvM combat deaths both had their penalties. PvP deaths were associated with item loss, and PvM deaths impacted experience points.

If a player died during PvP, their items had a chance of ‘full-shattering,’ meaning the durability would drop to 0. The item would no longer be usable until repaired by a Master Smith NPC in a capital city. The repair fees for a shattered item were atrociously high, so the consensus was to avoid PvP if possible. Of course, PvP also had its attractions, such as the ability to obtain PvP bags. Different tiered bags contained varying special rewards, similar to those he had received from killing the two graverobbers earlier.

PvM deaths were equally worth their weight in retribution. Dying in PvM took away 10% EXP regardless of player level. The higher level a player was, the more impact a PvM death held. Inside Online’s leveling system was based on an exponential curve, so the closer a player got to the level cap of 60, the harder it was to level.

But honestly, I shouldn’t worry about any of this until I gain more levels. The potential issues I’m dealing with right now are EXP loss and time loss. If I die to the rogue-class Alpha, it will be annoying but not too harsh since I’m so low level anyways. The problem here isn’t my levels, but time. Every second I waste could be spent progressing my character.

It was a good thing he was playing as a skeleton. Physical exhaustion didn’t apply to him since he didn’t possess a fleshy body. Players that operated a character requiring biological sustenance and mechanisms would feel the effects of being tired and sleepy. Like in real life, Inside Online players needed to refresh themselves at a town inn or consume foods to keep their character’s rested and satiated. Being a skeleton canceled out these side-effects a regular player had.

He flexed a gloved hand and couldn’t help but appreciate the perks of his body. Possessing pain endurance and immunity to exhaustion mechanics were terrific benefits. Also, his five senses still worked fine. It felt strange not needing oxygen in the game, but he was getting used to it.

A scene of destruction greeted Spook as he stepped onto the gritty red ground. Broken stalagmites and exposed pyre clusters lay everywhere, a byproduct of the rogue-class Alpha’s rampage. Among the rubbage were lifeless Flame Golems, their bodies fragmented and broken.

Spook counted at least seven corpses in front of him. This rouge-class Alpha Mane lizard was no joke. The ability to take on so many Flame Golems at the same time was nothing short of extraordinary. He could only hope that the monster had sustained mortal wounds. Otherwise, their odds of surviving were very slim.

An earth-shattering bestial cry reverberated through the cavern, causing both skeleton and genie to wince and cover their ears. This time, it was coming directly from the corridor to the left of them. Spook clenched his jaw as his bones rattled from the intensity of the roar. The Alpha wasn’t far off.

“It’s close. Let’s go!” Spook shouted, trying his best to project his voice to Shade.

Shade widened her eyes and quickly nodded, following closely behind him as the pair sprinted down the expansive tunnel. The ground was completely uneven and broken up, evidence of the rampaging Alpha’s movement. A single claw print took them a stride and a half to cover.

As Spook ran down through the cavern, he couldn’t help but notice he felt strangely relaxed. His mind was cool, calm, and collected. There was no hammering heart, no adrenaline pumping through his non-existent veins, no cold sweat running down his back. He was a skeleton. A being of the dead did not heed to the natural laws of the living, physiologically, and psychologically.

[Hidden Ability Unlocked: Mind and Body

Your awareness and understanding of your character have unlocked the hidden ability of the Scaling Skeleton. The ability to be conscious of your self-being is essential to improving as an “Entity Account” and will provide numerous benefits.

Effect: Immunity to psychological ailments and physical exhaustion.]