As the four penetrated deeper into the dungeon, the shadows surrounding them seemed to encroach more and more into the area illuminated by the lantern. The light given off by the lantern began to flicker even though no wind or breeze could be felt.

“Wow, hyung, it looks like a ghost house with special effects. Oooo Oooo…”

“Power-san, it’s just to build up the atmosphere.”

“I like it, it makes it feel scary. Just be careful Ah Eke, there might be something jumping out soon.”

Silently Eke thought to himself that the three were the scariest things in the area compared to flickering lights and moving shadows, what with the dozens of snakes clinging to their bodies. With so much bandaging that they had done, they had an added look of an Egyptian mummy as well. If he was not been in their team he would have definitely mistaken them for undead monsters and attacked.

The tunnel they were in ended in a large domed area. A massive circular pattern was engraved on the floor while in the centre of the pattern, a mound of gold and silver nuggets could be seen. Mixed into the heap were carved statues, necklaces, bracelets and other items made of precious metal. Jinyang would have run in and started scooping the item into his backpack except there was a huge feathered serpent lying on top of the heap. Rising up, the monster spoke directly into their minds

“Defilers, leave now! This is your one and only warning. You have no concept of what you risk by being here!”

GimmePower tightened his grip on his spear while both Jinyang and GimmeGirls also prepared for combat. It would seem that a fight was inevitable if they wanted to get the treasure. However, Eke walked up and spoke.

“Hail herald of the vision serpent! My friends and I wish you no harm. We are here as explorers and I invoke the rite of passage!”

Holding out his left hand, Eke used a sharp knife to cut it, dripping blood onto the ground. It seemed that the bloodletting ritual worked for the serpent monster stopped and stated in its actual voice which rumbled.

“You know nothing of what you are doing but I am bound to honour the ancient accord. Thus let it be remembered that you were the ones who caused the release of the ancient evil.”

Rising into the air on feathered wings, the serpent monster vanished in a cascade of rainbows.

“Wow, Eke-san, you didn’t tell us that you knew how to defeat the monster!”

“It was more of a lucky guess my friend. The traditions of the warrior clan I joined had a long oral history and the story of the vision serpents was one of them. The creature looked like the description that I had heard and I had no idea whether the ritual would actually work especially since I was not born of their tribe.”

“Everyone stay alert. The monster said something about the release of an ancient evil so there might be another fight.”

“Hyung is right, we have to be careful. Eke-ssi, can you check to see if the treasure pile is safe?”

As he nearest person to the pile and the one with the most health, Eke did not hesitate and climbed up the heap. Standing at the top of the pile, he shouted

“It looks safe but the footing is…”

Eke did not have the chance to finish his sentence as a rumbling sound vibrated throughout the chamber and the floor seemed to shake in response, forcing Eke to try and balance himself. The shaking dislodged the upper layers of the pile of treasure and revealed a flat topped pyramid had been hidden beneath it. A sarcophagus could be seen lying on the top of the pyramid. None of this registered as anything of import to Jingyang, GimmePower or GimmeGirls as the common thought running through their heads was one of disappointment. The amount of treasure was actually less than 1% of the heap’s size as the pyramid had taken up most of the volume of the pile. It was like finding a gold bar then realising it was just gold plated iron.

As the shaking subsided, the lid of the sarcophagus opened and a skeletal human figure dressed in tattered ceremonial robes rose up from it. Symbols of skulls and death were embroidered on the robe. Rising up to its full height, flesh began to grow and cover his bones. In only a few seconds, a human looking man was standing in place of the skeleton and he spoke.

“Fools were you to distract my jailor, now before I spread the works of my god to the peoples of the land, I reward you with the ultimate gift, death!”

Eke was closest to the new enemy but he did not attack immediately, rather he roared a challenge to the evil priest.

“Fight me then deathless coward and I will show you that good will always triumph over evil!”

He even tore off the breastplate of the armour that he was wearing, exposing his muscular chest. To him, it was dishonourable to fight another man wearing only robes while wearing heavy armour. The three onlookers of course thought differently.

“Money-san, are we supposed to clap now or later when he gets smashed?”

“Ah Girls, don’t forget that if Eke gets killed, it’s coming for us next, though I have to agree that taking off your armour like that is not very smart.”

“Hyung, I think it’s supposed to be a manly pose to appeal to girls. I think it’s a good idea but there are no girls around so I think it was not very useful to do that right now.”

Laughing, the evil man was unconcerned. With his ability to see the life energy of a creature (or in game terms, the character’s level), he could see that the three at the foot of the pyramid were like ants barely more powerful than a fox or wolf. They were extremely primitive as well, covering themselves in snakes as if that would protect them against him or scare him away.

The challenger though was much more dangerous but still insufficient to threaten him alone. Raising his hand, he gathered a ball of black energy. Though Eke was honourable, he was not stupid. The battle had begun and he was not going to let the priest have all the time in the world to concentrate his power. Charging at the priest, he bellowed.

“I call upon the power of the tiger!”

Instantly the vaporous form of a tiger coalesced around him and his form grew even more muscular. However his speed had not increased and the time he needed to close the distance to his target was sufficient for the priest to finish his spell. The ball of black energy flew unerringly, hitting Eke in the chest and throwing him right into the wall of the chamber. The impact jarred loose some of the ancient tiles and the debris fell along with Eke to the ground.

Injured but not seriously so, Eke called upon the power of the elephant and the translucent images of both the tiger and the elephant floated behind him. Energised with the greater strength and vitality granted by the elephant, he once again charged the robed priest. The priest had repeated the same spell and gathered dark tendrils of energy in his fist before firing the spell at Eke again but this time, the spell could not throw him off the pyramid as the elephant’s power granted to him included a massive resistance to being moved or diverted. Charging through the ball of dark energy, Eke rammed into the priest’s chest inflicting a telling blow. The attack pushed the priest aside and as he passed the priest, Eke jammed his left foot into the ground, using it as a pivot and letting the momentum of the charge carry him into a spin. Both hands gripped his heavy scimitar as he spun, aiming for the evil cleric’s neck. Bolstered by the force of the charge and the power drawn from the two animal forms, the blow would have been devastating had it hit.

The blow did not miss but failed to damage the priest. What it did hit, was the dissolving figure of the priest as he assumed the form of black smoke and flowed down the pyramid before reforming. The ability brought him close to the two who had been looking on but the priest barely gave them a glance.

Seeing the powerful spellcaster so close to the rest of the team, Eke shouted to them

"Away! Run away! Come fight me pawn of darkness and leave them alone!"

GimmePower was the first to react to Eke's words, quickly falling to his knees and holding the feet of the priest.

"Please, priest-ssi, you are so powerful! I will be your servant! Please spare me!"

The priest was disgusted by the snivelling snake covered uncivilised caveman at his feet, begging for his worthless life but a thought occurred to him. He would need servants and slaves to increase his power and spread the teachings of death. He had barely finished the thought before another primitive held his hands begging.

"Please great and mighty companion of the gods, please let a useless creature like me serve your great cause!"

The priest smiled. Being acclaimed as a great and mighty companion of the gods and not as a servant of them pleased him. The priest even had ambitions to become a god himself in time. For that reason alone, the dark cleric decided to spare the second weakling.

"I will spare your miserable lives, mewling ones. Hear well my words and do my will on pain of unending death!"

"Yes, yes priest-ssi, whatever you say. How long are we supposed to wait Girls-ssi?!?"

GimmePower had scarcely finished his sentence when a figure leapt out of the shadows behind the priest, a large axe in his hands. Belatedly, the priest remembered that he had seen three of the primitives and not two. It seemed that these worthless creatures thought to fight him! It would be the same as a cat challenging a lion! With a snarl at their audacity, the priest pulled his hands away from the second primitive to cast a spell.

Or at least he tried to break way but the hands holding onto his were like an iron vice. The shock finally broke his complacency and he began to struggle but both his arms and his feet were held so tightly he might as well had been shackled. The priest no longer had time to think or act as the axe sliced deep into the back of his neck.

Critical Hit!

Despite having the least strength in the team, GimmeGirls had the highest luck while the priest's own luck stat was too low to resist which meant that critical hits would very likely flow only one way. The damage from the heavy axe was insufficient to kill the priest but it was enough reduce his health by 5% and more importantly, to stun him and open him to the second attack, which came as a spear thrust upwards towards the dark cleric's heart.

Critical Hit!

GimmePower's luck and ability to strike a target accurately was the worst among the three but against a stunned and immobile opponent, it was easily done. Though he had less strength then Eke, his physical stats were well developed and higher than the other two which meant that under the same conditions, his damage was the highest of the three. With his massive strength and having garnered a critical hit, that single strike had taken 8% off the cleric's health. .

The pure force of the spear strike would have pushed the evil priest away except that his hands were still held by Jinyang, who released one of the hands he had been holding while unsheathing his morning star. Extending the arm with the weapon as far as he could, he swung the weapon at the priest's face in as large an arc as possible to build momentum even as he pulled the priest towards him. The effect was as if two cars travelling in opposite directions had plowed into each other.

Critical Hit!

Despite having less strength than GimmePower, through using small tricks of physics like this, the damage Jinyang did to the priest was not that far off, taking 7% of health off the enemy. The most important aspect though was whether he could keep the cleric in a stunned state. Unfortunately, it seemed that he could not as the priest with blood pouring out of the cuts on his head spoke.

"Now you will die. You will die for a thousand days and a thousand nights and you will beg for me to end you."

Jinyang merely motioned with his head towards the direction behind the priest. Normally, an experienced creature like the priest would not be distracted by such an action but subconsciously, the priest was still treating the three as absolutely inferior opponents. As the cleric turned his head in the direction Jinyang had indicated, he saw Eke charging down the pyramid. There was still some distance before he could reach though and he could not be in time to save the foolish primitives. The priest turned back to Jinyang a mocking laugh in his throat, The laugh died soon after as the side of his head was smashed again with a morning star. The entire thing was merely a distraction to buy time for Jinyang to strike again and he had drawn out a spear with his other hand as well, slamming the butt of the spear against the priest's forehead.

Critical Hit!

Critical Hit!

Staggered, the evil man fell back having lost another 15% of his health with those two blows. Even as he backed up, a sharp pain flowed up his legs to his brain as GimmePower has slashed at his tendons of his heel. Losing his balance, the priest fell backwards towards the ground but never hit it as GimmePower's spear was already braced against the ground waiting for him. The spear piercing halfway through his chest, the priest roared in pain. With the injured tendons causing both pain and reducing his ability to push himself off the spear, the priest could do nothing as GimmeGirls suddenly appeared above him, leaping into a slashing strike. As the axe hit the priest's chest, the force of the blow pushed the spear straight through it, blood spurting. The heavy axe had also inflicted its own bloody wound on the cleric.

Critical Hit!

Critical Hit!

Jinyang was already moving, throwing his spear to GimmePower who left his own spear in the target's chest. Swinging his morning star with both hands, Jinyang did not strike at the priest but rather at the haft of GimmePower's spear. With the spear through his chest, the intense blow levered open the entry and exit wounds even more causing blood to fountain out. The priest screamed in pain having lost almost 80% of his health to the three low level characters.

As the priest staggered to his feet with the spear still through his chest, another strike from GimmePower using Jinyang's spear hit the small of his back. Fortunately for him, it was not a critical hit and only two inches of the spear tip penetrated his back. As the priest tried to turn around to take care of this new threat, he caught sight of Eke reaching the battleground and saw that GimmePower was holding the spear parallel to the ground with an open palm. Eyes widening, he could do nothing as Eke's charge hit the butt of the spear, forcing it straight through his stomach.

Critical Hit!

The follow through from Eke's charge, powered with the animal forms slid the spear through the wound but the lessened pain lasted only a second before Eke's shoulder hit the first spear that was through his chest, prying open the gaping wound even more before smashing into the priest's back.

Critical Hit!

Critical Hit!

The priest had less than 5% health left and collapsed on the ground. The four gathered and stood next to the priest’s head, talking.

“That was truly teamwork my friends. The fight is done. Let me finish him.”

“Wait Ah Eke, we should see if we can get anything out of him like information or maybe even spell formulae.”

The dying priest struggled against the pain, sitting up and attempting to cast a healing spell.

“Healing…”

“Fist, nyaa”

Before the priest could complete his spell, GimmeGirls had punched the priest right on the jaw. The priest collapsed back onto the ground.

“Priest-ssi that is very stupid of you. You should try crawling away first before casting your healing spell or you will keep getting healing fists.”

Gasping the priest spoke.

“You have… defeated me fairly… and… as a reward… I must… grant you a wish… before I die.”

Quick glances were exchanged between Jinyang, GimmePower and GimmeGirls, while Eke cautioned them.

“Do not trust in the lies of this petty man my friends. He must mean you harm.”

“Eke-san, please, the man is dying nyaa. He would not try and reverse our wish to harm us right?”

Giving GimmePower and GimmeGirls an exaggerated wink, Jinyang answered the priest.

“Well Mr. priest, we want to lose our hard earned levels so it would be great if we could instantly respawn at the point of death after getting killed so that whoever killed us could do it lots of times.”

“Yes priest-ssi, we want to die many, many times.”

“Totally priest-san, dying is good for us.”

Eke was about to interrupt when an elbow hit his solar plexus.

Critical Hit!

The hit had not done much damage since it was an unarmed attack and the perpetrator of the blow, GimmeGirls was untrained in the skill but Eke could not speak as he was coughing and had to catch his breath.

Laughing while vomiting blood, the priest managed to hold his own wheezing at bay as he smirked.

“So you think yourself smart to ask for the opposite of what you really want, thinking I will give the reverse to you. Well fools, with my dying breath , I call upon the power of Kisin, lord of death to grant you the wish that you spoke of and to immediately come back to life when you die so as to die again and again until the end of time.”

As the priest finished his words, a deep darkness flowed out of his body, seemingly extended its tendrils towards the trio, touching them before it vanished and light returned. The darkness had reduced the priest to dust but left them unharmed.

"Sorry Eke-san, I had to stop you from talking nya..."

Eke who had finished recovering from the critical blow, replied to him.

"It is fine my friend, I think I understand what you were doing. I only wish to know how you knew that man would grant you your wish."

"Ah Eke, obviously no one is going to grant their killer a wish, even a three year old could see that."

"Yes Eke-ssi, the guy was obviously trying to trick us."

"And those who think they can trick you, will think that they are very smart nyaa..."

"So you just play to their ego and let them think that they have managed to find out that you are trying to trick them, which will give their ego a even bigger boost and convince them that they are much more intelligent then you and that will blind them totally. Then all you need to do Ah Eke is to lay the trap by using that blindspot against them."

"Hyung, i thought he was going to see though it with your wink. It was a bit too much..."

"Ah Pow, i was more worried that he would see through Ah Girls. That statement of him not reversing the wish was really noticeable."

"Money-san, I think Power-san would have been more noticeable with his silence. He was like a statue..."

As the three started criticizing each other, Eke had to marvel at the three’s almost telepathic understanding with each other before he spoke up

"My friends, what if he did not think you were trying to trick him and gave you the reverse of your wish? It might have ended badly."

"Ah Eke, it is risk you have to take but it’s a calculated risk. The guy was always behaving like he was superior to everyone. This sort has a very big ego so they rarely think that people can outwit them."

"Yes Eke-san, plus the wish sounded so stupid that few would think it was not a trick nyaa."

"Heh heh heh, priest-ssi would have never thought that our wish was what we really wanted..."

"Ohohohoho"

"Heh heh heh"

"Bwhahahaha"

As the three laughed together, anyone would be forgiven in mistaking them for villains. The evil priest would be turning in his grave if he knew that he had fallen right into their trap. The three had been sincere in wanting to die simply because they wanted to reduce their levels. The greater the gap between their level and a monster's, the faster their stats would climb. It was not efficient to kill themselves to do this since you would be locked out of the game for 24 real life hours but with the curse, they would not need to fear being forced to log out of the game due to dying and could freely challenge high level monsters with no fear of wasting time out of game. In fact they could even ignore the chance of their items dropping and being looted by others. The downside was a reduction in skills but since they were all limited to Beginner 9 as they had not chosen a class, any losses were of little consequence.

Of course this sort of curse would have worked against nearly all of the players in game as losing levels and skills were considered a terrible, terrible loss but it was sheer bad luck on the evil priest part to have been defeated by the three people on the server that actually wanted to lose levels.

There was one issue though.

"Hyung, do you think that that priest really managed to do it? That we really won't get kicked out of game when we die?"

"We can't be sure Ah Pow until we really actually died at least once."

With that conversation done, both turned to look at GimmeGirls but he had disappeared. With his Stealth skill at the upper limits of the Beginner skill levels, it would be difficult to find him. GimmeGirls had already expected this outcome, as it was obvious to him that a guinea pig would be needed to test out their new 'ability' and he had the least health.

"Well hyung...."

"Ah Pow, it would be a waste of time to fight with each other. Let’s look for a trapped chest or guardian monster that will make our deaths useful."

The suggestion was reasonable since they had yet to search the area for treasure. There could easily be traps or monsters that they had not yet discovered and if they were killed while disarming a trap or fighting a monster, which would be more advantageous for the group overall then simply killing one another.

As the Jinyang and his team mates spent time picking up the treasure that had been jolted free and rolled down the pyramid by the earthquake, their shadowy pursuers were standing in front of a wooden door.

"Boss, the yellow doors open."

"It must be a trick. They left the door open to fool us into going into that tunnel. We'll take the other door, the wooden one."

"Ok boss, you's the boss, boss."

"Hey fathead, do you know more than four words?"

"Why yous little..."

"Just open the door... before I bring *it* out..."

"Okays boss, no need for that... I's opening the door."

As the trio followed the downward sloping tunnel behind the door, they reached a domed chamber. In the center was a pyramid and on top of the pyramid was a stone table holding a statue and a scythe. Dried blood encrusted the table.

"Ok, Dark you go and get that knife thing down."

"It’s called a scythe and why don't you get Asswhooper to do it and you really should call me by the full name of 'The Dark One'."

"Just shut it and do it and call me boss."

"..."

As Dark made faces at the one called Asswhooper, he climbed up the pyramid without incident. Touching the scythe, a burst of dark energy exploded from the weapon but left all of them unharmed. Spooked but still doing what he was supposed to do, Dark carried the scythe to the man who they had called boss.

Grinning evilly the man held the scythe up.

"Now I have this weapon of mighty power, we will rule all! Let those who dare stand against me feel my blade!"

Swinging the scythe at one of the rocks that made up the pyramid, the weapon hit the stone with a clang and the scythe head flew off its handle.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Boss, maybes…"

"Shut it."

"Okays boss"

--