After finishing the exploration of the west side of the village, Rogel continued to move toward other places.
However, the other places didn't seem to have anything special.
Rogel walked for a while, all of which were monotonous bone houses and human skin tiles with nothing new.
Along the way, he did encounter some monsters, but Rogel easily got rid of them, gaining some useless items.
There are still quite a few places to explore on this level.
But the gales around the village were extremely fierce, so Rogel planned to finish exploring the village first.
On the road, in his spare time, Rogel checked the items given by the Blood Mud Giant.
[Crimson Fruit]
[Type: Consumable]
[Quality: Blue]
[Special Effect: Consuming it will restore a large amount of life value in a short period of time.]
[Explanation: The Blood Mud Giant likes to hang it on its head, but it actually comes from a mysterious part.]
Oh? Blood Medicine Fruit? Not bad.
Rogel put it away.
But when he saw the explanation, he couldn't help but squint his eyes suspiciously.
What mysterious part?
[Steel Sword]
[Type: Weapon]
[Quality: Green]
[Attack Power: 20]
[Special Effect: None]
[Explanation: A well-crafted sharp steel sword.]
Not an extraordinary weapon, but the attack power is pretty good.
[Rock Ring]
[Type: Accessories·Extraordinary]
[Quality: Green]
[Special Effect: Slightly increases the wearer's defense.]
[Explanation: Perhaps this bit of defense increase is a psychological effect?]
Rogel likes accessories without negative effects.
It's just a pity that like weapons, you can only wear one ring per hand, at most two...
Otherwise, I'd definitely become the Lord of the Rings...
Rogel thought to himself.
Then he took out the Muddy Chain Armor and Iron Boots and cleaned off the mud.
[Chain Armor]
[Type: Equipment]
[Quality: White]
[Defense: 8]
[Explanation: A lightweight chain armor that provides a bit of defense, or at least prevents you from being without clothes.]
[Iron Boots]
[Type: Equipment]
[Quality: White]
[Defense: 4]
[Explanation: Once belonged to a hero, its defense function is good, keeping you from getting your toes stepped on, but be careful not to catch athlete's foot.]
...Such things shouldn't be written in the item explanation.
Rogel was a bit speechless.
Having the game character wear the chain armor, Rogel hesitated for a moment, then put the iron boots in the item inventory.
Better to clean them before wearing them...
The remaining ancient coins and dirty potions weren't special, so Rogel directly stashed them in the item inventory to collect dust.
The black crystal stone, however, was worth mentioning.
[Black Crystal Stone]
[Type: Material]
[Explanation: It contains a bit of mysterious power, maybe using it to make a magic staff would be a good choice.]
It seems this item can be used to create extraordinary equipment.
But for now, Rogel couldn't use it at all and could only leave it to collect dust in the item inventory.
The Blood Mud Giant contributed quite a bit of equipment to Rogel.
However, none of this equipment had extraordinary properties, only finely crafted ordinary equipment.
After tallying up the loot, Rogel had almost finished looting the entire Bone Village.
He encountered quite a few bone creatures along the way, but they weren't controlled by a Skeleton Secret Witch and crumbled at the touch, so Rogel cleared them out easily.
Then Rogel began exploring the outskirts of the village.
Whoosh—
The game character instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes as soon as he left the village, and his speed instantly slowed to a crawl.
"In such a strange place, there must be other treasures."
Rogel thought to himself.
...
"Where's the treasure?"
Hours later, Rogel was starting to doubt life.
After all the time he spent searching the outskirts, he hadn't found any treasure, let alone a single monster.
Who knows where that Skeleton Centipede ran off to.
This place is nothing but wind.
Rogel was about to go crazy.
"There must be something good, I just haven't found it."
Rogel refused to give up and continued searching.
As it turns out, sometimes giving up sooner, although shameful, can prevent further losses.
After scouring this level thoroughly again, Rogel still hadn't discovered anything.
Or rather, maybe he had...
Crack...crack...
The Skeleton Centipede silently roared at Rogel.
Rogel's face twitched with anger.
Damn it, since I haven't found anything, I'll take it out on you!
I'm at such a high level, I don't believe I can't beat you!
Rogel drew the steel sword he just obtained and charged at the Skeleton Centipede.
Soon after...
Bang!
The giant pincers of the Skeleton Centipede crashed down, leaving a huge pit in the ground.
Rogel, turning into fog form, involuntarily gulped.
What's with this Skeleton Centipede?
It even has a second form???
By now, the Skeleton Centipede had transformed from a centipede-like appearance to a tall, thin humanoid Bone Insect Warrior, with multiple slender jointed limbs on its back, covered entirely in dark gray hard bone armor.
[Skeleton Centipede·Eight-legged Warrior]
[Type: Monster]
[Quality: Boss]
[Level: 5]
[Tier: Extraordinary]
[Creature Explanation: There is a very small chance for a Skeleton Centipede of this species to evolve into an Eight-legged Warrior form, displaying great strength. Clearly, you're lucky.]
Lucky my ass!
How did it suddenly change from an elite monster to a boss!
It was clearly a hidden boss!
What Skeleton Secret Witch? Hurry up and bow to your leader!
Cursing in his heart, Rogel quickly used Fog Flash to run away.
Although this special Skeleton Centipede was likely to drop some treasures.
...but first you'd need the ability to defeat it.
Clearly, Rogel didn't have it.
Upon becoming the Eight-legged Warrior form, the Skeleton Centipede's desire to attack surged, and it became incredibly fast, nearly costing Rogel his life.
And more terrifying...
It runs incredibly fast!
The elongated jointed limbs scuttle like a tireless machine, making the Skeleton Centipede chase Rogel at high speed.
Its speed was only slightly slower than Rogel's fog form.
Brother, I was wrong, can you stop chasing me?
With the Skeleton Centipede hot on his heels, Rogel was almost in tears.
If I had known, I wouldn't have bothered messing with this Skeleton Centipede.
Not seeing its kind should've warned me something was off...
However, despite the Skeleton Centipede's speed, it couldn't catch up with Rogel in fog form.
After putting some distance between them, the Skeleton Centipede gave up the chase.
This allowed Rogel to breathe a sigh of relief.
This incident once again made him realize that the game "Mysterious Sea" doesn't play by the rules.
And its trick is—You know I have tricks, and I know you know I have tricks, so I add abnormal tricks to the normal ones...
Impossible to defend against.
After escaping the Skeleton Centipede's pursuit, Rogel breathed a sigh of relief.
He glanced out the window, and his face darkened.
Today, he spent a lot of time looting the first level, found nothing valuable, and even got chased by a hidden boss...
Alright, I take back what I said before, this isn't purely a feel-good game.
Rogel thought.
But, all this actually stirred up his spirits.
Playing a game should have some challenge, succeeding in overcoming it brings a sense of achievement.
Steamrolling through it would be too boring.
Alright, you Eight-legged Warrior, I'll eat, get some sleep, and come back for you next time.
Rogel logged the hidden boss Eight-legged Warrior in his little notebook.