Is this really a Game?!

Ding!

[ Spawn of Corruption has been successfully slain by the group 'Heaven's Hooligans' ]

[ The group has done something remarkable, bonus rewards will be given. ]

Ding!

[ For slaying the first Spawn of Corruption in the Verdant Jungle, the group has unlocked the title 'Foe of Corruption' ]

Details of the title:

-          The title 'Foe of Corruption' gives the player an unnatural sensitivity toward corruption, allowing a person to sense it from afar. The title also gives 10% bonus damage to any monster tainted by corruption, as well as resistance toward the corruption itself.

[ The rewards for slaying the Spawn are the following, the bonus rewards have already been added to them. ]

-          2x level ups

-          1mil S Coins

-          1X Obsidian Chest

Reign and the others were standing around the creature they had slain, its massive body now barely larger than a normal tiger, which was a huge difference compared to before.

After destroying the core, it was not difficult to deal with the creature, in fact, it was extremely easy to do so.

"So it's called the Spawn of Corruption, I wonder why my inspection didn't work on it though?" Reign asked as he stared down at the monster.

He had tried inspecting it before, but it didn't work, the system would give him no data on the creature. At first, he thought maybe it was a new kind of monster that the system had not seen before, but he quickly shot down that thought.

The system was everywhere, it knew almost everything, it was simply not viable for a monster in the leveling realm to be something it had never seen before.

That meant that the system didn't give Reign any information because it didn't want to give him more info. Perhaps the system thought it would be too easy for Reign and the others to defeat the monster if they knew more about it.

That could be true, after all, had they known about the fact the monster can regenerate and adapt to its powers, and that the only way to kill it was to destroy its core, the battle would have been very different from the start, and perhaps much shorter as well.

"Two level-ups, a million S Coins each, and a chest, not a bad reward at all," Wolf said as he inspected the chest each of them had gained.

"Items from SS to SSS rank, with the chances of drawing an SS rank item before 70% and 30% for SSS Rank, those odds aren't that bad at all, considering the difference in power between them," Wolf commented as the others nodded while Shadow glanced at Beast.

"Well, at least one of us has an SSS Rank item guaranteed."

"Yeah, he's definitely getting an SSS Rank." Tank added as Reign seriously nodded, as did the others, with only Mia and Aelrinder abstaining, but trying their best not to laugh.

They had also heard of Beast's immense luck and how he always managed to get the best possible items from any chest he opened.

If that was all, then fine, but the real shocks that everybody received came from the fact he drew the knife from Drayce, the one that allowed him to kill a Transcendent, as well as the fact he managed to find the Fruit of the Dead during his trial, the same one that the Transcendent was looking for and had almost killed him for.

There was no way that Beast would draw a bad item from the chest, and because of that, they were all kind of looking forward to seeing what he would get.

"Gabriel, what do we do now, do you want us to clear those corrupted areas?" Reign asked Gabriel who sighed from the crystal.

"No need, the Behemoth has noticed every single one of them, he will easily destroy the cores, you guys … I want you to go to the place where the monster came from, try to check if there's anything there, anything that can give us a clue of … well … anything."

"What, you think the evolution was caused by an external factor?" Beast quickly picked up on what Gabriel was thinking and asked, causing Gabriel to sigh.

"I don't know, but it's better to check, just to be safe."

"Hey, I don't mind doing that," Shadow said as he placed his daggers back and started walking toward the area with the others.

The others glanced at one another before doing the same.

As they approached the area where the monster had emerged, the surroundings became increasingly eerie. The trees seemed to twist and groan, their branches reaching out like gnarled fingers. The ground felt different beneath their feet, tainted by the same corruption that had spawned the monster.

As they delved deeper into the area, they noticed how lifeless everything was, the trees, the soil, the rocks, everything. The air grew thick with a foul odor, and the sounds of the jungle around them seemed to fade away, replaced by a sense of oppressive silence.

There was nothing in the place where the spawn had been born except death.

It had all turned black, the trees were black, but not just tainted with corruption, but dead, all the vitality taken from them.

The corruption usually corrupted, it didn't kill the surroundings, but this time, it was obviously different.

"It seems that for the Spawn to be born, a lot of vitality is needed, thus leading to the corruption taking the very life force of everything here," Gabriel said from the crystal as he saw the sight that Reign and the others were seeing.

"The main question is whether this is the true goal and the reason why the corrupted cores are corrupting the jungle, is it all so that they could take the life force of what they corrupted to give birth to a spawn like this one, or is there a different reason altogether?" Gabriel continued, his voice calm and dark as he speculated.

"That's … a scary theory," Shadow said as he felt a chill go down his back.

What if that was true, what if all the corrupted areas that they had come across were only there so that they could give birth to a spawn of corruption like the one they just fought against?

Was there corruption anywhere else, was it really just the forest where it was spreading?

What if it was present in some neighboring areas, what if it had been there for months, taking over parts of the land, gestating slowly, and giving birth to the spawns?

The mere thought that tens of such monsters could be present in some nearby area made them all gulp, but they quickly shook their heads.

That shouldn't be it, after all, if there were more spawns, there was no reason for them not to come to the jungle and take it over. Each spawn could make more corrupted areas, so it would only be natural that those spreading the corruption would prefer the spawns to spread it.

With these unsettling thoughts lingering in their minds, Reign and the others continued to search the area for any clues or remnants of whatever had caused the corruption to give birth to the monstrous spawn. They moved cautiously, their senses on high alert for any signs of danger.

The landscape was desolate, devoid of any signs of life. The corruption had seeped into every crevice, leaving behind a trail of decay and destruction.

As they ventured deeper into the heart of the corrupted area, they stumbled upon a peculiar sight—a massive, twisted tree looming ominously in the center of a clearing. Its gnarled branches reached out like skeletal fingers, and its bark was a sickly shade of black.

What was quite peculiar about the tree was that it was split apart, as if it was opened by something.

Reign and the others approached the tree cautiously, their weapons at the ready. There was something about it that felt deeply unsettling as if it were pulsating with dark energy.

"This tree… it feels different from the others," Mia whispered, her voice barely audible over the eerie silence that surrounded them.

"You're right… it's … well … the aura it gives is similar to Gabriel's, right?" Aelrinder murmured, his eyes narrowed as he studied the tree.

Beast stepped forward, his expression grim. "Whatever this tree is, it's definitely not natural, there's a strong aura of corruption emanating from it."

Reign nodded in agreement, his senses tingling with unease. "Let's get closer, there might be something here that can shed light on what's been happening."

"Gabriel, what do you think?"

"I'm thinking, just … just give me a minute, alright?"

"Sure."

With cautious steps, they circled the tree, searching for any signs of what had caused its twisted growth. As they drew closer, they noticed strange markings etched into the bark—symbols that seemed to pulse with an otherworldly energy.

"These symbols… they look like they're… alive," Shadow remarked, his voice tinged with unease.

"They're similar to the runes and symbols that were used for the portals."

Reign approached the tree and reached out to touch one of the symbols. As his fingers made contact with the bark, a surge of dark energy coursed through him, sending shivers down his spine.

"These symbols… they're infused with corruption," he muttered, his brow furrowed in concentration.

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