Cathulhu Online, MUNYA!

Chapter 268 – Cat Dad's Dungeon is Horrifying

= USA, Florida =

Kane stared at the computer screen while he typed. When he finished typing, he leaned back on the gaming chair and sighed.

Kane's in-game name was Explorer. Just now, he posted a thread in the official forum and social media, telling everybody about the experience in Xiaomao's dungeon.

He didn't expect a good response since he did what he could to contribute. As Explorer was no longer with the Claymore Guild, he had nothing to do with the event anymore.

"I'm done with this event. Y'all can have fun in the backrooms and die! You can't fight entities!"

Kane closed his eyes and thought of the terrifying experience in the dungeon, especially when the army of mannequins overran Marcus's troops.

DING

DING

Within a minute, the thread's view count sharply rose, and replies followed. Most of the comments came from players of other servers.

[Pic or it didn't happen.]

[Come to server two and join our events. Server 3 is a joke.]

[World Three is for noobs. Backrooms? Go back to creepy-pasta, nerd!]

There were a lot of mockery and insults, but Kane didn't mind. He made his point, and it should at least help the players that hadn't arrived at the dungeon yet.

After 10 minutes, replies from a Spartan Guild member appeared. The person also posted a clip, in which he had recorded the entire experience on the B1 floor.

[OP didn't lie. It happened. My guild's elites were wiped out in minutes. If you don't believe me, check my clip. That stupid roaming boss's abilities are just too ridiculous.]

After the clip showed up, the comments shifted into supporting Kane's info. More people, who died in the dungeon, also posted their videos, screenshots, and their stories.

[I got into the dungeon with my friends from Claymore Guild. I don't know what happened to OP, but he left my guild. Anyway, we got separated from the main team, and we couldn't go back to the surface. The path that we came from was gone. We tried to find the exit, but we ran into a group of level-100 mannequins. Our stranded team didn't even have a healer or a tank. We died obviously, but I got some pics of those damn mannequins.]

[My team got stranded in the middle of a Minecraft maze or some sort. There were floating blocks everywhere, and we had to jump from one floating platform to another. There were also level-300 war maidens chasing us, and they had wings. We got kicked out of the platforms and died.]

[You people are lucky. When we entered the underground floor, my friends were all gone, and I was left alone. I got through the Level-0 section and found a room with many sliders. See my clips. There were hints on top of the slider holes – Home, Exit, Fun, Death, Life, and many more. Of course, I picked home, and it sent me to a dark void or some sort. I got suffocated to death, obviously. The slide was fun, though.]

[^I found the sliders too, but I picked question mark one. The slider dropped me on a floating platform with only one way to leave. But at the end of the path, I heard a terrifying scream of a monster and I got panicked. I looked down and saw a doodle of a smiley face and the instruction "Jump". Of course, I jumped, and… freefalling into the void and died from the lack of oxygen.]

[^^Sounds like a certain clip from the backrooms YouTube. Any proof?]

[^^^There you go… My gameplay. See the attached file.]

[^^^^OMG! How could you?!]

The comments kept going, and viewers continued to increase. After an hour, the thread was pinned by the moderator.

Kane couldn't stop reading the comments. He was proud of what he did.

"There you go. I contributed something!"

"Yeah, you did. You did a lot."

"Thanks, bro…"

Kane paused and gulped. He just remembered that he had moved out from his parent's home, and he lived alone. He turned around and looked at the mysterious person behind him.

He was a withered old man who looked like he could die from a slight touch. He sat on Kane's bed, smiling at him.

"W-Who are you?! How did you get in here?!"

The old man extended his hand for a handshake, "The name is Solomon. I'm the current game developer of Pangu Online 2 that you've been playing."

"Bruh, what? But how did you get in?"

Seeing that the old man had no weapon, Kane was partly relieved. Still, he grabbed a pistol under his computer table and pointed at the old man.

"I don't know how you get here, but please get out."

Solomon laughed and snapped his fingers. The Glock instantly turned to ash.

Kane widened his eyes in shock and took a step back. His butt hit the edge of the computer table, and he fell to the ground.

"Relax, child. I'm here to give you a reward for such a contribution."

Solomon snickered and gave Kane a thick book with a leather cover. The front of the book had no title.

Kane reluctantly received it and frowned, "What's this for? A death note?"

"I wish I had that power. Hahaha! Just read a few pages, and you will understand."

"…"

Kane raised his brows and opened the book. As soon as the book was opened, a light shot out from the first page and entered Kane's forehead.

DING

Kane suddenly heard a game system notification bell. Then, something in him changed.

A system panel appeared in front of him, showing him his status. In addition, the system warned him about the looming danger.

<Warning! Your enemy has found your body in the dungeon!>

<Warning! Your body has been contaminated. Your avatar is dead.>

<Would you like to respawn your game avatar at the nearest safe point or inn?>

"…"

Kane looked at the messages in shock. He pointed at it and looked at Solomon.

The old man gently smiled, "You like it?"

"Can you see what I'm seeing?"

"Yes, I can."

"What is happening here?!"

Solomon stood up and put on his hat. He lifted his cane and slowly walked out of Kane's room, "I've given you the reward. Treasure it, young man. I'll be seeing you a lot in the future."

WHOOSH

Solomon faded and vanished right in front of Kane. The latter stared at the door in a daze, unable to comprehend what he had just witnessed.

FWOOSH

A business card fell from the book. The edge of the card poked Kane's hand, snapping him back to reality. He looked at his hand and found the business card.

"Solomon King? King Solomon?!"

Kane gulped and thought of Solomon's legends. He wondered if that old man was the real deal.

However, the surprise wasn't over. Kane suddenly received a new notification message.

DING

<Your game avatar has been upgraded to Ultra-Rare!>

<Synchronization has been initiated. Current Synchronization Rate: 0.01 %>

<Please contact Pangu Universe Incorporate if your synchronization Rating reaches above 50%. We are employing talented players. Starting monthly wage – $50,000.>

"…"

All the fear and confusion earlier vanished like smoke. Kane's eyes reddened as he stared at the promising job offer. A few minutes later, he browsed the game's website to find what the synchro was.

He read everything about the recent major update announcement, which involved superhuman and synchronization rates.

"I can become a superhuman by playing the game? WTF?!"

Despite the complaints, he couldn't stop smiling. He regretted that he didn't read the announcement when it appeared as he was too busy watching backrooms videos and playing the game.

.

.

= Slave Dungeon, B7 Floor, Boss Room =

A row of seats was arranged in front of the huge monitor, which displayed the live streams of the B1 floor.

Cookie, Ifrit, Undine, Nymph, Taotie, and Mimir enjoyed eating snacks while cheering for the mannequins. They laughed when players fell into a trap or reacted to the mannequin hoard.

The highlight belonged to Gata, who singlehandedly hunted down stranded players on the B1 floor and pushed them to the traps. She even caught Explorer and gave it to Torrent.

Torrent immediately threw Explorer's body into the chemical pit, and he died on the spot. As for the flesh, it melted, leaving only white bones.

Taotie rubbed his chin while he looked at the completed bone. He suddenly had an inspiration.

"Is there any creature that has the power to steal bones from others with just a look?"

Mimir frowned, "If that even exists, it might have been classed as a calamity race."

The immortals nodded. They imagined a monster, who could debone everybody by looking into their eyes. It was too powerful.

Meowmeow overheard it. He suddenly laughed, "Great idea, munya! Let me experiment with something. I'll make another creature!"

The immortals sweated profusely. They stood up and waved their hands, stopping Meowmeow from creating the blasphemous creature.

"Don't do it, senior! It's too much! We might not be able to control it!"

"STOP! NO MORE SICKENING MOB, PLEASE!"

"I was just kidding, senior! Don't make it!"

Meowmeow sounded disappointed, "Why? It was such a good idea. A monster that can steal bones with eye contact or look is so good and creative!"

"What if it accidentally steals our bones, senior?"

"…"

Meowmeow paused to think of the worst-case scenario. He suddenly had goosebumps about how he and the immortals might accidentally die because of their creations.

Because of the unanimous rejection, Meowmeow canceled the project. However, he believed that the new race might be useful in the dungeon.

Meowmeow thought of the Party Girls. Then, he revisited the B1 factory and secretly created another dangerous being to be the guardian of the B3 floor, who would manage the newborn party girls.