Players’ NPC daddy

"Watch out Blaze!"

The chicken, which had been watching, charged forward, raising its claws to chop. Skeleton Modgud, originally a wild boar, transformed from a boar into a giant bear, and swung its claws to chop at the chicken.

Blaze swung out the [Spectral] punch and hit the giant bear on the head, but the giant bear took advantage of the impact of his punch, shook its head and turned from a giant bear into a python, and coiled around it with great ferocity.

"what is this!"

"The thing this guy is wearing on his shoulders is an equipment called [Thousand Beast Skin]!" Chicken took Blaze and distanced himself from him, opened his mouth and spit fire to force back the python.

"A beast hide garment, made from a thousand animal hides and the princess's hair, grants the wearer the ability to transform into the animal that makes up the hide. Originally, using the [Beast Hide Garment] would pollute the mind and damage the body, but this guy is a bonehead, so there's no need to worry about side effects."

"I think it should be worried."

Blaze raised his voice.

"Once the strangers learn about the equipment called [Thousand Beast Skins], they will be in trouble!"

A piece of equipment that can transform into various monsters is such a deadly temptation for strangers that even the side effects are a good omen.

All I can say is that Skeleton Modgud had better pray that [Thousand Beast Hide] is a craftable item, otherwise it might spend more time dead than alive. Plenty of strangers will line up to kill it just to get the [Thousand Beast Hide].

It is said that most foreigners sometimes cover their faces with their hands, like some kind of indescribable monster, with the whites of their eyes between their fingers occupying most of the eyeballs, whispering "I want to be something other than me..."

Back to the point, Skeleton Modgud's transformations are incredibly tricky. With thousands of them, it's impossible to predict what the next one will be, and his attack patterns are incredibly varied. However, there's a certain dampening effect when Skeleton Modgud transforms.

That is the time it takes to change the shape of the bones. During this period, the movements of the Skeleton Modgud will become stiff, but the time is only about 2 seconds.

Therefore, it is important to predict the timing of transformation.

Blaze was entangled with Skeleton Modgud cautiously. After the transformation, Skeleton Modgud still lived up to his name as a war maniac and attacked like a mad dog.

Now we can confirm the origin of the "Bone Modgud," the "War-crazed War-weary." He is a war-crazed being who beats others into a state of war-weariness, forcing them to pay the toll.

But Blaze wasn't going to cooperate. Although he was a law-abiding man, he couldn't give up his blood. The blood flowing in his body was silver, and it was an important trust.

and so……

Blaze closed his eyes and heard the sign of transformation, the tiny clicking sound before bones shifted.

"caught you."

Blaze reversed his grip on the twisted greatsword and hurled it with [Thunder Throw], piercing the skeleton Modgud's fur. He pinned the skeleton Modgud to the ground. Then, swiftly approaching, he grasped the twisted greatsword and pulled it with all his might.

[Fatal Execution] The trigger conditions are met.

Chapter 380: Puppet of Lies

The skeletal body of the withered Modgud gradually turned to dust and disappeared, leaving only a pale soul flame. Blaze reached out and grabbed the flame and crushed it.

[Blaze/Black Beast LV98+1-LV99+1]

[Demon Hunter (Silver) LV4-LV5]

Although it was only a normal level 99, it was already the maximum level. Blaze wanted to raise his fist and cheer loudly, but unfortunately there was no one around to celebrate with him.

Next up is the Free Hunter class, where the Fighter and Assassin classes merge to become the Martial Artist. While the Martial Artist class isn't essential for the Free Hunter class, the Martial Artist class's unlocked skill, Calm and Composure, is essential.

This is the complexity of career advancement. Some require skills, some require professions, and some require tasks or props.

Originally, he should have merged the [Hunter] and [Hercules] to advance into the [Great Hunter], but the [Hercules] was marked with the Ouroboros mark, and perhaps it would have some special purpose. He also wanted to spend some time with this troubled profession.

Considering the bumpy road we've been on so far, it's really not easy for a Hunter to reach the maximum level.

However, the fusion profession requires a special ritual platform, and Blaze does not want to lower his attributes when conquering unknown areas.

Skeleton Modgud gave Blaze a lot of experience points and dropped quite a few items, including [Hella Pancake]. Unfortunately, [Thousand Beast Skins] were not dropped.

This kind of rare equipment probably has a very low drop probability, so Blaze doesn't care much about it.

After defeating Skeleton Modgud, one can step onto the crystal suspension bridge. That strand of hair is extremely tough. Blaze jumped on it without noticing any signs of the hair breaking.

"This is amazing, is this the goddess' hair?"

The chicken, however, screamed and fell on the crystal suspension bridge, and for the first time raised its voice in response to Blaze's behavior.

"Stop your childish behavior and don't even test the quality of the bridge!"

"You are a bird, how could you be afraid of such a thing?" Blaze stopped honestly. After all, he didn't want to admit that he was a childish person who enjoyed scaring girls.

"Flying by yourself and standing on a high place are two completely different things." The chicken lay motionless on the crystal suspension bridge, tilting its head and looking at Blaze pitifully.

"hug me."

"I'm asking for trouble."

Blazer picked up the chicken helplessly. After being picked up, the oversized chicken's fluffy feathers almost buried him.

From a distance, it probably looks like a fat chicken with a pair of human legs.

But Blazer thought this look was pretty good. The stranger had once worn a strange cloth bag covering his upper body and two hairy thighs.

The crystal bridge looked very fragile, but it did not shake at all until Blaze walked over. Blaze picked up a stone and threw it at the hair that held up the crystal bridge. As expected, the stone was cut in half by the hair.

"Actually, I was just about to ask, why don't you fly over there? Is there any taboo?"

"Maybe, but I don't want to take any chances." Chicken carried Blaze on his back and said as he walked forward, "In this world, some traps are often built on roads without any traps."

"It's like a ramshackle house that opens its door and invites you in. But you don't go through the door, but instead kick the wall and make a hole yourself. Then a bunch of big guys rush out and beat you half to death."

"This metaphor..." Blaze didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he also understood what the chicken meant.

A bridge was built there, and no matter whether one paid a price or chose to defeat the withered Modgud guarding the bridge, one would eventually cross the bridge.

This crystal suspension bridge is not a trap, but an invitation. It would be quite impolite to not walk on the bridge but cross it from the nearby Dagiol River.

Who knows, the black fog flowing peacefully in the river might come out and do something when it finds something flying over it.

After leaving the Crystal Suspension Bridge, Blaze was once again in danger of getting lost, because there was no Wanderer to lead the way, only the steel land and the metal forest.

Walking through it, the sound of metal leaves scraping against armor was incredibly harsh. If a person walked through it physically, they would probably lose a lot of blood with every step.

Just then, Blaze felt the light source.

It was a bonfire, and there was a man sitting beside the bonfire, seemingly in a daze.

First of all, it couldn't be a stranger, because strangers usually look up at the sky and roll their eyes when they're in a daze. So, could it be a resident of the world of the dead?

But this place is far from where the dead can rest in peace. The dead's destination should be deeper, passing through the gate guarded by the blood-spotted giant dog.

Chicken turned his head and looked at Blaze, and they exchanged glances.

This is probably a trap, but if you know it is a trap, then it is not a trap, but a contest.

Blaze jumped down and slowly walked towards the campfire. He was unarmed, but being unarmed made him even more dangerous.

"Hello." Blaze sat down opposite the man casually, crossed his fingers and looked at him.

He was a warrior who looked very powerful, but he was thin and pale, and he looked very ill.

In the [World Tree], warriors who died on the battlefield can go to the magnificent palace, but those who died of illness or other causes other than bleeding can only go to the underworld of Helheim.

"Oh~ It turns out to be a traveler lost in the world of the dead..."

The sick and dead warrior's eyes moved strangely twice, focusing on Blaze with difficulty as if he was looking for a target.

"Do you want to escape from here? Or do you want to meet the mistress of this country?"

"Do you like puppets?" Blaze looked at the warrior's arms, where there was a waxy yellow puppet.

"He is my son."

"Do you know the Blessed One?"

"What is that?" The soldier's mouth opened and closed, and his voice became a little shrill.

"So you don't know I can identify what I see?"

Blaze's gaze was focused on the puppet under the warrior's arms. His crossed hands slowly separated, like the claws of a wild beast.

【Silent Lie Pinocchio LV20】

Originally living in the bellies of sharks and whales, it progressed through a chain of life, ultimately arriving in the belly of the Ouroboros. The dead cannot lie, so it became the sole liar, silently attacking anyone who approached with curiosity, turning them into its puppets.

……

[Silent Lie Pinocchio LV20], an extremely rare Easter egg monster, can talk but can only lie. It is a monster full of evil fun, stitched together with elements of various horror puppet movies and murderous dolls.

The most unpleasant part is that once the player is defeated by it, the player's body will not disappear, but will become its next puppet. And if defeated by Pinocchio, there is a very high probability that the player's equipment will drop.

Although this monster is very weak, it can become extremely terrifying if it accidentally flips over.

Chapter 381: Things to Know When Encountering Pinocchio

Blaze had never seen a monster like Pinocchio, who looked like a combination of a fairy tale and a horror story.

After his lie was exposed, Pinocchio suddenly attacked. From Blazer's perspective, Pinocchio was like some kind of parasite, inserting his hands from behind the corpse and manipulating it with some strange means to launch the attack.

The corpse was a master swordsman, its withered arms wielding a decaying greatsword as it slashed at Blaze. However, because it was being manipulated by Pinocchio, the corpse's movements were extremely uncoordinated and completely incomprehensible.

Whether it was an extremely fast cross chop or a powerful jump chop, it could only be judged by the movements from the wrist to the forearm.

What's confusing is that Pinocchio's original form is only level 20, but his corpse doesn't show any level. Perhaps Cifu believes the corpse is Pinocchio's equipment.

This is a corpse from the Age of Gods. Even if it is pickled meat and preserved till now, it can still be considered as magical equipment.

Blaze kept his distance very carefully. At the moment when the corpse jumped and attacked again, he took out a spear from the warehouse and thrust it upward with all his strength, hitting the corpse's eyes hard.

The corpse stiffened for a moment, and the greatsword still chopped down at the same time as the body was knocked away. The blade brushed against Blaze's helmet and sparked some sparks.

This attack made Blaze realize that attacking the corpse was meaningless because the operator was Pinocchio under the arm. No matter how the corpse was attacked, Pinocchio would not be affected and could continue to control other parts of the corpse to attack.

And there was no point in trying to attack Pinocchio, because the little monster was quite cunning. With the position of his arms, he could hide himself just by turning the body slightly.

If you encounter Pinocchio for the first time alone, it will probably be quite difficult, but with two people, it will be easier.

The chicken stood behind the corpse, opening its mouth to shoot out blazing flames that would burn Pinocchio to death. However, Blaze did not let the chicken do this. After the Prowler provided the [Hela Biscuits], he thought that the monsters in Helm's underworld wanted information.

So he had to subdue Pinocchio first.

The corpse might have been a formidable warrior in his former life, but unfortunately, it's Pinocchio who's now controlling the corpse. He only repeats a few moves that the corpse used in life. When a set of moves is exhausted, Pinocchio begins using the same moves again.

"This is quite stupid behavior."

Blaze stopped and stared at his wrist intently, but it was quite tiring, and he had already memorized all the tricks that the corpse controlled by Pinocchio would use.

The corpse used a cross slash, trying to split Blaze into four pieces, but Blaze jumped up, drilled directly through and kicked the corpse in the head.

Blazer, who knew all of Pinocchio's moves, punched at high speed and perfectly controlled Pinocchio's offensive with the rhythm of attacking twice and then retreating.

When he was in danger, Pinocchio would be more inclined to swing his sword and spin to force back the approaching enemy. But as long as he kicked the corpse in the leg, it would fall straight to the ground like a spinning top out of control.

Pinocchio was completely exposed in front of Blaze. When Blaze leaned over to grab him, Pinocchio suddenly jumped up, and something shot out of his open mouth at high speed and stabbed towards Blaze's mouth.

Blaze grabbed it and looked at the thing in his hand with a twitch in his eyes. It was a tentacle-like tongue, and it was covered with tongues.

If something like this gets into your mouth, it will be a lifelong psychological trauma.

"Wait, wait, please spare me."

Seeing that he was being executed, Pinocchio immediately began to beg for mercy. The sight of Pinocchio's dozens of tongues trembling as he spoke was truly terrifying, but Blazer had to watch him.

"You've lived here for so long, you must know about the Ouroboros, right?"

"I know, I know. If you let me go, I will tell you about Ouroboros!" Pinocchio said immediately.

Blaze glanced at the guy's name, "Silent Lie Pinocchio", he didn't look like someone who would confess the truth.

"Okay, I promise you, as long as you tell me about the Ouroboros, I will let you go."

Then Blaze pulled Pinocchio up and said loudly, "I promise to let you go after you tell us about Ouroboros, but I want to know where the blood-spotted giant dog is now."

"You!" It's a pity that Pinocchio is a puppet, otherwise he would be so angry that his face would turn red.

"I always have to make sure you don't lie, don't I?" Blaze pulled Pinocchio's tongue hard, silently threatening him.

"Go left and pass through the Steel Forest."

"Then I'll go to the right."

"and many more--"

Ignoring Pinocchio's struggles, Blaze tied him up with his tongue and flew straight into the Steel Forest.

As expected, when Blaze reached the end of the Steel Forest, he saw a huge gate. It was made of black stone and had no door, because behind it was the resting world of the dead.