Cathulhu Online, MUNYA!

Chapter 39 – Cad Dad's Road to Evolution: One of Seven

Xiaomao smirked and gazed at the two cursed claws on his tentacle arms. He felt like a wolverine.

But having high attack power was meaningless against an army of elite gnolls. They could heal the gnoll soldiers and used range magic. Therefore, fighting them head-on was not a solution.

'Okay. That guy should be up there. It's do or die.'

Xiaomao rushed to the suspension bridge right away. He hopped on the rail and climb one of the cables. However, due to the imbalance weight of his body, he hung his head upside down while his six tentacles coiled around the cable.

AWOOOOO!

AWOOOOO!

As Xiaomao got on the bridge, the soldier gnolls howled like Mama Warden, and all 1,000 monsters turned toward him. As if they were zombies in the apocalypse, they barked and rushed toward Xiaomao.

Fortunately, Xiaomao had predicted this. He kept climbing and avoiding a direct confrontation and the shaman's magic range.

The gnolls couldn't follow Xiaomao or climb the cable. They only looked up and barked while the shaman only glared at him from a distance.

Xiaomao laughed. He took his time and climbed toward the tower on the other side of the bridge.

The suspension bridge managed to carry the stone path and the 1,000 gnolls because of the cables, which transferred the tension to the two towers. Each tower stood vertically to the ground on stood tall on each side of the cliff.

Xiaomao ignored the tower on his side and slowly made his way toward the other tower, which was located on the other end of the bridge.

WOOOOO

A cold wind blew from below, slightly shaking the cables and the bridge. The trembling was subtle, but it was enough to make Xiaomao's tentacles sweat in fright.

'Easy… easy. Don't look down.'

Xiaomao's face was covered in sweat. His fur became sticky and oily while he moved one of his tentacles at a time to move forward.

His speed was the same as a sloth. Yet, it was firm and steady.

Hours passed by. Xiaomao reached the top of the second tower. As soon as his tentacle legs carried his body to the tower's rooftop, he collapsed.

"I'm so exhausted, munyaaaa."

Had anybody looked at Xiaomao now, they would have mistaken him for a liquid cat.

DING

<Congratulations. You are the first person to discover the safe zone of Gnoll Dungeon.>

<You may choose one of the following rewards :>

<One: Increase your allocable status points by 10.>

<Two: Increase your allocable spiritual root points by 10.>

<Three: Obtain a random super rare skill book.>

<Four: Obtain a random super rare spellbook.>

<Five: Obtain an evolution material of your race.>

<Six: Obtain a qualification for class change and job evolution.>

<Seven: You may purchase one item from the Gnoll Dungeon Vendor for free.>

<Please note that the next discoverers will not receive any reward.>

Xiaomao struggled to get up. Looking at the notifications, he regained his mental energy.

This was the boon of being a pioneer! Every first person who found the only safe zone in a dungeon would get a handsome reward!

'It's finally here. This is where I will take the greatest risk!'

The third and the fourth option was out. Xiaomao had the 100% drop rate perk, so he didn't need those spellbooks or skill books. He would get them eventually.

The first two options looked interesting since they could permanently increase his stats by 10 points. But compared to the fifth and sixth options, 10 points of permanent stats didn't mean anything.

The seventh option was for the poor. Even though the dungeon vendor's items were expensive, Xiaomao was confident in his wallet. He came here as a wallet warrior for a reason.

The sixth choice was also bad. Slave Master was not a rare class as there were beast tamers, monster tamers, summoners, necromancers, and many jobs that could use helpers. The value of the class was still inferior to the racial upgrade.

Therefore, after the process of elimination and value comparison, Xiaomao picked the fifth choice.

Ding

<Please choose one of the following items>

<One: Cathulhu Essence Core x 1 (Super Rare).>

<Two: Crystalized Catnip Essence x 1 (Ultra Rare).>

<Three: Refined Entity Crystal x 1 (Ultra Rare).>

<Four: Karmic Soul Stone x 1 (Legendary).>

<Five: Akashic Memory Card x 1 (Legendary).>

<Six: Ancient Dao Stone x 1 (Ultra Rare).>

<Seven: Karma Fish x 1 (Ultra Rare).>

Xiaomao grumbled as he had expected it. Evolving the ultra-rare race was a pain.

Each item's name sounded grand and hard to find. Moreover, some of them didn't seem to exist in this world, such as Karmic Soul Stone, Akashic Memory Card, Ancient Dao Stone, and Entity Crystals – Everything sounded like they related to the future patch, aka the Heavenly Dao Patch, when cultivator worlds would be accessible!

But Xiaomao knew that he could acquire the Cathulhu Essence Core easily. He only needed to find the other six by abusing the pioneer rewards.

He glanced at the list and picked something that he could use right away.

"I pick Karma Fish, munya!"

<You have obtained Karma Fish.>

An item with the icon of a yin yang diagram appeared in his inventory.

…

Karma Fish (Ultra Rare)

This black and white fish looks like a yin yang diagram, but they represent the origin of the universe. They always wander in the River of Karma in Heavenly Dao. They cannot be seen with naked eyes or touched. However, only the chosen ones may catch a glimpse of them. Ancient cultivators said seeing a Karma Fish is an auspicious sign as their luck will soar.

Immortal cultivators, mystic beasts, and divine creatures seek Karma Fish for their evolution. Everywhere the karma fish goes, these people and creatures follow. Please be careful and never disclose to anyone that you have it.

Item Type: Evolution Material

Effect: By keeping Karma Fish in your inventory, you will obtain the following effects:

- Obtain 200% EXP from killing monsters.

- Obtain 200% skill and spell EXP from using the abilities.

- Obtain 200% items and gold coins from killing monsters.

- Your attacks are always critical.

NOTE: You cannot keep this item in your premium backpack, warehouse, or store inventory. This item is guaranteed to drop from your body if you die.

…

'If this is not broken, I don't know what is.'

Evolution materials usually give bonuses and perks to the keepers, especially the materials of the Ultra Rare NFT characters. Its bonus was always desirable to every player. However, it came with great risks.

This item couldn't be put in the warehouse, premium backpack, or shop, which made it risky to carry it around. Secondly, nobody could hide its existence from the public eyes.

Xiaomao gazed at his name. It changed from white to gold, which hinted to other players that he had precious items on him.

This was a game mechanic that kept strong players or main scenario questers in check. Anyone with a main scenario key item or Ultra-Rare artifacts would suffer from a soft penalty, aka their golden name. Their names would stay highlighted as gold, telling the public that he would spit out at least one valuable artifact once he died.

The penalty was basic if one held only an ultra-rare artifact or a key item in their inventory. However, the exposure would be severe if one had at least one legendary artifact - Their location would be announced to the global chat every hour!

The penalty was like a death sentence! All players would know the legendary item's whereabouts, and everyone could hunt the artifact owners down for the legendary item! And then, the next lucky hunter would become the hunted as the cycle of treasure hunting would continue until one of the hunters was strong enough to suppress all pursuers.

Although there were plenty of ways to prevent the exposure and the penalty, Xiaomao was powerless at the moment. He couldn't pick a legendary item as his first artifact as he would have exposed the dungeon's location and his whereabouts.

As Xiaomao needed all seven items anyway, he picked an ultra-rare item to be safe. Once he got stronger, he would aim to take advantage of legendary artifacts.

'I want the other artifacts first, but I need to grind my level ASAP. I'll stick with this one for now. But man, having a golden name sucks.'

Although Xiaomao complained, he opened the game option to check the clock.

It was 7.40 AM. It was already morning.

Everything went according to the plan but it took too much time. It was time to wake up.