The dead Psionic Corpse was suddenly enveloped in its own psionic fire. Its flesh rapidly withered away, turning into specks of psionic light that dissolved into the air.
After the corpse vanished, only a puddle of black sludge remained in its place, with an object glowing with a dull golden light resting inside it.
The old geezer actually dropped some loot.
Lynn walked over and found that the black sludge left behind by the Psionic Corpse felt incredibly familiar. He had seen it not too long ago.
He had encountered it in the sewers, on the Dungeon Slime.
Back then, the Dungeon Slime's body had been filled with this very substance, causing the entire slime to go berserk and lose its sanity.
The sewers... the cemetery... This black sludge had appeared in both places at once.
Thinking back on all the incidents he had encountered recently—the gnolls' equipment, the specter, the Dungeon Slime, the skeleton tide, the Psionic Corpse...
These seemingly unrelated monsters seemed to share some hidden connection beneath the surface.
Lynn suddenly felt a sense of impending doom, like a storm brewing on the horizon.
But with so few clues at hand, speculation was pointless.
Besides, the Adventurers' Guild and the Mages' Association were there to deal with the big problems. For now, Lynn only needed to focus on steadily raising his strength.
Lynn bent down, scooped up the piece of equipment, and examined it.
The item looked like a pair of dark silver gloves, but since they were long enough to cover the wrists, they could also be called gauntlets. They felt quite heavy in his hands.
Because of their prominent metallic texture and articulated finger design, someone looking from a distance might mistake them for the gauntlets worn by a plate-armored knight.
Lynn was in no hurry to put them on. Instead, he first showed the item to his two teammates.
Lupa shook her head immediately and pointed to her own gauntlets.
Clearly, Lupa, who already owned a full set of plate armor, had no need for this.
The Monk, on the other hand, examined them closely before speaking cautiously, “I don't sense any trace of fel energy on this. Why don't you try putting them on?”
Well, it seemed the Monk didn't want them either.
Lynn didn't stand on ceremony with them and slipped the gauntlets on.
The inner layer of the gauntlets seemed to be lined with cloth, preventing them from chafing while also keeping them from slipping off.
Clenching his fists, he didn't feel any immediate enhancement or boost to his body from the equipment.
Only after confirming that Lynn had no obvious adverse reactions to wearing them did the Monk speak up. “Let's have the guild's appraiser identify their effects when we get back.”
Lynn nodded, took off the gauntlets, and hung them from his belt.
Nearly a hundred skeletons had appeared on the field earlier. Although only about a dozen of them were skeleton soldiers, the loot dropped was still quite substantial.
Many of the skeleton soldiers' gear could still be resold.
Moreover, these armaments had been tempered by fel energy. While their quality couldn't compare to true magic gear, they were still better than average equipment.
Well, according to the rules of adventurers, once the original owners of these burial goods turned into monsters, the items became the adventurers' rightful loot.
The three of them picked and chose, eventually carrying off over a dozen pieces of relatively well-preserved equipment and loading them onto the carriage parked outside the Public Cemetery.
As for the scrap metal that wouldn't fetch much money, Lynn and the others couldn't be bothered to haul it. They planned to let it remain underground to keep their former owners company.
The carriage driver, however, turned pale with fright upon seeing them huffing and puffing as they loaded over a dozen pieces of gear onto the carriage.
“You... you guys didn't... rob the...?”
The driver didn't dare finish his sentence.
But Lynn could guess what he meant.
Seeing so much dust-covered gear, the driver probably thought Lynn and the others had gone grave-robbing in the Public Cemetery.
It seemed the driver was indeed quite a coward.
Despite the massive commotion inside the Public Cemetery earlier, he hadn't dared to steal even a single glance inside.
Yet, at the same time, he hadn't abandoned Lynn and the other two to flee on his own...
It must have been hard on him.
The Monk smiled and explained the situation to the driver.
Thanks to the reputation the Monk had built up over time, the driver believed that Lynn and Lupa weren't grave robbers.
The driver patted his chest to calm his racing heart. “There must have been a lot of monsters in there, right? Thank goodness for you guys, now those souls can finally rest in peace again.”
“It's because of adventurers like you that everyone in Wingen Town doesn't have to live in constant fear.”
The driver sounded rather sentimental as he spoke.
In the past, he had probably transported his fair share of adventurers' corpses to this place, hadn't he?
The Monk also grew a bit somber, casting a backward glance at the Public Cemetery.
Perhaps he, too, had once personally sent his own companions to rest here.
Lynn, on the other hand, felt no such sentimentality.
When he had been sent to this world by a truck in his past life, he was still young, and now, he was still just a teenager.
As for matters of life, death, and parting, Lynn didn't have any deep feelings about them just yet.
Thus, Lynn spoke up to break the heavy silence. “Shall we go look for the moon dust fungus?”
Although they had run into unexpected dangers like the skeleton tide and the Psionic Corpse, Lynn hadn't forgotten the purpose of this trip.
To gather moon dust fungus so he could raise his Intelligence attribute to the level of an official class-holder.
The Monk nodded. Having just emerged from the Public Cemetery, the three of them proceeded to the neighboring Graveyard.
Though separated from the Public Cemetery by only a single wall, the Graveyard presented an entirely different sight.
Unlike the impoverished-looking Public Cemetery, every corner of the Graveyard exuded a sense of solemn dignity.
The Graveyard was neatly partitioned into uniform square plots by gravel pathways. Above each grave stood a headstone made of polished marble, recording the life story of the deceased.
Someone was likely employed to keep the headstones clean, as there was barely any visible dust on them.
Lynn smiled easily. “Well, this will certainly make it easier for us to find the moon dust fungus.”
Mushrooms would be rather conspicuous in a graveyard like this, so they wouldn't have to worry about missing them. With that, the three split up to begin their search.
However, as Lynn scanned from one headstone to the next, he couldn't find any trace of mushrooms.
Even though he had mentally prepared himself to return empty-handed, Lynn couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment.
Would he really have to wait for Teacher Gray to buy some moon dust fungus from the elven territories?
That would take quite a lot of time.
But just as Lynn turned his gaze toward the remaining unsearched graves with a final glimmer of hope—
The world in his vision suddenly turned completely upside down.
A blinding red light suddenly flared.
Lynn closed his eyes instinctively, relying only on his Echolocation to ensure his safety.
Once the light dimmed slightly,
He opened his eyes again, only to find that the sky had turned a pure, crimson red.
Before Lynn could examine his surroundings, overlapping voices echoed all around him.
“Welcome to my domain, human.”
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