[Sick Village]

A name that strikes fear into the hearts of the Undead.

The term triggers a special assault on players of Dark Souls one, as that dark map embodies the deepest malice of the game’s creators, reeking of disgust at every turn. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

So much so that the term Sick Village has transcended its ordinary meaning, becoming more of an interpretation of a malicious map!

Fortunately, Gong Qiying’s Sain Dungeon has yet to expand its business to the maps of Souls one, and the broad adventurers have yet to taste the beauty of Sick Village.

However, for the earliest batch of adventurers in Sain Dungeon, they could experience the upper levels of Sain Dungeon, which was then divided into upper, middle, and lower layers, designed to mimic Sick Village.

Back then, it was truly nauseatingly unbearable, with the underworld’s trap designs and the ever-present toxic filth that caught one off-guard, leaving passers-by overwhelmed and retching.

Take Steeran, for instance, who had the privilege of experiencing those early features, benefitting greatly from them.

However, the Elden Ring version of Sick Village in today’s newly launched area of Sain Dungeon is different from Dark Souls one. Simply put, only the name is the same, but the essence is completely different.

If the Souls one Sick Village is a collection of malice, then the Ring Sick Village... is really just a small village filled with a group of sick people.

No one would want to turn their place of residence into a poisoned, filthy underworld with day and night obscured by fug, right?

So the Ring version of Sick Village even seems somewhat peaceful during the day, not at all eerie and terrifying, just like a small village seen everywhere in the outside world, the kind that could be wiped out with a wave of demon beasts, posing a very low threat.

However, the above impression is based on the premise of "not knowing what illness the villagers in the village have contracted."

If one knew what kind of illness these villagers had, those in the know might scream and claw to quickly flee from this place.

Because the symptoms the villagers are infected with are called—

Mad Fire!

The yellow "tears" burning and flickering in their eyes are proof of infection!

The village is gathered with a large number of villagers infected with Mad Fire.

They are the lowest level of Mad Fire infected, so naturally, they don’t have much aura or grandeur, and passing adventurers can easily spot them.

But precisely because of this, the "Mad Fire Patients" are the most widespread source of contagion.

In terms of transmission medium, Mad Fire is quite approachable.

"What is this...?"

"What the heck?"

"This guy is as skinny as my grandpa."

Nearly half of the crowd watching, looking at the projection magic screen covering the sky, voiced various doubts.

However, when Luluwo pressed a Mad Fire patient, whose eye sockets were completely engulfed by yellow flames, against the camera, and the yellow light transmitted into everyone’s eyes.

All sounds disappeared at that moment.

Under the magnifying effect of the projection magic, the Mad Fire patient’s eyes were like two yellow suns, quietly hanging and burning in the sky, never blinking, primarily due to Tami pressing their eyelids firmly shut.

Whether on stage or among the gathered crowd, everyone stared at the projected image.

Expressions varied from curiosity to confusion to disgust, portraying the diverse array of human emotions vividly at this moment.

However, after staring at those eyes consumed by Mad Fire for more than a few seconds, those varied emotions began to change.

"Clang!" Lanle’s glass fell to the ground, and he instinctively stood up.

Apart from him, everyone’s expressions gradually twisted and contorted.

"Waaah—"

A child’s piercing cries cut through the sky, as if simultaneously hearing a series of horror stories like Grimm, hags, or cats with human faces, causing the deepest fear in their hearts to erupt suddenly at that moment!

The youngest child’s cries marked the first break in mental defenses, and the adults’ psychological defenses instantly crumbled like a levee breached by the Yellow River, too late even to make a noise!

"Ah!"

Finally, an adult let out a first painful wail, and this voice came from far above the ground, right on that large stage.

It was Edgar!

His expression was extremely contorted; his whole body collapsed to the ground in a prone-like position, trembling violently as if enduring intense pain, uncontrollably pounding the ground with his fists, ultimately emitting a scream that was neither human nor beast.

If the cries of the children were due to seeing something frightening and ugly, Edgar’s scream seemed to be due to truly experiencing the pain, a pain so extreme his whole body could not bear it.

It was as though recalling some unbearable memory, and it had something to do with Mad Fire... but he had never encountered Mad Fire before, hadn’t he?

The clear skies seemed to change with his scream, but nobody noticed now; besides Edgar, who screamed first, the symptoms for others heightened too!

"Ugh!"

Lanle grunted, feeling as if his brain was struck by a heavy hammer, the shock rapidly spreading through his whole body, causing him to feel dizzy, stumbling backward, finally sitting back in his seat.

A particular textured necklace around his neck, along with other items that appeared to be accessories but were actually life-saving magical gear, emitted a faint green glow, enveloping him and continually providing mental healing. He seemed to retain some consciousness and hastily closed his eyes, no longer looking at the projection.