I was currently on the outskirts of the town. The end of the first part of the first quest was a perfect hop away from the abandoned house. Well, more like a few streets, about a ten-minute walk. 

The house was surrounded by a broken-down stone wall with tall grass growing outside and inside. The gate was half off its hinges and rusted beyond repair. It was a single-floor cottage-style house, and with how the buildings merged with nature, it seemed nature did not have to wait long to take over. 

I looked at the wooden door that had seen much better days. It was half pushed open due to a root that had grown through the door jam. I walked over and made my way inside to see grass and moss growing on the floorboards. Luckily, there were no monsters in this house except for the cellar, so I was perfectly safe for the time being. I made my way through the home until I came upon a broken latch on the floor. This was the entrance to the cellar. It was a place that, if one was not looking, they would not find it.

Taking a deep breath, I readied my sword and opened the door to the basement. Light from the hole in the ceiling aimed perfectly into the darkness, lighting my path down an old set of rotting wooden stairs. It's not the safest set of stairs I have ever seen, but it's much better than some New York fire escapes. 

I made my way down the stairs to find the basement was not all that big, to begin with. With the light from the ceiling bouncing off the walls, it lit the basement up enough to allow me to look around, and I kind of wished it didn’t since on the far side of the basement stood a ghoul in all its glory.

It just stood there with its bones showing through its rotting skin. Its disgusting body swayed back and forth silently, giving off a pretty spooky feeling. I have watched many zombie movies, and I would have to say that they were what scared me the most. Just the idea that some kind of medicine might one day be created that changes people or some kind of zombie virus will cause a zombie outbreak always freaked me out. But now that I know things will be much worse than any zombie outbreak, I do not fear it as much. But still, ghouls and zombies are not my cup of tea. 

Luckily, I still have my sword skills to deal with the situation. The thing about ghouls in the game and when they appear in the real world is that you have to chop off their heads. “Rawgh!” The ghoul did not take long to notice me and began its charge. It was just that….

“Why are you so fast!?” I had no choice but to tuck and roll out of the way. The ghoul’s speed was crazy fast! It was no wonder only a level 10 was able to beat it.  

I quickly jumped back to my feet and, this time, parried the next attack as the ghoul swung at me. Taking this chance as it ran past me, I kicked it in the back of its knee, causing it to lose its balance and fall to the ground. I did not hesitate to move in quickly and slash down with my sword.

*Clang!*

The ghoul's mana-hardened claws struck my blade, knocking me back. I quickly stabilized myself before striking out again. This time, I parried its arm and kicked it out of the way, causing it to lose balance again before finally slicing through its neck.

[Unique Ghoul Defeated]
[Experience Points Gained!]
[Level up!]

I had no time to check my stats as a transparent figure suddenly appeared before me. “Friend. I thank you for releasing me from the curse that had been placed on me. I have been stuck here as a ghoul for many, many years. With no means of leaving this place due to being bound here. Behind the reddish stone is an amulet. It is something I had found in my early days. I never understood what it was used for, but maybe you will be able to figure it out. It is the only thing I can offer for setting me free.” 

The figure’s body began to float up as a ray of golden light shone down on him. I watched as he smiled and turned into balls of golden light that disappeared a few seconds later.

I bowed my head to pay respect to the man before walking over to grab my spoils of war.

[Item: Mimic Pendant]
[Type: Unique]
[Rarity: Mythic]
[Description: An item filled with shadowy insights. Dropping some of your blood on it should reveal its truths.]

“Oh? So, to start the quest, I need to drop blood on it?” Thinking back, I did read something about that part in the thread that explained the quest. I used my sword to cut my finger and dripped a drop of blood onto the pendant. 

[Hidden Quest: ‘Abandoned House Discovery’]
[Conditions Updated…]
[Find out the hidden meaning behind the amulet….]

“Well, I got the starter quest. Now, I will need to head to the field to kill a few monsters. Luckily, if I am correct, the field in the back of the house has some monsters I can use to begin using the Shadow Mimic skill.”