Chapter Sixty-Two: Departure, Abyss of the Nether Prison (Bonus Chapter—Please Add to Favorites)

Liu Zong fully understood Liu Chun’s decision. After listening to everything Liu Chun had to say, he did not press further, simply offering, “Senior Liu, I’ll help you.”

A joyful smile appeared on Liu Chun’s face as he patted him gently and murmured his thanks.

The matters that followed became much simpler. With a shared goal, they began to discuss where they should seek employment. Initially, Liu Chun’s main obstacle was his lack of materials—without them, he couldn’t craft quality cages or cloaks. Now that this problem had been resolved, a suitable body became the key to Liu Chun’s new position.

This was precisely why Liu Chun had sought out Liu Zong. After signing the contract, the school provided Liu Chun with a plan: the Shadow Affinity Department possessed three independent secret realms, separate from the school’s existing maps—three large, three medium. These hidden realms were located mostly on the public map of Sun City and were somewhat akin to dungeons—larger than typical instances yet smaller than the medium maps.

There was a dedicated portal from Sun City’s Third High School. Entry was random, and what one encountered inside depended on luck.

Of the three Shadow Affinity realms, two were on land and one underwater, all inhabited by shadow-aligned entities. Liu Chun’s quest for a suitable body took him to the underwater realm known as the Abyss of the Nether Prison, the domain of the Viku—where Hela ruled. The Viku imprisoned all their defeated enemies here: titans, cyclopes, deep-sea octopuses, and other beings.

Liu Zong and Liu Chun did not need to fight anyone there; they simply needed to find the right body.

Liu Chun already had an idea of the kind of body he wanted. Whether he could obtain it would depend on fortune.

After agreeing on the plan, the two quickly gathered their things and headed toward the classroom designated for Shadow Affinity students.

Although it was only Sun City’s Third High School, all departments were represented. The Shadow Affinity players numbered over a hundred, with five permanent classrooms and three temporary ones available.

Research labs and experimental rooms abounded, but Liu Zong’s destination was the teleportation chamber to enter the independent realm.

This chamber was modest, about a hundred square meters, bare except for three identical pillars standing at its center.

Each pillar was no more than a meter tall, appearing quite ornate. Upon each floated a crystal sphere, roughly the size of a fist. Looking closely, one could see shifting illusions within.

After ushering Liu Chun and Liu Zong inside, the chamber attendant informed them, “The Abyss of the Nether Prison you’re seeking is the one in the middle. Just touch it to enter. When you return, use your hearthstone. The school covers the travel cost; once Liu Chun starts his position, it’ll be deducted separately.”

Liu Chun nodded to Liu Zong. “Once we’re inside, our arrival points will be random—we may not land together. Here’s a map and the location of the realm’s teleport point. Let’s meet there.”

Liu Zong studied the map carefully and nodded in affirmation. “Don’t worry, Senior Liu. I’ll be fine.”

Liu Chun smiled, patting Liu Zong’s shoulder. “I know you’ll be fine. Be careful on the way, and gather any materials you find. It’s a waste not to collect things in a secret realm. If you don’t see me at the rendezvous, wait a few days. Besides us, there will be others in the realm—keep your wits about you.”

With that, Liu Chun pressed his hand onto the crystal sphere. A white light flashed, and he vanished before Liu Zong’s eyes.

Liu Zong collected himself, pressed his hand onto the sphere, and a shaft of white light descended, forcibly pulling him inside.

This forced teleportation was far harsher than using a hearthstone. When Liu Zong landed, he nearly vomited.

Half-kneeling, he took a long moment to recover before he could survey his surroundings.

It was not entirely accurate to call this place an underwater realm. The rocks and soil, the air thick with shadow energy and sea breeze, all indicated this was a death island within the ocean.

Looking up, only dense, ominous clouds filled the sky—no sun, no moon. The only sources of light were some campfires and flickering ghost flames, and from a certain direction, a powerful, familiar energy pulsed, though Liu Zong could not place where he had felt it before.

He glanced at his map and found that he had lucked out, landing near the edge of a dangerous zone. Any farther, and he would have been thrown right into it.

Although Liu Zong wasn’t worried about the monsters in that zone, getting out would have been more troublesome.

With his location confirmed, Liu Zong set out along the route marked on his map toward the nearest teleport point, which would take him straight to Liu Chun’s rendezvous location.

He had barely taken a few steps when he paused, feeling a chilling breeze at his back. The ghost flames, previously erratic, suddenly aligned themselves in neat rows.

This startled Liu Zong. For shadow-aligned players, the most troublesome adversaries were their own kind—necromancers who commanded legions of the undead, especially the necrotic plague that revived the fallen mid-battle.

The most vexing of all were organized undead legions, whose coordination was nearly unbeatable.

Liu Zong knew that encountering such an enemy meant fleeing as far as possible; never assume you could take them head-on.

Seeing the ghost flames line up, Liu Zong quickened his pace, disregarding danger and leaping from high ground—embarking on a kind of Abyssal parkour.

Fortunately, once he had run a fair distance, the ghost flames vanished and did not pursue him, easing his mind.

After several twists and turns, Liu Zong finally located the teleport point marked on his map.

He breathed a sigh of relief and began to take stock of his surroundings.

Near the teleport point, things were relatively safe, but farther out, corpses began to appear.

These bodies, long exposed to damp conditions, were rotted beyond recognition, and even the weapons beside them were similarly decayed.

As Liu Zong observed, a small cluster of ghost flames drifted onto one of the corpses, and something astonishing happened.

From within the ghost flame, a hand emerged and forcefully ‘pulled’ a humanoid apparition from the corpse, dragging it away. Judging by its form, this apparition was likely the soul of the body it had been extracted from.