MMORPG: Rebirth of the Mortal Online - Chapter 291

Chapter 291: Door of the Sickness
“A mission, hah.” Akuji laughed. “Did our guild masters know that you Imperial dogs are making us do the dirty work?”

“Of course,” Mikael said. “King Moriarty told them to send a representative to do this mission. While this war continues raging on, it is still our duty as mercenaries to keep the safety of the New World intact.”

“What’s the rank of this mission?” Oldman asked.

“X-rank.” Mikael said. “Might upgrade to EX. We don’t exactly know what will be awaiting us.”

“That’s just freaking wonderful!” Akuji dropped off the chandelier and headed to the door. “I am out; I ain’t dealing with this shit.”

“You’re not going anywhere.” Mikael said with his arms crossed. “If you step out of that door, you’ll find yourself in the door steps of the Black Keep.”

Akuji came to a stop, and his eyes turned cold. “How dare you threaten me?”

“The only reason the Mercenary Guild is not interfering with the war is because we’re still doing our mercenary job. That includes keeping the New World safe from outside threats.”

Mikael said.

“That’s why, to keep things balanced in the war, each faction sent their representatives for the mission. Also, the representatives couldn’t be weak. If any of them were, that faction would suffer from a punishment.”

“What is this mission?” Sepheron asked.

“Follow me; we shall talk somewhere more private.” Mikael walked over to the dungeon door.

“What about us?!” Nathaniel asked. “Aren’t we getting recruited?!”

“I am sorry, but that was just an excuse.” Mikael said and opened the door. “You’re free to leave.”

The recruits looked surprised and watched as they all followed behind Mikael, stepping through the door that led back to the fifth floor of the tutorial dungeon.

‘I thought it would be weird for so many powerhouses to come recruit them.’ Geoffrey thought. ‘Sure, Nathaniel and Nigel are very impressive, but not nearly as impressive as someone like Adam.’

…

After stepping through the teleporting door, they found themselves near the cozy-looking cottage of the fifth floor, with the crystal clear lake shimmering right beside them.

The air seemed fresh, like they were in a different world altogether.

‘I never expected to come back here.’ Adam thought and inhaled the fresh air to fill his lungs.

Mikael retrieved some small, round pearls from his inventory and handed everyone one.

“Crack the pearl, and they’ll teleport you to the tutorial’s safe room.”

“Why the hell are we going to the safe room?” Akuji asked.

Others also raised their eyebrows.

They hadn’t been there since they finished their tutorial.

“That’s where the mission takes place.” Mikael said, and he destroyed the pearl under his grip.

Following his lead, others also cracked their pearls and traversed through the space that shimmered and twisted until they found themselves in the safe room.

They appeared right in front of the mission board, and the safe room’s familiar mall outline greeted them.

However, they weren’t alone, as the surprised tutorial-takers looked over at them with curiosity.

A quick-stepped woman approached them, and to the surprise of the tutorial-takers, she bowed with humbleness.

“Sir Mikael, I heard you were coming.” Dakota said with a few cold beads of sweat rolling down her face.

“Is the auditorium empty?” Mikael asked.

“Yes, it’s all yours,” Dakota said.

Mikael nodded and walked past her without acknowledging her existence any further. He and the rest headed straight to the auditorium.

At that moment, Adam walked past her and said, “Long time no see.”

“?!” Dakota’s eyes widened in shock, and she turned her gaze to him. “Adam… w-what are you doing here…”

At that moment, she happened to catch a glimpse of his strength and felt her chest tight, and her head started spinning. She couldn’t believe it.

“Y-you’re part of the mission?”

She heard that powerhouses of other factions were coming to do some kind of important mission, but she never expected to see Adam, who had just taken his tutorial a year ago, to be part of it as well!

“Yes, do you know anything about this mission?” Adam asked.

“N-no.” Dakota shook her head. “However, we informed the Mercenary Guild about certain strange occurrences happening in the safe room.”

“Like what?”

“The tutorial-takers have been getting sick,” Dakota said.

“At first, it is just coughing and sneezing. Then they start getting fevers and experiencing fatigue.

“A couple of days after that, their fever reaches dangerous levels, and they become delirious. Then they start vomiting blood and eventually enter 3-day long sleep.

“When they finally wake up, their eyes are as black as night, and ten minutes after waking up, they die. I have never seen something like that before!”

“That’s strange…” Adam said with a frown.

He didn’t know what could cause that either. It could be poison, but with his current poison knowledge, he didn’t know what kind of poison could make such long-lasting effects.

“Adam!” Mikael’s shout resounded. “Hurry up!”

“Oh, gotta go.” Adam waved his hand and walked away. “Nice to see you again.”

“You too,” Dakota said with a bow. “Good luck with your mission.”

…

In the safe room’s auditorium, the representatives of the mission took their seats around the auditorium. Everyone was sitting far away from each other.

At that moment, Mikael took his spot at the very front of the auditorium.

“Before we go to the mission, it is important for you to know your rules and what to do!”

Behind him, a holoraphic picture of a heavy-looking door appeared. It was closed shut tight and looked as though it hadn’t been opened in years.

“This is the Door of the Sickness. It’s located in the depths of this very safe room. It is a place where no tutorial-takers are allowed to enter, so I am not surprised if none of you know about its existence.

“A decade ago, when King Moriarty took his tutorial test, he discovered this mysterious door. He was the first one to do so.

“However, when he touched the door, he became sick, very sick. He touched that door only a second, but that was almost enough to kill him.

“He quickly left and managed to survive through the sickness. Only barely. If he had touched the door one second longer, he would’ve died, and he wouldn’t have become the legendary figure you all know today.

“Yet, Moriarty kept investigating the door. He was very interested about it. Then, without his knowledge, someone else found it and tried to open the door.

“He couldn’t open the door, but he touched the door approximately ten seconds. Nine seconds longer than Moriarty did.

“Obviously, he died.

“However, he was suffering from coughing, sneezing, and fever. His symptoms worsened after a few days, and he ended up coughing blood before entering 3-day long slumber.

“After those three days, he woke up with his eyes as black as the pit of the darkness, and ten minutes after that, he died.

“I heard that the same symptoms have been found among the tutorial-takers!

“We thought they had found the Door of the Sickness, but it is heavily guarded, and none of them could’ve found it.

“However, even the door’s guard became sick for some odd reason and also died. He didn’t touch the door; he promised us all.

“We believe him.

“Thus, for some odd reason, the sickness of the door has become airborne and is infecting everyone that walks anywhere close to the door.

“It is extremely dangerous because if it worsens, then everyone in the safe room will just die. We have to find what is causing it and stop it!”

“We can fight any monster, no problem, but fighting disease itself?” Lionel shook his head. “What could we possibly do?”

“We’ll need to enter the realm beyond the Door of Sickness.” Mikael said. “While our main goal is to stop the spreading of the sickness, we also need to investigate the place on the other side.”

“What if we get sick?” The First Sister asked with a smile. “Do you have a way to cure us?”

“No, we don’t.” Mikael said. “However, we have Nerezza with us. She has the ability to make you more immune to the sickness. You can still get sick, though.”

“Now, what is our role in this mission?” Lionel asked.

“You all have specific roles just like in any party.” Mikael said, and controlled the holographic image.

The faces of everyone part of the mission appeared with text under each.

“The first role is the leader, which will be assigned to you, Lionel.”

Lionel nodded.

He was already world-famous for his leadership skills.

“Oldman, you shall be one of the party’s damage dealers.”

Oldman nodded.

“Akuji, you as well, and the First Sister as well.”

Akuji scoffed, and the First Sister nodded with a smile.

“Sepheron, you will be support.” Mikael said. “Use your ice Magick to slow down any and all enemies. Protect those that are in need, as well.”

“Mm.” Sepheron nodded.

“Nerezza, healer.” Mikael said.

“Okay~” Nerezza grinned in an ominous way.

“Then, Adam…” Mikael looked over to the black-haired young man and said, “You will be the tank. Keep Nerezza safe, no matter what happens.”

Adam nodded.

Nerezza looked over to him and smiled. “Yeah, keep me safe~”

“I will be part of the damage dealing squad.” Mikael said. “However, I will be more versatile. I can also work as support. Now that everyone has their roles, let’s go to the Door of the Sickness.”