Chapter 168: Medicine Gift Package, Background of the Dark Apocalypse

Chapter 168: Chapter 168: Medicine Gift Package, Background of the Dark Apocalypse

Over the next few days.

Aside from occasionally participating in peripheral patrols or coordinated defense missions, Seraphina Sullivan, Dustin Sullivan, and the others found themselves with a surprising amount of free time.

It was so safe inside the Shelter that one could almost forget they were in an apocalyptic dungeon.

However, Seraphina didn’t stay idle. She used this rare period of stability to focus on the side quest she had accepted earlier: [Side Quest: Collect the blood of ten different night monsters].

’I can’t believe I didn’t have to hunt for the last few types of blood myself. I could get them all right here in the Shelter.’

Seraphina couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional.

They had already collected the blood of several monsters outside the Shelter.

And inside the Shelter, because teams were frequently organized to go out and clear monsters, many corpses and materials from various night monsters could be found.

Leveraging her status as a collaborator and trading a few supplies, Seraphina easily acquired the remaining monster corpses and blood samples needed for her quest.

As the tenth type of blood dripped into the special collection vial, the familiar system notification sounded right on cue:

[DING! Congratulations, Player, you have completed the side quest: Collect the blood of ten different night monsters.]

[Quest Reward: Medicine Gift Package.]

Seraphina opened the package.

She examined the so-called "Medicine Gift Package."

Inside, five vials of different colors were neatly arranged, each labeled with a simple description:

A scarlet [Power Amplification Potion]

An azure [Agility Enhancement Potion]

A dark green [Regeneration Healing Potion]

An ochre [Toughness Protection Potion]

And a faintly shimmering [Spirit Recovery Potion].

Although the types were basic, they covered attack, speed, healing, defense, and spirit recovery, making them quite practical.

Seraphina casually picked a potion with a faint purple sheen from the Medicine Gift Package and examined it closely.

[Spirit Recovery Potion]

Effect: After consumption, the user’s spiritual power will continuously and slowly recover over one hour, replenishing what was spent. The effect ends after one hour.

After reading the effect’s description, Seraphina subconsciously pursed her lips, a flicker of barely perceptible disappointment crossing her mind.

’It’s only a temporary recovery... I thought it would be a potion that permanently increases my maximum spiritual power.’

The moment the thought surfaced, Seraphina herself was taken aback. Then, she laughed at herself and gently patted her cheeks.

’Heh, Seraphina, oh, Seraphina. You’ve gotten too comfortable with these peaceful days, haven’t you? Getting a big head? This is a life-saving potion that can quickly restore your mana in a critical moment, and you’re actually complaining?’

She took a deep breath, suppressing the restlessness that had grown from her comfortable life.

Seraphina realized that the relatively stable life inside the Fireseed Shelter these past few days—a life where she didn’t have to be constantly on edge just to survive—had unknowingly made her a little too relaxed, even giving her an unrealistic sense of security.

She had to be vigilant, even in times of peace.

Seraphina knew perfectly well that the system would never let them get by so easily.

And yet, the calmer things appeared on the surface, the more uneasy Seraphina felt deep down.

This was clearly the oppressive, suffocating stillness before a storm.

A brief period of peace often heralded an exceptionally violent storm to come.

During this time, Seraphina hadn’t been completely idle.

She used every opportunity to gather information, gradually piecing together some background on this "Dark Apocalypse" dungeon world.

From these scattered pieces of information, she learned that this world’s Dark Apocalypse had been going on for a full fifty years.

This was also the apocalyptic dungeon with the most clearly recorded history out of all the ones Seraphina had entered so far.

It was said that over fifty years ago, a terrifyingly massive and prolonged meteor shower of unprecedented scale struck this planet.

At first, people merely regarded it as a rare meteor disaster, busy assessing the direct damages from the impacts.

However, no one could have predicted that the meteors carried an unknown, extremely unusual substance.

This substance didn’t just cause physical destruction. It was more like it was "alive," rapidly spreading and diffusing through the atmosphere until it formed a strange, permanent black barrier that enveloped the globe. It completely blocked out all sunlight, making daytime a thing of the past and ushering in an eternal night.

What was even more terrifying was that this unknown substance also possessed intense radiation and mutagenic traits.

While devouring the light, it also began to drastically alter the planet’s ecosystem, especially the animals.

After coming into contact with this substance, ordinary animals underwent horrific genetic mutations. Their size, habits, and abilities rapidly evolved in grotesque and bloodthirsty directions, becoming the "night monsters" that are now humanity’s greatest threat.

This was the beginning of the Dark Apocalypse.

With the loss of light, agriculture collapsed, the ecosystem was thrown into upheaval, and the old social order disintegrated in a very short time.

Under the sudden disaster and endless monster attacks, the human population plummeted. Survivors could only rely on "fireseed"-like Shelters built upon the ruins to painstakingly preserve their civilization.

The eternal night and the endless stream of monsters with bizarre abilities dealt a devastating blow to the remnants of humanity.

In the initial chaos, humanity’s modern weapons were only effective against common monsters like the massive but relatively simple Night Rats.

They were largely ineffective, or even completely useless, against monsters with Special Abilities—such as giant bats that could unleash Wind Blades, worms that spat acid, or demonic moths that spread hallucinogenic dust. This resulted in massive casualties and a sharp decline in the number of survivors.

In the near-desperate darkness, the remaining scholars and scientists did not give up.

They turned their attention to the very source of the disaster.

The mutated monsters themselves.

After countless dangerous studies and painful sacrifices, they finally found a breakthrough within the monsters’ unique genetic sequences and developed a revolutionary product.

The Genetic Potion.

This potion could, to a certain extent, guide and fuse specific genetic fragments from monsters. When injected into a human body, it would induce a targeted mutation in the user, allowing them to gain superhuman Power and even simulate some of the monsters’ Special Abilities.

This was the origin of the "Genetic Warrior."

The appearance of Genetic Warriors was like lighting a faint flame in the endless darkness.

Humanity finally possessed the power to fight back, to directly confront and even hunt special monsters. This allowed them to establish Shelters like embers upon the ruins, painstakingly preserving the flame of civilization.

When Seraphina learned about the origin and function of the Genetic Potion, her heart did skip a beat for a moment.

The ability to directly obtain a powerful strength, similar to a Talent Ability, was a huge temptation for any Player.

However, as she learned more about the Genetic Potion, a bucket of cold water doused her enthusiasm.