Chapter 177: An Excellent Kindler, Fearless! (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

Chapter 177: An Excellent Kindler, Fearless! (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

As the game transitioned into a black screen, an uncontrollable cutscene CGI began.

The screen first showed a dim dungeon, where a group of rats quickly scurried past the camera. Then the camera slowly panned, revealing the general scene of this gloomy dungeon.

Finally, the view zoomed in on a prison cell. At the base of the wall beneath a torch, a skeleton-like Hollow sat on the ground, neither alive nor dead.

At that moment, a low narration began.

"The Dark Sigils represent the curse of immortality. Therefore, all Undead are captured and sent to the northern prison, confined until the end of the world."

"This is also your fate."

The camera shifted, focusing on another prison cell.

Song Ren's character, which he had previously created, was crouched in the corner of the cell, hidden in darkness.

"Wait a second, how did I turn into a Hollow?"

Song Ren was stunned. Earlier, he had spent a long time on the character customization screen, finally crafting a character who didn't look frightening but had a unique personality.

Yet now, inside the game, he had turned into an unrecognizable Hollow?

What was the point of spending all that time then!

As Song Ren stood speechless, suddenly the character in the game lifted its head.

A ray of sunlight streamed in from the skylight above.

"Thud!" A skeletal corpse dropped through the skylight, landing on the cell floor. A white glow floated up from the body.

Having played Dark Souls, Song Ren knew this white glow represented a collectible item.

After dropping the corpse, the knight above immediately walked away.

This scene was one Song Ren had seen in the promotional trailer shown at the exhibition earlier—though it hadn't been complete.

Still, by connecting the dots, he could roughly understand the background.

In the previous game, the player portrayed an Ashen One—an irredeemable remnant, someone who couldn't even burn if they tried.

But Undead, clearly, were combustible waste. This place, called the Undead Asylum, could be seen as a landfill—a prison specifically for the Undead.

After summarizing the information, Song Ren glanced at the UI interface and began controlling his character toward the corpse, picking up the white glow. A message appeared: "Obtained Key to unlock the cell."

After familiarizing himself with the basic operations—identical to those in Dark Souls—he realized there hadn't been major modifications to the Combat System.

This filled him with joy. If the combat felt familiar, did that mean he wouldn't have to suffer?

After all, he'd already spent hundreds of hours on the previous game.

Wouldn't adapting to the new one be quick?

But his happiness didn't last long. Soon, Song Ren noticed a crucial issue.

"Why am I overencumbered? And wasn't I supposed to be a knight? I have the knight armor, but why am I holding a broken sword? Where are my shield and proper sword!?"

"What the heck is this? Did turning into a Hollow make me weak?"

Song Ren was completely dumbfounded. In the previous Dark Souls, even the 'wretched' starting class at least had a Small Club.

But now he only had this broken blade? Was the game no longer giving starting weapons, forcing players to loot them?

And the encumbrance—sure, they gave him a full set of knight armor, but now he was overencumbered!

His rolling and walking speed were as slow as a turtle's.

But this was supposed to be the starting class equipment! How could it already be overencumbered?

Watching his knight roll slowly across the ground, Song Ren felt utterly frustrated.

"Maybe this is the added difficulty? Knights start overencumbered but with high defense, while regular characters start with low defense?"

"And I can temporarily remove equipment to gain mobility—that's a trade-off?"

As an excellent Kindler, Song Ren's greatest strength after playing Dark Souls was this:

When encountering something seemingly unreasonable in a game, he wouldn't blindly assume the Game Designer made a mistake. Instead, he'd consider whether there was deeper meaning.

Already, his mind had crafted a perfect, convincing explanation for why the knight class started without a shield or sword, and why the armor caused overencumbrance.

Staring at the broken sword in his hand, Song Ren felt even more frustrated.

Especially after checking the weapon's Base Attack Power—he was left speechless.

This thing was the kind of item players in the previous game wouldn't even keep in their inventory, fearing it would take up space.

Searching around the cell, Song Ren confirmed definitively: this broken sword would be his only weapon for the early game.

As for the armor, after some thought, he decided to remove the helmet and chestplate.

After all, he wasn't some rookie Kindler—he was a battle-hardened Ashen One from the previous game.

Even though in this prequel he had become an Undead, his experience remained.

Although many Veteran Players joked that armor in Dark Souls was useless—"just folded paper"—in reality, it provided new players with much-needed margin for error. So wearing armor with suitable defense or resistance was generally advisable.

But there was one condition: you couldn't be overencumbered.

Excessive encumbrance affected rolling, and rolling was arguably the most core mechanic in Dark Souls.

So when choosing between defense and agility, Song Ren chose agility.

"Still… this counts as a twisted version of 'wretched,' doesn't it?" Looking at his bare-chested character, Song Ren muttered, feeling defeated.

All that character customization—wasted. And his class choice? Also wasted!

Using the key he'd just obtained, he unlocked the iron gate.

With a creak, the door swung open. Yet at that moment, Song Ren felt a tinge of nervousness.

It was far too dark here—visibility was severely limited. In the previous game, when you first spawned in the Cemetery of Ash, at least there was a dim, hazy light.

But this prison felt downright grim.

Scattered minor mobs huddled in dark corners, without health bars. If you weren't careful, you'd easily miss them.

Fortunately, these Hollows were extremely easy to deal with—easier even than the Regular Hollows on the High Wall of Lothric. They barely showed any aggressive intent. Only time would tell how things would change later.

Along the path, there were also a few red bloodstains with in-game messages, mostly teaching basic player operations.

"Damage is so low… In the previous game, one or two hits would do. Now I need three or four? Could the new game's difficulty stem from nerfed numerical design?"

After defeating several Hollows along the way, Song Ren muttered to himself.

But he didn't dwell on it, continuing his Search & Destroy through the area.

The early prison posed no significant challenges.

The only obstacles were one or two Hollows along the path.

He easily cut them down with his broken sword.

The only notable difference?

True to the game's title, Dark Souls, the prison's atmosphere was slightly darker, more oppressive.

Compared to the Cemetery of Ash where players first spawned in the previous game, this prequel felt creepier.

But having endured the trials of Silent Hill PT, this was nothing much.

Even though back then he had experienced it through another player's walkthrough video—with bullet comments and high-intensity warnings—it still counted as a trial.

So far, he hadn't encountered any real difficulties. In fact, Song Ren felt this was even easier than the previous game.

After all, in the earlier game, he had lost some health right at the start.

But now?

No damage taken at all!

"After all, I'm not the same person I was before. Times have changed!"

With this emotion, Song Ren climbed up the ladder from the well and reached the first bonfire.

"Bonfire… The first 'encouragement-to-quit' teacher is here!"

Seeing the bonfire ahead, Song Ren's eyes lit up.

But he felt no fear—only excitement.

After all, he had evolved. What did it matter if he had no shield? What did it matter if he had no proper weapon?

An excellent Kindler is fearless!

More tonight—updates coming later

(End of Chapter)<>