Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society Chapter 13-15

Chapter 13. The World Becomes a Dungeon (6)

"Did you notice any difference between the wraiths on the 7th floor and 8th floor?"

"Mmm… the 8th floor wraiths were a bit stronger. Their defense seemed to be higher."

Unlike the wraiths on the 7th floor, the wraiths from the 8th floor didn't die in one hit. But noona didn't seem satisfied with my answer.

"You didn't feel anything else?"

"Anything else? Uh… oh, yeah."

There seemed to be ones that spit out something from their mouths. They were almost like goblins with their poisonous darts. Because I became temporarily paralyzed when they hit me, they were quite annoying to deal with. Without them, I could have reached the end of the 8th floor a few hours quicker.

"Do you think the 9th floor won't have wraiths like those?"

"What are you trying to say?"

Even though I asked, I knew what she was going to say. Just as I had expected, the shop noona shoved a strange object in front of my face and shouted.

"Here! This here is Spiritual s.h.i.+eld, something that can block the wraiths' ectoplasm arrows 100 times! It's only 5,000 gold! If you buy this, you might be able to break through the 9th floor in under 9 hours!"

"… Did you give me a quest just to sell me things?"

Noona clearly turned her eyes away at my inquiry. Then…

"But customer, you never come to the shop…"

"T-That's…"

"For over 3 years, no less! Not once! Do you know how much my performance has fallen during that time?"

"P-Performance…"

"Why don't we help each other, customer? You make so much. It wouldn't hurt to spend some at the shop, would it?"

"But 5,000 gold is too much."
Since the exchange rate was 2,100 won, that would mean 10.5 million won. Now that I did the conversion in my mind, I really didn't want to buy it. I couldn't buy such a high price item on a whim…

"Without this, it probably will be impossible to break through the 9th floor in 9 hours. Ah, it's 8 hours, 57 minutes, and 58 seconds now."

"You're too meticulous with time!"

In the end, I reluctantly bought the Spiritual s.h.i.+eld. It was a sticker, and when I put it on the back of my hand, I felt an instant zap. The sticker then disappeared and the sticker mark seemed to be tattooed onto my hand.

I regretted it. It was a Pokemon sticker.

"d.a.m.n it, I have to quickly use these up…!"

If mother or father saw me with a Pokemon tattoo on my hand, they would no doubt look at me with strange eyes. I quickly rushed up to the 9th floor, leaving behind the shop noona cheering me on.

"Next time you buy it, I'll give you a 10 percent discount!"

"Like I will!"

I ran. Although my mana rose to over 1,000 after hitting level 9, I did not pay any attention to it. I only had 8 hours 55 minutes and 34 seconds left!

"Commence Exploration!" I shouted with a ringing voice.

Wraiths surged out from all directions. Just like shop noona said, there were more wraiths that shot out ectoplasm arrows. Although I doubted whether I needed to spend 10.5 million won to block them, I managed to leave the thought behind, believing that the quest reward would be much better.

[Quest Success]

[Seeing you break through the 9th floor in 24 hours, the shop owner regrets making a bet. But a promise is a promise. She will give you a worthy reward.]

[You received a system reward. You obtained 1 skill point. You can raise the level of a skill by 1.]

"You really succeeded."

"Yes."

"You really… succeeded…"

"Noona, your face."

Unable to take on shop noona, Loretta's depressed expression directly, I turned away. I was more concerned with this skill point. Raising a skill level, wasn't this an amazing reward? It seemed better to save it than to use it now.

Loretta seemed to have found her calm as she grabbed my hand and handed me a translucent circular object.

"Huu, a promise is a promise. Here is your reward."

[You received Soul Bomb x2.]

"What's this?"

"They're Soul Bombs, customer."

Although I was thankful she talked to me nicely, her eyes were still dead. I thought about pointing this out, but I just chose to check the information on these Soul Bombs.

[Soul Bomb (Rare)
A magical tool created by a great sage who wields soul magic and Kaloha race's blacksmith, 'Hand of Creation.' When this magical tool is thrown and shock is applied, the 'Spiritual Burst' skill will be used, dealing fatal damage to all existences in soul form. It deals 500 ~ 5,000 damage to all souls in a 20 meter radius.]

"These are consumables!"

"That's why I gave you two!"

"So I can only use it twice!"

"Well, customer, would you like to make another bet?"

"It's breaking through the 10th floor, right? I don't even need to be told!"

To think she'd make use of her reward and make another bet! What a vicious woman!

"But there won't be a time limit this time."

"Ho?"

"You can complete it whenever you want."

"… Let's hear it."

"Huhu, I've got him."

"Your inner thoughts are coming out, noona."

"The bet is simple. You have to defeat the 10th Floor Master, the Wraith Queen, by yourself!"

[A quest appeared!]

"Race Queen1?"

I hoped she didn't ask. Thinking about a racing girl in a miniskirt upon hearing 'wraith queen' only proved that I was a man.

"Will you accept the challenge?"

Loretta looked at me provokingly. I smirked and answered.

"I will. Something like that will be no challenge for me."

[You accepted the quest.]

"Oh, how bold for someone who stayed on the 5th floor for three and a half years."

"I ended up defeating the Orc Lord alone, so…"

"… Yes?"

"… You didn't know?"

In an instant, Loretta's face turned pale and froze. Then, she suddenly grabbed onto my arm. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Let… let me take that back."

"The die is cast."

"T-Then let me add a time limit."

"A girl's words carry the weight of a thousand gold."

"There's no such saying!"

"Visiting the doctor after death."

"Agh, you evil customer! At least buy more Spiritual s.h.i.+elds!"

"The one I've got still has 72 uses left, so I'm good."

"Ah, really! You're evil!"

Just like that, I accepted my second quest. Mm, it seemed like I was forgetting something… must just be my imagination. Yep, just my imagination.

The 10th Floor Master, Wraith Queen. It was accompanied by 50 wraiths, and used fear magic, confusion magic, and ectoplasm arrows to torment dungeon explorers facing it. However, it had a clear weakness. It was that its HP was much lower compared to the Orc Lord.

Loretta was also selling items that blocked fear and confusion magic. These items that only blocked the Wraith Queen's magic for 5 minutes were 5,000 gold a piece. According to Ellos, dungeon explorers who challenged the Wraith Queen suffered under her insatiable desire to devour money.

"I still won't buy them."

"Why!? With them, it's impossible to beat it alone!"

"I'm not trying to beat it alone for now."

"Ku…"

Priest-type explorers knew spells that could cleanse the fear or confused status effect. Rather than challenging it alone from the beginning, I chose to enter a party and experience a boss raid.

In this chaotic time when mutant life forms were appearing on Earth, being unable to enter the dungeon for a week meant my time stopped flowing. Even if I hunted the mutant life forms, not only would my level not rise, I would risk exposing myself as an ability user. As such, the only place I could train was in the dungeon.

I had no plan of ever being kicked out of the dungeon again.

"Take good care of me. I'm Kang s.h.i.+n from Earth."

"Earth? Are you… that Kang s.h.i.+n?"

"Yep, I'm that Kang s.h.i.+n."

"No way, the Crown Prince has advanced to the 10th floor!"

"What? It's really the Crown Prince?"

"Whoa, the Crown Prince is in our party!"

Amazing. I had just entered a random party, but it seemed everyone knew who I was. I wonder how the rumor spread.

"This is my first time fighting the Wraith Queen. I might get in your way."

"You'll be more than enough help just by clearing all the wraiths. The priestesses can take care of the rest."

"Leave it to us!"

There were three priestesses in this party. Oddly enough, there were no priests. Although the priestesses were beautiful, they were ugly compared to my beautiful Yua. Just as I was thinking this, one of them talked to me.

"Crown Prince-nim, do you perhaps know her highness?"

"… Who?"

I was about to say, 'Crown Prince is my nickname. By her highness, do you mean Yua?' her serious eyes stopped me.

"I mean Ehuir Empire's crown princess, her highness Palludia Gren Ehuir! I heard you partied with her previously!"

"Eh, Palludia? Yeah, I know her, but… crown princess?"

When I told the priestess that this was the first time I've been told about it, she gave me a dumbfounded look.

"You mean you couldn't tell from her graceful and beautiful appearance?"

"Graceful? She was just a noisy brat…"

"What!?"

'Ah, whoops…' Just like that, I had to spend the next 5 minutes listening to an epitaph on Palludia's beauty. Why did I have to go through such an unreasonable treatment? What part of that flat-chested twin-tail was so beautiful? Of course, I didn't say anything out loud.

"You understand how beautiful and splendid Palludia-nim is now? She is the rising morning star of our continent, the ever-burning flame of hope, a flower that must not fight against the demon kind!"

"Alright, alright, I understand, so let's just go hunt the Wraith Queen."

"By your half hearted response, it look like you didn't understand in the slightest! I'll tell you one more time, so wipe your ears clean and listen!"

My ears were very clean, thank you very much. In fact, hearing more about Palludia would only make my ear go… wait. Palludia? Come to think of it, yesterday…

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Kyaa! You surprised me!"

When I screamed, the shocked priestess fell on the ground. However, I wasn't in a position to pay attention to her.

"Oh no, I ignored Palludia's messages."

That noisy girl wasn't the type to stay silent after having her messages ignored. With my rising fear, I began to sweat. Now that things had come to this, should I keep ignoring her? No, I couldn't avoid her forever. Eventually, I would meet her again in the dungeon. Plus, ignoring her would be too rude. Although she wasn't likable, she wasn't detestable either…

'Alright, I'll contact her as soon as the Wraith Queen raid ends.' Making a vow, I spoke to the party members.

"Let's hurry and do this!"

"CROWN PRINCEEEE!"

… Although I made an enemy in an unexpected way, I chose to ignore it.

Not paying any attention to the burning gaze behind me, I opened the door to what was a haunted house.

‘Wraith’ and ‘Race’ are h.o.m.ophones in Korean ↩

Chapter 14. The World Becomes a Dungeon (7)

"Kiyaaaa!"
"Kyaaak!"

Menacing ghosts turned their attention toward us. I quickly scanned the room to find the Wraith Queen. Just like I had expected, she was looking down at us from a throne in the innermost area of the room. She appeared to be 3 meters tall and took the form of a woman.

"Humans dare to enter my territory? I shall extract your souls and make you suffer for all eternity!"

"We'll take care of the wraiths first!"

The attack strategy was not too different from the strategy for the Orc Lord. Against all the wraiths flying toward us, I used Tempest and paved open a path.

"Kuaaaaak!"

"Alright, let's go!"

"… Eh?"

"… Yes?"

Since I spent 300 mana to kill about 30 wraiths, I felt it was justified. However, my party members seemed to disagree. I remember the party leader saying that the Wraith Queen had a skill that summoned wraiths when their numbers got low and that we had to take care of them quickly. What was wrong?

"Is there a problem?"

"What level are you?"

"10. Aren't we all?"

"Are you really level 10?"

"Yes, I really am."

It felt a bit weird hearing them repeatedly say ten1. When I replied in a displeased tone, the party leader retorted as if he had just heard the most ridiculous thing.

"What skill allows a level 10 to kill 30 wraiths of the same level?"

"The high-rank spear technique."

It was level 2 high-rank spear technique, to be exact. High-rank weapon techniques really were hard to level up.

"H-High rank…"

"This is the power of the Crown Prince…"

"Crown Prince…"

I felt like dying from embarra.s.sment. In the meanwhile, the Wraith Queen was making a summoning gesture.

"More wraiths are coming out! I have a limit to my mana, so I can only use that skill two more times!"

"Ah, everyone, charge! Priestesses, prepare your status effect cleansing spells!"

"Yes!"

With the party leader taking the lead, everyone rushed forward. Although I also ran while taking care of the incoming wraiths, the Wraith Queen re-summoned ten wraiths in one go. The summoned wraiths flew toward us the moment they were summoned, and the Wraith Queen went back to her summoning gesture.

"She's one annoying ghost for sure. When the number of wraiths fall below twenty, she starts summoning more!"

"I'll take care of the wraiths so you can focus on dealing damage!"

"Got it! Everyone, use auras!"

A bluish aura wrapped around the party leader's sword. As I struck down the wraiths, the party leader and five other people all used their swords, blades, and spears to attack the Wraith Queen. Even as she screamed out in pain, the Wraith Queen didn't stop summoning wraiths.

"Haaap!"

I let out a spirited shout and activated Tempest to sweep the wraiths once more. Mana surged from my body as it traveled from the heart, ran down the arm, and wrapped around my spear. It formed a spiral current as I thrusted it forward!

BOOM!

"Kiyaaaaa!"

"Syaaaa!"

A majority of the leftover wraiths were swept away by the Tempest. The Wraith Queen stopped her summoning and let out a rageful scream.

"KIYAAAAA!"

[Wraith Queen used Vengeful Spirit's Wail! All party members fall under a state of confusion! All party members fall under a state of fear!]

[You attempt to resist. With 22 charm and 11 luck, resistance chance is 28 percent… Resist failed! You fall under confusion and fear!]

What? What just happened? Suddenly, I couldn't balance myself properly. My head was spinning and I wanted to fall down. I didn't understand why I was here. I just wanted to lie and rest.

When I raised my head, I was surrounded by several Palludias. Huk! No way, Palludia!

"You Orc!"
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d Orc!"
"You dare ignore me?"
"You're just an Orc!"
"I'll kill you!"

"Sorry! I didn't meant to ignore you!"

"Like I care!"
"Die!"

"Uwaaaak!"

All the Palludias suddenly jumped at me. I'll die, I'll die right here! At that moment…

"Save those who fell under darkness! Purify!"

[You have been cleansed of status effects.]

"Uwak, Palludia, I'm sor… Eh?"

When I snapped out of it, all the Palludias disappeared and turned into wraiths. No, they couldn't have been Palludia in the first place. They were wraiths from the very beginning. Did I mistake them for Palludia in the confused state? Why was I so afraid of her in the first place!?

"Leader!"

One of the priestess suddenly shouted. When I hurriedly turned my head, I saw the Wraith Queen endlessly shooting out ectoplasm arrows at the party leader. He seemed to not have any Spiritual s.h.i.+eld or have run out as he turned pale and soon fell.

"d.a.m.n, the leader died!"

"The Wraith Queen is summoning again!"

"Kuk, at this rate…"

The next thing I knew, the raid was about to end as a failure. Didn't I have an item for this exact situation? I hurriedly took out a Soul Bomb from my inventory and threw it at the Wraith Queen. The moment the bomb made contact and exploded, a boom sounded out and the Wraith Queen staggered.

Kw.a.n.g!

[Spiritual Burst activated! Wraith Queen received 1,496 damage.]

[Wraith received 700 damage.]

[Wraith received 4,700 damage.]

'd.a.m.n it, it could deal up to 5,000 damage and it only did 1,500!?' Although I was disappointed by the Soul Bomb's power, it managed to stop her. The two wraiths standing near her also died in the blast. Now was the time to turn the tide! I decided to use the skill I kept hidden.

"EVERYONE, CHAAAARGE!"

[You used Orc Lord's Warcry! All party members are cleansed of negative status effects. All party members' attack power increases by 50 percent for the duration. All party members become super-armored, unfazed by enemy attacks.]

"W-What's this?"

"Isn't this the Orc Lord's skill? Who used it?"

"No way, it's the Crown Prince!"

"Stop babbling and attack!"

Feeling my body glow under the effect of super-armor, I rushed toward the Wraith Queen. When I thrust my spear in, I could feel a definite response. As expected of a 50 percent attack power increase!

"Kiyaaaak!"

"Die!"

'I'm going to have to work on my habit of shouting out in fights.' Even as I scolded myself internally, on the outside, I was acting wild like a boar that had just been hit. The party members seemed to understand that questions were for later as they followed my lead and attacked the Wraith Queen.

Attacks from the entire party! Not to mention, they were strengthened by 50 percent! The Wraith Queen could not finish her summoning gesture and stumbled down. When a beautiful woman fell, it would be a man's instinct to help her rise. Unfortunately, none of the men here had the desire to escort the Wraith Queen.

"Kiyaaaaak!"

[Wraith Queen uses Vengeful Spirit's Wail. Super-armor state ignores status effect.]

'Wow! I didn't know super-armor had such an effect.'

In truth, because the super-armor was such an unusual state, I did not fully know all of its uses. However, I did know that this was the best opportunity to finish off the Wraith Queen.

I checked the amount of mana I had left.

'Still about 300. What should I do? Save it? No, if I saved it and Orc Lord's Warcry ended, it would be terrible.' I did not doubt I would succeed, but I did not want to unnecessarily send other party members on week-long vacations.

"Kuk, we're being pushed back!"

"This Wraith Queen! Even her physical attacks are strong!"

"Sinoa's about to die! Heal her!"

"Kiyaaaa! Let the vengeful spirits burn you alive, humans!!"

In the end, I came to a decision. Brus.h.i.+ng aside the wraiths that were nearing me with a single swing, I pulled my spear back slightly. This was not a spear technique I learned from Peruta, but a Kang family spear technique I learned from father.

It focused the entire body's power into the spear tip and penetrated the enemy. By pouring all of one's concentration into the spear tip, it created a single blow that surpa.s.sed the limit of humans.

With it, I wrapped the spiral current of mana used in Tempest. The spear tip began to tremble, and I held it back with my willpower alone. For a move that poured everything into a single attack, not a shred of hesitation or wavering could be allowed.

"Eh, Crown Prince is doing something."

"Someone hold down the Wraith Queen! She's trying to run out!"

"Crown Prince, hurry!"

I did not even have the energy to reply. d.a.m.n, controlling mana and controlling the entire body's strength. Doing these two things at once gave me a splitting headache. Was it really impossible to do both of these at once? … No, wait. Wasn't mana part of my strength? Why was I trying to stick to the shape of Tempest? It was an attack focused on a single point. Why couldn't I just focus my mana with it?

The moment I realized it, the current of mana wrapping around the spear disappeared. Instead, my mana began to flow from my body to the spear tip. The stream of pure white light flowing and gather at the spear tip made it look like I was gathering energy for an energy blast.

But I had to end it quick. I could feel my mana draining. The only thing to do was to draw my breath and thrust out. In this tranquil state, I stared fixedly at the Wraith Queen's chest, the target of my attack.

"N-No way… That light is…"

"Hero? I see, Crown Prince was his world's Hero. I thought he was overly strong…"

No words entered my ears. The only important thing to me right now was this attack. I devoted my entire focus on this attack.

The attack timing came in a surprise. It was the moment right before the Wraith Queen tried to use another Vengeful Spirit Wail and also the moment right before Orc Lord's Warcry ended.

I thrust out with my spear.

Puuuk.

Surprisingly, a soft sensation like sticking a fork through cake flowed through me. I smiled. I knew this attack was a success. There was no chance that it failed.

"KIYAAAAAA!"

The Wraith Queen let out a bloodcurdling scream, slowly turning transparent. At the same time, in front of us eight members (someone else seemed to have died without me noticing), a large window appeared.

[You became level 11. You obtained the qualification to enter the 11th floor.]

[You obtained 5 bonus stats.]

[You obtained 3,000 gold. It is distributed evenly amongst party members. You received 375 gold.]

[Rewards will be distributed in order of contribution.]

[Kang s.h.i.+n-nim's contribution is the highest. Choose your reward.]

"Kyaa, we did it!"

"We won, we won!"

"All hail Crown Prince!"

"Crown Prince is the best!"

After standing blankly for a while, everyone threw themselves onto me. Because most of them were women, I almost lost my sense of reasoning from their sweet scent and soft touch.

"Everyone, let go of Crown Prince. He has to choose a reward before we do."

"Ah, right. Sorry, Crown Prince."

"Sorry, Crown Prince, but you looked so cool back there!"

"That aside, why do you all keep calling me Crown Prince…?"

Expressing discontent at my nickname that seemed have become fixed, I checked the reward list.

[1. Wraith Queen's Headdress
2. Middle Potion
3. Mana Potion
4. Soul Tempering Elixir
5. Rescue Nut
6. Animate Dead Magic Book
7. Wraith Queen's Ghost Shoes
8. Emergency Medical Kit]

…Hu, huhu, huhuhu.

"Hiik, Crown Prince is laughing."

"Hm? What could have come out?"

"Ah, I'm 3rd in contributions. I hope there are at least 3 Wraith Queen drops…!”

'Huhu, don't worry, you'll obtain what you want. Of course, I will too!' Would I choose anything else at this point? Without a shred of hesitation, I chose number 4, the Soul Tempering Elixir.

[Soul Tempering Elixir (Rare)
All souls become dirty and mixed with impurities as they live their lives. When the body experiences sudden growth, the soul often is unable to adapt to the new body and even degrade. The Soul Tempering Elixir purifies the soul and strengthens it to fit the body. A tempered soul not only affects the body positively, but it also positively affects one's mana.
Note, when someone whose soul has already been tempered to the max or when someone who has both weak soul and body consumes this elixir, it may deal permanent damage or even kill in the worst case scenario.]

As I expected! When I swallowed the Soul Tempering Pill without hesitation, it felt like hot water was pouring inside me. However, I endured it with my willpower. When the feeling had disappeared, a message I had been expecting appeared.

[You tempered your soul. As a result, your magic and charm increases by 1.]

'Eh, why did charm go up?' Although this was something I hadn't expected, since it was a good thing, I decided not to put much thought into it.

"Wow! There are two Wraith Queen items left!"

"This raid was amazing on so many levels!"

"Kya, a magic book!"

""Crown Prince! Crown Prince!""

Can you guys stop chanting Crown Prince!? Please, I beg you!

‘Ten’ in Korean sounds similar to the F-word equivalent, although not exactly ↩

Chapter 15. Dungeon Explorers Can Awaken Too? (1)

What did I do after that? I, of course, went straight to the 11th floor. My situation was different than before. Three years ago, I had to remain on the 5th floor hunting the Orc Lord because I couldn't advance through the 6th floor. Now, I could do things a little smarter.

Dungeon explorers became unable to challenge Floor Masters once they defeated the next one. In other words, as long as they did not defeat the next Floor Master, they could always go back and challenge the previous Floor Master. In short, before I defeat the 15th Floor Master, I could always re-challenge the Wraith Queen.

Between level 11 and level 15, there was at least a 500 mana difference. There was no need to take the hard path when the easy one was so readily available. As such, I decided to explore the 11th floor. When Loretta saw me heading up from the 10th floor, she trembled and said, "T-That method is… unfair."

"Unfair?"

"What I wanted was for customer to challenge the boss at level 10…"

"But you didn't say that yesterday."

"Haa. I understand, noona. I agree that leveling up to level 15 and challenging the Wraith Queen is slightly unfair."

"Customer! Then…"

"But the world of compet.i.tion is cruel."

Loretta made a sulking expression. Because it was too cute, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahahaha! Even so, as far as I know, defeating the Wraith Queen alone should be hard even at level 15."

"Of course, it is. I have only seen it happen twice."

"Hm, so there is precedent."

"Of course. If you think you will be the first in everything you do, you are mistaken. Though, you are the first in the past 200 years…"

"What was that at the end?"

"No, it's nothing. Well, customer, it looks like you discovered a loophole in my quest. Then, try your best."

"I sense great malicious intent in what you said…"

"What was that? Ah yes, the item you need for the 11th floor is this! The Rat Trap! This great item is now selling for a mere 100 gold."

"I didn't ask!"

I had more or less expected it when Loretta talked about Rat Traps, but the monsters on the 11th floor were the infamous ratmen. You could simply think of them as 1 meter tall rats walking around on their hind legs. They had long, sharp tails that swung around like whips and were difficult to attack due to their quick movements.

Moreover, they did not travel alone. When you spotted one, there would undoubtedly be five more behind it. Their reproductive capabilities were like that of c.o.c.kroaches. That said, I already had experience stabbing flying c.o.c.kroaches to death. It wasn't so hard for me to follow some rats' movements.

"Ugh, I get gooseb.u.mps every time I see them!"

"Kiaak! Human kill rat!"

"That's right, today will be an extermination day!"

Fighting against ratmen who always ambushed in groups, my battle sense grew significantly. As I always stayed alert, predicting where they would come from next, I began to acquire the ability to grasp my surroundings. Because I was not on a timer this time, I spent about a week to slowly grow my battle sense.

All the ratmen on 12th and 13th floor would also be stronger, I knew their movements couldn't be too different. As such, I decided to grasp all their movement patterns on the 11th floor. This took an additional week.

"Huhu, it's not so easy anymore, is it?"

After seeing me for the first time in two weeks, Loretta asked with a satisfied expression. It seemed she thought I wanted to give up on the Wraith Queen quest, so I smirked and answered her.

"Hey, do you want to make an additional bet?"

"… No, I don't," said Loretta making a triangle mouth. I couldn't help but laugh again.

"You shouldn't make fun of this noona!"

"You can't be that much older than me."

"You'd be surprised. I'm much older than you could ever imagine!"

"Really? Can I still call you noona?"

"Hmph, only a pervert like customer would call a strange shop owner noona."

"I'm looking forward to continue working with you, Loretta noona."

"Kuu…"

In truth, I had no experience interacting with women. Besides my angelic younger sister Yua, there was no one of the opposite s.e.x that I talked to regularly. Although I had quite a few close female friends when I was in elementary school, things changed when my muscles began to grow.

As a result, Loretta was the first girl outside of my family that I talked with for such a long time. I couldn't help but feel that I was pitiful. How did things come to this…?

"Whew, I know I'm beautiful, but I'll be troubled if you approach me."

"No, I'm not really interested as a man."

When I told her flat out, Loretta smacked me.

"How rude! Apologize! Apologize and buy this Rat Trap!"

"What does the Rat Trap have to do with this?"

"Come on, hurry up!"

"Sigh. Then I'll buy five for now."

"That will be 500 gold, customer. Since you didn't apologize, you should buy five more."

"Sorry, five is fine."

Just like always, my conversation with Loretta ended with gold. Seeing her undying professionalism, I pledged to never judge a woman by her looks.

With five Rat Traps in hand, I walked up to the 12th floor. As I did, I thought, 'I seem to be forgetting about something… well, whatever. It can't be anything important. Yep.'

One month from then, on the 14th floor, I was running from a hailstorm of lightning.

"Come on, what kind of rats shoots out lightning!?"

"Pika… pika pika!"

"Shut it, you fakes!"

'Pika my a.s.s!' I silently complained as I ran away from the five-for-one Electric Ratmen.

I had wondered why the 13th Floor Shop was selling Lightning Resistant Robes. Because it cost 10,000 gold, I left without turning back, but now I was regretting it.

"Pika!!"

"Agh, shut up! Tempest!"

My Orc Lord's Glaive trembled and shot out a gale in a straight line. Tempest tore apart the ratmen's lightning along with their bodies.

"Pikaaaaaaa!"

"Just die already!"

I shuddered and stopped in place. Gasping for breath, I checked and saw that I had about half my mana left. Adjusting my breath calmly, I initiated Peruta Circuit. Of course, even as I circulated mana, I didn't forget to use my ears.

Ratmen were fundamentally different than orcs and wraiths. They knew all too well exactly when and how to annoy explorers. They popped up from the most unexpected places at the most unexpected time. They were driving me crazy.

If I wanted to rest, I had to throw down a few Rat Traps in the area. I was only using the Peruta Circuit because I had some strength left.

KaTalk!

At that moment, my phone buzzed. What was that? You didn't think phones worked in the dungeon? Nope, they worked perfectly fine. How else would I communicate with the outside? I needed to run to Yua if she ever needed me!

I picked up my phone. It was a message from father.

[I awakened.]

"…. What?"

I couldn't help but speak my thoughts out loud. He uh… what? Awakened?

I calmly thought about what he meant. Because I had been too focused in fighting the ratmen, I couldn't think critically.

'I see…' I knew what it meant when someone 'awakened'.

KaTalk!

[You might find it hard to believe, so come see it for yourself.]

"Father awakened!?"

That meant father had become an ability user!

I quickly left the dungeon. As long as I wasn't in battle, I could exit the dungeon at any time through my phone. The moment I came out, I saw father waiting for me on the couch.

"Father, you became an ability user?"

"Yes. I didn't think it was possible. You jealous?"

"What ability is it?"

"Mm, I'll show you. Here."

Father's eyes turned serious. He pulled his fist back, then pushed it forward. Suddenly, I felt like his fist was flying toward me. He had clearly not moved his fist, but I trusted in my instincts honed by experience and quickly ducked. Surprisingly, something pa.s.sed over my head in an instant and hit the wall, leaving a crack.

"A shockwave."

"Yep."

"Freaking awesome."

"Freaking awesome indeed."

Father nodded his head in agreement. He was already strong, but to think he would obtain a shockwave ability! I was dying from jealousy. I was recently thinking that I had gotten stronger, but just like this, the scale had been flipped.

"How did you awaken, father?"

"You see, I saw a dream."

"A dream? What dream?"

"Dungeons."

"… Dungeons?"

"Countless dungeons appeared on Earth. They were not like the First Dungeon we are familiar with. From them, countless monsters began pouring out, and us humans did our best to stop them. Some had swords clad in auras, some shot out flames from their hands, and some used telekinetic power. Various abilities were being used to stop the monsters' onslaught."

"I was among them. I held a spear in my hands and was beating down monsters one by one. Then, I used shockwaves to kill a knight wearing strange armor. When I woke up, I could use shockwaves just like in my dream."

No ability users had revealed how they had obtained their abilities. As such, I had no way of knowing whether father's method was normal. a.s.suming that everyone obtained their abilities in the same way, were these precognitive dreams or triggers for obtaining abilities? Perhaps they were both true.

Regardless, I was still extremely jealous.

"Huhu, son, guess what? In the process, I even gained some mana. Jealous?"

"Eh? Then what about the Orc Lord?"

"… cough."

"Okay, never mind."

It seemed repeatedly hunting the Orc Lord was hard even for father. To maintain father's honor, I decided not to ask about it.

Just like that, father became an ability user. He quit the Orc Lord raid and advanced to the next floor.

Two months after Two Moon, two weeks after father had awakened, I reached the 15th floor.

[You became level 15. You have obtained the qualifications to challenge the Floor Master.]

[You obtained 5 bonus stats.]

[Name: Kang s.h.i.+n     Race: Human     s.e.x: Male
Cla.s.s: None     t.i.tle: Orc Lord Slayer     Rank: Bronze 4
Level: 15
HP - 4,540/4,540     MP - 1,840/1,840
Strength - 45(+8)     Dexterity - 42(+1)     Const.i.tution - 51(+6)
Intelligence - 20(+1)     Magic - 28(+1)     Charm - 17(+1)     Luck - 10(+1)
Skill - Low-rank Martial Arts (Master), Low-rank Spear Technique (Master), Mid-rank Spear Technique (Master), High-rank Spear Technique (Lv 3), Peruta Circuit (Lv 2), Deific Manifestation]

My current self could easily handle three of my level 10 selves. I felt confident that I could even deal with the 15th Floor Master. Of course, I didn't have the leisure to play around with Dark Ratman. I immediately turned back. 14th Floor Shop's Loretta was already glaring at me.

"Customer, you really went all the way to level 15. That is not adult-like."

"What do you mean, this is exactly what an adult would do."

"Meanie…!"

"Take good care of me. After all, we are in a relations.h.i.+p of mutual dependence."

I taunted her with a wink, and as expected, Loretta became angry.

"I won't give you any discounts, customer!"

"Yeah, yeah. You're very cute."

"Kuaaa! This is the first time a human called me cute! How humiliating!"

"Then see you later!"

"Go die!"

I rushed down to the 10th floor. Of course, climbing down posed no problem whatsoever. This was where it began!

'The Wraith Queen grind starts now! I swear, I'll hunt one of you every day!'