CH 10

Chapter 10: The Hidden Reward

Adventurers will on average, only spend half a day inside a dungeon and then start heading back.

Even Adventurers with levels are human at the end of the day, and they will eventually reach their limit with their physical bodies and stamina.

Those that go deep into the base dungeons will prepare thoroughly for a few days to spending a few weeks for Their expeditions.

But these groups all follow a similar routine.

They explore in the morning, and set up camp by the evening.

When resting inside the dungeon, they’ll use a barrier stone.

It’s an expensive tool, but without it, you will not be able to properly rest and recover, and eventually get overrun.

Even the adventurers who go to the forefront of the deepest dungeons take proper rest. Actually, it’s even more critical for higher level adventurers to rest, and they all know that.

Yuto returned from the dungeon with a ghastly, exhausted expression and saw the sun angled well beyond past the noon hour.

He spent the entire day hunting monsters nonstop.

He tested his sword skill, and he tested his magic on his opponents.

Yuto’s body kept moving forward, and none of the E-Rank monsters were a match for him.

Even the monsters on the 4th floor that gave him trouble before were now unable to even graze his armor.

So Yuto was ecstatic. So ecstatic that he could not help himself and went in longer than he should have.

This is not the first time Yuto pushed himself so hard for a full day.

When he thought that he just needed to train harder to level up, Yuto pushed himself until he fainted from exhaustion in the middle of his training.

But this was the first time he almost fainted inside a dungeon.

Yuto: “......I’m…..so…..tired……”

Moving one foot before the other was a painful exercise.

Why didn’t he go back before things ended up like this? He wondered this same question several hundred times on his journey back to the surface. He started wondering this as soon as fatigue turned him back to his normal self.

When focused, Yuto will lose track of himself and time and singularly seek out his goal.

This was one of Yuti’s shortcomings.

With a life-drained expression, he finally made it to the sale counter in the guild lobby.

“Welcome! Please place your goods here.”

Yuto: “......here…”

Yuto took out his bag filled with magic stones and placed it directly onto the counter.

“Umm… please hold for a moment.”

With a forced smile, the receptionist prepared a large box in place of the bowl.

Holding his bag upside down, Yuto pours out the magic stones inside the box carelessly.

Stones pour out making clunking sounds as they go into the box.

“Please submit your guild card, and we will begin inspecting your submitted items. Please wait while we complete the process.”

Yuto: “.........uh…….yeah…….sure….”

Yuto couldn’t help it anymore and starts dozing off right where he stood.

He doesn’t know how much time passed.

He heard his name being called, and he suddenly woke.

“Thank you for your patience, Mr. Yuto. This time, we calculated your items to be 23,050 gards.”

Yuto: “....whoa…”

Another new record overwriting his previous record high.

Although the news made him happy, Yuto could only think about his bed.

They brought the money to him, and without thinking, he stored it in his inventory.

“Um… excuse me, Mr. Yuto. May I ask you a question?”

Yuto: “......yes?”

“You have been defeating a large quantity of monsters as of late. Could you please tell me how you accomplished this?”

Yuto: “.....I defeated them normally.”

“.....uh, normally?”

The receptionist scrunched her face as though processing an incredibly difficult problem.

“What does he mean by ‘normal’ I wonder…”

Without noticing her talking to herself, Yuto hurried back to his apartment.

・・・

When he woke, Yuto was confused on the previous day’s events. It took him some time to recall pieces of what perspired and where he was right now.

Just the other day, Yuto spent the entire day inside the dungeon.

He hunted so many monsters that by the time he got back to the surface, most of his brain cells were asleep.

Every joint in his body ached. It’s definitely muscle soreness. He also had nothing to eat except one 50 gard bread.

Guuuuuuuuuu…. (Sfax)

His stomach growled loudly in protest.

Even in that situation, Yuto's body still functioned and moved on its own to his surprise.

Before he fell asleep, he managed to complete all the Daily Quest tasks.

By the time he got to the 10km run, all he had left was his stubbornness and pride.

If it’s just about being stubborn, Yuto wouldn’t lose to anyone.

He held out for 10 years being an adventurer just by being stubborn alone.

Finishing his marathon, Yuto completed the rest of his workout and passed out on his bed.

—-He remembers this much.

Yuto: “I really have to be more careful next time…”

Even Yuto thought that he took things way too far this time.

If he fainted from exhaustion inside the dungeon, Yuto would have been dead by now.

At the very least, he should always save enough stamina to return back to the surface in full condition.

Setting that aside, Yuto dragged his stiff body out of bed. It’s already way past noon.

Since his body is in this condition, Yuto decides against going to the dungeon today.

He washes his face, brushes his teeth, and puts on fresh clothes. Once he was done, he pulls out the Skill Board.

Yuto (18)

Level 12 → 13

Skill Point 1 → 5

Skills

Fundamentals

Physical Strength Lv 2

Endurance Lv 0 NEW

Magic Lv 1

Agility Lv 2

Technique

Swordsmanship Lv 2

Spellcasting Lv 1

Presence Detection Lv 2

Spells

[LIGHTNING Lv 1]

Yuto: “Hm? What? My level and Skill Point went up. I have a new skill as well.”

No matter how much he tried, he could not remember anything related to why his Skill Board looked like this.

Yuto: “Did I maybe complete some sort of quest yesterday?”

He checks the Quest screen, but most quests disappear after completion, but there is one exception that he knows about.

This has so far only happened once, but when he received the Skill Board, he also cleared an Extra Quest.

Yuto: “I guess this has to do with clearing some sort of quest… oh! There is something in my inventory!”

In his inventory, there was 2 new items sitting at the top.

One was a E-Rank Instant Dungeon Key from defeating all the monsters the other day.

Very rarely, the monsters will drop a key like this.

If you clear an Instant Dungeon, you will usually receive the following items in most cases.

An item that if you sell, you’ll receive 10,000 gards. In D-Rank, the item will be worth 50,000, and C-Rank is 100,000 gards.

Of course, this is on the assumption that you clear the dungeon.

At the very end of an Instant Dungeon, you will face a boss.

And very rarely, you will recieve a rare item if you defeat it.

You acquire a rare item in the Instant dungeon and then proceed deeper into the base dungeon.

That is the standard pattern for any adventurer residing in the Labyrinth City of Kronos.

But not all people have the strength to clear Instant dungeons. Some will sell the key, and the adventurers aiming for the rare item will buy those keys.

The price of the key will be 80-90% of the estimated reward value.

Yuto: “Hmm… what should I do with this? Should I sell it?”

That is a possibility, but Yuto also felt pushed to clear an E-Rank Instant Dungeon by himself.

Yuto: “Well, I can decide later about this.”

Leaving that item alone, he moves to the 2nd item.

Yuto: “Oh, ‘Survived 24 Hours of Monster Slaying Reward,’ huh… I can’t believe I went for that long...”

Even though it was himself who did it, he still felt that only lunatics would try to do something like that.

This reward seems to be from clearing a quest and appeared after Yuto leveled up.

From the name, Yuto assumed that the condition to clear the quest was to fight non-stop for 24 hours.

He completed this quest without ever knowing about it….

Yuto: “But would I have even done a 24 hour challenge” even if I knew about it?”

Yuto wants to believe that he’s not THAT much of a fool.

——But he might be more of a fool than he wants to admit.

The Skill he gained is endurance - stamina related.

An apt skill for someone who just spent 24 hours fighting non-stop.

Yuto immediately spent his Skill Points on the skill

>>Skill Point: 5 → 2

>>Endurance Lv 0 → Lv 2

As soon as he finished, the fatigue, stiffness, and soreness left his body, and he felt much better.

Yuto: “Oh wow. Okay, that really is an endurance skill. I still feel a little tired, but I can move now.”

But just because he can move now, Yuto is determined to take the day off.

His body is itching to go back, but he doubles his resolve.

Yuto: “I guess it’s time to find out my reward. I wonder what it is… I hope it’s not money again.”

He presses on the reward item, and takes it out of his inventory.

The reward appeared in the air, and Yuto caught it with his hands.