CH 12

Chapter 12: To the Generated Dungeon

The next morning, Yuto woke up in his best condition.

Maybe it was because he acquired an Endurance skill, but he felt that his recovery from fatigue was much faster than usual.

He stretches lightly, but does not feel any muscle soreness or stiffness anywhere.

Yuto: “......Alright. My condition is perfect.”

Yuto double checks his equipment before leaving his room.

He is heading for the temple.

Today, he is not going to the base dungeon, but he will attempt to clear an instant dungeon using his key.

Just the other day, he acquired a E-Rank Dungeon key during his 24 hour hunting escapade.

A new quest appeared after he received this key as well.

[Clear the Instant Dungeon E]

From this, Yuto learned that the quests are not only given out by level alone, but new quests can be released according to his status and items he acquires.

The E-Rank Instant Dungeon is said to be the easiest dungeon to clear.

Even for novice adventurers, they could clear it with a party of 4 or 5.

There are some experienced E-Rank adventurers who can clear it on their own.

That is how easy this dungeon is.

The dungeon is just 1 floor with less than 10 rooms.

But there is no map for Instant Dungeons.

When you enter, the rooms are laid out randomly.

In order to clear the dungeon, you must either slay all the monsters within or defeat the boss.

Up until now, Yuto has never challenged a Key Dungeon alone.

That is because he was only Level 1 and had no Skills.

But now, that has changed.

He is Level 13 and has many Skills in his repertoire.

An E-Rank adventurer is generally around Level 1 through 10.

Being Level 13 means he has one foot set into the D-Rank realm.

And all of his skills are Level 2 which is standard for D-Rank.

Looking at status alone, you could argue that Yuto is now a D-Rank adventurer.

So he speculated that as long as he was careful, he could clear the E-Rank dungeon on his own.

Just in case, Yuto goes ahead and clears out the Daily Quest tasks.

If something unexpected happens, Yuto wanted some Skill Points on hand for emergencies.

>>Skill Point 2 → 3

At the store, he purchases one healing potion.

A low-grade healing potion costs 1000 gards for one.

From Yuto’s living standards, this would be a huge hit to his budget.

But in the last few days, Yuto’s savings went from zero to 20,000 gards and was substantially much more.

Yuto: (Because of that, I need to make sure to never put myself in a situation where I’m about to faint inside a dungeon ever again.)

If he was to stay stingy and not prepare for the worst of situations, he would be committing a grave error as an adventurer.

Yuto is still a perpetual E-Rank adventurer. No matter how much his status has improved, it does not mean that mentally, he feels just as confident and calm.

Mentally, he is still an E-Rank.

He may be playing it too safe, but what’s on the line is his life.

Being overly cautious will turn out to be just right.

Yuto: “.....hmmmm. Where should I carry this?”

Yuto looks between his tool pouch and the inventory and had to think about which one he would store it in.

If it’s in his tool pouch, he’ll be able to pull it out immediately. But there is a chance that it will break during combat.

If he puts it into his inventory, he would not have to worry about it breaking, but it will take more time to access it and get it out.

At the frontlines, there are adventurers who have the same [DIMENSION STORAGE] skill similar to the inventory.

Because of that, Yuto is not the only one who has had to think and wonder about this decision.

Usually, this is why you would have a luggage carrier.

The luggage carrier will not be participating in combat.

That’s why you can hand him the healing potions, and it’s less likely for him to break it. Depending on the situation, he could pull out the potions to distribute it when the time comes.

If the luggage carrier has good decision-making skills, then he will be appreciated even more.

-----This was exactly what Yuto did for the parties he joined.

Putting that aside, Yuto didn’t have money.

And he would reject any suggestions of hiring a luggage carrier unconditionally.

Yuto thought for quite a while, but in the end, his extreme-poverty driven frugalness beat out his instincts as an adventurer.

Yuto: “I’d be wasting 1000 gards if it breaks before I use it!”

He puts the healing potion into his inventory to keep it from breaking during battle.

He was ready now.

Yuto was fully prepared in every way possible as he headed to the Generation Room inside the Temple.

Yuto: “It’s been a while since I was last here.”

The Generation Room is right next to the base dungeon.

Just a while back, Yuto was visiting this Generation Room pretty much daily.

-----but that was as a luggage carrier and not an adventurer.

In the Generation Room, there are 5 doors.

The entrance is made of stone, and the rooms change to different metals accordingly. The farthest room inside is a very decorative and fancy white gold door.

In the Generation Room, there were already a few parties waiting.

Unlike Yuto, these parties were prepared to enter rooms that were D-Rank or higher and were doing last minute preparations and meetings.

Yuto heads to the door closest to the entrance.

This is the E-Rank Instant Dungeon Room Creation Door.

Yuto takes out the key.

He inhales and exhales deeply.

He has entered an E-Rank dungeon many times in the past.

As far as experience goes, he has more than any other adventurer.

But he was never a combatant in those runs.

And now, Yuto is going in to fight for the first time in this dungeon.

His heart is beating fast.

He feels tense and nervous.

Even so, he doesn’t feel afraid.

Yuto: “.....haha.”

Yuto laughed.

For the first time, he is going to step into an E-Rank dungeon as a combatant.

The day he dreamed of finally came true.

The same excitement he felt when he first stepped into the dungeon for the first time overtakes Yuto, and he can feel something hot burn inside of him.

Yuto, with determination and resolve, inserts the key into the key hole on the door.

As he turns the key, the door opens.

The key disappears at the same time.

The key can only be used once.

Yuto pushes the door that cracked open and pushes it all the way inwards slowly.

Beyond the door was a stone hallway.

Most dungeons begin from a hallway.

Yuto swallows hard.

If he steps inside, he will not be able to leave until the dungeon is cleared.

Yuto: “.......Okay! Here we go!”

Yuto felt a brief moment of hesitation, but he pushed past his feelings and stepped foot into the dungeon.

・・・

Inside the dungeon is not hot or cold.

It is the perfect temperature to be moving around.

Yuto places a hand on his sword as he progresses slowly.

The hallway connects to the first large room.

Inside were 5 Kobalts.

As far as strength and speed, they were right in between Goblins and Killer Rabbits.

Looking at the Kobalt, Yuto confirms one thing.

Yuto: “I can do this!”

True to his word, Yuto pulls out his sword and enters the room.

At that moment, the Kobalts notice Yuto.

The normal E-Rank monsters will become active after you step into the room.

Because of this, if you have an archer or mage in your party, you can take out all the enemies from the hallway.

This tactic will not work against a boss, but this does help you conserve energy up until the boss.

Yuto could, in theory, cast lightning into the room and clear out the monsters.

But that would use his magic power.

If it’s just Kobalts, as long as he’s careful, he sees no issues.

Yuto quickly cuts down each Kobalt that heads his way.

He swings downwards, upwards, and turns around to cut in a circle around him.

He stabs the neck and slices the monster in half with the next swing.

Yuto lets out a breath.

He breaks his stance and takes a break.

He swings off the blood on his blade and returns the sword to its sheath.

Yuto spent less than a minute taking out 5 kobalts.

This is not the first time Yuto faced Kobalts.

But before, it took at least 1 minute to take down one.

In order to catch them off guard, Level 1 Yuto needed to buy some time.

He confirmed yet again how much Level Ups and Skills have pushed up his ability.

Yuto: “*sigh… good. My body still moves just fine.”

Yuto was worried.

He feared that once he entered the Instant Dungeon, that all his levels and skills would be returned back to where he started.

It’s been 1 week since he received the Skill Board.

But even now, Yuto still couldn’t believe that the strength he gained was his.

He was afraid that all of this would disappear instantly like it never happened.

He felt anxious and worried about this intensely time and time again.

If his power disappeared as he entered the dungeon, Yuto would not have anywhere to run.

He would be face to face with death.

But his strength remained.

Yuto lets out a deep sigh of relief as he places a hand over his chest.

He picks up the dropped magic stones, and Yuto grips his fist tightly.

Yuto: “Alright! Let’s do this! Next!”

Yuto then cleared the next 3 rooms.

In those rooms, there were 3 to 5 Kobalts each.

He was able to take them all down without receiving a single scratch. It was Yuto’s complete victory.

Yuto: “If it’s like this, the boss must be a Kobalt King.”

Yes, the Instant Dungeons randomly generate room, but the contents of the rooms have a specific pattern.

If you see Goblins appear in the rooms, then what’s waiting for you in the farthest room is a Goblin King.

If you see Killer Rabbits, than it’s a Killer Rabbit Queen.

.

Depending upon the monsters that appear, the higher-tier of that same monster will be the boss.

This dungeon is full of Kobalts.

Then from his experience, Yuto is certain that a Kobalt King will appear.

As Yuto thought about this, he approached the last room.

Yuto: “.....huh? What is that?”

Yuto is detecting a presence that is completely different from Kobalts.

He was sure that this is the boss’ room.

But why is he feeling 5 presences from the room?

Yuto fearfully peaks inside the room to confirm.

Then...

Yuto: “W---wait, are you kidding me?!”

Yuto couldn’t hold back his surprise.

Inside the room, there were at least 5 Kobalt Kings waiting.

Normally, there should only be 1 boss monster.

If the Kobalt King is the boss, there should only be one.

Yuto: “Why….why is there 5 of them…?”

Yuto felt the blood drain from his face.

But even so, he tries to ascertain the situation.

Yuto: “...can I .... do this?”

Yuto asked himself this.

His heart wailed and screamed that this was impossible.

But his body told him that this was do-able.

Yuto cannot tell which is right.

If he wants to know, then he will just have to bet his life that he can.

Yuto takes a long, slow breath.

He wondered if there was any other way, but then made up his mind.

He could just shake and cry and ball up into a fetal position, but he couldn’t leave the dungeon.

Yuto already entered the dungeon.

His only way out is to clear it. That is what an Instant Dungeon is….

Then his answer has already been decided for him.

All that remained was for his resolve to follow.

Now, Yuto hardened his resolve.

Yuto pulls out the Skill Board and distributes his last bit of Skill Points.