Chapter 4

Chapter 4

[Present Day]

It's been 6 weeks since I took the job as porter on a team of 4 diving into the Alpine Square Starter Dungeon. I've learned a lot, gained a good amount of exp, but the one thing I'm lacking is money. I just paid my rent, two 2 silver coins and took 3 bronze coins to grab breakfast on the way to work. All I have left in my drawer back home in 33 bronze coins.

I'm living a simple life, eating good food, diving into the dungeon, sleeping, and doing it all over again every day. My only goal at the moment is to learn more and get stronger, but to be honest I've plateaued.

[Open Status]

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Name: Jay Soju

Level: 21

Hp: 110/110

Mp: 110/110

Strength: 56

Speed: 63

Agility: 67

Defense: 52

Mental Strength: 57

Skills:

Absorption

Items Equipped:

Iron Dagger

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Like the team leader said, getting to level 15 was fast. From level 10 to 15, it took about a week. 15 to 17 was another week. Week 3 I made it to 19 and on week 4 I hit 20. Unfortunately, it was followed by a depressing two weeks of slow growth. At the end of week 6 I hit level 21.

I've been standing in the back watching the party fight the boss this whole time. Occasionally I've been helping to defeat the goblins in the boss room while the team takes care of the real threat. I feel like I've learned everything I can from this team and it's time to move on soon. I just need to find the right time to tell the leader.

As I walk down the stairs of my apartment to the ground floor I wave to Maria one more time and make my way towards the village market. Another day as a porter diving into the dungeon.

We all grouped up like usual and entered the dungeon no more than 10 minutes later. We made our usual trek through the tall grass today fighting off the occasional goblin. Today we made pretty good time, under 2 hours for sure. The leader looked pretty happy with us.

"Let's get this done quick today, it's the first of the month. I'm feeling lucky."

The woman spoke up.

"Hey boss, isn't the portal a little darker than usual today?"

I noticed that as well, but decided not to comment. It was a couple shades of grey darker than usual. The leader laughed.

"Looks fine to me, what are we going to do about it anyway?"

We all just shrugged and entered the boss room.

It felt a bit eerie today, almost like we were being watched from all sides. From the back of the room a huge dark green figure appeared. It was so dark it almost looked black. The stench was worse than anything I'd ever smelled and its eyes were a deep red color. It felt like with each glare it was slicing into our souls. It towered over us, this hobgoblin was over 4 meters tall. It carried a long silver swords and grinned at us like we were its prey.

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

I went to open my status, but a similar blue light was floating over the rubble where the monster fell. In light blue letters a message that looked like my status window read:

[Use Absorption]

Skill: Swordsmanship

[YES][NO]

Exhausted and dazed from the trial I just went through I clicked [YES] without hesitation not thinking much of it. The letters disappeared and I almost dropped to my knees.

The mutant disappeared and a large mana crystal popped up out of the rubble along with a long shining silver sword. I thought to myself, "i'll have to get this checked out at the market" as a white light transported me back to the dungeon entrance.

I stood there covered in blood admiring the mana crystal in my left hand and a long silver sword in my right.

I took a deep breath in and out, then checked my status.

[Status Open]

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Name: Jay Soju

Level: 26

Hp: 81/135

Mp: 85/135

Strength: 67 [+50]

Speed: 75

Agility: 80

Defense: 62

Mental Strength: 68

Skills:

Absorption

Swordsmanship

Items Equipped:

Iron Dagger

Stainless Steel Long Sword [+50 Strength]

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