CH 69

"Into the Second Level"

Translated by Dawn

Edited by Dawn

“Into the Second Level”

“What? Is this a lie?”

At the end of the door was a space of some size, and on the other side was a door to proceed. That door was also very large, as large as the door I had entered. As if to protect it, monsters were stationed around the door, waiting for the next challenger.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the monster was a truly deformed being, and it was clad in an atmosphere that, if one were to look at it, could be described as disastrous. It did not always have a fixed shape, and could be described in common sense as the word “indeterminate shape”. Yes, that is exactly what it is—.

“Slime, huh?”

The slime that noticed me was swaying and shaking like a plump pudding. …It looked really tasty when you looked at it with that kind of eye.

The size of the slime was about twice as large as normal slime and was about a little less than two meters in size if I had to estimate. However, it was a bit of a letdown because the opponent was the weakest, slime.

Considering the possibility that it might be a special individual because it was a boss, I used the appraisal and saw the results displayed as follows.

[Name]: Big Slime

[Age]: 0 years old

[Gender]: Unknown

[Race]: Slime

[Occupation]: None (E rank)

Physical strength: 300

Magic power: 30

Strength: E+

Endurance: E

Agility: E-

Dexterity: F

Mental Strength: F+

Resistance: F-

Luck: E-

[Skills]: Body Strike Lv2, Physical Resistance Lv2, Absorption Lv1

Yeah, well, so much for the First Level Boss. I knew it. I knew it, but…….

In addition to the big slime, there were a few normal-sized slimes, but they still couldn’t be a threat to me.

I was about to go easy on them, but I decided to at least use ranged magic to defeat them so that I wouldn’t be caught off guard, and I stuck one hand out toward the slimes.

“[Ice Mist]”

A pure white mist enveloped the big slimes, and after a while, the mist dissipated. What emerged from the vanished mist was the frozen and immobile remains of the big slimes, a so-called corpse.

While feeling sorry for the slimes, who were not given a chance to fight and had died by the time they were noticed, I removed the slime core as material from the remaining corpses.

My hands were a little numb because the slimes’ bodies were frozen, but I was able to conquer the first level of the boss, so I was satisfied.

“I mean, even though it was the first boss, it didn’t take me more than three minutes.”

Feeling a sense of dissatisfaction that it was over so quickly, but also having the conflicting feeling that there was nothing better than finishing quickly, I entered the door to go to the next level.

At the end of the door, there were stairs and a transfer portal to go down to the next level. After touching the portal for the next time, I descended the stairs that led to the second level. After descending the spiral staircase, I arrived at a grassy field.

“The second level is a grass field.”

As is often the case in MMORPGs, a dungeon is not an endless series of caves. Some dungeons project a particular environment, such as mountains, oceans, forests, or deserts. Perhaps this meadow is one of them.

“The monsters are……Dash Boars and Slimes. And Goblins, and is that a rabbit?”

After arriving at the second level, I took a quick look at the surroundings. Although the number of adventurers had decreased compared to the first level, I could still see a few here and there, so I could not say that hunting efficiency itself had improved.

The monsters in the meadow were the same two types of Slime and Goblins that were present on the first level, as well as a Dash Boar and a rabbit-shaped monster with horns on its forehead that I had often hunted when I was in the city of Rendark. It looks like it would probably be called a Unicorn Rabbit or a Horned Rabbit.

A closer look revealed that the two adventurers who had fought the first-level boss earlier were also hunting a Dash Boar. Since there was no particular reason to get involved, I decided to continue on in the direction where there were no adventurers.

“Oh, it’s a rabbit. I’ll get it Appraised with Appraisal right away.”

Since it was the first monster I had ever seen, I used appraisal to find out that, as expected, the rabbit-shaped monster was named [Horned Rabbit], and it was an E-rank monster. I killed it with a single blow using wind magic and then dismantled it with magic to obtain its fur, meat, horns, and magic stone.

As I continued on my way deeper and deeper, I repeatedly encountered other monsters, but since they were not so powerful, the battle was over in an instant. In fact, the time it took to dismantle the defeated monsters was longer.

Before I knew it, the number of monsters I had killed exceeded 20, and I had begun to gather a good amount of materials. As I proceeded deeper into the area, fewer and fewer of the monsters were acting alone, and many of them were forming groups of two or three.

“Is that… a transfer portal?”

As I proceeded, returning fire at the monsters that attacked me, I came upon an open area surrounded by rocks. The place had an atmosphere just like Stonehenge on Earth, and in the center was the transfer portal that was located beyond the door through which I had just defeated the boss.

I concluded that this was the middle of the two levels or a breakpoint, and quickly touched the portal to register it. Apparently, this place was a kind of safety zone, and when I looked around from this spot, I could not see a single monster. If this were an MMORPG, I would be able to log out here.

“If monsters aren’t attacking me, then let’s take a short break here.”

I realized that it had been quite some time since I had entered the dungeon, so I decided to take a break. I didn’t feel physically fatigued at all, but I would surely be mentally fatigued. Besides, I felt that working too much was no different than in my previous life, so I must force myself to take a break…Don’t be a corporate slave, absolutely not.

“That’s right. Let’s check my status for now.”

Basically, I check my status before going to bed. A dozen or so months have passed from Rendark to Orargrand, and the major changes are that each parameter has been raised to an S rating, and each skill has evolved derivatively to a higher level as each skill has reached its level max. Here’s what my current abilities look like.

[Name]: Roland

[Age]: 12 years old

[Gender]: Male

[Race]: Human

[Occupation]: Adventurer (C-rank), Former son of a lord

Physical strength: 8000

Magic power: 10100

Strength: S

Endurance: S-

Agility: S-

Dexterity: S-

Mental Strength: S

Resistance: S-

Luck: S-

[Skills]: Appraisal LvMAX->Analysis Lv1 (NEW), Physical Enhancement LvMAX->Physical Enhancement and Reform Lv1 (NEW), Presence Detection LvMAX->Scouting Lv 1 (NEW), Presence Blocking LvMAX->Stealth Lv1 (NEW), Magic Control LvMAX, Magic Manipulation LvMAX->(Magic Control and Magic Manipulation merged)Magic Mastery Lv1 (NEW), Fire Magic LvMAX, Water Magic LvMAX, Wind Magic LvMAX, Soil Magic LvMAX-> (Fire Magic, Water Magic, Wind Magic, and Soil Magic merged)Four Elements Magic Lv1 (NEW), Flame Magic Lv9, Ice Magic Lv9, Lightning Magic Lv9, Earth Magic Lv9, Light Magic Lv1 (NEW), Dark Magic Lv1 (NEW), Swordsmanship LvMAX->True Swordsmanship Lv1 (NEW), Hand-to-hand Combat LvMAX->True Hand-to-hand Combat Lv1 (NEW), Focus Lv6, Increased Skill Acquisition Rate Lv2, Increased Skill Proficiency Lv2, Separate Dismantling Lv1 (NEW)

…Hmhm? There’s a new skill. What’s this? I’m not so sure, but then again, a lot of things have changed. Well, let’s look at them one by one.

First of all, as I said before, each parameter has been increased, physical and magic power has increased, and various ability values have been raised to an S rating.

Next, each skill has reached its maximum level and has evolved to a higher level of skill derivation. The maximum skill level is maxed out at 10, and instead of going up any further, it seems to evolve into even more powerful higher-level skills.

And it seems that in some cases, multiple skills can be merged and manifested as a new skill.

In addition to that, I don’t know under what conditions, but at some point, I learned light and dark magic. The skill of Separate Dismantling has also been learned, perhaps due to the fact that he had been dismantling for a long time.

“A lot of things have changed too much here.”

Puzzled by the change in my own abilities, but hungry anyway, I decided to roast and eat the meat of a horned rabbit I had obtained in the dungeon.

Roland’s previous status

[Name]: Roland

[Age]: 12 years old

[Gender]: Male

[Race]: Human

[Occupation]: Adventurer (C-rank), Former son of a lord

Physical strength: 7500

Magic power: 9100

Strength: S-

Endurance: A+

Agility: A+

Dexterity: A+

Mental Strength: S-

Resistance: A+

Luck: S-

[Skills]: Appraisal Lv9, Physical Enhancement Lv9, Presence Detection Lv8, Presence Blocking Lv9, Magic Control Lv9, Magic Manipulation Lv9, Fire Magic Lv8, Water Magic Lv8, Wind Magic Lv8, Soil Magic Lv8, Flame Magic Lv5, Ice Magic Lv6, Lightning Magic Lv5, Earth Magic Lv5, Swordsmanship Lv7, Hand-to-hand Combat Lv8, Focus Lv2 (NEW), Increased Skill Acquisition Rate Lv1(NEW), Increased Skill Proficiency Lv1(NEW)