Chapter 16 — The Dungeon Core

Chapter 16 — The Dungeon Core

[Dungeon monster defeated: Dire Rabbit (Lv. 2) ×20, (Lv. 3) ×10, (Lv. 4) ×5, (Lv. 5) ×2]

[Gained: +500 EXP]

Clearing the second room turned out to be much easier.

Yes, the difference was noticeable.

Plus 192 attribute points into Speed—and I could feel it in every movement.

The rabbits barely had time to jump, while I was already swinging my sword.

Not a single hit on me, not even a scratch.

I was moving so fast I almost felt like a different person.

All right, only the last room is left.

One more corridor—about fifteen meters—and there it is: the boss room.

I stepped inside and immediately noticed: straight ahead, in the middle of the hall, a white rabbit was sitting.

It was clearly larger than the ones I’d fought before, but… still too small for a boss.

Rem did say it was only level ten.

I took a couple of steps forward.

There were no doors here—if needed, I could run.

Although… I probably wouldn’t have to.

The rabbit had been sitting still all this time, but when only three meters remained between us, it suddenly sprang forward.

I swung on reflex—and the rabbit vanished right in midair.

After my strike, a magic stone fell to the floor.

I heard it clink against the stone.

[Dungeon Boss defeated: Dire Rabbit (Lv. 10)]

[Gained: +50 EXP (+50 bonus EXP)]

“What was that?..” I muttered.

That was way too easy.

Was that really the dungeon boss?

Beating it turned out to be much simpler than clearing the first two rooms.

So the third—final boss room—was the easiest of all.

Although… what else did I expect?

This is a new dungeon.

And the boss here was only level ten.

I picked up the dungeon boss’s magic stone and looked it over carefully.

No, it was almost indistinguishable from the stones the regular rabbit monsters dropped.

I’d hoped the boss would at least have something special, but apparently not.

Maybe a treasure chest is supposed to appear somewhere around here.

Yeah, I’m not expecting anything special—at least a rusty sword or dagger, a few copper coins… well, or an old cloak.

I glanced at the torn edge of my clothes.

All right, it’s not that torn—I can still wear it for now.

So, no treasure chests appeared here.

Although… at the far end of the room I noticed a small passage.

Maybe there? Maybe the treasure is hidden there?

I carefully stepped closer.

The passage led to a small room—no more than three meters by three.

In the middle of the room stood a stone pedestal, and on it lay a brown sphere with a perfectly smooth surface.

It was about the size of a soccer ball…

No.

More like a basketball.

So this is the dungeon core.

Yes, I definitely shouldn’t even step into this room.

Rem warned me: if I damage the dungeon core in any way—or, heaven forbid, destroy it—my life will be over.

It turns out a dungeon isn’t just a place where monsters appear, where adventurers can level up and gather resources by fighting.

No.

It’s a very important resource for the guild and for the country.

If you compare it, it’s like a gold mine.

Only hundreds of times more valuable.

That’s why anyone who destroys a dungeon core will be sentenced to death.

Rem said it calmly, but I could see there wasn’t a trace of joking in her eyes.

Okay.

I need to keep my distance from this room.

I’m going back outside.

I’ll wait a bit, about an hour, and then try to run the dungeon again.

The way back took a little over a minute.

Yes, the entire dungeon in length is no more than seventy, maybe eighty meters.

A very small dungeon.

When I stepped out of the dungeon, I had to squint.

Too bright.

I’d already gotten used to the dungeon’s dim light—down there everything was visible just as much as necessary.

Now the sun was hitting me right in the eyes.

All right, enough.

I went back to my tent, took an empty pouch from a dry ration packet, and put all the magic stones I’d gotten from the rabbit monsters into it.

Counted: 81 magic stones.

That makes a total of eighty-one copper coins.

Doesn’t exactly look like a gold mine…

Although, in the future that will change.

Rem did say dungeons grow.

Even so, it’s hard to believe something so small and dark could bring in more value than a real gold mine.

I activated my special skill—“Training Room,”

and in the next instant found myself in the familiar stone chamber.

I should buy something here once I have the money.

Leaving it this empty is a waste of space.

I could turn this place into a real home.

Safe, quiet… completely under my control.

Of course, food would be a problem.

But maybe there’s some kind of magic tool that lets you store food longer?

No, better—if I can obtain a Storage skill.

Then I could really live here.

Well, enough daydreaming.

Time to start the next task.

--

[Quest No. 26 completed.
Gained +6,000,000 EXP.]

[Status]

[Name: Alisar
Level: 47
EXP: 124,860/3,400,000
Rank: 3

HP: 8,090 (+480)
MP: 10,140 (+1,560)

Strength: 217 (+16)
Defense: 203 (+16)
Speed: 389 (+16)
Intelligence: 206 (+16)
Magic Power: 201 (+16)
Magic Defense: 347 (+16) (+108)

Free Attribute Points: 20 (+128) (-108)

Skills: —

Special Skills:
• Training Room (Rank 2)
• Alchemy (Rank 1)]

Three days have passed.

That is, three days have passed for me.

In the outside world—only a little over three hours.

If I had spent all that time only in the Training Room,

no more than twenty minutes would have passed outside. I spent some time outside—gathering fruit and berries and resting a little. I also spent a bit of time in the dungeon.

In these three days I completed only one task.

There wasn’t any particular reason for that—I’m just doing everything slowly now.

I don’t think there’s any need to rush.

With my skill I have plenty of time as it is.

So I decided to train calmly: do the tasks,

and when I get tired—rest.

I’m using health potions less often now.

Only when I’m completely worn out or before going to sleep.

Before I lie down to sleep, I always drink one potion. Turns out, if you train hard and fall asleep without using a health potion,

in the morning your body hurts like you’ve run a marathon with a sack of stones on your back.

Sometimes the pain is so strong I can’t even move properly—

every movement echoes as muscle soreness.

So now this needs to become a habit:

always drink one health potion before bed.

Of course, I call a health potion “the perfect energy drink,”

but it seems to have no side effects.

For example, there’s no insomnia after drinking it.

Yes, I feel a surge of energy after I drink one,

but if I lie down for a bit, I fall asleep calmly.

Maybe it gets a little harder to fall asleep,

but in the morning my body doesn’t hurt.

And that’s a hundred times better than waking up aching all over.

I also went into the dungeon three times.

Each time I reached the boss—that is, I fully cleared the dungeon,

wiping out all the monsters.

If you count everyone, including the boss,

the dungeon had only 81 rabbit monsters.

Which means over three runs I killed 243 monsters.

And you know what?

For all of that I received only 2,310 EXP.

What the hell? Why so little?

That’s peanuts!

Compared to how much I get

for doing tasks in the Training Room,

it’s not even comparable.

How do people even level up?

Right now, just to reach level 48,

I already need 3,400,000 EXP.

If I hunt only these rabbit monsters,

it’ll take years.

Years, just to gain a single level.

Does an ordinary person starting from level zero

need to kill two hundred level-one rabbits

just to reach level one?

That’s absurd!

All right, I don’t know anything about this world,

so it’s probably pointless to dwell on it.

But… an idea came to me.

Dungeons grow, like living beings.

Over time they become larger, deeper.

And their monsters—stronger.

What if… we help that growth?

For example, feed the dungeon?

No, I don’t mean regular food.

I’m thinking of something else.

Right now I have fifty-three health potions in my pouch.

What if I take them into the dungeon and leave them there?

Maybe the dungeon will absorb them—

and that will somehow speed up its development?

Yes… it’s worth a try.

This time I’ll just leave the health potions there

and see what happens.

Maybe something interesting will come of it.