[5 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE!]
[ALLOCATION REQUIRED!]
Later–
[5 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE!]
[ALLOCATION REQUIRED!]
"Later," he spoke aloud, demanding the system to stop. He wasn’t sure it would listen, instead he kept his focus on the environmental changes. Five stat points were not the end all be all, especially considering the next level would literally need him to kill another four hundred Giant Rats. It could wait until he made an informed decision.
Jin-wo activated his BasicAnalysis and BasicStoneAnalysis skills. The entire tunnel around him lit up. Much brighter than anything before this. He turned to where the change occurred and could see a night and day difference between the amount of energy between them, the border leaving a stark difference. This did not bode well. Did the significantly more energy/mana mean bigger, stronger, faster, and more ferocious monsters?
The thought of fighting a two thousand pound rat sent a shiver down his back. But that didn’t stop him from moving forward. His analytical mind stayed clear even when he felt shivers run down his body. It moved regardless of how he felt about the situation. He took deliberate steps, watching the surroundings in case of a trap or ambush.
Nothing materialized out of thin air. Instead he kept going until he made a sharp turn, a careful and watchful turn, to his left. He paused and stared at a single open doorway a bit in the distance. He looked behind him and found a deadend down the tunnel.
Jin-woo was suspicious. Very suspicious. Nothing that he had encountered so far had indicated anything other than brutal combat that threatened his life. An endless tide of rats that just kept coming no matter how many he had killed.
At this point, he should have some sort of title just for how many he had savaged so far without a hint or mercy. Maybe ‘Rat Destroyer’ or ‘Bringer of Rat Apocalypse’. He shook his head, neither one sounded good to him. He would need to spend time just thinking on the matter instead of making a whimsical call and having a terrible unnecessarily edgy name.
He activated his BasicAnalysis and BasicStoneAnalysis skills again. The door radiated with more mana than he had ever seen. It pulsed out of it in slow waves stopping at his feet.
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“Hopefully this is the floor boss so I can get out of here,” he muttered to himself as he jogged towards the doorway. He knew that fighting a boss at his current fatigue and damage would probably be a death sentence, but that didn’t matter. Dehydration and starvation were a far more cruel way to go than in the midst of battle against something trying to kill you quickly.
He got into a lower stance and carefully made his way past the doorway, prepared for any sudden movements. Instead of the battle royal against a massive two ton rat he expected he was met with a large campfire in the center of a large room. The feeling of calmness and peace slammed into him like a truck. Another fake oddity of this place he simply wrote down in his massive list of anomalies he had already recorded.
It was large enough to comfortably house fifteen or more people with space for privacy. Long logs were placed around the large campfire for people to sit around. Stones made the fire pit with an endless flame that had no visible fuel source. Otherwise it was bare of anything else. No monsters, no rats, no new twisting tunnels and even the pattern on the floors and walls were different. It was a stark contrast to the dreary tunnels he had been in the entire time.
[CONGRATULATIONS!]
[YOU HAVE REACHED A SAFE ROOM!]
[No monster will accost you here!]
Jin-woo closed his eyes and grabbed the Earth Power Stone. At some point, he had begun to use it as a mental crutch to keep him steady and calm after battles. Its smooth and warm exterior left an incredible feeling throughout his entire body. Like a squeezable ball. Just with the ability to rend him into pieces if he made the mistake of integrating it without preparation and understanding of what he was getting into.
That was another problem he had. How was he supposed to know exactly what he needed and how to use them? If he made even a tiny–
“Calm,” He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. All these difficult thoughts later. Now just accept some rest.
He allowed the fake sense of calmness and peace to stack on top and settle into his limbs, giving himself a hit of relaxed nerves he didn’t know he was craving. His strained emotions and mind needed this break, severely. His body ached from countless wounds, and anything not cut up was covered in bruising. Even his face had not been left unaffected. But, his body had already begun its healing process. It was far improved compared to normal people.
While he still had the majority of his cuts from the past few battles, his sustained damage from the first few fights to the middle of the enormous amount he already fought had scabbed over. Even the larger more urgent cuts he needed to wrap with ripped parts from his shirt had turned into scars. That had been a great fear. One that was dispelled with much relief.
Jin-woo allowed himself to lay down next to the logs, towards the campfire. Its warm heat was another comfort that eased his mind further. For the first time in what felt like ages he could finally get a little bit of sleep without the worry of being mauled by a horde of rats. He took advantage of it without another moment of thought.
Falling asleep faster than he could finish settling into a snug position.