Chapter 4
Their vision blacked out for a second then the next moment they were in a similar looking area as the first floor but it was clearly different.
The first thing they noticed was the dome covering the area they were in. It was a green dome which you could easily see through. It wasn't a physical dome and it seemed more like mist which gave off a light. This didn't surprise them as they already expected it. This was the safety area for the second floor. These areas were found in all dungeon floors except for the first floor.
The next thing that separated the first floor and second floors were the hunters waiting throughout the area. Yu Jin looked around and he could see hunters waiting for their health to recover while others were even eating lunch. The atmosphere was very relaxed and would normally not be found in a dungeon but that was the benefit of these safety areas. Monsters could not enter them no matter what and avoided coming near them for some reason.
Kim Min-Jun was starting to feel worn out from the continuous battles on the first floor.
“Yu Jin, why don't we take a break? There's no need to rush since we've already made it this far.”
“Come on, Aren't you curious about this floor? Let's just have a quick look then we can have a proper rest. You agree right Ji Seo-Yun?”
As usual Yu Jin was impatient to keep moving he didn't want to stay low level for long and wanted to use all the time he had available towards leveling up.
“It's up to you guys really, you know I don't move around as much as the two of you. I guess it's fine since you leveled up just now.”
Seeing the eager look of Yu Jin and considering the fact that Ji Seo-Yun didn't seem to mind Kim Min-Jun couldn't really refuse.
“Okay fine, but we really can't stay on the floor for too long. It's not like we can make it up to the third floor today.”
After checking their equipment the party set of yet again. Kim Min-Jun taking the front while Yu Jin tried starting a conversation with Ji Seo-Yun at the rear.
“Hey, so uh… how come you were all alone before? I'm sure you didn't make it all this time by yourself.”
“Is this really the time to be talking?”
“I'm just curious, it's important for companions to know each other right?”
“First of all, we aren't companions and if you really must know I go with a different team each time.”
“Guys concentrate, this isn't the time.”
Kim Min-Jun got irritated by the two's chatting as they went on.
Even as they walked on Yu Jin was distracted and kept taking glances at Ji Seo-Yun trying to decide how to get on her good side. He wasn't usually like this but she was just that beautiful and to top it off there was something familiar about her but Yu Jin just couldn't place his finger on it.
While his mind was wandering like that something flew past right in front of his head. He was stunned for a moment but regained his senses as soon as he head Kim Min-Jun’s voice.
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“Archers, Get behind me now!”
Kim Min-Jun ran to the front of the them to block the arrows whilst Yu Jin and Ji Seo-Yun exchanged places with him. In front of them were 2 goblin archers and 3 normal goblins with clubs. The higher hunters went in the dungeon the more difficult the monsters would be.
There wasn't much for Yu Jin to do with the archers taking turns shooting their arrows one at a time reducing the gaps for him to advance. Kim Min-Jun started rushing towards the goblins with his shield out but they kept changing positions and shooting. This was the main reason they couldn't advance to the 2nd floor by themselves and needed Ji Seo-Yun.
“Fireball! “
Ji Seo-Yun assertive voice rang out and it was followed by a ball of fire flying towards the archers. At that moment the archers starting taking cover behind the normal goblins at which point Yu Jin rushed out to meet them head on followed by Kim Min-Jun. The archers escaped the fireball by using the other goblins as a shield. The goblin that was struck by the fireball was met by Yu Jin’s sword and before its brain could even process what had happened it was struck by Kim Min-Jun's shield. The two remaining goblins swung their clubs at Yu Jin at which point Kim Min-Jun tried to intercept the clubs with his shield but he was only able to block one and Yu Jin was struck on the shoulder.
Seeing this the archers moved to get out of range but more magic was already flying towards them.
“Stun!”
Ji Seo-Yun had been waiting for a clear shot and she got it. She hit one of the archer goblins at which point Yu Jin brushed aside the pain he felt and lunged towards the stunned goblin. The archer goblin didn't last more than two strikes from his sword and collapsed.
Everyone was distracted as a blue light shine from the rear. Yu Jin quickly took a glance at the rear and saw that the light was coming from Ji Seo-Yun.
Ding
[You have become level 4. 2 Strength, 2 Agility, 2 Magic, 25 Health increases.]
As soon as she leveled up she sent another fireball towards the group of goblins.
“Fireball!”
This time the fireball did more damage and floored the last remaining goblin archer. As usual Yu Jin slayed the grounded goblin and turned to face the two remaining goblins which were sandwiched between the two men and a wall. Yu Jin and Kim Min-Jun easily went in and killed the remaining goblins and stripped them of their mana stones.”
Kim Min-Jun turned to the others
“Congrats on the level up, are you two ready to take a break yet?”
Kim Min-Jun was worried about continuously fighting new enemies before coming up with a strategy or having a moment to rest.
“We're almost there though, let's level up too. I'm sure it's gonna be easy. We are already so close and it will be easier with Ji Seo-Yun.”
“We won't stop if we keep going and we are liable to make a mistake sooner or later”
“You worry too much, they are just goblins. The worst that could happen is just getting a cut.”
Both men turned to look at Ji Seo-Yun as she was the only one who hadn't cast her vote.
She looked annoyed by the bickering and shrugged.
“I just leveled so I don't need a break let's just go.”
“Arg…”
With a displeased look on his face Kim Min-Jun didn't say anything and just started walking on. The party kept on meeting the occasional groups made of normal goblins and goblin archers but took care of them with just the occasional light bruises which healed as their hp recovered.
Eventually Yu Jin and Kim Min-Jun reached level 4 a lot sooner than they expected. It was mainly due to the fact that were lower leveled than the usual for the second floor and with the help of Ji Seo-Yun they were able to hunt quicker as the larger number of goblins wasn't really much of a threat.
“Great, let's head ba….”
Kim Min-Jun could not even finish his sentence. He had just noticed how far they had gone from the safety zone. In order to find the way back to a safety zone they used tracking stones. These were found in the safety zones and were called as such because when one headed in the direction of a safety zone they pulsed and the closer they got the more intense the light became. The problem they had now was that the stone was really dim.
“How long have we been walking for?”
“....”
“Damnit Yu Jin, this is exactly why we shouldn't have rushed in.”
“I'm sure it's fine, since both of you have just leveled up we can make it back soon as long as we avoid the monsters as much as possible.”
Noticing the tension between the two Ji Seo-Yun tried calming down Kim Min-Jun.
Yu Jin regretted how rash he was and he knew how much more difficult it would be to return to the safety zone because even though their stamina was filled up mentally they still needed a break.
The party couldn't be sure but they had already spent the whole day in the dungeon. Outside it was already in the evening but that fact wouldn't be known to those inside the dungeon.
The group set off again towards the safety zone. The air was a lot tenser than before and everyone seemed irritable, Well except for one person.
‘I can't believe how I different I already feel from from just going up 2 levels’
Yu Jin was flexing his muscles and getting used to how different his body felt. He thought up the word status and a green screen appeared in front of him.
Ding
STATUS SCREEN
Name [Yu Jin]
Race [Human]
Level [4]
Job [Jobless]
Title [N/A]
Stats [Strength - 13 Agility - 11 Magic - 16 Health - 125]
Active Skills [N/A]
Passive Skills [N/A]
‘With this much, nothing on this floor can touch us’