Green moved with agility and swiftness through the dimly lit tunnels.
Upon encountering high ranking monsters in the vicinity, he instinctively pressed his body against the wall or jumped behind some large rocks.
His concealment skills were truly perfect now after spending so many nights in the dungeon, playing 'hide-and-seek' with the monsters.
Well, he had to admit that he did always have great hiding skills since childhood.
As a kid, he often played hide and seek with his friends.
During one particular session, he chose to conceal himself inside an old cupboard, spending the entire night in there.
Of course, he won in the end.
[Hehe...]
Recollecting the surprised expression on his father's face during that time, he let out a melancholic chuckle.
As he navigated through the tunnels, irritation filled Green's eyes.
He had already abandoned his search for giant rats; much like the spiders before them, they too had disappeared from the dungeon.
Did the dungeon discourage farming low-rank monsters?
He didnt know the answer to this question.
Regardless, he was forced to look for higher-ranked creatures in the dungeon. The Level three monster [Skeleton] was his next target.
Despite usually avoiding them, Green found a cave with five white humonoid skeletons.
In the dimly lit cave, their white bones seemed to glow faintly, casting ghostly shadows on the cave walls.
The skeletal figures stood upright, each holding a weathered sword, giving an ominous presence to the enclosed space.
In the dungeon, humanoid creatures usually wielded equipment like swords and clubs. Skeletons were not an exception; they wielded worn out swords in their bony hands.
Using his trusted technique, [Stone Diverting Divine Art], Green successfully singled out a skeleton.
Skeletons befitting their status as low-ranking monsters still fell for the old drivers trick.
The skeleton's bones made a rhythmic clicking and clacking sound as it emerged from the cave.
A palpable coldness assaulted him when he confronted the skeleton, a chilling sensation that penetrated deep into the bone.
The bony creature was as tall as a normal human adult, and its white skeletal frame stood out in the dark tunnels like charcoal on snow.
The hollow eye sockets gave its skeletal visage a creepy vibe.
Green cautiously approached the skeleton, analyzing its dingy sword.
With a swift motion, he lunged forward, deflecting the skeleton's initial strike.
"Clang!"
The chilling touch of its cold aura sent a shiver down Green's spine.
In response, he retaliated, dislocating the skeleton's left hand in a single strike.
The skeleton didn't seem to care about its lost arm. It stepped forward and slashed at Green's chest, leaving a deep impact on his armor covered chest.
Stumbling backward, Green took a deep breath.
[ Damn! So strong! ]
Green wondered how it was so powerful without a single muscle on its body.
[Was it magic again?]
These days, whenever he encountered new things, he always threw them into the magic section.
Thankfully, the leather armor was reliable, he could feel it absorb most of the impact and transmit only a fraction of the force onto his body.
Recovering quickly, Green avoided another sweep from the skeleton and rolled forward.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Regaining his stance, he swung his sword, aiming for the skeletal head.
[ Good!]
The sword flashed, as the head dropped, the skeletons white bones collapsed to the ground.
《Encountered Level 3 Skeleton
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 42 | Damage received: 4
Reward: 10 XP, 1 Gold》
Green took a moment to catch his breath, touching his chest where a small hole from the sword strike was visible.
He hurriedly checked his armor.
[ Level 1 Armor
Item bonus
Defense: + 10
Durability: 198/200 ]
He let out a sigh of relief. The durability of the armor had decreased by just 2 points.
However, thanks to the armor, the impact of the skeleton's blow on his body was manageable.
But still, the skeleton had shaved 4 points from his HP.
[ The damage is a lot! ]
Green was alarmed.
It seems like his defense was still not enough to offset the power of a Level 3 monster, like the skeletons.
But he had no other choice; this was the lowest-level creature he could find in the dungeon.
The only thing he could do was to quickly finish off 20 skeletons and obtain the [HP potion] reward from the task.
Green walked forward and glanced at the heap of white bones.
Noticing the worn-out sword that was wielded by the skeleton, he picked it up and tested its durability with a couple of strikes.
The feeble weapon chipped after just two hits.
[ Shit sword.]
Green tossed it away without a second glance.
He went forward and drew out another skeleton from the cave.
The second skeleton emerged from the cave's mouth just like the first.
Green, gripped his sword and scowled at the skeleton.
The rhythmic clatter of the undead's movements echoed in the tunnel space.
As the undead foe lunged forward with a rusty sword, Green sidestepped with great agility.
[ Hoho..]
After each level up, his body was getting better and better.
As a level 4 warrior, he could still manage to dodge the level 3 Skeleton's attacks.
The skeleton skillfully swung its sword, aiming for his vital areas. Green cautiously jumped around, dodging the attacks.
Taking advantage of it's momentary imbalance, Green executed a sweeping motion, severing the skeletal head from its neck.
《Encountered Level 3 Skeleton
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 44 | Damage received: 0
Reward: 10 XP, 2 Gold》
Green, bent down to catch his breath and his eyes narrowed.
He felt like the Skeleton monster was manageable with his strength.
[ I just have to be careful...]
Even though they were strong, he was strong too.
As he caught his breath, the ominous clatter of additional skeletons echoed from the cave's depths.
Green frowned and shifted his attention to the noise.
With a hardened face, he stood in a defensive stance as the three skeletons emerged from the cave.
Their hollow eye sockets, staring back at him, absorbed the little light there was in the tunnels, and the air grew tense.
The skeletons didn't give him any time to think, they immediately swung their rusty swords.
Green's eyebrows twitched, and he jumped back in retreat.
He twisted his body, evading several of their sword strikes.
The skeletons were relentless, continuing their attack.
They surrounded him from all sides and stabbed forward.
Although he dodged desperately, a few hits landed on his armor.
[ Damn! ]
He could feel a suffocating feeling from his chest.
Green ignored the pain and retaliated immediately.
[ Go to hell! ]
He swung his sword at what he thought were their weak spots, their shiny bone heads.
"Clang, clang!"
The clash of swords echoed in the dark dungeon.
Eventually, the tunnels fell silent again.
The only sound that remained was Green catching his breath after the intense fight.
[ Huff, huff.....phew~]
He opened his eyes wide and stared at the Battle Log.
《Encountered Level 3 Skeleton
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 36 | Damage received: 4
Reward: 10 XP, 1 Gold》
《Encountered Level 3 Skeleton
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 44 | Damage received: 4
Reward: 10 XP, 1 Gold》
《Encountered Level 3 Skeleton
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 34 | Damage received: 4
Reward: 10 XP, 2 Gold》
[ Sigh~]
The Exp reward was good, but the damage to his HP bar was piling up.
________
"Fuck!"
A muffled curse erupted in the quiet, dark room.
Green opened his eyes after leaving the dungeon but stayed in bed, not wanting to get up. He stared at the ceiling, recalling what had happened.
After he managed to clear his first skeleton cave, he stumbled upon another one in no time.
The cave held three undead, and although they were tough he successfully vanquished them.
While trudging down the tunnels in search of another skeleton cave, he suddenly noticed a large wolf, the size of a cow.
Spotting this creature, Green didn't have any thoughts of confronting it.
Holding his breath, he jumped and hid behind some rocks.
Nervously, he watched as the giant wolf passed by.
《 Level 7 Silver Wolf 》
In the dungeon, the scariest creature Green knew was the Level 25 Orc.
Orcs were the highest level creatures he had come across in the dungeon.
They were also the strongest monsters he had seen.
In the early days of his time in the dungeon, he personally saw an orc flatten a group of trolls with its large club, and its strength was definitely not exaggerated.
At that time, he almost peed his pants in fear when the orc momentarily glanced at his hiding position.
Basically, Green felt like the Orcs were the peek existences in the dungeon.
But if given the choice between facing a Level 25 Orc and a Level 7 silver wolf, he would pick the latter without hesitation.
Of course, alone, the Level 7 silver wolf isn't as strong as a Level 25 Orc.
The issue is, the silver wolves always seemed to move around together.
Encountering a silver wolf, he wouldn't be dealing with just one monster, but a whole pack of them.
His stealth skills were pushed to the limit as his expectations were met, a pack of silver wolves followed close behind the first one.
Their large bodies blocked the tunnel path, and the conspicuous white fur they adorned in the dark dungeon resembled a moving tsunami of death.
Green wanted to breathe a sigh of relief as the last wolf left his vision, but it wasn't over yet.
The wolf pack did not leave as he had thought but started patrolling the area as if they owned it.
He didn't dare to come out of hiding; he stayed behind the rock formation until his legs felt numb.
Green was forced to conceal himself for what seemed like an eternity before the six hour dungeon time was up.
________________
[Status!]
Green called out in an exhausted voice.
Name: Green
Class: Warrior
Level: 4
HP: 67/95
Stamina: 150/150
Attack: 25
Defense: 55+10 (65)
Gold: 34
Items: Lv 1 Armor
Equipment Shop
Battle Log
Looking at the HP bar, he sighed.
[I need to get the health potion quickly]
He realized reaching level 5 would take some time.
The only other way to regain his HP bar was by completing tasks and obtaining a health potion as a reward.
Luckily, he had already defeated eight skeletons, leaving only twelve more to go.
If luck was on his side, he might complete the [Skeleton task] during his next trip to the dungeon.
"Crack!"
"Booom!"
"Papapa..."
Green heard the intense rain outside, and his face became serious.
He had thought a lot in his mind for a long time before reaching a conclusion. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that his hunch was right.
The weather wasn't normal; it was somehow linked to the zombies evolution.
What was causing this weather change?
[Hmmm...]
Green had no answer for this question.
[Anyway, the zombies are going to get stronger!]
He was determined to hunt them down before they could break through his doors.
At least the zombies in his building had to disappear, if he wanted to get a good night's rest.
[ The crystal shards are nice too ]
To him, the wandering zombies were like bags of experience points with legs.
Unlike in the dungeons, where the weak monsters disappeared after he leveled up, the zombies on earth weren't going anywhere anytime soon.
He could probably gain a lot of experience points by hunting down the zombies in the building.
[ Perhaps level 5 is not so far away after all...]
The sky was completely dark, and the raindrops slapping against the window felt like they were hitting his own chest.
After a light meal, Green went to bed; he needed to rest for the busy morning ahead.
Closing his eyes, he eventually drifted off to sleep as the rain continued its relentless noise.