“Oh shit!”
“Oh my god. That was close.”
“Phew.”
“Hell yeah!”
“That’s how we do things here.”
For the past week, I frequented the dungeons.
[Coins: 5,000]
I earned quite a lot of coins but they diminished quickly due to the dungeon’s entry fee. And now that I have become a regular customer for the Dungeon Agency, they were willing to give me discounts. So, now I get a sizable portion of the newbie dungeon for a cheaper price—it was 200 coins to be exact. Looking back on the first time I went dungeon diving, the portion allotted to me was insignificant. No wonder it was only 50 coins. But at that time 50 coins was a big deal wasn’t it?
I upgraded my stats as much as I could with the coins I obtained. My main goal now should be to average my stats to 10.
[50 coins have been consumed, Stamina: 8 —> Stamina: 10]
[100 coins have been consumed, Magic Power: 6 —> Magic Power: 10]
[175 coins have been consumed, Endurance: 3 —> Endurance: 10]
[125 coins have been consumed, Agility: 5 —> Agility: 10]
[175 coins have been consumed, Defense: 3 —> Defense: 10]
[200 coins have been consumed, Strength: 2 —> Strength: 10]
Now, my stats were all averaged to 10.
[Coins: 4,175]
Hmm, I still have quite a bit left.
Also, my level was…
[Level: 21]
I didn’t notice my level going higher because I had been too immersed in obtaining coins.
If my level was this high, then I could afford to increase my stats further.
[500 coins have been consumed, Strength: 10 —> Strength: 20]
I just noticed something. After every ten levels, the amount of coins required to upgrade a single level of a stat component doubles.
[500 coins have been consumed, Defense: 10 —> Defense: 20]
[500 coins have been consumed, Stamina: 10 —> Stamina: 20]
[500 coins have been consumed, Agility: 10 —> Agility: 20]
[500 coins have been consumed, Endurance: 10 —> Endurance: 20]
[500 coins have been consumed, Magic Power: 10 —> Magic Power: 20]
[Coins: 1,175]
Okay, this is good enough.
I walked home after yet another successful dungeon diving as always. The route from the Dungeon Agency’s office to my house is in such a way that I have to walk past my academy everytime I decide to return home or go for dungeon diving again.
This time, like always, I was walking the usual route to return home, but when I walked past my academy’s front gate, I noticed something unusual.
What is going on?
There was a huge crowd gathered in the quadrangle—the same place I got my system.
Usually, people gather here for important announcements or special occasions. It was unusual that so many people gathered without prior notice. My clothes were ragged from the dungeon diving so I hesitated a bit before finally deciding to go in.
“Hey, uhh what’s going on here? Why are you all gathered here?”
“Oh another curious onlooker. I swear, this is the sixth person in a row.” The guy annoyedly muttered to himself but I heard it.
I ignored him and tried to ask another person, but before I could do that a voice produced from a microphone could be heard.
[I present my good evening to all the ladies and gentlemen present here.]
A person stood on a newly-set-up stage and spoke to us.
[You might be curious as to why there was no prior notice for this interesting announcement.]
Hmm..yeah. The man spoke like he read everyone’s minds.
[Well..there is no reason for that actually. We just decided to make an abrupt announcement as the project finally got approved by the management. We will also be distributing and sticking up posters to notify those who aren’t present here today.]
Huh..
[Well, let’s begin, shall we?]
The crowd began cheering for the announcement. Well, this isn’t something new.
[We’ll be holding a combat tournament. I think this is a first for your generation right?]
The people gaped at the announcement. It was indeed a first for our generation. In the past, these were common things. I have heard many stories about this sort of thing.
[The top three will get to choose a new skill and the winner will get to choose a new perk.]
Quote on the word ‘choose’. The murmurs increased and everyone screamed with joy.
[In addition to this, the top five will also get monetary rewards.]
The crowd screamed even harder at this. While everyone felt elated, one person asked a question.
“How much money will be awarded for each rank?”
It was me.
[Yes. For the fifth position, 1000 coins will be awarded. For the fourth, 2000 coins, The third, 5000 coins. Second, 10000 coins. Lastly, for the first position, 20000 coins will be awarded.]
Damn..I was honestly speechless. 20,000 coins was equal to a month of dungeon diving at the newbie level.
[If all your doubts have been cleared, let’s begin the participant enrollment. Those of you who are willing, please sign this contract.]
All of us formed a line and signed the contract one after the other. Naturally, no one abstained.
Then, I went home and drafted a plan.
According to the contract, the tournament will be held 2 months from now. I need to increase my stats and level up my skill as much as possible during this time.
Leveling up my skills or getting new skills was a bit easier now after reaching level 21.
[System Store]
A new panel unlocked after the tenth level. One can buy skills, perks, magic-imbued swords and staff. Even artifacts which can increase mana capacity and magic amplifiers. It was a one-stop destination for literally everything related to magic. Naturally, everything was just a ‘mimic’ of magic.
Everything was available, however, the costs to buy one of these was exorbitant. For example, to buy a perk, it costs a minimum of 5,000 to a maximum of 10,000,000 coins.
First, to earn a lot of coins, I needed to buy the entire newbie floor of the dungeon. It would cost about 10,000 coins. The earning potential I see in buying that is just about 20,000 coins in two months. I could buy a new skill in addition to upgrading my stats.
Even though the tournament is to be held in two months, the qualifiers are in a week.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
I decided to sleep for the night, but I couldn’t stop thinking because I was excited.
----------------------------------------
Individual Information
Name: Elias Raymon
Unit: Combat
Attribute: Servant of Fire
Level: 21
Exp: 56/549
Stats:
Strength: 20
Stamina: 20
Defense: 20
Agility: 20
Endurance: 20
Magic Power: 20
Skills:
Blaze Lv.5
Perks:
There are no available perks.
----------------------------------------
The next morning, I once again went to the dungeon. While passing by my school, I once again saw a crowd gathered. This time, I knew what the reason was, so I ignored it and kept walking. I reached the Dungeon Agency soon enough.
“I want to sign a two-month lease contract for the newbie floor of the dungeon.”
“The minimum required period for signing a lease is three months.”
“Please. I’m a regular here.”
It took some more talking to finally convince the Dungeon Agency.
“...Okay. We can try.”
“The amount to be paid at the end of the contract period is 8,000 coins.”
I even got a discount.
Now I got the entire newbie dungeon all to myself. The people who frequented the newbie dungeon like myself looked disgruntled. Some of them were from my academy. Now they would have to find another dungeon.
I entered the dungeon after signing the contract and reading the guidelines.
This place was no longer a foreign thing for me. Maybe it was because I knew what to do or how to fight in this place. Before, I used to get many scrapes and injuries, but not now.
Grr!
Grr!
Numerous growls could be heard. I used my skill to burn all of them. At the newbie level, there were monsters with an attribute resistance which made it easier.
[Coins: 1,200]
[Coins: 2,000]
I kept going. There was still a good chunk of my mana left.
[Blaze Lv.7]
My skill also leveled up.
Kuhok!
Koeheok!
Argh!
The monsters, incinerated by the upgraded skill, cried out.
After two more hours, I finally cleared the dungeon. Before, I could only wipe out a small portion, but now even clearing the dungeon was a possible feat. It was because of my increased stats.
[Coins: 13,000]
Okay, wow. No, wait. How was this even possible? Oh, I get it. Before, when I used to have only a portion of the dungeon, getting 13,000 coins wasn't possible, but now, it was because I bought the entire newbie dungeon for lease.
If this continued, then I would have more coins than I initially imagined by the end of the two months.
Well, now it's time to upgrade my stats. This was the fun part.
[Individual Information]
----------------------------------------
Individual Information
Name: Elias Raymon
Unit: Combat
Attribute: Servant of Fire
Level: 26
Exp: 456/801
Stats:
Strength: 20
Stamina: 20
Defense: 20
Agility: 20
Endurance: 20
Magic Power: 20
Skills:
Blaze Lv.8
Perks:
There are no available perks.
----------------------------------------
How should I go about this? I have a lot of coins. It is possible to spend it all, but I can't do that. I had to give some to my mother who is working hard to earn coins to support me and my sister. I also had to save some to pay for the lease.
I should save at least 4,000 coins per month for the lease. Another 2,000 coins to give my mother. I'd be left with 7,000 coins which is still a lot. I could buy a month's worth of groceries with only 500 coins.
[1,000 coins have been consumed, Strength: 20 —> Strength: 30]
[1,000 coins have been consumed, Stamina: 20 —> Stamina: 30]
[1,000 coins have been consumed, Defense: 20 —> Defense: 30]
[1,000 coins have been consumed, Agility: 20 —> Agility: 30]
[1,000 coins have been consumed,
Endurance: 20 —> Endurance: 30]
[1,000 coins have been consumed,
Magic Powers: 20 —> Magic Powers: 30]
[Coins: 1,000]
[Individual Information]
----------------------------------------
Individual Information
Name: Elias Raymon
Unit: Combat
Attribute: Servant of Fire
Level: 26
Exp: 456/801
Stats:
Strength: 30
Stamina: 30
Defense: 30
Agility: 30
Endurance: 30
Magic Power: 30
Skills:
Blaze Lv.8
Perks:
There are no available perks.
----------------------------------------
I called it a day and went home to rest for one last hunt before the qualifiers.
Tomorrow is my qualifiers. I have to try to average my stats to 40 at the very least. My Blaze skill should also reach level 10.
And I did just that.
I went into the dungeon after greeting the guy at the front desk.
I cast my magic at the incoming monsters. Now that my Blaze skill had reached level 8, I could do area splash damage. It made it easier to wipe out a group of low HP monsters.
This time, some bigger monsters also appeared. Those guys were literal coin banks. I got a ton of coins from them.
Even though I got a lot of coins, that didn't mean that I was unscathed this time. The flesh on my thigh was pierced by a spear thrown by a skeletal monster. My back was completely scraped by the giant claws of another monster with a long neck. But the good thing was that there was no cost for healing. The Dungeon Agency took care of that.
[Coins: 15,000]
The big guys added up a lot—a whole 2,000 coins.
Time for the long-awaited part.
[2,000 coins have been consumed, Strength: 30 —> Strength: 40]
[2,000 coins have been consumed, Stamina: 30 —> Stamina: 40]
[2,000 coins have been consumed, Defense: 30 —> Defense: 40]
[2,000 coins have been consumed, Agility: 30 —> Agility: 40]
[2,000 coins have been consumed,
Endurance: 30 —> Endurance: 40]
[2,000 coins have been consumed,
Magic Powers: 30 —> Magic Powers: 40]
By this time, my skill had also reached the goal level.
[Blaze Lv.10]
[Coins: 3,000]
[Individual Information]
----------------------------------------
Individual Information
Name: Elias Raymon
Unit: Combat
Attribute: Apprentice of Fire
Level: 30
Exp: 519/1237
Stats:
Strength: 40
Stamina: 40
Defense: 40
Agility: 40
Endurance: 40
Magic Power: 40
Skills:
Blaze Lv.10
Perks:
There are no available perks.
----------------------------------------
My attribute changed? I'm not the ‘Servant of Fire' anymore. I'm the ‘Apprentice of Fire’?
Up until now, increasing my stats has been a bit easy because it was at a reasonable price, but now onwards it’s going to get exorbitant. To advance 10 more levels in one stats component, I am going to need 4,000 coins. Which means, to average my stats to 50, I would need 24,000 coins.
Anyways, now is not the time to worry about that. I have my qualifiers tomorrow. I have to give it my entire focus. But, I think I am prepared.
I just thought about it, but the tournament itself is like an exam. Just like how a student finds motivation to learn only when there is an exam, people would train, upgrade and get better only when there is an exam like the tournament with good rewards.
I returned home and rested for the big day.