As the sun rose into the sky, Rin felt its warmth on her skin and slowly opened her eyes. The previous night, shortly after entering the building, she had immediately taken a shower and fell asleep.
Feeling refreshed and full of energy she jumped out of the bed and looked outside the window. The view from the forty-ninth floor of the building was nothing but magical. The skies were clear of clouds while the rest of the city looked lively and colorful.
But the unfortunate thing was that she had slept entirely through the morning.
‘Maybe it was because I was so tired yesterday,’ Rin thought.
What happened yesterday was a lot for even her standards. Especially having such a conversation with Malkorn.
Rin didn't know what to think about the man. She didn't understand why he would hide away such an important thing away from her. Then again, the past with the man was nearly two hundred years ago. This was a new life, a new opportunity.
And with that thought, she figured it would be best to gather information as now she could read and speak the language.
‘Looks like we’re going to a bar,’ she grinned.
Humming to herself, Rin put on the black cloak but didn’t pull the hood over her hair. She started to clean her room and made it look nice and tidy before she took the elevator downstairs.
Walking towards the exit she was soon interrupted by a familiar face carrying a file in his hands.
“Hey Rin, perfect timing,” a man said as he walked in front of her.
“Hi, Jamie, was it?” Rin replied.
She curiously looked at the man she had sparred just the day before.
“I still can’t believe you learned the language in just a day,” Jamie muttered in disbelief.
“But yes, that’s me, I never did tell you my name, did I?” he asked with a smile.
Rin shook her head as the only reason she knew it was because she had overheard the elf mention his name.
“Merial must’ve told you then, but anyways I’ve registered you into the guild and you’re now able to enjoy the benefits,” he explained.
Rin slightly frowned as she heard his words, but since there wasn’t any record of her past other than Malkorn. She was essentially a blank slate. Also, there weren’t necessarily any bad things about being in the guild. They had provided her with healing and a room to sleep in after all.
“Here you go,” he said.
Jamie reached into the file and pulled out a metal card with several markings engraved into the surface.
‘I guess that’s why I had that spar,’ she thought.
Taking the card from the man, Rin inspected the item. The first thing she found was a faint enchantment placed on the item, a minor preservation spell. She also saw her name at the top left along with ‘mage’ as her class but didn’t notice anything amiss until she read her given rank.
“E rank?” she read the card.
She looked up from the card to the man and tilted her head to the side.
“Right, you’re new around here,” Jamie said when he heard the girl’s voice, “Being E ranked doesn’t necessarily mean weakness, it just means that you’re new.”
Jamie pointed his finger towards a large bulletin board at the side of the room. The board had many groups of people lingering around it. Rin thought that they had gathered to discuss what was on the board.
“The guild has a thing called commissions. They are tasks forwarded to the guild which are given out to adventurers to complete. Some are quite simple, like picking out flowers in the forest, while others are much more difficult,” he explained.
“Hmm... okay,” Rin muttered as she listened.
“Once a commission is completed, you can turn it in at the guild where the commissioner will award the promised payment while the guild would take a percentage as tax. The adventurer would also receive contribution points and when they reach the correct threshold, they would be given a promotion.”
Rin assumed that the commission system worked for most people. But in her eyes, it was a complete hassle. Sure, it would bring in some extra money, but for the most part, working her way up the guild’s ladder wasn’t too enticing. Especially when Malkorn had said that this world was far larger than her first.
“I don’t have to do them, right?” Rin asked.
Puzzled, Jamie looked at the girl in confusion. He didn’t see a reason not to as it was essentially free money.
“...Well, you don’t have to, but there are some people who might not accept you into their party based on your rank,” he explained.
But the white-haired girl laughed at his words.
“Even better,” she smiled.
Those that would judge her with anything other than her true strength were true imbeciles. It would be better for those people to avoid her first.
“One more thing, well actually two. I’ve got a map of the city and its outskirts for you. And secondly, the healer who patched you up agreed to go on a dungeon with us,” he said.
Rin’s lips curled up in excitement. She hadn’t been able to properly thank the brown-haired healer, hence she was looking forward to the event.
“Sounds great, when do we meet?” Rin asked.
“I think tomorrow morning will be good for everyone, just a couple hours before now,” he answered.
All set with the information that the man had given her, Rin stored the card and map into her inventory as she got ready to leave.
“Thanks Jamie,” Rin smiled.
“No problem, take care,” he said before walking off.
She left and walked towards the bar that she had seen when she had first arrived in the city. Entering the establishment, she was met with loud chatter and joyous music. The place was built with wood while the floor was made with a polished stone. There weren’t many people around most likely due to the time being midday. But it would surely be packed at night.
Walking up to the counter, many men sent her lecherous looks, but they immediately turned away when she shot them a piercing glare.
As she arrived at the counter, a man with furred ears to the side of his head was talking with a customer. He stood at about 5’11 in height and had long slender fingers. Rin watched with interest as he skillfully poured a drink and passed it along to the customer before turning towards her.
[Bartender - lvl 50]
“Good afternoon, Miss. Welcome to the Twin Stone Bar. Is there anything in particular that you would like today?” the demi-human asked.
He wore a charming smile on his face while his demeanor was friendly.
“I’m looking for information on nearby dungeons,” Rin replied.
“Dungeons mhm,” he raised a brow, “What kind are you looking for?”
“Anything between level twenty and th-”
Suddenly, a tall man interrupted her as he wedged himself beside her. He held a pouch in his hand, tossing it up into the air as it jingled with the sound of coins.
“Hey sweetheart, care for an adventurer that you’ll never forget with this gentleman?” he dangled the pouch in front of her eyes with a lewd smile on his face.
Rin was barely able to hold back her disgust and simply scowled before using her identification skill.
[Warrior - lvl 26]
Seeing his level, the first thought that came into mind was-
‘Weak.’
Knowing that she could kill the man at any time, an idea crept into her mind. Deciding to take the opportunity in front of her. She looked into the man’s eyes and smiled seductively, then bit her lower lip to seal the deal.
Seeing her notion, the man was unable to hide his lust. His eyes lit up and he grinned broadly before turning towards the furred eared fellow.
“Give us a room along with a couple bottles Alphonso,” he said.
The bartender didn’t immediately reply to the man as he turned to the girl.
“Are you sure about this Miss?” the demi-human asked.
His usual calm and cheerful demeanor was replaced by worry.
“Of course,” Rin replied with false cheerfulness.
The bartender gave the girl a weary sigh, “Very well. A suite along with two bottles of ale... That will be 50 silvers.”
“50 Silvers...” the man winced hearing the price.
But when he looked down at the girl beside him, he knew that he would be getting more than his money’s worth. Taking another pouch out of his bag, he reluctantly tossed it over to the bartender.
“You better be worth it,” he growled.
She smiled at his words, but her eyes were hard and cold.
Grabbing two bottles of ale, the furred eared man led the two upstairs to one of the bar’s rooms.
The room was made with wood, just like the rest of the bar downstairs. In the center there was a large bed while to the side was a circular sized table. It was nothing too special, but it was sufficient for its purpose.
Placing the bottles on the table, he placed a set of empty glasses to the side.
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“Enjoy your stay...” the bartender muttered and promptly left the room.
Locking the door shut, he stared at the wood with a conflicted gaze. He knew that whatever would happen inside the room wasn’t right. But what could he do? He was but a simple bartender doing his job.
‘So young too...’ he thought before heading back downstairs to serve the rest of the customers.
Inside the room, Rin stepped to the side as the perverted man grasped for her waist.
“The money?” she frowned.
“So feisty,” the man chuckled.
He took the pouch from his inventory and tossed it on the bed before walking over to the table. Grabbing the bottle, he took a swig of the liquor while Rin started to spread her ice around the edges of the room. Taking care to not alert the man.
Walking over to the bed, Rin grabbed the pouch and looked through it. She made sure that there was money in the bag then turned to look at the man who was currently undressing himself.
‘Some gentleman you are...’ Rin thought and crinkled her nose.
She waited with disgust in her eyes as the lecherous man started to walk towards her. But just as he was about to reach her, her ice that was previously scattered around the room wrapped around his legs and froze them in place.
The man, finding himself unable to move looked downwards and saw what the girl had done to him.
“You bitch!” he sputtered.
Enraged, he summoned his sword into his hand but before he could do anything, he felt a sharp cold pressing against his throat. When Rin had seen him pull out a weapon, she had created a dagger behind his head and teleported to it.
“Move and you will die. Scream and you will die,” she whispered coldly into his ear.
Frustrated, the man tried to resist but when he felt the dagger The warrior dropped his blade to the ground and waited a couple seconds till the dagger left his throat.
‘Stupid girl,’ he thought, his lips curling up into a twisted smile.
As there seemed to be an opportunity, he gathered strength into his fist and turned to strike the girl. But Rin predicted this from the man and shook her head in disappointment.
Tilting her head to the side, she avoided the attack and lunged towards his head. Twisting her blade and knocking the man out with the handle.
“Tsk tsk...” she chastised as he crashed to the floor.
Resummoning another dagger as the first one had shattered from the impact. She knelt to slash the man’s throat before she paused. In actuality, he had done nothing deserving of death as she had strung him along for her own benefit.
“Haaaah...” Rin sighed.
She wanted to kill the man to take the rest of his items, but right now since there wasn’t any record of her in the world. She knew it would be best to stay on a low profile until she got stronger.
Rin left the man sprawled out on the floor and grabbed the remaining bottle of ale from the table before leaving the room. While walking down the stairs, she decided to count the coins and smiled at the sight.
‘What a kind and generous gentleman,’ Rin thought.
Inside the bag, she found 29 silvers and 32 bronzes. And with her current knowledge of the land, the amount of money would be enough to last her quite a while in food.
Arriving at the ground floor, she spotted the bartender and walked up to the counter, but this time she had a spring in her steps.
“Hey, remember me? I wanted information on nearby dungeons between level twenty and thirty,” Rin said.
She placed a silver on the counter as the bartender looked at her with widened eyes.
“You…how… are you okay? Did Kyle… do anything to you?” the man asked whilst stuttering.
“Kyle was his name? I guess you could say that I was too much for him,” Rin replied with a thin smile.
“Anyways, dungeons?” she continued.
Deciding not to press for answers, the bartender simply sighed at the girl. He pulled out a notepad and placed it on the counter.
“...Right, well at least you came to the right place. Lots of information comes and goes around here,” he said.
Opening his notepad, he flipped through the pages until he reached a certain page.
“Do you have a map?” the bartender asked.
Rin was about to say that she didn’t have one until she remembered that Jamie had given one to her earlier.
“Yeah, I do,” she replied.
Taking the map out of the inventory, she placed it onto the counter between them.
“Perfect, I’ll write down the locations of some nearby dungeons for you,” he said.
He summoned a pen into his hand and started to mark locations on the map with an X. Labeling each marking with its name and level. He then drew another set of X's further out from the city before facing the girl.
“The first four markings are the dungeons that are within a day’s travel by horseback. While the others will require a caravan to reach,” he explained as Rin nodded in response.
Continuing on, he pointed at the first marking.
“This here is the level twenty Ice Forest dungeon..." he said with a pause and frowned. "But recently, several accidents have happened there so I would stay away from that for now. Anyways, as you can already tell from the name, the dungeon is an a frosty forest. While the monsters in there range from level 10 to 15 with the boss being a level 20 ice slime. It also is a trapped dungeon where the exit cannot be activated until the boss has been defeated,” he stated.
‘Might've been an anomaly from my reincarnation,’ she thought.
“The second is the level 25 Crystal Tombs. It isn’t a trapped dungeon, but you would want to go in a party of six as the monsters are quite durable and plentiful. Inside, the monsters are crystal golems that range from lv 20-25 with the boss being a level 25 Gemstone Guardian. This dungeon is probably your safest bet as long as you can find a party,” he said.
Rin was somewhat interested in the dungeon, but she knew that her damage was quite lacking in regards to pure firepower.
“The third dungeon is the lvl 30 Catacombs of the Forgotten Army. Like the Crystal Tombs you are able to leave at any time, but it is a little different. It is a multilayered dungeon that goes down five floors. The monsters are mainly simple undead creatures, but their numbers are what makes this dungeon so fearsome,” he explained.
Hearing the details of the dungeon, Rin thought it to be very similar to the ones back in her past life. But she knew it would be an arduous journey. Simply reaching the end of the first floor would take days or even weeks.
‘Not worth it,’ she frowned.
Rin furrowed her brows as the dungeons that the bartender had mentioned so far didn’t seem to be a match for her. The creatures were either too numerous or too durable for her abilities. But since there was one mark left on the map, she waited for the demi-human to finish.
“Lastly, the final dungeon is the most dangerous of all. We know that its level is only 20, but what makes it so dangerous is that we don’t have any information on the dungeon. Rather, we only know one thing, and that thing is the level limit imposed on the dungeon,” he explained.
‘Interesting,’ Rin thought.
A level limit was something that she hadn’t heard of. And even if it was dangerous, she had nearly three centuries of battle experience under her belt. The dungeon would definitely reward her greatly.
The bartender waited for her to absorb the information before continuing, “Still want to hear more?”
When he saw her answer his question with a nod, he sighed and shook his head.
“You have a death wish...” he muttered.
She lightly smiled in response to his words. There was nothing more that excited her than the thrill of death.
“Thousands that have entered that accursed dungeon never return. While only a small percentage of the people that do come back with their minds broken. There is no known name for this dungeon, but people call it the gates of hell,” Alphonso explained with a grim look on his face.
As he tried to dissuade her with his words, the bartender had only achieved the opposite. The dungeon already enticed her with whisperings of great rewards. But with its nickname and history, it was set in stone.
Getting ready to leave, she decided to try something while she was still at the bar.
“Before I leave, could you get me an ale?” Rin asked the bartender.
She slid a couple coppers over onto the counter and the demi-human scooped them up.
“Sure, no problem,” Alphonso replied with a smile.
He grabbed a bottle from the shelf and poured it into a glass before placing it in front of her. Rin stared at the liquid for a second before she grabbed the glass and took a tiny sip.
Her nose immediately crinkled at the bitter taste but not wanting to spit it out, she swallowed it down in disgust.
‘Apparently reincarnating wasn’t enough...’ Rin thought and released a sigh.
The demi-human let out a light chuckle when he saw her reaction.
“Not your thing?” he asked while Rin nodded.
“It's too bitter for me. I like something sweeter, like this,” Rin explained.
She summoned one of the glasses of cider into her hand and sipped the liquid to rid her mouth of the taste of the alcohol.
Interested, the bartender took a quick glance at the drink before he realized something.
“You bought that from Emma, right?” he asked with a curious expression on his face.
“Yeah, why?” Rin replied.
The demi-human paused for a second and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Well... Emma used to work here at the bar, but she abruptly quit. Apparently, she wanted to help her mother and didn’t have time to work here. But I did hear that she wasn’t doing very well recently...” Alphonso explained.
Rin looked back at her encounter with the vendor and remembered how she didn’t have any customers.
“I think she looked alright, but I didn’t see her get many customers,” Rin said, “Anyways thanks for everything, “
“Anytime Miss. And if you ever see Emma again, tell her I said hello and if she ever wants to come back to the bar, we’re happy to have her back,” Alphonso said with a smile.
The two bade farewell and Rin left the bar. She looked at her map with the goal of finding the gates of hell.
While the bartender decided to find out what happened to Kyle. Going upstairs, he knocked on the door but when he didn’t get a response he frowned.
He found the door to be unlocked, but when he opened the door, he found something completely unexpected. It was Kyle sprawled out on the ground with his c**k out in full view.
“Huh. Maybe she was too much for him to handle...” he muttered and stepped inside to clean up what happened.
****
‘Two hours,’ she read the bartender’s notes.
He had also conveniently written down how long it would take to reach the location by horseback. With her goal to reach the dungeon as soon as possible, Rin quickly made her way to the northern entrance.
Nearing the city’s north wall, she saw several horses and carriages lined up just waiting for someone to come along for a ride.
‘Should be enough money, right?’ she thought and looked at the coins in her inventory tab.
Pulling out her map, she walked up to the nearest driver.
“Can you take me to this dungeon?” she asked
Leaning towards her, the driver took a closer look at the location on the map before his face blanched.
“You… don’t… mean you… want to go there?” he stuttered.
“Why can’t I? You're a driver, isn’t that your job?” Rin replied.
The man’s face turned red with anger, but he soon calmed himself as he was indeed on duty.
“Listen young lady, please do not take me for a fool. But anyone in their right mind wouldn’t go anywhere near that accursed place,” the man said before walking away.
Rin simply shrugged as she went on to ask the remaining carriage drivers. However, all she received was a similar response from the first driver. One had even tried to attack her with a horse’s apple...
Until finally, she spotted her last hope in the distance.
[Warrior - lvl 53]
The last carriage driver was a grey-haired dwarf and wrinkled skin. He looked to be in his late sixties in human standards. But Rin knew that he was much older as dwarves had far longer lifespans. It would take much longer for them to look this old.
“You want to go there huh? What’s a little lady like you going to do?” the dwarf asked and crossed his arms.
“I’m going to go inside and clear it,” Rin said bluntly.
She was starting to get a little annoyed by all the rejections, but there was no way she was going to walk all the way.
The dwarf heaved out a heavy sigh as he looked at the white-haired girl. She was a beautiful lad even for human standards, and that’s why the dwarf didn’t know why she wanted to throw away her life.
“So?” she pressed.
“...50 gold, then I’ll take you,” the dwarf said bluntly.
Hearing his words Rin was shocked, the dwarf was obviously trying to scam her. And that was without the fact that she didn’t even have a single gold coin yet. Not knowing what to do, she let her gaze wander until her eyes fell onto his carriage.
Empty bottles of alcohol were strewn around the floor. It was the signs of an addict. Smiling, an idea crept into her mind as she pulled out the bottle of alcohol that she had taken from the bar earlier.
“I’ll give you this~” Rin offered in a voice as sweet as honey. Knowing that the dwarf would find it hard to resist.
Conflicted, the dwarf weighed his options, but he soon succumbed to his desires.
“Argh... damn you woman. Give me the bottle...” the dwarf cursed.
Rin handed him the bottle as he started to set up the carriage and horse while simultaneously taking sips from the bottle. After a few minutes, he tightened the rope between the horse and the carriage and hopped into the driver’s seat.
“Get in there missy, we’ll be there in 2 hours,” he called out.
However, instead of going inside of the carriage. Rin swung herself up on top of the carriage and sat down with her legs dangling off the edge. Feeling the carriage start to move, Rin relaxed and pulled out a drink while the dwarf hummed a lively tune.
The ride through the forest was calm and uneventful and Rin had fallen asleep to take a nap. But she soon woke up when she felt a sinister change in the atmosphere.
Looking around, she found the trunks of the trees to be blackened and twisted. As if they've been burned from within. While their leaves were completely gone.
The ground beneath the trees was cracked and dry. There were no signs of life in the air, instead, it was filled with a thick rotting smell.
Her eyes were wide and alert as she looked around for the source. But it was quiet, far too quiet.
She was ready to react at any moment, but unexpectedly the rest of their journey had gone without a hitch. The carriage had reached the outer edge of a stone clearing and at the center there was a stairwell leading down.
The stone surrounding the stairwell was charred black with the same sinister corruption.
“This is what you wanted?” the dwarf shouted from below.
But Rin didn’t respond and jumped off the carriage. Walking towards the stairwell, she looked down and saw that it was dimly lit by a couple of torches on the side. While at the bottom there was a large black door. It was the source of the evil energy.
“I’ll be here for two hours girl, if you’re not back by then I’m leaving!” the dwarf exclaimed.
Rin didn’t blame him either, the feeling of unease she was receiving from the door wasn’t something just anyone could stomach.
‘But I’ve seen worse,’ she grinned.
Walking down the stairs, her steps echoed loudly as they bounced off the walls. And with each step she took, the grin on her face only grew wider.
“So, this is the Gates of Hell...” she whispered.
Holding her right hand up, she touched the door and a system message appeared before her eyes.
[Would you like to enter ???]
“Yes.”