The first floor of the Dungeon is divided into three areas, the first area is known as the Beginner’s Farm. It is a part of the dungeon which belongs near the entrance, where monsters who are classified as the lowest level threat, such as Green Slimes and Glowdusts are present. These two monsters are mostly left alone because of their non-harming and dungeon maintenance behavior. The second area known as the central area is occupied by the Skeleton Walkers, the lowest level undead who are just skeletons with the tendency to attack anyone approaching them. This area is where the unique one currently is. Lastly, we have the third area, which, unlike the other parts of the first floor, is an open area inhabited by three monsters - Horned Rabbits, Red Foxes, and Miniature Dolls; all three are hostile to each other.

The Skeleton Walker, having concluded that the others who looked like it had no ability to converse, started wandering around. Not knowing where it was, the Skeleton Walker simply walked forward to where it currently faced and followed the single path present. Walking down the stray path, it only thought of one thing “ What is a conversation and how do I do it? ”. Even though it had developed an understanding of the language arts, it was only the most basic level of understanding. Therefore, a multitude of words were unknown to its fresh knowledge.

Not knowing where to go, the Skeleton Walker kept following random pathways coming into contact with multiple other Skeleton Walkers. All of them showed no signs of conversation. After some time had passed, it entered the Beginner’s Farm, where it noticed the visibly different dungeon walls, now having some greenery growing on them.

“ A new area. ”, it thought to itself.

Venturing further into the now greener path, strange glowing particles appeared which immediately caught its attention.

“ What is this? ”.

— wondered the Skeleton Walker, moving its hands aiming to touch the strange glow. As its boney fingers came into contact with the strange glowing particles, the Skeleton Walker felt a jolting sensation coursing through its entire body. And before him appeared again a bunch of words similar to what happened nearly an hour before -

> Magus has been felt. You have now partially understood Magus.

“ So this is magus. ” thought the Skeleton Walker.

“ And this is a Glowdust. ”, continued its thought as it once again passed its hand through the glowing particles.

The name Glowdust immediately appeared to the Skeleton Walker after the sensation of magus flow through its body finished. It didn’t fully understand the concept of magus, only knowing that it was an energy that has its uses. It thought little about the sudden experience and continued moving onwards along the path.

A few distances ahead from its interaction with the Glowdust, the Skeleton Walker spotted a new creature, a bunch of tiny green blobs bouncing around on the ground. Curious about the bouncing blobs, it approached one of them, bent down, and picked up one. The green blob did not resist as it got picked up. With an intense stare, the Skeleton Walker held the blob with both of its hands, raising it to the same level as its face.

“ Green Slime? ”, it asked itself.

Increasing the intensity of its grip, releasing the grip. Doing this continuously, the Skeleton Walker squished the Green Slime. It felt something in its hands as it continued this sequence of actions. A strangely unfamiliar feeling engulfed it.

> Congratulations, you have now felt the sense of touch. Along with it, you have also partially understood feeling.

The above words appeared in front of it again. Looking at the sentence before it, the Skeleton Walker thought to itself -

“ That… was soft. And satis….satisfying? ”.

The Skeleton Walker, through this, now realized that it learned a new thing every time it interacted with something novel. Putting down the slime, it considered the feeling it felt as it touched the slime to be something that is to be looked forward to.

Just as it laid down the Green Slime, a bunch of sounds could be heard coming from the distance. It had heard multiple sounds before - sharp crack sounds when Skeleton Walkers move, the squishy sound of Green Slimes, the shallow ringing sound made by the Glowdusts when coming into contact with them. But this one was different; it was several sounds, different from one another and came in turns. One of them was loud, such that the sound was heard by it, while the others were quieter.

“ They’re talking. ” thought the Skeleton Walker.

Slowly approaching the noise, the Skeleton Walker did not think much. As this was its first encounter with beings who could talk.

Meanwhile, the source of the noise was a group of dungeon raiders comprising three individuals - a big burly dude equipped with half-plate iron armor with a round shield and one-handed war hammer, a short, stocky, bearded man with a robe and staff, and a lean, fit woman with long, pointy ears, wearing leather armor with a bow and arrows.

“ Do you know how exhausting it is to keep doing this? Entering and exiting the dungeon whenever we need to replenish our supplies. ” said the woman.

“ Well, there is nothing we can do right now. We just have to reach the 10th floor and things will get easier, I hope. ” said the short bearded man.

“ You people do love complaining, Sylvia. Especially you. ” said the big burly dude.

“What do you mean ‘you people’ Ashva? At least we’re better than you ascetic bastards. ” replied Sylvia.

“ Now, now, we just entered the dungeon again, so let us not start bickering immediately. ” said the short bearded man, with Ashva letting out a smile and Sylvia saying -

“ Hmph, whatever. ”; as they slowly moved forward down the dungeon path.

The Skeleton Walker, approaching the noise it heard, had now nearly reached the group. However, it stopped at a corner to confirm whether the noise it heard was truly a conversation or not.

“ I don’t think I will ever tire of these Glowdusts,” said Ashva, waving his hand into the Glowdusts as they were flying around.

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“ That’s one thing I will probably always agree with you,” said Sylvia, she too enjoying the experience.

“ Let us move again. ” said the short bearded man.

Hearing him, the other two stopped their actions and started following the bearded man. And as they turned around the corner, they finally came into contact with one another. Ashva immediately put his shield up and stood his ground, while the other two got behind him and readied themselves.

“ What is a Skeleton Walker doing here? ” said Sylvia.

“ I don’t know, but is it alone, Sir Grahm? ” asked Ashva.

“ I think so. But why is it not attacking us? ” replied Sir Grahm.

“ Whatever the reason is, as long as it’s alone, let’s get rid of it,” said Sylvia, shooting an arrow toward the Skeleton Walker.

“ Okay, ” said Ashva, following up by hitting it with his one-handed war hammer and breaking it into pieces.

“ Well, that was a surprise,” said Sir Grahm, continuing forward immediately after they downed the Skeleton Walker.

Just like how this was a surprise encounter for the three dungeon raiders, it was also a surprising interaction for the Skeleton Walker. Since it immediately got taken down before it could even interact with the group.

> You have unlocked ‘hostility’.

appeared in front of it, as it lay down on the ground broken into several parts.

“ Can I move? ” thought the Skeleton Walker.

Trying to move the different scattered parts of its body, it found out that the parts somehow moved according to its thoughts. Therefore, it first gathered the scattered parts with its hand. Then connected its upper body with its head. Moving with its arms, it put together the different parts of the lower body, after which it connected the lower body with the upper body, finally getting back to one piece.

Standing up after getting deconstructed, it thought to itself, “ What is hostility? ”. It understood the word in simple terms. But thinking back to the engagement it just had with the three individuals, and hearing their conversation before and after getting dismantled, it did not feel any hostility from them. Of course, it got attacked almost immediately, but it believed that it was not due to their hostility but because there was a need for it. That it being there was unusual and that it, as a Skeleton Walker, posed some danger, be it immense danger or slight danger to the group.

After such thoughts, it decided to return. Hearing something about dungeon floors from them when it first heard them, it decided that it would search for the location where it would be able to travel to the other floors in order to fulfill its goal of holding a conversation with others.

On the way, as it reached the central area, the path was filled with broken Skeleton Walkers, which made it think that the three had passed through here. However, a question arose inside, “ They were not hostile to me. So were they hostile to the three individuals? Am I different from them? ”. To the Skeleton Walker who had been alive for less than a day, the concept of monsters and their nature toward others and people’s views on them was unknown. Bending down, it tried to gesture them to move, poking their heads with its fingers, but to no avail. It picked up the skull of one of them and thought, “ Why are they not moving? ”. And just then a notice appeared once again -

> You have discovered ‘Death’.

“ So this is death. ” thought the Skeleton Walker, putting down the skull it had in its palm. “I wonder what it feels like.” continued the Skeleton Walker; this discovery, for now, had the most impact on it. Seeing the motionless corpses of the ones that looked just like it lying down on the ground sparked such a thought in its non-existent brain. A certain feeling came unto it, something it could not understand. However, it decided that it would be better to continue moving, as going further into thought would not lead to anything.

Continuing on, it found near the dead Skeleton Walkers, items which they did not have on hand before. It questioned where they came from; whether it was dropped by people or by the dead Skeleton Walkers. Whatever it was, the experience it had earlier convinced it to pick up some of the items. Picking up a bronze sword and a small wooden shield, both of poor quality, the Skeleton Walker kept moving.

After a few minutes of moving, it reached a new area. This new area differed from the other two as it was an open area, with no walls within its view, and no columns holding the roof. Just a green grassy plain, with trees and bushes. Standing still for a second, looking at the new area, it heard shrieking sounds coming from the distance. Following the sound, the Skeleton Walker came onto a battlefield. A larger group of Miniature Dolls was cornering a small group of Red Foxes. Looking at their surroundings, it could see that a battle had already occurred with several corpses lying about on the ground.

With the Miniature Dolls advancing toward the Red Foxes, it seemed like it was the end for them. However, instead of getting slaughtered, they fought back. Intensely and without a care for their health, the Red Foxes viciously attacked the Miniature Dolls; thus, the cornered went on the offensive. It looked as though they pushed through the wall set up by the dolls for a second, but ultimately, they fell from their injuries. Of the 12 Miniature Dolls that cornered them, only 3 remained, they too badly damaged by the flames of the Red Foxes.

After finishing the last of the Red Foxes, the Miniature Dolls immediately noticed the Skeleton Walker, who was just standing there watching them. Not knowing whether the two fighting creatures were hostile to it, the Skeleton Walker did not bother hiding. Even if it did try to hide, the only objects near him were short bushes, small stones, and a few shrubs. The Miniature Dolls, although badly damaged, immediately lunged forward with their sharp, pointy hands targeting the Skeleton Walker.

> You have developed “instinct’.

suddenly appeared in front of the Skeleton Walker. However, it did not have time to react to the notification.

With confirmation of their hostility, the Skeleton Walker instinctually put its shield up and swung its sword down. Hitting one of the dolls but getting pushed and knocked down by the other two in exchange. The wooden shield was torn in half by the doll’s sharp hands. Not sure what to do, the Skeleton Walker held its hands on the ground while thrusting the sword with its other hand. The two remaining dolls, too damaged from their previous fight, failed when they attempted to kill the downed Skeleton Walker, resulting in them falling to the ground instead. One doll got stabbed by the Skeleton Walker’s thrust, killing it instantly. Seeing this opportunity, the Skeleton Walker tried to kill the other doll, which was slowly repositioning itself.

However, the first doll it had struck came back with its left arm nearly falling off its body, striking the Skeleton Walker on its head and knocking it down. However, this was not enough to kill the Skeleton Walker, who was nothing but a bunch of bones glued together. With a hole in its head, the Skeleton Walker’s sword managed to hit the already downed doll, killing it.

“ The final one. ” thought the Skeleton Walker. Focusing its attention on the one that stabbed its head. However, the last Miniature Doll had succumbed to its injuries and died with its hands still inside the Skeleton Walker’s skull.

For a few seconds, the Skeleton Walker thought deeply about itself; touching the hole in its head. The Skeleton Walker wondered, “ Should I not experience something? I am missing something. ”. Finalizing its thoughts, the Skeleton Walker pushed the Miniature Doll who was still sticking to it. With the wooden shield broken and the bronze sword showing signs of an imminent break, the Skeleton Walker decided to break off the arms of the Miniature Dolls. Breaking off four arms to use as weapons, it discarded its previous equipment and continued moving forward as if nothing happened.

As it moved forward in the open area, with three doll arms under its left armpit and one on the right hand, the Skeleton Walker waved its right arm around, thinking of the best way to use the doll arm. Slicing, thrusting, swinging the air; concluding that it was best used for thrusting.

Around 30 minutes later, the Skeleton Walker reached the end of the room only to see a wall and no stairs to the next floor. Looking around, it discovered that the center of the room was visible. As such devised a plan to move near the walls, circling the entire area in search of the stairs, which lead to the next floor. Moving along the corners of the room, the Skeleton Walker oddly did not encounter any hostile creatures since unbeknownst to it, the monsters in the area were all currently busy waging war with each other inside.

It didn’t take long for the Skeleton Walker to come into contact with the stairs, which was in the center of the left side corner. Finally, going down to the next floor.