Sure enough as the battle continued, Dragonire gradually gained the upper hand.
Half an hour later…
By now, the Goblin Chief was beginning to weaken from exhaustion. In contrast, Dragonire not only grew stronger over time but with each regeneration, his stamina replenished as well.
After a short while…
KRAARRRR!!!
The Goblin Chief let out one final scream of agony before collapsing onto the ground, succumbing to death.
[You have slain a Goblin Chief!]
[Goblins Killed: 100/100]
[Quest Completed!]
A few seconds later, an exit portal materialized just about five meters in front of Dragonire.
‘It was a good battle... but I don’t think I ever want to go through that again.’
Dragonire wasn’t someone who enjoyed fighting. Furthermore, for him to grow stronger, he had to experience pain which was not something he was fond of. After all, who in the world enjoys pain? Of course, in certain circumstances, if left with no alternative, only then was he willing to tolerate suffering for the sake of growth. However, if he had a choice, for the most part, he would prefer to avoid pain at all costs.
Of course, he did consider committing suicide repeatedly to enhance his strength. Unfortunately, this method proved too slow, as a swift death doesn’t inflict enough pain for him to make significant progress. To achieve faster progression, he had to endure more suffering, as the skill operates on the principle that increased pain leads to quicker advancement.
Having completed his tasks in the dungeon, Dragonire strolled purposefully toward the portal and made his exit. In the blink of an eye, he found himself back at Shroom Village.
When Dragonire returned to the lobby room, he noticed approximately 90% of the players that returned from the dungeon were badly injured, indicating that only about 10% players had performed exceptionally well and remained injury-free. He guessed that those who returned without a single injury must be formidable individuals or top players.
‘A casualty rate of 90%, that’s crazy. As for the death rate…’ Dragonire thought.
Previously, Shroom Village boasted approximately 1000 players. However, after the 2nd Tutorial, the player count has dwindled significantly, leaving only 124 players remaining. It appears that a substantial number of players did not make it and met their demise within the dungeon.
[Congratulations on passing the 2nd Tutorial! For now, please rest up.]
During this time, plenty of delicious food suddenly appeared in the center of Shroom Village. Not only did food manifest, but health potions also materialized. This was especially beneficial for the injured players, as health potions would be extremely useful for treating injuries.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The food and health potion was unlimited, like a buffet, so players didn’t have to compete for it.
After enjoying their delicious meal, many players immediately took a nap, still exhausted from the earlier battles inside the dungeon.
Having nothing to do, Dragonire decided to take a nap as well.
[The next Tutorial will begin in one week.]
[Time before the next Tutorial starts: 6 Days and 9 hours remaining.]
***
Four days later…
In Shroom Village, many players could be seen fighting each other to practice their battle skills.
Time and time again, players would invite Dragonire to spar with them, but Dragonire rejected them because he didn’t like fighting nor getting himself hurt. It wasn’t so much about the fighting that he was worried about, it was more about the pain that made him reluctant to spar with other players. After all, when players spar with each other, there will be times they accidently hurt each other.
You may think Dragonire is a coward, but he’s not, he simply doesn’t like pain that’s all.
Two days later…
Ten minutes before the 3rd Tutorial starts, in the center of Shroom Village, all types of weapons like swords, bows, spears and many more suddenly spawned.
[The 3rd Tutorial will be extremely difficult, so we prepared some free weapons that will assist you in your battle.]
[Please select a weapon relating to your class to get the bonus stats effect.]
Every player has a class, and choosing a weapon relating to your class will give you extra damage and bonus stats.
The moment the weapons appeared, many players were excited and rushed to the center to pick their weapons.
Meanwhile, Dragonire didn’t pick any because he was classless.
You may ask why was he classless? Because he had a bug system. A malfunction system that doesn’t allow him to level up normally like other players. Not only he couldn’t level up normally, he was also classless. Well, more like the system didn’t give him any option to choose a class to begin with.
Normally for players to level up, they need experience points which can be gained from killing monsters, completing quests and many more. However, the leveling system or even something like experience points doesn’t exist for Dragonire. This means his only way to grow stronger was to rely on his Regeneration skill, which means instead of focusing on grinding EXP to level up, he grinds by suffering. So in a sense, he could still level up, but just in a different way.
While many players went ahead to pick their weapons, Dragonire didn’t because he saw no point in doing so. For classless players like him, there won’t be any bonus class stats benefits.
As Dragonire stared at the weapons, he found one weapon that caught his interest. It was a defensive weapon called “Shield”.
‘Hmm, a shield might be useful if I’m trying to avoid pain as I can defend myself with it. However, at the end of the day, if I want to grow stronger, I still have to go through pain no matter what, not avoid it.’
Knowing that shield doesn’t make him stronger, he changed his mind and declined it.
‘Ah, I really hate this… Why do I have to suffer just to become stronger.’
Dragonire sighed. It was a mixed feeling, while he was happy that his Regeneration’s power could keep him alive indefinitely, but at the same time, becoming stronger was a pain in the ass.
‘If only I could level up normally like other players, then I could just choose any Ranged Class and kill my enemies from afar without getting hurt. Yeah, that would have been great. Oh well, that’s too bad.’
10 minutes later…
[The 3rd Tutorial will now begin.]
At this time, in the center of Shroom Village, a dungeon portal appeared.
‘Welp, here we go again…’
Like that, Dragonire and other players entered the dungeon to start the 3rd Tutorial right away.