The next room ended up being the ‘Puzzle Room’. Apart from the floors, which split apart into multiple segments, the design remained the same as the other two rooms they’d been to.

Before they proceeded, they backtracked to the crossroad, wanting to check the two remaining routes. A singular chest in the middle occupied the northern room, while the one on the right appeared like the usual monster room.

“Since that chest room is most likely trapped, let’s go kill the birds first.” Circe suggested in excitement, striding towards the eastern block without waiting for Zeke’s reply.

As they arrived at their destination, Zeke went on forward, drawing in the three harpies’ attention that flew out in the open. “Alright, game on.” He stood his ground as the birds swooped in, their talons out to kill.

[ are alerted to your presence.]

“Squak?” Suddenly, the harpies’ movements slowed to a halt, eyeing Zeke with clear hesitation seeping from their demeanor. A cunning smirk grew on his lips as he tapped the ground with his staff, sending a ripple of mana across the field. As the invisible force swept over the hidden harpies, they suddenly emerged from the shadows and rushed towards him.

Expecting this reaction, Zeke held out his free hand, his grin growing wider. “These idiots.” Snapping his fingers into a tight fist, all the harpies suddenly found themselves stuck mid-air. As some of them struggled, the light reflected off their invisible binds shimmered mockingly.

”Now, Circe!”

“Right!” With Zeke’s callout, Circe rushed forward from behind him. Her sword drawn back as she leaped towards the closest target.

With lightning-like swiftness, Circe bounced from one harpy to another, slicing their backs with such force that it cleaved their bodies clean in half. In the blink of an eye, she landed back on the ground as pieces of what remained fell from the sky.

[Killed x14 ]

[Greatest contributor is ‘Ruelle Peregrine’. EXP has been distributed.]

[‘Ruelle Peregrine’ has leveled up! LVL: 18]

[ of ‘Ruelle Peregrine’ has been refilled.]

[‘Silas Salvador’ has leveled up! LVL: 15]

[ of ‘Silas Salvador’ has been refilled.]

[Achievement Unlocked: ‘Clean Sweep’ - Killed all the enemies within a with one attack.]

[You’ve earned some EXP!]

[‘Silas Salvador’ has leveled up! LVL: 16]

“Not bad, this plan of yours,” Circe faced Zeke as she shook her sword, painting a crimson arch on the grass. “You even got the achievement, even though it was an assist.”

“Right. It was coded that way so it’s easier to get,” Zeke made his way towards the chest reward. Tapping it once, he watched as the system notification informed him of the coins they earned. With a suspicious frown, he turned to Circe. “…Though I’ve just noticed this now, but isn’t this dungeon giving us a lot of EXP?”

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[You’ve gained <30 DCs>]

[You’ve gained <30 DCs>]

Circe’s brows rose as the sounds of creaking gates erupted from her side. “Actually…You’re right. This is just the first floor and I’ve already leveled up quite a bit,” she opened her status window and checked her level. “Eighteen…two more levels and I can use the S-tier scythe…but this development is a little too fast.”

”If we’re counting the Broken Impairment…Technically speaking, we’ve only cleared three dungeon floors,” Zeke held up his fingers as he spoke, his eyebrows slightly creased. “The Tutorial Dungeon gives double EXP, so it’s not unusual to level up a lot…the Broken Impairment enemies count to around one floor worth of experience…yet just three enemy rooms in a Hidden Dungeon gives just around the same as the latter two? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Who knows, maybe it’s an error like with Arachne, or the out-of-script Broken Impairment.” Circe shrugged.

”Hm,” Zeke shook his head. “Harpies are the appropriate monsters to appear at our level, but don’t you feel like we killed them too easily? If it’s really an error like you said, then there must be some sort of twist to this.”]

Circe took a moment to think before nodding. “I agree with you, it does smell fishy. But since we don’t know anything now, we should focus on clearing this place. The deeper we go, the clearer things should be.”

“That’s true.” Zeke strolled to the newly opened room, letting Circe follow behind him.

Once they stepped inside, the scent of tranquility greeted them. Surrounding a pond in the middle, lush greeneries and flora enchanted the room in a calming aura. Their fatigues melted from their bodies the moment they caught a wisp of the flowers’ scent. “Ah, this is the Rest Stop.”

”Great, let’s take a break here for a bit,” Circe walked on ahead of him as she stretched her hands high in the air, her sword nowhere to be seen. Plopping down on one of the benches near the water, she raised both her legs onto the seat. “Then we can backtrack and see what the other rooms’ about, I can feel this floor’s layout coming to an end soon.”

.

.

.

Entering the chest room from before, Zeke carefully observed his surroundings. Bushes and trees parted for the sole metallic chest acting as the block’s focal point. As his attention fixed on the box, he raised an eyebrow. “Doesn't seem like there's anything unusual in here…So it's just a normal room with loot?”

Unlike him, Circe’s narrowed gaze shimmered in suspicion. She crept closer to the chest, holding her sword out in defense. “Normally they don't appear this early in the game…but…”

When she reached her hand towards the chest, it suddenly lunged at her, revealing multiple rows of razor-like fangs and a long, pointed tongue. Since Circe came prepared, a vertical strike of her sword sent the living chest flying backwards.

Landing a few meters away from her, the monster’s mouth opened to let loose whatever hid within it. Black tendrils rigged with teeth-like spikes shot into the sky before arching down towards the closest target.

Fortunately, Zeke reacted first and shot the whips with a magic missile, forcing them to retreat. A nervous smirk formed on his lips. “Ha, your trap instincts even work against Mimics, huh?”

Circe dashed backwards as the mimic’s tendrils rushed at her once again, letting their pointed tips impale into the ground. “Not a good time to talk, Zeke. Immobilize it.”

“Aye aye, captain.” As per her order, Zeke held out his free hand and a sudden unseeable force pressed down on the tendrils, anchoring them to the ground.

With the window of opportunity, Circe lunged past the mimics’ limbs, reaching its main body in a single leap. Since the monster couldn't move, her sword pierced into the mimic’s mouth, and she felt pressure fighting against the blade’s strength.

“I must’ve gotten its core. Game over, then.”

[Killed x1 ]

[Achievement Unlocked: ‘Wait. You're not a Chest’ - Discover and Slay a Mimic.]

[You’ve earned some EXP!]

[ dropped <80 DCs>]

[‘Ruelle Peregrine’ - in Possession: 205]

[ dropped ]

Pulling out her sword, Circe didn't need to turn around after hearing Zeke’s footsteps behind her. “Ha, it gave you a new toy, Zeke.” she grinned as they watched the mimic’s body dissipate into light, leaving behind a staff on the grassy bed.

< Weapon Description >

Name: Arcane Resonance

Tier: B

Type: Staff

Class: Mage

Stat: (+3) to Magic

Effects

Grants the skill

Bonus Effects

Increases the user’s control over mana.

Increases the user’s resistance to

<<>>

Zeke picked it up, immediately swapping out the Sapphire Staff for the new Arcane Resonance. It had a silver body adorned with sapphire accents. A singular blue diamond-shaped gemstone hovered in the head’s curvy parameter.

[Equipped as your ‘Primary Weapon’.]

[The Weapon Skill, , is added to your Skill Tab.]

[Equipped as your ‘Secondary Weapon’.]

“Huh, I didn’t think that would work,” Zeke resummoned the Sapphire Staff into his other hand for a moment, whisking it away once more after he confirmed his curiosity. “Seems like you can dual-wield staves here.”

“That’s great, isn’t it?” Circe didn’t sound surprised as her gaze averted to the newly-opened gate ahead. “Now you don’t need to swap out their skills and can just use both magic missile and magic blast.”

‘Weapon Slots’ in Dungeon Regime allowed the players to quickly switch between their weapons with a single click of a button, also known as ‘Quick Swap’. Some weapons can only be used in the ‘Primary Weapon’ slot, such as a mage’s staff, greatswords, and weapons that come in pairs.

With the game’s limits lifted, Zeke can now use both his staves in battle, not needing to swap them out through the inventory.

“Oh yeah,” a sudden thought came to Zeke’s mind. His abrupt callout earned Circe’s attention. “Setting our weapons as either Primary or Secondary binds them to our IDs, right? If they’re bound…then can’t we do something like…” Zeke threw his new staff to the side, only for it to reappear back into his grip a second later. “Something like that: ‘Weapon Recall’.”

“Oh!” Circe exclaimed in surprise. “It must’ve used the same principles as weapons like the Throwing Knives and Combat Cards. I thought they just materialize new ones once they’re thrown, but if they’re retrieved instead…”

“This could’ve been useful to know in our previous fights,” Zeke let out a sigh as his lips curled into a forlorn smile. “What a pity, but at least now we have a new trick up our sleeves.”

“A trick that I’m definitely trying out in the next monster room.” Circe smirked as she summoned a dagger into her free hand.