The origin of the Dungeon is now untraceable.
People only know that long before the gods descended to the world of mortals, that is, a thousand years ago in ancient times, the Dungeon already existed on this land.
At that time, the Dungeon was a cavern that appeared on the ground, like a giant mouth from the abyss, constantly spewing out various monsters that brought harm to the world.
To deal with the monster disasters emerging from the Dungeon, the people of that era built a giant tower at the entrance of the Dungeon, effectively placing a lid over its mouth to block the monsters.
That giant tower, which served as a lid, is the predecessor of the current Tower of Babel.
The reason it is called a predecessor is that the tower has been destroyed many times.
The current Tower of Babel was built with the help of the gods after they descended to the mortal world a thousand years ago, and it has remained standing for a millennium.
Directly beneath the Tower of Babel lies the entrance to the Dungeon.
As long as you come to the central square, you can see the towering, sacred, and majestic white giant tower at the center of the city.
The base of the giant tower is several hundred meters wide, and on its first floor, dozens of large arches facing various directions have been built. Adventurers come and go through them, creating a lively atmosphere.
Ryoji suppressed his rising excitement, donned his prepared chest armor and short sword, and walked through one of the large arches.
This Dungeon would become his source of self-improvement for a long time to come.
As soon as he entered the Tower of Babel, the first thing that caught his eye was a vast white hall. From the depths of the hall, faint sounds of flowing water could be heard. Many Adventurers, covered in blood, walked in and then emerged refreshed.
Ryoji only glanced briefly with both eyes before quickly walking to the center of the hall.
There was a massive hole with a diameter of several tens of meters.
The hole was vertically distributed, dropping straight into the underground world, like a monster opening its mouth wide, waiting for its prey to unknowingly jump in and be swallowed whole.
This was the entrance to the Dungeon.
Descending into that entrance would officially mark the beginning of the Dungeon's domain.
Following behind other Adventurers, Ryoji, cloaked and looking around like a country bumpkin, slowly walked down the silver spiral staircase leading underground.
...
"Guaa!"
As soon as he stepped into the Dungeon, before he could even take in his surroundings, a monster let out a strange cry and charged at him.
It was a dog-headed monster. Although it walked upright, its skin was rough and gray like stone, about half the height of a human, with black claws on its ten fingers and red eyes that showed no trace of rationality.
The Kobold charged at Ryoji with remarkable speed.
"Shhhrrk!"
The sound of a blade cutting through flesh rang out.
Ryoji took a step back to the side, and the Kobold coincidentally collided with the short sword he held horizontally.
The Kobold looked horrified, but it couldn't stop its momentum. Its head was instantly severed by the short sword, and black-red blood splattered out.
The monster's body split into two and fell to the ground. The body's pigment quickly faded, and shortly after, the whitened body crumbled and turned into black smoke, dissipating into nothingness.
"Clink!"
Only a fingernail-sized blue-purple crystal remained, falling to the ground from its chest.
"Unlike humans, monsters use all their strength, making their behavior patterns easier to predict."
Ryoji picked up the blue-purple crystal, his expression unchanged. These monsters were like wild beasts he encountered on the roadside, and these beasts had bared their fangs at him, showing clear killing intent.
He would hold back when dealing with humans, but he would never show any mercy to monsters that attacked him.
"This is a Magic Stone."
Ryoji looked down at the crystal in his hand.
Magic Stones are the energy source that drives monsters, serving as the magical power crystals for these creatures. As long as you defeat a monster, a Magic Stone will drop from its body. Taking it to the Guild can earn you money, which is the primary way most Adventurers make a living.
Magic Stones themselves seem to contain incredible power, and the Guild has mastered the methods to utilize that power, creating many devices powered by Magic Stones, such as Magic Stone Lamps, Magic Stone Stoves, and Magic Stone Refrigerators.
These are things explicitly recorded in the guidebooks. It seems the Guild wants Adventurers to bring back as many Magic Stones as possible, as there is significant profit in the Magic Stone trade.
"Let's head deeper."
Ryoji examined the map in his hand and moved toward the next level.
According to the guidebook, the first floor only had weak monsters like Kobolds and Goblins, and with a bit of courage, even an ordinary person could defeat them.
As per the Guild's recommendation, a Level 1 solo Adventurer could descend to around the 12th floor, but that was for the elite among Level 1s; beginners typically only ventured through the first five floors.
Ryoji could defeat Level 2 Adventurers without using special abilities, so reaching below the 12th floor shouldn't be a problem. However, Finn had warned him against the 13th floor, and he knew that advice wasn't given lightly... so he decided to take it one step at a time.
Ryoji advanced quickly through the Dungeon.
Following the somewhat abstract map's guidance, he swiftly navigated various straight paths and forks, moving back and forth between the light blue caverns until he found the staircase leading to the next level, stepping in without hesitation.
Before long, he had arrived at the 5th floor.
"The guidebook says that every 5th floor, the difficulty increases slightly..."
Ryoji walked down the ramp.
What greeted him was a corridor narrower than the 4th floor, with a more complex maze-like layout. The cave walls had turned into a more eerie light green, and some moss had begun to grow in the corners, making the map's complexity visibly more challenging.
Not only that—
"Whoosh—!"
Without a sound, a lizard-like creature about half a human's height dove down from the wall. Its color blended with the wall, making it difficult to spot and catch off guard.
"Shhhrrk!"
Ryoji advanced instead of retreating, swinging his short sword backward, slicing into the lizard's gaping mouth. With a tearing sound, he cleaved its body in two.
A slightly larger Magic Stone fell out, which he picked up and placed in his waist pouch.
"Speaking of which, according to the guidebook, if you're lucky, a monster's body might not only drop a Magic Stone but also 'drop items'..."
Magic Stones are guaranteed drops from monsters.
However, some monsters may differ from their counterparts, possibly possessing sharper claws, and defeating them could yield items like "Sharp Claws," which are generally worth more than the Magic Stones dropped by the same type of monster.
But that was under lucky circumstances, and Ryoji's luck—
"Well, someone as wealthy as me doesn't need any drop items!"
(End of Chapter)
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