The dungeon in my room - Chapter 1
After putting on the shoes I brought from the entrance, I slowly descended the steep stairs. At first, I crouched and carefully took each step with the glass armor in my arms, but soon I was able to walk down without it. How deep is this?
“Just don’t let a slime suddenly fall on me, okay?”
Uh! No, that’s not right! That’s not a flag!
And as I was finishing my internal monologue, the stairs came to an end. The flat dirt road turned into a stone-paved passage. Without the light of my smartphone, everything was too dark to see. As I pointed the light at the ceiling, the height seemed to be about 4-5 meters.
“How far does this thing go? If the ceiling caves in, I’m screwed… huh?”
As I took a step onto the stone pavement, a small light brighter than my smartphone’s light approached.
“Woah!”
I instinctively thrust my smartphone forward, and it hit and disappeared.
The light turned off as well, and everything went dark. Only the buzz of my smartphone vibrated in my hand.
“What the hell!?”
White letters appeared on the space where the screen was supposed to be.
You have discovered your first dungeon in this world
Intervention Title: “Pioneer”
Intervention Benefits: “Explorer Set A”
Intervention Reward: “Free Random Skill”
You have defeated your first monster in a dungeon in this world
Title: “Challenger”
Benefits: “Combatant Set A”
Reward: “Free Random Skill”
You have defeated your first unique monster in this world: “Gold Slime (Stray)”
Title: “Seizer of Good Fortune”
Benefits: “Sage Set A”
Reward: “Free Selectable Skill”
Gold Slime (Stray) Drop: “Sage’s House”
“What the heck… uh…”
As I finished reading the text, there was a slight pain behind my eyes, which immediately disappeared.
“What the… it hurts!!”
This time, there was a dull throbbing in my entire head. My limbs and organs became stiff for a moment, as if I had been electrocuted.
Uncontrollably, I fell to both knees. My glasses fell off in the process.
Am I going to die? Me…
Soon the pain disappeared as if it had been a lie. The time on my smartphone showed that not even a minute had passed. The light was still off.
“Ugh… I’m headed back…”
I stood up and brushed off the dirt from my knees. And then I noticed something.
I could see my limbs, the stone pavement, and even the moss growing in the cracks of the pavement. I looked up and saw that the end of the passage, which I couldn’t even see with my smartphone’s light before, had turned to the right.
“Huh? Did the lights turn on? Not white, but like, the kind that’s warm-colored…?”
I looked up at the ceiling, but there were no fluorescent lights. I put my smartphone into my sweatpants pocket.
My body felt oddly light. And this was with the glass armor on. I grabbed the glass table legs that were hanging over my shoulders with both hands and jumped.
“Ouch!”
I hit my head hard against the block on the ceiling.
“…That was a bit too high.”
I looked up at the ceiling again. That jump was over 3 meters.
As I was rubbing my head, an ant appeared from the passage that turned to the right ahead.
“…Huh, could this be an ant’s nest?”
I thought to myself. It approached while moving its two antennae busily and gnashing its black, sickle-like fangs.
It was about the size of a big dog. …No, wait, that’s crazy! That ant is huge!
The ant was now about 5 meters away. 4 meters, 3 meters…
I quickly picked up the knife I had placed at my feet.
2 meters… 1 meter
I took a step forward and stabbed the knife between its eyes. It felt like a weak spot. I stepped on its foot, crushing my glasses underfoot.
“Kyah…”
The ant’s antennae stopped moving, and as it drooped, its black, shiny body was enveloped in a faint light and vanished. In its place was a small, obsidian-like stone that was the size of the tip of my little finger. It rolled around, shimmering slightly.
“Hmm… wait, am I being too calm about this? …It would normally run away, right… what’s wrong with me!?”
Your level has increased.
Vitality has increased by 40 points, Magic by 20 points, and Physical Abilities by 4 points.
Suddenly, my own voice echoed in my head. But it wasn’t my own will speaking.
“Whoa… what the hell, that’s creepy…”
Is there another me inside of me? …Is that why I was able to handle that so calmly?
“Could this be… a status screen?”
In that instant, my status appeared on the screen in my head.
Lv2. Kohta Tadokoro (23 years old)
Race: Human
Occupation: Low-Level Salaryman
Vitality: 200/240
Magic: 100/120
Endurance: 24
Strength: 22
Defense: 22
Agility: 22
Luck: 200
Magic (All Compatible): None
Skills: Absolute Defense 1, Observe Presence 1, Appraisal 10, Abnormal Resistance 10, Magic Resistance 10, Eye Adjustment 10, Spatial Storage 10, Vitality Recovery 10
Magic Recovery 10
Unique Skills: Sage’s House (Unlearned)
Titles: “Pioneer”, “Challenger”, “Seizer of Good Fortune”
Free Random Skills: 2
Free Selectable Skill: 1
“…Occupation: Low-Level Salaryman… what? My salary? The bottom rung? Man, that’s harsh.”
I did get those titles when I first entered this place. They said something about rewards.
Here are the titles and rewards in detail:
“Pioneer”: Double experience gain
“Explorer Set A”: Eye Adjustment 10 (Max), Appraisal 10 (Max), Spatial Storage 10 (Max)
“Free Random Skill”: Acquire a random skill
“Challenger”: Basic abilities doubled
“Combatant Set A”: Abnormal Resistance 10 (max),
Vitality Recovery 10 (max), Absolute Defense 1 (Level dependent)
“Free Random Skill”: Acquire a random skill
“He Who Grasps the Tail of Fortune”: Luck 200 (max)
“Sage Set A”: Magic Resistance 10 (max), Magic Recovery 10 (max),
All Compatible Magic (Level dependent)”Free Selectable Skill”: Acquire any skill of your choosing
Unique Drop Skill: Gold Slime (Stray) – Sage’s House (Level dependent)
“Wow… Isn’t this amazing? It’s about the growth rate, right? By 2 times.
Basic Abilities are things like Endurance and Agility? Twice of that’s all there is?”
I was disappointed. No, it’s true that at our school’s sports festival, I was never chosen as the star runner for the relay race.
My club was the Local Historical Studies Club, or Local History Club for short. It was easy…
That means my basics are pretty much nonexistent.
“Well, I was able to defeat that ant just fine. The reason I didn’t panic must be because of Abnormal Resistance…? Could it be that things like fear are also included? Wait, magic?! Can I use magic?! Whoah… Fireball!”
I shouted while facing my palm towards the depths of the passage. Nothing happened.
“Just kidding…”
Ah… I feel like tearing my own chest out of embarrassment, but the glass armor is getting in the way.
“Time to head back”
After picking up the black stone left behind by the ant I had just defeated, I slowly made my way back to the room.