Like I expected, Yumemi Dungeon was a ghost town.
After showing my Adventurer Card to the supervisor, I took the stairs down to the Return Zone. I stood before the Gate then glanced around for any other people.
Nobody was there: perfect.
Adventurers needed to meet at least level 80 to cross the Gate into Yumemi Dungeon, but that didn’t apply to me. Not even the Span could stop me from entering. A beat of silence passed—then my skill activated, and I landed on the other side of the Gate without issue.
“Guess I’ll get started.”
As I walked forward, I recalled the last time I beat this dungeon three months ago. Goblins, kobolds, and gray wolves spawned here. The gray wolves were the strongest of the three.
Short sword in one hand, I moved through the dungeon. I actually obtained this sword—the Yumemi Short Sword—right here. It could only be obtained during the first run through the dungeon: the boss dropped it as a special reward if the adventurer beat it solo. It had the ability to boost Attack parameters by +60, so it was a pretty great weapon to have. I’d loved it since the second I obtained it.
“Here’s company.”
I raised my short sword toward the direction I sensed a monster’s presence. The ash-colored coat flagged the monster—no, three of them—as gray wolves. They fought in packs, so they were tough opponents, but…
“Too slow.”
I parried a gray wolf and slashed out, inflicting damage right away. Last time, fighting them took a lot out of me, but my level was waaay higher now. Those wolves had nothing on me. This was proof that I’d made real progress from leveling up and improving my stats. Talent was important in a battle, but under the world leveling system, boosting raw numbers was the most important factor to growing as an adventurer.
“That was easy,” I said, leaving the defeated gray wolves behind.
To keep up the pace, I did my best to avoid pulling aggro from the monsters and reduced my battles to a minimum. Three hours after I entered the dungeon, the giant door to the boss room towered before me. When I touched it, it groaned open with a creak. Good timing; no one else was already fighting the boss. If a party was in there, the door wouldn’t have opened until the battle was over. The wait would’ve been annoying.
“Oops. Should probably focus on the boss right now.”
Yumemi Dungeon’s boss was a harpy—a half-human, half-bird creature with a woman’s face. She had the ability to sing and lull her opponents into sleep, but with my Resistance parameters, her siren song had no effect on me. The hardest part was the way harpies fought in the air, flying around until the last second when they dove in for the attack. Last time, the battle dragged on for ages because of her tricks.
This time should be easier. I came prepared.
I reached into the pouch on my waist and withdrew a palm-sized rock. This Exploding Stone was a magic item imbued with a spell to explode on contact. Exploding Stones came in various strengths, but this one was on the lower end in terms of power. One stone only cost 2,000 yen: not a bad price for a magic item.
“Take this!” I shouted.
I flung the Exploding Stone at the harpy. It struck her with a loud bang that shook the area. The harpy screeched as the explosion completely enveloped her. It didn’t look like it dealt a huge amount of damage, but it definitely pissed her off. The angry harpy swooped into a nosedive, straight toward me.
Exactly what I wanted.
I waited for the perfect moment and swung hard with my short sword. As a gash opened in her torso, the harpy went down with another screech.
The system dinged in my head.
“Dungeon Takedown Reward: Level increased by 5!”
I clenched my fist in victory. “Yes! Five levels already.”
Until yesterday, even if I’d spent all day fighting in the dungeon, I’d only gain one measly level. The speed at which my levels grew now was unreal, but I wasn’t going to be satisfied with this rate. No way, no how!
I’ve got tons of time. I’m going to beat Yumemi Dungeon as many times as I can today, I thought. Oh, almost forgot.
In my excitement, I hadn’t looted the harpy’s body for magic stones. Once I remembered, I made quick work of it with my short sword and found 5,000 yen’s worth of magic stones inside. A decent haul.
The soft light of the dungeon’s teleportation spell enveloped my body. I mumbled to myself, “It’s time, then.”
The spell landed me in the Return Zone—but obviously, I wasn’t going home just because it did that.
“Time for another round, that is!”
Feeling fired up, I activated Dungeon Teleportation and went back in. After that, I beat Yumemi Dungeon twice more. In total, I grew fifteen levels in one day.
AMANE RIN
Level: 224 SP: 200
HP: 1,720/1,830 MP: 320/410
Attack: 460 Defense: 330 Speed: 480
Intelligence: 320 Resistance: 330 Luck: 320
Skills: Dungeon Teleportation LV 10, Enhanced Strength LV 3