Aster took out his military chip and searched for the location of the Dungeon Hall.
Every dungeon under the military’s control was gathered there. Students who wished to enter had to purchase an entry pass before they could challenge one.
When Aster arrived, the hall was already crowded. Every first-year student had gathered, including all ten members of the top rankings. His eyes swept across the crowd before checking his own status.
So... everyone has actually been working hard these past few days.
The ordinary students had already reached Levels 3 to 5, while the top ten had climbed all the way to Levels 5 to 8.
Meanwhile...
Aster looked at the lonely number floating beside his own status.
Level 2.
"..."
"Looks like sleeping really isn’t the fastest leveling strategy."
He scratched his cheek without the slightest embarrassment.
Getting first place is going to be troublesome.
He sighed as though the real inconvenience wasn’t being underleveled, it was having to put in effort.
Still...
At least all those sword slashing had paid off.
System
Attack: 18 (+10)
And after doubling the attack speed of Slash... but attack stat also increased by 3
"...Maybe I can still steal first place." A lazy smile appeared on his face.
A few moments later, General came and started to explain the rules. "Here dungeons are divided by three ranks: easy, normal, hard. You all will get 3 hours to clear a dungeon as many times as possible. For clearing the easy level you will get 100 points, for normal level 300 points, and for hard level 500 points."
"The student with the highest total score wins."
The atmosphere immediately became tense. Everyone wanted first place.
Rows of glowing blue portals stood before them.
Although everyone entered the same dungeon gate, each person would be transported into their own private instance. It’s like different lobbies in multiplayer games.
Aster walked toward one of the portals.
The moment he stood before it
System
Lazy Inspection
Dungeon: The Eternal Lair
Monster Type: Undead
Race: Skeleton
Your challenge begins now.
A translucent panel appeared before him.
Select Difficulty
Easy
Normal
Hard
Hell (Locked)
Aster blinked.
"...Hell?"
"So there’s something above Hard?"
He stared at the locked option for a second before shrugging.
"Doesn’t matter. My level is low, I’ll first see the easy mode to check the water"
Without another thought, he selected Easy. The blue portal swallowed him whole. he warmth of the outside world disappeared instantly. The bright sky vanished as though someone had extinguished the sun itself.
Cold.
Silent.
Oppressive.
A damp breeze brushed across Aster’s face.
"...This place gives me goosebumps."
Before Aster was a huge graveyard. Gray mist drifted between countless crooked tombstones. Many graves had collapsed with age. Others had burst open from the inside, leaving shattered coffins scattered across the earth.
Crunch.
Aster had barely taken a few steps.
BOOM!!
One grave exploded beside him.
Dirt flew into the air.
A skeletal hand burst through the ground.
Clack...
Clack...
Clack...
Dry bones scraped against each other as a complete skeleton slowly climbed out of its grave.
Pale blue flames burned inside its empty eye sockets.
The instant it spotted Aster. It charged. Its rusted sword sliced through the air with a shrill whistle.
System:
Monster: Undead Skeleton
Level: 2
The Skeleton had only just entered Aster’s attack range.
Aster didn’t even bother moving and thought of "Slash."
WHOOSH!!
Two slashes materialized from thin air. One cut through the Skeleton’s neck. The second split its body cleanly in half.
Clatter!
Bones scattered across the ground.
System Screen:
Killed Undead Skeleton ×1
Aster looked around.
"...That’s it?"
He waited. Nothing happened. Only silence answered him. He walked deeper into the cemetery.
BOOM!!
Another grave exploded. A second Skeleton climbed out.
"...Slash."
Swish!
The Skeleton collapsed before it even completed its first step.
Aster looked thoughtfully at the graves surrounding him.
"I get it..."
"They only wake up if someone gets close."
A smile slowly spread across his face.
"If I keep killing them one at a time..."
"I’ll be here all day."
The top-ranked students had all chosen Hard Mode.
If he wanted to beat them...
He needed to clear this dungeon much faster.
Aster suddenly started to sprint. He ran by every grave there was
One grave after another erupted behind him.
BOOM!!
BOOM!!
BOOM!!
BOOM!!
Skeletons clawed their way out of the earth.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty.
More and more undead joined the chase.
Soon...
An entire army of Skeletons was charging after Aster.
Only then did Aster finally stop running.
He turned around.
Countless Skeletons rushed toward him from every direction.
Aster smiled.
"Perfect."
Aster leaned casually against a weathered tombstone, one hand resting lazily on the hilt of the sheathed sword hanging at his waist, he didn’t even bothered to unseal his sword because just touching it was enough
"Slash."
WHOOSH!!
Two slashes start manifesting one after another each second across the battlefield.
Two Skeletons exploded into piles of bones.
Again.
"Slash."
Again.
"Slash."
Again.
"Slash."
Every second...
Two more slashes were born.
Every second...
Two more Skeletons collapsed.
The undead couldn’t even reach him.
They simply fell apart one after another, as if they were some joys whose battery had run out. The enormous horde had completely vanished.
Only broken bones remained.
The graveyard fell silent once more.
System Notifications
Killed: Undead Skeleton ×53
Level Up!
Level Up!
Before Aster could celebrate, The entire cemetery trembled.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
A massive explosion erupted from the center of the graveyard.
Bones and dirt shot into the sky.
A new figure slowly emerged from the crater.
Unlike the ordinary Skeletons, this one wore battered steel armor.
A tattered crimson cape fluttered behind it.
In its hand rested a massive rusted greatsword.
The pressure it emitted was on an entirely different level.
Aster glanced at it.
"...Boss."
System
Undead Skeleton Commander
Level 5
The Skeleton Commander roared. It swung its massive sword and charged.
Aster calmly reached into his inventory. An iron chain appeared in his hand.
"...Bind."
CLANG!!
A mana-forged chain shot forward like a living serpent. It wrapped tightly around the Skeleton Commander.
The monster struggled violently. The chains didn’t move an inch.
Aster yawned.
"...Now that’s much easier."
He pointed a finger.
"Slash."
SHING!!
Both of the Commander’s arms flew into the air.
Its enormous greatsword crashed onto the ground.
The boss roared in fury.
Aster ignored it.
He pointed again.
"...Slash."
A crimson blade flashed across the battlefield.
SHHK!
The Skeleton Commander’s skull separated cleanly from its body.
Its massive frame stood motionless for a brief second before collapsing with a thunderous crash.
The corpse dissolved into countless particles of light.
System Notification
Congratulations!
Dungeon Cleared!
Reward Obtained
Undead Greatsword
Aster picked up the greatsword and examined it for a moment.
Effect: Deals 2× damage against Undead monsters.
"...Not bad."
He tossed it into his inventory.
Then he looked toward the dungeon exit with a conflicted expression.
"I just cleared it..."
"which means I have to do it all over again. Easy mode was too easy let go directly to hard mode"
He let out a long, exhausted sigh, as though repeating the dungeon was a punishment far crueler than fighting an army of undead.
"Trying to be number one really is troublesome."