Chương 22: I Did It Once, and I'll Do It Again

The moment Cael reached the first floor, he began cutting down monsters. From the first to the fourth floor, nothing posed a problem for someone whose Basic Abilities were all approaching D 500. D-rank was already enough to satisfy the stat requirement for a Level Up. An adventurer with even one Basic Ability at D-rank was considered an upper-end Lv. 1 and could enter floors beyond the seventh. The monsters past the seventh floor also corresponded to upper-end Lv. 1 adventurers.

From the tenth to the twelfth floor, even upper-end Lv. 1 adventurers needed to form parties. Otherwise, fighting multiple Orcs, with their brute strength and weapons, would end in a one-sided defeat. Cael cut through monsters without slowing down and arrived at the fourth floor. His backpack was already half full of Magic Stones.

"With this many Skills, there is no pressure at all. More than that, constant fighting makes my Basic Abilities rise. Unless I suddenly run into a monster far beyond me, fighting will only get easier." Cael looked toward the passage to the fifth floor and walked in without hesitation. On the fifth and sixth floors, War Shadows and Needle Rabbits appeared. There was not much to say about the weaker monsters anymore. They moved slowly, and their teeth or claws were their only reliable weapons.

Occasionally, they dropped materials used for certain potions or equipment. Needle Rabbit drops included the horn on their forehead and fur like steel needles, with hardness far beyond ordinary metal. Cael's current light armor had been forged from Needle Rabbit Fur mixed with refined steel.

"Hahaha! You little bastards. Last time, chasing me in packs was fun, right? Now cutting you down feels great." Cael held a sword in his right hand and killed one kobold after another with swift, clean strikes. His expression gradually turned fierce, and he laughed loudly. The satisfaction of revenge went straight through his soul.

"Hm? A Drop Item. My first one." He picked up the fang left behind after the monster turned to ash and vanished. Surprise filled him. Drop Items were far more valuable than Magic Stones, even if they came from the Upper Floors.

"My strength increased a lot again. Did it pass five hundred? With the Skill doubling it, that would be over a thousand." Cael felt the explosive sensation in his muscles and thought quietly. Cutting through monsters all the way, he reached the sixth floor. After killing a dozen War Shadows and Needle Rabbits, he arrived at the seventh floor. Then, after killing a dozen Killer Ants, he reached the eighth floor.

"War Shadows. I am here for payback."

"So slow..." Cael easily dodged the bladed claws of the War Shadow that had once left him in such miserable condition. With a backhanded strike, he thrust his sword into its body, and with a dull pop, it turned into black ash. That was only natural. A War Shadow's Basic Ability values were around two hundred, roughly the middle range for Lv. 1 adventurers.

"That felt good." After nearly three hours of fighting, Cael rested for half an hour near the entrance to the ninth floor.

"The ninth floor was already a warning line. Past the tenth floor, even rare Infant Dragons could appear. Hm. I will stop here for now. Next comes the real show." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. After resting, Cael's lips curved like a villain's. He snapped out of it and patted his cheeks. Ah. It seemed that after accidentally causing the last massive chaos, something strange had awakened in him.

Still, his Basic Abilities had definitely passed five hundred now. If he faced the same situation as last time, he could stay calm. He might even handle it with room to spare. Before long, Cael returned to the fourth floor. He pressed his hands together and offered a few silent apologies to the adventurers making money by fighting monsters in the Dungeon. Then a sacred golden gate that only he could see appeared, like a door leading to heaven. This gate was completely different from the previous one.

The carvings on it had changed. Last time, they had leaned toward a Western Greek style. This time, they leaned toward a Japanese style.

"Does that mean this door leads to a different world from last time?" Cael wondered for a moment, then swallowed. Still a little nervous, he inserted the golden key. He was already prepared to face the Dungeon's will after the golden gate shattered. Click. The sound of a lock opening rang out. The key in his hand disappeared, and the golden gate slowly opened a narrow crack.

"It opened!" Cael froze, then stared in disbelief. The ability World Gate Key could only be activated once per day. Succeeding on the second attempt was not much more likely than winning the lottery. Before joy could rise, a terrifying sensation full of malice descended instantly. He seemed to stand in that dark space again. A pair of crimson eyes suddenly opened and locked onto him, as if their gaze alone could kill him. After a brief shudder, Cael recovered.

He wiped sweat from his forehead and looked around with his whole body tense. Rumble. The ground began to shake. The faintly glowing cave walls cracked, and crimson eyes full of malice opened in the gaps. The cries of various monsters mixed together like a swarm. One. Two. Three. In barely ten seconds, more than ten monsters hatched from the cave walls and dropped to the floor. The first to fall were weak monsters such as Goblins, Kobolds, and Dungeon Lizards.

It seemed that when an upper floor spawned monsters from the next floor down, there was a delay, as if the upper floor lacked enough energy and needed time to build it up.

"This time is different, little monsters. Heh. This way of earning money is way too fast." Seeing this, Cael no longer felt the shock or fear he had felt last time. Instead, he felt the rush of battle. His smile gradually turned fierce.

"Kill." Without another word, he charged at the fallen monsters with both swords.... The same thing was happening on every floor of the Upper Floors. The monster spawn rate instantly rose by eight to twelve times, catching lower-class adventurers who were fighting for money completely off guard.

"What is happening? You have to be kidding me. The monsters are spawning way too fast, and monsters that do not belong on this floor are appearing. Run! Run!"

"It happened again. The huge Irregular from the day before yesterday! Run!"

"Damn it. Why did the Guild fail to investigate this properly? So many Killer Ants. Help!"

"Upper-class adventurers, help!"

"Do not leave me behind, damn it!"

"Too many monsters. The passage is blocked. Escape through another passage!" At the same time, the Guild received news. In the emergency, it issued a mission ordering upper-class adventurers still in Babel Plaza to enter the Dungeon and investigate the truth.... In another cave on the fourth floor, a well-equipped party of five adventurers was running for their lives. Behind them, more than twenty monsters from the fifth floor and below chased them relentlessly, and their numbers were still increasing.

"Damn it! Why did this have to happen to us?" A short-haired young adventurer cut off a goblin's head, fear snapping the last string in his mind as he shouted.

"Why are War Shadows from the sixth floor and Killer Ants from the seventh floor appearing on the fourth? And in these numbers?"

"The monsters are spawning too fast. At this rate, they will catch us, leader."

"Shut up. If they catch up, throw out that little dog-person supporter as bait. It should hold them back for a while." The middle-aged bearded adventurer they called leader was still relatively calm, but his expression was vicious. After speaking, he glanced at the small figure behind them, wearing a loose milk-white robe and carrying the party's spoils. Hearing the bearded man's cruel words, the small figure carrying a backpack twice the size of her body shrank her neck.

She pulled her whole head into her hood, and the little hands gripping the pack straps trembled slightly.

"That is not really..."

"Hmph. Duke, do you want to be the bait if they catch up? That little dog-person brat is from Soma Familia. A Familia that preys on its own members will not care if one of them dies." They did not care whether the supporter behind them heard. In this situation, both sides understood what was happening. Incidents like this were clearly not rare among adventurers.