Volume 1 - Chapter 2: The Old man who reset his level (1/2)
In a forest far from the village, a man could be seen riding a horse-like creature at a speed impossible for horses. The creature’s species was known as Raptors. Raptors were faster and stronger than average horses as well as more useful in combat than trained horses. They were useful creatures that can be found in dungeons and were often tamed by adventurers due to the massive advantages that they provided.
In their current situation, if a person were to determine their destination, that person would merely assume the adventurer to be travelling into the wilderness blindly seeking adventure. That person would never guess that the travelling adventurer destination was a room which could perform the impossible.
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.
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It appeared in my mind again… The hidden room.
Why can’t I stop thinking about the room? Why do I continue to believe in a fairy tale?
A room capable of resetting a person’s level.
I just can’t imagine such a convenient room existing in this world.
If it did exist, why wasn’t it discovered long ago? Such a room would had been famous worldwide in the blink of an eye.
If it was impossible for such a room to exist, why am I still trying to aim for the dungeon that appeared in my head?
Sigh I must look like an idiot. I know that it is impossible and yet, I still want to go to that dungeon to confirm it for myself. I never realized it but I really am bad at giving up huh. Probably the worst in the whole world.
I probably realized it a long time ago.. That if I had given up my dream of becoming the strongest, I would had fell into depression a long time ago.
Subconsciously, I knew that even if I did obtain a power beyond my status, even with all the training I have done.. No. Even if I did have a normal status, I would not have been able to clear the Tower of Trials, and continued running from it without giving up.
It feels like I have been waiting all this time, waiting for something.
At this moment, something appeared in the distance and the heat in my chest started to radiate even further.
For the sake of resetting my level, I continued to ride towards the entrance of the dungeon that has to contain the level reset room.
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.
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In this world, dungeons weren’t considered a national threat, but rather a form of resource. If the monsters within were defeated, they would drop items which could be used or sold for money. There were also monsters that could be tamed as well as treasure chests containing rare items. These monsters and chests would re-spawn once every week, thus dungeons were a resource that provided endless amounts of materials and treasures. Seeking this valuable resource, towns and villages were often built near dungeons. Time to time, monsters would escape from the dungeons and wreck havoc inside the towns and villages, however people were still willing to take the risk as the dungeons had provided more benefits than the risks provided.
Dungeons located away from human civilization were called Wild Dungeons.
These dungeons were often considered more dangerous than normal dungeons for various reasons. For domesticated dungeons, adventurers frequently enter in hopes of hunting valuable materials or discovering treasure chests. This causes the number of monsters in the dungeon to be regulated every week as adventurers continue to hunt for their income. However this wasn’t the case for wild dungeons. Wild dungeons were dungeons that were uncontrolled. As there are rarely adventurers entering these dungeons, the dungeons are filled with monsters and it would be impossible to ask for help once caught in a dire situation.
If the secret room existed, this is likely the reason why it was never noticed.
The dungeon I arrived in appears to be a Wild Dungeon.
[It seems that this dungeon is a cave-type.] (Yuuya)
Cave dungeons were one of the most disliked dungeons among adventurers due to their low visibility and low efficiency. They are one of the dungeons that requires utmost diligence from any adventurers who aim to conquer them as adventurers are required to carry a light source with them, thus hindering their combat prowess. In addition, many monsters that dwell in cave dungeons typically hide in the shadows to attack unsuspecting adventurers from their blind spots or incapacitate them. With such a high difficulty rate, many adventurers often neglect cave-type dungeons as their rewards was not worth the effort that was required to conquer the dungeon.
[If only I had a magic flare with me.] (Yuuya)
I muttered unknowingly as I took out my magic torch and held it in my left hand. Magic torches were torches which illuminated the surroundings whereas Magic Flares were capable of serving as a similar light source while repelling monsters.
Magic flares were especially effective for cave explorations as it was a light source that did not attract monsters, but rather dissuade them from approaching as monsters disliked the light it emitted.
I continued my exploration of the dungeon holding a short sword in my right hand rather than my usual two-handed long sword as my left hand was currently holding the torch. Being unable to hold my trusted sword made me feel extremely uneasy as I wouldn’t be able to perform at my 100%. I tightened my grip onto the short sword as I resolved myself to enter the cave.
Just as I was feeling comfortable walking inside the cave, I felt a sudden chill rush down my spine. Following my instinct, I jumped to the right and turned to my original position as I regained my footing, catching something launch itself onto my previous location. It was a Tyrant Snake, a large snake the size of an adult’s neck which produced a paralytic poison on its fang. It was also capable of moving soundlessly and managed to enter my blind spot before launching its attack. If it was successful then I would had easily been paralyzed and slowly suffocated as the snake wrapped itself around my neck. However, I am a trained swordsman who was capable of unconsciously detecting presences entering my range, a skill which only the best swordsmen possessed.
Taking advantage of the recoil from its rush, I dropped the torch onto the ground as I ran over, grabbing the snake’s head with an eagle’s grip and forcing it onto the ground with my iron boot, immobilizing its head as it’s body thrashed around trying to break free. However, before that happened I swung down my short sword onto its neck severing its head from its body as it’s body turned into blue particles. Judging from the experience points from the battle, the dungeon seemed to be around level 20 to level 30 as I picked up my torch, continuing deeper into the dungeon.
It has been four hours since I started exploring the dungeon.
I could feel my fatigue accumulating as I ventured deeper into the cave. My body started to feel sluggish and my mind started to shut down as I look at the unchanging scenery around me.
Whenever a person’s field of vision was limited, battling becomes much more difficult as they unconsciously become more attentive to their surroundings. In this case, not just my field of vision, with my battle capabilities hindered due to the torch, I was in an uncomfortable situation where I suffered multiple handicaps whereas the monsters which dwelled in this area have the advantage as their battle capabilities weren’t hindered. Not to mention that the monsters would not require light to maneuver in combat and skills such as paralysis. Entering such a dungeon alone would be suicide.
To make matters worse, this torch also served as a moving beacon, luring every monster in the vicinity to my location. It was as if I was serving myself to them on a silver platter. I knew this the moment I entered the cave, and my instincts were screaming at me not to lower my guard. This pressure pushed my mind into hyper drive and consumed my stamina much faster than usual. However, thanks to this pressure, I have survived thus far and I have finally arrived at the third floor of the dungeon.
[This place looks exactly the same as the image back then] (Yuuya)
If my memory is correct, the hidden room that contains the level reset function should be somewhere in this area.
As I investigated the area, I found a pure white stone monument standing in a corner. According to the image, this monument should be the entrance to the hidden room.
I walked to the side of the monument and leaned my body weight onto the monument to push it, revealing a secret door hidden in the wall. For some reason, I knew that it was a door that was sealed using magic, and that it required specific conditions before a person could open the door.
I placed my hand on the door.
*RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE*
The sealed door started to rumble and opened itself, revealing a secret room.
Just how did I know, that I needed to be level 50 to open this door?
In the first place, it was impossible for anyone to discover this place, much less figure out how to open this door.
For an adventurer to coincidentally discover this dungeon, decide to enter the dungeon despite its difficulty and inefficiency compared to normal dungeons. After spending their energy and stamina travelling in the dungeon for over four hours, push aside a white monument that could possibly be a trap, revealing a door that can only be opened by a person who was level 50. There were too many variables and even if the person was blessed with the best luck, it was still unreasonable to expect a level 50 adventurer to enter a dungeon filled with monsters leveled 30 at best.
The person would need to know about the hidden room to actually find it.
Thinking about it calmly, it was even more unreasonable.
In the first place, resetting their levels was every adventurers’ dream. If they had obtained unsatisfactory statuses like I did, they would had chosen to reset and start all over. If anyone knew about the level reset function, news about it would had spread all around the world. Which means that if it was still unknown, then the conditions was impossible to be discovered by mere coincidence.