Jin-woo leaned over. It had been only hours since they first entered and they were exhausted. Jin-woo’s hands were on his knees. He surveyed the carnage around them. Blood painted the floors and walls, viscera, bits and pieces of savage ratkin decorated the small room they had hoped to be a safe room. The joy they felt when they found the campfire sitting in the middle had almost made them both charge in.
But Jin-woo hadn’t gotten a notification. He expected one with how insistent the system was always with boring menial details. Was the stone too gray, new category. Was it oddly shaped, infinitesimal percentages of the possibility. So, when nothing popped up as they approached the doorways, he immediately became suspicious and warry.
It proved to be correct. Again.
Five ratkins had been waiting for them. An ambush they had planned. The monsters hid around the room in areas that were impossible to see from the doorway perspective. It only added layers to the already miserable dungeon experience.
He wondered what they would have done if he didn’t have a system to give him the feeling of paranoia. Would they have dove straight into relaxed mode and been ripped to shreds? Or were they quick enough to escape the ambush? Maybe he would escape, but he doubted Graq would make it out alive.
The Ratkin had wanted to sprint into the room. Only Jin-woo grabbing onto his armor stopped a brutal murder. Graq screamed as the two spears and a stone axe ripped into the air he had been only a second ago.
What happened next was the angriest he had seen the little guy.
Graq attacked with reckless abandon, fueled with unadulterated hate for the dungeon and the experience they’ve had so far. The endless slog of battle even though they had been here less than four hours, based on his system time.
Jin-woo stood up straight, stretching his back. Another savage ratkin had slammed their stone club into his spine. It left pangs of hurt with every movement that wasn’t still. He was just thankful that it wasn’t worse. Back pain was debilitating. He had experience back when he was still typing away for endless hours. Just a spasm felt like the world was over and he would die a brutal death.
He walked up to the campfire and picked up one of the logs. He flipped it over, getting some blood on his arms from the nasty side and took it over to another second of the room. Part of the wall that had been burnt black. The result of Graq’s skill. It was one of the only spots that could fit his size that wasn’t also covered in blood.
Graq was currently sitting with his back on the wall a few paces away. Half an arm still holding a broken handle sat between them. He panted, every breath a struggle. Holding his side and wincing with each inhalation. One of the ratkins had attempted to spear through him, but it only glanced off the leather armor due to dull shaped stone and a bad angle.
Streaks of monster blood lined his face. Bright red and in stark contrast to his fur color. Jin-woo had to wonder what the process of cleaning it would be like. He imagined it would be difficult to say the least. It was already hard enough to get blood off of clothes and the floors had much less thick fur.
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“How,” Graq took a wavering breath, struggling. He closed his eyes tight. “Did.” He winced again but could only grit his teeth. Graq regretted speaking already.
“How’d I clear out the first floor alone?” Jin-woo helpful supplied the words.
Graq nodded.
Jin-woo laughed. He picked up the ripped arm by the pommel of the broken axe, its fingers still tightly wrapped around it. Then threw it a distance.
Graq gagged. Closing his eyes to steady himself.
He felt nothing at all. His mind was as clear as the moment they walked into the dungeon. Yes, he was tired, but that was nothing compared to what he already experienced previously.
“Aren’t you tired?” Graq whispered. It seemed like that didn’t cause him considerable pain. “You look… fresh?”
“Not really,” Jin-woo said, shrugging. His eyes drifted to the string of notifications that started scrolling down his vision. He finally leveled up.
[COMBAT CONCLUDED]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 99 XP (9 Savage Ratkins (De-evolved) × 11 XP)]
[CONGRATULATIONS!]
[LEVEL UP: Level 2 – Level 3]
[PROGRESS TO NEXT LEVEL: 25/3000]
[STRENGTH: 16]
[AGILITY: 11]
[VITALITY: 10]
[INTELLIGENCE: 25 (+15)]
[SPIRIT: 12 (+2)]
[MANA: 1432/1600]
[AVAILABLE STAT POINTS: 5]
[SKILLS TAB: SELECT TO EXPAND]
[ADDITIONAL STAT TYPES UNAVAILABLE CURRENTLY]
[ALLOCATION REQUIRED!]
[5 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE!]
This meant two important things to him. First, he can finally improve his stats. With Graq around the fights were less urgent, and he took less damage. There had been no rest in between fights or support during his trek through the first floor. Damage accumulated even if he was slowly healing.
Graq’s presence alone meant that he could get some shuteye. That by itself was worth all the trouble it had been to fight by his side considering their terrible chemistry together. An issue they still struggled to resolve even with all the fights and encounters so far. Over thirty savage ratkins a few hours into the dungeon, and if it was like the upper floor, they wouldn’t reach the safe room until a few weeks later.
He also learned that sleep made his healing process quicker. Another boost.
Secondarily, and not quite so good news, was that it required him to lose consciousness. Jin-woo did not know how long he had fallen asleep last time. It could have been days for all he knew. This forced his hand to stay away from the promised improvements that would help in the immediate.
Until they found a safe room. Once their safety was guaranteed he would—
‘WatchfulStride’ activated.
Jin-woo shot up to his feet. His eyes wide and searching for anything. But everything remained still and silent.
“What happened?” Graq got up. He stepped forward, pulling his scalpel out.
Jin-woo did not respond. He slowly bent down to grab his metal rod, expecting an attack as soon as he touched it. His fingers wrapped around the cold metal, but nothing showed up. No attack or even hint of what was going on.
His skill pinged to the left. Jin-woo erupted into motion, stabbing at where the skill announced the enemy had been. He hit nothing but air, it pinged again a step to his right. He followed up with a wide slash in that entire area.
Still, he hit nothing.
There was a silent pause. His skill not registering any movements other than Graq slowly shifting from foot to foot. Jin-woo could feel everything on his body. How his heart beat loud. The aching of his legs from the deep gash. The sudden appearance of the stench of the room, something his mind had blocked out. Sweat on his palms that made the spear slip slightly in his grasp.
Ping!
Jin-woo struck.
Ping!
He swiped to the left. And yet he couldn’t hit anything. He was getting worried his skill had malfunctioned or that he messed something up during his work with the ‘SystemArchitect’ ability. There was no going back from mistakes once he finished integration. This would be a problem for a long time.
Ping!
This time, Jin-woo didn’t react. He waited. Watched. Even with the speculation at the back of his mind, he needed to be careful. There was no coming back from mistakes.
Ping!
Ping!
Another long pause.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
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