Chapter 94
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: First Dungeon Clear
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Suddenly, the men in front of me stared at me with startled expressions.
They must have thought they were the only ones who'd entered the dungeon, so they probably never imagined I'd show up.
"You, what the hell are you?!"
"I told you, I'm a dungeon newbie. It's my first time stepping into one today, so mind explaining it? I was eavesdropping on you guys from the side, and it sounds like you come here pretty often."
Despite my friendly offer, the men gripped their weapons tighter, their eyes full of wariness.
They looked ready to attack the second someone gave the signal.
I couldn't help but let out a sigh at the sight.
"Haa... Just answer me. Teach or don't—pick one."
My response would depend on their choice.
One of them—a guy with a fierce face and the kind of bulky build people call a muscle pig—snorted at my words and lunged forward.
"What a load of crap. What do you think you can do alone? And you idiots, there's just one of him—why are you pissing yourselves?"
"Because he popped up right behind us out of nowhere..."
"Moron, he must've used a skill or something. The shop sells stuff like that. Stealth, right?"
His words seemed to click for the others, their faces brightening up.
He wasn't totally off-base, so I didn't bother correcting him. It wasn't a mere skill—I'd used black magic.
"You figured a surprise takedown would scare me? Know how many brainless punks like you I've carved up?"
The muscle pig drew the sword at his waist and approached me slowly.
"Not brainless—just cherry-picking weaklings."
"What? You little shit... Die right here."
Provoked, he swung his sword at my throat.
His attack was so sluggish it nearly made me yawn. I casually ducked, closed the distance, and slammed my fist into his gut.
"Kugh!"
He dropped his weapon, clutched his stomach, and crumpled to his knees.
I grabbed his head with one hand and wrenched it hard.
Crack!
The snap of his neck bones echoed through the dungeon as the muscle pig collapsed without so much as a scream.
"Wh-what?"
"Huh?"
"With... one hand?"
The guys who'd watched it all go down in real time gawked at me in shock.
"You know, if I just want dungeon info, I don't need to keep you all alive. Maybe trim you down by half?"
After killing a man, tossing out that chilling line with a straight face made their faces drain of color.
They could tell I really meant to kill them.
[Dungeon cleared! Congratulations!]
[First clear reward granted to the Awakener.]
"Wa-wait! I'll explain the dungeon!"
"N-no! I know it best here!"
"Ignore these guys, spare me! I've cleared over three dungeons!"
Realizing their lives were on the line, they started dropping weapons and begging one after another.
Part of me wanted more resistance for the fun of it, but this would have to do.
"Fine, I'll ask about the dungeon—answer up. First off, what's a dungeon exactly?"
One of them shot his hand up.
"Zo-zombie den! Swarming with zombies inside!"
"Duh, obvious. What else would spawn here besides zombies?"
"Well, other stuff shows up too."
Hm? What's that mean?
"We've seen mutant zombies that don't exist outside. Ran from one—it was way too strong."
"Oh? Now that's interesting. Do you get coins from killing zombies here?"
"Yeah. And killing every zombie inside gives clear reward coins too."
I'd already confirmed that from the system window when I entered.
"How's the clear reward split? With a group like now, it should divide up, right?"
Like the Awakener who drops the last zombie gets it all, or it's N-split among everyone inside—plenty of possibilities.
I was curious, but the men shook their heads at my question.
"We don't know."
"What? You just said you've cleared tons. You must have some idea."
"Couldn't help it! Sometimes it dumps everything on one person, other times it goes to everyone."
Haa, totally useless.
If it's auto-split among all inside regardless of effort, slackers get rewards too—that's unacceptable.
No clue how it works, so I'll block the entrance and solo it.
Then it'll all go straight to my pocket, however it's awarded.
"Next question: What kind of rewards? Just coins?"
"No, other stuff too. Varies by dungeon—food sometimes, even traits!"
That's valuable info.
Food and traits—essentials for surviving a zombie apocalypse.
That reminded me of the zombie wave chaos not long ago.
"So you were dungeon-hunting during the zombie wave too?"
Hard to picture these mid-tier guys massacring wave zombies and tackling dungeons.
"We cleared dungeons during the wave, yeah—but not just for rewards."
"Then why hunt them down on purpose?"
"Well... Clear one, and it deactivates. Zombies can't enter till it reactivates."
Oh? Juicy detail.
So a cleared dungeon turns into a zombie-free safe zone until reset.
"Wave zombies were too tough and endless to roam outside, but after clearing, we hunkered down inside—no zombie worries."
"Dungeons unaffected by the wave?"
They all nodded. Figures—dungeons are like pocket dimensions, cut off from the outside.
They'd cleared during waves for shelters, bailed before reactivation, and repeated.
Neat survival trick.
"Good. Last question: Free entry and exit even with people inside?"
"No. Once someone's in, seals after about five minutes—no one else enters till it's cleared or everyone's wiped."
Blocks reinforcements, huh?
Solid system.
"Alright, your info was useful—now scram."
I jerked my thumb behind me, and they stared blankly before bolting for the exit in a panic.
Once I confirmed they were all gone, I headed deeper to clear the dungeon.
Zombie silhouettes started appearing one by one in what looked like an abandoned subway station.
I pulled my sword from subspace to mop them up.
- Groooar!
The zombies spotted me and charged, but they were all handled in no time.
Just... fewer than expected. Kinda disappointing.
After wiping out hundreds or thousands in waves with magic lately, this felt trivial.
Took under ten minutes to slaughter the lot.
That it?
I was thinking it was way too easy when something zipped toward the back of my head—I leaped aside.
Boom!
A red, tentacle-like thing with a razor-sharp barb at the tip slammed into where I'd stood.
Fast enough to skewer any normal person before they even registered it.
What the hell? Tracing it up, it stretched to the ceiling—a toothy maw connected to the tentacle was plastered up there.
Mutant zombie for sure.
Until now, I'd seen Shredders, Smashers, and Takers—first time for this one.
No more zombies spawning, so obviously the boss.
It reeled in the missed tentacle, then fired it at me again.
A normal Awakener would've struggled hard against this.
Stuck to a high ceiling? Sword's useless. Gun might work, but tracking its speedy crawls for a shot? Tough.
Plus that tentacle could punch right through an Awakener's body.
But I'm no normal Awakener.
I dodged the next lash effortlessly, conjured a Darkness Arrow, and loosed it at the ceiling lurker.
It apparently spotted it and scurried away—but couldn't escape.
The arrow curved mid-flight, skewered its head clean through. Dead or not, it peeled off the ceiling and thudded to the floor.
Nice. That the end?
Reward: 500 Coins, Trait Slot Expansion Ticket
- Grants the user Awakener one additional trait slot.
My eyes locked onto the second item, not the coins.
No way this means...
Add a trait without even leveling up?
Absolute jackpot!?