99 Summoned to Dungeon Floor 1

The 99 people summoned to Dungeon Floor 1. The dungeon had counted the Siamese twins as two separate individuals. Among them, Ferrofero explained the rules and killed 12. As a result, only the surviving 87 acquired skills.

After Ferrofero departed, a single quest arrived for everyone.

Before the people could even properly check the quest, five kobolds appeared from all directions. These monsters, covered in brown fur and walking on two legs, had dogs' heads. With sharp fangs bared, red eyes darting wildly, and drool dripping from their maws, the kobolds were terrifying.

Krurrr!Krrrrrr!

The kobolds charged all at once with savage growls. "Ugh, uwaaaak!" "Fuck off! D-don't come closer!" Having never seen a monster in their lives, most people panicked and fled. In the chaos, three lost their lives, and five others suffered varying injuries. At this rate, the death toll and wounded would only keep rising.

But not everyone turned tail in fear. One man, having grasped the power of his awakened skill, calmly cast it toward the kobolds. His name was Mitchell Hoff.

Whiiiiiish! The fireball shot from Mitchell's hand sliced through the air and struck a kobold square on. Boom!Kieeeek! The kobold screamed ear-piercingly as it tumbled to the ground. Flames engulfed its body, roaring fiercely. It writhed in agony, rolling desperately on the floor, but the fire refused to die down.

A Japanese woman named Ishihara Yui, watching nearby, picked up a nearby rock. She smashed it down on the burning kobold's head. Splat! Thud! Crack! Splat! After several brutal strikes, the kobold's face was unrecognizable mush. Finally, it shuddered and died.

Yui stared in shock at her bloodied hands. This was strength she could never have imagined before. She wouldn't have been able to lift that rock, let alone pulverize a kobold's skull. But her awakened skill, Body Enhancement, had made it possible.

* * *

The battle with the kobolds ended. At first, everyone panicked and got hunted one-sidedly, but Mitchell's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fireball and Yui's rock turned the tide. The others began ganging up on the kobolds with their own skills.

But some hadn't helped at all during the fight. Seol Ara was one of them. Her ability was Megaphone—it just amplified her voice like a loudspeaker. Useless in combat, all she could do was run around.

Startled by the monsters' appearance, her mind went blank, and she fled blindly, getting separated from the group. "...Where am I?" She hustled to rejoin them, but the dungeon's maze-like paths made it tough. Wandering aimlessly, she poked into every nook and cranny—then a system message appeared.

"...Huh?" Amazed, Seol Ara willed the map to appear. A window popped up before her eyes, like a minimap in a game. It marked everywhere she'd explored, and even showed where the group was gathered.

'Phew, almost got left behind.' Thrilled, she dashed toward them. She wanted to share how skills could be acquired like this.

* * *

Han Ji-woo was still staring at the sky.

Every 10 minutes, the same message repeated. 'This is totally a grind.' Dungeons rewarded achievements or effects for repeated actions. But simply staring at the sky wouldn't normally yield this easily. The Hidden Space triggered them more frequently—that was its feature.

Han Ji-woo took off his glasses. His vision was still blurry, but outlines were sharper than before. 'Weird.' Putting them back on made it dizzying—the prescription was now slightly off. Still better than nothing.

'Once my eyes improve more, I'll ditch these glasses.' The thought of freedom from the annoying frames felt liberating already. His mindset shifted too. He'd been bummed about missing the lottery jackpot and ending up here. But this was an experience money couldn't buy. Survive, and he'd gain money, better eyesight—two birds with one stone. Achievements might upgrade other parts of him too. Improved vision was a jackpot reward anyway.

But the rewards didn't stop there.

'A skill?' His second skill after the first. Curious about identifying object names, he looked around. The cave floor was thick with waist-high weeds and scattered rocks. Looking at a weed showed [Dungeon Weed] above it; a rock showed [Rock].

"But what's the point?" Cool, but not super useful. He shook his head, and his stomach growled thunderously. Grrrrumble! He'd been dragged here right after starting drinks with Park Jung-su—stomach empty.

'No food...' Idly reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a candy.

"Ah..." A complimentary one from lunch. He unwrapped and sucked it. The sugar eased the hunger and calmed him. But once gone, nothing left.

"Hmm, escaping now seems impossible. Gotta survive first, but no food..." Lost in thought, he yanked a nearby dungeon weed. Pop! It came up easier than expected for its size. Then a message floated up.

"...Huh?" He pulled another.

It ticked up. Rolling up his sleeves, he got to work. Stuck anyway, maybe completion gave a reward. Progress climbed as he yanked weeds. After 30 minutes, the cave was clear.

But...

"...Why?" Stuck at 87%. He double-checked every corner. Weeds piled high—no more left. Then he noticed the scattered rocks.

'Maybe...?' There were exactly 13. He placed one on the pile.

'Bingo!' He gathered the rest.

"Dungeon Tree?" In the center, [Dungeon Tree] hovered over what looked like a buried seed.

"Like a world tree or something?" World trees upheld entire realms in movies and fantasy novels. Maybe this influenced the dungeon. Soon, a growth gauge appeared.

...

...

'Slow.' Unlike cleaning, growth crawled at 0.1% increments—just for sprouting.

'Then...' He touched the seed site and activated his skill.

The skill that accelerated any growth worked this time. Growth sped up.

...

...

Now rising by 0.3%—three times faster. Using his first skill ever, Han Ji-woo grinned with unexpected thrill. "It actually works... But still, that'll take forever."

The dungeon kept giving tasks, sparking faint hope. Clear them all, maybe it'd send him home. But if not...? Hunger cut the thought short. Gurgle.

"I'm starving." After long fasting, just one candy—obvious. Scanning for food, his eyes hit the weed pile.

'...Even that?' He shook his head, resisting the lapse. No way a tiger chews weeds, no matter how hungry.

'Can't eat that.' He held back to avoid turning beastly.

* * *

Munch. Munch. Munch. Han Ji-woo nodded, chewing thin strips of dungeon weed.

'Not bad?' First taste: strong grassy like chives, with subtle sweetness building. Better than expected.

'All weeds taste like this?' Preconceptions made it weird, but flavor was fine. Just tough—long chew. Finishing one, reaching for another...

"...Huh?" He ate another. No message.

"Only on first eat of a food type, huh." Testing more confirmed it. Regardless, he ate five to sate hunger. Thick and palm-wide, they filled him up. He saved the rest for later.

'Vitality +1, right?' He opened his status window.

Vitality indeed up from 14 to 15. 'This is huge.' In a place where food could run out anytime, permanent stat gains were gold. No other food yet, but new ones could boost more. Stack them, and returning to Earth with bonuses.

A ray of light in the dark future. Meanwhile...

"How long for that?" Nothing left to do—time dragged. Scanning idly, just the weed pile. He tore a strip, twisted and looped it into a ring for his finger. Bored tinkering.

Silly, but distracting. Making another...

'This too?' He recalled a cave wall inscription: "Many of your actions here will become experience." That explained it.

'Dexterity. Might as well grind it.' Unknown use, but any stat up helped. Rings piled up: two, three...

* * *

49 weed rings done. Fingers ached at the joints. But that compulsion: 49 meant push for 50. One strip left exactly. His stubbornness won—the 50th, from 5 weeds total.