Chapter 8: First Floor (2)
Name: Torch
Type: Fire School Lv.1 Spell. Toggle type.
Effect: Summons a small flame within 1m range to illuminate the surroundings. Power does not vary with mana. Infinite duration as long as mana doesn't run out. Adjustable brightness.
Acquisition: Clear your mind and commune daily with any fire. No incantation or hand seals required. (Time required: 1 day at Fire Magic Aptitude 1)
My brain throbbed.
It's an easy spell. It was definitely supposed to be easy... but.
No fire, so I need to learn Torch Spell → To learn Torch Spell, I need fire → If I have fire, I don't need Torch Spell... What the hell am I supposed to do?
I couldn't even spit out the absurdity of this infinite loop. This was a post from three years ago—ancient history.
I gave up cleanly. Magic wasn't something to attempt right now, apparently.
"Haa..."
I shuffled along, hand trailing the left wall, taking slow steps. Truth be told, even sticking to one wall had its risks. What if this wall was part of an isolated structure not connected to other areas? I'd just circle the massive outer wall forever, trapped in the same spot. No escape from the dungeon then.
That's when a weird sensation hit my foot. The floor dipped slightly under my step.
-Click.
'Click?'
My body moved before my brain could catch up. Diagonal roll—go!
Whoosh—!
Wind whistled past my ear. But it was so damn dark, I couldn't see shit. Something trap-like had triggered, I think, but honestly, no clue what. If it was a real trap, I'd be fucked, so I just rolled first and asked questions later.
I hugged the floor for about five seconds. Nothing else seemed to activate.
'Trap... right?'
I'd stepped on a trap, and something launched. I definitely heard it. But what was it?
First floor traps: 16 types total. Five could insta-kill. Six seemed dodgeable by rolling, based on my guess.
Crawling carefully, I groped around.
'No smell. Normal.'
Rules out gas, sleep gas, paralyze gas, confusion gas from the 16.
'No light.'
From the 12 left, eliminates fire trap, electric trap, flash trap, explosion trap.
'No magical effect... probably.'
From the eight remaining, adds alarm trap, teleport trap, summon trap, curse trap to the exclusions.
Down to four possibilities: arrow trap, snare trap, acidic slime trap, cold trap.
'Arrow.'
The others you'd notice instantly on trigger. But this was just a guess in pitch black. I needed to prove it matched the original game's info with reality.
Guess confirmed. I soon bumped into a wall and found a fallen arrow. Thicker than a typical arrow with fletching—more like a heavy needle or skewer. Made sense for close range; no need for fancy design.
For a split second, I thought grabbing one more would make chopsticks. But coldly assessing it, that was a damn dangerous spot. Only after it ended did the fear creep in. If I hadn't rolled fast, I'd be badly hurt—or dead.
'Got lucky.'
If it'd been an [Explosion Trap]? Game just big damage and done. Reality? Limbs blown off, crippled adventurer life from there. Shiver.
This was too risky. Solution... yeah, I had one.
'Hoo... didn't wanna go this far, but.'
To survive, no choice. Time to borrow the power etched in my genes from ancient ancestors.
Plop.
Down on all fours, belly to the floor. As I said, light was faintly there—close up, shapes visible. Keep vision low to the ground, spot and dodge traps!
Scramble scramble!
I crawled fast on all fours. Facing life or death, the genes of my 4-million-year-old Australopithecus ancestors awakened. They roamed lightless caves on four limbs, sometimes two, snacking on whatever. Easy? Hell no. Always fleeing beasts like Deinotherium and Dinofelis.
But while others crawled, they stood on two legs. Eccentric in that era. Mutants, freaks. But look at the future: Earth's apex predator, undisputed ruler? Humans, distant Australopithecus descendants.
They turned Deinotherium heirs—elephants—into ivory toys. Dinofelis heirs—tigers—into zoo exhibits. What sparked that in the dawn? I think: if they'd shamed their bipedal shame, no one would've stood. No survival, no offspring.
So my action's no shame! Ancestors paved this path. Survival choice—unchanged human principle for 4 million years. Can't deny a choice for life as shameful or evil...
They stood on two for survival.
I crawled on four for survival.
'Primitive regression usually boosts racial stats, right? I'm regressing to quadrupedal, evolving back.'
George Orwell would nod: four legs good, two legs bad. Simple as that.
Scramble scramble!
Honestly, joints hurt, tires quick, axe awkward. But better than trap-death. Dirty inefficient, but survival-positive.
'Good enough.'
No more overthinking.
Scramble scramble!
About 20 minutes later? No map, but I'd counted steps, memorized distance. Realized I'd gone pretty far. Roughly 1,000 steps (hind legs). Metric? Around 700m. Sewers twisty, so straight-line from start: half that, maybe less.
Spotted and dodged a few more traps. Then, not a passage—a space.
'Door.'
Wooden sliding door with handle. Community info said dungeon layout near-identical to original game. Opening this: some room.
What kind? No idea.
'But high chance of enemy monster.'
Not all monsters behind doors. They roam passages too. But these rooms? Respawn points. Monsters stick unless something special.
Posted a question to confirm.
In the original game, dungeon layout changed every time my character entered. Here it's on a 'time cycle,' right? How exactly?
Roguelike games' biggest feature: procedural generation. Every new game, dungeon structure, items, NPCs, enemy spawns—total random. Dwarf Stone was roguelike too.
'This morning, huh.'
Got the info, eyed the door again. If restructure was recent, high odds enemy still inside. Door still shut, too. Most Lv.1 monsters lack smarts to close doors. No one opened it since. No other adventurer traces nearby.
'Enemy confirmed.'
Now, infer type.
'Low mobility—ambush or stationary type likely. Also, small monster unable to open doors itself.'
Ran through all possible encounter monsters mentally. Countermeasures too.
'Let's go.'
Didn't I swear to get stronger? Easiest way: kill monsters for 'levels,' search rooms for useful items. Can't dodge this fight.
Stood on two feet, gripped handle. Bipedal restored IQ boost—now genius brain to shred foes.
Axe tight in one hand, yanked door open.
Creak!