บท 19: The City Outskirts

Most people were now inside the [City Ruins] rift, fighting their way through the level 5 area.

"WATCH OUT!"

"HELP ME OUT HERE!"

People could only form parties of 5 inside the rift, and after doing so, they would be allowed to share experience points between each other as long as they participated in the kill, making it safer to level up.

No one could really know what the hell was happening further inside the rift, so everyone just focused on themselves.

"Where is that Stark fucker?" Daniel entered the rift 45 minutes after Stark, rushing his way through the level 5 area and reaching the level 10 one with his squad.

"We saw him enter the rift at the beginning, so he should be here…" one of Daniel's companions spoke, a spear in his hand as he was also part of the warrior class.

"HAHAHA~ That fucker got lucky yesterday, and now he is probably already dead!" Daniel nodded, as for him (and probably most people), it was impossible for Stark to get past the first area, "He probably became one of those monsters!"

"-728! -827!" he eliminated a monster that came his way, then looked around him, noticing all the other people that were fighting.

Lana on the otherhand was also in the level 10 area, currently extremely close to Daniel's group as they were right next to her.

'So annoying…' she groaned while shooting two arrows to kill a monster nearby.

Instinctively, Daniel looked to his right as he saw the high amount of damage being dealt by Lana, and noticed her blonde-hair, beautiful face, and spectacular body.

Nobody knew it, but Daniel had a massive obsession over Lana, always trying to please her and approach her, but she would always reject him.

After all, Lana was used to such attempts from men who thought they had a chance with her.

"Hey Lana-" he tried to approach her, but sensing his presence, Lana immediately began running, acting like she spotted another monster, "Oh… well i'm sure she'll succumb at one point or another!"

"Of course she will, any girl would dream of being with you, the Pridel family name is extremely famous after all," one of Daniel's companions reassured him, making him grin.

And it was at this exact moment that Stark defeated the mini-boss.

Suddenly, everyone stopped, a golden panel appearing in front of them.

[The mini-boss 'Feathered Scourge' was defeated by REDACTED, you can now advance further inside the dungeon!]

Daniel, Lana, and everyone else that were inside the dungeon read the text with shocked eyes.

'Already?!' was what they all thought, after all even their teachers predicted it would take at least five hours before the mini-boss was defeated, and yet in less than an hour it was already down?

"Probably some powerful group that rushed through the dungeon?"

"Maybe it's a hidden high-ranked classifier!"

"Or one of the solo players that went first…"

Such theories appeared among all classifiers that were still fairly at the start or almost middle point of the dungeon.

But what they all knew was that: whoever had defeated the scourge must be pretty damn strong.

This is how dungeons in this world work, once an achievement is made, it is broadcasted for everyone to know, except they wouldn't know the identity of who did it.

Only Kent and Bill, who were two of those 'strong solo players' were aware of the identity of the mini-boss killer, but even they believed that Stark was actually named 'Stalk' since he lied to them.

And just like this, the stage was set, and people began fighting through the monsters faster in hope of reaching the level 15 area and fight the boss too, also they needed to take advantage of such an opportunity to level up.

***

Stark, unaware of the panel that informed everyone of what he did, continued walking through the 'Advanced District'.

And soon enough… he found himself in front of the last area of the dungeon.

'Oh yeah, before I forget…' he mumbled, checking out his available skill points.

[Skill Points: 1 Available]

'Almost forgot to use it, better be safe than sorry…'

[You have upgraded 'Domination' to level 5!]

His domination skill was now at the half-way point as the limit for skills was level 10 (at least until the user leveled up enough, and then the limit would increase, or by using an item)

And that meant…

'Huh?' his body was suddenly being surrounded by a crimson aura, it was not only around his hands and feet anymore, but also his head, torso, legs…

[You have gone far and upgraded the domination skill, your aura was massively increased as a reward, and you are now capable of using it around your body as a sort of protective shield.]

'Holy shit!' Stark smiled, his HP was extremely low, and his journey since the beginning was a giant 'NO HIT' challenge since even one attack would kill him.

And now…

"Can I actually absorb some damage now?" he wondered, eager to use that new ability of his, but also knowing that he couldn't take any risks, "Welp… i'll see when the time is right."

He took a step forward, and now was in the final area of the rift.

[Entered level 15 area, "City Outskirts"]

The atmosphere switched completely, it was already dark and twisted in the 'Advanced District', but the last area was on another level.

The buildings were replaced by shaby old houses, menacing eyes could be seen from every broken window, and the air was thick with tension.

[The Black Sun has noticed and acknowledged you, it will now try everything in its power to stop you, classifier, good luck]

The panel was dark, mimicking the sinister darkness of the empty streets.

[Current Level: Lv9]

[Experience: 12810/75000]

'If this is a beginner level dungeon, I wonder just how bad the higher level ones are, people in this world must have a thick skull…' he said that, but in the end still began walking through the dark outskirts of the [City Ruins].

As he navigated the desolate streets, Stark's acute perception picked up on subtle movements in the shadows.

Yet even noticing all these creatures and eyes on him, nothing came out of a corner to stop him or attack him… for now.

And right after taking another step… another unexpected panel came interrupting Stark in his journey.

[Black Sun Curse: 90%]

[WARNING! GET TO A BONFIRE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE! THE DARKNESS IS CONSUMING YOU]

'…' Stark sighed, the curse percentage had gone up so fast he didn't even take the time to check, and now he was at great risk of being turned into one of these… things.

Going backward was not a solid option either since he would probably be infected before it happened.

So his only choice… was to keep going forward, speedrunning his way through the monsters that would try to kill him.