Chapter 4 - Day 2, 2nd Floor

I didn’t really think that the words would appear. I couldn’t adapt when it was such a bright morning.

[Endurance:  11]

[Concentration: 11]

[Willpower: 12]

“12 willpower?”

Obviously, I had raised Pain Tolerance to level four. Nevertheless, willpower was only at 12 points. It seemed like the changes in decimal numbers wasn’t so simple.

I covered my face with both hands and sat on the bed. I recalled what happened in the dungeon yesterday. Memories of tears, a runny nose and punching a wall with a severed hand came to mind.

I couldn’t bear it and fainted. After I woke up, I had crawled like a madman towards the stairs. It was painful, to the extent that I had thought I’d rather die.

Now I had to return to the dungeon at midnight tonight. Was it worth continuing after all that pain I experienced yesterday? I asked myself the question. The answer came straight away.

“Am I crazy?”

There were no flaws in my brain so why did I ask this question? 10 times. 100 times. 1,000 times. It was right even if I asked myself 10,000 times.

Pain? It was irrelevant. I could endure it anyway. There was no going back. If I poured in hard work then I would definitely get benefits.

In reality, I clenched my teeth and endured it, no matter how sick I was. My abilities would definitely rise up and break through the limits.

Okay. I came to a conclusion. I got up from the bed. I cleaned up the mess cluttering my room. I did the laundry, washed the dishes and threw out the old garbage.

After a shower and brunch, I felt more motivated than I had been in a long time. Okay. I braced myself and started on the work that I needed to do.

That’s right. It was an outsourced coding job that I received from a senior graduate. I opened the used notebook that I’d owned for three years.

Dungeon?

Of course it was the most important issue. But I only knew three things about the second floor: it would become bigger, monsters will emerge and I would meet someone else.

None of my other questions had any answers. If I could carry a weapon then I would start preparing.

So the only thing I could do was wait patiently until midnight. Should I spend all day worrying about it? Wasn’t that a waste?

The dungeon was certainly a gold mine but this was now. My current living expenses were more important than the unknown talents I might get in the future.  And what if I experience the change in having ascended stats while working?

Although they weren’t over 10, abilities were able to rise and my concentration was also 11 points. The coding wasn’t a very difficult task. It was easy to buy other companies’ code and attach it. However, it was a major challenge for me. In order to save on costs, I decided to write the code myself.

Although the due date was relaxed, I had a free schedule so it should be easily finished by next week. I started at 11:45 am. If I didn’t do anything else and worked hard then I should be finished by dinner.

“Good.”

I opened the screen and launched the Eclipse window. For a while, it was silent except for the banging on the keyboard.

Tadak! Tadadak!

...

...

Well.

I hadn’t checked my cell phone yet but I was almost certainly finished. It was sometimes like that when the work was fun or urgent. There didn’t seem to be any apparent differences.

Anyway, I worked until I finished.

After putting the code on the server, I stretched while feeling somewhat disappointed. Was it too greedy to want a dramatic change? Maybe I should buy a lunch box from the convenience store...

"Eh?"

It seemed like my eyes weren’t working. I rubbed them and looked once again. The clock’s minute and hour hand still remained in the same spot.

It was 3:40 pm.

I hadn’t looked at the clock while working. The reason why I thought it was evening was because I knew my maximum speed.

I’d expected it to be as early as 6 pm. Maybe 7 pm at the latest. Or maybe even later than expected.

But 3:40 pm?

Only that much time has pa.s.sed? Did I really finish all of it? I decided to review the code once again. It was clean. Even if it wasn’t perfect, it was as good as it could get with my present skills. Yet... I had finished it nearly twice as quickly.

This was completely crazy.

Kkoruruk!

An alarm started ringing. I hadn’t felt hungry until now, but once I was aware it was terrible. I had eaten the same amount of rice that I normally did, yet I was starving before it was even dinner time.

My abilities had risen from 10 to 11.

Even if I didn’t know the details... Maybe it made a far greater difference than I thought. Anyway, my work was finished so I decided to have a meal.

I felt slightly at ease as I went into the convenience store. I bought a special bulgogi lunch box that was to my taste. I also got an extra cider bottle.

As I returned, I saw a red-haired person smoking in front of the building: An Su-hyun.

“...”

He looked me up and down while smoking and beckoned. I had to comply as he was smoking right in front of the entrance. As I approached, he blew out smoke and said,

"Did you dump that?”

He was referring to the garbage dump site. I had stacked up all the convenience store lunch boxes there.

"It isn’t me.”

"No, you are clearly holding the same product in your hand.”

What was with this b.a.s.t.a.r.d? He even looked at what I bought? There was no use in arguing.

If I had describe him to a friend, he was the manager of the building. He was the only son of the building owners. He was the same age as me but we disliked each other, and I prayed never to encounter him. However, his parents were pretty good to me.

They asked me to be the private tutor of their son and paid extra tutoring fees. Every time school finished, I tried my best to help him. But he never listened in cla.s.s. He didn’t do the homework and received a shocking score in the mock exam. No university I knew would accept a score of 777.

It was crazy.

His parents weren’t familiar with university admission so he used the pretext of studying to receive a salary for the building manager position.

Even though his parents owned a separate house on the rooftop, he stayed in a rented room in the name of concentrating. Of course, he didn’t pay rent.

I didn’t think I could control my mouth and I wanted to continue staying in this building, so I quit the tutoring. I hated the thought of looking pathetic if he tried to pick a fight with me. Oh, it was true that I did look pathetic in front of him.

"Be more conscientious. Yes?"

A cigarette b.u.t.t came flying towards me while he said such things. I couldn’t hit An Su-hyun. There was nothing I could do so I walked past An Su-hyun. His words could be heard from behind me. “It’s true. Everything they say about students from O University.”

There were many sick minded friends in this world. I couldn’t become angry when encountering all of them. I wasn’t made enough to provoke them. It was only occasionally that their values and way of life were so incomprehensible that I thought they were quite sad. If I was in that position, I would have lived better.

Well, I wouldn’t know unless it really happened to me.

◎

My first impression was that the second floor was no different from the first.

The only thing was that the path split into three as soon as I descended the stairs. I turned around and looked at the stairs.

[You are not allowed to step on the stairs again. If your feet touch the stairs, you are out.]

The moment I stepped on the stairs, the second floor had appeared. Then we couldn’t go back to the first floor? I pulled out my cell phone and took the right path.

[Cartography LV 2. 29/200]

While drawing the map, I paid the utmost attention to my field of vision while moving.

Monsters below E rank. If I thought of this as a game, the first monster in a game wouldn’t be one that put the player at risk. However, the possibility of suffering considerable pain like having my wrist cut off was large. I had to be as careful as possible. I was tense every time I had to turn a corner.

Then I heard footsteps coming from around the corner.

“...”

I breathed and waited in a spot where I could see clearly. Soon, the shape of a person popped around the corner!

"Aaaagh!"

It wasn’t me who screamed wildly.

I had been prepared after hearing the footsteps, and I had expected it to be another explorer instead of a monster. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t surprised.

“W-w-what? Y-you are Kim Hee-chul.”

The person called my name. I hadn’t expected the other human to be An Su-hyun. An Su-hyun was like me...

Was it that common to enter this dungeon? If so, how many other people who lived close were in the dungeon?

"No... I-it is natural to cry out when seeing another person.”

“Yes. ‘I see that you are here.”

"I was surprised because you suddenly f***ing popped out...”

An Su-hyun had been shocked when he saw me but now he spat out curses.

“...”

“...”

It became silent as his shaking calmed down somewhat. There was nothing to say.

“I will go this way.”

I talked first as I took a step. It wouldn’t be helpful to stay with someone like him. An Su-hyun didn’t answer but followed behind me.

"Hey, what are you doing with your cell phone?” He asked suddenly.

"Drawing a map."

“Map?”

"The paths can be confusing." I intentionally snorted and it briefly echoed in the cave.

"I had roughly visualized the structure in my head but you probably have to draw a map since you can’t remember.”

“It is your nature not to take notes.”

"Why bother with all that effort? Well, I also thought about doing it.”

He didn’t ask about the ‘Cartography’ skill above the cell phone so he probably couldn’t see it. Of course, I didn’t feel the need to explain it to him.

"Let"s walk a little faster. It’s straight ahead.”

An Su-hyun moved forward and disappeared from my sight.

“Eh?”

I made a sound a few seconds later. When I caught up with him, An Su-hyun was standing next to a box.

[Wooden Box. There seems to be no lock. It is possible to smash it.]

That box.

It was exactly the same as the trap that cut my wrist.

An Su-hyun showed no interest in the box. He was frowning and looking away from it. He had been on the first floor as well. I squatted in front of the box. An Su-hyun, who was trying to pa.s.s the box, frowned.

When I opened the box lid, it was still dark inside. I had placed my hand in here yesterday and suffered. In the end, it turned out well.

“Are you thinking of putting your hand in there?”

I raised my head. An Su-hyun was making a strange smile.

"I just opened it but I was worried due to the darkness. Doesn’t it look like there’s something in there?”

This b.a.s.t.a.r.d was trying to trick me. He thought I didn’t know about the box. I stared at the open lid of the box. "I know since I’ve played games before. Usually, something like this would have a trap.”

My tone was overly casual compared to normal. I tried to be confident against the antagonism.

“I think that you’re thinking too much.”

"Then you should put your hand in. The contents won’t dry out.” Although I was still going to check it out. Even if the outside was the same, it didn’t meant the contents were.

"If anything comes out then I will keep it.”

“Do as you like~.”

An Su-hyun’s eyes shone with expectation.

At the same time, he moved back. It seemed like he was trying to find a good position to watch. Unfortunately for him, I had no intention of meeting his expectations.

It really could be a trap. Even though I could raise my talent, I didn’t know what would happen on the second floor so there was no point losing my wrist.

I thought about the words I saw over the box yesterday.

[Wooden Box. There seems to be no lock. It is possible to smash it.]

Did I need to smash it? I knew for sure. This was a box that needed to be smashed. I kicked the box.

Pak!

At the same time, there was a cheerful sound as words popped up.

[Item has been acquired.]