What did I do after that? I, of course, went straight to the 11th floor. Compared to the past, my situation had changed immensely. Three years ago, I had to remain on the 5th floor hunting the Orc Lord because I couldn’t advance through the 6th floor. Now, I could do things a little smarter.

Dungeon explorers became unable to challenge Floor Masters once they defeated the next one. In other words, as long as they did not defeat the next Floor Master, they could always go back and challenge the previous Floor Master. Basically, before I defeated the 15th Floor Master, I could always re-challenge the Wraith Queen.

The reasoning was simple. Going up from level 11 to level 15 meant that I would gain at least 500 mana.  Hence, there was no need for me to take the hard path when the easy one was so readily available. As such, I decided to explore the 11th floor. When Loretta saw me heading up from the 10th floor, she trembled and said, “T-That method is… unfair.”

“Unfair?”

“What I wanted was for you, the customer, to challenge the boss at level 10…”

“But you didn’t say that yesterday.”

“…”

“Sigh. I understand, noona. I agree that leveling up to level 15 and challenging the Wraith Queen is slightly unfair.”

“Customer! Then…”

“But the world of competition is cruel.”

Loretta immediately sulked at this. Because her expression was too cute, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hahahaha! Anyway, as far as I know, defeating the Wraith Queen alone should be hard even at level 15.”

“Of course, it is. I have only seen it happen twice.” Loretta retorted.

“Hm, so there is precedent.”

“Of course. If you think you will be the first in everything you do, you are mistaken. Though, you are the first in the past 200 years…”

“What was that at the end?”

“No, it’s nothing. Well, customer, it looks like you have discovered a loophole in my quest. Then, try your best.”

“I sense great malicious intent in what you said…”

“What was that? Ah yes, you need this item for the 11th floor! The Rat Trap! This great item is now selling for a mere 100 gold.”

“I didn’t ask to see any items!”

I had more or less expected it when Loretta talked about Rat Traps, but the monsters on the 11th floor were the infamous ratmen. Their names described what they were: giant, three foot tall rats who could walk around on their hind legs. They had long, sharp tails that swung around like whips and it was difficult to attack them because of their speed and agility.

Moreover, they did not travel alone. When you spotted one, there would undoubtedly be five more behind it. Their reproductive capabilities were akin to cockroaches. That being said, I already had experience stabbing flying cockroaches to death, so it wasn't too hard for me to follow some rats’ movements.

“Ugh, I get goosebumps every time I see them!”

“Gwar! Human kill rat!”

“That’s right, today will be an extermination day!”

As I continued to fight against the ratmen, who always ambushed in groups, I felt my battle sense growing by leaps and bounds. As I always had to stay alert, predicting where they would come from next, I began to acquire the ability to grasp my surroundings. Since this quest didn’t have a time limit, I spent about a week on the 11th floor to slowly grow my battle sense.

Based on my past experiences, I knew that while all the ratmen on the 12th and 13th floor would be stronger than those on the 11th, their movements couldn’t be too different. As such, I decided to learn all their movement patterns on the 11th floor. This took an additional week.

“Teehee, it’s not so easy anymore, is it?”

After seeing me for the first time in two weeks, Loretta asked with a satisfied expression. It seemed she thought I wanted to give up on the Wraith Queen quest, so I smirked and answered her.

“Hey, do you want to make an additional bet?”

“…No, I don’t,” said Loretta as she pursed her lips. I couldn’t help but laugh again.

“You shouldn’t make fun of this noona!”

“You can’t be that much older than me.”

“You’d be surprised. I’m much older than you could ever imagine!”

“Really? Can I still call you ‘noona’?”

“Hmph, only a pervert like you would call a strange shop owner ‘noona’.”

“I’m looking forward to continuing working with you, Loretta noona.”

“Hmph…”

In actuality, I had no experience interacting with women who weren’t related to me. Furthemore, other than my angelic younger sister Yua, there was no one of the opposite sex that I talked to regularly. Although I had quite a few close female friends when I was in elementary school, things had changed when my muscles began to grow.

As a result, Loretta was the first girl outside of my family that I had spent this much time talking to. I couldn’t help but feel that I was pitiful. How did things come to this…?

“Whew, I know I’m beautiful, but I’ll feel troubled if you approach me.”

“No, you’re not really my type.”

When I told her that flat out, Loretta smacked me.

“How rude! Apologize! Apologize and buy this Rat Trap!”

“What does the Rat Trap have to do with this?”

“Come on, hurry up!”

“Sigh. Then I’ll buy five for now.”

“That will be 500 gold, customer. Since you didn’t apologize, you should buy five more.”

“Sorry, five is fine.”

Just like always, my conversation with Loretta ended with gold. After seeing how focused she was on her end line, I pledged to never judge a woman by her looks alone.

With five Rat Traps in hand, I walked up to the 12th floor. As I did, I thought, I feel like I’m forgetting about something… well, whatever. It can’t be anything important. Yep.

A month later, I was on the 14th floor, trying to dodge a hailstorm of lightning.

“Come on, what kind of rats shoot out lightning!?” I groused.

“Pika…pika pika!”

“Shut it, you fakes!”

Pika my ass! I silently complained as I ran away from the five-for-one Electric Ratmen.

I had wondered why the 13th Floor Shop was selling Lightning Resistant Robes. A single robe cost 10,000 gold, so I left without turning back, but now I was regretting that hasty decision.

“Pika!!”

“Agh, shut up! Tempest!”

My Orc Lord’s Glaive trembled and shot out a gale in a straight line. Tempest tore apart the ratmen’s lightning along with their bodies.

“Pikaaaaaaa!”

“Just die already!”

I shuddered and stopped in place after killing that last group. Gasping for breath, I checked and saw that I had about half my mana left. After adjusting my breath calmly, I initiated the Peruta Circuit. Of course, I didn’t forget to use my ears even as I circulated mana.

Ratmen were fundamentally different from orcs and wraiths. They were indefatigable and had a sixth sense on how to annoy explorers the most. In addition, they popped up from the most unexpected places at the most unexpected time. In essence, their tactics were driving me crazy.

If I wanted to rest, I had to throw down a few Rat Traps in the area. I was only using the Peruta Circuit because I had some strength left.

KaTalk!

At that moment, my phone buzzed. Oh I didn’t mention it earlier but phones worked perfectly fine in the dungeon.  Otherwise, how else would I communicate with the outside world when I was dungeoning? I needed to run to Yua if she ever needed me!

I picked up my phone. It was a message from my father.

[I have awakened.]

“….What?”

I couldn’t help but speak my thoughts out loud. He uh…what? Awakened?

“…”

I calmly thought about what he meant. Because I had been too focused on fighting the ratmen, I couldn’t think critically for a moment.

Oh, I see… I think I knew what it meant when someone ‘awakened’.

KaTalk!

[You might find it hard to believe, so come see it for yourself.]

“Father, you’ve awakened!?”

That meant my father had become an ability user!

I quickly left the dungeon. As long as I wasn’t in battle, I could exit the dungeon at any time through my phone. The moment I came out, I saw my father waiting for me on the couch.

“Father, you became an ability user?”

“Yes. I didn’t think it was possible. Are you jealous?”

“What ability is it?”

“Mm, I’ll show you. Here.”

A serious look surfaced in my father’s eyes. He pulled his fist back, then pushed it forward. Suddenly, I felt like his fist was flying toward me. He had clearly not moved his fist, but I had faith in my instincts that I honed through battle experience, so I quickly ducked. Surprisingly, something passed over my head in an instant and hit the wall, leaving a crack.

“A shockwave.”

“Yep.”

“Freaking awesome.”

“Freaking awesome indeed.”

Father nodded in agreement. He was already strong, but to think he would obtain a shockwave ability! I was dying from jealousy. I had recently been proud  that I had gotten stronger, but just like this, the scale had been flipped.

“How did you awaken, Father?”

“You see, I had a dream.”

“A dream? What dream?”

“Dungeons.”

“…Dungeons?”

“Countless dungeons appeared on Earth. They were not like the First Dungeon we are familiar with. From these dungeons, countless monsters began pouring out, and us humans did our best to stop them. Some had swords clad in auras, some shot out flames from their hands, and some used telekinetic powers. Various abilities were being used to stop the monsters’ onslaught.”

“I was among them. I held a spear in my hands and was beating down monsters one by one. Then, I used shockwaves to kill a knight wearing strange armor. When I woke up, I could use shockwaves just like in my dream.”

No ability users had revealed how they had obtained their abilities. As such, I had no way of knowing whether my father's method was normal. Assuming that everyone obtained their abilities in the same way, were these precognitive dreams or triggers for obtaining abilities? Perhaps they were both true.

Regardless, I was still extremely jealous.

“Hee hee, son, guess what? In the process, I even gained some mana. Jealous?”

“Eh? Then what about the Orc Lord?”

“… cough.”

“Okay, never mind.”

Apparently, repeatedly hunting the Orc Lord was hard even for my father. To maintain my father's honor, I decided not to ask about it.

Just like that, my father had become an ability user. He quit the repeated Orc Lord raids and advanced to the next floor.

Two months after the Two Moon incident and two weeks after my father had awakened, I reached the 15th floor.

[You have become level 15. You have obtained the qualifications to challenge the Floor Master.]

[You have obtained 5 bonus stats.]

[Name: Kang Shin    

Race: Human     

Sex: Male

Class: None     

Title: Orc Lord Slayer     

Rank: Bronze 4

Level: 15

HP – 4,540/4,540     

MP – 1,840/1,840

Strength – 45(+8)     

Dexterity – 42(+1)     

Constitution – 51(+6)

Intelligence – 20(+1)     

Magic – 28(+1)     

Charm – 17(+1)     

Luck – 10(+1)

Skill – Low-rank Martial Arts (Master), Low-rank Spear Technique (Master), Mid-rank Spear Technique (Master), High-rank Spear Technique (Lv 3), Peruta Circuit (Lv 2), Deific Manifestation]

At my current level and stats, I could easily handle three people who had my level 10 stats. I felt confident that I could even deal with the 15th Floor Master. Of course, I didn’t have the leisure time to play around with Dark Ratman so I immediately turned back. 14th Floor Shop’s Loretta was already glaring at me.

“Customer, you really went all the way to level 15. That is not adult-like.”

“What do you mean, this is exactly what an adult would do.”

“Meanie…!”

“Take good care of me. After all, we are in a relationship of mutual dependence.”

I taunted her with a wink, and as expected, Loretta became angry.

“I won’t give you any discounts, customer!”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re very cute.”

“Hmph! This is the first time a human called me cute! How humiliating!”

“Then see you later!”

“Go die!”

I rushed down to the 10th floor. Naturally, climbing down posed no problem whatsoever after I had cleared the floor. This was where it began!

The Wraith Queen grind starts now! I swear, I’ll hunt one of you every day!