[Level 1 dungeon - You have acquired a permit to enter the Tainted Sewers. All stats increase by 10 inside the dungeon. Info on the dungeon is added to your minimap. All of your actions in the dungeon are buffed.]

[Beginner Magic Affinity is now Lv10 and has developed into Low Rank Magic Affinity. Magic has increased by 10. The higher the skill level, the more your magic permanently increases, while the efficiency of mana recovery increases proportionally.]

"There we go."

Lee Shin-Woo broke into a celebratory cheer when he confirmed that his Magic Affinity had indeed been upgraded to the next rank. The skill upgrade was to be expected though, since there was always an intense mana flow when he obtained a dungeon permit, which helped improve his Magic Affinity. Still, he was pleased. His skill hadn’t simply leveled up, but had instead entered the next rank.

The difference is like night and day—almost the same as having three almost-insurmountable walls in between the skill levels. One would need to climb over each of these tricky walls to get the skill upgrade and make a breakthrough. And these walls aren’t regular walls, but four-dimensional ones.

The moment his Magic Affinity became a low rank skill, Lee Shin-Woo felt the flow of mana around him shift. He laughed in satisfaction—although his ribs didn’t even move since he was a skeleton—and checked his status.

[Lee Shin-Woo]

[Skeleton Avenger Blessed by God][Treasure Hunter]

[Lv - 2 (Stats Effectiveness 110%)][Strength - 94 Agility - 91 Endurance - 93 Magic - 86]

[Passive skills - Invisible Heart Lv3, Acting Lv4, Beginner Avenger Lv1, Low Rank Bursting Thunder Lv3, Low Rank Magic Affinity Lv1, Low Rank Stealth Lv3, Beginner Command Lv3]

[Active skills - Bone Reinforcement Lv3, Low Rank Sprint Lv2, Beginner Shriek of the Dead Lv9, Beginner Regeneration Lv7, Beginner Catapult Lv8, Beginner Flames of Revenge Lv3, Beginner Power Slash Lv5]

Currently, three of his skills had developed from beginner skills into low rank skills: Magic Affinity, Stealth, and Sprint.

Ever since his encounter with the Giant Zombie, he had been using Stealth at all times, so its growth wasn’t surprising. Meanwhile, Sprint had been his most used skill since being an undead granted him the trait of ‘never tired’. As a result, his Sprint had reached low rank as well. Obviously, he had gained additional stat points when his skills reached the next rank. As the skills had become significantly more effective, they would supplement his fighting ability.

[Low Rank Stealth Lv3 (Passive)]

[You can hide and move quietly to escape your opponent’s notice. You can conceal signs of your presence as well as your mana.]

Amongst those skills, the growth of Sprint was especially amazing. The skill dramatically sped up his movement, evasion, as well as attacks. With it reaching low rank, it was now much easier for him to apply the speed increase to his attacks. His combat ability had in turn improved by about 30% by his estimation.

A new skill he had gained was Power Slash, which infused his weapon with magic and, as its name suggested, allowed him to make a powerful slash. It was a common skill warriors in video games learned at the very beginning, and was often an active attack skill exclusive to the class.

Lee Shin-Woo, on the other hand, had learned the skill from the memories and experiences of the Skeleton Warriors. Up to that point, he had been lacking a powerful attack skill despite the myriad of skills he had acquired, so Power Slash had been a shower after a long drought. Better yet, it synergized well with Sprint.

If someone asked if he would be able to defeat Edward the Giant Zombie head-to-head now that he had become stronger, however, his answer would be a resounding ‘no’. It had already been four days since he had encountered and escaped from the Giant Zombie. But even now, his bones still quivered at the thought of it. He hadn’t felt such an overwhelming sense of despair even when he encountered the Lv3 Treasure Hunter… It must be closer in power to a Lv4 elite monster. A monster among monsters, if you would. Despite his fear, though, he had been hit by a sudden bout of murderous intent for the zombie from time to time, which might have been an effect of the Avenger’s karma.

I’m not ready yet. My magic rose by 10 this time, bringing my total stats to 364, but...my stats have to reach a total of 400 to get to level 3. I’ll think about going after it after leveling up.

That was what he had learned from the chatroom. He had asked Lloyd a throwaway question with feigned nonchalance, who had been complaining that he still needed 2,000 more stat potions in order to reach level 7. The answer was practically served to him on a silver platter, and he didn’t have to ask anything that might attract suspicion; his seniors just couldn’t help but grouching about the stat potions they were forced to buy.

To get to level 2, one needed a total of 200 stat points, for level 3, 400, and for level 4, 800... each subsequent level required double the stat points. Honestly, he had considered his seniors lame when they talked about being level 6 during their conversation, but he realized how wrong he had been when he found out that one needed a total of 3,200 stat points to reach their level. Right now, they could break him with one flick of their fingers.

I lied to my seniors that I was level 4, so I gotta move faster.

He organized his thoughts and looked down at the giant manhole in front of him. It seemed like a ladder that only he could use, as he had acquired the permit for the dungeon. He took a short deep breath and started to go down the ladder.

"Umph..."

He had become quite accustomed to entering dungeons now, since he had gone through five dungeons in the past four days. They were all level 1 dungeons, though, and this was the last dungeon of the same level in the vicinity.

I'll clear it quickly and go to the shop. It'd be great if I get a lot of Perium out of it.

His excitement for dungeons had cooled off a lot compared to when he entered his first dungeon. He hadn’t expected the regular mobs to give him any good skill, but he had thought the bosses might have something to offer. Unfortunately, that turned out not to be the case. Even when they had skills to grant him, they ended up being skills he already possessed, and thus only gave him a boost in proficiency. Now he knew that the bosses of the Rural Rat Nest were the exceptions. It was uncommon for monsters to use their nails or give birth to more monsters as a means of attack.

"The dungeon is referred to as a sewer, and it's truly, really dark in here…”

He probably wouldn't be able to gain many stats or skills in this dungeon, either, but at least he'd get Perium. Lee Shin-Woo was going to go to the secret shop right after and buy a bone. He didn't know if that would be enough for him to level up, but he didn't plan on putting off a visit to the shop any further.

"Hoo."

Once he got to the bottom of the ladder, he jumped off and nimbly landed on the ground. It had been a 2-meter drop, and yet he had landed with the grace of a cat. It hadn't even been 10 days since he was dropped into this world, yet he had become a dignified fighter to some extent, especially in the way that he did a safety check of his surroundings as soon as he landed.

- Seureureuk

"Huh...?"

Lee Shin-Woo heard something sliding towards him, and his nonexistent ears pricked up. In certain dungeons, he would have to explore for about an hour before encountering any monsters, while in other dungeons, there would be monsters guarding the entrance that ambushed him with no regard for manners at all. This dungeon turned out to be one of the latter.

[Gureureureureu]

Something ambushed him from the darkness. It was difficult to identify it, and the strange sound it made further confused the matter. However, it was befittingly slow as a level 1 monster, and Lee Shin-Woo slashed it with Bone of Thunder Lasting without much difficulty. The sensation of hitting the monster was strange, though. It felt like slicing a warm and tough jelly in half, which sent a shiver down his spine.

[You have defeated a Lv1 Sewer Slime.]

"Wow, for real...?"

The Slime monster that had been split in half emitted a bubbling sound before evaporating. Lee Shin-Woo brooded as he watched it disappear. If it’s a fantasy, there must be Slimes, and if there are Slimes, it must be a fantasy. Lee Shin-Woo had expected them to show up at some point. However, he didn't want to run into them since Slimes didn't have any bones.

"It's not even worth my time to kill them... Huh?"

[You have acquired a deteriorated Skeleton Soldier's arm bone.]

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

So it was worthwhile after all. A Skeleton Soldier's arm bone had popped out where the Slime had died! Lee Shin-Woo was momentarily puzzled, but he soon figured out what had happened. Although Slimes didn’t have bones, they spit out the bones of whatever they had eaten!

"This is gonna be a profitable trip, isn’t it...?"

He felt somewhat uneasy that the bone had deteriorated, but there was nothing he could do to change that. Lee Shin-Woo was about to put it in his inventory, but decided against it at the last moment. Instead, he used the bone to reinforce himself. Although he might die again and again a hundred times[1], he had gathered more than enough bones to restore himself.

[You have reinforced your arm bone. Absorbing the Skeleton Soldier's memories and experiences.]

[Gugeugaaaaahk, I'm melting, I'm melting! My C3 cervical vertebrae...! - Nameless soldier]

"..."

He didn't expect to gain the memories of a skeleton's last moments before dying to a Slime. These memories are taking a dark turn. Lee Shin-Woo was seriously unnerved, but he didn’t think it should matter since he had received memories from plenty of Skeleton Soldiers.

"Good, let’s explore in earnest... Ah, before that."

He needed to settle on a concept if he wanted to receive a karma token from this dungeon. When he ran away from the Giant Zombie, he had safely acquired the Avenger's token. Since then, he had been racking his nonexistent brain for a different concept whenever he entered a dungeon. Out of his numerous attempts, he had succeeded in basing his behavior after ninjas, where he gained the Assassin’s token by moving covertly and picking off his enemies one by one, and Lelouch Lamperouge[2], where he gained the Mastermind’s token by sending his enemies to kill each other with Shriek of the Dead. He had now collected the token of Slaughterer, Trickster, Fighter, Avenger, Assassin, and Mastermind, a total of six karma tokens.

Six down, and only four to go! He had been so optimistic about his progress, but his optimism proved to be entirely unfounded. It was extremely hard to acquire four more tokens.

"How about shield warriors? Nah, I failed at that last time. Then berserker, maybe? That didn’t work, either."

He had even tried the concept of Lee Bong Ju[3] by running through the dungeon fighting as few monsters as possible, and the Gandhi concept, where he similarly went through the dungeon as peacefully as he could without fighting, but both attempts had failed. He realized then the two concepts didn’t belong in a dungeon to begin with. The Emperor concept might have a better chance of succeeding, which would involve demanding 100 bones from enemies of the same race in exchange for their lives. That would be his plan once he ran into monsters he could actually communicate with.

Hoo, I don’t have any other option at the moment... Since my magic has increased, let's go with the Sniper concept.

Lee Shin-Woo went with the idea he had shelved before due to his lacking mana. Whenever he used Catapult, he would have to regenerate his finger afterwards. That was why he hadn’t been able to commit to the Sniper concept. Now that his Magic Affinity had reached low rank, though, it might be a viable option.

I really hope I get a skill I can use here.

With his mind made up, Lee Shin-Woo put away his sword and slowly entered the dungeon with a finger extended. Up until now, no hero had dared enter a sewer dungeon⁠—simply because it was too dirty. The moment the first explorer appeared…