William expected to find a maze of stone corridors when he ventured down into the dungeon, but that was not what awaited him.
He believed one reason the demon army hadn't explored the rest of the dungeon was that they either didn't want to or didn't have the ti. However, the real answer to that mystery lay in what he discovered down there: a portal.
Another portal. Flashbacks of his passage through the portal to the demon kingdom flooded his mind.
"A portal? Here?" he murmured.
The dungeon was far more complex than he had anticipated. Near the portal, he noticed soone resting.
It was a young man with two daggers at his waist and a massive backpack by his side. He glanced at William but said nothing.
"Hey," William said, "Is everything alright?"
"Just resting before going in again. Why?" the young man replied.
William sat beside him, eager to learn more about the dungeon. Apparently, Jhen hadn't shared everything, or perhaps she simply didn't want to.
"What is this portal?" William asked. "I thought this place was just a maze with monsters."
The young man laughed. "It is, but only on the other floors. I think this is the tenth floor, and from here on, there are portals, each leading to a different place."
"Really?"
William's curiosity about the dungeon deepened. How had it appeared? Who created the portals? Why were there so many monsters respawning?
His first thought was that a higher being must have created it. It didn't seem natural at all. Did deities or even gods exist?
"At least, that's what I think," the young man continued. "The tenth floor is the only one I've explored. I haven't gone to the eleventh floor yet, but I assu it will be similar."
Then the young man added sothing crucial, "If you plan on going there, be careful. There are lots of adventurers, and they will kill you for the spoils. It's packed with people. You know, the portals are all connected."
"Wait, what? Do you an the other dungeons scattered around the kingdom?"
"Yes. The first nine levels are unique to each dungeon, but apparently, the portals are not only here; they exist in all dungeons, and everyone goes to the sa level."
The young man had spoken with other adventurers on the tenth floor, and that's how he knew they ca from different dungeons rather than the sa one they were using.
A web of portals, all interconnected, leading to a place filled with respawning monsters—it sounded like sothing straight out of a video ga.
"Thank you for pointing that out to ," William said. "If it hadn't been for you, I would have entered blindly."
"It was nothing," the young man replied. "Are you planning to go in now? Maybe we can explore it together. It's pretty dangerous to go alone, and I feel like my luck might run out eventually…"
William was not opposed to the idea. Though he had just t the guy, he seed decent enough, and there was little reason not to go with him. It would be much better to be with soone who knew the area.
"Sure, let's go," William said.
However, William was always cautious around soone he had just t. The chances of being backstabbed in a place like that were high, and he didn't want to take the risk.
The young man took a mont to rest before going inside. William noticed he had a few cuts on his torso—probably from fights with the monsters lurking in the dungeon. It took the man around 30 minutes to recover. Since neither of them was in a hurry, William didn't mind waiting.
"I'm better now. Shall we go?" the young man said.
William let the man move first. The sensation of going through the portal reminded him of his trips to the demon kingdom and was similar to experiencing his SSS skill. He was accustod to it, so he didn't feel any sickness after passing through. The young man seed fine as well.
When William looked around to see where they were, he realized the entire landscape was… unusual. The plains had orange grass, and the sky was also orange. The trees were orange too. William spotted a river in the distance and thought, 'The river must be orange too…' but to his surprise, it wasn't. The water looked just like the water he was familiar with.
"This place is so strange," William remarked.
"And you haven't even seen the stranger things one can find here. Co with ; I know a place for us to start," the man said.
The man introduced himself as Matthew. He had been to that dungeon five tis up to that point and was much more knowledgeable compared to William, though he wasn't particularly strong.
After a quick assessnt, William realized he was stronger, which gave him the confidence to trust that he wouldn't be backstabbed.
"Where are we going, exactly?" William asked.
"You'll see…" Matthew replied, adding an air of mystery.
They continued through the plains, and eventually, William noticed sothing incredible. The plain had a hill at its end, and when they climbed to the top, William beheld a vast area teeming with monsters.
It was the first ti he had seen so many monsters in one place. He even noticed other adventurers there, battling against the creatures. So were fighting solo, while others ford parties.
"This is incredible! How can there be so many monsters here?"
Looking up at the hill, William beheld what appeared to be an army of creatures. He hadn't expected it to be so packed with monsters. While he anticipated encountering a few, he never imagined there would be this many. It was far beyond what he had expected.
"Right? Let's go; we can't waste any ti here." Matthew led the way as they descended the hill. Before they reached the bottom, monsters were already approaching them.
The first pack of monsters they encountered consisted of goblins, so of which were different colors. William was familiar with these creatures and wasn't surprised to see them. However, there was one unique goblin—an orange one—that caught his attention.
William wanted to level up, so he didn't wait for Matthew to make a move. With Asura in hand, he dashed toward the goblins and attacked them with his sword. Since he began using his demonic ditation, he felt stronger. His movents were faster, and his attacks had more power behind them.
Matthew watched William's impressive moves and couldn't help but praise him. "That's incredible! Anyway, let's form a party, right? We can share the experience points (EXP)."
William frowned at that suggestion. *What is this?* he thought. He understood that the system in this world was similar to a ga, with levels and attributes that everyone possessed. But forming a party? That wasn't possible in the real world!
Yet, in this strange dungeon, forming a party felt as natural as in a ga. The idea of a higher being orchestrating this situation crossed his mind, and he briefly wondered if he was trapped inside a ga without realizing it.
"No way that's possible. I'm definitely in another world," he reassured himself.
Matthew requested the party, and a notification appeared in front of William. He accepted it. Now he could see Matthew's na above his head, which would make it easier for them to find each other amid the swarm of creatures and other adventurers.
"Now all the beasts I kill will give you half the EXP, and if you kill, I'll get half the EXP too." William understood how a party in a ga worked, so he didn't need further explanation.
With shared EXP, it was best to focus on different monsters to maximize their kills and level up faster. William went to one side while Matthew went to another, making sure they didn't stray too far. It was important to stay close in case another adventurer showed up to attack them.
The adventurers were their main concern. Each floor had a different difficulty level, so the monsters on the tenth floor wouldn't pose a threat to William. However, strong adventurers could enter that floor and use their power to prey on the weaker ones—a common occurrence in this world.
While fighting the goblins—which didn't require much of William's attention—he kept glancing at Matthew from a distance to gauge his strength.
Matthew was impressively fast; he wielded daggers and used spells related to stealth and poison. He wasn't exactly the most reassuring person to have around, but the silver lining was that the goblins didn't seem to pose a threat to him either. Their killing speed was quite rapid, and notifications for experience points and item drops appeared in front of them multiple tis.
In fact, the pace of the fights was so quick that William leveled up once in just thirty minutes of battling the monsters! When he saw the level-up notification—a sight he hadn't seen in a long ti—he couldn't help but smile.
"It feels good..." he muttered.
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