Chapter 3: It's common sense to travel to another world by truck!
Dungeon, tenth floor.
Unlike the gloomy and cramped first floor, this place was filled with mist, a grey expanse that seemed to swallow all light and sound.
However, in this boundless grey mist, brilliant golden light flashed and extinguished like a meteor, each flicker accompanied by the silent collapse of a fat orc.
Arthur's figure moved freely through the monster horde, his expression composed, even having the leisure to be distracted.
Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Agility, and Magic are the five most direct indicators of growth in ability scores.
Based on proficiency, there are ten stages from I to S.
If an adventurer wants to improve a certain item, they must engage in related training.
To increase Strength, attack.
To increase Endurance, take damage.
To increase Magic, cast spells.
And so on, the more frequently a certain type of action is performed, the more growth the corresponding item receives.
"That's the theory," Arthur said.
Arthur spun and swung his sword, instantly cleaving two rushing orcs. He lightly tapped his toes, gracefully retreating and creating distance from the remaining monsters.
"But you small fries aren't even good enough to warm me up."
Wind King Hammer (Strike Air)!
The wind pressure coiling around his sword instantly condensed, and with a swing of his arm, it transformed into an invisible yet violent magic shockwave, erupting with force!
The sluggish orcs were like hitting an invisible meat grinder, turning into ash before they could even scream, swept away by the shockwave into the distance.
Arthur shook off the lingering magic storm from his sword, looking at the magic stones and dropped materials scattered on the ground, somewhat annoyed as he scratched his hair.
"There's already a monster-killing, leveling-up, and material-dropping phase, but no auto-pickup after battle? That's too inconvenient."
"Fuwu?"
Fufu, perched on his shoulder, tilted its head.
"Yes, yes, I know this isn't a game, it just feels like collecting materials is a bit of a waste of time."
Arthur bent down and began to meticulously search, making sure no spoils of war were missed.
According to the general handbook, adventurers are not allowed to discard magic stones and dropped materials at will; if discovered, the entire Familia will be penalized.
Actually, he could understand the Guild's painstaking efforts, after all, these materials could be exchanged for money.
Even scraps casually discarded by high-level adventurers could become the fuse for lower-level adventurers' struggles.
After double-checking that nothing was missed, Arthur turned and headed back towards the entrance to the ninth floor.
There was no choice; the map provided by the Guild for LV1 adventurers only went up to the tenth floor, so his Dungeon debut could only stop here.
...
At sunset, the plaza beneath Tower of Babel was bustling with noise.
Adventurers who had finished a day of exploration flocked to the Guild's counter, exchanging magic stones and materials for clinking Valis.
"Yo, Old Bill? How did you end up back on the surface?"
"Nonsense! He must have conned some sucker on the eighteenth floor and is preparing to return to his main base to lie low!"
"Go to hell! I'm a famously conscientious merchant on the eighteenth floor."
"You rotten old man are very bad; can 'eighteenth floor' and 'conscientious' even be said together?"
Arthur quietly stood in line, listening to the surrounding adventurers recount their daily experiences and gains, extracting useful information for himself.
From their words, it seemed there were shops opened by adventurers on the eighteenth floor?
That was interesting.
To dare to conduct transactions in a Dungeon full of monsters, could it be that some high-level adventurers were stationed there?
As for conscientiousness?
After all, it was a shop set up on the front lines of battle; taking advantage of the situation was normal.
"Hmm!?"
Just then, a needle-like chill suddenly crawled up Arthur's spine, as if he had been targeted by a bone-eating beast!
He casually scanned his surroundings; the crowd was bustling, yet no gaze carried obvious malice.
However, Fufu, who had been quietly perched on his shoulder, suddenly raised its head, its ears twitching vigilantly.
Its gaze penetrated through layers of obstruction, directly to the very top of Tower of Babel.
There, a god, oblivious to the consequences, had set her eyes on an existence that absolutely could not be touched!
...
Snap!
A priceless wine glass slipped from her hand and shattered, the crimson liquid instantly staining the pristine white carpet.
Freya, the silver-haired goddess renowned for her beauty and charm, was now pale with fright, stumbling backward and collapsing onto the cold floor, her delicate body trembling uncontrollably.
"W-what… what was that just now?"
Her voice was filled with uncontrollable terror, and cold sweat dripped from her temples.
As a goddess, she possessed a pair of special eyes that could see through the surface of things to the soul's radiance of the children of the lower world.
Just now, Freya was, as usual, choosing a child she liked, but just as she discovered a youth whose soul shone like a star—
What she saw in an instant was no longer the youth, but a terrifying beast shadow capable of destroying the world.
Just a fleeting glance, and the divine instinct was screaming frantically!
Freya was scared; that tremor from the depths of her soul made her instantly understand.
To dare to lay a hand on that youth, there was only one outcome—annihilation!
Even if she possessed one of Orario's strongest Familia, even if she was a high and mighty god, she could not resist that power in the slightest.
"How cruel…"
Freya murmured bitterly, her face devoid of its usual allure, only the pallor of one who had narrowly escaped death.
"Such an unprecedentedly dazzling soul, yet even a god has no right to covet it?"
She took several deep breaths, barely suppressing her palpitations, and walked to the table to press a button.
Soon, a burly, pig-man strongman with short, earthy-yellow hair quickly entered the room.
Outa, the 'Juggernaut,' bowed respectfully and said in a deep voice.
"Lady Freya, please give your command."
"Outa."
Freya's voice still carried a trace of an almost imperceptible tremor.
"Go and investigate information about a child. Remember, the most important point…"
"Please instruct."
"Absolutely! Absolutely! Do not provoke any hostility from that child!"
...
Twilight Manor.
Arthur looked helplessly at the tightly closed door, wondering if the frantic goddess had calmed down yet.
Thump thump thump—!
"Come in, kid, I didn't lock the door."
Arthur pushed the door open, and the sight before him made his mouth twitch.
Loki, with a messy bird's nest of hair, held two bamboo skewers in her hands, her eyes unfocused, looking exactly like a patient who had just escaped from a mental asylum.
"Uh—did you really have to make yourself look like this?"
Loki suddenly jolted, raising the bamboo skewers like holy swords and roaring.
"What the hell do you know, kid!"
"I'm a god who sealed my powers and descended to the lower world for entertainment; with a god-given opportunity like traversing another world right before me, how can I stay calm!"
Arthur spread his hands helplessly, explaining patiently.
"So, didn't I tell you, Brilliant Journey can't be activated at all, so it's meaningless for you to dwell on this."
"I don't believe it!"
Loki slammed the table, making a deafening sound.
"Didn't you come here like this, kid! You must have a way to go to another world!"
Arthur and Fufu on his shoulder exchanged glances, then he shrugged rather shamelessly.
"If you also experience an explosion, maybe you really will have a chance to travel to another world."
Upon hearing this, Loki immediately put on an expression that said, 'I'm well-read, don't lie to me,' and pouted.
"An explosion? Don't people usually rely on trucks to travel to other worlds?"
Arthur raised a hand to his forehead, weakly retorting.
"That's purely a stereotype! Quickly apologize to those authors who racked their brains designing transmigration plots!"
Loki snorted disdainfully, casually tossing aside the bamboo skewers labeled "Go" and "Don't Go," and beckoned to Arthur.
"I'm done messing around with you, kid. Come over here, sit down, and take off your clothes! Let me get a good look, what's the quality of this otherworlder really like?"