Don't waste your time chasing butterflies. Mend your garden, and the butterflies will come
-who said it? I don't know
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I decided to register as an adventurer out of curiosity, who's to blame? A lot of people, but let's not talk about that anymore.
Adventurers, as per definition are people who seeks out exciting, challenging, and often risky experiences, frequently involving travel to unfamiliar or dangerous places. They are drawn to exploration, new discoveries, and overcoming obstacles, and are willing to face potential dangers or discomfort in pursuit of these experiences.
For me they are the most awesome people ever, because these are people that challenges the unknown just for fame and money. I still can't believe that for once...I will also become one.
[So just name, age,.....can't I just give this as a way to ease the process?]
I gave the receptionist the ID issued to me by that witch, to which she sighed and accepted.
[Sure, that makes my job significantly easier] (??) The person in charge for the registration is a black-haired girl with dark circles under her eyes. Sleep-deprived may be a good description, but she sure is a hard worker.
So much for being excited to become an adventurer, there's always a person in the world that had given up on their dreams....she looks like that person.
There's a tower of paper behind her, to which suggests that all of that work must have been pushed at her...corporate-style.
I sympathize with this poor soul, as this was my situation before reincarnation.
For the first time, I also managed to have a good look at the inside of the guild hall.
There's the receptionist desk where I am standing nearby, then there's the quest board, there's also a weapon shop, potion shop, a bar, and a huge gate that is taller than Ronin.
The guild hall is quite large and it's spacious for a reason....maybe giants exists? Who knows, as if I'd know. I haven't seen any other non-human citizens of this world.
For now, I have to get my adventurer's registration to get a license to dive into the dungeon.
[You're registration has been completed. Please check *yawn~* the details at your card if it's correct] (??)
The adventurer's registration is finished, and I am handed a card the same size to that of a standard identification card....
[Wait, isn't this what I have given you earlier?] The ID given by that witch somehow merged with the adventurer's card.
[Ah....right, I was supposed to tell you what would happen to the standard card given to the normal city folk.....sorry] (??) She forgot.....
Turns out the IDs merge into one as a way to not lose track of the others. Imagine having an all-in-one id....that's what this is about.
[Hoooo..]
It was a shiny metallic black card with my information and picture in it.
[By the way before you can use that card to it's full potential, you must need to confirm your biological registration] (??)
[Bio...logical registration?]
[Hmmm....I mean you need to place a drop of blood at the card] (??)
[Oh....] Damn, really?
She pulled out a needle from her desk...it was....quite menacingly big for a needle.
I eyed the needle like it was about to grow fangs and leap for my jugular.
[Uh…is there another way to do this?] I asked, inching back a little.
The receptionist's exhausted gaze flattened further. She looked like she hadn't slept since the last lunar cycle.
[No] (??)
[…Right.]
[Make it quick] I held out my finger.
She obliged, but because of hygiene reason she first heated the needle with a candle before pricking my fingertip with the practiced efficiency of someone who'd done this a thousand times today alone. A bead of blood welled up, which she gestured for me to smear onto the center of the shiny black card.
I pressed it on. The metal shimmered, a faint blue glow pulsing out like ripples in a pond. My HUD pinged with a fresh notification:
-Biometric Registration Confirmed. Adventurer License: Active-
[…Huh. So now I'm officially an adventurer?] I flexed my finger and the pain had already resided.
[Technically, yes] (??) She slumped further in her chair and slid me a small parchment receipt.
[Here's your registration proof. Don't lose it, or you'll have to come back and do this again] (??)
[Yeah, that sounds like a nightmare] I muttered.
[It *yawn~* is] (??) She sounded so dead inside I almost offered her a hug. Almost.
I stepped aside to let the next in line approach—some wide-eyed teenager clutching a wooden spear—and drifted toward the quest board. My goal for the day is to enter the dungeon and assess what sort of dangers I could face during exploration.
I am just lucky since having a guide book sure could help me a lot.
Today was a slow day at the inn so that's why I am here, and with this much time I would be sure to use it.
Still, dungeons are no joke. Being careless would lead to death, being ignorant leads to death, underestimating it leads to death, and being overconfident also leads to death. As far as what I have heard, 50% of that is the truth.
Different individuals have different ways on how they work in the dungeon during their exploration, and most of those that perish are the ones that overestimates their strengths.
What makes these overconfident people to die early is due to the way a dungeon would make you earn money faster than doing normal contracts/quests.
The dungeon at Miruzo City has only been explored until the 78th floor. The expedition team that did that was an S-ranked adventuring party called GILDED SEEKER. Why only the 78th? There is a rumor that they must have ran out of supplies since it takes months to explore until the 50th floor, some say that they must have seen something that they cannot fell, and there was even a rumor about fights happening between the members.
Safe to say, I am confident that i can store a lot of supplies at my INVENTORY that I could last a whole year without going back to the surface....but why should I explore it for that long?
It's just gonna be a short exploration, in-and-out, what could go wrong?
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A dungeon is a tower, a labyrinth, or just a cave system that would appear due to magical reason that even the brightest and smartest scholar cannot comprehend how or why. However, my understanding about it is that it is an object that would appear in a place with good magic flow...or that is how I comprehend it.
[Wow]
I entered the dungeon after the guard verified my card, however he warned me not to be careless....as expected. They must have seen many come and go, some returned, some unfortunately did not.
The dungeon was almost the same as the one from those JRPG where there's a specific theme to an area to a certain level, and right now I am at the sewers.
[Augh] I almost belch at the smell of sewer sludge and organic matter that is decomposing here.
There's rats too. Giant, disgusting, rats.
*BANG*
With a press of the trigger, the P2011 hit the rat straight in the head.
{YOU KILLED SEWER RAT X 1}
{YOU GAINED 1 EXP}
Oh wow. 1 experience point per rat.
I stepped forward, boots squelching in the muck. The corpse of the rat was already dissolving into some foul vapor that left behind a damp stain and nothing else.
I'd read that dungeons reclaimed the dead. Resources recycled. Like some living organism digesting what it didn't need.
I glanced at the spot one more time, then checked the mag in my pistol. Nearly full. One spent round.
Stay focused.
I advanced down the corridor, the walls narrowing until they felt more like ribs than stone. My HUD flickered occasionally—patches of mana interference that blurred my vision just long enough to make me feel exposed.
I tightened my grip on the weapon.
Somewhere up ahead, the tunnel bent to the left. A sound drifted out—soft scraping, like claws dragging over damp brick.
My pulse kicked up a notch.
I forced myself to slow my breathing. It was too easy to let adrenaline get the better of me. That was how mistakes happened.
I eased to the edge of the bend and leaned out just far enough to see.
More rats. Four of them this time. One crouched over something unidentifiable, gnawing noisily. The other three were sniffing the air, ears flicking.
They hadn't seen me yet.
I weighed my options. I could shoot them from here, but the noise would draw more. Or I could try to slip past—but the tunnel beyond them was too narrow to avoid their notice.
I muttered under my breath. "Short exploration. In and out. Sure."
My hand hovered near the selector on my pistol. Semi-auto was enough, but part of me was tempted to switch to burst, just to be sure.
Focus.
I exhaled, centered my aim on the largest one, and squeezed the trigger.
BANG
The shot cracked like thunder. The rat's head snapped back, and the corpse fell limp. The others shrieked, eyes glinting red as they surged toward me.
I didn't hesitate. I stepped clear of the corner and fired again.
BANG—BANG—BANG
The last one skidded to a stop at my boots, half its skull missing. My breathing sounded loud in my ears.
{YOU KILLED SEWER RAT ×3}
{YOU GAINED 3 EXP}
I lowered the pistol, fighting the urge to look behind me every two seconds.
It was quiet again. Too quiet.
I advanced carefully, stepping around the mess. What they'd been eating looked like the remains of another rat, but there were scraps of fabric tangled in the bones.
A shiver crawled up my spine.
Someone else's supplies. Someone who hadn't made it out.
I checked my HUD. The minimap showed a single pulsing dot deeper in—an unexplored passage. Part of me wanted to turn back, cash in the paltry experience, and leave.
But that wasn't why I'd come.
If I couldn't handle the first floor of a dungeon, I had no business calling myself an adventurer at all.
I continued down the passage.
The tunnel opened into a chamber—larger, with a vaulted ceiling that disappeared into gloom. Water dripped somewhere unseen, each splash echoing like distant footfalls.
I edged along the wall, sweeping the space with my pistol.
Nothing moved.
A faint glimmer caught my eye—something half-buried in a drift of sludge near the far side. I crouched, careful to keep my weapon up as I cleared the muck aside.
A small black card with a brass Lettering stamp marked a "D", tarnished but intact. A guild insignia stamped into its surface.
Some poor guy's proof of rank. Left here like trash.
[Damn] This is a guild card, an adventurer's guild card. Tch.
I grimaced. Someone was that careless to die at the 1st floor, what more could the other floors offer?
I slipped it into my pouch. Maybe it would be worth returning to the guild—if only so the receptionist would have one less reason to yawn at me.
I straightened, scanning the shadows. The HUD flickered again—static dancing across my display.
And then, behind me, something scraped against stone.
I spun, finger tensing on the trigger.
Nothing.
But I knew better.
I switched my vision overlay, toggling through thermal and mana detection. A faint shape resolved in the darkness, clinging to the ceiling. Long limbs. Too many joints. Eyes that burned blue like dying coals.
Not a rat.
The creature let go.
I dove sideways as it landed where I'd been standing, the impact shaking grit from the ceiling. It unfolded to its full height twice that of my own and turned its gaze on me.
{UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED}
{NO DATA}
The HUD flashed a warning:
—CAUTION: LEVEL UNKNOWN—
I swallowed.
So much for low risk
I brought the sights up, lined the reticle between its eyes, and fired.
BANG—BANG—BANG—
The rounds struck but the thing hardly reacted. Only a thin ooze seeped from the impacts, evaporating into a foul-smelling vapor.
It moved toward me, silent as a shadow.
I backed up, heart hammering.
One step at a time. One shot at a time.
This was the unknown I'd signed up to face.