"You're kidding me. Dungeon management facility, my ass."
James sighed.
"Well, did the announcer woman say something about my stat points?"
He pulled out the card. The card now displayed his name, as well as the title 'Dungeon Explorer – 1st floor'. Below that, a list of values appeared. Abbreviations such as STR and AGI were on the left side.
"I guess this is it then. This is all pretty straightforward. STR is strength, DEF is defense, END… is endurance, I guess? I wonder what type of stat is endurance?"
[Endurance is the amount of physical stamina. If agility (AGI) is how fast a person can run, then endurance (END) is how long they can keep that speed for.]
"Sweet Jesus! You can answer my questions?"
James nearly shat himself when a voice unexpectedly answered his question. But, he then realized this was the voice of the woman that he had heard before.
[Yes.]
"Okay, thanks. Then, AGI is agility, INT is intelligence, and LUK is luck. Wait, this is just like an RPG game. Am I going to be fighting monsters?"
James then took a closer look at the values displayed on the right side.
{STR: 1
DEF: 1
END: 1
AGI: 1
INT: 41
LUK: 9999}
James took a critical hit to his ego.
"Isn't this really weak? Also, what's with this stat distribution? This is clearly bugged. 9999 luck stat?! What an obvious error! Whoever made this is an absolute buffoon!"
James laughed but then froze.
"Wait. This is my dream."
James had mastered the art of self-deprecating humor!
"AAAAHHH!! Announcer woman! This stat window is bugged!"
[...…. it is not. All the values shown are correct.]
"What? Then I really do have 9999 luck?"
James was confused for a bit. But, he quickly recovered his wits.
"Hey, announcer woman. Can you tell me how my stats measure up? What are the average stat values?"
[The average adult human being has anywhere from 20 – 30 stat points in each category. The average child will have somewhere from 10 – 15 stat points in each category. This is on average of course. Dungeon explorers have higher stat points on average, but they vary much more.]
Ouch! James' ego had already disappeared at this point. He had one point in each category. 1 point!!! He was weaker than a 10 year old child! But, at least he had higher than average intelligence. He was really smart!
[Intelligence (INT) is a measurement of calculative power and affinity with magic. One can have a high intelligence stat and still act like a fool. In fact, a great example of this is shown here.]
This announcer woman was ruthless! Stop it! He's already dead!
"Wait, but at least I can use magic right?
[I believe magics can be unlocked on the 5th floor. Additionally, magic does put a strain on the body. Using high leveled magic without a body strong enough to resist the flow of mana may cause large amounts of damage to the body. I do not believe your current physique.]
"…in other words, I can't use magic at all?"
[Worry not! For in the dungeon, you have the opportunity to increase your stat points!]
James' sanity slowly decreased. As a last resort, he popped his final question.
"Announcer woman, what is the luck stat?"
[Slightly increased drop rates of items and better drops. This applies to both monsters and chests. Although, I've never seen such a high luck stat. It may have some other function.]
"…"
[…]
"In other words, it doesn't help at all?"
[No. It helps explorers make more money. But I can't see you getting that far.]
James wanted to rage again. His stats were garbage to the point of him not being able to do a single thing! But he ran into the same problem: there was nothing to break! He couldn't punch stone walls. James tried breaking the card again, but the card wouldn't budge!
"What is this card made out of!?!?!?"
[A mythril and orichalcum alloy. It's expensive, but reusable. Dungeon explorers tend to die a lot.]
James felt as if he had heard something worrying.
"Haaah. Well, no point in worrying about it now. Dungeon exploring we go!"
At this point, James had almost forgotten that this was a dream. Or rather, he had forgotten that he wanted it to be a dream.
====================
[I've seen people who were out of shape, but this is a new level.]
It was 100m down the corridor, and James was leaning against the wall, deathly pale and hyperventilating. His muscles felt like they were on fire. He was completely out of breath.
"This…gasp…isn't…pant…normal…for…huff…me…"
[Please wait until you've caught your breath until speaking. It pains me to hear you.]
5 minutes later, James had somewhat recovered.
"This is bullshit! I walk half a kilometer every day to and from school. Did you poison me or something?!"
James roared. His blood was boiling. The nerve of this announcer lady!
[Oh, that's right. I forgot. You came from Earth, which has no mana. Thus, your body has not adjusted to the environment in the dungeon, which contains mana. This will make your body feel heavier. However, you can think of it as tempering your body, as you will.]
The mention of Earth shocked James. He just realized that this was supposed to be a dream. But this felt too real to be a dream. Just what is this place? Where is he? Did this actually exist? Mana, the stat board, and the so called dungeon? A bunch of thoughts swirled violently within his mind. After a moment of thought, he opened his mouth.
"Announcer woman, is this a dream? Or is this place real?"
[Hmmm… that's an interesting question. The correct answer is both.]
"What? That makes no sense. How can it be both?"
[Just because it's a dream, doesn't mean that it's not real.]
"Could you elaborate a bit?"
[I'm sorry, but you don't have the qualifications to know everything yet. You must reach higher floors to get the information.]
Real but inside a dream. Is this a separate dimension? No, probably not. James deduced that he had probably got his hands on the highest quality magic shrooms and accidentally ingested them before falling asleep. But, there was the chance that this was something else entirely. James sighed. It seemed like he really had no choice but to climb this god forsaken dungeon to find out the truth. If it was a dream, he would wake up sooner or later. But if it wasn't, he would have to climb. He stood up and prepared to continue walking. But, as he was about to round the corner, something green caught his eye. A small green humanoid being with an ugly face and wearing nothing but a loincloth.
A goblin.