Daybreak filled the sky once more with vibrant golden hues. The tangled hollow trees were dreary seemingly empathetic toward their razed kin.
The benign dungeon was ravaged by participants in just two days. It was now oozing with a rotten scent that pervaded the turbulent air.
The trees were reduced to stumps which no longer filtered the daybreak with their bald densely packed leaves. Shafts of light dawned upon the participants, pricking their lethargic eyes.
Deep in the dungeon, Anastasia streaked from tree to tree, leaving golden trails as she skimmed through the ranking.
She had been worried about Alab since they entered the dungeon and it was only hours ago that Alab began obtaining mana crystals.
In a blink of an eye, she witnessed him rise significantly in the ranking, bypassing about 100 ranks!
Alab was now at rank 809 with 7 mana crystals in his possession. Anastasia was relieved to see that everyone on [Planet Earth] had now escaped the edge of the cliff.
They were no longer in the bottom rank.
With her worries washed off, Anastasia leaped from tree to tree aimlessly in search of an astray [Owl Bears].
----
Along with the daybreak, an alarming crisis dawned upon the participants. They were now sharing the same fate of wandering through the dungeon without a distinct destination.
Only about an hour or so would they encounter a single astray [Owl Bear].
It was the third and last day of the examination yet their eyes furrowed with bitterness.
"There are no more monsters!", they wailed
This dungeon was generated by the system and wasn't suspectable to the ethereal spawning of monsters. The participants who kept on slaughtering were now faced with this dilemma.
Those in the bottom ranking were even more frantic as the ranking could alter at any moment, bringing horror to their souls as they could be ranked bottom any second now.
"Should we hunt the dungeon guardian then?"
Unlike them, the higher species were immediate in shifting their plans. Now that there were little monsters left yet still a ranking in their peripheral worries, hunting the dungeon guardian was the plausible resort at this desperate moment.
"It must be weaker than usual dungeon guardian, after all, it is a system generated solely for exam purposes", an entity deduced.
They couldn't stay idle for long as other higher species might be on their way to the dungeon heart by now. Composed, they ventured into the deepest part of the dungeon.
Of course, among this was Anastasia who utilized her skill as she quickened.
"I should raise my rank", Anastasia was reluctant to stay in the 24th ranking. She had to do something lest the sacrifices of Han Seo Yeon would be left in vain.
Looking at the ranking of Han Seo Yeon who fell by about 400+ ranks, Anastasia was torn between glee and solemn.
"I will make sure to get a higher rank!", Anastasia vowed.
-----
Meanwhile, Han Seo Yeon and Girth dived deeper into the dungeon as well. Though, Han Sen Yeon kept his rationality and didn't recklessly go to the dungeon heart, after all, he was dubious that he could even damage the potent dungeon guardian.
Not that he could go anyways as he still had a promise to fulfill. Han Seo Yeon glanced ahead.
"Where are you, monsters, huh?! Come here, face me if you dare! KEKE!", Girth erratically swayed his sword upwards, taunting to the void.
Girth grew conceited in the past two days mainly because he was the one to deal the finishing blows on the monsters. It was a rather easy feat as burdens were mostly carried by the tanking of Han Seo Yeon. With that, they steadily climbed the ranking.
However, they had been venturing for a while now, and not once did they encounter a monster. They were stuck at 11 crystals each!
Girth jested to Han Seo Yeon.
"Say, would you dare to play a bet with me?", Girth jested as he turned his head, blocking the path of Han Seo Yeon.
Ham Seo Yeon was too lethargic and was fed up with Girth's immaturity.
"Okay okay", Han Seo Yeon shrugged his shoulder, stepping forward but Girth wouldn't allow him to walk past him.
'Hayst, this smug side of him to not let people walk before him is stupid'
"Okay, so what is the deal?", Han Seo Yeon was just too exhausted to retort. He couldn't care anymore. He just wanted this episode done.
Girth, however, playfully sneered.
"KEKE, within an hour, if a monster appears I win, and if there is nothing, then you win. KEKE"
*sigh*
Han Seo Yeon lifelessly nodded his head. After a yawn and deep sigh, he asked.
"So what do we bet this time?", Han Seo Yeon was fed up by Girth's games for two days now. This was now their 25th game!
'Alas, he even bugged me when I eat'
Girth caressed his chin for a while as he pondered. Then a while later, an idea sparked in his head as he exclaimed.
"The mana crystals! KEKE! The loser will give half his mana crystals to the winner, what do you think? Clever don't you think? KEKE!", Girth cackled, conceited.
Han Seo Yeon hushed him with his sluggish words.
"Whatever--"
"Don't you dare tuck your tail, loser! KEKEKEKEKE!" Girth cut him off.
'Loser?! I have won all 25 games, idiot!', somehow, Han Seo Yeon felt his competitive quality ablaze before him.
Rolling his small eyes, Han Seo Yeon gestured a lazy nod.
Girth was disheveled to see the nonchalant Han Seo Yeon. It was clear that he was not taking it seriously.
'He would be running away when he lose, won't he?!', Girth had inner turmoil.
He couldn't let Han Seo Yeon run away!
"How about this, I will give you my mana crystals momentarily until an hour and the winner has been decided. What do you think? KEKE", Girth proposed.
This way, Han Seo Yeon would be carrying the burden of guilt and accountability. Shackles had been tied on his feet, he couldn't run away.
"Surely, you wouldn't want Anastasia to know that you tuck your tails in a simple game, right? Keke", Girth tossed another fuel to the fire!
At the mention of Anastasia's name, Han Seo Yeon's eyes lit up with vigor. His lethargic eyes were washed off his apathetic face.
"TUCK MY TAIL? Heck NO?!", Han Seo Yeon exclaimed.
Apparently, Girth had hit him in his soft spot! (AN: Dont be green-minded (-_-))
"KEKE! Then I guess you are on?"
"HECK, Of course!"
Having settled that, the jeering Girth took out his mana crystals from his inventory and then hesitantly handed them out to the passive Han Seo Yeon.
[Rank 399: Han Seo Yeon (22 mana crystals) (-196)
....
...
Rank 962: Girth Libra (0 mana crystals) (-3)
Rank 963: Felix Malekith (0 mana crystals) (-1)]
Their ranking had been updated in real-time.
Venturing deeper into the dungeon, Girth awakened his religious self as he prayed for whoever gods he could think of.
"god of all, Proteus, please make me win, ke ke", Girrh blurted his devotions.
-----
Meanwhile, the skeleton soldier was swift as it reaped yet another [Owl Bear]'s life.
Alab stood in watch, pondering over the recent events. He eventually had a convenient time to digest the detail of his upgraded skill.
"It seems that as I continue to raise its rank, the attributes multiplier is also increasing by 10.", Alab first noticed the buff brought about by his SSS-grade skill [Conversion].
Discreetly opening his mouth, he mumbled.
"There are also two skills added. Perhaps I can expect three more skills as I upgrade it into B-rank", Alab deduced.
Days ago, when he upgraded the skill to D-rank, the skill [Death Slash] had been acquired by the skeleton. Now, two more skills were added.
Not to mention that the [Death Slash (D)] itself had been upgraded to [Slash of Demise (C)].
"It was a great upgrade", Alab was satisfied with the boons.
Closing the system interface, Alab glanced at the slaughtered [Owl Bear] ahead. It was his 7th prey now since the upgrade.
"There are lesser monsters now"
Alab had similarly noticed the discrepancy with the number of monsters. They were visibly decreasing.
Alab glanced toward the deepest part of the dungeon as he mustered an indifferent expression. Like others, the option of hunting the dungeon guardian had been looming in his mind for a while now.
However, he was not after the increase in ranking but rather, its mana crystal. He inferred that the mana crystal of a dungeon guardian would be valuable once bonded to an item.
"The item would be more potent and there could be two skills or more that can be added", Alab mumbled.
However, he decided to just brush it off as he was certain that a myriad of higher species would be lurking in the dungeon heart by now.
And as he expected, right at that moment, a tumultuous commotion wilder than he ever heard of before, erupted in the direction of the dungeon heart.
Chaotic fumes wafted to the outskirts as scorched scent filled his nose. Then, a system notice alerted.
[The Dungeon Guardian "Grizzly Owl Bear" (B) has been killed]
[The dungeon will crumble in an hour]
[The examination duration has been changed...]
[Remaining time: 1 hour]
----
AN:
Guess what? We finally have our first Patron!
Thanks! Travis! That really meant a lot!
To express my gratitude, I will be uploading the next 5 chapters to my Patreon! So be sure to subscribe and read it! All will be available in the first tier, S-tier, with only $1 a month subscription.
Chapter 23: AN HOUR BEFORE EXAMINATION ENDS
Chapter 24: A BROKEN PROMISE
Chapter 25: END OF THE PRACTICAL EXAMINATION: TEARS OF GRIEF
Chapter 26: DEATH OF AN S-RANK (AN: Who will die?)
Chapter 27: FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH UPGRADE! (1)
See you on my Patreon!