Chapter 9 - Mindset

'Ugh, that guy, even with such a friendly smile, I already know he is a very different person inside. Did he have to go so hard though? It was just a spar…'

Pierce Williams, a powerful figure in the future who was known for his ruthlessness in battle. He was one of the few who opposed the MC and his people backing him, but as things go, the main character has almost all the important people behind him backing his decision, so Pierce… Well, he didn't die for fight them for long, he was just excluded from the story after some chapters and readers never got to see him again.

'Heh… Authors sometimes.'

Anyway, 'seeing as Pierce wasn't in the National Academy Tournament ark and in the trip to the Western Academy ark, maybe he left the school before then. It's not completely impossible if he has the skill and achievements to show.' It didn't matter, Ren added him to his list of potential allies. No matter how strong he got, he couldn't be everywhere at once, so he still needed help, after all, no man is an island.

'Well… That is of course if I don't get OP mind control skill on my side!' "Heheheheh…" He really couldn't stop the mischievous smile from blooming.

"I have two ways to deal with this, one is to focus on creating a superior mind control skill that even the MC's hack bloodline can't oppose, the other is to follow the original plan and just get so fucking strong I become the decision itself."

'Even then, I can't just rob the MC of all his opportunities, if not he becomes weak and dies in no time and the world still goes to shits. Heh…' "Who would create such a stupid plot even?!"

Well, seeing as the main character's existence was needed to further the story until the final point where the most important decision would be made, Ren had to keep him around for that long.

After testing out his skills and technique and even getting a free spar from a future bigshot, Ren was more than satisfied for the day. Knowing that his room would be clean and shiny when he returns, he stopped at a restaurant to buy something to take home for dinner, after all, he had spent the entire in the forests, needless to say, dirty.

'Seems I'd have to shift going to the dungeon till tomorrow.'

Just as expected, his room was clean and the bathroom brimmed with golden light. 'That middle-aged guy really knows his stuff, huh?' Ren couldn't help but wonder if it was from the help of his skill, after all, not everyone was lucky enough to awaken a combat or support type skill. Some people who awaken other miscellaneous skills maybe lucky, for example awakening as a chef or surgeon, it would automatically boost your efficiency in that field, and those who awaken as engineers may have it even better in such a rapid technological era.

Ren decided to take his bath before eating.

With nothing left to do, there was only one way to spend his time that night, "time for some movie on a holographic screen. I wonder what kinds of movies this world will have."

That night, Ren's mind will be blown out of proportions, this new world had not just movies, but anime as well, it was a dream come true, because everything was fresh and new. 'So this world's Japan is also in the Great Phoenix Kingdom, huh? This world's map is so fucked up.'

After discovering a new form of entertainment that night, it was no surprise when Ren woke up the next morning after sleeping for just two hours. "Why did I ever allow myself to be drowned into fiction," however, after realizing that he was actually inside one himself, he put the thoughts away and started preparing for his day. He would love to sleep more, but he didn't want to procrastinate in this world too.

'They say baby steps, but I think immediate change works best for me.'

Once he was out of his room, just as he expected, there was no one except for himself there, this block was really empty and deserted. Well, it was just the place Ren would love so he wasn't complaining.

He left immediately and instead of using the normal road that led out of the dormitory, he turned towards the backyard of the block. Block G's backyard was just light vegetation that quickly turned into forests. He needed to go this way to get to the dungeon. He himself didn't know where exactly the dungeon was, he only planned to follow the descriptions in the novel.

'So, I think… I have to go here… there... there… do this… that… and that…'

"It should be somewhere here if the original text is accurate, which, it should be…"

Ren had come to a place that was covered in dense forested trees with vines and there were also a few rocks. He was supposed to find the entrance to the dungeon between two rocks that meet at the top to form a triangle shape, but he still hadn't found the rocks.

'Did I come to the wrong place?' Seeing as the surrounding environments were also the same with vines and rocks, he decided to walk around for a bit in hopes of coming across the entrance.

The entrance of a dungeon isn't hard to spot. There is usually a distortion of space with weird coloured energy swirling about, making it similar to some kind of portal in western animation.

After walking around, Ren ended up finding the entrance at the opposite side. Though…

"It's not exactly triangle is it?" It looked more like an upside-down U.

Even though the gap in the rock itself was huge, the dungeon portal itself was only 2.5 metres high and only as wide as two lazy bearbellies.

"It's a goblin haven in there, but with my skills, it should be alright."

With his current strength and agility, trying to take on so many goblins alone would be pure suicide, because their stats were close to his, and many were even stronger than him when it came to agility.

'There's also a goblin shaman chief and a goblin warrior, but with my amazing skills, it should be a breeze.'

Ren really had no skip in his heart even though he was about to kill human-like monsters in there. In the original story, once the main character, Ray, found out that these dungeons weren't just randomly generated like some kind of simulation, but actually connected to different worlds, he became complacent and didn't want to raid anymore, saying it was unfair and bullshit like that, 'well, the world stays true to itself, survival of the fittest, and I'm certainly not going to remain at the bottom of the chain in this life.' Even though Ren wanted to prevent the destruction of Earth, he still had other ambitions in his mind. He didn't have some crazy goal of returning back to his own earth, there was nothing there anyway, so aside from power, he also aimed to achieve wealth, and apart from wealth, all other things he wished for. Well, that was all too far for now...

Besides, after the first clear, the monsters s inside are just generated by whatever means and the dungeon can be cleared again. It is speculated that the dungeon replicated traps the souls of the monsters so they repeat their lives there until the dungeon disappears. 'Though, the lady who said that was later involved in a scandal, so I doubt the credibility of that.'

With his mind that never wavered set, Ren walked into the dungeon portal with no weapons, equipment or potions, gear, or anything, just regular track suit and good old running sneakers.