"What level are you now?" Hearing the familiar voice, Lin opened his eyes to see Xue Xia.
Dust smeared Xue Xia's delicate face, and a whirl of elemental energy swirled around her. Clearly, she had just emerged from battle, freshly out of the dungeon.
She eyed Lin, her face a portrait of defiance. Lin's voice was calm, "Level 14."
"What!" Xue Xia exclaimed, incredulous. "How could you level up so fast?" She had teamed up for two consecutive runs of the West Sea Mine Dungeon at normal difficulty, barely climbing from level 10 to 11, each dungeon run leaving her utterly drained.
It seemed impossible for Lin to have leveled up so swiftly, even if he could solo the dungeon. Little did she know, Lin had been tackling the nightmare difficulty.
Lin offered no further explanation. You can believe it or not.
Given her understanding of Lin, Xue Xia knew he wasn't one to boast without basis. If he claimed to be level 14, then it must be true. Her sense of rivalry only intensified.
As the levels went up, leveling became increasingly slower. On the first day of the newbie dungeon, she was level 5, Lin was level 7 - a gap of two levels.
Logically, she should have been closing the gap by now. So why was it that she was only level 11 while Lin had surged ahead to level 14, widening the gap instead?
"I won't admit defeat," Xue Xia declared before turning to leave. Lin watched her go, unsure of what to say.
Over the years, he had always been a step ahead of Xue Xia. From their pre-transfer grades where he consistently ranked first to outpacing her in levels post-transfer, Lin understood Xue Xia's persistent urge to compete with him - a trend that hadn't changed pre or post their job transfer. Yet, he had never given her the chance to outdo him.
Suddenly, he saw Xue Xia and a few others re-entering the dungeon. "Weird, didn't she just come out? How can she go back in so quickly? Don't dungeons have a cooldown?"
Lin witnessed something unbelievable. Whether it was normal or nightmare difficulty, dungeons always had a cooldown period, shared between the two. After clearing the nightmare difficulty, he couldn't enter the normal difficulty for another 12 hours. But how could Xue Xia re-enter so soon?
Lin was certain Xue Xia had just exited the dungeon. The lingering scent of battle, not yet dissipated, and the distinct aura of the Goblin King clung to her - undeniable evidence.
As Lin meditated, he tasked his skeleton warriors with observation. Two hours later, Xue Xia reappeared at the dungeon's entrance, freshly out of another run.
Exiting the dungeon, she couldn't help but glance back at Lin, her expression weary from back-to-back battles. Just a few minutes later, Xue Xia joined another group, re-entering the dungeon once more.
Lin noticed she seemed to use an item before entering, a faint glow enveloping her. He suspected it was this item that allowed Xue Xia to bypass the dungeon's cooldown. "I should ask about it when I get the chance," Lin thought as he resumed his meditative state to recover his mental strength.
As his level climbed, so did the prominence of his mental strength attribute, now soaring to 700, vastly outstripping his other stats - a hallmark of mage-class professions, which traded high mental strength for weaker physical attributes.
Hours later, heavy footsteps approached. Xue Xia, weary to her bones, slumped beside Lin. Despite the absence of cooldown limitations, back-to-back dungeon runs had taken their toll.
"I'm dead tired," she collapsed gracelessly, unfazed by the skeleton warriors around Lin. After all, Lin was her classmate; there was nothing to fear.
After resting and catching her breath, Xue Xia boasted, now level 12, "I'll catch up to you soon." Catching up to him, however, would be challenging.
Lin, seeing Xue Xia's exhaustion, asked, "Aren't you tired?"
"Tired? Of course, I'm tired. I don't even want to move a finger right now," Xue Xia replied, exasperated.
"Why push yourself so hard?" Lin inquired.
"Why? You have the nerve to ask? After being overshadowed by you for so many years, I must surpass you," she retorted.
"Just for that reason?" Lin was taken aback by the depth of Xue Xia's resentment. He almost wished he had let her top a test just once.
Xue Xia gazed at the sky, "That's not the only reason. I aim to get into XIA Jing University, just like you, so you should understand."
Aiming for XIA Jing University required at least level 14, though 15 was safer, and 16, safest. With just over two days left, Lin figured Xue Xia could at best reach level 14; level 15 seemed out of reach, unless...
"You should try the nightmare difficulty dungeons. That might speed up your leveling," Lin suggested quietly.
"Are you joking? Elite teams aren't easy to come by. They're looking for level 16, 17 players, not someone at level 12 like me," Xue Xia rolled her eyes as if to say, "Do you even understand?"
Watching elite teams at the dungeon entrance, desperate for members, Lin remained silent. Xue Xia continued, "So, I guess I'll just have to grind through the normal dungeons a few more times. Reaching level 14 should be doable, and with some effort, level 15 might be possible."
Finally, Lin asked, "Why can you ignore the cooldown?"