In the boss room on the first floor, Palest exuded confidence. He reached into his pocket and retrieved an item—a magically glowing rope.
"This will save me," he declared, revealing a rope that pulsed with an otherworldly glow.
The magical escape rope had a captivating allure, its slender form intricately woven with threads of radiant energy. Its vibrant colors, a mix of blue and purple, danced and shimmered in harmony.
This enchanted rope was crafted for dire situations, serving as a lifeline for experienced dungeon explorers, whether they were brave adventurers or valiant knights of the kingdom.
Though not easily obtained, possessing such a wondrous artifact was customary among those who dared to face the perils of the depths.
"I must activate it quickly," Palest murmured with determination.
"Once I get out of this dungeon, I will not report it to that lowly Baron, but to the Red Horse headquarters. I want to report this precious dungeon before others discover it."
His tone of voice, since he had no one with him and all the knights are dead, he didn't need to drop the act of mentioning the Baron would respect.
Outside the boss room, he didn't have ample time to perform the necessary steps as he would be interrupted by the group of scaly beasts.
However, inside a floor boss room, there are two rooms, one was a preparation room adventurers and armies would often heal and prepare themselves to combat a floor guardian and second one was the combat room, where the floor guardians often stays.
The preparation room was a safe space for him to execute his plan.
With deft fingers, Palest manipulated the magical escape rope, and a radiant glow emanated from its core, casting an ethereal light on the surroundings.
"One minute," Palest whispered, his voice filled with anticipation.
With closed eyes, he focused intently, his heartbeat marking the passage of time.
As the seconds ticked away, he meticulously counted, his voice growing softer with each number. "Fifty-one... fifty-two... fifty-three... fifty-four... and fifty-five... fifty-six... fifty-seven... fifty-eight... fifty-nine."
Just as Palest approached the brink of freedom, a sudden jolt coursed through his body.
Shook!
Something massive seized his legs with an unyielding grip, pulling him down from his suspended position.
"Where are you going, human?" a massive voice boomed.
Helpless and dangling, he found himself abruptly upended and had his vision so blurry, yet he could still recognize the creature in front of him.
It was a man, dressed in weathered dragon skin armor, displaying a sense of ancient wisdom. A single horn proudly adorned his head, a symbol of his experience and knowledge.
However, unlike humans, the man possessed shark-like teeth. These teeth were triangular and razor-sharp, crafted by nature's design. They were serrated blades, ready for the hunt, and standing ivory-white that glowed in the dark.
"Lord Emberon told me not to show mercy to humans, or else we will perish," it said.
Holding his hand, the shark-like looking man didn't care and lifted him up higher.
"Child… become a noble Burning Magic Knight…" is the last word Palest could utter when he was slammed to the ground!
Bam!
…
Emberon's lips curled into a slight smirk as he gazed fixedly at the first floor guardian room.
"I knew he wouldn't disappoint me," he murmured.
On the screen, a prominent red 'O' stood out from the other symbols that marked each floor.
In front of it was once yellow 'O', now turned into a resolute 'X,' signaling the end of the intruder's life.
Steelteeth, Emberon's trusted first floor guardian, had fulfilled his duty and completed the system's mission.
"Unlike my other two subordinates," Emberon reflected, "Steelteeth is unwavering in his commitment to eliminate any perceived threat. When I inform him of danger, he acts without hesitation. However, I can't be certain if the second and third guardians under my command would share his conviction. Their pride may cloud their judgment, allowing a human intruder to escape or worse, giving them ample time to prepare for a confrontation."
A chuckle escaped Emberon's lips as he continued his musings.
"It's amusing, isn't it? The one who appears as a knight, Steelteeth, is the very guardian capable of dispatching intruders in such ways. Humans who venture into dungeons often follow a predictable pattern: enter the dungeon, fight off monsters in the floors, go to a boss or dungeon floor room, mark the preparation area within the dungeon floor room, and escape outside the dungeon with magical escape rope, and return armed to the teeth to enter the combat room.
"It makes it all too easy for them to come and go within the dungeon's confines. So, telling Steelteeth and luckily having Steelteeth as a guardian on the first floor was luck. By him, having him stay in the preparation area of his room was my biggest contribution to completing this mission."
As Emberon reminisced on past encounters, he couldn't help but marvel at the irony of it all.
The knight-like guardian, with his formidable presence and unyielding resolve, had become the bane of those who dared challenge the depths of Emberon's domain.
Now, Emberon's face turned serious, he was waiting. And not long the system chimed in his ear and the system structure of his dungeon floating above him changed.
Ding!
[ Mission completed!
As a reward, the last dungeon boss, Lord Emberon, can venture outside its dungeon and explore the outside world. However, due to the incompatibility of its realm body with the outside world, Lord Emberon must choose its race and start as a low-level creature.
Please choose your race:
A. Demon.
B. Elf.
C. Dwarf.
D. Humans.
E. And more… ]
Emberon was astonished as he looked at the long list of creatures before him.
The array was vast and captivating, but his eyes and mind were only focused on one race that intrigued him—the humans.
Unlike goblins with their remarkable reproductive capabilities, elves with their innate adaptability to nature, or demons with their insatiable desire for destruction, humans possessed something far more terrifying—an insatiable thirst for evolution.
It was this unyielding desire for progress and advancement that allowed them to compete on equal footing with these other races, regardless of whether their motivations were driven by malice, hatred, goodness, confidence, or determination.
He wanted to know what it feels and understand, to become a creature who thirst for never ending evolution despite being weak.
While the outcome mattered little to him, if he ever became one or not; what he truly desired was the experience itself.
In many ways, Emberon saw this adventure as a vacation—plus there was something he wanted to understand and compare it to his views.
With a determined gleam in his eye, Emberon spoke with conviction. "Make me a human," he declared, although he sounded and looked cold, his voice was mixed with anticipation and excitement.
[ Ding!
Loading... Loading... Please wait… ]
After a few seconds, Emberon simply stared at the system until it finished downloading.
[ Ding!
Download complete.
By stepping outside of this dungeon, the dungeon boss Lord Emberon will turn into a human.
Warning: the last human the host encountered will become the model. ]
Emberon was taken aback. "Last one I encountered?"
However, the system seemed to ignore him and released another notification.
[ Ding!
Mission completed, calculating perks...
Please wait… ]
Seeing this, Lord Emberon felt his neck tighten. He forgot about this, but he's waiting.
[ Ding!
You have completed the mission but you also made the intruder stay and be slain on the lowest level dungeon floor.
The higher the floor, the lower the rewards. The lower the floor, the higher the rewards.
Calculating reward...
Please wait… ]