The entrance to the dungeon is like a giant hobbit house. It's a big lump of dirt pointed upwards with a dull top and a massive hole on the front. It looks like a hill of grass with a huge hole, which is where the entrance is placed I guess.
There are torches by the entrance, so I guess inside the dungeon is actually quite dark?
I never really knew what the inside would look like, but Jrake describes it yesterday that it's like a cave with monsters. Before I heard that, I'd think a dungeon was like an underground jail with mazes and shit. But it's apparently just a monster's lair that is underground like a cave.
"Welcome to the entrance, y'all!"
A very different guy came. He wasn't wearing armor at all, but he wore his adventurer set of clothes with a green top and a blue bottom. His farmer's hat is tilted a little bit, while his mouth is chewing some candy on a stick. He is what is best described as an actual country bumpkin.
"After entering this entrance, you will first face the horde of goblins! Then, you will go even lower to face the lizards! After that, go even lower to fight the lesser orcs.
Once you pass the orcs, you will enter the boss room, where the boss was slayed. Inside the boss room is the item box, which is your target for this test. You just simply grab one item for yourself, and leave the dungeon after that. Remember, the inside of the dungeon is like a maze! So try not to get lost!"
He lifted his hand, holding an item.
"The item, my friends, is this…"
It's a... Badge?
It's a badge with an adventurer logo in the middle. I knew because I have seen it in the Office's lobby way too many times. And the sides of the logo are Gray...
Oh... So that's it.
"Once you obtain this badge, leave the dungeon right away. You can give the badge to this beautiful fellow-"
He pointed at Jrake, not far from his position.
"-So that he can write your name on the paper. Got it!? I am in charge of y'all once we get down there, so don't try anything stupid! I will be down there, invisible, and I will try my best to keep y'all from dying. Got it!?"
"""Got it!!"""
Got it. Jees...
Some people are just too energetic.
Speaking of guarding… Jrake doesn't go in?
I turned to Jrake, and found him just standing at the side with a book in his hand. Seeing this, I was quite surprised.
Is his job seriously being the secretary lady instead of the guardian angel?? Wasn't he very strong? Why is he the one holding the pen and paper??
"Now. The test will begin!"
He lifted his hand, lifting three fingers.
"Three!"
I looked at the people around me, and found that everyone was very eager to rush. Why are they preparing like they are going to run?
"Two!"
Their faces are so serious. Even Brown and Heckle. Joyle too, who is standing next to me. But he lost his seriousness once he saw the grin on my face. Somehow I reflexively chuckled, and that made him snapped out of his seriousness.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Everyone just seemed too serious."
I'm actually grinning, which caused Brown and Heckle to notice as well. After that, I turned my gaze back at the entrance.
"One!"
And here we go.
"Go!!!"
The first batch of adventurers entered the cave like a swarm of ants. Everyone was so rushing, and the cave entrance was quite small for everyone to fit at once, so it was quite the chaos.
Joyle and the others didn't rush in since they saw me just standing still, and I'm glad they didn't. Aside from us, there are two other teams that have the same idea. They just waited for the swarm of ants to enter the cave while they looked at it in disgust.
After the adventurers entered the cave, I followed, as well as the other teams who waited.
"Good luck, little lady!!"
I turned to Jrake who suddenly shouted at me from the side, and I chuckled at how childish he was. I lifted my hand and gave him a thumbs up, and I led the team to the entrance.
Once we got inside the cave, the others couldn't hold back the curiosity anymore.
"Say, you are quite close with Jrake, huh?"
Brown asked once we got inside the cave. We took a different path from all the others, since this is a maze. So now, there is no one else aside from us on this path.
"When I first came here, he and the receptionist lady, Klane, took me in and took care of me. I owe him a bunch, that's all."
"Hehhh, I see. I thought he likes you or something."
I chuckled at him, because I know the truth.
"Nah. He is like… my big bro."
I bragged to them, and they all whistled at the same time.
The pathing inside of the cave is quite large. It is shaped like a circle, with a diameter of 5-6 meters and a length of god knows how deep it goes.
I wonder who did all the digging for these dungeons. Maybe the goblins? It is pretty big and deep, so I'm quite curious about who dug this thing.
Everyone else seemed to be tense, but I couldn't blame them. They are up against monsters. Even if it's just a Gray ranked, a monster is still a monster. It could kill you if you don't be careful.
"Jrake was the one who trained you, wasn't he? I heard the sound of people training from the back arena at the Office multiple times for the past week. That was you, wasn't it?"
Well, what do we have here... A sherlock.
"Yeah, that was me. At first, it was because I had a special condition that needed treatment. There was this… magic points exhaustion? I don't really get it, but it affected my physical health a lot. I couldn't even walk far thanks to it."
"Ohh… I heard about that. If I'm not wrong, exercising was the best way to fix it."
Another person joined the convo, it was Brown. Great, lets just keep talking until we find a monster.
I'm starting to regret teaming up. I really just want to dash over there and kill the monsters instead of talking about myself like this.
But just like I wished for it, the sound of fighting can be heard from the front.
"Could be the adventurers who went in before us. Let's take a look."
Joyle is totally the team leader. He runs forward with his sword unsheathed, while Brown and Heckle are rushing behind him. He probably thought to help the guys fighting, and I had no choice but to follow as well.
But as soon as we arrived, we determined that our help was never needed.
It's not even a fight. There were only three goblins, and their weapons are terrible compared to the heavily armored adventurers right in front of us.
The adventurers wear heavy steel armor, while their sword is twice the size of the goblins. Plus, it was 5 vs 3. It wasn't fair for the goblins, so reason to help out then.
We arrived at a three way junction, where the action is taking place. By the time we arrived, there was only one goblin left. The guy with the huge sword is slowly scaring the goblin, while the goblin only holds a short knife.
Ahh… that guy is a scout. I read about it in the book of monsters. Goblins who are using the short knife are called scouts. They scout the area to look for danger or prey. The other two goblins also use a short knife. These types of goblins are for sure the weakest.
But, why do I feel like there's something missing?
After being toyed around, the last goblin is finally dead. And after killing the last goblin, the man in the heavy armor turned around and took notice of our presence by the path we came from.
"What's up, ladies?"
"Wow. You guys cleaned up nice."
Joyle spoke, as the leader. He knew that adventurers have to trust each other as one, so he chose not to make enemies with this guy.
"We took care of the problem for you, ladies. These puny goblins are nothing to us."
He really is looking down on us.
"Don't worry. We wouldn't lose to goblins like these either."
Well said, Joyle.
But... your face isn't showing that you are telling the truth.
When he looked at the blood of the goblins, his face started to sweat. Anyone can tell that he is trying really hard to look okay, and it completely backfires with what he is trying to do.
Oh… is he scared… of the blood?
The other guy definitely noticed this. He looked at the dead goblins, and turned back at Joyle's sweating expression.
"Ha! Haha!"
He walked to the goblin and picked its body up. As he lifted it, organs fell out of the goblin disgustingly. Immediately, Joyle covered his mouth.
"Ohh, poor guy... You don't like blood, little man?"
He threw the body at Joyle's feet. When it landed, the stomach of the goblin was wide. There were barely any organs inside, but it's enough to throw Joyle into a nausea.
"Sick bastard..."
Next to me, Brown mumbled. Heckle also looked really scared, but Joyle is already disarrayed. He kept his eyes on the corpse on the floor, and he couldn't turn away.
Noticing this, I let out a tired sigh.
Hah, do I have to do everything?
I began to walk forward and approached Joyle. I patted his right shoulder, since I'm on his right. I slowly turned his body to me so that he looked at me…
BAK!!
Then I smacked his face.
"Joyle!"
He was sitting on the ground now, holding his red cheek.
"What's your problem??"
Heckle shouted to me while I kept on staring at Joyle. He looked back at me.
"Get your ass together. We aren't here to play around."
After saying that, I turned towards the armored guy who was harassing Joyle.
"Thank you for clearing these goblins. We would appreciate it if you leave us and continue your test."
"You..."
"Boss."
The guy behind him, his minion put his hand on this guy's shoulder. The guy in front of me looked at me one last time and snorted a breath from his nose, before turning around and moving towards the path on the right.
I looked at the path he just took. There is this mark on the wall, but I don't know what that mark meant. After all, there is no mark on the left one.
What is it that I'm missing…?
I turned my back and walked towards Joyle. His face is being treated by Brown with ice. Heckle stood in my way, but I lifted my hand, saying it's fine.
I sat down next to Joyle, and the guy didn't look that mad at me.
"Those guys left?"
"Yeah. Glad you finally came to your senses."
"I really want to punch you back… but I can't hurt a lady. Plus, I'm actually glad you did."
He rubbed his cheeks a little and then glared back at me. Meanwhile, I can only grin at him.
He looked at the corpses right in front of us, and began telling the reason.
"I just... can't withstood blood. I was traumatized. I accidentally killed a sheep when I was young, and had blood all over me. After that, I was never able to see blood anymore. Just simply smelling blood hurts my head."
For some reason, I understand that feeling. Even now, I still feel a little headache from the scent of blood, but I'm starting to overcome it. It was only yesterday I cut a wolf's body in half, and I looked straight at it. I did puke on the spot, but what happened then was insane.
"You know you can just simply turn your head away, so you won't see the blood. Right?"
"Well, yeah..."
"But you had to play the tough guy to keep your team's motivation."
Brown and Heckle looked at Joyle, who seemed to be very surprised.
"Well... Let's just go."
Joyle stood up and walked. Meanwhile, I simply watched him walk away as I got up as well.
Brown was trembling ever since we entered the dungeon, and Heckle has never stopped holding his battleaxe. And while we were inside, he held it with both hands while he was gripping it very hard. In short, they are scared to death.
Joyle, as the leader, might be scared as well. But, he knew his duty. He has to put up a strong front, so that Brown and Heckle can be strong as well.
We picked the path to the left, that way we won't get to meet those assholes again. But, why do I get the feeling that I will have to go to the right?
This is really annoying. Just what is it that I forget?
The path on the left kept on getting lower and lower. I guess this is a good path, since the dungeon's boss room is usually on the lowest part of the caves system. It wasn't really a stairs, but it's not steep enough for us to slide.
And after the long walk, we finally arrived.
Not in the dungeon boss room, but in a large room.
Looks like this is the place where all the fun is at.