As the slightly illuminated depths of the cave collectively attack my eyes, I find myself awoken from my deep slumber.
Ahhhh~
Feeling like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, I sigh in relief as I again inspect my eyesight for the status window, continuing my inspection as I now look back on my stats.
As my focus shifts between the many different stats upon which the system allows me to pick from, I notice a little plus sign to the right.
Was that there before?
To the bottom was a new box with the text 'Available Stat Points: 12', revealing a new system that I didn't have beforehand.
Now that I think about it, I remember the system granting me something aside from the new status window after I killed the D rank monster; perhaps stat points are something granted upon the killing of monsters, almost exactly like RPG games.
If so, this revolutionizes my progression. But then, what stat should I invest in?
I see 'strength', 'agility', 'vitality', 'intelligence', and 'luck'.
While the first three are a little obvious, I can't seem to decipher intelligence and luck no matter how much I think about it.
My best instinct would tell me intelligence has something to do with magic due to the other three dealing more with physical aspects of the user, but then that leaves the luck stat point.
As the thought crosses my mind, I trace back to a distant memory: Ero Monsters RPG, and a similar stat.
There came a point in the story where a seemingly useless stat--luck, was necessary for accessing end-game materials and skills, and those who didn't stay well-rounded in their builds would have to spend thrice their initial playtime catching up.
Why do I remember this? Because I spent 300 hours having to level up my luck stat to get the legendary tentacle monster armor set!
With this sentiment in mind, I'll invest in luck for sure! Although, I still do want to stay well rounded. In that case... 7 points in strength and 5 in luck. That settles it.
Putting my stat points in, I feel an empowerment in my bones as my muscles tighten, forming grooves along my arms as they enlarge, definition making its way through my before-skinny physique.
Although I'm not quite a muscle head, I could tell that I was starting to look bigger.
Setting aside my exhilaration, I begin to make my way through the cave again, this time with a newfound confidence that had eluded me for the beginning part of my life.
However, this is a new me; one who will surely make their way to my brother to put an end to his life.
"You have entered an Infested Zone. Hostile entities detected. Annihilation of the infestation is mandatory to proceed. Failure to comply will result in severe consequences..."
As the familiar voice of the system rings inside my head, I take a couple moments to decipher what it means before consequently opening up my status window.
As the window makes itself visible to me, a new popup on the top shows itself, a new mechanic that I've still yet to witness.
System Mission: "Purge the Den"
Objective:
Eliminate 50 D+ Rank Monsters before time runs out. Failure will result in system-initiated punishment.
Bonus Task (Optional):
Eliminate an additional 100 D+ Rank Monsters to receive a B-Rank reward.
Time Remaining:
23:59:57
"Clrtttktktkt, kttttt."
Before I could properly decipher the meaning of the new mission I'd been provided, I heard a hidden clattering above me, just barely hiding its presence as the sound began to multiply.
A cold sweat began to run down my cheek as I soon understood its meaning, a deep understanding of the dangers I was about to face washing over me.
Clang!
As the sound of my dagger clashing against the teeth of a large spider reverberated across the cave, the spider immediately backed up, cautious of my fast reaction time.
"Mana Infu-" Recalling the rapid loss in mana resultant from using mana infusion recklessly, I bit my tongue and spun my dagger around, pointing its blade laterally from my torso as I held it in front of me, using 'energy allocation' to form a second dagger in the same pose.
"SKRRRSSSHHHHHHH!"
As the spider's roaring sound had great enough volume to disorient me, an army of spider beasts came in from all directions such as my sides, behind, and even overhead.
As the mountain of spiders made their way to the battlefield, dozens of which came down to attack me, I could only exclaim what played in my mind at that time.
"I'm fucked."