"Am I still asleep? I guess I exhausted myself too much. Though, how much time am I going to waste inside of this hollow void?"
Nash has returned to the shadow void, where he first chose his class and patiently waited for his body to be constructed. The fact that he is here means that he'll be visiting this place often in the future every time he falls unconscious. In front of him is a holographic interface that has a number counting down at random times.
[Exhaustion %: 3%]
"Hm. I guess I'll know what happens after it reaches 0 percent. For now, time to reflect on what has happened so far."
It's a common thing he does, it's pretty much his mental diary book. In his previous life, he had a pretty good memory.
I woke up on the fourth floor of the Infinite Dungeon. I then encountered my first enemy, which was a goblin. I instinctively shot it with an arrow, killing it on my first try. You know, I never expected to kill a goblin, much less get a critical hit on it.
I leveled up twice; I tried to open up my system interface and failed. I wonder why? Fortunately, I could still add points to my status by saying how many points I want to add to the statuses for agility, wisdom, and strength.
Then, I hunted for another one. The arrow pierced through its skull and killed it immediately. I felt my blood pumping for more and found two targets. They were pretty far for my arrow to reach them. What I decided to do was to lead them toward him and take them down stealthily, kinda…? Then, an interface popped up in front of me. Telling me to kill 5 goblin-type enemies to complete the first mission.
Suddenly, I found myself facing a goblin mage. An elite type of the enemy that you face near the floor that leads you to the next one. It had the power to summon a large fireball that could incinerate everything into ashes and a barrier that could deflect physical attacks and projectiles, including arrows. I had a hard time figuring out what to do; I even tried to escape! But my luck failed me by making the gremlin mage have that rare passive ability to call out goblins for backup.
However, I guess I was still lucky because they only surrounded them and did not ambush me. They overestimated their mage, and they underestimated me. I evaded the gigantic fireball and let it hit the goblins that were surrounding me instead, unintentionally killing goblins while I dodged. Man, I was pretty nimble, but Jesus... That fireball grazed me, and it hurt like hell; my hair and skin got burnt. It's like touching a hot electric stove by accident.
Then, I had an idea, and it needed perfect execution.
I put my remaining points on strength and wielded the club that I looted from all the goblins I killed earlier. I used it to destroy the mage's magical barrier when the goblin's Fira spell was on cooldown. However, it wasn't enough. The cooldown ended and the mage cast the fira spell, I lunged backward and thought to myself…
So predictable.
I learned [ Focused Shot ] and used it to pierce through the giant fireball. The Fireball explodes upon impact, covering the entire field with flames. Burning all of the goblins that were present the arrow pierces through the mage's eye after shattering the barrier like glass. Then, I walked through the flames. It did hurt though, walking through it, but the will to kill that mage overridden my pain. I shot another arrow out and killed the mage. Effectively completing the first mission, which is to kill 5 goblin-type enemies.
I wished that I had rested and drank the potions I got from completing the mission, it would've made my challenges on the third floor much easier–
[ Exhaustion %: 2% ]
Oh? It's going down again. I see, I guess I'll have enough time to reflect about what had happened on the third floor... Fighting those trearios was such a pain, especially when they were buffed by the Crimson Moon. An in-game mechanic that boosts the levels of every monster in the dungeon by thrice their level, making them harder to kill but it drops double the loot and experience, making it worth it.
IF YOU STARTED NORMALLY, OF COURSE! God… Things would've been fine if I didn't spawn at the fourth floor of all places to wake up. How did I- no, how did my character even get there? What the hell is [ He ] doing in the Infinite Dungeon?
What a mystery, this red-haired teen is. Oh well, I'll know more once I receive my reward for escaping the dungeon alive.
So far, I've been effectively killing my enemies with the use of items that weaken them. Especially up against the Trearios and the Rodent King. Using fire has been effective, I should invest more points in INT so I can learn the Book of Fire and use fire spells. That way, I can access the skill tree for fire magic.
[ Exhaustion %: 1% ]
That was quick! Guess I'll be waking up soon, phew... Rodent King, a monster that shouldn't even exist. It didn't exist at all in the game, yet it appeared in his reality. Is he really in the game? Infinite Dungeon? So far, each floor has its respective enemies. It's still Infinite Dungeon, but... The realistic mode probably changed a lot of things. No, not probably. Definitely.
I'm nervous. What if it changes the things I know? What if I don't recognize it? Isn't it a bad thing? Why am I… curious? What is this feeling in my chest…? Am I… asking for more? Hah…! My mind and heart are saying different things, yet they still harmonize with each other.
"Bring it on, fate. I'll live my way of life, just like what I said earlier. You will not control how I live and how I'll start and end my story."
Nash declares to fate, to others, and to himself. That no matter what happens, the path he'll be following will be his.
[Exhaustion %: 0%]
"Igh…"
His eyes opened, rays of light blinding him which made him cover his eyes with the blanket. Wait, blanket? After adapting to the light, he fully opens his eyes. He stared at the ceiling. A ceiling he hadn't seen before but felt like he did.
He sat down and found himself staring at an interface.
[ Congratulations for escaping the dungeon without going over the time limit. Rewards will be sent to your inventory, but first… wanna see your character interface~? ]
Nash smirks.
"You read my mind. Character Interface, open!"
( Prologue has ended, Arc 1 begins! )