Chapter 3 - [Ape's Paradise]
The initial posting of this chapter occurred via noovelllbbin
A huge monolith structure was surrounded by high walls. There was security at the entrance and heavily armed soldiers on the walls.
Even though this was only an F ranked dungeon, it made up for millions of dollars of revenue every day with a large number of people entering, clearing the monsters, and selling the resources they receive inside
This monolith had a blue color, indicating it was a normal dungeon with little danger of a dungeon break. If the color changed to orange and then to red, it meant a dungeon break was imminent
Regularly clearing the dungeon kept the color at blue, turning it into a treasure trove with capable people farming it
You always had casualties every now and then from Hunters that were either too full of themselves, bad teammates, or just plain unlucky
Now, I sincerely hope I don’t make myself on the category of being too full of myself
Gathering my wits, I show the guards at the metal entrance of the enclosure my hunter ID before heading in. Inside the walls, there were a few hunter teams getting their gear in order or just talking
A few people were standing around looking to either form parties or invite others to their party. At the center of the blue monolith, there was a square, door-like structure. This door like structure was how you entered the dungeon
Those in a group would have to touch the door with a few second differences, but under a minute, to be transferred to the first floor of the dungeon together
There was a party prepared to go into the dungeon in front of me already, so I reigned in my curiosity about the other hunters around me and stood a few feet away from the in-going party
It didn’t take long before a few hunters noticed a lone man waiting by himself
"Oy, is that kid thinking of going in alone?" Hunter A
"Bro, another one with a death wish" Hunter B
"Just ignore him, who knows, maybe he’s one of those prodigies that can solo an F rank dungeon? Haha" Hunter C
Ignoring the laughs around me, I wait patiently as the entire party in front of me disappeared in a flash, and waited the required minute before going forward and placing my hand on the square door
In an instant, I was transported into a large cavern, where I had just caught the attention of two 1 meter tall black apes
I brought myself to full attention and observed both the apes and my surrounding before I began my first dungeon hunt
[Fireball]
A single fireball, and then a second, and a third, and a forth quickly flew towards the two apes
I grab the [Core]s and put them inside the bag, before reaching out for the skill book. [Minor Heal] was now in my hands, giving me quite a shock. It wasn’t the rarest of F rank skill books, but it was one of the more expensive ones as it easily took care of any cuts and minor injuries.
I also placed the skill inside the bag and proceeded to sit down and think while staring at the green crystal in front of me. The problem at hand is how I should handle myself from now on
An F rank newly awakened hunter clearing an F ranked Dungeon in under 30 minutes was unbelievable. It would have to be someone who was B ranked or above to be able to carry out the same thing
I made sure not to show too much of what I could do when I took the licensing exam because currently, all I have going for me is the fact that I seem to have a large pool of energy to cast skills. This does not mean I am powerful, nor do I hold the power of someone rank B or higher
Even a rank D or C could easily sneak behind me and take me out as long as they’re faster than me. So my plan was to stay low key until I could buy more skills, preferably higher ranking ones that would match my large energy reserves
Sigh, and that required money.
Another plan was forming in my head though. Looking over at the gains just from clearing [Ape’s Paradise] once, I had in total 1 F Rank [Skill Book] and 40+ [Core]s from the more than 160 apes I had killed from the 9 floors before
This alone made me bolder to make some accelerated plans...
Just from one Dungeon run alone, I can make more than $60,000...In under 30 minutes. This alone gave me a great shock.
Normal parties would have to split the loot, and it would take them more than 2 hours of intensely fighting monsters in close combat, which brought them exhaustion and made many parties recuperate for a few hours after each dungeon run.
Most parties would go into the dungeon once or twice a day. With each person making around $10,000, the life of a hunter can be considered very luxurious
So, assuming the BOSS drops either a skill book or possibly an item, I can make around 60 grand each run...this made many ideas dance around in my head wildly.
I’ve already spent many months observing hunters and researching every knowledge available to the public about them. I’ve researched even more into all the known [Skill Book]s and [Item]s that can be dropped from BOSS rooms
For someone with a large energy pool like me, I already had a few books in mind that would work very well. Of course, I also have to keep on testing just how much [Focus] I really have
A wild thought keeps appearing in my head that I do not want to entertain as it is too grand...the possibility that because my [Focus] appears blank, and I can repeatedly continue to cast skills with no feeling of exhaustion...could mean that I can simply keep on casting skills as much as I want...
BOOM
It felt like something had exploded in my head as this idea came and my mind entertained it more and more. My heart was also beating fast that this could even be a possibility
But...why not? From what I’ve seen so far, there is no value for my [Focus] attribute. Is it more logical to think that it is just a really high number that I somehow cannot see, or that because it is blank and I can still cast skills, I can simply continue to cast skills without any problem of depleting something?
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves before I came to terms with a new plan. It was somewhat risky, but it will be fast and reduce any possible future problems, whether it be from monsters or hunters.
The world after the apocalypse was vastly different, but still the same. Now even more filled with dangers and deaths. A hunter could easily be killed by monsters, robbed by other hunters, or killed by the government if they do not fall inline
To secure my safety while rising up, I will need a highly defensive and offensive skill, and well as a speed supporting skill. Something of C rank or above would be highly effective, and yet the cheapest C rank skills start off at $500,000
So...How do I go about this?