21 THE HUNT BEGINS

"300 fucking levels. Are you insane?" Leon began to curse the system.

"That is the design. Did you think it would be easy to get your hands on me? it is almost impossible for a normal hunter to ever clear this dungeon and reach this space without me. Since you do have it now, you should be able to clear it."

"What is the estimated time required for me to clear all of them."

"At this pace, you are growing in, maybe 50 years in the outside world." Leon fell to the ground upon hearing this. 50 years. His friends and family might not even be there when he gets back. The world itself might even be destroyed by then.

How could this happen to him? All the excitement of gaining the system vanished instantly upon hearing the time limit. 50 years in the outside world meant 150 years within the dungeons. Just what sort of hell was this?

"The host is undergoing mental trauma. Suggest immediate action to reign the impulses." The system blared at Leon.

Leon was brought back to reality by the voice. "Is there no other way?"

"The path to the top is not small. This place is just a small step you will have to take. the world as you know is quite small. There are things out there that will make you look like an insect should you encounter it. You need to be prepared."

"The training is for you to reach the level where you could be considered a significant existence." Leon calmed his mind down. he manages to understand that weeping about the facts would get him now where. The system had already denied him permission to go to the outside world, which meant that he had to comply or die here.

"Fine. How should we proceed?" The only way to get out of this mess was to go through it.

"You will be starting at stage 1. As you eliminate all the enemies and kill the boss, you will move up to the next level. Hunting missions will automatically come up as you confront your enemies and there will be a time limit unless they are inconsequential to your current level, in which case there will be an indefinite time limit mission."

"As for the exp bar, how much does it go up every time I kill a monster?" Leon asked.

"It will be different each time. The exp requirement is also the same as your stats level. Every time you level up the requirement of exp will drastically increase. The next level will be more difficult to raise than your previous level."

"What did you mean by the level up not giving me an increase in stats?"

"You previously managed to get a boost in your stats when you rose through a level. That is no longer possible since the stats are now independent of the level. They could be influenced by it, but most of them will increase with training and hunting more enemies."

"I know you have a ton of doubts, but we will be clarifying those while continuing our mission. Since the Hunting mission is available as of now and two of your stats are above 20, you have entered the basic requirement to start a hunt."

"The orientation of the dungeon is simple. You will be rising from level 1 through level 300. Each level will have a progressive increase in difficulty. The enemies might increase in numbers, strength, or both."

"Transporting the host to the first floor," AIGIS said as Leon's body felt light for a moment as the space around him turned blurry. The next moment he was standing in front of a huge gate.

"This is the entrance to the first floor as well as the dungeon itself. I wish the host the best of luck."

Leon entered through the gate, just to enter the jungle. The landscape blew Leon's mind off. How could the Dungeon hold such a huge space within itself?

"This is due to the spatial compression ability of the Dungeon. You will understand it once you manage to understand the path of magic to a very high level."

A message suddenly popped up beside Leon.

"Hunting Mission 1: A beginner's first kill.

Location: Dungeon level 1, The outer district of the Goblins.

Aim: To attend your first kill and eliminate all the enemies on the floor.

Objectives: You have entered the outer district of the goblin village ( The first hurdle while climbing the Dungeon). There are 10 goblins on the first floor. Your task is to eliminate all of them by any means necessary.

Status:(0/10)

Rewards: Key to the second floor, 1000 additional exp. Novice weapon set.

Failure: Hosts will have to undergo continuous electrocution for four days and restart the whole level. Experience dying within the dungeon."

Leon was scared after reading the punishment. He will feel death if he fails. Leon began to check his inventory and took out his beginner weapons. A sword and the dagger. he then proceeded into the Jungle.

He tried to search for a nearby water source as that would be the best location for the enemy to converge in. Soon enough he managed to hear the sound of liquid flowing and to his elation, there was a water-body nearby. Li Meng tried verifying the surroundings.

he was just about to move forward when a squeaking sound was heard. As he looked towards the direction, he was at the point getting larger by the second, as it pierced directly through his eyes and into his brain.

Leon felt pain before his brain blacked out and stopped functioning.

............

Moments later:

Leon suddenly jolted out of unconsciousness.

"what happened?"

"You died," AIGIS replied. Before Leon could say anything, a message popped up.

'Mission failure. The host will now be electrocuted for four days."

"Hey, before that..' Leon stopped speaking as his body was hit by massive amounts of electricity" Ahhahahahaaaahahahahhhahaha..aha.hh.h.h.h.h.h.h.h." Screams could be heard from the space Leon was in.

...............

Courageous Dragon's main tower, training center-

"Alright, the push-ups are complete. you will now proceed for the run. 10 km run without any stops. The time limit is one hour. If anyone fails to complete their quota, the whole group will be repeating the whole task."

The group was already exhausted from all the training they just did. Nancy offered to help everyone up, but the instructor denied the request. It was basic training they had to perform without their power.

The timer started and the group started to force themselves on the track. Liam was the first one to finish. He had been training since childhood with Leon. How could this small training be a burden to him?

He then began to look at his teammates. Howard completed his rounds and so did the other two. Nancy was the fourth one to complete. The only one left was Molly. She didn't look good. Her body was basically shaking from all the exhaustion. The rest of the team members laid exhausted on the floor. Molly tried to run, but eventually, her body failed to support her, and she fell.

To everyone's surprise, a figure appeared beside her. It was Liam. He immediately grabbed Molly up and completed her quota. He was breathing heavily from the whole task, but he simply laid Molly's body down and laid on the ground.

Everyone was looking at him with surprise.

"I just did it so that I wouldn't have to face punishment," Liam said as he moved his head sideways.

A smile appeared on Drake Gillmore's face, while he was observing the situation from above.