Chapter 10: Getting An SSS Rank With A Bug

At 5:30 in the afternoon, the loudspeaker in the classroom rang the "dusk" music on time as usual. This signifies the end of school, and students are free to go home and run back to their mother's arms.

But most of the students didn't leave.

Because...

Since they were not from some impressive wealthy family, they did not have the resources nor the connections to find a dungeon outside of school for them to level up. So they don't have time to dally.

They had to rely on the school and government's help to find and clear the dungeons that all the students would share. They all have to pave their way and work twice as hard to close the gap between them and the wealthy students as much as possible.

Thankfully, it's not that difficult to reach level 10.

The "Forest of Wolves" dungeon was enough to make Lin Ye reach level 5. He could reach level 10 in about five days or less if he's diligent enough.

Even if other students slacked off and only cleared one or two Instance Dungeons a day, they could still reach level 10 before the college entrance exam.

But not many students would want to slack off—especially not when their excitement still hasn't worn off.

So, instead of going home immediately after school, they rushed to the school's dungeon hall, where all the school's Instance Dungeons are located, hoping to get more equipment and skill books—aiming to get a head start.

"Lin Ye! You're really planning on getting an SSS rank alone? I get that it would be a breeze for you since you have your knowledge, talent, and Class… But can a half-bake Mage like me achieve something that high?"

Su Mumu hesitatingly stared at the pitch-black entrance of the dungeon. "When I was in the Beginners Dungeon, I was surrounded by three or four slimes. I couldn't kill them quick enough and lost a lot of Hp… And now you want me to fight a solo dungeon Boss or something, and I... Uh, I don't think I can..."

Seeing how worried the usual cheery girl was, Lin Ye calmly said, "Trust me. There's a way for Mages to get SSS rank in this dungeon's hidden quest. It's just that I'm not familiar with the details of the terrain, and it may cause some setbacks in the plan, so I have to go in and explore it myself to find the key spot for some bugs in the system."

Su Mumu blinked her eyes, looking fairly confused, "Huh? Bugs? Really? How did you know about this?"

"It's simple." Lin Ye slowly explained, "The school's dungeon is different from the Beginners Dungeon. Their monsters and terrain are fixed and will not change randomly."

"And our seniors have written down their own experiences, descriptive details about the dungeon's environment, and even drew some rough maps for the convenience of future juniors like us."

"As long as we put all this information together and study it a few times, we can roughly estimate the layout and be more prepared for the dungeon in advance. Then, I'll find a way to help you 'cheat' through the dungeon."

"???" Su Mumu's eyes widened, "Whaat?"

It's like a blind man playing chess with several professionals in a champion competition, purely relying on memory! Is this guy crazy?

'Is it really that easy?'

'As expected of the top student...'

Their mind isn't something ordinary people like her can understand...

Ignoring Su Mumu's cry, Lin Ye continued, "I'll tell you the details after I clear the dungeon. You sit here for a while and don't go anywhere."

Su Mumu quickly nodded her head, "Okay,"

Lin Ye didn't waste any more time. He turned around, faced the black portal that led to the dungeon, and walked straight in.

[Prompt: You have entered the low-level Instance dungeon "Stone Cave"!]

[Dungeon: Stone Cave.]

[Level: Level 1~5]

[Difficulty: Easy]

[Description: Countless poisonous scorpions reside in the dark and gloomy cave. Be careful! Although their attacks are not fatal, the poison on their tails is very troublesome. Remember not to get stung!]

Lin Ye felt dizzy, as if the world was spinning around him. His surroundings started to distort, and he went from a modern-looking classroom to a dark and damp cave.

The ground here was uneven, and unknown green algae grew on the walls. There were also some crystals that emitted a faint blue light mixed in, like stars in the night sky, faintly illuminating the entire dark cave.

There was a purple, cat-like poisonous Scorpion staring intently at him on a rock five meters in front of Lin Ye.

[Name: Scorpion]

[Level: 2]

[Qualification: Bronze ★]

[Skills: Poison Sting, Bite, Harden…]

[Description: a scorpion-like monster with a poisonous tail. Although the poison isn't fatal, it will cause the target to fall into a paralyzed state, unable to move. Any potion that can remove the paralysis can weaken the poison]

'Huh? What the…?'

'Alright, I'll just cut to the chase. I'll reward you with a Reverse Healing Spell!'

[Prompt: Uses 'Reverse' on Poisonous Scorpion. 'Heal Spell' caused 93 points of reverse damage... Killed Poisonous Scorpion. Gained 15 exp!]

...

It was a low-level Instance Dungeon that only students below level 5 could enter.

The monsters in the cave were not strong. They were all level 2 and level 3 Poisonous Scorpions. Their Hp was around 60 points, which is slightly higher than the level 1 wolves. However, their speed was much slower, and their desire to attack was not as high as the pack of wolves.

If these two monsters were up against each other in a one-on-one battle, even a level 2 Poisonous Scorpion was no match for the level 1 wolves.

And besides that, he found out that obtaining an SSS rank from this dungeon was not that difficult. The only thing you have to do is to complete three specific requirements.

The first and most standard requirement is to kill the dungeon's final Boss, the Scorpion King.

The second requirement is to kill all the Poisonous Scorpions (mobs) in the dungeon. If one has enough patience and brings enough health supplements, this might be easier to complete than the first.

The third and final requirement is to complete the dungeon without being poisoned. If you were hit by an attack, as long as it's not poisonous, you would still be able to pass.

However...

Although the requirements seemed simple and the monsters in the dungeon were not strong, it was rare for students to get an SSS score on their first attempt.

And it's all because they failed the third requirement. 

It was not because it was difficult.

It's because the terrain is extremely at their disadvantage.

First, the flickering light made it impossible to see the situation inside the cave.

Second, all kinds of strange stones were blocking the way, forcing you to look for another path, thus exploring every inch of the cave. From time to time, you would come to a dead end surrounded by many Poisonous Scorpions.

'There are also some cracks in the stone wall that you can't see if you don't look carefully. There are a bunch of Poisonous Scorpions hiding in them. They wait for you to get close before they suddenly jump out….'

With such sneaky traps, it's not surprising for people to get lost, especially in unfamiliar terrain. It would be a challenge navigating through this dungeon without some sort of detection skill.

Being hit by its tail was equivalent to being poisoned, and there was no medicine for regret.

So it was natural for most players to give up on gaining the SSS rank.

However, Lin Ye would still try his best to complete the first and second requirements to get the SSS rank and, hopefully, be able to draw free attribute points as a reward.

It was just like Lin Ye to find a bug in the system...