As if nothing happened

[System prompt: 24 hours have passed, reconstructing your body, death penalties still in effect!]

"Finally!"

Five was silently leaning against the transparent inside of the sphere when he heard the system prompt. Although he sounded relieved, he was, reluctant to leave his dungeon core. Spending hours doing nothing, it was like a holiday to him. Furthermore, despite the lack of furniture, Five felt very comfortable inside.

Harriet was quietly reading; she spent the entire morning chatting with the other harpies and now, she finally had some free time. She was carelessly leaning against the wall of house. In front of her was an abyss. If one fell into it, he would immediately appear in the Avian Cavern but would undergo a free fall of 200 meters before crashing on the ground.

The orb she received from Kroff was resting between her knees. She was well aware that Five was inside, fully conscious of everything and that he would soon revive but she did not know the exact time.

Suddenly, the orb started to shine brightly. Harriet immediately noticed and put aside the book before grabbing the orb. She gently placed it on the floor and took a few steps back.

The light that came out of the orb started to condense and in less than 5 seconds, it now had the shape of a human. Another 5 seconds elapsed before the light finally disappeared, revealing Five's figure.

"Ehh, hello," said a confused Five. He did not expect the revival to go this way. Although it lasted only for 10 seconds, he felt like he just came down after a series of roller coasters; his head was spinning but he quickly got himself together.

Besides, he was a bit embarrassed in front of Harriet. The latter brought him to her room last night when she went to sleep. Of course, she placed the orb on a desk near her bed but as she went to sleep, Five was surprised as she removed her clothes before going under the quilt.

As she was doing so, she promptly explained that it was the only way she could sleep. The feeling of cloth would often tingle her and prevent her from sleeping. Even if Five saw nothing besides her back, it was a very arousing scene. Harriet herself did not seem to be embarrassed at all as if it was totally normal for her.

"Good to see that you're fine!" happily greeted Harriet. She immediately noticed the drop in Strength of Five but she did not bring that up. She did not want to mention his death, or anything related.

As for Five, he felt that nothing was wrong with his body; he could move as normal. But his stats were showing the opposite; not only did he have a "-1" next to his strength due to his death, all his stats were further reduced by 50% due to the death penalties.

"So? Now that you can talk again, what do you think of the Avian Cavern?" asked Harriet.

"Back to business already? Not much. It is fine as it is. Suitable for harpies but at the same time, you guys don't spend much time there."

With a quick sleight of hand, Five moved his dungeon core to his inventory.

The harpy queen was clearly not satisfied with the answer and persisted: "You did not find any ways to improve it?"

"It is hard for me to put myself in the shoes of a high-level adventurer. That's how I could find ways to improve the first few floors, but this one is way too high level for me right now," replied Five. In truth, despite the little amount of time he spent there, Five did think of some ways to help the harpies.

However, he decided to keep that to himself. After Roy's actions, Five came to the conclusion that it was better to keep some distance from Kroff's monsters. Even if Harriet looked friendly and caring, he did not know if she was just acting or if these were her true intentions.

"Fine fine, keep your secrets to yourself! Shall we go and see Master, or do you want to spend some time here?" asked Harriet, completely changing the topic.

"Ehh, how are you planning to bring me down? I am not in the dungeon core anymore," said Five. Going up was easy since Harriet could just carry his dungeon core, but now that he was out, things were more complicated.

"What's the difference? I can just carry you!" declared Harriet and before Five could react, she immediately pushed Five slightly and repositioned herself

"Hey wait! Ahhh" Five panicked as he felt the sudden feeling of weightlessness

But before he could react, he already found himself in Harriet's arms in a princess carry.

"How else do you want to go down? Don't move too much or you'll fall," said Harriet as she jumped into the abyss below.

...

"Again Five, I am very sorry for what happened! To prevent such things from happening anymore, I suggest that you stay with Harriet for the rest of your time here. She is more adept at protecting you!" declared Kroff.

As soon as they entered Kroff's room, the latter immediately dropped his current task to speak to the two. He tried to test Five's reaction but to his surprise, he did not detect any intent to take revenge inside him. "Is he really good at acting? Or does he really not mind dying?" thought Kroff.

Even after a few more exchanges, he still could not determine what Five was thinking. He was acting as if nothing happened and that was giving Kroff a bad feeling.

"Anyway, I suggest you hunt a bit on the first floor. It might help you gain back some DP. We will go back to usual lessons tomorrow."

"I was thinking of doing that, thank you," politely answered Five. With nothing else to say, Kroff promptly dismissed the two.

'Strange! With his temperament, I was sure he was going to make a fuss or complain... I should be more careful' thought Kroff.

Quickly, Five and Harriet arrived on the first floor. With the Harpy's Blood in hand, he quickly started to farm the slimes. Unfortunately, the death penalties were still in effect. Without considering the -1 strength since he fell down to level 1, all his stats had an additional negative number next to them which would last for 12 hours.

But despite the reduction in his stats, Five was still easily able to kill the slimes; he did not have to rely too much on his own strength with the Harpy's Blood.

"So? Are you gonna act like nothing happened? " asked Harriet. She had been quietly following Five into the tunnels and was wondering about his very passive behavior; if she considered his past, this was not something he would normally do.

"What else can I do? It's not like Kroff will give me anything... Unless I join his alliance but that won't happen..." replied Five as he stabbed the Harpy's blood into a nearby slime.

"Sigh... You are really weird, anyone else would have already decided to submit..."

"It's fine, I don't think such things will happen again as long as I am careful and stay near you. Also, I don't plan on going on those high floors again. I'll just quietly gather some DP and leave when I'll be allowed to," innocently answered Five.

He calmly went back to farming and Harriet followed him like a bodyguard. That was his plan; to lay low for now and collect DP. Dungeon Points were essential for his growth and at the same time, they would also be of prime importance if he wanted to take revenge.

"617 DP... Not bad, but not enough... Sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter, even buying the raw materials instead of the final product will cost me at least 1000 DP," said Five to himself

For now, there was only one thing he was waiting for: for Kroff to give him control over the first 10 floors. Even if it was just temporary, many things could be accomplished during that period of time. More specifically, the dungeon right now was designed to accommodate the residents of this world. But as soon as the players would arrive, the dynamics would immediately change.

Players would definitely act differently from NPCs and as such, they could also be manipulated to some extent. Especially since the players would usually be more daring and greedier for resources as they did not die for real.