Chapter 6: The First Dungeon

Temporarily staying at a hotel on Route 88, located between New York and Gotham. Lying in bed in my one-room apartment, I stared at the interface, pondering what to do next, and contemplating an intriguing item called "Body Control." It looked like a sort of blue sphere, and the description stated that this item could change the player's physical body's age for a more comfortable gaming experience. It seemed like a small thing, but it was unclear why the system decided to give me such a gift. Could it be related to the fact that it considers my wishes for consideration and might influence the rewards I receive after completing quests? After all, I had only mentioned it once, never seriously considering it. Okay, I'll use it later. Opening the character stats window, I decided to focus primarily on Agility, Constitution, and Stamina.

After distributing the points, my table looked like this:

HP: 700/700

MP: 700/700

Strength: 64

Agility: 162

Luck: 1 - ???

Intuition: 61

Willpower: 45

Wisdom: 30

Constitution: 70

Stamina: 70

Charisma: 52

Intelligence: 50

Mana: 0 (Locked)

Resilience: 80

+20 to Constitution, +30 to Stamina, and +10 to Strength, and a total of 100 in Agility.

If 80 points in Strength and Speed are considered the limit for a human, then my 162 Agility would be considered supersonic... I have no idea. Either way, I'll have a chance to check it later.

Next on the list were skills. I only had 9 skill points, and it's crucial right now to choose skills that can help me navigate the Dungeon. There are two ways to unlock skills: learning them through special "Books," buying them from merchants, other players, or at auctions, or simply spending skill points. The first method immediately caught my attention when I first remembered something called an auction. With practically unlimited possibilities in terms of money and resources, I could acquire practically anything of interest to me for free! If a skill is relatively easy to understand and grasp, it won't cost anything at all.

After spending a bunch of hours reviewing and evaluating various skills, I selected what I considered to be the most essential:

1. Tireless – Level 2

  - Stamina recovery rate triples!

2. Death Mark – Level 1

  - Cost: 5 MP. Cooldown: 60 seconds.

  - Duration: 30 seconds.

  You throw a spiritual dagger at your target, which marks the target with special runes. The spiritual dagger itself deals no damage, but your subsequent attacks on the marked target increase damage against it by 100%!

3. Dance of Death – Passive, Level 1

  - With each enemy killed, your stamina is restored by 15%, allowing you to continue your rampage.

4. Bloody Marathon – Aura

  - MP Cost: 0

  - Activation/Maintenance Requirements: "Bleeding" effect.

  "An eye for an eye, blood for blood..." Sacrificing a portion of your own health, you decide to replenish this loss with the blood of your enemies. The Health Steal coefficient is 20% of the total damage dealt to the target.

In simpler terms, if I deal a Critical Hit for 1000 points of damage, I will restore 200 HP.

These skills from the Rogue and Assassin branches are quite powerful and will undoubtedly come in handy in most Dungeon situations. First and foremost, the Dungeon is a harsh place, and going in there solo is extremely dangerous. To compensate for my inability to quickly heal and regenerate stamina during battles, I decided to take "Dance of Death" and "Bloody Marathon." Both of these skills are ideal for carving a path through hordes of regular enemies to get to the boss. "Death Mark" and "Tireless" will increase my chances of defeating the boss. What's the main downside of my build? Well, the most obvious drawbacks are related to prolonged battles against relatively strong enemies.

I also acquired a rather overpowered time-related skill. It was quite expensive, costing a whopping four mother-loving skill points! I think the reason it was so expensive is that it has two states, which I want to tell you about.

At the very beginning, when I was offered a bonus one-time skill, I couldn't understand what "False Time Erasure" meant until I thought about it more. Frankly, even without much thought, everything became clear from the skill description.

How can you "Erase Time"? How can you erase something that happened and still remember it? How can things that occurred in nonexistent time even exist? And what's the answer? I don't have it yet. To do this, you would need to be at least a god-like being. Well... or at the very least, understand this concept. Changing, distorting, and erasing events that have already happened are currently beyond my abilities. But erasing the very concept of Time from my enemies and predicting it is well within my grasp. Let me give you an example of how it works:

Author's Note: King Crimson/Todd Howard — IT'S. JUST. WORKS. ©

For example, an opponent shoots at me with a pistol, and at that very moment, I begin to "Erase Time." At this point, I. Already. Know what will happen in the next few seconds because "False Erasure" is My Time. Meanwhile, my opponent Sees, Feels, and, most importantly, Thinks that his bullets are hitting me, and I fall to the ground as a lifeless corpse. Some time passes, and my "corpse" disappears, while I clean my dagger from his blood behind his back because while he was shooting, he got a blade in the back and a wound incompatible with life.

Still not clear? Alright, here's another very simple example.

Someone starts counting numbers from 1 to 10.

"1, 2, 3, 4 [5, 6, 7, 8]… 9…10?! What happened after the number four?!" at this point, the person continues counting, but they won't remember that I punched them in the face when they continued counting from 5 to 8 seconds.

So, what does this give me? Hmmm… let me think:

1) It prevents me from dying from an enemy attack.

2) It makes my enemy completely predictable.

3) It makes them completely vulnerable to attacks due to their inability to realize what just happened.

This is why calling this ability "Erasure" is a mistake. They will continue to perform actions in that timeframe, seeing what they're supposed to see, but I will know about them in advance and will do as I please within that time.

Learned: False Time Erasure Level: ??? Can be upgraded!

You create a distortion in time, depriving your opponents of the ability to perceive the concept of "Time" itself. During this distortion, all actions of the opponent will be predicted in advance. Everyone affected by this will see you based solely on the current presentation of the world about you, while in reality, your existence and actions at that moment will not be revealed until you stop the ability.

Consumption of SP: 50 per second. Cooldown: 20 seconds. Sustained.

How did I test it…? Well, to be honest, I used the maid in the hotel who happened to be cleaning the room at the time. Visually, this skill had no visible effect, which made it even deadlier. All I had to do was put the tip for cleaning in her pocket and revert time back to its usual flow. She felt confused and then looked at me hopefully, expecting the tip. It was amusing to watch the expression on her face when I told her that she had already received her tip.

"Really? It's strange that I forgot about it. I'm sorry."

"No, I should be thanking you for your assistance in this little experiment," I reply mentally with a slight smile on my face.

The only terrible downside is the cost. Even One Second of that time is enough to turn the tide of battle. However, it depends on the situation again. In a short and fast battle, I'm just a living monster in the flesh. In situations where the enemy stubbornly refuses to die, I'm extremely vulnerable. As it turned out, Agility is not my primary attribute; it's Stamina. However, I found a way to solve this problem in a fairly simple way, but more on that later.

I could spend the remaining skill point on learning Time Slowdown, but unfortunately, I wasn't entirely sure of its usefulness. Time Stop already did all the work for me. I didn't have the luxury of using all these skills due to their terrible stamina cost. I decided to save the remaining skill point for a rainy day. Who knows, maybe I can find a use for it in the Dungeon?

We've sorted out the characteristics and skills. As for equipment, the local convenience store on the highway provided a good selection. The "Observation" ability helped me identify the peculiarities of certain foods that I hadn't noticed before. For example, an energy drink could restore 50 stamina units and double its recovery rate! The effects could even stack. However, there was a downside. The warnings mentioned negative consequences like prolonged and unpleasant effects, ranging from headaches and nausea to loss of consciousness. I even had the idea of becoming a chef and cooking food with special effects, but I quickly dismissed that thought.

"Too lazy...!" and it's quite challenging to justify this point of view. I might learn to cook in the future, but not right now.

Regarding my arsenal, of all the weapons I had, I seriously decided to go for the grenade. I significantly increased its ammunition using my favorite "budding" technique from other layers of reality. Firearms, while quite effective, didn't seem to be of much use in the Dungeon due to the difference in enemy defense levels and attack penetration. This type of weapon is effective against humans here, but the creatures I'm likely to encounter there will almost certainly not be human. I just hope all my preparations will be enough to get through it. My First Dungeon.

Collecting my thoughts, I decided not to linger any longer in the hotel. Due to my paranoia, I didn't want to stay in one place for more than a day. Before leaving the hotel room, I finally took out that blue orb from my inventory, inside of which a bright blue flame seemed to be burning.

Do you want to use "Body Control"? Reverting the process will be impossible.

Yes/No?

I want to look like an adult, but at the same time, I still behave like a child.

"What can you do?" I shrug my shoulders and answer my own question. "I just realized at some point that this world is my playground, and the opinions of heroes and villains became almost meaningless to me. Victory is what defines a person. If you become stronger than your enemy, if you survive, if you deceive everyone and don't get deceived yourself — that's what victory is, and victory brings rewards. It can have both moral and material value. After pressing "Yes," I choose the age of twenty-one. As soon as I do this, my body seems to start tearing from the inside with excruciating pain. Damn, couldn't they have warned me...?!

"Argh... ah... ah..." I sit on my knees on the floor and try to steady my breathing. My heart is pounding furiously and feels like it's about to burst out of my chest. My clothes are fine because this ability also affects them. The mirror reflection shows the adult version of myself, which I assess with a slight foxy grin at the fruit of this strange change.

"Well, it's time to get to work."

How did the Dungeon system work? To enter it, a special key was required, which would open a special door in space. Since this was my first Dungeon, the system provided it to me for free. The key could only be used once, and it would immediately disappear after use. After I entered, my task would be quite simple: Kill the Dungeon Boss. Also, the Dungeon had an "Exit" option, but after using it, the attempt to clear the Dungeon would automatically be counted as a failure. The next key would have to be obtained through an auction. Keys were randomly generated after defeating the final boss and had a chance to drop in multiple quantities. It was almost impossible to know in advance what awaited the player in the Dungeon. The only clue could be related to the appearance of the key itself. My key had a stone structure and a complex chain at its end, resembling... a labyrinth? Holding the key behind the hotel building, I activated it with a mental command, and a gray stone door appeared right in front of me. As soon as I inserted the key into the hole, the door opened instantly, and the key disappeared. Inside, it was incredibly dark, and in the middle, there was a swirling black-purple singularity. Taking a deep breath and drawing my dagger, I took the coveted step into this frightening unknown.

My consciousness clouded for only a couple of seconds, and I found myself in a strange corridor: the gray floor and cave walls were too smooth, clean, and even. The corridor was lit only by the dim light of torches, and there was complete silence, in which I could hear my own heartbeat. A dead end behind me. Not a soul around, and this was more unsettling than if I had been greeted by some guardian of this place upon arrival. I decided that before moving forward, it would be better to get information from the system.

The Labyrinth of the Last Minotaur.

Location Level: 30+

Threat: Medium.

Dungeon Event Initiated!

Main Objective: Kill the Minotaur "Tar-Dor"!

[+500,000 Experience, "Compass of Desires"]

Secondary Objectives:

Kill more than Three Hundred Shadow Wolves. Reward: [+1 to Stealth Skill Level, Passive Ability: Silent Step]

Find out why the entire Minotaur race was practically wiped out. Reward: ???

It seems short and clear. As I took a few dozen steps down the corridor, the first opponents appeared ahead. The very same shadow wolves mentioned in the mission had a rather unusual appearance: black thick fur, formidable claws, and teeth protruding from their mouths. A dentist's nightmare. The blood-red irises with vertical pupils exuded bloodlust and hatred.

"Rraaghh!" warned the growl from deep within the corridor, and the points of their friends' eyes lit up one by one with a red light. After all, wolves only hunt in packs.

With a light mental command, I retrieve my semi-transparent spiritual dagger, Talos. I run it along my wrist, causing a light bleed. My body begins to emit a red mist.

Bloody Marathon: Activated!

"Let's test these new abilities...!" I say as I point the tip of the dagger in their direction, and the pack rushes forward. Using the acceleration ability, I increase my speed and reaction several times over. And off we go! The first one jumps at me, paying with the loss of half of its body, but in its place, more of these creatures leap, and then even more... Like an endless wave, trying to reach me, knock me down, and tear me apart on this cold floor. Despite their considerable number, I far outpaced them in speed, and occasionally, in dangerous situations, I would shift backward. When they led me into a dead end at the start, I decided to finish them off, freezing time and swiftly and chaotically darting behind their backs. Time returns to its usual flow, and the wolves explode into shards of a black viscous substance that dissolves into black smoke as it disperses. I could have done this from the start, of course, but as I mentioned earlier, I wanted to test my abilities, and as it turned out, my speed greatly exceeded that of a flying bullet.

Wolf 78/300 eliminated.

After clearing the corridor, I managed to enter a spacious room with numerous identical hallways.

"Ah, if this really is a labyrinth, I'm definitely going to walk in circles here. I think it's worth using regular markers to avoid wasting a lot of time searching for the boss," I thought to myself.

All the corridors were literally crawling with shadow wolves, and killing them wasn't much different from dealing with the previous pack. While they were quite persistent, they didn't pose a significant threat to me, but they did provide a good amount of experience. I managed to gain two whole levels from them. After a while, I stumbled upon a stone tablet with an inscription in an unknown language. My intuition told me that it was part of the Dungeon's local history, and if I could understand what was written on it, I might be able to complete an additional quest.

To Read the Tablet, knowledge of the Language of the Underground World is required.

I'd better leave it for later. I think there will surely be an opportunity to learn it somewhere.

Tar-Dor's Diary

Record Found: [1 of 5]

And here's another reason not to discard them. Even though I couldn't read it, my Observation skill was able to determine its significance. I need to keep an eye out for them and not let them slip by, so I can see and understand the whole story.

Meanwhile, my journey continued. After another cleanup, I didn't notice how the pack of killed wolves didn't want to die as usual but quickly merged into a uniform mass. It amused me slightly, and if the resulting creature hadn't been so hostile and brainless, I wouldn't have minded having such a pet on a leash.

"Come on, Blackie, come here," I called and clapped my hands, trying to lure it to me. I think that irritated it a bit. Due to its size, there wasn't much room for spatial maneuvering in the narrow corridor, so this form didn't give it any significant advantage. However, the regeneration that followed was simply absurd, which annoyed me slightly. Each of my blows sliced through parts of its body, but new ones immediately appeared in the wounded area. "Time Stop."

I deliver a slashing blow to the neck, leap onto its nose, and strike a second blow to the back of the head, completely severing the head from the neck. Even beheading in stopped time yielded no results. In its place, a new one calmly grew within a few seconds. I invest a skill point in improving Death Mark. Now, it has an additional ability - pinpointing enemy weak points. Red, semi-transparent throwing knives appear at the tips of my fingers, and with a precise throw, I hit the solar plexus. Red unknown runes cover the wolf, and near its left eye, I notice a purple spot, which apparently was its weak spot. It lunges its toothy mouth towards me, and I make a slight shift to perform a straight stab into its eye. My opponent freezes for a couple of seconds and then explodes into black splatters, dissolving into a black mass, finally disappearing from this world.

Apart from the wolves, strangely enough, there was no one else here. I had long since completed the genocide quest regarding them. I had been wandering through the corridors for quite some time, and I had already found almost all the tablets. Only one remained. I don't know if it was thanks to my luck or just chance, but it seemed like I had finally found the room with the main boss. Massive steel gates were invitingly ajar. It took a lot of effort on my part just to open them. Inside, seated on his throne, was the very Minotaur himself. Huge, almost three meters tall, with a pile of steel muscles and red skin. He wore only some pants and a strange kind of bracers in the form of a steel chain for protection. I noticed a massive axe as his weapon. While his calf's face watched me attentively, propping his fist under his chin, I decided to quickly assess him.

Name: Tar-Dor

Level: 40

Race: Minotaur

Professions: Berserker, Exceptional Warrior.

Titles: The Last of His Kind, Forgotten Pawn of Great History.

HP: 2000/2000

Strength: 250

Agility: 100

Intelligence: 68

Abilities: Until the Last Breath.

The information displayed was not complete, but it was more than enough to understand that this boss was purely a power type, and I would preferably have to take him down quickly because the "Berserker" class was quite dangerous. Time for contemplation and assessing the opponent ran out, and the massive monster's figure rose from the throne. At that very moment, I sprint at full speed towards him and strike. My dagger crosses paths with his axe, and the next second, I'm thrown back like a feather, as if by a gust of wind.

"Mu-Aaaarghh!" His horrifying roar reverberated like a pulsating aura throughout the spacious room.

The enemy is in a Berserk state!

This time, he's attacking. The axe came down right next to me, but even his miss shattered the floor and sent me flying to the side in a shockwave. What incredible strength...! I stop time, and while I have the chance, I use Mark of Death, approach, and deliver a dozen different strikes. Time returns to its usual flow, and the Minotaur's body is instantly covered in numerous cuts, from which blood sprays like a fountain. His stance falters, and now he's down on one knee. Even with my weapon, I was only able to take half of his HP! And judging by the fact that hot steam was literally pouring out of his wounds and his aura was splashing threateningly in a bloody color, this didn't bode well. His main stat increased to 400, and it's not difficult to guess that if I were hit by his attack even once, it would be my last. Every second counted, so it was time for my trump card.

In the moment when he moved towards me, I activated Time Erasure. My perception of time changed. It slowed down by several dozen times and showed the trajectory of his attack. He could only see me standing in place, waiting for his strike. I shifted slightly to the side, threw a dagger at his forehead, and, taking a dozen neatly linked grenades from my inventory, I threw them directly at him.

All of this took me two seconds. My false time erasure disappeared, and before he could react, the Minotaur caught the dagger in his forehead, and an impressive instant explosion hid him in a gray cloud. From that cloud, an axe flew at me at tremendous speed, and I barely managed to dodge it. I almost lost my arm, but the wound was tolerable. When the smoke from the explosion dispersed, I saw the Minotaur kneeling there, frozen in his final throwing pose. Half of his body was blown apart by the explosion, and there was a clear fracture in his skull, with only a vacant gaze from his crimson eyes looking at me.

Level Up!

Level Up!

Level Up!

"Three levels for a single Minotaur? Can I have another one?!" I beckon the dagger to me with the tip of my fingers and catch it in mid-air.

"So that's what 'until the last breath' meant... right?"

I felt a certain melancholy and even some... sympathy for this beast? Yes, he fought using everything he had. He was much stronger than me, and if I didn't have the ability to control time, I wouldn't have had a chance. Or perhaps I was just disappointed that it all went so smoothly? Maybe that's it. Whatever, this place is not a sport or entertainment. This is a place where I had to win and survive at any cost.

In any case, before leaving this place, it's worth thoroughly inspecting it. Behind the throne, like in some fantasy RPG, lay a genuine treasure chest. Opening it, I found the usual pile of gold, a certain key, a book, and the missing stone tablet I needed.

"Royal Key - Can be used to enter a Dungeon.

Description: ???"

I expected something like that when I saw the key. And what about the book?

Underground World Language Tutorial

"Do you want to study it?"

"Of course, I do!" As soon as I said that, the book disintegrated into polygons, and my intellect and wisdom stats increased slightly. Now all that was left was to read all these tablets in a convenient Russian format.

After a couple of hours of studying the tablets.

"Hm... how interesting."

The tablets were a kind of diary of the late Minotaur, who, due to his rage and hatred, eventually went mad. Initially, in some otherworldly realm, there were two warring continents. They simply called them the Underground and the Outer World. The Underground was teeming with all kinds of undead, monsters, and just strange creatures, while the Outer World was the realm of humans. A war broke out between them, during which the Empire's humans nearly wiped out the Minotaurs. The Act of Genocide was not welcomed anywhere, but humans found justification in it, believing it was what the Gods wanted, to eliminate such beings from this world. Who were they to defy His word? It seems that even in a fantasy world, the church can exert its influence over everything. Tar-Dor managed to escape this grim fate and decided to hide in this place, with the aim of gathering enough strength for revenge on behalf of his people. The most foolish and comical part of this whole situation was that after he managed to hide here, he could no longer get out because this stupid cow, in a fit of PTSD, accidentally killed the only succubus mage who could teleport him to this place. There were no teleporters here due to the fear that someone from the humans might find their way here, and the wolves were her familiars, summoned accidentally at the moment of her death. Even after her demise, the wolves did not consider him an enemy and continued to carry out the guardianship of this place. Apparently, she... did not hold a grudge against him even in her moment of death.

By the way, I examined his chest, but as for the corpse, I didn't. That's odd.

Minotaur Horn - can be used as an ingredient in alchemy or for crafting items.

Ring of Fury - "Pain is nothing, there is only Fury" - these words are neatly and beautifully engraved on the golden ring.

Passive Ability: Each loss of 20% HP increases your Strength by 20%.

It seems like a cool ring, but not for me. Ah, luck was not on my side. I can't even properly lift the axe, let alone use it in battle. I think I'll sell it or give it to someone. It's no use to me anyway.

The Quest is completed

Reward: 500,000 experience points, "Desire Compass."

Additional Quests Completed!

Reward: 1) +1 to the Stealth skill level, Passive Ability: Silent Step 2) Berserker profession manual.

The manual was entirely useless due to the nature of the profession, but the compass and the three levels I gained for clearing the Dungeon were not bad at all. So now, I'm already at level 24!

Desire Compass - allows the owner to point the way to what they desire most. The compass was enclosed in a black box and had an arrow under an elongated protective glass, indicating the direction.

"So, it's all over here. It's becoming a habit to talk to myself."

There was no need to do anything special: all I had to do was simply mentally wish to leave the Dungeon, and it automatically transported me from here. Now, feeling quite pumped up, perhaps it's worth taking a look at this very covert company of mercenaries? Maybe I'll meet Deadstroke or Deadshot. I've always admired individuals who, without superpowers, can bring to their knees those who do have these very superpowers. I wonder what drives these people? "Money" or "Sport"? Although I've read DC comics, the motivation of these individuals has always remained unknown to me.

"Nothing personal, it's just business."

What a pompous and cliché phrase that is. Here I go again, sticking my head into the lion's den. It seems that spending a long time in this universe is negatively affecting me, as I'm trying to make enemies out of these mercenaries. However, quite the opposite! I wanted to personally see them in action. Maybe I could even impress them and offer my services to understand their motivation. I just needed to always keep an eye out, as trusting people like them is a sign of disrespect for oneself. I was too careless and overconfident with Batman. I won't allow that to happen again.

"My whole life is a game," I muttered into the void as I appeared behind the familiar hotel. Hmm, judging by the fact that a police squad has appeared at the hotel, I should probably leave this place. Amanda Waller has been showing too much attention to me lately. Why was I so sure it was her? Well, besides her, there's no one else, as Batman never leaves Gotham, and it's definitely not his style. Does she really think this pitiful squad will stop me? Although, she probably planned to use them as pawns to paint me in a bad light and show the country that I'm dangerous, having killed all these innocent police officers who were just doing their duty. This would free her hands to act more openly.

"You play dirty, Waller. I'm impressed!" I slowly clapped sarcastically and, entering stealth mode, at full sound speed, caught up with a cargo truck. I decided to become an extra passenger, landing on the roof.