The upper floors

As the system finished its explanation, the three of us looked at each other, taking in the information. It was clear that leveling up was important, and it gave us a sense of progress, but it also meant that the challenges ahead would be tougher.

Julius spoke up, breaking the silence. "So, we have to keep leveling up to survive here?"

Roselle and I nodded, and I added, "Y-yes, it seems that l-leveling up is crucial to o-our survival. We need to keep g-getting stronger and more p-proficient in our a-abilities."

"But how do we level up quickly?" Roselle asked, looking worried.

Julius looked at me as if expecting an answer. I thought for a moment before responding. "W-well, we shouldn't w-worry about that f-for now."

"What do you mean?" Julius asked, perplexed by my statement. After all, we should level up as much as possible to stay alive in this new ice age.

"B-before the ice goblins c-came, the system g-gave us a quest to do." I said with worry as almost an hour has passed by already.

"Damn you're right." Julius cursed at the situation.

"Sigh, I completely forget about that. So many things had passed that I forgot we needed to go out of the lab within 12 hours, or else we'll die. Or should I say a little more than 11 hours now?"

"But won't be easy?" Julius asked.

"W-what do you m-mean? I tilted my head to the side. Since when should it be easy to fight monsters while hoping to escape?

"I mean, won't we just need to take the front door to go out? Sure it'll be a little bit hard along the way, but I'm sure that we'll be able to make our way out without many problems. August is so strong after all."

I didn't know if I should be glad at his comment or sigh because things were never so easy in fantasy novels.

"I'm n-not so sure about t-that," I said, my voice heavy with doubt. "The q-quest might not be as s-simple as just leaving the lab. We c-could be facing more challenges a-along the way."

Roselle chimed in, her voice laced with concern. "And what if the goblins aren't the only monsters out there? We could be facing even more dangerous creatures."

"No, I-I don't t-think we'll be facing o-others type of monsters."

"What do you mean?" Roselle asked.

"W-well," I tried to find a plausible answer as I couldn't say that I knew it from fantasy novels. After all, we were all scientists here, so I doubted they will accept such an explanation. "W-we already have d-difficulty fighting i-ice goblins, so fighting other types of m-monsters is unlikely."

"Oh, I see what you mean," Julius said with a smile as if he understood something important. "Basically, we will only face ice goblins as long as we're in the labs."

"Y-yes, but as I s-said, it's not a-as simple." I took my breath as it was tiring to talk so much. "Goblins are a-a race of monsters. A-and in this r-race, there's a l-lot of different t-types of g-goblins."

"You don't mean...?" Roselle and Julius looked at me with scared eyes.

"I-it's p-possible," I replied, my own fear evident in my voice. "T-there could be s-stronger and m-more dangerous ice g-goblins that we have y-yet to encounter."

Julius cursed under his breath, and Roselle began to wring her hands nervously. The reality of the situation was beginning to sink in. We were in a dangerous world, with unknown dangers lurking around every corner. Not talking about the environment that started to get colder and colder.

Thanks to our fights earlier, we managed to warm up a little, but now that the adrenaline died down, it started to get cold again.

"We n-need to f-focus on the q-quest," I said, trying to calm everyone down. "W-we only have 11 hours l-left, and we need to f-find a way out of the lab."

"But how do we find the way out?" Roselle asked, her voice shaking, completely forgetting that we were on the lowest floor and needed to take the stairs or the elevator.

So I pointed my finger to the stairs, and both of my companions followed it and understood.

"Won't it be faster to take the elevator?" Julius asked innocently.

"N-no. What i-if the goblins w-waits for u-us right when the d-doors opens?" I said, trying to emphasize the importance of caution. "T-taking the stairs might be s-slower, but it's also s-safer."

Julius and Roselle nodded in agreement, and we started to make our way toward the stairs. As we walked, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach. The reality of our situation was starting to hit me, and I realized that the quest ahead of us was going to be incredibly difficult.

But we had no other choice. We needed to find a way out of the lab and survive in this dangerous world. And to do that, we needed to level up and become stronger.

As we reached the stairs, I took a deep breath and led the way up. I made another praying mantis with the other disabled nanobots and let them in front of me. to protect our group and kill the foes. 'I wonder if I can regenerate my magic power faster.'

[It is indeed possible, but only starting level 3. You'll be able to regenerate it faster, but won't be able to fight as you'll need to meditate to let the magic power around the world enter your body.]

Thankfully the system was here to answer my questions. 'And aren't we earning anything except for proficiency over our powers every time we level up?'

[It is also at level 3. We deem that people who get to this level have higher chances of survival, so we let them have more resources. I'll tell you in advance as you're already almost level 3, but there are 3 rewards you can take from, every time you level up starting level 3.

- Random Stats Points

- Random exclusive skill

- Random equipment

Those are what you can choose from. The first two are self-explanatory. As for the third, if you don't know, equipment will give you a fixed amount of stats. It's pretty useful when you fight.]

How about the coins? And what are their purposes?

[You'll earn coins starting level 3 by killing monsters, or as a quest reward. As for their uses, you'll see it soon enough.]

I rolled my eyes and clicked my tongue in annoyance. But the cold quickly reminded me of the situation. And it wasn't a joke.

As we climbed the stairs, I couldn't help but feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. It wasn't just about escaping the lab anymore. We had to figure out how to survive in this new world, and that meant confronting whatever challenges lay ahead.

The stairs seemed to go on forever, and I could feel the exhaustion setting in. But I knew that we couldn't stop. We had to keep moving forward.

Finally, after what felt like hours, we reached the top of the stairs. We cautiously opened the door and peered out into the hallway. It was quiet, but that didn't mean it was safe.

We crept down the hallway, staying as quiet as possible. Every sound seemed to echo loudly in the silence. I felt my heart pounding in my chest as we made our way toward the next stairs.

However, the moment we came across the stairs, we were shocked to see that the stairs were blocked by rubble.

"Shit! How are we supposed to go up now?" Julius cursed again at the situation. But I couldn't help but do the same. We will have difficulties continuing like this if we didn't have a way out.

"August, what should we do?" Roselle asked me, her face full of worry.

"We s-should t-take the e-elevator."

"Huh? But wasn't it dangerous?"

"We d-dont have m-much choices r-right now." They couldn't refute me, so we made our way over to the elevators.

As we approached the elevator, I could feel my nerves starting to get the best of me. What if the goblins were waiting for us on the other side? What if they had already found a way up to the higher floors? Were they the ones blocking the stairs? Will we survive if they ambush us?

But we had no choice. We needed to take the risk and hope for the best.

We stepped into the elevator, and I hit the button for the top floor. The doors closed, and we started to ascend. The ride felt interminable, and I couldn't help but hold my breath as we neared the top faster than I thought.

Finally, the doors opened, and we stepped out into a deserted hallway. It was a relief to see that there were no goblins waiting for us. But the sense of relief was short-lived.

As we made our way down the hallway, we heard a strange noise. It sounded like something scratching against metal. I motioned for my companions to be quiet, and we crept forward, following the sound.

We turned a corner and saw a door at the end of the hallway. The scratching sound was coming from behind it. We approached cautiously, and I could feel my heart racing.

I pushed the door open, and we stepped into the room. It was dark, but we could make out the shape of a figure hunched over something on the ground.