A Surprise

"Aaaahhh!!"

Every ounce of my energy was used as I shattered the other core, also damaged by my lightning.

「 You have defeated the golem. 」

「 All opponents have been defeated. 」

「 You have cleared 2/3 stages. 」

Drop.

My body tumbled to the floor as I gasped for air.

'I'm almost there..'

All I had left was the boss fight.

Although, I had no idea what would linger within that last room.

「 When you enter 'Room 3', the penalty will cease to exist. 」

Only the good news reached my ears.

I stepped up and looked at a reward which one of the golems dropped.

It shined like gold and was basically asking to be reaped.

「 You have obtained an item named 'Dusty Silhouette(E)' 」

"Dusty silhouette? What a weird name.."

Another window flashed up to my eyes.

「 Item - Dusty Silhouette 」

「 Grade - E 」

「 A plain old mask that the golems worshipped after the disappearance of an 'Old one'. 」

「 Can be used to hide the player name and face from both NPC's and Players alike. 」

The name was odd, although I did feel that this could be useful because being able to fool NPC's—or even lower ranked ones would be helpful.

Then I should do one last thing before I enter the final room.

Within my inventory, I reached for the goblin flesh.

'Eugh..'

The smell reeked and easily penetrated my fingers which I clenched my nose with to prevent myself from throwing up.

The flesh which I held did have use.

Even if it wasn't heavily recommended by many players, I still decided to try it.

'The method involved eating the flesh after cooking it for five to ten minutes..'

But I was curious.

A lot of the wolves ancestors had adapted to eating raw meat.

Of course, over 1.8 million years ago, when the use of fire was developed by human ancestors,

We have been fine with eating raw meat as long as it was fresh.

'I don't know how it works in this game..'

But if the meat is not fresh,

Chump— 

I took a massive bite into the one piece of raw goblin meat.

'Mhghgh..'

As expected.

It tasted worse than an expired fish egg.

I gagged at the terrible taste but forced myself to swallow.

「 You have consumed [Raw Goblin Meat]. 」

「 Warning! The meat has lost its freshness. 」

「 You will now experience [Food Poisoning] for [Two minutes] if the meat isn't spit out. 」

But this was just what I wanted.

「 You have not spit out the [Raw Goblin Meat]. 」

「 You will experience a Poison Affect lasting two minutes and lose health every two seconds. 」

"Augh.."

I clenched my stomach and fell on my knees.

The unpalatable food which had entered my body fought against my immune system and travelled up my throat tubes.

Yet, I couldn't let that happen.

Experiencing pain like this without a cost would be a waste.

That's why I endured.

My hand pushed further into my lips.

The food or piece of grotty inedible pieces would not travel the opposite direction.

Two minutes passed and I was still in an almost passed-out state.

However.

My condition slowly got better after the span of time.

And I still felt exhausted, but my will overpowered everything else and brought me upwards to witness a notification.

「 You have endured the [Food Poisoning] state after your body succeeded in fighting back. 」

A smile formed as better news rang my ears.

「 Your rewards have not betrayed your efforts! 」

「 You have acquired the skill named 'Poison Immunity lvl.1' 」

"Keuhuek..."

I struggled to fight the pain but still spoke.

"Good."

The rewards that I obtained helped me against the pain and discomfort.

.

.

.

I slowly stood up.

It had been more than fifteen minutes and almost all my mana had been recovered.

'I should probably try to get a mana recovery skill..'

The pain was gone but there was still discomfort.

Although, I didn't enjoy the fact that you also had to rely on food in the game.

I was still thankful for the rewards the opportunity brought.

'The final room..'

The boss fight.

My hands shook as I held the long weapon.

All this time I had spent in the dungeon led up to this moment.

My condition wasn't perfect.

Though, I moved along.

The door in front was the same door entrance as the second room.

But this time...

'The pressure I feel is incredible.'

My hand touched the gigantic door covered by scriptures of languages I couldn't understand.

Unlike the previous door,

It radiated a bright white light.

The light beamed so much that I was forced to cover my eyes.

The few seconds lasted and I closed my eyes.

After opening my eyes, a white room appeared.

Everything that surrounded me was completely white.

There were no edges or corners to make it seem like a room.

Perplexity covered my eyes but another blue screen fixed my worries.

「 You have entered the Final Room (3/3). 」

「 The penalties and restrictions will be lifted. 」

A tremendous surge of energy circulated my veins.

"Woah.."

'But there's one more thing left to do..'

「 You have equipped an item named 'Dusty Silhouette(E)' 」

「 Beginning Stream... 」

「 Please pick a name to stream with. 」

I didn't even feel the need to think.

This was something I had already thought about before.

"Lexa."

I said with a completely straight face behind the mask.

Another variation of my name with another letter added on.

'I hope it's original enough..'

「 You have proceeded to stream with the name 'Lexan'. 」

「 You have begun streaming. 」

I exhaled and looked back ahead but was startled.

"Ah!"

Another manikin stood like it should while looking directly at me.

I sighed after realizing that it was just another manikin.

—But I was wrong to assume that.

"Huh?"

The manikin glitched and the blue particles formed human flesh.

The entire process wasn't disgusting like the past few rooms.

Instead...

The blue particles had vanished after satisfyingly finishing the formation of another human.

It looked very realistic.

The human rested on one knee holding a sword.

The sword had lines through it with a very clean design. The sharp edge could easily cut through flesh like tofu.

The human was female. Her golden hair was tied back to a single braid going down her back.

The face was emotionless and wore shining iron armor with a green cape.

Her eyes slowly opened.

The intensity awakened.

'This pressure..'

My examination of the dangerous opponent grew cautious and I prepared while staying in stance.

She had no indifferences but the look which did not judge me at all.

A couple of her right-hand's fingers reached for her swords sheath.

Swoosh!— 

A blast of wind blades were created by just bolting.

Her unsheathed sword carved the air.

Clang!— 

The two most popular weapons clashed.

But...

"Umph!"

My body fell metres back as I skid against the floor.

The woman released an amorous gaze as she held out her sword with both hands.

Her stance was perfect.

「 Defeat the following 1/3 Heroes. 」

「 Defeat the First Opponent: 3rd Generation Hero - Diana Grace. 」