The system getting serious?

Ken rushed through the forest, avoiding all monsters, and directly arrived at a cave that was lit up by glowing crystals. "Finally found it..." he muttered with a grin.

[You really went to the dungeon that was shown in the anime... just to confirm which city you were in? Really? You could have just asked me, or anyone in the city for that matter...]

The system teased lightly, in her lazy tone, as if her previous excitement was just a facade.

"What... sometimes stupid adventures help to keep me sane... Plus, it sounds boring to ask anyone about what city I am in."

Ken defended himself as he walked into the cave.

[Fair enough,] the system agreed. If Ken could see her, he would see her shrug. [So, what did you conclude?] she curiously asked, making Ken raise his brow.

"Long or short?"

[Long.]

"Ok, we are in Hido City, which belongs to the Kingdom of Players, which is cut off from the whole world and is located on the edge of the continent," Ken stated, and silence fell.

[...]

The system was left speechless.

"What... you think I would be able to conclude more? Did you really think just because I am an anomaly I would figure out everything?" Ken retorted to the system's silence, making her grumble a bit.

[I hate you...]

The system mumbled and didn't speak another word.

Ken laughed as he headed deeper into the dungeon. The deeper he went, the wider the cave became, and finally, his first monster encounter transpired, but...

It was a goblin. Ken killed it and went on. On his way, he encountered many goblins and some wolves, but with his current power level, the wolves were his prey.

Of course, a dungeon needs multiple paths, and so there were. Ken stood in the open area where there were multiple paths. He wasn't particular about the path he would pick, so he went into the closest one.

After a bit of walking, Ken stopped and took a stance immediately. There was a wolf in front of him, and unlike normal wolves, it was much larger.

"Dire wolf... and it's alone?" Ken muttered as he analyzed the dire wolf in front of him. It was badly wounded and possibly on its way to death. "A forgotten alpha," he concluded as he looked at the dire wolf that silently glared at him.

[It looks pretty injured, and I doubt the new alpha came out unscathed, so you have a pretty good opportunity here: you've got a whole pack of dire wolves and the previous alpha in one go,] the system remarked lazily.

Ken, without much hesitation, dashed and slashed, killing the dire wolf without much fight.

[You are lucky you aren't close to the pack. They might exile the old alpha, but they would never abandon them,] the system lazily advised, her tone increasingly bored. [Can you hurry up and do something entertaining already? I am dead bored here...]

She complained, her tone becoming sleepy.

".... just manifest and roam the world. At this point, you are more of a bother than trouble," Ken made an unexpected jab at the system that made her speechless for a bit.

But then, [DO YOU KNOW HOW BORING IT IS HERE?! I THOUGHT YOU, AS THE GREATEST ANOMALY I HAVE SEEN, WOULD BE FUN TO BE AROUND BUT NO, YOU JUST MAKE EVERYTHING LOOK EASY AND EFFORTLESS!!! APOLOGIZE TO ALL THE ANOMALIES OF THE MULTIVERSE NOW!!!]

The system aggressively blurted, but... half of what she said wasn't aline with the other.

"I was only giving good advice. Never thought I would be yelled at. Also, why the absolute fuck would I apologize? Not my fault for being good at everything I have been doing," Ken smugly replied, making the system a little pissed off.

[Quest

Complete a dungeon (0/1)

Reward: A danger tracker for Aisa.

Penalty: -20 levels

Time limit: 1 hour

I decide when I deduct the level~!]

[Happy now! You are so lucky that this dungeon only has 10 floors,] the system harrumphed.

"..."

Ken shut his mouth as well and started to rush.

He ignored the small monsters like goblins, wolves, and kobolds.

But he had to come to a halt as he was met with a pack of monsters he really didn't want to see right now: a pack of dire wolves.

There were a total of nine of them, with three dead on the floor and one on a rock that was critically wounded.

Ken unhesitatingly lunged at the first dire wolf, stabbed its neck, and jumped back, as the other wolves were fast to react.

"GRRRRRR!!" the wolves snarled. Given their size and situation, it was very intimidating, to say the least.

Ken wasn't given many options here; it was a fight-only situation for him. Ken retreated to a wall close enough to the path he took to come here but far enough to make the wolves comfortable surrounding him.

The wolves surrounded him and covered all the paths he could take. The one dire wolf lying on the rock got up, growled, sniffed the air, and the next moment they became extremely hostile, lunging at Ken, who rushed to the wolf close to the exit and killed it with a smooth slash.

He rushed out, and the dire wolves followed, but Ken halted and struck the wolf at the very front while kicking the one that lunged at him at another wolf.

But the other wolves were too persistent to let Ken go so easily. One of the wolves bit his leg and dragged him, giving the other wolves an opportunity, but that was also what Ken waited for.

It gave him a chance to strike the one beside him, which he did, followed by a stab right down the wolf that dragged his leg.

Ken quickly pulled out his injured leg, and in the process, there was a massive mark and tear left. He kicked another wolf with that injured leg while pushing his body up and pulling his sword out.

His left arm was bitten, but Ken slammed his body to the side, directly at the wolf's face with as much power as possible, breaking the jaw but also tearing his arm muscles.

He slashed at the face of another and followed that by brutally killing the remaining wolves, leaving only the already-injured alpha.

The alpha growled furiously and walked around Ken, who only looked into its eyes. The next second, Ken lunged at the alpha wolf that jumped to the side and aimed at Ken's neck, but... too bad Ken was wielding a sword.

With a quick stab, the alpha wolf was dead. "How much for a healing potion of the lowest quality?" he asked as he walked deeper inside the dungeon.

[You could have handled that situation without any injury, yet you acted recklessly... that isn't your style... but in a way, it is. You want to get used to injuries...]

The system scrutinized what had gone down with an irritated tone that felt like it was grinding on her nerves.

[...You are taking me for a joke, aren't you?] The system bluntly questioned, her tone demanding answers with a mix of frustration as well. [Just because I am not making it hard doesn't mean I won't,] she threatened, and as if on cue, a quest popped up.

[Quest

Life or death: reach the 10,000th floor of the infinity dungeon.

Reward: A carnation and a Dominance fragment.

Penalty: Sent to the depths of the Underworld where all nightmares reside.

Time: Until the day of the Apocalypse.]

Ken read the quest and smirked in contempt. "Hmm, now the potion," he demanded, ignoring the quest completely, making the irritation of the system rise tremendously.

[Just wait... if you think the quest is the only thing I can do, then you are grandiosely wrong...]

The system went silent after that, but six potions popped out of thin air and landed in Ken's hand. They were about the size of a finger, made out of clear glass, and contained red liquid.

Ken drank two of them and started to rush through the dungeon. His injuries scarcely healed him over time, the bleeding had stopped and the muscles were mostly healed. But that was it the wound was still there. 

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