Cave Found, It's a Dungeon?!

After a night of good food and nice memorable moments with his mother, Sam returns back to his apartment, fulfilled by what he had experienced and much more dedicated to his task to become king of the Other World and provide a good life for his mother and her family.

He closes his eyes while resting in his bed and began having the same memories appear in his dreams over and over, reminding him of how bad of a person he was in the past, but little did he know that the dreams were slowly being replaced by good ones, ones he is making now in this life.

He wakes up, with cold sweat all over his body, but he isn't distraught as he was before. Sam notices that but decides to shake his head and begin his journey back to the Other World.

RING RING!

Sam's phone rang, and he walked towards the table and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Son! It's me, Mom!"

"Hi Mom, what's up?"

"I just remembered, we have property near the Landon home, and I want you to have it. You living in an apartment over in that area is just too horrible for you, you deserve much better!"

Sam chuckles and kindly rejects the offer.

"I like this apartment, one day I'll invite you over and we can have a nice dinner here."

"You sure? The home I'm giving you is extremely beautiful, worthy of your status."

"Mom, I don't care for status or any of that. What I care about is that you are healthy, and the family prospers."

"Awh, you really changed Sam. That bastard will get what's coming to him, I swear!"

Sam could still hear his mother grinding her teeth over the phone, and he smiles quietly before telling her he has to go.

"Listen, I will be gone for a month, maybe more. If you can't contact me, that's why. When I return, I'll call you and we can have dinner again like we did last night."

"Please be careful, although Mom doesn't know what you are doing, she hopes you do what you must and return safely!"

"Thank you…"

Sam hangs up the phone and smiles before walking toward the middle of the room.

"Teleport to the Other World!"

[[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Returning to the Other World in 3… 2… 1…]]

Soon, Sam's vision began to blur and a white light flashed before him. He teleported right back into his office in his settlement and began planning what he wanted to do today, as he always has done.

After a few moments of writing down notes on a piece of paper, Sam headed out of his office and was greeted by Old Man Jim who rushed towards him with a smile.

"Lord! I hope you had a fantastic rest!"

"Same goes for you, how is everything?"

"Crops are going great, harvest is still being projected for a few months, and after that, we have a stable food source. We do not need to rely on hunting the game in the forest, it won't support how many people we will have in the future in the village."

"Has the apothecary been set up?" Sam questioned.

"We have the building underway. When the building is ready, then we can store the herbs we find there. Lord, may I ask why we need one?"

"Two things, medicinal and selling. We need a resident doctor in this village, or else when someone is sick they would die without support, or we take them all the way to the nearest doctor which isn't great for anyone. And for selling, herbs are extremely valuable due to their use in different things, from spices to medicine to poisons. Anyone and everyone would want herbs, and when the merchant arrives we have something to sell for an equal exchange."

Old Man Jim nods, "You really opened this old man's eyes. I have lived in this village all my life, so I am not educated. Thank you for teaching me!"

Sam laughs and hooks his arm over the old man's shoulder, "I don't need to teach you, you need to teach me! Your wisdom and control over how things are run in this village are so admirable that I am even jealous"

"I don't deserve such praise!"

Sam then asks, "Did the people I send to look for a cave come back yet?"

"Yes, they are currently resting but soon they will wake up and contact you about what they found. From what I heard, they were successful."

"Excellent, let's walk around the village and check on everyone while we wait"

Sam and Old Man Jim walked around the village while talking to each other about future plans, and when they arrived at an area, they greeted the workers and talked about how everything is going.

Everyone, from farmers to lumberjacks is talking about how everyone is happy that they are doing something for the village and are excited to see what comes of the place in the future. Sam thanks them for their hard work and tells them that soon, everyone will have a holiday to spend time with each other and Sam would purchase some alcohol from another village for everyone to enjoy.

The villagers were ecstatic, each exclaiming how wonderful Sam is. Sam lowers his head in embarrassment before walking off with Old Man Jim.

"You sure are loved, Lord!"

"I don't really deserve this love." Sam wondered when he arrived whether the village's love for him is artificial as if the system is making them like him because he is their leader.

"No, you really do. We were a poor village, and with no kingdom to support us, we were bound to live our lives in poverty. But since you arrived, everyone can see the potential of how everything is going. Soon, we may all live better lives than what we did before, and we thank you for that."

Sam turns to Old Man Jim, "Thanks, that really meant a lot."

Sam continued his walk around the village and soon spotted the scouts he had sent to find a cave.

"You guys returned early, I heard you have good news for me?"

"Lord!" The two guys bowed before giving their report.

"We spotted a cave, but we can hear monster noises from inside meaning that it might be a dungeon!"

Dungeon. Dungeons in the Other World were similar to that of video games, with the dungeon having different floors with each floor a mini-boss. When the player reaches the top floor, they must defeat the main boss which would then change the dungeon to an ordinary cave, usually a rich cave with many different ores that one might never find in ordinary caves.

Sam is an experienced dungeon crawler from his adventuring days and had a look of surprise and excitement when the two said it might be a dungeon.

[[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: You have gained the quest "Explore The Dungeon"! Reach the final floor of the dungeon and defeat the boss! Rewards: ???]]

"Thank you for your report. Draw me a map of how to get to this dungeon and give it to me later today. Old Man Jim, I'll return back to my office to do something, I'll contact you later about the cave."

"No problem, Lord!"

Soon, Sam turned around and walked back into his office before talking to the system.

"System, what do the three exclamation marks mean?!"

[[DING! Rewards unknown. To know the reward, you must complete the quest.]]

"That doesn't help! Has anyone ever received a quest like this ever?!"

[[DING! I don't know, you tell me.]]

"… Ugh, you sure aren't helpful."

Sam sat down on his chair and began pondering his next move. It would be stupid to send his troop into the cave not knowing the danger, and he is the only one experienced in dungeons in the village.

"I might go in the dungeon solo then, it shouldn't be that hard. System, what is the dungeon level? You must know that right?"

[[DING! I don't]]

"Crap. Well, it's better if I go in solo regardless. I'm curious about this mysterious reward, it might be something extremely amazing, no it must be something extremely amazing, or else the system wouldn't censor it."

Knock Knock.

"Come in!"

"Lord, here is the location of where the dungeon is, just follow the line and it'll guide you there."

"Go back to wherever you were assigned previously, thank you for your hard work."

The two men smiles and headed out of the office, and Sam collected his equipment from an armor rack that was fitted in his office and headed out.

Old Man Jim who saw Sam equipped and preparing rations for his trip then walked up to him with a questioning gaze.

"Where are you going, Lord?"

"To the dungeon. It is best that I go alone."

"No, that is too dangerous!"

"Don't worry. Just look after the village in my stead like you always have. I will return either in a few days to two weeks. If I do not, send people after me."

Old Man Jim sighs, "You are a stubborn one Lord. Fine, please be safe for all of our sakes!"

Sam chuckles before heading to the stables to grab a horse to ride. Soon, he met eyes with a brown chestnut horse, who neighed at Sam's presence.

He saddled her up and rode her out into the distance, heading towards the dungeon location the two scouts gave him.