Level up

Five was watching the hologram with an expressionless face. He internally sighed. How was this not an obvious trap? Yet, people still fell for it. He saw the man greedily grab the sword and speak to the recruits. But a few seconds later, the man who was examining the sword was suddenly decapitated from behind.

The Goblin King, the level 16 boss of the floor suddenly appeared behind him, swinging down a glowing giant ax. The man noticed something and tried to dodge, but the Goblin King was just too fast; his head flew away in a clean chop. Just one strike was enough.

Five did not even react at his death. He had witnessed death countless time, he was even the cause of most of them. Such scenes did not have any effect on him anymore. Although he felt some pity for the young recruits, there was nothing he could do.

The Goblin King then turned its attention toward the young recruits. They were still standing on the spot, trembling with fear. Three of them drew their weapons upon hearing the one that looked like the leader speak, but the other two immediately turned away and ran out of the secret chamber despite the calls of their comrades.

The three who decided to fight were immediately surrounded by normal goblins and did not last long before perishing. The remaining goblins chased after the escapees, but they managed to barely run out of the room. But again, that was all part of Kroff's plan. If he wanted to collect a significant amount of DP, he needed to lead a larger group of adventurers here.

The recruits ran for their life and coincidentally met a large group of recruits who were training on the 9th floor. They reported the situation and naturally, the large group, encouraged by their instructors, decided to attempt to collect the treasures in the room.

The young men's blood was boiling, they were all ready to collect treasures and glory upon their return. Although they were weaker than the five previous recruits, they had 4 instructors to guide them. They all drew their weapons and charged at the secret chamber.

The gap in the wall was still wide open. The group of recruits was nervous. It was their first time fighting against a large group of goblins at once. The instructors quickly took the lead. As soon as they entered the chamber, they were met by dozens of goblins.

...

Five watched as a bloodbath occurred. Many goblins and recruits perished together. The Goblin King was entangled with three instructors. It swung its giant ax everywhere, but the instructors were prepared and held their shields to block. In the end, the Goblin King was defeated, but not without a fight, one instructor and ten recruits perished. The survivors quickly emptied the room of all valuables before other groups find out about it. An instructor then said something, and the survivors collected the corpses.

Five did not know what to say. He found this method barbaric and very inefficient. Even if Kroff made a profit out of this, won't such things affect the reputation of his dungeon? It was effective for collecting DP in a short period of time, but what about the long run? Besides, what about the moral of his monsters?

Kroff quietly coughed, "You see. Just from this small action, despite losing a Goblin King and some precious items, I made at least 10000 DP of profit. This is a considerable amount for the tenth floor. The best part is, the humans will stupidly come back to the dungeon to seek more treasures. They will think that more secret chambers can be found."

"Although it is cruel, this is the way of this world. The weak is just food for the strong," coldly announced Kroff. "You should reflect on what you witnessed today. We will talk again tomorrow. Harriet! Bring Five back to his room"

Once again, Harriet appeared out of nowhere. She quietly floated behind Five and signaled him to follow her. He silently nodded and left. As they walked in the corridor, Five curiously asked, "Harriet, what happens when monsters die? Like the Goblin King?"

"Huh? Normal monsters simply die and never come back, but for the boss monsters such as the Goblin King and me, when we die, we turn into a soul form which is stored in the Dungeon Core. Master can then spend DP to revive us after one day."

"This... Are you ok with this?" asked Five with a hesitant look.

"There is nothing we can do about this. It is already a good outcome that this way, my race will not completely die," sadly said, Harriet. Everyone was scared of dying, but she had no choice. She came here for the sake of her race. She even died once; it was a horrible experience for her, but she could only bite the bullet for the sake of the other harpies.

"It is true. It is hard to find a way to prevent monsters from dying. The dungeons will eventually be attacked by stronger and stronger adventurers," murmured Five.

"Alright. We've arrived at your room. I already placed a tray of food inside. Just call me if you need anything else," said Harriet as she left Five in front of his door.

The latter silently walked into his room and jumped on his bed. He was in deep thoughts of today's event, "Was there a way to prevent monsters from being used as a cannon fodder?"

At the same time, he recalled something and opened his interface, "Yes I have enough to level up," thought Five.

He earned some DP over time and now had 643 DP in total. It was just enough for him to level up. Although he wanted to conserve all his DP for his dungeon, he knew that leveling up was inevitable and with a higher level, it would be easier for him to farm the monsters in Kroff's dungeon.

He paid 500 DP to the system and leveled up,

[System prompt: You have used 500 DP. You leveled up. You are awarded 1 free stat point]

Five leaned against a wall. He did not feel any change from leveling up. He decided to allocate his point to strength; it would make it easier to farm here.

With nothing else to do, Five turned his attention to the food tray while he resumed thinking about the plans for his dungeon.

....

As soon as she left Five, Harriet walked back to the Dungeon Core's room where Kroff was waiting for her.

"So? What did you tell him during your lunch? You spent a good hour in the communal room," asked Kroff with a suspicious glare.

"I apologize master, but I cannot say that. I made an oath with Five not to divulge anything of our conversation. I can only say, that he has a dark past. If you really want to have him join the Cyclone Alliance, it would be better to take a softer approach."

"What? Whose side are you on? Did you at least try to convince him to join us?" angrily asked Kroff.

"I tried master, but he will clearly refuse. I hope that you will listen to my advice. I believe he would be a good addition to the alliance."

"Alright! I will think about it," answered Kroff with a sour expression, while waving his hand to dismiss Harriet.

The latter immediately turned around and left the room. She did not know what to do. Both sides had their own reasons; she could only stand by and watch.

After Harriet left, Kroff turned to another side of the room,

"What do you think?" asked Kroff while looking at an empty space.

Suddenly, the paint detached itself from the wall and changed color. A few seconds later, a lizardman stood up in front of Kroff. His name was Roy; he was another one of Kroff's main monsters. His signature ability was camouflage, the ability to blend with his environment, making him invisible to all. Only Kroff could see him; since he was the dungeon master, he had some connections with Roy and was aware of its position.

"I don't know. Harriet must have her reasons to act like that; I wonder what happened to that kid for him to be refusing our help," answered the lizardman.

"This is not important. I feel that Harriet is too kind... It is better if we don't let her get too attached to that kid. Tomorrow, you will be the one to show Five around the dungeon," declared Kroff.

"As you wish, Master." The lizardman swiftly bowed upon receiving the command.

"Ahhh! Now that I think about it, he should have collected enough DP to level up. Bring him to the goblin's village tomorrow and then...."