Chapter 88: Rest In Pieces [Part 1]

Published Mar 14, 2026, 09:08 AM

Chapter 88: Rest In Pieces [Part 1] First Floor of the Dungeon of Beginnings... "So far, we’ve only seen horned rabbits, black bats, crag wolves, and feral boars," Cairo said. "Among the four, I think only the crag wolves will be a relatively big threat for beginners since they sometimes come in groups of twos and threes." Alex nodded in agreement. He already knew which monsters could be found on the first floor since he had seen them so many times in the past. However, the main reason why he asked his master to accompany him to the first floor was because of another matter. He wanted to test the mapping feature of his map and see if it worked for a party. "Master, can you walk in that direction by yourself?" Alex asked. "I want to test something." Cairo nodded and walked straight, leaving his disciple behind. Alex paid close attention to his map. After a few seconds, he noticed some of the black fog on the map clearing, which meant that partymates could indeed unlock parts of the map. After discovering this feature, a faint smile appeared on the young man’s face as a plan started to form in his mind. ’With this, we can ensure that no innocent will be involved even if Charles enters the dungeon and triggers a dungeon outbreak,’ Alex thought before running towards his master to catch up to him. "Are you finished with your test?" Cairo asked. "Yes, Master," Alex answered. "I thought of something, and if it’s okay, I’d like to test something else." "What do you have in mind?" Cairo inquired. "I’ll be leaving Dim Dim in your care for a while, Master. It can tell you which way to go, so you won’t get lost here in the dungeon," Alex explained. "My plan is to explore the dungeon in two different directions for an hour. After an hour, we will both regroup and try the main experiment I have in mind." Cairo didn’t know what Alex was thinking, but he still agreed to his request. "Won’t you get lost if Dim Dim goes with me?" Cairo allowed the little guy to crawl up his arm and rest on his shoulder. "Don’t worry, Master," Alex replied. "I won’t get lost." "Okay. I don’t think you will encounter anything that can threaten you here on the first floor, but don’t lower your guard, okay?" "Yes, Master!" The two then parted ways with Alex heading to the east and Cairo to the west. The young man’s plan was to map the dungeon’s first floor and find something that would prove helpful later. When he had still been playing the character Charles Lambert, he had accidentally stumbled into a hidden room inside the Dungeon of Beginnings. That hidden room had contained a treasure chest. Although he had only gotten a bottle of healing potion from the chest, it was still something he had only stumbled upon once during his one-year playthrough. After that, it had never happened again. Alex planned to map the first floor first, then activate the new feature of his map, which allowed him to see hidden rooms, secret passageways, treasures, and traps. It could even tell him the location of unique monsters that might be within the dungeon. Truth be told, he was quite excited about the possibilities the Map of Forgotten Paths would open up for him inside dungeons. The special map function would last for three hours, which was a good amount of time to go treasure hunting. The only downside of the map feature was that it had a cooldown time of 24 hours. Even so, Alex believed this would allow him to get some rare items during his dungeon expeditions, which would in turn make him rich in the future. Seeing Cairo and Dim Dim uncover a good chunk of the map within half an hour, Alex also increased his pace, killing the monsters that blocked his way. In the past, he might have struggled against a horned rabbit because of its speed, or against crag wolves because of their group tactics. But now that he was a Rank 2 Oathkeeper, these monsters posed no threat to him whatsoever. His experience fighting stronger and more dangerous monsters had allowed Alex to learn a few things, which made killing weaker monsters so much easier. [Level Up!] The young man made a slashing motion and sent the blood staining his sword to the ground. Alex looked at his map and deemed that it was now time to regroup with his master and Dim Dim. Together, they had only mapped a fifth of the first floor of the dungeon, but he decided it was best that he first test how the Map of the Forgotten Paths worked in practice. A few minutes later, he saw a group of five Adventurers encircling two teenage boys, preventing them from moving forward. ’Those guys...’ Alex frowned as soon as he saw the faces of the five Adventurers. They were all very familiar faces from the game. They were the party of Adventurers called Blade Fangs, and they usually operated on the first to the fifth floors of the Dungeon of Beginnings. The only thing memorable about this party was quite negative—they hunted Adventurers inside the dungeon, stealing their items and equipment. During Charles Lambert’s tutorial, Alex had once died because of the Blade Fangs. Ever since then, he had steered clear from this dangerous group. "W-We don’t have anything else!" said one of the teenage boys fearfully. "We just started diving today, and we haven’t gone far." "And?" the leader of the Blade Fangs, Jarik Grint, sneered. "That leather armor you’re wearing looks nice. How about you give it to me?" "B-But!" The teenage boy was about to protest when Jarik took out a dagger and held it close to his neck. "But what?" Jarik asked coldly. "You can’t do this!" shouted the other teenage boy. "We are all Adventurers, so why are you guys trying to steal from us?!" "Did you hear that, boys?" Jarik asked in mock disbelief, prompting his four companions to laugh in response. "You want to know why we are stealing your stuff? It’s because we can. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being weak!" Just as Jarik was about to stab the teenage boy’s shoulder with his dagger to teach him a lesson, he sensed something heading in his direction. Out of instinct, the man used his dagger to slash whatever was about to hit him, only to hear the sound of something breaking. A moment later, a scream of pain echoed through the dungeon as the contents of Alex’s brittle vial came into contact with the bastard’s eyes. The Blade Fangs, now aware of Alex’s existence, immediately raised their guard in preparation for battle. Alex simply stood there with a devilish smile on his face, making the Adventurers narrow their eyes. "Who are you, and why are you attacking us?" one of the Jarik’s lackeys asked. "Don’t you know it’s illegal for Adventurers to attack one another inside the dungeon?" "Very funny." Alex smirked. "After killing so many people here in the dungeon, you have the audacity to say such hogwash? You seem to think this rule only applies when you’re on the receiving end, no?" "What are you talking about?" another member of the Blade Fangs sneered. "We are just teasing these kids so they’ll be more careful inside the dungeon in the future." "What a coincidence," Alex sneered back. "I am also teasing you guys so all of you will be more careful inside the dungeon in the future as well." "Bastard! You really think we’re scared of you?!" the Swordsman in Jarik’s party shouted. "Let’s kill this brat now!" However, before he could even draw his sword to charge at Alex, he felt something cold and hard press against his neck. "Did you just say you’re going to kill my disciple?" Cairo asked icily. Dim Dim had urged him to hurry after it had sensed that Alex might be in danger. Worried, the Catkin had run as fast as he could, following the Dim Sum God’s instructions. Alex had noticed his master speeding up toward his direction in the map, which had actually made him more confident about confronting the Blade Fangs. He wanted to save the two teenagers before they were killed by the notorious Adventurer party, whose hands were soaked in the blood of Adventurers they had killed inside the Dungeon of Beginnings.

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