Chapter 10: Clean your first dungeon, Part 2

She had accepted it.

It was probably inevitable. She couldn’t postpone the academy forever, and just like the peddler girl who appeared and disappeared abruptly, Lucia, too, might one day find herself attending the academy entrance ceremony.

The world, the system, seemed determined to pull her into the “story.”

Before her was a large cave.

It looked like a natural limestone cave, but the entrance bore strange footprints and drag marks. The liquid on the ground stretched between her fingers – some unknown monster fluid.

Perhaps a slug-like creature?

It was clearly a dungeon. The status window reappeared, confirming her suspicion.

[Event Story: Find Estelle!
The royal assistant swordmaster, Estelle, was sent to investigate a dungeon. She has not returned after a week! Estelle and her companions are missing! If you do not go, they may perish!

Accept?

Y/N]

The window irritated her. The way it emphasized the urgency with exclamation points, as if mocking her.

The text, implying that their lives depended on her choice, felt manipulative.

Why was this system so desperate to advance the story, even resorting to using people’s lives?

She couldn’t stand it. She considered asking the swordmaster or others for help, but they were nowhere to be found, as if deliberately removed from the scene.

So, she had no choice but to come alone.

She didn’t want to, didn’t want to set foot in this place. Finding this cave had taken a significant toll on her.

“Haa…”

Lucia took a deep breath, calming her racing heart.

But she couldn’t stand idly by. This system, manipulating her surroundings, making her lose people she cared about – it was more unbearable than facing awkward social situations.

Perhaps it was a trauma caused by the implanted memories. But ultimately, the choice was hers.

This, at least, was her own decision, not the system’s.

[Y/N]

She pressed her finger on the flashing ‘Y’, and the text on the window began to change. Without waiting, Lucia unwrapped the cloth from her sword. As the cloth slid off, a white light emanated from the blade.

She held the holy sword.

She was still too small to properly wield it, but her stance, sword in hand, was that of a hero.

A monster lunged. She twisted her waist, narrowly avoiding it.

Sizzle.

The monster’s slime dissolved the ground.

Is it hot? Acidic? There was no time to think.

She thrust her sword into the slug-like monster, splitting it in half. The blade met no resistance.

Squish.

She grimaced, dodging the splattering fluids, and scanned for the next monster.

[Lucania Dungeon 2nd Floor]

A faintly glowing window informed her of her location, illuminating her surroundings.

“Growl…”

The light from her sword and the window revealed the monster’s green skin. It was a goblin, a creature she “knew” from her village.

They had been appearing alongside the slime monsters since the first floor, but their numbers increased on the second floor.

She hid, picked up a pebble, and threw it near a goblin, not aiming to hit it directly.

click, clatter

“Gurgle?”

Dwelling in darkness, goblins had enhanced hearing and smell, but poor eyesight. They could be easily lured with sound.

A lesson learned through painful trial and error on the first floor.

Thud, thud, thud!

Ignoring the stinging wounds, she crouched and approached the goblin.

Six steps. Five steps.

Even goblins could hear her at this distance.

Four steps. Three steps.

The goblin turned its head.

Too late.

The goblin’s club couldn’t reach her long sword. She swung upwards in a diagonal slash, a technique from the kingdom’s sword style.

“Gurk…!”

Their eyes met briefly. She sensed something in its gaze – surprise? Fear?

She no longer hesitated.

Kill or be killed.

A lesson learned from the Laagand attack. A stray thought distracted her; her sword wavered. The system didn’t miss it.

[Swordsmanship: Diagonal Slash]

“Ugh…”

A new window appeared. Her body moved, guided by the system-defined trajectory. She hated it, this loss of control. She resisted, stopping the sword mid-swing.

Seeing the hesitation, the goblin struck with its dagger.

“Kieeet…!”

The dagger aimed for her shoulder.

It was slow, but too close. She twisted her body to dodge, the sword still clutched in her hand. Her body tilted sharply to the right, turning the diagonal slash into a downward strike.

She gripped the sword firmly with both hands, preventing the system’s intervention, and brought it down.

Straight, true, heavy, just like in the kingdom’s swordsmanship manual.

crunch

The sword hit bone, getting stuck in the ribs, preventing a clean cut. The strike lacked power due to the short swing. But her high strength stat and the holy sword’s properties compensated.

[Goblin Lv.15]

The bar below its name turned completely red.

Thud

“Grrrr…!”

With a guttural scream, the goblin’s body split in two. Lucia fell back, her shoulder hitting the ground.

“Ugh…”

She pushed herself up with her sword, still clutched in her hand. A sharp pain shot through her shoulder. She grimaced and saw the goblin’s dagger embedded in her flesh. A shallow wound, but a wound nonetheless.

She pulled out the dagger and put it in her bag.

Even a low-quality weapon was better than nothing. Ignoring the pain, she approached the goblin’s corpse. Its pink innards spilled out, yellow fat oozing slowly. It was never a pleasant sight.

Two black shards lay near the dead goblin. The window reappeared.

[Gather Lucania Shards 327/350]

As she touched them, the number on the quest window increased by two, and the shards vanished. Another shard lay near the slime monster’s corpse.

It, too, vanished, increasing the counter again.

She didn’t understand why these shards appeared when she killed monsters or why the system wanted them.

But she needed to reach the final floor to find Estelle, and for that, she had to fulfill the quest requirements.

She had no choice but to comply.

The system had forced her body to move again. She had been injured because she resisted.

If she had let the system guide her, she could have killed the goblin cleanly. Was it better to surrender control to survive?

The wounds on her body, a result of stubbornly fighting with her own strength and imperfect technique, reinforced that thought.

She pushed the thought away and moved on, hunting for more monsters.

Goblins, being somewhat intelligent, traveled in packs. This one must have been a scout or a straggler.

Even if it was a straggler, its death would attract others. Lucia hid, pulled out the dagger she’d just acquired, held it in her off-hand, and checked the quest window.

[Lucania Shards 330/350

Red Orc Hunt 0/1]

She knew the Lucania shards appeared when killing monsters, so she just needed to kill a few more. But she hadn’t seen an orc yet, let alone a red one.

Were they deeper inside?

She looked towards the unexplored darkness.

Thump. Thump.

The ground vibrated. A large shape moved past a glowing crystal. Red skin. This must be the red orc from the quest.

A long health bar appeared, along with its name, confirming her suspicion.

[Red Orc Lv.23]

A higher level than the goblins. Knowing that level indicated strength, Lucia scanned its surroundings. Several goblins surrounded the orc, acting as escorts.

She wouldn’t be able to handle them all at once. Lucia raised the dagger. Aiming for a goblin’s head, just like when she threw the pebble.

Ding!

[Throwing Skill level increased-]

[Throwing Skill: Dagger Throw-]

The system blared its notifications.

The feeling of her body being controlled returned. If she didn’t resist, the dagger would pierce the goblin’s forehead. She could feel it.

But Lucia’s instincts rebelled.

Just before releasing the dagger, the skill’s control was broken. The dagger, instead of hitting the goblin, clattered at the orc’s feet.

“Grrrr…!”

And naturally, Lucia was spotted.

She tightened her grip on her sword, ignoring the stinging pain in her hand, and charged towards the red orc.

There was no battle cry.