5: Chapter 5: First time in a dungeon? Should I kill people first or monsters first?
At seven o'clock the next morning, Lin Feng was woken up by his phone vibrating.
He groggily reached for his phone and unlocked it to see—
99+ unread messages.
38 missed calls.
All from Chen Lin.
"Crap!" Lin Feng was instantly wide awake.
For the past three days, he had been so focused on researching his Talent and making money that he completely forgot to reply to messages.
He quickly called back.
Ring—
It was picked up after just one ring.
"Lin Feng!!!"
From the other end of the line came Chen Lin's tearful roar: "Where the hell have you been?! Three days without replying to messages or answering calls! I thought you..."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Lin Feng apologized quickly. "I've been preparing to enter a dungeon these past few days and had my phone on silent the whole time..."
"Entering a dungeon?!" Chen Lin's voice rose an octave. "You've only been Awakened for a few days and you want to enter a dungeon? Are you looking for death?!"
"I have to start eventually." Lin Feng gave a bitter smile. "I'm planning to go to the novice dungeon, the Minotaur Territory, to try it out. It's a Rank 1-3 novice dungeon, very safe."
"Safe my ass!" Chen Lin grew anxious. "I've checked; the mortality rate for rookie Explorers is 5%! And..."
She paused, her voice dropping: "And I heard that Wang Hao and the others from their academy's freshman trials are also leveling up in those low-level dungeons in Donghai City recently."
Lin Feng's gaze turned cold.
"I understand."
"What do you understand!" Chen Lin became fierce again. "Anyway, you better be careful! Stay far away if you run into Wang Hao's group, do you hear me?"
"I hear you."
"Also, send me a message every day to let me know you're safe!"
"Okay."
The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds.
Chen Lin's voice softened: "Lin Feng... you must come back alive."
Lin Feng felt a warmth in his heart.
"Yeah."
After hanging up, he stared at his phone screen in a daze for a while.
Chen Lin's concern was real.
But how long could this relationship last?
She was about to go to the Capital Academy, a place where geniuses gathered...
"Forget it, I won't think about that."
Lin Feng shook his head and got up to wash.
After breakfast, he checked his equipment one more time.
Reinforced Leather Armor, Agility Bracers, Training Longsword, energy shield generator, Healing Spray...
"Right, I still need to buy some white-grade equipment for weapon Fusion."
He opened an online shopping platform and quickly ordered three of the slightly more expensive white-grade Short Swords, having them sent directly to the teleportation zone's collection point.
...
At eight-thirty, Lin Feng arrived at the "Donghai City Dungeon Teleportation Center."
It was a massive spherical building, over five hundred meters in diameter.
Inside were twelve teleportation arrays, each leading to different levels of dungeon areas.
The hall was bustling with people, most of whom were Explorers.
"Make way! Make way!"
A five-person squad hurried past, all wearing blue-grade equipment, their Aura imposing.
"Holy crap, is that the 'Blood Blade' battle team? Weren't they at the Abyss Rift?"
"Probably back for supplies."
Lin Feng squeezed his way to the rookie window.
"Where to?" The staff member didn't even look up.
"Dungeon No. 1, Minotaur Territory."
"Explorer Badge."
Lin Feng handed over his Bronze Badge.
The staff member swiped it and tossed it back: "Teleportation Array No. 3, fee is 10 points, insert it yourself."
There was a coin slot nearby.
Lin Feng inserted 10 points.
Hum—
Teleportation Array No. 3 lit up with a blue light.
He stepped onto it, and his surroundings began to distort.
The next second, the world spun.
...
When his feet hit solid ground, Lin Feng was already standing in a massive underground cavern.
Above him was a thirty-meter-high rock ceiling, embedded with glowing crystals.
Ahead were over a dozen cave entrances, each with a sign hanging above it:
【Minotaur Camp (Rank 1-3)】→
【Goblin Den (Rank 2-4)】→
【Slime Plains (Rank 1-2)】→
The air was damp, smelling of a mixture of earth and mold.
Following the signs, Lin Feng walked into the cave marked for Minotaurs.
Inside was a long tunnel with lighting crystals on the walls.
After walking for about five minutes, the path ahead suddenly opened up.
It was an underground space the size of a football field.
Dozens of people were scattered around, all looking for monsters.
"Damn, are there more people than monsters?"
Lin Feng saw that there were only seven or eight Minotaurs wandering in the entire space.
And as soon as one spawned, it was immediately swarmed and beaten by three or four people.
【Minotaur Cub】
【Rank: 1】
【Health Points: 60】
【Attack Power: 8-12】
【Description: A newborn Minotaur, very weak combat capability】
A Minotaur Cub had just spawned and was immediately hacked to death by a squad.
The corpse dissipated into points of light, leaving behind a few steaks and a hide.
"Talk about hyper-competitive." Lin Feng shook his head.
He continued further in.
The deeper he went, the fewer people there were.
The light also grew dimmer.
After another ten minutes, he reached a fork in the road.
The sound of fighting came from the left passage, while the right passage was eerily quiet.
Lin Feng thought for a moment and chose the right.
He had only walked fifty meters in.
Footsteps sounded behind him.
"Oh, what a coincidence, classmate Lin Feng."
A familiar voice.
Lin Feng turned around.
The Skinny Tall Guy and a Fatty walked out of the shadows, blocking his retreat from both sides.
Both were wearing leather armor and holding short blades.
"It is quite a coincidence," Lin Feng said calmly. "Did Wang Hao send you?"
"Brother Hao said we should take good 'care' of you." The Fatty grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "After all, we were classmates."
The Skinny Tall Guy weighed the knife in his hand: "Lin Feng, be sensible and hand over everything valuable on you. The two of us will take the stuff and leave; we won't hit you."
"And if I don't?" Lin Feng asked.
"Don't?" The Fatty's smile turned sinister. "Then don't blame us for being rude."
"This is a dungeon," the Skinny Tall Guy added. "It's perfectly normal for someone to die. Throw the body in a corner, and the monsters will clean it up themselves."
Lin Feng's gaze grew cold.
"You want to kill me?"
"What if we do?" The Fatty spat. "You think you're still that Genius? You're just F-Rank Talent trash!"
The Skinny Tall Guy said sarcastically, "I heard your parents died in a dungeon too? Tsk tsk, a whole family of trash—how nice it'll be for you to be all together."
Snap—
A certain string in Lin Feng's mind snapped.
His parents were his bottom line.
"You..." his voice was low, "are looking for death."
"You're the one looking for death!" The Fatty was the first to charge.
The short blade stabbed straight for his chest!
Lin Feng sidestepped it, and his Training Longsword swept out in a counter.
Clang!
The Fatty blocked with his knife but was shaken back two steps by the impact.
"Quite a bit of strength!" he said in surprise.
The Skinny Tall Guy took the opportunity to ambush from the side.
The blade edge slashed toward Lin Feng's waist.
Lin Feng shifted his footing, the bonus from the Agility Bracers showing its worth as he narrowly avoided it.
At the same time, he landed a kick on the Skinny Tall Guy's stomach.
"Urgh!" The Skinny Tall Guy groaned and staggered back.
"Damn it, let's go together!" the Fatty roared.
Both pounced at once.
Lin Feng responded calmly.
He had practiced combat with his father since he was a child, so his foundation was very solid.
Plus, with the Agility Bracers giving +2 Agility, his movements were a notch faster than theirs.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal clashing echoed in the passage.
The Fatty slashed his knife at Lin Feng's head.
Lin Feng raised his sword to parry, pressed down with the momentum, and the sword tip slashed toward the other's wrist.
"Ah!" The Fatty's wrist was hit, and the short blade flew from his hand.
But the Skinny Tall Guy's knife arrived as well.
A direct stab toward his back!
Lin Feng didn't have time to fully dodge and could only barely twist his body.
Rip—
The blade tore through the leather armor and left a gash on his back.
【Damage Received: Health Points -15】
【Current Health Points: 85/100】
"Hiss!" Lin Feng felt the sting.
"Got him!" the Skinny Tall Guy was excited.
But in the next second, Lin Feng swung his sword back.
The Training Longsword pierced through the Skinny Tall Guy's shoulder!
"Aaaah!" the Skinny Tall Guy screamed.
【Damage Dealt: Attack Power 2 + Weapon 5-8, Actual Damage 23】
【Target's Health Points dropped significantly】
The Fatty took the chance to pick up his knife and pounced again.
"I'm going to kill you!"
Lin Feng pulled out his sword and kicked the Skinny Tall Guy away.
He turned to face the Fatty.
"It's time to end this," he said coldly.
"End?" the Fatty sneered. "You think this is over?"
He suddenly opened his left hand.
A dark green light emerged from his palm.
"Talent Activation—Spit Splatter!"
Ssh!
A stream of white liquid shot toward Lin Feng!
The distance was too close to dodge.
Lin Feng's pupils shrank.
In the nick of time, he activated the energy shield generator.
Hum—
A pale blue light shield instantly expanded.
The venom sprayed onto the shield, making a "sizzling" corrosive sound.
【Energy Shield absorbed damage: 30】
【Remaining Shield Value: 70/100】
"What?!" The Fatty was stunned.
He hadn't expected Lin Feng to have the money to buy a shield item.
In that split second of hesitation,
Lin Feng moved.
He dropped the Training Longsword—this thing's attack power was too low.
He cupped his hands in front of his chest.
Golden-red light converged frantically.
"Have a taste of this."
"Blasting Light Flame Technique!"
A fist-sized energy ball shot out.
The Fatty tried to dodge, but the passage was too narrow.
BOOM!!!
The energy ball exploded on his chest.
Fire and intense light swallowed his figure.
【Damage Dealt: Spirit 10 × 5 = 50, Mixed Attribute Damage】
【Critical Hit! Actual Damage: 65】
【Target's Health Points reached zero】
The light faded.
The Fatty lay on the ground, his chest a scorched mess, already breathless.
【Killed Human (LV1), Experience Points +5】
At this moment, the Skinny Tall Guy was scrambling to run out of the passage.
"Don't, don't kill me! I was wrong! It was all Wang Hao's idea!" the Skinny Tall Guy shrieked.
Lin Feng's gaze was icy.
If he let him run, there would be endless trouble.
Besides, he had already killed one...
He steeled his heart.
"Blasting Light Flame Technique!"
A second energy ball shot out.
The Skinny Tall Guy heard the noise and turned his head, his face written with terror.
"No—"
BOOM!!!
【Killed Human (LV1), Experience Points +5】
【Current Experience Points: LV2 (10/200)】
The passage fell silent.
Only the "crackling" sound of flames burning the corpses remained.
Lin Feng stood where he was, panting heavily.
He looked down at his hands.
Killed.
He really killed them.
Not monsters, but living people.
Even though they had made the first move, even though they wanted to kill him...
Killing for the first time still made his stomach churn.
He walked over to the Fatty's corpse.
The corpse was slowly dissipating—this was a dungeon rule; non-monster corpses would decompose after ten minutes.
A few things were left on the ground.
【Short Sword (Green-grade)】
【Attack Power: 8-10】
【Effect: None】
【Human Point Card: Balance 324 points】
【Damaged Leather Armor (White-grade)】
【Defense: 2】
It was much the same on the Skinny Tall Guy's side.
Lin Feng picked everything up.
He absorbed the point cards directly, and his balance became 7842.
He kept the equipment for now.
"I need to get out of here quickly."
He glanced toward the depths of the passage.
Turning around, he walked toward the darker areas.
The two corpses behind him gradually became transparent in the firelight.
Eventually, they turned into points of light and disappeared completely.
It was as if they had never existed.
The rules of the dungeon were cold and cruel.
Lin Feng clenched his fists.
"Wang Hao..."
He would remember this debt.