People began rushing through the beginning areas after the message of the mini-boss being defeated appeared.
After all, this dungeon was supposed to be used to level up (mostly) safely while also gaining experience, so if someone completed it quickly, they would have less time to do so.
The deeper they went, the higher amount of experience they could get, and the least the people that would be there to annoy them.
Lana was one of those that prioritized completing the dungeon over leveling up since she already had the gear to do so, although she was alone.
Soon enough she reached the level 15 area “Advanced District”, and from now on only the strongest were there.
Kent and Bill had also decided they wouldn’t go further inside the dungeon past that point as it was too dangerous, and they also believed that “Stalk” was the same.
After all… who was dumb enough to go for the boss in the first day, right…? RIGHT?
“-928! -827!” killing enemies, Lana kept going.
Her interest wasn’t to level up as she was now level 20, more than enough to start going into actual dungeons, not beginner ones.
And although ‘Archer’ was considered one of the weaker classes, her powers and equipment were still good enough to compete with all the others (except for Domination, obviously).
Her goal wasn’t to level up, but to defeat the dungeon and boss.
“Complete that dungeon and be the strongest one inside there,” her father, an extremely strong classifier, told her.
So her goal, just like Stark, was to complete the dungeon as fast as possible and retrieve all the rewards/fame.
Of course, she wasn’t dumb, so she would obviously wait for some high potential people to help her out with the boss, going alone was suicide.
But for now… she needed to get to the bonfire before the boss.
***
(3 hours later)
“I see it!” Lana smiled, she had successfully entered the “City Outskirts”, which was the last area of the [City Ruins] rift, and managed her way through all the monsters.
All she could see around her was the empty streets, no one was there, meaning that she was probably the first to reach this place.
No… she was CONFIDENT that she was the only one.
And right in front of her was the bonfire before the final boss of the dungeon, she would set herself there and wait for around 4 more people to create a party and defeat that boss together.
“This dungeon is more dangerous than I thought… but there’s definitely no one there, all the others are too weak to fight the monsters here as of now…” she kept advancing.
And the moment Lana reached the giant bonfire…
“Huh?” she spotted a pair of legs right behind the fire, and as she peeked her head to check what (or who) it was… she spotted a sleeping Stark, “WHAT?”
She was astonished, not only had someone already reached this area… but Stark nonetheless? How did he do it? Did he avoid every monster and through some godly luck reach this place?
No… this wouldn’t be possible…
Her mind immediately wandered to the time Stark defeated Daniel and caused massive amount of damage to him.
“Could it be…?” she approached him slowly, making sure not to wake him up, and got closer to his sleeping face.
Stark seemed to be resting peacefully, his face calm and serene. It was as if this whole dungeon didn’t matter to him.
Realizing this wouldn’t lead to anything, Lana just sat on the ground beside the bonfire, waiting for other people to come.
***
In the realm of dreams, Stark found himself standing in a vast, empty space.
The air was cool and soothing, a stark contrast to the harsh world he had been navigating just moments ago.
As he looked around, he noticed a figure in the distance, its features blurred and indistinct. Something about it drew him closer, an inexplicable pull that beckoned him forward.
With each step he took, the figure seemed to shimmer and shift, changing form until it finally solidified into a mirror image of himself.
Stark stared in disbelief at the doppelgänger before him, feeling a strange mix of curiosity and unease.
The other Stark smiled, a perfect replica of his own grin, and spoke in a voice that sounded like an echo of his own thoughts, “Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?” the real one answered, confused.
“The First Domination Trial, you have read about it several times in your status window, right?”
“Yeah…” he hadn’t ignored it all this time, it was just he didn’t have any info so he didn’t think it was worth it… for now.
“It is coming soon, and you will suffer, but in the end…” the fake Stark didn’t have the time to finish its sentence that it vanished.
And suddenly, the dream world started to shake, a proof that Stark was beginning to wake up.
***
(30 minutes later)
‘Hm~?’ Stark opened his eyes, rubbing them as he got up, then remembered about where he was, “Holy shit, did I seriously sleep in here? Luckily nobody saw-”
He turned his head, and noticed Lana looking at him.
“I’m surprised you could even sleep here with the boss lurking around the corner,” were the first words she said as she was busy inspecting her bows and arrows.
“Gotta be full of energy before fighting the boss, shouldn’t I be,” Stark replied while yawning, not even questioning why she was here, and got up from the ground, his clothes were a bit dirty but it didn’t bother him.
“Fighting the boss? But you’re alone!”
“Hum… yeah? That’s kinda the point, y’know,” Stark wasn’t the type to hide his achievements, so he didn’t care about telling anyone that asked him about the fact he had killed the mini-boss by himself, although most wouldn’t believe him…
He stretched for a bit while talking to Lana, the shock across her face growing more and more after each of his replies.
“How did you even get here?”
“Killing the monsters…? Isn’t that obvious?” these question were almost becoming silly, and so after a few minutes of back and forth, Stark decided that it was time.
His HP were full, he had all his skills, and his necklace was equipped, nothing could stop him now (except an insta-kill attack from the boss).
And so just like that, he left the safe space and headed toward the silver fog.
“Where are you going???!!!” Lana got up too, surprised.
“Going to kill the boss,” Stark grinned and traversed the wall of fog, not even bothering to hear her reply.
Lana stood there, unable to understand whatever the fuck was happening.
The only thing she knew was that… she couldn’t let Stark defeat the boss by himself if he had some sort of trick up his sleeve- NO, she meant she couldn’t let Stark die alone.
And so she followed after him.
