Level Down 4 (Patreon)

Volume 1 Chapter 4 - Dungeon Change Report

RAW

While looking at his own status board, Allen saw the words ‘Level 500’ shining brilliantly there, and when he saw his stats that exceeded 5000, he remembered the hardships he had gone through and shed tears.

For the past month and a half, he had given up his days off and frequented the Slime Dungeon just to see this sight.

By the way, thanks to the long hours he spent in the dungeon, he was able to easily meet his daily quota of 150 slime magic stones every day, in fact, if you include the ones he picked up on his days off, Allen had already accumulated more than 1,000 slime magic stones that he can’t use in his house.

“What now? For the time being, should I try it?”

Ever since Allen started increasing his level using the level up and down traps, he had never purposely used his full power.

The status values are just the maximum values, and have little to do with how you live a normal life. In other words, Allen had no idea how much he was currently capable of doing.

Seeing his status values increasing day by day, there were many times when Allen was tempted to test it out.

However, he thought it might affect his growth of stats when leveling up, and more than anything, he thought about testing it when his level reached its highest, so he kept holding it off.

This time was just right when the huge slime was about to revive.

Allen didn't even try to hide his buoyant mood as he headed straight for the boss's room.

In the boss room, as Allen expected, was the huge slime jiggling its body.

Although it is a boss, it is the weakest class, and to be frank, it is a boss that can be defeated by a single person with a level of 5, but even so, this is the strongest monster in the Slime Dungeon.

Allen looked happy as he thought about how he would defeat it, but since he was going to do it anyway, he thought about defeating it with magic that he doesn't usually use.

Then, he shifted his consciousness to battle and held out his hand towards the huge slime.

“Fireball... haa!?”

For Allen, he intended to just normally shoot a basic spell of fire magic, Fireball.

A normal Fireball is an attack magic that shoots out a ball of fire with a diameter of about 10 centimeters.

However, what appeared before Allen's eyes was a mass of fire over 1 meter in diameter, and the instant Allen felt surprised and launched it, it flew at such a speed that a normal Fireball appeared to stop, burning up the huge slime to nothing.

Not only that, it also hit the dungeon wall behind it, sinking in with a sizzling sound.

After a while, the Fireball's effect ended, and Allen timidly went to see its trace.

There was no shadow nor shape of the huge slime’s magic stones that would normally be there, and the dungeon wall that had received the Fireball had become a hemispherical-shaped cavity that was as smooth as glass.

Dungeon walls are unfathomable things, they are usually tough, and even if they are damaged, they will return to normal after a while. However, the splendidly deformed wall in front of Allen showed no signs of being repaired.

This condition was clearly abnormal.

A bead of sweat drips down Allen's forehead.

“Nononono, it's just a Fireball, you know.”

Allen stared at his hands. Then he raised his hand on the spot, but he reconsidered and moved a considerable distance away before once again readying his hand toward the wall.

“Fireball.”

The exact same scene from before was repeated. The two hemispherical-shaped cavities left on the wall have just been joined together to form a gourd-like shape.

Allen looked at his hands again.

“Seriously?”

He had repeated it twice. It couldn’t be wrong. Allen himself was well aware of this, but he still couldn't believe what he had done.

Because that was a Fireball. It is the weakest fire magic, if it’s a skilled magician, with its power, they would only be able to use it to keep their opponent in check.

Allen grimaced and held his head in his hand.

“Come to think of it, that's how it was, right? My stats were more than six times the previous ones after all. Uwa, if it’s like that, it can’t be...”

Allen pulled out his sword from his waist and did a single slash with all his might. With just that, a shock wave was generated from the sword and it left a clear line on the wall that it shouldn’t have reached.

Following that, ‘snap’ that high-pitched metallic sound echoed in the area.

“Ueh!?”

The sword Allen was holding snapped off just above the hilt, and tumbled on the ground with a ‘clank clank’ sound. Allen's sword could not withstand the strain of his practice swing.

Allen couldn't help but cry out at the unbelievable sight.

And then, Allen looked sadly at his beloved sword, which snapped at the base and was no longer useful.

This sword was an item that Allen had a deep attachment to, having worked hard to raise the money, even worked as a servant for a while, to have it forged at a blacksmith's shop in the city.

Allen was shocked, almost to the point of despair, that it had been broken with just one swing.

“Haa, let’s just go home today. Seems like I won’t be able to fight anywhere else other than this dungeon until I get used to it.”

Allen let out a big sigh and slumped his shoulders.

Even though it was an auspicious day for him to reach level 500, Allen carefully put his beloved sword that had snapped into its scabbard and left the Slime Dungeon with a slow and sluggish gait.

.

.

.

And then, after half a month...

“Alright, I’m getting pretty good at holding back.”

Looking at the huge slime which had splendidly withstood a normal-sized fireball, Allen made a gesture to wipe away the sweat that wasn't even there.

Ever since that day when he reached level 500, Allen had been training on holding back every day. Because if he went to a dungeon where there were other adventurers with that power, Allen could have accidentally killed the other adventurers.

After receiving the fireball, the huge slime rushed over me to attack him, and he cut down it with a cheap sword he bought second hand.

Of course, it doesn't generate a shock wave, and the huge slime wasn’t blown to pieces with a single blow. Allen looked relieved at the result.

In the first place, there is usually no need for training on holding back. This is because people’s level increases little by little, so their body naturally learns the appropriate amount of force.

However, in Allen's case, his level reached 500 in a very short period of time, and his stats value became far different from before.

This wouldn't be a problem in a daily life where status had little effect, but it was self-evident that if he tried to fight in the same way as before, it would end up just like the first time.

“Thanks for going along with me.”

Allen swung his sword down at the huge slime, aiming at its magic stone. The huge slime melted into the ground and disappeared, leaving behind a magic stone that was cut in half.

Although it was only when it comes to slimes, Allen was convinced that he had become able to use the perfect amount of force.

“Alright, now I don't need to train here anymore. Now then, I guess it's time to start the plan.”

Saying that to himself, Allen took a quick glance at the very difficult to find hidden passageway with the level-down trap before leaving the boss room.

For the past two months, while endlessly raising his level and training to hold back, Allen had been thinking about what he would do if his level up went well.

For that reason, Allen had done all the preliminary investigation on the Adventurers' Guild. He had a clear plan for the future drawn in his mind. All that's left is follow it and implement it.

When Allen exited the Slime Dungeon, he was bathed in the dazzling sunlight shining from directly above him and he smiled. Then, in high spirits, he started walking toward Lilac City.

.

.

.

Allen arrived back at the Adventurers' Guild at around three in the afternoon. Since only a few adventurers return at such a half-hearted time, many guild employees use this relatively free time to rest and eat.

Allen looked around the room for a moment, confirmed that the person he was looking for was there, and walked towards her.

“Oh my, you're early today.”

“Yeah, I’ve got something a bit urgent. I brought over 150 magic stones, so there's no problem with the quota.”

Matilda tilted her head at Allen's words and waited for his next words. Toward such Matilda, Allen placed a bag containing slimes’ magic stones and a handwritten revised map of the Slime Dungeon in front of her.

“When I was working there today, the structure of the Slime Dungeon changed, so I quickly did an investigation of just the traps. There are no changes to the floors or anything like that, so there's nothing particularly new.”

“Thank you for your hard work. Is there anything concerning?”

“There's one level-up trap on the third floor. It's rare to find one on such a low floor.”

“level-up trap, huh. Hmm, we might get a little busy.”

Allen shrugged his shoulders in response to Matilda's troubled words.

The map that Allen gave Matilda has the locations and types of traps that Allen investigated added to it. Of course, it mentions neither the hidden room in the boss room nor the level-down trap.

That’s not surprising, though, since he was reporting it with the intention of hiding it.

The reason why Allen went out of his way to report the changes in the dungeon’s structure to the Guild was to prevent whimsical adventurers from going to the Slime Dungeon and discovering the differences with the Guild's map.

If another adventurer noticed, no one would think that Allen, who enters the Slime Dungeon every day, didn't notice the change.

Of course, there might be some who think that Allen was slacking off on the report. However, as a former veteran adventurer, Allen's personality is generally known to Lilac City’s adventurers as being serious and solid.

In short, there would be few people who would think that Allen didn’t report for no reason.

That's precisely why Allen needed to report as soon as he finished his preparations. In order to avoid them suspecting him and discovering the level-down trap.

‘Phew’, Matilda let out a small breath and stood up with the map Allen had brought in her hand.

“Then I'll go report this to the Guildmaster. How about you, Allen...?”

“I'll be on standby, right? Well, I'll just sort out some paperwork while waiting. Call me if you need anything.”

“Please.”

Allen quietly watched Matilda go to the Guildmaster's room after she said that.

────

Previous | Next