Level Down 6 (Patreon)

Volume 1 Chapter 6 - Start of Double Life

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Three days later, Allen returned to the Adventurers' Guild stifling a yawn, and as usual, handed the slime magic stones to Matilda, who had come to work, and headed home.

By the way, because the number of his working days has decreased and the hours per day have increased, the quota for slime magic stones has increased to 200, but Allen was able to do it with plenty of leeway, so there was no problem at all.

Reservations for the level-up trap are already full six months in advance.

It is true that a level-up trap itself is a rare trap, but the fact it is located in a dungeon so close that it can be reached in an hour from the city, and that the only monsters that appear there are slimes, which are hardly dangerous, has led many people to take this opportunity to raise their level to the maximum.

This has conversely made it difficult to raise the level to the maximum, and no one has yet to reach level 500.

In other words, it's a kind of bubble.

Moreover, there are many people who want to raise their level, so that bubble won’t burst anytime soon. For the Adventurers' Guild, it can be said that they can't stop laughing because they are able to make profits with almost no investment.

That said, for Allen, it’s not like this will reflect his salary, so it is more important that this work pattern continues for a while.

Allen returned to his home in the west-northwest of the city, near the slums, closed the windows and took a long nap.

It was hard for him to fall asleep as he was thinking about what was to come, but perhaps due to the exhaustion of walking around for thirteen hours, after a while the sound of quiet sleep echoed in the room.

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And then, in the afternoon, Allen woke up, ate a simple meal, and grinned as he took out the outfit he had prepared.

It was a full-body robe and, the only treasure Allen had discovered when he went to a dungeon alone a long time ago, a clown mask. Allen put them on, lightly looked around his body, and nodded his head.

There is no doubt that Allen looked like a suspicious person because he is completely covered with a robe and wearing a clown mask with tears flowing from its eyes, but Allen himself was only concerned about hiding his true identity, and was pleased that he would not be discovered.

As the sun set, Allen, who had long since changed his clothes, sneaked out of his house with a set of luggage he had prepared in advance, and began walking west.

With each step, the smell of stale food and the trash and people lying on the street become more and more noticeable.

The houses built on both sides of the street were originally there, but the people who lived there had remodeled them on their own, so the streets were messy and lacking a sense of unity.

The slum is spread out in the western part of Lilac City, near the defensive wall. It may be more correct to say that they were gathered there where they would be less visible to outsiders, since there are gates to the north, east, and south, respectively.

In the past, there were movements to eliminate the slum, but before they knew it, it returned to its original state, so the current situation is that they are left as is.

Occasionally, travelers who wander into the slum are extorted of money, but since there are no murders against people outside the slum, the residents recognize the area as dangerous but not a problem as long as they do not approach.

Through the streets which were almost completely dark because there were no lights like in the center of the city, Allen moved smoothly. It wasn't because Allen had good night vision, but because of the clown mask he was wearing.

A pure white face that looked like it had been smeared with white powder, a red nose, and black diamonds piercing through each eye, from which black tears were flowing. The clown mask Allen was wearing looked like it was cursed.

However, the effectiveness of the mask is higher than it appears; even when he is wearing the mask, it does not obstruct his vision, he can see in the dark as if it were daytime, he can even eat through it, and the mask won’t come off unless he takes it off himself. It was quite a good item.

When Allen himself obtained it, he cried, wishing it had a decent design, and wondered whether to equip it or sell it. In the end, thinking he might use it someday, it ended up sleeping in the back of his house without him using it, not knowing when it would be useful.

Allen moved smoothly through the slum. He felt a little suspicious since normally, a hoodlum would call out to him, but, as long as everything was going well, it wasn’t really a problem and he didn't really care.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Allen never learned the truth that even the slum people avoided contact with the suspicious person who hid his entire body in a hooded robe and even wore a clown mask.

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Arriving at the western defensive wall without any particular incident, Allen looked up at the thing that is the linchpin that protects Lilac City.

Its solid appearance of more than 10 meters in height gives residents a sense of security and intimidates foreign enemies. Although this might be due to the government of Lilac City, which has continued to repair and protect the city since it was founded.

That said, for Allen now, it's just a wall to pass over.

“Now then, shall we go?” (Allen)

As Allen muttered that, he ran towards the defensive wall. Then, he kicked the ground and jumped up, at about 6 meters, he kicked the wall once and used that momentum to jump even higher.

Allen hung his hand to the top of the wall with plenty of leeway, looked around to the left and right, and after confirming that no one was patrolling there, he climbed up and dove straight to the outside.

After floating for a moment, Allen lightly landed on the ground outside the city and without making a sound. No one noticed that he had jumped over the protective wall.

Allen ran without a sound, occasionally looking back at the receding wall as he realized once again what a threat his stats was.

It was a well-known fact that the wall had an anti-magic barrier that prevented magic from being used in its vicinity to prevent magical intrusion.

That is why it was possible to break in illegally if one did not use magic but only physical abilities, and there were plausible but baseless rumors circulating that there were spies who had been breaking in using such methods.

Allen himself thought it was nonsense, but now that he's actually been able to do it, he realizes that the rumors may be true.

And at the same time, he thought that ‘shouldn’t they increase the patrols?,’ which in a sense was butting in their business, but he was also fully aware that if they did that, he would be the one who would be in trouble.

Shaking his head to erase the meaningless thoughts, Allen decided to concentrate on getting away from the city and continued running.

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Allen's goal is to get to one of the four dungeons managed by the Adventurers' Guild in Lilac City, the Demon Dungeon to the west.

Due to the lack of a gate nearby and the monsters that appear there, it is the second least popular dungeon around Lilac after the Slime Dungeon in the north. That said, it is a dungeon that is popular among those who don't want to get into trouble with other adventurers, and the level of adventurers who dive there is by no means low.

This means that enough monsters and treasures will appear to satisfy those people.

In other words, it was the perfect dungeon for Allen, who wanted to test his skills without attracting too much attention.

Unable to contain his excitement, Allen ran the entire distance to the dungeon, which normally would take about two hours by walking, in merely ten minutes, not even out of breath.

And then, he enthusiastically entered the cabin that was the branch office where an employee of the Adventurers' Guild, who manages access to the Demon Dungeon, was permanently stationed.

“Uwaa! What the hell are you! Are you a robber? There's no money here!!” (Employee)

“...” (Allen)

A guild employee who was sitting at his desk, perhaps doing some paperwork, jumped in surprise at the sudden appearance of a suspicious person wearing a clown mask. At the same time, the man pulled out a sword from his waist and unleashed it.

Allen was a little shaken up when a sword was pointed at him by a guild employee with whom he had little contact but whose face he knew well, but unlike the Slime Dungeon, which had been completely neglected, other dungeons require him to obtain permission to enter from the branch office at the entrance.

Although the dungeon was managed by the Adventurers' Guild, it was originally the property of the town's feudal lord, the count. There was no way it could be lawless.

Allen fully understood this and tried to approach the guild employee in order to resolve the issue peacefully.

Allen took a step closer, and then the man took a step away.

Another step closer, then another step away.

After a long battle, the guild employee's back finally hit the wall.

The man's face was pale, and sweat was dripping down his body. He did have the pride of being a former adventurer, so he did not drop his sword, but his mind was dominated by fear and he was on the verge of going into a state of panic.

It’s partly because of his odd appearance, but also because the man wearing the clown mask casually approached him without any opening. No, to be more precise, he had an opening, but the man had a premonition, almost a certainty, that no matter where he attacked, he would be counterattacked.

That’s an intuition that has saved the man many times during his time as an adventurer. And that intuition is telling him.

That this guy is a monster.

Allen put his hand inside his robe. Even though it was the perfect opportunity to attack, all the man could do was close his eyes.

He had given up, thinking that there was no point in resisting. ‘If so, at least let me die without seeing myself killed’. It was with that in mind that he did that.

One second, two seconds, and even after ten seconds passed, the moment the man expected never came.

The man fearfully opened his eyes slightly.

And what the man saw in front of his eyes were letters that even he was familiar with. It was a document with the words “Dungeon Entrance Application Form” written in large letters.

“Huh? You want to enter the dungeon?” (Employee)

Allen nodded in response to the man's question. Then he presented the application form and the application fee of 1,000 zenny to the man.

“Errr, so your name is Nera. Paying the application fee means you're not an adventurer, right?” (Employee)

Allen once again nodded.

When entering a dungeon, those who are registered with the Adventurers' Guild can enter by simply presenting their Guild card, but those who do not belong to the Adventurers' Guild must pay a predetermined amount of money if they wish to enter.

In the case of this Demon Dungeon, it was 1,000 zenny.

‘Apparently, there was no danger’ the man's head cooled and calmed down little by little as he realized that. Then he remembered his job.

“Do I need to explain the dungeon?” (Employee)

Allen shook his head. Then, just like that, he left the cabin, leaving the man behind.

The man left in the cabin felt as if he had been bewitched by something, but the 1,000 zenny and the application form that remained with him proved that what just happened was real.

Feeling the discomfort of his sweat-soaked clothes, the guild employee made up his mind that ‘if this is going to keep happening, I’ll apply for a reassignment in the near future’.

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