The air stank of rust and rot, and Mana sparked in the flickering lights, beating faster as the monsters' arrival neared.
[Skill: Wise Eyes (Lv.1) has been activated.]
KiRA's gaze sharpened, his mind mapping the grimy subway station like a blueprint unfurling. Every cracked tile, rusted pipe, and flickering light was cataloged, pinpointing the perfect spots for his trap.
-Plut!
He slipped on his Gloves of Jasper, their white fabric feeling comfy against his skin, shielding him from the Strings of Arcana that'd slice through mortal flesh like paper.
-Wuuuu...
With a skillful flick, he grabbed the first golden thread, its faint hum buzzing under his fingers, and began weaving it with the others.
Ten threads, each three meters long, shimmered like liquid gold. KiRA split them: five for the left tunnel and five for the right. The station's platform was the midpoint.
His movements were precise, as if he had done this hundreds of thousands of times.
"Uni!"
"Viv!!" Unity chirped, snatching a thread in her beak.
Unfazed by its deadly edge, she swooped to a high, rusted hook sticking out from the ceiling, threading it through with a flourish.
Her golden feathers caught in the dim light of the threads seemed like a tiny beacon in the gloom.
"Great."
KiRA worked fast, crafting a formation on each side that mimicked a spiderweb but tighter, more lethal.
No wide gaps were present here, just a shimmering net spanning the ground and a meter up, ready to shred anything that crossed this boundary.
He double-checked the setup, ensuring the Meat of a Pristine Rabbit and Mana Cores were tucked under cloths on both sides. If that meat's scent leaked too soon, the dungeon would become a chaotic mess, and they did not want that… yet.
"Chkrrrrr…"
"Hmm. Rats incoming." His trap was set, so he nodded to Unity. "Tighten 'em up, Uni."
The first wave of mutated rats— scrawny, red-eyed horrors with claws resembling rusty nails— charged through the threads.
"Viiii!" She darted, pulling the threads taut with a faint twang.
The moment these nasty little creatures collided with these strings, their bodies were sliced like a hot knife through butter.
-Spurrrr—ptptpt!
Gore sprayed, but the trap's design kept it contained, pooling safely away from KiRA's base.
[Ding!]
[Monsters defeated: 5/201.]
Blood did not stick to the strings either as they were cleaned up instantly to greet their next prey.
[Ding!]
[Level-up!]
[(Level-1)>>(Level-2).]
"Chkrrrrr…!!!"
The golden strings sang, slicing their bodies cleaner than a chef's knife through soft cheese.
-Spurrrr—ptptpt!
The second wave of the rats was met with the same fate.
[Ding!]
[Monsters defeated: 8/201.]
"Yup," KiRA smirked, leaning against a pillar while watching this familiar, nostalgic scene.
The rats' blood and guts were toxic, but he'd picked this spot carefully: a high ground, no splash zone. His {Wise Eyes} and {Precise Calculations} had mapped the killbox perfectly. Besides, he had [Purity].
"This is gonna be a breeze, Uni."
"Viv~!" (Easy peasy, Master~!)
The dungeon hummed with Mana, more rats skittering in the distance.
Still, this was just the warm-up.
"Let's take out the meat then."
The real fun was going to begin from this point on as he picked up the main ingredient.
"Hmmm…" Taking a deep whiff of the pristine slab of meat coming from one of the most precious creatures of the lower floors, he removed the cloth covering it and placed the Mana crystals in his inventory for the time being.
Like potent pheromones, the scent of the meat spread all around the area. And, in the very next moment…
"SKRIIIIIII…!"
Screams of creatures, not just rats but beings with stronger powers, were heard all around the tunnel.
"SKRICHHHHHH…!"
The subway suddenly erupted with screeches. As if they had lost their minds, all the sounds that exploded at once almost scared Unity for a moment.
The ground shook as they came… a messed-up parade of dungeon's horrors was starting.
"Oho?"
First up were the [Glowbugs], fist-sized beetles with shells that sparked like busted wires. They buzzed in, a swarm of flickering lights, but the golden threads didn't care.
-Swaaaaash!
The bugs hit the webs and burst into glowing bits, their electric spit fizzling out on the railway tracks.
[Ding!]
[Monsters defeated: 20/201.]
[Ding!]
[Level-up!]
[(Level-2)>>(Level-4).]
"Sweet~!" KiRA pumped a fist with his little birdie. "Keep 'em coming!"
"Awoooooooo!"
Then the [Black Hounds] charged, lanky mutts with fur like tar and jaws dripping acid.
Their growls rattled the walls as they lunged forward, but the threads carved them up— legs, tails, heads, all hitting the ground in a hissing mess. The acid chewed at the railway tracks, but KiRA's seat stayed clean.
[Ding!]
[Monsters defeated: 25/201.]
[Ding!]
[Level-up!]
[(Level-4)>>(Level-6).]
"This reminds me of the old days."
"Viv~?" (Right, master~?)
A nastier shadow slunk forward right behind the dogs… a [Goblin Pack], the most common monsters of any fantasy game.
"Ghhh!"
These little creeps with pointy ears and knives made of bone were no simple opponents. More people had died to goblins than to any other creature in the tower except the slimes.
Despite their attraction to the sweet scent, they knew there was something wrong with the situation here.
By the time they reached the area with a pool of blood and a gruesome mess of organs, they had realized this wasn't right. The overwhelming stench of the gruesome mess that was present here minimized the scent of the meat.
"Grrr?"
"Grrrrr. Grrr."
They waited some distance away from the trap, looking for some form of solution, however, if they weren't going to come to the strings, the strings were obviously going to chase them.
"Viviii~."
A golden thread flew past the trap and passed around their necks.
"Grrr?"
The thread was strange, but by the time the goblins realized there was something there, the threads had already been wrapped around their necks, and the end of this thread, was in the gloved hands of their executioner.
"Sayonara~."
-Snap!
With a single flick of a finger, every single neck of these short, humanoid beings was severed in an instant.
[Ding!]
[Monsters defeated: 35/201.]
"Should I buy more thread?" Since this was a tutorial dungeon, he thought there wouldn't be any intelligent creatures around. However, he was wrong this time.
There were smart beings like these goblins. The tactic that worked for the smaller ones wasn't going to work on creatures like them.
Still…
[Ding!]
[Level-up!]
[(Level-6)>>(Level-9).]
The experience points that these smart creatures gave were far greater than what he got from the small fries.
Also, since this was a tutorial dungeon, there were only going to be 201 creatures here in total. The last of which was going to be the boss… which KiRA believed would be something like a goblin champion.
But, now he had to reconsider his predictions.
"Could this be a special dungeon?" The possibility was there. And…
"Ghaaaaaaa!"
As if the world was answering his question, a loud voice was heard all throughout the tunnel, attracting attention from both the conqueror of the tower and the small sparrow-like being sitting on top of his head.