What… what is happening?
Stella stared in disbelief as another line of glowing text appeared before her eyes:
[Current Soul Count: 5677 — usable for leveling up]
Level up!?
The moment the thought crossed her mind, a translucent panel snapped open in front of her with a faint whoosh, making her flinch.
[Stella]
[Vitality: 3 | Strength: 3 | Intelligence: 1 | Endurance: 1 | Dexterity: 1 | Luck: 1]
[Souls required for next level: 644]
"W-what the hell is this!?"
Her voice cracked as she looked helplessly at Wade, utterly lost.
"This," Wade said with a calm smile, clapping his hands once, "is the surprise I mentioned."
"Surprise!? This is—what—!?"
"First of all, congratulations," Wade said cheerfully. "Defeating the Giant Basilisk means you've cleared the upper level. Now you can head down to the mid-layer. More adventures are waiting for you."
"Thanks… wait, no! I'm asking about this! This weird… thing!" She jabbed a finger at the floating panel. "What's going on here!?"
"Oh, that?" Wade chuckled. "It's a reward for clearing the upper layer. I don't know every detail myself, but I can give you the basics."
He folded his arms, his tone turning more matter-of-fact.
"Every time you clear a layer, you'll come across a bonfire. Resting at a bonfire restores stamina almost instantly. And—here's the real kicker—you can use the souls you've collected to level up. No matter how strong someone is, everyone starts at level one by default."
"Souls… where do those come from?"
"They drop when you kill monsters."
Wade's voice carried a subtle note of amusement as he continued:
"It's a unique mechanic of the Sein Dungeon. Kill monsters, gain souls. Gather enough, and you can level up at a bonfire. Yes—leveling up actually makes you stronger. And the effect doesn't disappear after leaving the dungeon."
Stella's breathing quickened, her chest rising and falling as the implications struck her like lightning.
"So… as long as I keep killing monsters… I can just keep getting stronger?"
"That's exactly it." Wade grinned.
Her gaze darted back to the panel, eyes gleaming with almost feverish intensity. Vitality and Strength were sitting at 3, everything else at 1. Was that because she had just used the Giant Basilisk's soul?
Wade, seeing her curiosity, added more explanation:
"Vitality and Strength are self-explanatory. Intelligence isn't about IQ—it's your magic damage stat. Higher Intelligence means stronger spells. Endurance affects stamina—raise it, and you can hold up that greatshield for longer. Dexterity… you know what that does. And Luck? Think of it as affecting drop rate. The higher it is, the more likely monsters will drop rare loot."
Stella froze, muttering under her breath as if speaking her thoughts aloud:
"This… this is completely unheard of."
In that instant, she understood just how game-changing this bonfire system was. If it really allowed limitless leveling… wouldn't the entire world go insane trying to enter this dungeon?
"Alright… let's try adding one point into Endurance."
The panel flickered. Endurance rose from 1 → 2. She waved her arm experimentally but didn't feel any immediate change.
[Souls required for next level: 807]
She pumped two more points into Endurance, bringing it to 4. This time, a faint but undeniable sensation spread through her body—like a subtle weight had lifted, her movements a little freer.
Satisfied, she distributed her remaining points evenly: one Strength, one Luck, one Dexterity—favoring balance over extremes.
[Souls required for next level: 1899]
[Current Souls: 78]
Her soul balance was wiped out.
Still, as she reluctantly closed the panel, her heart thumped with exhilaration. The intoxicating feeling of becoming stronger with a mere thought—just a flick of her fingers—was nothing short of addictive.
And completely rule-breaking.
If she relied on normal training, achieving even a fraction of this progress would take years. But here, in this dungeon, all she had to do was kill monsters.
She didn't even dare to imagine it: once word got out—once adventurers stuck at bottlenecks discovered they could power up this easily—what kind of frenzy would erupt?
"Oh, right." She suddenly looked back at Wade, a thought striking her.
"Any advice on how to level properly?"
Wade tapped his chin, pretending to ponder.
"First thing? Raise your Vitality to forty."
"Huh? Why forty?"
"No special reason," he said lightly. "Just… raises your survival rate."
"…Fine."
She sighed, rolling her eyes—but before she could comment further, her expression froze. Her pupils dilated. Her finger shot out at Wade, trembling.
"Y-y-you—!"
"M-me?" Wade tilted his head, blinking innocently.
"Your body—it's disappearing!"
The golden spirit-form of Maldron shimmered and turned translucent, fading rapidly like smoke in the wind. Within seconds, he would vanish completely.
"Relax." Wade gave a casual shrug. "This is normal. As a summon, once I help you defeat a boss, I return to where I came from. No need to panic—I'm not dead."
Her clenched shoulders eased slightly. Taking a deep breath, Stella cupped her hands and shouted:
"Thank you for everything!"
Wade smiled faintly and gave a little wave as his body dissolved entirely, leaving the chamber empty and silent.
"He… really disappeared."
A strange hollowness settled in her chest, the quiet almost oppressive after his presence.
But that melancholy soon gave way to fascination as her gaze drifted back to the bonfire. She walked around it in slow circles, studying every curve of the spiral blade thrust into the wood, every flicker of its warm orange glow.
"Should I stay here and farm souls… or head straight to the next floor?"
The flames whispered softly, their warmth caressing her skin like a gentle embrace. After a long pause, she clenched her fists and made her decision—life was about progress, about pressing forward.
Without hesitation, she stepped into the mid-layer.
(***)
In Dungeon Lord Chamber
Wade opened his interface and noticed the dungeon's collected Mana had surged by over two hundred points. A faint smirk tugged at his lips.
"Looks like Stella got herself killed on the mid-layer."
He stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"As expected… leveled-up adventurers drop far more mana. Sometimes even double."
The bonfire, the souls, the leveling system—truth be told, Wade had stumbled upon them by pure accident.
He had been casually scrolling through structure options when he found the bonfire from Dark Souls. Out of curiosity, he placed it. That single action rewrote the entire Sein Dungeon.
Monsters now dropped souls. Adventurers could level up indefinitely by offering those souls at bonfires.
It was like planting a willow by accident and watching it flourish into a towering tree. Just that one bonfire had reshaped everything.
And with this? Wade was confident the Sein Dungeon would become irresistible.
Because nothing tempted mortals more than power.
Adventurers would grow stronger within the dungeon—and when they died, their enriched bodies would yield even more mana for him. A perfect, symbiotic cycle.
Before this, Wade had worried the dungeon lacked a truly overwhelming lure. But now? The bonfire system was the ultimate bait.
"That said… hopefully no one tries to grind souls on the first floor forever like some hardcore gamers…"
To discourage that, he had designed the upper level full of weaklings that barely dropped any souls. Sure, adventurers could farm early, but after a few levels, the cost of upgrading would skyrocket.
To grow stronger quickly, they'd have no choice but to push deeper—where real threats awaited. And eventually… they'd die, feeding his creation.
And for those who reached high levels? He'd built the scaling so brutally that farming would be pointless. At that stage, training in the real world would yield better returns than grinding low-tier mobs.
"Stat control… is absolutely crucial," Wade murmured, eyes narrowing.
Then, with a faint smirk, he whispered to himself:
"Hopefully Stella spreads the word."