On the grassy ground, Aomori suddenly opened his eyes. His right hand pressed against the earth, launching him over twenty meters into the air. When he landed, a look of confusion crossed his face. "Is this the Dungeon? And my strength feels wrong, it's much greater than before."
He looked around: tall, straight trees and knee-high grass surrounded him. He inhaled lightly, filling his nostrils with the scent of fresh grass.
There was some mud residue on his fingers. Aomori put it to his mouth and licked it.
"Pleh!"
It was indeed the familiar taste of earth. Was this a real world?
Observing his surroundings again and confirming there were no immediate enemies, Aomori leaned against a large tree and began checking his status.
He was unharmed. However, his specialized combat suit had been replaced by a black training uniform set, and his lower body was covered in rough beast hide, making his appearance oddly mismatched. Furthermore, the large bundle of supplies he meticulously prepared was gone.
This was the worst-case scenario Aomori had anticipated. Everything from the One-Punch Man world had vanished; only his body and the items produced by the System had entered the Dungeon.
Aomori didn't care about his appearance at all. He pondered for a few seconds, then opened the System Log, which recorded the prompts the System gave him after he lost consciousness:
Ding!
[Starting search for a suitable Dungeon. Searching...]
Ding!
[Suitable Dungeon found. World ID: JL1024. Beginning World Anchor projection... World Anchor projection complete. Successfully tagged this world. Beginning transmission...]
Ding!
[Transmission successful. Beginning world law retrieval... World law retrieval successful. Beginning synchronization...]
Ding!
[Synchronization successful. Player Aomori receives Newbie Dungeon Perk (Normal Human Constitution Bonus): Constitution +20, All-System Resistance +99.99%, Fatal Combat Damage Reduction 99.99%. Only valid for the current Dungeon.]
Ding!
[The System has detected a new power system in the current world. Pet feature unlocked. Player, please explore the new feature yourself.]
"Phew." Aomori let out a breath and rubbed his temples.
This was frightening in every sense of the word. World ID: JL1024. Did that mean there were at least a thousand similar worlds? No, perhaps the System was deliberately misleading him.
With too few clues, excessive thought was pointless. Aomori quickly dismissed it, redirecting his attention back to the System.
His three primary attributes had indeed changed to: [Constitution 43 (23), Energy 15, Spirit 18]
He clenched his fist. The massive boost in Constitution greatly increased his strength. He figured he could probably punch a bear to death now.
Simultaneously, a [Pet] option had appeared on the main interface. Just as Aomori was about to check the new feature, he suddenly heard a rustling sound in the tall grass behind him. He silently stood up and turned around, a plain-looking sword appearing in his hand.
He was poised, ready to unleash a lightning-fast attack, when a large insect with a green back and a red, Y-shaped antenna on its head pushed aside the grass and appeared before Aomori.
(;ﾟДﾟ)!
The oversized insect showed a human-like expression of shock, trembling nervously under Aomori's cold gaze.
Caterpie?
Relying on his exceptional memory, Aomori easily found the identity matching the bug before him deep within his mind.
So, this Dungeon world was the world of Pokémon?
Ding!
[Dungeon Quest Activated!]
[Main Quest 1/3: Super True Rookie]
[Quest Summary: You can't be called a Trainer if you can't carry a Larvitar, shoulder a Pikachu, and fight an Onix bare-handed! Brave young man, go forth and battle! Prove that you are a Super True Rookie!]
[1) Defeat 10 Grass-type, 10 Bug-type, and 10 Flying-type Pokémon alone within 20 days ☆]
[2) Defeat 30 Grass-type, 30 Bug-type, and 30 Flying-type Pokémon alone within 15 days ☆☆]
[3) Defeat 50 Grass-type, 50 Bug-type, and 50 Flying-type Pokémon alone within 10 days ☆☆☆]
Completing the quest under different conditions yields a different number of stars (☆). For every 3 stars earned, a Treasure Chest is obtained, and the final 9-star Chest is the most valuable.
I see. Simple and straightforward.
Perhaps because this was a Newbie Dungeon, the quests didn't seem too difficult given the generous time limits. However, Aomori wouldn't take it lightly. A lion uses its full strength even against a rabbit. If he was going to do it, he'd do his best.
"What do you say, Caterpie?" Aomori blocked the Caterpie, which was trying to sneak away, and said with utmost seriousness, "No, I should call you the Sky Lord Rayquaza cub. The first battle of the Dungeon world will begin with you!"
Caterpie: "Σ(°△°|||)!"
Total Concentration! Thunder Breathing, Tenth Form: One-Sword Style—Heavenly Destruction Slash!
Aomori activated Thunder Breathing. Arcs of electricity surrounded him like the descent of the Thunder God. His sword relentlessly slashed toward the Caterpie.
With a boom, the Caterpie didn't even utter a sound before plunging into a deep pit, its eyes turning into spirals.
Ding!
[Congratulations to Player Aomori for defeating Caterpie, obtaining 11 EXP and 1 Point.]
Indeed. I can gain EXP and Points without killing it, or perhaps it simply can't be killed.
Aomori crouched down to examine it. The Caterpie, having taken his full-power strike, was only slightly scorched and had passed out.
Is that all the power I have? It might not even be as strong as the Yellow Rat's Thunder Shock.
"Lesser Healing Spell."
A holy light fell upon the Caterpie, and its injuries healed instantly.
The healing effect has been enhanced?
The Caterpie shook its small head and woke up. Aomori immediately struck it again without a word, and the miserable Caterpie's eyes turned into spirals once more.
Caterpie: "???"
There was no System notification. He couldn't repeatedly gain experience within a short period.
Aomori didn't let the Caterpie go. He pulled a handful of highly resilient wild grass, tied it up, and tossed it onto the ground.
Clapping his hands, Aomori continued with his previous plan, clicking on the [Pet] option. He found eight slots, seven of which were locked.
After carefully studying the instructions, he gained a general understanding of the new Pet feature.
Once a contract was signed with a Pet, Aomori could store the Pet in the System and take it out of the Dungeon world.
Currently, Aomori could contract one Pet. Every 10 levels gained would unlock an additional Pet slot, or he could unlock them prematurely with Points, with a maximum limit of eight.
If that was the case, he needed to carefully plan his Pet choices. The main attacker would undoubtedly be Aomori, perhaps supplemented by one sub-attacker. The rest should all be support-type.
Pokémon from the Pokémon world had many interesting abilities.
Ghost-types' sudden appearances and disappearances, Psychic-types' hypnosis and control—all would yield high returns if brought back to the One-Punch Man world.
Aomori continued to check the other options in the System. He finally noticed one more change: a Dungeon Treasure Chest had appeared next to the Point Treasure Chest.
The price was the same as the Basic Point Chest, but the items opened from it were specific to the Dungeon world.
His current Points were only enough for one 10x pull. Aomori decided against it for now. The benefit of unlocking a Pet slot was clearly higher.
Picking up the bound Caterpie, Aomori began exploring the Pokémon forest.