Chapter 12: Don't litter in the dungeon
At the center of Orario City's eight districts lies a circular area.
Above the ground stands the towering structure known as Babel Tower.
In Cid's original world, the Tower of Babel was a building from the Old Testament of the Bible.
According to the biblical story, once the Tower of Babel was completed, it would reach the realm of God.
Because of this, the tower angered the one true god Yahweh and was destroyed by divine power.
The Babel Tower in this world was not destroyed—perhaps this carried two meanings.
First, the gods of this world were willing to live in the same domain as humans, making the two sides more or less equal.
Second, humans might be able to reach the realm of gods through certain means.
After interacting with gods for a long time, perhaps everyone had entertained such fantasies.
If one fought desperately in the Dungeon and refined their blessing to the utmost limit, could they obtain combat power on the level of a god?
Coincidentally, beneath Babel Tower lay the Dungeon—suppressed by Orario and by Uranus using divine power.
Cid entered the first underground floor of Babel Tower, the great hole in the ground that served as the labyrinth's entrance.
This place was called the "Path of Beginning," a safe zone capable of holding several thousand people.
If one waited carefully, they could often see adventurers here.
They would wait until they had adjusted their mental state before daring to enter the Dungeon.
Even with a god's blessing, the death rate in the Dungeon remained extremely high.
Especially for newcomers—it was practically a steady stream of deaths, like chopping chives.
The Guild had long been troubled by this, and the adventure advisors they trained would even issue warnings like "adventurers should not venture recklessly."
"Yahoo!"
Cid cheerfully stepped into the Dungeon.
Although he hadn't yet officially left the Astraea Familia, this was his first time entering the Dungeon alone!
"Inhale! Exhale!
This is the scent of freedom!"
At long last, he had overthrown Alise's tyranny!
Though being managed by her wasn't actually so bad—he even liked it.
Alise was narcissistic, violent, and troublesome, but she genuinely treated him as family.
Perhaps it was because he was reluctant to part with that warmth that he had never left the Astraea Familia.
"The adventure of Lord Shadow truly begins today!"
Cid rushed straight to the fifth floor before changing into armor and a mask made from slime materials.
The defensive boost was minimal—but the key point was that it looked cool!
Cid didn't worry about his appearance seeming strange.
Other adventurers who saw his masked face would only keep their distance.
In a lightless place like the Dungeon, murder and robbery were extremely common.
If you ran into an adventurer who concealed their face, chances were high you'd encountered a professional killer.
Aside from special cases like the Astraea Familia, most adventurers avoided the Dark Faction as far as possible.
How much money could you make from a single Dungeon run anyway? Why risk your life?
Just as Cid expected, after disguising himself, the adventurers he encountered treated him like a walking natural disaster and didn't dare approach him.
By the sixth floor, ordinary Level 1 adventurers would become extremely cautious.
From this level onward, monsters known as Battle Shadows would appear.
These creatures were pitch-black from head to toe, like living shadows.
For weak Level 1 adventurers, if their individual ability wasn't strong enough and they lacked an excellent team, facing a Battle Shadow meant certain death.
Thus, Battle Shadows were also known as "rookie killers."
While moving at high speed, Cid casually killed more than ten Battle Shadows.
Each time, he destroyed the monster's magic stone with a single strike.
Magic stones from monsters of this level were tiny and useless to him.
Moreover, magic stones from large and small monsters were the same type—only differing in size.
Because of this, magic stones weren't rare in Orario and weren't particularly valuable.
As for completely shattering the magic stones, aside from ensuring the monster's death, it was also because of Alise and the others' repeated warnings.
Magic stones could be used in Orario and exchanged for currency known as valis.
But Dungeon monsters could also grow stronger by devouring magic stones, eventually becoming "enhanced individuals."
Making monsters stronger was not something adventurers should do.
In the upper floors of the Dungeon, magic stones left behind by adventurers who didn't have time to collect them would occasionally be cleaned up by Guild personnel.
Strictly speaking, there was no need to worry too much about it.
But according to Alise, that was just "don't make trouble for others!"
You shouldn't litter just because there are cleaners around.
Especially not trash that's toxic and dangerous.
The killer ants on the seventh floor, known for their hard shells and ability to call companions, were also labeled "rookie killers."
Cid likewise didn't linger, casually killing more than ten of them.
Spending extra time on monsters of this level was simply a waste.
Only when item materials dropped would Cid stop to collect them.
Unlike magic stones, item materials were quite valuable.
First, materials didn't always drop—it depended on luck.
Second, forging, alchemy, and compounding all required such materials.
The equipment Cid was wearing was made from slime-like materials.
In short, these materials were expensive and had no trouble finding buyers.
Cid wasn't interested in upper-floor magic stones, but materials were worth collecting.
When Cid reached the twelfth floor, he felt a bit regretful.
"The baby dragon didn't spawn. What a shame."
Baby dragons weren't particularly strong—just dangerous in the upper floors.
But they were extremely rare, and their drops were very expensive, often in short supply.
That's right—Lord Shadow had come to the Dungeon for one purpose only: to make money!
Anyone who lived independently knew that there were countless things in life that required money.
And in this life, Cid was even poorer than in his previous one.
From childhood to now, every single valis he earned had been confiscated by Alise, leaving him with only a little pocket money.
It wasn't that Alise mistreated him—the family was genuinely broke.
Because the Astraea Familia had few members and lacked a large group of Level 1 adventurers to support the main force, the familia's overall income was limited.
As Level 3 adventurers, Alise and the others could earn quite a bit.
But as Level 3 adventurers, the costs of weapons, armor, and supplies were also high.
Sometimes they would excitedly explore the Dungeon, only to find during settlement that they'd actually lost money!
The fact that there was only one bathhouse in their territory was also because the Astraea Familia truly wasn't wealthy.
In such circumstances, every coin had to be spent carefully—it couldn't be wasted on Cid's indulgences.
How could the dignified Lord Shadow be trapped by money?
After one trip into the Dungeon, Cid found two ways to make money.
Hunting monsters and collecting materials was one way—but the other was even faster.
When faced with masked villains in the Dungeon, ordinary adventurers would avoid them, righteous familias would fight them—
And Cid would be overjoyed.
"Those kind-hearted people must have gathered quite a lot of supplies again, right?"