"Roar!"
The remaining four or five werewolves let out low growls and charged at Roy in a frenzy. Their sharp fangs and claws were their weapons, meant to tear apart the intruder.
Seeing this, Roy showed no fear at all.
The adrenaline in his body surged rapidly. Roy licked the blood from the wound on his arm—the thick, metallic stench flooded his mouth and rushed straight to his head. The stimulation brought by pain made his mind exceptionally clear.
His excitement continued to rise.
Only in a life-and-death struggle like this did Roy feel that everything around him was so vividly real.
He had already obtained extraordinary power!
Before him were the monsters of the Dungeon!
He was fighting, wagering his very life!
A crazed smile curled up at the corner of Roy's mouth. Dense bloodshot veins spread across his eyeballs. If anyone else saw Roy at this moment, nine out of ten would think he was one of those mad terrorists from the Dark Faction.
Deep within his bones lurked a certain kind of madness—his thirst for power had nearly become an obsession.
What was surprising was that Roy began adapting to combat in the Dungeon at an astonishing speed, rapidly familiarizing himself with the power of the Blessing.
The werewolves' attacks appeared clearly in his mind—the trajectories of their claws, clubs, and fangs.
Bang!
Roy no longer retreated. Instead, he took the initiative, lunging forward in a sudden burst. Gripping the sword with both hands, he stabbed it straight into the chest of the werewolf in front of him, and its body exploded.
The sudden change caught even the werewolves off guard. Their instincts sensed that something had changed within this seemingly weak human.
But after all, he was not a Xenos.
After a brief moment of shock, the werewolves pounced on Roy from all directions as he stood among them.
Roy spun in a wide, sweeping arc. The cold, razor-sharp blade effortlessly severed the heads of three surrounding werewolves. Their bodies immediately exploded, dropping magic stone fragments.
Only one werewolf remained. Taking advantage of the moment, it rushed behind Roy. Swinging his sword back in time was already impossible.
Stride on the Wind!
With a thought, Roy activated the special effect of the Gale Boots, increasing his Agility by 30%.
A violent gust wrapped around his calves. Roy twisted his ankles to face the werewolf head-on, then burst forward in an instant. His near–A-rank Agility was displayed to the fullest.
Boom!
Roy endured the blow of the wooden club smashing down on him and followed up with an Iron Mountain Shoulder Strike, slamming into the werewolf and driving it into the wall with a dull, heavy impact.
The last werewolf's body twitched, then exploded.
Fifth Floor—werewolf monster group, completely annihilated!
Roy exhaled a breath of stale air, took out a bottle of low-grade healing potion, popped the cork with his thumb, and gulped it down, producing a "glug glug" sound.
This potion did not restore stamina, only injuries. A bright green glow emerged over Roy's body, and a tingling, numb sensation spread from the wound on his forearm.
The effect was extremely noticeable. Seven or eight seconds later, the wound on Roy's forearm began to scab over.
[Strength: 5 → 18 (I)]
[Endurance: 8 → 36 (I)]
[Dexterity: 0 → 9 (I)]
Looking at the status panels that popped up, Roy noted that aside from Agility—which was already far above the standard for this floor and thus didn't increase—his other attributes had all improved to varying degrees.
[Magic: 0 (I)]
There was no need to mention Magic—it hadn't moved at all. Roy guessed that only after obtaining magic, and then continuously using it, would his Magic stat increase.
Or he could simply cheat—dump the attribute points gained from clearing dungeons directly into it, skipping the training process altogether.
Roy stretched lazily. Entering the Dungeon and slaughtering monsters to his heart's content—one of his goals for this trip was already halfway complete. As for the other goal…
Before the War Game with the Rudra Familia, he needed to confirm one thing: inside the Dungeon, could his cheat ability transfer him to other worlds?
[Giant Dungeon: Wall Maria is about to be breached. For every giant slain, you will receive 30–100 attribute points based on the giant's physical capabilities. Upon killing thirty giants, a special reward will be triggered!]
[Proceed immediately?]
Roy reached out and moved toward the "Yes" option.
Just as he was about to touch it, his entire body shuddered. An overwhelming sense of danger surged in his heart, as if he were being stared at by a ferocious beast.
Eyes were everywhere, watching him.
A layer of fine cold sweat formed on Roy's forehead. His finger stopped. His keen intuition told him that if he pressed it, something disastrous would definitely happen!
Don't be fooled by how crazed he looked when slaughtering the werewolves earlier—that was because he knew they were opponents he could defeat.
Charging headlong at an absolutely unbeatable enemy was nothing but suicide! Even if you gave the Red-Eyed Rabbit a "Heroic Wish," he still wouldn't dare, at Level 2, to wrestle with the fierce Ottar.
Suddenly, deep within Roy's bloodshot eyes, a madness surfaced—one that even high-level adventurers would find terrifying. He extended his finger once more and pressed toward the "Yes" option.
"Roooar!"
A heaven-shaking roar erupted from the depths of the Dungeon, brimming with intense fury. It spread upward layer by layer. The monsters that heard it instantly turned blood-red in the eyes, becoming incomparably frenzied.
The adventurers still inside the Dungeon were miserable—before their eyes, the monsters went berserk, their attributes suddenly rising by an entire tier, making survival unbearably difficult.
The Loki Familia, who were on an expedition, suffered the same fate.
The earth shook and the mountains trembled. The entire Dungeon quaked violently, and even the surface above could feel it.
That furious roar was like a bucket of icy water poured over Roy's head. He immediately regained his composure, silently withdrawing his finger as a strange glint flashed through his eyes.
Was the Dungeon warning him?!
Roy's interest in the Dungeon grew stronger and stronger. Information about it surfaced in his mind.
The Dungeon was a massive hole that appeared three thousand years ago—the "womb" of monsters. Humanity's understanding of it stopped there. As for why this vast underground world existed, no one knew.
The only certainty was that this underground labyrinth, like humans and monsters alike, was "alive."
Even if the walls were destroyed, after some time the Dungeon would repair the damaged sections on its own, restoring them to their original structure.
Why was there light underground? Why were monsters born? Why did the labyrinth's structure restore itself?
From ancient times to the present, not a single mystery surrounding the Dungeon had been answered.
The gods, who should have been omniscient after descending to the lower world, either pretended to be ignorant or truly knew nothing—yet they refused to reveal even a hint of the truth to humanity.
"The Dungeon is just the Dungeon," the gods would always say with a smile, brushing the matter aside.
Roy's gaze burned with fanaticism as he looked toward the passage leading to the sixth floor—dark and profound. He would definitely conquer the Dungeon and uncover the secrets hidden within it.
Bang!
As if responding to Roy's resolve, the Dungeon reacted. More than a dozen werewolves burst through the walls, their eyes glowing crimson as they surrounded him.
"Come on!"
Roy's heart swelled with heroic fervor. Conquering the Dungeon—let these werewolves become the first step, turning into his experience points.
With mutual intent, the slaughter began.