《Dungeon: Rise or Fall》 Prologue To be a cashier in a small store is boring and I mean it is really boring. Day in, day out you sit in a chair and slide the goods of the customer over the register. Accept the money and give back the change. Then you smile at costumers and thank them for their purchase. Not the happy smile but the smile that everybody knows that it is faked. But the worst is not the suicide-inducing boredom that I feel every minute on the job but the customer. Most of the time alone the interaction with the customer is just awkward but if they are parents with children? Well, then it is like a bloody massacre. Some children just chirp happily about and sometimes ask for snacks and sweets. But then there are these little monsters that throw a temper tantrum in the store because they did not get a sweet. These tantrum days are the worst and today it was such a day. Sigh. Fortunately, my shifts end soon. I counted the minutes with absolute concentration in the last hour of my shift and as the last costumer comes closer I did not have to fake a smile. I slide the goods of the last costumer over the register, accept the money, count it and give back the change. I pack my things as fast as possible and walk home. It is a really boring job but it brings in money and with only my high school education there are no better jobs available. All in all the job is quite bearable. There are also some good aspects of the job. Ok, not really. The only good thing about it is the money and the work times. We work in four-hour shifts and I work in the afternoon and the evening shift. Because of that I could sleep in and play as much as I want in the night. As I walked home I had to put every bit of willpower to use so that I would not just sprint home. Today in the morning I got a package with a new game and I just wanted to play it. My favourite games are RPGs. Open World RPGs for the matter. In them, you can be whatever you want wherever you want. You are not bound to any routine like in a job or in life. You have the freedom to choose and that is what I want.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. That''s something really lacking in the real world. Yes, in the real world you can also choose to be whatever you want but it comes with a cost and for me, the cost is too high. If you decided that you want the complete freedom of choice, you will not be part of society anymore. You will be an outcast. We humans need social interaction on a deep unconscious level. No one wants to be an outcast because of that. For example, if I choose to quit my job and decided to go on an adventure, society would label me as an outcast. They would be impressed by my adventures but in our society, it is better to have a stable income and home. Society in this age likes stability and it expels everyone, who does something to break this stability. This is my dilemma. I want to have the freedom of choice so that I can do whatever I want but the negative aspects associated with it are too high for me. I also simply lack the money to casually quit my job. So I choose to simple flee reality through games. In games I am free and because I feel free when I play a game so I do it often. Ok, more than often. In reality, it is more like an obsession. But what can I do? It is my only way out. It lifts the chains of society for a moment and that''s enough for me. It was also easier to just flee into games than to make preparation for an adventure. The desire was there in my mind but the motivation was something I lost a long time ago. Finally, back at my apartment, I put the food cooked yesterday into the microwave and while it was cooking I started the computer. I swallow the food as fast as possible because the sooner I start to play the better. Sigh, at last, I am free, if only for a short while. I play until deep into the night not noticing the passage of time. As the first rays of the morning sun began to shine through my window I shut down my computer and walk to my bed. I knew that a new day of boring work would be in front of me. I let my body fall down on the bed and as soon as my head hits the pillow I was asleep, dreaming about freedom and an entire world to explore. In my last waking moments, I thought I heard a voice whisper in my ear. Rise or Fall in the Dungeon Chapter 1 The first thing I noticed as I woke up was the cold and hard floor under me. Confused thoughts whirled in my mind like a hurricane. I thought I went to bed in the morning. As soon as my mind was cleared from its sleepy state I snapped my upper body up and opened my eyes. Silence and darkness greeted me as I looked around. But it was not complete darkness. I noticed that I could see up to ten meters straight but not further. It was like a wall made of darkness cut off my vision after ten meters. It was also dark in the ten-meter radius in which I could see and by dark I mean like in a night illuminated by the full moon. So it was dark but I could see and discern things like the walls around me. I would have said I was in a cave because there was only one way forward and I was enclosed by walls that looked like they were made out of stone but the walls were far to smooth for cave walls. The stone walls looked clean and smooth. Slowly I stood up while leaning against the wall beside me for support. The walls also felt like this. The space around me was slim. I do not think that I could extend my arms fully sideways. Where was I and why was I here where the questions racing through my head? I pondered the questions and decided that they were irrelevant at the moment. I had to look for a way out first and if that was not possible then I had to find a way to survive. After that, I could start asking questions. With that decided I took the first step forward because I could not go back. I meant that figuratively and literally because there was a wall behind me. I could only walk forward. Just after I took the first step there was suddenly a noise. It was like a ping. As I looked around for the source of the noise I found nothing. But as soon as the thought formed what this noise was and what the meaning of it was a blue screen appeared in front of my face. It floated in front of my face and no matter in which way I looked it followed my gaze. I looked at the blue illuminating screen and discovered something written on it. You have acquired the skill Dark Vision Lv. 1. Just as I wanted to touch it, the screen flashed and disappeared. I had acquired dark vision. How and what does it mean? Was it really possible? No, it could not be but I think I can see a little better in the ten-meter radius around me. What is Dark Vision and what is the meaning of the screen? As soon as the thoughts left my mind another screen flashed in front of my face. Dark Vision: Level 1(0/100) (Passive) Dark Vision is the ability to see in low light conditions. With sufficient level, it is also possible to see in complete darkness. Bonus for the Level of this Skill: You can see 5% in low light conditions and 1% in absolute darkness. Adds 0.05 Points of Perception per Level of the Skill. I was stumped as I read the text on the blue screen in front of my face. I doubted the screen for a moment but I could see the results with my own eyes. The dark was not so dark anymore and because of this, I thought I was dreaming. But my own mind refuted my thought because you can''t read in a dream and I could discern actual words from the screen in front of my face. Also, the world around me and my body felt real.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I pinched my arm for extra clarification and I felt the stinging pain I associate with a pinch. That confirmed the realness of this entire thing. That meant that I have to find out what is going on here? So I put my concentration on the screen in front of my face. As I stared intensely at the screen I actually noticed something else. The screen looked like it was glowing but it did not give off light to the environment around me. It should illuminate my surroundings but it did not. That was physically impossible. I could not wrap my mind around it. I ignored this thought because it was something I could not understand and changed my concentration on something I could understand. The box after the word Level 1 had changed. It was not (0/100) anymore but (1/100). Was this box like my progress bar in a game and did I actually make progress with the skill simple by standing in the dark? My mind answered my question with a simple word. (Passive). I could level up this skill simply by being in a dark environment. The thought that just occurred me was mind breaking because it meant that not the boring real life I was thinking but the one seeking freedom. And also that the freedom I had accepted this place as reality. Ok it was also mind breaking that I thought of myself as two different I''s Let us just hypothesize that this was real then it would be the most exciting thing that ever happened to me and it could change my really boring life into something better. Ok, I will assume for the moment that it really and go with the flow in the manner of speaking. Think with game logic. What is written on the screen that could help me? The word perception. The blue screen wrote that the level of Dark Vision I posse adds 0.05 Points of Perception. Did this mean I had a status of perception? Ping! Perception: (10+0.05) = 10.05 So I possed the statistic for Perceptions. Did that mean that I also posed other Statistics like in a game? Like a Status. Title: None Name: Nico Moore Age: 21 Race: Human Health Points: 92/92 (Health Points Regeneration: 1.15 per Hour) Mana Points: 104/104 (Mana Points Regeneration: 1.25 per Minute) Stamina Points: 94/94 (Stamina Points Regeneration: 1.2 per Minute) Strength: 7 Vitality: 8 Dexterity: 8 Perception: (10+0.05) = 10.05 Intelligence: 9 Wisdom: 8 That¡¯s really weird. I mean there is a screen in front of me on which I can read statistics about myself. What I am interested in is how it is calculated and how this screen can put something like wisdom into a static number and how it can do it with Health. What is the relation between my statistics and Health, Mana and Stamina? What is the average number for a stat? Oh, wait. I think the average for a stat is ten because my perception is ten. Through the dark vision skill, I could see the relation between Perception and vision. Because my eyes are perfect and with that, I mean that I do not need glasses. You could say because of that that they are average. My stats look a bit insulting now that I thought about it. I mean if my hypothesis is true and the average is ten then would that not also mean that I am physically and mentally below average. Ok, no more thinking about that just ignore it. Mana was something that got me really excited. Because you know magic. But if I had it did that mean that every other human did also have it. If that was true, how had nobody noticed anything? Or did some notice it and hid it. But I also noticed something else. I had no Level in a manner to speak of. In most games levels were used to upgrade the character after a point was reached but I did not have a level. That was terrifying because it meant I was alone in a kind of cave with nothing but my pyjama and this screens. There was also the race part that put me off. Did that mean that there were more races in this cave because there would have to be more for the information to be relevant enough to be displayed on this, I think, Status Screen. Being in this cave was getting more horrifying from second to second. But I steeled myself and did what our ancestors did. I took a step forward then another one and another. Slowly I advanced step by step because it was the only path possible. Because it was the only way I could survive. Chapter 2 The first thing I did on my way through this cave was to map this place in my mind because I wanted to remember the way and also so I got not even more lost than I already was. I also mapped it in my mind because I did not have any utilises to do it on paper. I simply did not have a paper on me. Now, that I think about it. I am only wearing my bed clothes and it was quite cold here. I let that thread of thought go and went back to mapping this place. It was really easy to map this place because the path I followed went straight forward. After twenty steps I halted. I had heard the ping again, which I began to associate with notifications for this weird game. I waited for the second ping which would be accompanied by the blue screen. After a few seconds, a blue screen flashed in front of my face. This time there was something different written on the screen then the other times. You have acquired the skill Mind Mapping Lv. 1. It looks like I had acquired a different skill this time. Could everything I do be a skill? Another thought I had to let go because I could not risk getting distracted. This game like system had opened my thoughts for many possibilities to get hurt in this cave and not one of them was nice. I could not know what was lurking here. So I did the same thing that I did for the Dark Vision Skill. I concentrated on the Mind Mapping part of the screen and willed it to show the description of the skill like the screen did for the Dark Vision skill. Surprisingly it worked. Mind Mapping: Level 1(0/100) (Active) Mind Mapping is the ability to map the surroundings with your mind. It saves the map of your environment in your mind. Cost: 20 Stamina per Minute Bonus for the Level of this Skill: The higher the Level of this skill the more can you remember of your surroundings and the more accurate the map of your surroundings in your mind will get. Adds 0.05 Points of Perception per Level of the Skill. Adds 0.05 Points of Intelligence per Level of the Skill. After I read the description of the skill I observed if something had changed with this skill and something had changed. The effect of this skill was immediately noticeable. The Map I had drawn in my mind was more accurate than ever but that meant not much because the map in my mind before this skill took effect, was only a straight line. It symbolised the straight path I had followed. Now it was like a passage was drawn in my mind. The drawn corridor was simplistic but noticeably better than the straight line which the passage replace. I also noticed that this skill added points to two statistics. Did this mean that this skill was higher tier than the Dark Vision skill or did the added points simple symbolise which stats were used for the skill to work? I pondered this question a bit and concluded that I would get the question answered through the analyses of more skills. While I was thinking about this an idea began to bloom in my mind. Could there also be a screen for skills like for my statistics? After I thought this I willed a screen for my skills to appear in front of me. It worked for the skill description after all. I suddenly heard a ping which broke my concentration. Skills (Active&Passive)Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Active: Mind Mapping. Level 1(0/100) Passive: Dark Vision: Level 1 (6/100) It worked and it also looks like I had made progress on my Dark Vision skill. I dismissed the screen in front of me and started to walk forward again. I took a step by step and used my new Mind Mapping skill to store the Map of my surroundings in my head. I advanced slowly on my path but it had the added beneath that the map in my head was more detailed. That means my walking speed and my concentration affect the effect of the Mind Mapping skill. After some time I felt like I was slowly getting weaker as I was advancing on the path. It was really alarming. I stopped and looked around me but there was nothing besides the same walls that were here from the beginning. How did I acquire this effect? I took some steps back to see if this had any effect but it did not. So the only option available to get rid of this effect was to get as fast as possible out of this cave. I only hoped that this weakness would end after I was out of this strange cave. I began advancing forward again. First I walked slowly but as I got weaker and weaker I started to walk faster and faster. That intensified the effect of me getting weaker. The fear that took hold of me the first time I noticed the effect began to grow the weaker I got. I slowly began to run until I missed a step and simply fell down on my face. The pain broke my concentration and the Mind Mapping skill was deactivated. Surprisingly, as soon as the skill was deactivated the weakening effect also stopped. I slowly sat up with my face scrunched up in pain. Was the skill making me weaker? No, that was not possible. So what was it? I willed the screen of the Mind Mapping skill in front of me and concentrated on the written text. Mind Mapping: Level 1(34/100) (Active) Mind Mapping is the ability to map the surroundings with your mind. It saves the map of your environment in your mind. Cost: 20 Stamina per Minute Bonus for the Level of this Skill: The higher the Level of this skill the more can you remember of your surroundings and the more accurate the map of your surroundings in your mind will get. Adds 0.05 Points of Perception per Level of the Skill. Adds 0.05 Points of Intelligence per Level of the Skill. In a second I had found the culprit of my weakness. It was the cost associated with the Mind Mapping skill. It cost Stamina to keep the skill active. Stamina I concluded was the energy of my body and I had used it. So I got weaker. Cost: 20 Stamina per Minute I also opened my Status to confirm the cost of the skill and was proven true. Title: None Name: Nico Moore Age: 21 Race: Human Health Points: 85/92 (Health Points Regeneration: 1.15 per Hour) Mana Points: 104/104 (Mana Points Regeneration: 1.25 per Minute) Stamina Points: 14/94 (Stamina Points Regeneration: 1.2 per Minute) Strength: 7 Vitality: 8 Dexterity: 8 Perception: (10+0.05+0.05) = 10.1 Intelligence: (9+0.05) =9.05 Wisdom: 8 It looked like I was right. The skill cost was really high but it was also effective. I could remember the Map in my Mind vividly. But my Stamina Regeneration was simple to slow for this skill and I did not make it better as I started to run because of my fear as I got weaker. It looks like I had to rest for a bit. I also noticed that my Health Points also took a hit because my face took a literally hit because I fell face first on the ground. Unfortunately, the Health Points Points will take a long time to regenerate. I robbed my body from the middle of the path to the wall beside me. I leaned against it and pondered what to do while I waited till my Stamina regenerated. It looks like everything I do will get turned into a skill if I do it in a right way and for some time. While I sat against the wall I thought about all things I could turn into a skill. I had many ideas but they all took a step back in front of my first priority. Survival. I took another look at my Stamina and concluded that I could the Mind Mapping skill active for about five minutes with the regeneration counted in. So I formulated a plan. I would keep my Mind Mapping skill active for the five minutes and rest to let my Stamina regenerate. While mapping this place I would keep looking for water, shelter and food. This were the three things I had to acquire for my survival to be ensured. I transformed my thou8ghts into actions and kept exploring the cave. I ignored everything around me and kept my priorities straight on mapping and looking for water, food and shelter. Unfortunately, I did find nothing. This cave-like system was like a labyrinth. After what felt like hours my mind cleared of its fanatic haze as I sat down against a wall to regenerate my Stamina. I was momentarily confused why I stopped my rabid seeking of survival. But then I noticed that my vision was slowly getting black. I also was getting sleepy. I fought against the sensation as good as I could but it was all for nought. The blackness slowly overcame my vision and my body slumped more against the wall than it already did. My mind was slowly whisked away as my body lost all senses. Chapter 3 Slowly my mind began to clear and I woke from my deep slumber. I shot straight up into a sitting position on my bed. Fanatically looking around me I soon realised that I am at home in my bed and not in that weird cave with its game function. Fortunately, it was only a dream. A bad dream but luckily only a dream. It was really terrifying there. It was like I was really with my physical body in this cave. It was simple to real. I sighed and stared at the clock on my bedside table. It looks like I had overslept for work. I let my body fall wearily back into my bed and decided that I should not cry over spilt milk. I just called in sick and ignored everything which had to do with my job. Now breakfast and then I can play video games all day long. As I prepared breakfast I thought about the dream. It felt so extremely realistic but at the same, it could not possibly be real. To extinguish the remaining doubts I decided to simply check my Status like I had in the dream. I concentrated and attempted to will it into existence. To my horror, I heard a ping. The ping that I had started to associate with the notifications of the system. Title: None Name: Nico Moore Age: 21 Race: Human Health Points: 92/92 (Health Points Regeneration: 1.15 per Hour) Mana Points: 104/104 (Mana Points Regeneration: 1.25 per Minute) Stamina Points: 94/94 (Stamina Points Regeneration: 1.2 per Minute) Strength: 7 Vitality: 8 Dexterity: 8 Perception: (10+0.15+0.25) = 10.4 Intelligence: (9+0.25) =9.25 Wisdom: 8 There it was. Hovering in front of my face as vividly as I remembered it. Slowly the horror began to bloom in my mind. It was real. But not only had the horror begun to bloom but also questions over questions. Would I appear again in this cave? Does it happen while I am asleep? How was it possible? There were not only questions and fear in my mind but also excitement. It was real. I could go there again and it was not boring like in real life. It was dangerous and mind breaking but also an adventure. Something I had wanted forever. I real way out and into something that felt real besides the games. Also, different questions began to overwhelm the others. Could I level up skills here in the real world? If my Status screen was here did that mean that the skills and the stats upgrades also changed my real body? Ok, I have to do this slowly and sort the things out that I could test here. The first thing I tested was the skills. Dark Vision was the easiest to test so I started with it. I darkened my apartment through the curtains and looked around. I think I can see better in the dark. That means that the upgrades through my skills were real. Unfortunately, I could not test if stat upgrades were also real because no stat of mine was graded up by even one point. Next, I waited a few minutes in the dark and looked at the progress bar for my Dark Vision skill. It went up slowly and I mean really slow. It looks like one point of experience per minute. I concluded I could train and use my skills in the real world and they influenced me in the real world. If skills could influence me in the real world than my stats should influence me here in the real world also. In this dungeon, my body felt real and if the dungeon allotted me stats points through my real capabilities than that would mean that if I train my body in the real world it would also upgrade my body in the dungeon. No, I crossed that option out because it would be to slow going but skills upgraded my statistic as well. So I should discover what the dungeon considers as a skill. With skills, I could upgrade my stats relative fast. Would it consider language and math as a skill and what about physics and biology? The two skills I head were mental skills. Would there also be physical skills in this game like running? I know that I had to use this skill for the game to consider it as a skill. So I used everything I knew and came up with some skills but sadly I did not get any new pop-ups. I would try them again in the cave. Hopefully, it would work there. How did I get there anyway? I just went to sleep and then I was there. Did this mean I would get there again if I sleep? Does the transportation only work on certain days and only in the night or does it also work during the day? I was in my pyjama as I went to sleep and the pyjama was transported with me into this dungeon. Did that mean that everything I have on my person would also be transported with me or would only my clothes be transported with me into the dungeon? Also, does a watch count as clothing. There was something else also. I could have sworn that I heard something yesterday as I went to sleep. Yeah, Rise or Fall in the dungeon. Was that the cave? A dungeon? Sigh, so many questions. I need a list to keep up with them. I took paper and a pen and sat down at my desk. My first priority was survival. I needed to survive everything that could possibly happen in this dungeon. To survive I would need to get stronger and the fastest method of getting stronger I know of was skills. Not only could I use the skills but they also added points to my statistics.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. So I would need to create more skills the next time I went into the dungeon and I would also have to level them up. But that is something I also could do in the real world. Then there was the problem with food and water. I did not even know if I need to drink and eat anything in the dungeon? There was also the time aspect of the dungeon I had to look into. How long did I stay in the dungeon? My Heath Points were important too. It looked like they would heal after I left the dungeon because I could not feel any pain on my face and there was no wound visible. But I think I was a really long time in the dungeon. It was nevertheless strange that the wound healed so much. As I thought about it my mind called my health point regeneration up. Health Points: 92/92 (Health Points Regeneration: 1.15 per Hour) Now that I think about it my regeneration is way to fast for a human being. I normal cut needs about a week to heal and here it looked like I could heal it in hours. I abandoned that thought process because I could not come up with a logical answer and put that thought in a bag with other questions I had. I soon began to think again about my survival in the dungeon. In the end, I had a list of five points that were critical for my survival and thousands of more questions that I needed to check and investigate.
  1. Create and level skills to improve the body. Examples of skills were math, language, physics, biology, chemistry, running and a breathing technique I had looked up on the internet.
I did not believe that the breathing technique would work myself but it is worth a try. It was also hard to do physics, biology and chemistry in a dungeon with nothing but stone but I had to try everything. I did not put combat on the list because I hoped that I did not need it and also because I did not know any combat techniques. The dungeon had only made skills from things I know or got right on the first try. I did not believe that I would simply get a combat-related skill through punching and kicking the air in the wrong way.
  1. Checking my Health Points.
With that, I meant to injure myself I in any way than looking at my Health Points after I left the dungeon. It was to confirm if I was really healed after I left the dungeon.
  1. Counting time.
Here I would look to prove that everything I wear will get transported to me. I will wear a watch and check if it gets transported with me into the dungeon. I would also sleep with a knife in my hand to further theory. Counting time was important because I want to know how long I am in the dungeon.
  1. Food and water.
I need to check if I get hungry or thirsty in the dungeon. This point also interacts with the third point of the list.
  1. Learn more about the dungeon and the game mechanics.
Learning more about the dungeon will help me understand it better and through this will help me to survive. The game mechanics were also important for my survival. I could check some of it in the real world but I needed more skills to analyse my stats better. I know the general meaning of all statistics but not the in-depth description. So far I had discovered that perception reflects on my senses and my awareness of my environment. I knew that because my two skills added points to perception. One skill did improve my vision in the dark and the other let me remember my environment better through mapping it. Intelligence had something to do with memorization because it helps in the Mind Mapping skill to remember the map better. After I made my list and concluded a bit of the meaning of my stats I used the rest of the time here in the real world to make further preparations. I looked through my wardrobe for proper clothing for my trip into the dungeon. I picked jeans and pullover for my clothing and added thick boots. I also packed a backpack with food, water, a knife, medical supplies and a book to help with creating new skills. I wore the watch on my left hand to be sure that I would be transported with me into the dungeon. Now was the time to train my skills but first I had to look at them again. I knew that the Dark Vision skill had made some progress because as I had thought about my survival list in the dark and noticed my vision getting better. So called up my skill window. Skills (Active&Passive) Active: Mind Mapping. Level 5(126/500) Passive: Dark Vision: Level 3 (213/300) As soon as I saw the huge progress I checked the skills. The Dark Vision skill had not changed much. It only said that I could see to 15% in low light environment and 3% in absolute darkness. The Mind Mapping skill had changed very much. Mind Mapping: Level 5(176/500) (Active) Mind Mapping is the ability to map the surroundings with your mind. It saves the map of your environment in your mind. Cost: 16 Stamina per Minute Bonus for the Level of this Skill: The higher the Level of this skill the more can you remember of your surroundings and the more accurate the map of your surroundings in your mind will get. Adds 0.05 Points of Perception per Level of the Skill. (0.25 Perception) Adds 0.05 Points of Intelligence per Level of the Skill. (0.25 Intelligence) The best thing that could happen had happened. The cost got down by one point per level over 1. That was something extremely good because I could keep it up longer and train more through this. Dark Vision was a passive skill and was always on. That was also the reason why I kept my flat dark. To train it. I had troubled myself because of the Mind Mapping skill. I had thought that I could not train very much with it because of its huge cost but the problem had solved itself. Now the only thing to do was the training. I could keep the mind Mapping skill active for about six minutes and in the first six minutes of my training, I mapped my flat. It was horrifying to feel the energy of your body leaving so fast but soon I got used to it. In the first five and a half minutes I had mapped my entire apartment and I noticed that I got less experience from mapping something I had already a map in my mind. The difference was not huge but I could notice it. Something I also noticed was the clarity and detail of the map. It was much better now that the skill was level five. Soon I was out of Stamina and sat heaving on my couch. I could view the first results of my training because Mind Mapping had levelled up. Unfortunately, I had to wait now about one and a half hour to regenerate my lost Stamina. I used the time to think about more skills I could create. At the end of the day, I laid prepared and fully clothed in my bed. Ready for the dungeon. But I had one major problem. I could not sleep. I was too nervous and excited. So I had a look at my skills again to see the training results for myself. Skills (Active&Passive) Active: Mind Mapping. Level 10(378/1000) Passive: Dark Vision: Level 4 (319/400) The Dark Vision skill got not as much experience as I wanted because after a while I had to leave the apartment to get experience for my Mind Mapping skill. But I also came back after my Stamina was used up to be in the dark for the skill. The Mind Mapping skill had made a massive jump. It now only cost eleven points of Stamina per minute to keep it active. It also raised my Perception and Intelligence by 0.5 Points. I could not feel anything from the upgrade and just hoped that I could feel a difference after it crossed the full point mark. After turning around for hours on end in my bed I noticed that I was slowly getting sleepy. As I drifted away into sleep I heard the voice again. Rise or Fall in the dungeon Chapter 4 I woke again in darkness but this time in familiar darkness. I could feel the cold and hard floor under me again which I associated with the dungeon. I opened my eyes and slowly stood up. I looked around me and noted that I was where I started my dive into the dungeon the first time and not where I left it. If the dungeon would always keep the same shape has yet to be confirmed but I think it will keep it. The second thing it did was looking at me. More specified my clothes. I confirmed that I wore the same clothes that I went to bed with. I wore sturdy shoes with jeans and a warm hoodie. I also wore my watch but my backpack was nowhere to be found. The knife I had kept in my hand was also not here. That means that everything that falls into the categories of clothing and accessories was transported with me into the dungeon. I believe everything else that I had on me was left at home. Now to the next point on my list. The time I stayed in the dungeon. I looked down on my left hand, where the watch was. I noted the time. 02:23 AM. Ok from now the time is counting. For safety, I inspected the pointer for the seconds for some time and noticed something peculiar. The indicator was going slower. Now, I am not the best judge of time but I think that one second in the real world was two seconds here. Why was the watch bound to the real world and not to the dungeon? Did that mean two seconds spent here where one second in the real world? As I thought about this I heard again the ping of the game. Soon a screen flashed in front of my face. You have acquired the skill Inner Clock Lv. 1. As soon as I read it I willed the description of the skill in front of my face. Inner Clock: Level 1(7/100) (Active) A metaphysical clock inside your mind. It helps to count time inside your mind. Cost: 5 Points of Stamina per Minute Bonus for the Level of this Skill: You can count time up to one hour. After this point in time is reached it will become less accurate as the time goes on. Adds 0.05 Points of Perception per Level of the Skill. (0.05) Adds 0.05 Points of Intelligence per Level of the Skill. (0.05) I had wanted to create more skills but I did not think I would be so soon and without intention too. Sadly this skill also cost so much stamina to use. My Stamina would be used up to fast. I would be a good addition to my skills to a later date. The cost was simply too high for me to use it. I had also the Mind Mapping skills which also cost so much but it was far more useful. I also had the watch with me. My regeneration was simply to slow to support both skills at the same time. I just want to explore and map the dungeon first. I dismissed the windows and focused my mind on my plan. First I would try to create mental oriented skills and after that the physical orientate skills. This was the easiest part. The first skill I wanted to create was something based on Mathe. I just counted some numbers in my head. I added numbers up, subtracted them, then multiplied them and at last divided them. After I did this for some time I heard the ping again. You have acquired the skill Mathematics Mastery Lv. 1. Mathematics Mastery: Level 1(10/1000) (Passive) Mathematics is the study of such topics as quantity, structure, space, and change. This skill helps in seeking out patterns and using them to formulate new conjunctions. When mathematical structures are good models of real phenomena, then mathematical reasoning can provide insight or predictions about nature. Through the use of abstraction and logic, mathematics developed from counting, calculation, measurement, and the systematic study of the shapes and motions of physical objects.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Bonus for the Level of this Skill: Reduces the cost of skills with an application in mathematics by 1%. Adds 0.2 Points of Intelligence per Level of the Skill. (0.2) That is creepy. As soon as I had read the description of this skill I felt changes in my mind. It was like knowledge was added. No, it was not added. It simply had more impact on my mind. I could remember the simplest application of math perfectly and use them. I had learned it in school and the most basic things I could always remember. But more complicated things were not always on my mind. Now they were. It was like the knowledge was branded into my mind. I also noted that the added points per level were absurdly high compared to my other skills. But the skill needs much more experience than the other skills to level up. But what caught my attention was the bonus per level. Mathematics was applicable to almost anything. Like the Mind Mapping skill. The skill calculates the width and breadth of my environment and reflected it on the map which was drawn in my mind. It was also applicable to the Inner clock skill. So this skill should reduce the cost of both of them. 1% was not much now but what in the future when this skill had levelled up a bit and I had other skills which would cost much more? I had to level this skill up and fast but first I had to create more skills. The Mathematics Mastery skill was the only mental skill I could come up with that was usable without supplies. Next up was the running skill. It was far too dangerous to simply run straight ahead. So I activated the Mind Mapping skill and went ahead. This time I kept an eye on my Stamina and stopped walking after half was used up by the skill. I noticed that walking also used up Stamina. By my calculations about one stamina point per minute. I also compared the map from the last time and the Map that I had drawn now in my head and discovered that they were identical. That meant that the dungeon did not change. Something else I discovered was that for every point in experience I got in the Mind Mapping skill Mathematics Mastery also got a point of experience. Every skill that used the reduction of Mathematics Mastery counts as experience source for Mathematics Mastery. After pondering that I turned around and started to run back to my spawn point. I ignored the ping I heard after some seconds and kept on running full speed until I saw the wall. I started to slow down and stopped at the wall in front of me. I leaned my back on the wall and let my body slide down. I ignored the screen with the message that I had acquired the running skill and jumped to the skill description. Running: Level 1(79/100) (Active) Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground. This is in contrast to walking, where one foot is always in contact with the ground, the legs are kept mostly straight and the centre of gravity vaults over the stance leg or legs in an inverted pendulum fashion. The term running can refer to any of a variety of speeds ranging from jogging to sprinting. Dexterity and Strength indicate how fast you can run at your maximum speed. Cost: 10 Points of Stamina per Minute Bonus for the Level of this Skill: Movement speed while running increased by 5%. Adds 0.1 Points of Dexterity per Level of the Skill. (0.1) Adds 0.05 Points of Strength per Level of the Skill. (0.05) Adds 0.05 Points of Vitality per Level of the Skill. (0.05) With this skill, many things became clearer. First vitality and strength had something to do with my speed but I think vitality was more about stamina than my speed. Second Dexterity was the most effective stat for running and my movement speed because the skill added more points to it. I also noted that I got one experience point for this skill for every meter I had run. This is also a skill that I would train in the real world because I did not know how safe it was in the dungeon and running was loud. Now that I had this skill I could try for the last skill that I had thought about. A breathing technique. I tried to relax my body as good as possible against the wall and started to breathe. I inhaled and counted to the number four and then exhaled and counted to the number four all through the nose. The Inner Clock skill helped to count to for seconds. I did that until I heard the familiar ping. I willed the description of the skill I got in front of me. Sama Vritti(The Art of Equal Breathing): Level 1(4/1000) (Passive) Breathing is the process of moving air into and out of the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly by bringing in oxygen and flushing out carbon dioxide. You use this principle to strengthen your body by exhaling your fatigue and the impurities in your body and inhaling oxygen for more energy in your body. The rate and depth of breathing are automatically controlled by this skill and is always steady. Bonus for the Level of this Skill: Stamina Regeneration is doubled. Adds 0.1 Points of Strength per Level of the Skill. (0.1) Adds 0.15 Points of Vitality per Level of the Skill. (0.15) Adds 0.1 Points of Dexterity per Level of the Skill. (0.1) This was the best skill I could have possibly gotten. I took care of one of my worst weakness my stamina regeneration and also increased my physical stats. It increased vitality more than the other physical stats proving my theory that vitality had something to do with stamina. The skill was also passive. That meant that I did not have to use it consciously. It was permanently active. I was breathing in the perfect tempo because the skill regulated it. With this skill, I was finally prepared for the dungeon. Grinning like a madman I stood up and began to walk forward. I activated the Mind Mapping and advanced forward on my path to conquer this dungeon. Chapter 5 After nine minutes I had to stop for the first time. I deactivated Mind Mapping. My Stamina was almost entirely depleted with only a few points remaining. I did not want to risk it to deplete my stamina entirely because I did not know what would happen after that. So I stopped for the moment and sat down while leaning against the wall. I decided to stop every time my stamina was at about ten points. It simple safer than going full power because I would be without any energy should something happen while I rested. I would take the time to regenerate my stamina. I had calculated it. It would take about forty minutes to recover my Stamina. After a few minutes, I discovered that for every point of stamina recovered my breathing technique would also get one point of experience and this gain would be doubled if concentrated myself on the exercise of the breathing technique and focused on the right way of breathing. So I focused and tried to regenerate my stamina trough breathing the breathing technique. It was really relaxing. I knew that could do it unconsciously but it was not quite as relaxing as doing it consciously. I also got more experience in the progress bar of the skill, when I do it consciously. After my Stamina was finally full again I decided to check up on all my skills because I had made progress with the Mind Mapping skill and wanted to discover how much progress my other skills have made. The reduced stamina cost that came with the level ups of the Mind Mapping skill was very imported. Through it, I could keep the Mind Mapping skill active longer. Then I would get more experience and I could explore the dungeon faster. It also helped that my stamina regeneration was doubled. Skills (Active&Passive) Active: Mind Mapping: Level 11(43/1100) (Active) Inner Clock: Level 1(7/100) (Active) Running: Level 1(79/100) (Active) Passive: Dark Vision: Level 4 (338/400) (Active) Mathematics Mastery: Level 1(678/1000) (Passive) Sama Vritti (The Art of Equal Breathing): Level 1(123/1000) (Passive) It was time to explore again. As I went on again for nine minutes I noticed a pattern in the map I drew in my mind. After many dead ends, it became slowly squarish. I also noticed that the only ways without many dead ends followed to the middle of the map. As I was recovering my stamina for the second time I contemplated a bit. I also theorised that my Mind Mapping skill was getting so much experience because it cost so much Stamina to use it and through this, my Mathematics Mastery skill progressed also fast because for every point of experience in a skill that the bonus of Mathematics Mastery was applied to it also got a point of experience. The progress bar for the Art of Equal Breathing was also going up fast because I focused on the breathing aspect. It was my most important skill now. It doubled my stamina generation and added points to my physical statistics. After the short look on my skills, I stood up from my rest, activated Mind Mapping and began to advance forward again. As I went on it became really clear that my idea about the paths leading me to the middle of the dungeon was correct. It spurned on my resolve to stay safe. I would first complete the outer layer of the dungeon and then go carefully to the middle. Just a minute before I had to rest again I got a ping from the system. I ignored it in favour of exploring and mapping the dungeon but I had noticed that the map in my head had become more detailed after the ping. So I sat down with excitement for the rest and opened the notification I had ignored so far. Mind Mapping has gone up one level. I decided to look at the description of the skill again because I had levelled it up a second time in barely two hours. This was massive progress for me. Mind Mapping: Level 12(285/1200) (Active) Mind Mapping is the ability to map the surroundings with your mind. It saves the map of your environment in your mind. Cost: 9 Stamina per Minute Bonus for the Level of this Skill: The higher the Level of this skill the more can you remember of your surroundings and the more accurate the map of your surroundings in your mind will get.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Adds 0.05 Points of Perception per Level of the Skill. (0.6 Perception) Adds 0.05 Points of Intelligence per Level of the Skill. (0.6 Intelligence) It was a good idea to look at the skill description after it had levelled up because many things had changed. The first thing which had changed was the cost. It cost less to have the skill active now. I could now keep it active for ten minutes and still have about ten points of stamina in reserve if something unexpected should happen. Through this, I could get more progress on my experience bar on the Mind Mapping skill and also on the Mathematics Mastery. This routine went on for about two hours at that time I decided to rest before something peculiar. I was now on the other side of the squarish dungeon map. As far as I could possibly be away from my spawn point and I had found something really peculiar here. It was a dead end but there were stairs downward in the floor of the dungeon and a wall was behind the stairs. There was also something written behind the stairs on the wall of the dead end. It confirmed the whispered words I always heard before I fell asleep was real. We are always changing Be it in mind or body Be it good or bad But in the end We decide if we Rise or Fall In front of this written words on the wall, I decided to rest and look at my skills because in the about two hours I had levelled up Mind Mapping and Dark Vision. My Mathematics Mastery had also changed much. Skills (Active&Passive) Active: Mind Mapping. Level 14(153/1400) (Active) Inner Clock: Level 1(7/100) (Active) Running: Level 1(79/100) (Active) Passive: Dark Vision: Level 5 (47/500) (Active) Mathematics Mastery: Level 3(367/3000) (Passive) Sama Vritti (The Art of Equal Breathing): Level 1(689/1000) (Passive) I had really made I massive leap in my ability. I could now keep the Mind Mapping skill active for about fourteen minutes before I had to rest and that even though I kept ten points of stamina in reserve. There was also something else. With the level up in Dark Vision, Mind Mapping and Mathematics Mastery I had finally upgraded my intelligence and perception but disappointingly I had felt nothing after it happened. I just hoped I would feel a difference in the real world. I would think about it after I was safe in the real world. I just focused on the breathing technique again as I rested and pondered the question if I should go down the stairs or if I should first explore the dungeon further. In the end, I decided to explore the dungeon further and only when I had cleared, explored and mapped it completely would I go down this stairs. So I went again with exploring but this time I went further to the middle of the dungeon because I had completely mapped the outer layer of it. Shortly after my fourth rest, I discovered a dead end on this path with a chest in front of the wall. First I was totally surprised but then I used my game logic and concluded that it was simply a treasure chest. But it really surprised me. After I had wandered the dungeon for hours and only discovered the stairs I had thought that it would be the same for the rest of it. I was careful while I neared it because most treasures were protected but this was not true here. It was a simple wooden chest with no traps. Just as I wanted to open it a different thought crossed my mind. What if the chest was a trap? So I decided to not open the chest with my hands. I kicked it with all my strength and jumped away as far as I could. Rolled on the ground and turned around. The chest gave out a terrible screech as the kick connected. It was thrown against the wall and a red bar appeared above it. The red bar was drained rapidly of its red colour and as the red bar had completely vanished so had also the chest. It just vanished in a puff of smoke which cleared itself in a second. Then a heard a ping and a screen flashed in front of my face. You have killed a Mimic on the First Floor. Loot will be handed out after you have left the dungeon. I had just killed a creature. I mean a monster if you go by game logic. There were monsters here? Yes, I had thought about that option but to see it with my one eyes is something different. The dungeon was becoming more terrifying and I could not help but to reprimanded myself for my carelessness. I had just walked carefree around the dungeon without thinking. I was just lucky to not be attacked by anything on my way through the dungeon. I would have to be more careful in the future. There was this notice about loot that I would get after I left the dungeon. Did this mean that I would get it after I woke up and what could I get as loot? I decided to think about that after I left the dungeon and also ignored the part about the first floor while I was in the dungeon. I opened my skill window after I had rested on the place where the mimic had died. I had heard some pings as I had explored the dungeon which I had all ignored and was ready to get my reward after I had waited for so long. Skills (Active&Passive) Active: Mind Mapping. Level 15(1059/1500) (Active) Inner Clock: Level 1(7/100) (Active) Running: Level 1(79/100) (Active) Kicking: Level 1(10/100) (Active) Passive: Dark Vision: Level 5 (445/500) (Active) Mathematics Mastery: Level 4(2127/4000) (Passive) Sama Vritti (The Art of Equal Breathing): Level 1(989/1000) (Passive) So much had changed on this list and I wanted to ¡ächeck it all out, especially the new skill I got. First, the Mind Mapping skill only cost six stamina points per minute now and I could keep it active for about eighteen minutes. Mathematics Mastery had levelled up again and I was thrilled by it. The skill gave my 0.2 points of intelligence for every level of it. Then there was the art of equal breathing. It would level soon and I was anticipating the change to skill. There was also the new skill I had earned Kicking. I think I got it through kicking the Mimic to death. Just as I wanted to open it everything began to get black. After some seconds everything was black and I was whisked away into the darkness without any noise.