e-booksonline Chapter 20 Re-entering the Dungeon
Chapter 20 Re-entering the Dungeon
Bronze Adventurer?
Zhou Qing was stunned for a moment.
So, only those who give it their all are considered bronze level?
This world is indeed very complex. If I have the chance, I must learn the magic and combat skills of this world to improve myself.
Vanessa quickly bowed her head to take notes and stepped forward respectfully, saying, "Thank you, Ms. Joanna."
"Adventurer, I will take you to complete the formalities and issue the certificate."
Joanna winked at Zhou Qing: "Little brother, remember to come visit me for a drink sometime."
After saying that, he went straight back.
Zhou Qing started daydreaming again.
Could this female sorceress be after my body?
How despicable!
Shameless.
Soon, Zhou Qing followed Vanessa back to the association's hall and paid an appraisal fee of 1 silver coin and a handling fee of 10 copper coins.
Before long, Vanessa handed him a parchment document with his information on it, along with a bronze badge.
"This is your adventurer's certificate and badge. You will now be able to accept quests of Bronze level and below."
Vanessa then explained in more detail: "Solo adventurers can only accept quests that are the same level as or lower than their own. After joining a party, they can accept quests that are no higher than the party's level or no higher than the level of the highest-ranking member in the party."
"If you want to form a team as soon as possible, we can push your information to teams that need members."
"Not for now," Zhou Qing decisively refused, then took his leave.
……
I'm back!
Zhou Qing reappeared in the Kara dungeon.
The smell of damp earth mixed with the stench of monsters wafted towards us.
Zhou Qing rubbed his hands together, thinking to himself, "Let me take a good look at the entrance to the second level of the underground city."
He reached out and pulled a parchment map from the darkness.
This is a map that Zhou Qing bought for a few copper coins at a stall near the entrance of the Adventurers' Guild after leaving the guild.
Zhou Qing spread the map out in front of him and examined it carefully by the light of the moss on the rock wall that emitted a faint fluorescent glow.
In addition to the map of the first level of the dungeon, he also bought the maps of the second to fifth levels in one package.
However, the further along the map you go, the more illegible and blurry the lines become, with large areas left blank and shrouded in the fog of war.
Of course, this is not because the merchants deliberately withheld their goods, but because exploring the dungeon is inherently extremely difficult.
Apart from the first three levels having relatively clear maps, the deeper areas have never been fully explored by adventurers.
Even the Brave Hearts team, who had just triumphantly conquered the eighth floor yesterday, had only found the entrance to the ninth floor.
Even the first three levels, which were said to have been fully explored years ago, have seen adventurers frequently discover new areas and secret passages over the years.
Zhou Qing quickly devised the optimal route to the entrance to the second floor.
According to the Adventurers' Guild's recommendation, Iron-tier adventurers are only suitable for grinding monsters on the first floor, while Bronze-tier adventurers like him should seek more challenging levels on the second or third floor.
The monsters on the second and third floors are more durable and stronger.
Stronger strength often means better quality ingredients, which will likely boost one's physical and energy levels more.
Therefore, Zhou Qing naturally wouldn't stay on the first floor, but would go to the deeper floors to purchase goods.
Moreover, he does need real combat experience to hone his martial arts skills.
He had already mastered the basic high school boxing and stick techniques, but if he wanted to break through to perfection, simply practicing repeatedly behind closed doors would not work.
Even with top-notch instructors, practical experience is an indispensable key element, because theoretical knowledge alone will never develop true skills.
Of course, he has the Great Luo characteristic of "one certificate for eternity", so even if he doesn't engage in actual combat and just stays at home all day to hone his skills, he can still slowly reach perfection by constantly grinding experience.
But the thought of that snail-paced speed made Zhou Qing roll his eyes.
"Even if I have a cheat, I can't waste it like this. By the time I grind experience to reach the perfect level, I'll probably be graduating from high school. It's much more efficient to fight monsters in actual combat. I can hone my skills and collect ingredients at the same time. It's a win-win situation."
Putting away the map, Zhou Qing gripped the enchanted wooden staff and hurried toward the planned route.
"There are too many elite monsters on the third floor, and the risk of failure is a bit high. It's safer to start farming from the second floor first."
"Let's accumulate some ingredients and combat experience on the second floor first. Once we're familiar with the monsters here, we can go to the third floor to grind monsters."
Time passed quickly, and before long, the outline of the second entrance was already faintly visible in the darkness ahead.
The journey was relatively smooth; we didn't encounter any troublesome monsters, only four wobbly walking mushrooms.
Before they could even react, Zhou Qing had given each of them a whack with his stick, and they fell asleep peacefully.
Just as Zhou Qing was about to reach the entrance to the second level, he suddenly stopped and his eyes instantly became alert.
Not far to the left, there was a swamp where a huge frog-like monster was crouching.
This giant frog is bright red all over, with strange black spiral patterns all over its body. The colors are so vibrant that it looks like it grew up eating paint.
In the dimly lit underground city environment, the glowing plants stood out starkly.
Zhou Qing looked at him warily.
"What's the story behind this giant frog?"
"Judging by this color scheme, it's most likely poisonous."
Zhou Qing remembered that when he bought the map, he had also bought a monster encyclopedia, so he quickly reached out and pulled it out from the dark space.
On the third page, he found the relevant record of this giant frog.
But the text on it was all convoluted and incomprehensible, like a book written in heaven. I couldn't understand a single word, except for one illustration.
"The encyclopedia is great, but unfortunately I'm a poor parent."
Zhou Qing casually tossed the useless illustrated book back into the dark space.
It seems I need to find some time to brush up on the language and writing system of this fantasy world.
We can't keep having to read the encyclopedia like it's some kind of gibberish every time we look at it.
Fortunately, language and writing can be used as a skill to gain experience.
With Zhou Qing possessing the "One Certificate, Permanent Certificate" status, learning it would be a piece of cake.
By then, not only will you be able to create an encyclopedia, but you'll also be able to translate the ancient scripts in the dungeons perfectly, instantly turning you into a cultured person!
He also became a scholar.
Despite his thoughts, Zhou Qing remained vigilant.
The more flashy something is, the more dangerous it is. This is common sense in my past life and the martial arts world, but it might also apply to this fantasy world.
Zhou Qing subtly tensed his body, gripped the enchanted wooden stick in his hand, and secretly prepared himself to become a slime to resist the poison at any time.
Perhaps this giant frog's static vision is similar to that of its relatives from another world—it's quite poor.
It didn't see Zhou Qing not far away at all, squatted in place in a daze, as if contemplating the meaning of frog life, and then hopped and skipped towards the swamp on the left.
This is the time!
Zhou Qing's eyes sharpened, and he suddenly exerted force with his feet, his figure shooting out like an arrow. The enchanted wooden stick in his hand whistled through the air as it slammed into the giant frog's back.
"Bang!"
The giant frog was instantly smashed open, its red and white sap splattering all over the ground. Its massive body collapsed with a crash and never moved again.
Zhou Qing stood there stunned for three seconds.
Seriously? It's that fragile?
It broke before I even tried to break it. It's just a pretty but useless piece of furniture.
All that tension and preparation for dealing with the virus turned out to be completely unnecessary.
Zhou Qing stepped forward and gently poked the minced meat on the ground with his enchanted wooden stick to confirm that the giant frog was definitely dead. With a casual wave of his hand, he stored the spoils into the dark space.
Regardless of whether it's poisonous or not, pick it up first. After all, it's food delivered to our door; it would be such a waste to throw it away.
I'll find a place to process it later; maybe if I remove the poisonous parts, it will be edible.
Zhou Qing raised her head, her gaze fixed on the entrance to the second floor not far away, and continued on her way with light steps.