<h1>My first exploration (1)</h1>
A dungeon suddenly appeared within the basement of my house.
Making up my mind to explore it, I decided to head back home for the time being.
My adventurer parents taught me that preparation is key for any adventure. It’s sheer stupidity to head into uncharted territory without making proper arrangements.
After completing my preparations, I stood before the entrance of the dungeon, as if I have been waiting for this to happen through my entire life. And I was now more than ready to accept the challenge!
Wearing leather gloves on both hands, robust steel toe boots, and safari jacket my parents had given me once as a present after coming back from a trip from Africa. I carried a small backpack with tools in it and a survival knife on my waist.
Because we have so much adventurer gear laying around in the house, it was fairly quick for me to put a set of equipment together. And I was no stranger to using them. Whenever I was alone I would give them a try, and when my parents were back at home they would give me personal lessons on using them.
Now according to the book, there should only be low LV monsters on the first floor….. While paying attention to the situation, the goal is to retrieve the items from the First Zone and to bring them back safely.
I step into the dungeon. While my current LV is Zero. On the other hand, the LV of monsters on this floor are between 1 – 5.
Let’s see how far I can go with this LV gap and see how much of a difference it makes in battle. At the very least, I want to acquire those Magic Tools that were mentioned in the book.
Obviously, I shouldn’t become too greedy, but it's within an Adventurer’s nature to know what kind of rewards they’ll reap once I am through this place.
Moving down the corridor I could feel my heart pounding through my chest. And then I passed the area from my first time around, finally arriving at the stairs which headed down. The silence weighed heavy on me.
It was mentioned in the book that from here on, monsters would begin to appear.
There are four enemy creatures in the First Zone, a “Tanuki”, “Dormouse”, “Azure Rose” and “Hollow Tree”…… Each one has a distinct way of fighting.
Before I went down the stairs, I commit the contents of the book into my memory. Having read the entire book, I memorized all the information from the First Zone to the Fifth Zone.
All that knowledge should be enough.
Taking a deep breath, I exhale to calm down before using the stairs.
Rather than feeling anxious, my excitement kept on growing on itself.
Just like an adventurer should.
“Did I already go down more than fifty steps?” I muttered to myself.
Having gone down and reached the end of the stairs, I stepped into the First Zone.
Nothing appears different from before…. Everything is still made out of stone. The wind is still blowing down the corridor. It’s probably carrying my scent down. I noted.
Worrying about how the wind is carrying my smell into the dungeon, I carefully move down the hall.
Because this was a labyrinth, the paths opened up in various directions.
The Dungeon's paths & structure weren’t recorded in the book, from here on out. So, I’ll have to explore everything on my own.
For now, let’s just move while sticking to the walls on the right….
Knowing what needs to be done, I cautiously begin walking. A standard maze can easily be mapped if you stick your right hand along the wall, and move forward along that wall alone.
This is one of many methods to solve a maze and is often called the right-hand rule.
And of course, there are cases where mazes can’t be solved in this manner, but at least I don’t need to worry about not finding my way home.
If I want to go back home, I just need to go in reverse and backtrack by using the same wall.
Every time I neared a corner, I moved while paying careful attention to my surroundings.
Move forward, stay alert, and then turn, move forward, stay alert, and then turn, move forw………
With how complicated this dungeon is, I wouldn’t be surprised if anyone became lost. The next time I come back, I’ll definitely map out the place.
Well, then again, if I do become lost. In that case, as long as I become critically hurt, I’ll be brought back to the entrance, inflicting harm to myself is also an option.
The exploration of the passageways went smoothly as nothing unexpected occurred.
If my senses are right, the first zone is a fairly moderate size, if I were to measure from the stairs to this point in a straight line it would be about 300 meters.
But since I haven’t come across any monsters, this place may be larger than I originally thought.
(Those torches….. I wonder what makes them keep on burning?)
Whenever I pass by one of the torches hanging on the wall, that sort of question naturally comes to mind.
Because there is air freely flowing, I know that is one of the factors for combustion.
My only issue is…. what keeps it from burning out?
It’s just strange, it hasn’t been long from when I found this dungeon, but it’s obviously been burning for a long time.
Just looking at the torch, it should only burn for about 2 hours, but it just keeps on.
Whatever, I shouldn’t lose my sleep over this…..
I quickly cast aside my doubts and just focus on my exploration.