Chapter 101 - Acting Cute?
"Are you okay?"
Roy looked at Eina, who had hastily covered her mouth, nearly smothering herself, and couldn't help but express concern.
"Cough, cough... I'm fine, I'm fine!"
Eina quickly moved her hands away from her face to breathe more easily, then stared at Roy intently, as if trying to make her condition clear to him.
"So... is something wrong with me?"
Under Eina's gaze, Roy didn't feel uncomfortable. Instead, he flashed a broad smile.
"No... nothing."
Eina faltered, her cheeks tinged with a faint pink.
What's going on?
Why is today so different?
Eina felt a strange flutter in her heart. Yesterday, she had interacted with Roy calmly.
But today, a single smile from him set her heart racing.
Roy's skill had amplified his own charm.
For the opposite sex, Roy was like a magnet, drawing them in unconsciously.
With his already striking appearance, this made him nearly irresistible, easily stirring excitement in those without special resistances.
Eina took a moment to steady herself, suppressing the panic in her chest.
"I was just surprised," she said. "When my colleague mentioned it yesterday, I could hardly believe it."
"You're only Level 1. How did you defeat a Level 5? That Loki Familia's Amazon is a seasoned Level 5!"
"It was a fluke," Roy replied, not wanting to delve into details. The truth was complicated, so he kept it simple.
"Tiona wasn't taking it seriously. She was probably just playing around, and when I got the upper hand, she conceded."
"That's still impressive," Eina said, unable to hide her shock.
"I heard you've also defeated several Level 3 and Level 4 adventurers before."
As an adventurer's advisor, Eina knew how vast the strength gap was between levels.
Yet the man before her had bridged that gap. She couldn't fathom how he'd done it.
"Sorry, I'm asking too many questions," Eina said, blushing as she apologized.
She'd suddenly realized her mistake.
Adventurers often guarded their secrets, especially those like Roy, who could defeat opponents far above his level.
Prying into such matters was unprofessional for a guild advisor.
Roy likely underwent intense training before becoming an adventurer, she thought.
But how had he gained such strength without a Falna? It was a mystery, and probing further wasn't her place.
"You're planning to head into the dungeon today, right?" Eina asked, changing the subject.
"Yes," Roy nodded. "I'd like to pick up a map."
The guild provided maps of the dungeon, though only for the well-explored upper floors.
Eina handed Roy a booklet.
"Only up to the tenth floor?" Roy asked, flipping through it.
The booklet detailed maps of floors one through ten, along with the most common monsters on each.
"Yes," Eina confirmed.
"The guild only provides maps up to the tenth floor for rookie adventurers."
"Even if I'm strong enough for the lower floors?" Roy asked, a hint of frustration in his voice.
"The dungeon is dangerous," Eina explained.
"In the middle and lower floors, a single mistake can be fatal. For safety, most adventurers explore those areas in teams."
"Even if your strength rivals high-class adventurers, going alone is still risky."
She looked at him seriously. "Adventurers mustn't take unnecessary risks. That's the iron rule."
Roy's strength was largely based on rumors, not officially verified, and he was still a Level 1 adventurer.
Whether for guild regulations or his safety, Eina felt compelled to emphasize caution.
"Eina," Roy said, his gaze locking onto hers.
"Y-yes?" Eina stammered.
His intense, warm eyes sent ripples through her newly calmed emotions.
Her face flushed, and she averted her gaze.
"I'm not some reckless fool treating adventuring like a game," Roy said with a faint smile, his voice carrying quiet confidence.
"I go into the dungeon to hone my skills and grow stronger. You get that, right? If I don't face tougher monsters, there's no point."
"No!" Eina said firmly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"You're still a rookie. You may not even know what the dungeon is really like."
"Even with your strength, you need to be fully prepared. If you want to reach the middle or lower floors, start by mastering the upper floors."
Her tone softened slightly.
"Once you're familiar with the upper floors and fighting monsters, you might not need a map."
"I've heard adventurers on the eighteenth floor sell maps for the lower floors."
Roy grinned. "Eina, you're pretty cute, you know that?"
Adventurers often traded resources, though some practices, like selling dungeon maps, were restricted by the guild in Orario for safety reasons.
In the dungeon, however, rules were looser.
"W-what are you saying?!" Eina's blush deepened.
"Here, this is for you, and this is for that Misha, from yesterday," Roy said, leaving two small gifts before swiftly exiting the guild hall toward Babel.
"Wait!" Eina called, wanting to return the gift, but Roy was already gone.
"Ugh, how did I end up with an adventurer like him?" Eina muttered, though a smile crept onto her face.
"Eina, you're grinning like something amazing happened," Misha said, emerging with a stack of documents and returning to her counter.
She groaned about her workload before narrowing her eyes at Eina.
"That's a pretty bright smile. Are you in love or something?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Eina huffed, handing Misha one of the gift boxes.
"This is a thank-you from Roy."
"For me?" Misha said, surprised, then smirked teasingly.
"Just a side gift, huh? Still, this Roy seems like a good guy. Why can't I meet an adventurer like that?"
The origins of the dungeon are shrouded in mystery.
Long before the gods descended, over a thousand years ago in ancient times, the dungeon already existed.
Back then, it was merely a vast abyss that appeared on the earth, spewing monsters that threatened the world.
To seal it, people built a massive cover over the abyss to keep the monsters at bay—the precursor to Babel.
When the gods descended, their meteoric arrival shattered this cover.
To make amends, they helped the people of the lower world construct a new one: Babel, which now guards the dungeon's entrance.
As the morning rush had passed, only a few adventurers in small groups entered the dungeon.
At Babel's entrance, a bottomless pit led to a silver spiral staircase.
Roy descended, soon reaching the first floor.
A tunnel-like labyrinth stretched before him.
[Congratulations. You've completed the task 1 and earned 2,000 dimension points.]
The system prompt chimed in Roy's ears as he stepped onto the floor.
"So, reaching the first floor completes the task," Roy mused.
"Let's see if the second floor works the same way."
He considered asking the system for details but decided against it, wary of wasting dimension points with so many floors ahead.
Following the map, he headed toward the second floor.
In the dungeon, every floor had to be traversed step by step, with no shortcuts, even for high-class adventurers.
Crack!
A mechanism triggered as Roy stepped forward.
The walls split open, and something emerged.
Revealing eight Kobolds that charged at him.
"I don't have time to waste on you," Roy said, drawing Freed's holy pistol.
Infusing it with power of light, he fired eight precise shots, each bullet striking a Kobold.
The monsters collapsed, their bodies turning into ash.
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