Inside the dungeon, Arthur looked ahead.
The dungeon was located inside a massive cave and had a total of five floors. Each floor contained roughly thirty monsters. The first floor started with Level 5 Common monsters, while the fifth floor contained Level 9 Common monsters along with a Level 10 Common Boss.
That was why Arthur had been so cautious for nothing. Even if someone discovered this dungeon at this point in the game, they would not be able to defeat even the first floor, let alone clear the entire dungeon.
Arthur looked ahead and saw five orcs roaming about twenty meters away.
"Come out."
Arthur muttered, and five skeletons instantly emerged beside him.
As soon as the skeletons appeared, the orcs immediately sensed their menacing presence.
Boom!
The skeletons did not give them a chance to react. They dashed forward and finished off all five orcs as easily as cutting through butter.
"Keep slaughtering."
After giving the order, Arthur sat down cross-legged.
A strange technique had appeared in his mind, and he wanted to try it.
The moment he attempted to activate the technique, a voice suddenly rang inside his mind.
[Ding! You have learned the Cultivation Breathing Technique.]
[Name: Cultivation Breathing Technique]
[Grade: Mythical]
[Function: Allows the user to cultivate up to the Demigod Realm.]
Arthur almost burst into laughter.
In his previous life, the game had not only given humans various classes. Humans had also eventually discovered a cultivation technique that allowed even those who had failed to awaken a class to become stronger.
In one month, the game would merge with reality, and the monsters would invade the real world. By that point, no new human would be able to enter the game without awakening a class.
Once that happened, awakening a class would become a matter of extreme luck. Perhaps only one person among tens of thousands would successfully awaken one.
But humanity’s hope was not completely extinguished.
They could still cultivate using the Cultivation Breathing Technique. If a human could awaken a core after reaching twice the physical strength of an ordinary human’s natural limit, they could become a cultivator.
The final realm of cultivation was the Demigod Realm, whose strength was comparable to that of a Level 100 Awakener. However, in his previous life, only a handful of people had ever reached the seventh realm, let alone the tenth realm.
One of Arthur’s greatest regrets was that he had never gotten the opportunity to cultivate.
The cultivation technique had only been discovered two years after the game’s invasion. By that time, Arthur had already become a powerful Awakener.
Awakeners did not have the same physical limit as ordinary humans, so he could never push his body beyond the required limit and awaken a core.
However, some Demon Grade prodigies had managed to awaken their cores before obtaining a class. Afterward, when they awakened their classes, they became terrifyingly powerful and could even fight opponents one or two realms above themselves.
Arthur had envied those people in his previous life, but there had been nothing he could do about it.
This time, everything was different.
He would awaken his core while he was still in this realm. Then, when the game eventually merged with reality, he would possess both a class and a cultivation core.
"Not bad. Not bad at all."
Arthur’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
"But I’ll have to reach Level 10 to practically reach my physical limit in this town. My core should awaken after I reach that limit. Let’s wait until I clear all three modes twice. By then, I’ll have enough money to level up to 10."
Arthur muttered to himself before continuing his cultivation.
Soon, another notification sounded.
[Ding! You have gained 150 Gold.]
[Congratulations! You have cleared the 1st floor. Do you want to proceed to the 2nd floor?]
"Of course."
The moment Arthur answered, he and his five skeletons instantly vanished from the first floor.
.....
"I paid 361,000 dollars to buy 3,610 Silvers. I’m going to build a Silver Grade Foundation. Even though this is just a game, I believe this game represents the future of us gamers, so I still need to build a decent foundation."
One gamer spoke with a grim expression.
"Heh heh! I paid 36 million to build a Gold Grade Foundation."
Another player proudly raised his head.
"Oh my god! You’ll definitely become one of the top bigshots after Big Boss Darklord. When you return to the game after checking the outside world, please let me lick your boots in advance, big shot."
"Of course. See? The sole is a little dirty. Clean it properly, and I might consider taking you under my banner."
"Yes, give me the boot. My tongue is the sharpest, I always make my girl come with nothing but my tongue."
"Shameless bastard"
Six players used their money to level up to Level 5.
"Okay, brothers. Let’s go out. We’ll be back soon. Also we will tell your families to put more balance into your bank accounts in case you fail to level up. The monsters are damn tough, and the money drops aren’t that great."
"Thank you, brothers. Best of luck. At least ask our families to put more nutrients into our gaming pods. Who knows how long we’ll need to reach Level 5?", those who were not going to use money, licked others who were going out.
.....
Fifteen minutes later, Arthur and his five skeletons stood before the enormous gate leading to the boss room.
Arthur pushed the massive door open.
Inside stood a High Orc that was at least five meters tall, surrounded by ten ordinary orcs.
"Roaaaaaaar!"
A sky-shattering roar echoed throughout the room the moment they entered.
Arthur calmly raised his pinky finger and put it inside his ear, his expression filled with irritation.
"You make too much noise."
Boom!
His figure vanished.
The next moment, all the orcs, including the boss, burst into blood mist.
[Ding! You have gained 75 Gold.]
[Congratulations! You have cleared the Graveyard of the Orcs, Easy Mode, as the first person in the server. A server-wide announcement will now be made.]
Arthur did not have time to care about the announcement.
His attention had already fallen on a glowing orb lying on the ground.
He walked over and touched it.
[Ding! You have obtained a Legendary Grade Orc Cleaver.]
Arthur nodded.
He did not bother checking its properties. The Orc Cleaver could only be used by Warriors, and he already knew that much.
[Server-wide Announcement: Congratulations to player "Darklord" from Azure Town for becoming the first player in the server to clear the first dungeon in Easy Mode. He has gained 1 Reputation Point.]
At that moment, all the players from the one hundred towns in Server One looked toward the sky.
"That’s not right, right?"
"How can someone solo a dungeon, even in Easy Mode, only three hours after the game started?"
"The leveling system is already this damn ridiculous. How the hell did he become strong enough to clear a dungeon?"
"Did he spend billions to build a Platinum Grade Foundation or something?"
Elite players across the server stared at the sky in disbelief.
For the first time, many of them began seriously doubting their lives and careers as gamers.
This bastard named Darklord was clearly surpassing everything they had imagined.