Every dreamer is a killer in this Endless Dream. They can't be trusted. But still, I was trusting Anna blindly because of only one reason.
Her being the main protagonist.
As we entered the boss room, Anna rushed straight toward the guardians protecting the boss who was sitting on the throne. It was an orc-type dungeon.
The guardians were also orcs, but their size was the same as the size of the goblin boss I met. As I expected, the boss was double the size of the guardians.
"Well then, see you, Hong-ssi!"
Minjae and Hyunwoo split into two directions. They were going to support Anna.
Wait, they didn't tell me anything!
Me and Seonyeon were on our own.
Gulp
It was time to use my skills in front of my characters. I needed to show them that I was strong. Strong enough to rival Anna.
I took a step forward while I realized that Minjae and Hyunwoo were side-eyeing me and Seonyeon.
It was truly understandable now. I understood why they decided to raid a D-rank dungeon when they could've easily raided a C-rank one.
They were testing if saving me and Seonyeon was worth their time.
"Seonyeon."
"Hm?"
"Show your slicing power to them. You leveled up a lot, right?"
"Yeah, I did."
I pointed my hand at the orcs.
"Kill 10 orcs in 10 minutes."
I looked behind, toward her.
"And I'll rescue Chaeyoung in 10 days for you."
Seonyeon walked in front of me and looked back at me.
"Mark your words, useless."
I closed and opened my eyes with a smile of satisfaction. This smile disappeared the very moment Seonyeon rushed at the orcs.
Two daggers spawned in Seonyeon's hands while she was running toward the enraged orcs. She probably got them from the store.
I looked around and saw exactly what I expected. Minjae and Hyunwoo were just looting the dead bodies of 6-7 orcs they had killed, while Anna was just sitting on the dead orcs. She was matching eye level with the boss orc.
Both of them were staring at each other like they were measuring each other's strength.
Hyunwoo looked at me and shouted,
"Aren't you going to kill some orcs?"
Ah, my time has finally come.
I started walking toward the orcs.
This time I won't fail.
[ Fire Element lvl.1 has been activated ]
I rubbed the ring on my finger. It was material manipulator.
"Yes, I am."
A flaming blade appeared in my hands thanks to the ring I was wearing. It was time to show them what the writer can truly do.
[ Void has donated 1000cc for you survival ]
Wait! I totally forgot about him.. it's a big help.
[ Total Coins remaining - 3800cc ]
[ Magic Power Lvl.1 --> Lvl.6 ]
[ Endurance Lvl.1 --> Lvl.6 ]
[ Agility Lvl.4 --> Lvl.8 ]
[ Strength Lvl.8 --> Lvl.10 ]
In the early days of the Endless Dream, no one knew how to do anything, that's why everything was pretty cheap for those who had brains and could use them to become strong.
Yet, being at Lvl.10 doesn't mean I've become strong. Leveling up a bit only makes us a bit stronger. These stat levels will start to feel real when the true time comes. That's why Lvl.10 feels like Lvl.5, which resulted in me getting beat up by some random goblin.
[ 1800cc has been used ]
[ Total coins Remaining - 2000cc ]
Everything is just messed up in the beginning, which led to easy power-ups. Those who know about it will take advantage of it, and those who don't—
Will die.
The orcs rushed at me while I was walking toward them. My eyes locked onto them.
I'll become stronger.
The thoughts of that murim guy flooded into me.
He was stronger, so he played with me.
More thoughts of my past. Of my teenage years.
They were stronger, so they played with me.
More. More. More.
Now these side casts want to measure my strength. Will they also play with me?
No. They will do something worse.
They will betray me.
That's why—
An orc rushed and made a fist.
It put all its strength in that fist and punched me in the stomach so strongly that even the ground cracked the moment the punch landed.
"RAARRRGHH!!"
"Agh—"
Due to the punch, a force threw my body into the wall of the dungeon room. Cracks started to appear on the wall. This time the wall didn't crumble, nor did it get a deep hole. It only had small cracks. Which was enough to tell me that these orcs were weaker than that goblin boss and the murim guy.
My legs stood up and I wiped the blood flowing from my nose and looked at the orcs.
I'll become stronger.
The more I level up, the more I'll be able to use Fire Element. That's the chemical reaction to kill these orcs.
The flaming sword spawned again in my hands and I rushed at the orcs who were walking toward me. Their heavy steps could easily make a normal human fall to their knees.
"Nngh!"
I threw the flaming sword at one of the orcs. He caught it and then saw some burns on his hand.
It gave me enough time to run and make a flaming axe.
My tattered cloak was flying in the air and I swung the axe at the orc's hand in order to cut it completely.
But the axe got stuck between its bone.
I tried to push it with all my strength.
But it didn't move.
I quickly ran over to my screen and saw the strength level.
It's fucking 10! Why is this problem not solved yet?!
Level 10 feels like Level 5 because of a messed-up system. It actually got fixed after the Dreamer's Delusion one. That's why if you level up quickly, it doesn't mean you'll become stronger.
The orc punched me again in the stomach.
"GRUAAAAHHH!!"
"Aagh—"
A force again threw my body at the wall. The cracks had become deeper this time.
***
Seonyeon on the other side was doing pretty well.
She teamed up with Minjae and Hyunwoo to kill the orcs.
She ran away from an orc to make the orc lose its focus. Which resulted in Minjae coming from behind and stabbing the orc's head.
They had killed 5 orcs by using this strategy.
Minjae wiped the sweat.
"You're doing really great, Seonyeon-ssi."
"I'm not that great."
Seonyeon was trying to hide her excitement. She really loves to kill.
Hyunwoo came toward Minjae.
"Min, seems like he won't do."
"Did he die?"
Minjae asked while looting the dead orc's body.
"No."
He looked toward Hyunwoo who was standing behind him.
"Then we just need to wait for him to die."
***
Not enough. Not enough.
It's still not enough. My strength is still not enough.
I stood up again, blood flowing from my head.
I'm still weak.
Two flaming daggers spawned in my hands. I stood in an attacking position.
My eyes, which were now becoming red, were locked onto them.
I'm still not dead. I'll try again, again, again and again. Until I'm dead.
I quickly ran toward the orcs who were now laughing at me. They were laughing like they hadn't seen me. They were just ignoring me.
I made a stabbing stance and—
"RRRAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"
Stabbed the orc's stomach. It didn't go that deep, but I could feel that I had stabbed him.
I then started to move the dagger around its body to cut the orc in half. The dagger didn't move. It had stopped.
All of my hope, which I had put into this attack, was now vanishing in front of me.
The orc tried to punch me in the stomach again and—
[ Strength - Lvl.10 ---> Lvl.20 ]
[ Magic Power - Lvl.6 --> Lvl.16 ]
Lvl.20 will feel like Lvl.10 and Lvl.16 will feel like Lvl.6. I don't care if I have to spend all my coins on it. But what I care about is—
If I'm staying alive or not.
A hand was flying in the air. A giant hand of an orc. The other orcs were shocked at this sight. The person they were laughing at this whole time had now taken a hand from one of their brother's bodies.
Of course they would be surprised.
The difference between Lvl.5 and Lvl.10 is this: Lvl.5 can't slice bones, but Lvl.10 can slice them. Easily.
Increased magic power will now help me to make more flaming items constantly.
My eyes unfazed. My flaming dagger drenched in blood.
The orc went for a serious punch downwards on me.
"RAARRRGHH!"
I tried to dodge the punch—
"Hmph!"
But I was late. Late to dodge the solid blow. My body fell onto the ground. The ground didn't have any cracks this time.
The orc was feeling pain because of its cut hand, which led to it not using all its strength. This time, blood wasn't drenching from my head or from anywhere.
It was easy to tell that the orc had become weaker. The orc wasn't expecting me to stand up now, as it was in its own delusion of killing me.
"Gah-Gahh"
It laughed and started walking away— Stone started to fall on the ground, which made a small amount of sound. But it was enough for the orc to realize that its enemy wasn't down.
It suddenly looked behind, and I was standing in front of it again. I was standing a bit tilted because my back was feeling enormous pain due to all those punches.
The orc sighed and—
It went to grab my head. It was planning to do something with it.
My eyes, which were being covered by my hair, suddenly looked up at the eyes of the orc. I was smirking at the orc like I knew he was gonna do that attack.
Or I was waiting for him to do that.
I vanished from his sight in the blink of an eye and— The orc felt something sitting on its neck.
It tried to get that thing down, but before it was able to touch that thing, he heard a voice.
"Sleep well."
Level 10 strength is pretty strong. Its trait is that now you can easily slice any bone of any low or mid-rank monster, which includes the orcs present in the dungeon.
The orc's head fell to the ground. The blood was spraying from its neck and—
I was standing in front of it without any issue.
I swung the dagger to clear the blood from it.
And looked at the other orcs who were surprised by this scene.
My eyes locked onto them and—
"Who's next?"