Chapter 81: Dungeon In The Park

Ethan took a deep breath. It really wasn’t a dungeon...

He stood on a paved walkway with his mouth slightly hung open and his mind still catching up to the fact that this wasn’t a dungeon.

He was in what looked like a public park with people staring at him like they’ve seen a ghost. He looked around... there were no MCA barriers, no beasts, nothing... just him, a fountain and and the fact that he had just walked out of a tear in reality right were people would see him.

A choked sound escaped him. "You’re joking."

The system clearly said he would be entering a dungeon. So why wasn’t anyone in sight?

"Glitch maybe?"

That would have been a suitable explanation... only, the system hadn’t glitched. System’s don’t glitch. So he was either already in a dungeon, or finding the dungeon was part of the objective.

"But I haven’t seen the clear conditions..." he groaned and rubbed his face.

Around him, the people who saw him walk out of the tear vegan to speak.

"Who is he?"

"He just stepped out of some kind portal."

"MCA hunter maybe?"

"True, but what is he doing here?"

"I heard there was a dungeon somewhere around here. Maybe he’s here for that. I didn’t know they would respond this fast."

The word "dungeon" snagged at his ear, and his head snapped towards her. He was contemplating whether or not to ask her but the man standing next to her did it for him.

"Dungeon? Where?"

She pointed at a spot near the bushes. "There. I saw someone running out of it."

Ethan followed her hand and walked towards the place she pointed and began moving.

He stepped through the shrubs and walked straight, the leaves crunching under his shoes as he moved.

The further he moved, he noticed that the air slowly began to feel thick and had a subtle hum to it. He continued forward and a while, between two shrubs, the air felt wrong.

Soon, he saw it...

A vertical tear in space was in front of him, spreading outward like the roots of a tree. It hummed and pulse, and Ethan had too look away because staring too much made his eyes ache.

He moved closer, and when he got close enough the system appeared.

```

[Ding!]

[Dungeon Manifestation Detected]

[You have Encountered an Active rift — opened thirty minutes prior]

[Status: Uncleared/ Unsecured]

[Objective Updated]

[Host is required to clear the dungeon before MCA hunters arrive.]

[Time Remaining: 1:29:58]

```

He stared at the notification for a full minute. A dungeon had just manifested in the middle of a bush in the park.

Ava’s words suddenly replayed in his memory...

"Dungeons can spawn anywhere at any time huh..."

He studied the notification again. The rift had already been opened for thirty minutes. And he had less than two hours to clear it before MCA hunters arrived.

Not students. Hunters...

As in, liscened hunters. Hunters that had groups filled with SSS ranked monsters. And the system had just told him— a C rank noob to clear it before they arrived.

"This is ridiculous...."

The moment he said this, another panel opened beside the first.

```

[Reward Preview On Successful Clear]

[EXP: +1000]

[Core Skill upgrade — Host choice on completion]

[Host is free to decline.]

```

He blinked. One thousand EXP and a chance to upgrade a skill of his choice if he completed this in time.

Death Control, Death Link, Raise Undead, Undead Recovery...

Any of them would be sharpened by the system if he did this.

In all honesty, it was a tempting offer... The system even gave him the option to decline because it saw that the it was probably not worth the risk.

If he failed, he would most likely get busted and executed as a rouge.

"That would go crazy as a news headline," he muttered to himself.

He was still weighing his options when yet another screen opened below the second one.

```

[Death Energy: 1200/1200]

[Legion: Available]

```

Ethan gave a dry smile. The system was practically baiting him at this point.

He had a full pool, three Beowolves, a raven, two crawlers, a golem, and a Cyclops lurking in his shadow. And it was like the system knew he always wanted to test the cyclops in battle.

"Ahhh..."

He should have told Lila. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do that now. He was stuck at the park and even if he wanted to go back, it probably wouldn’t end well with academy staff.

After all she wasn’t in his room right now. And she did say she was going to bed early... it’s not like she’ll suddenly want to come to his room...

Ethan crouched at the tear, feeling the cold air on his face.

If he did this objective, he would have a thousand EXP points added to the one he already had and a chance to upgrade any skill of his choosing.

He smiled. There was no way he was letting this chance go..

He looked directly at the rift. "Guess I have no choice..."

He put his hand through the tear, and the air inside felt completely different.

Ethan paused for a moment, and slowly went in until he had completely crossed to the other side.

The bushes, lamps, and the fountain vanished as the other side closed behind him. When he emerged on the side, he was met with dungeon interior, blue veined walls, and the smell of monsters and blood.

```

[Entry Confirmed]

[Dungeon Instance: Linked Urban Manifestation]

[Time remaining: 01:27:42]

[Exit Condition: clear the dungeon.]

```

Ethan stood in the dark and rolled his shoulders. Loaded legion, full pool, and a confident smile on his face. Who knew what monster he’ll face here. He might face one that was stronger than the beowolves, one that was faster than the Raven, or one that had better quality than the cyclops.

And if he managed to get a corpse that was better than the cyclops, he might get bonus rewards. Bonus rewards meant better results in his training, and better results meant he would be able to get stronger faster...

Excitement began crawling into his chest as he let his greed slip.

He couldn’t deny that he was getting riled up at the possibility of acquiring stronger corpse.

"Alright," he said with the smile still plastered on his face. "Let’s get started."