Chapter 5: Running Is Good For Health
Wandering around in the Labyrinth could be fun and deadly at the same time, as you could encounter monsters capable of wiping out whole parties.
Fortunately, every floor had limitations and first two floors were reserved for the Bronze Rank. That meant only Bronze Rank Monsters or in terms of their power system, First-Grade Monsters would show up.
There were rare cases like Hidden bosses where sometimes the monsters could be half step into the Silver Rank, but they were rare to encounter.
Of course, Max would still die if even the weakest Monster attacked him. He had no technique, not any good weapons. Not to mention his body was very, and his Cultivation was at rock bottom.
So, he used his knowledge of novel to defeat the monsters and level up. It was risky, as even a single attack would heavily injure him and in worst case, kill him.
Fortunately, the plan worked and he went around the Sixth division, killing monsters with the things he had brought. One by one, the newbie monsters like Goblins, Dungeon Rats, and others fell by his hand.
Of course, he would run away the moment he would see any powerful monsters. Max wasn't the guy who would put their pride over their life.
Just now, he had encountered a Level 5 First-Grade Monsters and had to run away. While they would certainly give him more EXP, he would die before he could get them.
As he slumped against the wall, Max took heavy breaths and wiped the sweat from his forehead. It had been hours and he had not taken rest anywhere, always trying to fight.
'Damnit! That was a close call,' Max exhaled pent up breath, remembering the encounter just now. It was a Silver Viper, a dangerous and fast monster who would kill him way too easily.
[Hehe, are you having fun or do you regret choosing this option?]
"Heh, regret? As if I will do something like that," Max scoffed. "I have climbed the ranks of authors, you know. I know I won't get anything easily, and I'm already having the best potential one could have."
[Good mentality!]
Max hummed and then looked at the EXP counter.
[Experience Points: 7/10]
He had killed over 7 Level 1-Level 3 First-Grade Monsters till now, and none of them was an easy kill. Yet, he had not levelled up once.
"Tsk! I wish I could kill those High Leveled First-Grade Monsters. One should be more than enough to make me level up," Max clicked his tongue and muttered.
[Not really but close yeah. If you could kill a high Leveled monster now, you would get more Exp too.]
As he was pondering over his options, he heard a low growl, making his hair stand up in danger. His head snapped to his sides, where he found a large rodent coming closer to him.
[Name- Leader of Dungeon Rats]
[Rank - Level 9 First-Grade]
[HP - 100%]
[Aggro - 100%]
"Hell nah!" Max jumped to his feet, as he looked into the tall Rat's red eyes. "I'm out of here!"
Before the monster could lunge at him, Max took out the hell and began to smash his sword against it as hard as he could. Worried that it might not be enough, he even began to scream loudly.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!"
It seemed to have worked, as the Rodent stopped and shook it's head, trying to clear the mess it was feeling. Seeing the opportunity, Max shot to his left where a small tunnel was.
The Rodent leader came out of it's reverie, as it roared in anger. The human definitely knew how much high pitched noises annoyed them, so it was all intentional.
The Leader was in fury, launching inside the small tunnel even though it was small for it's figure. Max had chosen it precisely for it, but he ended up underestimating the Leader's anger.
It had seen many of it's kins corpses, and there was no doubt that the human before it had done it. Only he knew about the noises they hated.
It would not let him off.
[Fufu! Why are you running? Didn't you say you wanted to fight a High Leveled First-Grade to level up quickly?]
"Yeah, hell no," Max ran at his full speed, with the heavy thumps behind him fueling his motivation. "It doesn't even need to fight properly to kill me. There is a too big of a gap between our power levels."
He ran deeper and deeper, but the thumping behind him never stopped. He cursed, 'Damnit! Why is the big guy still chasing me?'
He took out the bell once again and began to smash the sword against it, while also screaming loudly. He didn't know if it worked or not, but it should so he tried everything.
After some time of being chased by a rat, Max emerged from the end of the tunnel, still smashing the bell while screaming. His throat had began to hurt, but he shouted as if his life depended on it, well, it did.
All of a sudden, he tripped against a stone and fell face first. Hearing laughter beside him, he coughed and turned to his side, finding two young woman standing there... through one of them was trying her best to her control her laughter.
'Huh!? Did they come here in the starting?'
Max was surprised, as he recognised them. Though, he didn't expect to meet them here, but then again, he had never written about their entry in the labyrinth so the world would automatically fill the holes.
'Screw everything! Survival comes first!'
Ignoring the two women, he got up and began to run, making them confused. The red-head who was laughing at him shouted from behind, "Hey! Are you running because you're embarassed? I'm sorry?"
"I would run if I were you," Max shouted, without turning around.
"Heh, he's probably chased by a monster so he ran away," Stelle scoffed and turned towards her sister. "Right, Big Sis?"
"I think so," Charlotte smiled and said. "Then, let's kill that monster first before heading further inside."
"Hehe, sure. That means I can get stronger fast," Stelle giggled and picked up her hammer, ready to fight.
However, the moment the Leader of Dungeon Rats came out of the tunnel and looked at them, they finally realised why Max was running.
Charlotte' eyes twitched, as she said, "I think we should follow him."
"Me too," Stalle gulped and nodded.
Roar!
"RUN!!"