What was going on?
Sithran was bewildered. She noticed another line of tiny text appear before her:
[Current Souls: 5677, Available for Leveling Up]
Leveling up!?
At the thought, a panel suddenly opened in front of her, making her jump.
[Sithran]
[Health: 3]
[Strength: 3]
[Intelligence: 1]
[Endurance: 1]
[Dexterity: 1]
[Attunement: 1]
[Souls Required to Level Up: 644]
"W-what is this thing?" She looked helplessly at Gong Qiying. This was beyond her understanding.
"This is the surprise I mentioned."
Gong Qiying clapped as he spoke. "Congratulations. Defeating the Giant Cursed Frog means you've cleared the upper-level area. From here, you can explore the level below. More adventures are waiting for you."
"Thank you. No, wait, I'm asking about this thing!"
"That? It's a reward for clearing the upper level," Gong Qiying said. "I don't know much about it either, but I can give you a brief explanation."
"Whenever you clear a level, you'll find a Campfire. Resting there quickly restores your lost stamina, and you can use souls to level up. No matter how strong you are, everyone starts at level one."
"You're wondering where souls come from? You get them when you kill monsters."
Gong Qiying continued, "It's a unique mechanic of Sain Underground City. When you kill a monster, you get a certain number of souls. You can use them to level up at a Campfire. That's right, leveling up makes you stronger, and the effects don't disappear even after you leave Sain Underground City."
Sithran's breathing grew heavy. She realized what this meant and said, "So as long as I keep killing monsters, I can get stronger?"
"Exactly."
She hurried over to examine the panel. For some reason, her Health and Strength were both 3, while everything else was 1. Could it be because she'd used the Giant Cursed Frog's soul?
"It's easy to understand what Health and Strength mean. Intelligence isn't the same as the intelligence you're thinking of; it affects the damage you deal with magic. The higher your Intelligence, the more powerful your magic. Endurance is related to stamina. The more you level it up, the longer you can hold up your Great Shield."
"I don't need to explain what Dexterity means. As for Attunement, you can think of it as luck. The higher your Attunement, the more likely you are to get items from monsters you kill."
Sithran was silent for a moment, then muttered, "This really is... a mechanic I've never heard of before."
In that instant, she realized just how much potential the Campfire mechanic had. If she could keep leveling up, wouldn't people from all over the world come here?
"Try putting a level into Endurance."
Her Endurance became 2. She waved her hand, but didn't feel any noticeable difference.
[Souls Required to Level Up: 807]
After raising her Endurance to 4, Sithran finally felt a change in her body. It was a subtle feeling, but in short, she was stronger.
She then put a point into Strength, Attunement, and Dexterity, aiming for balanced development.
[Souls Required to Level Up: 1899]
[Current Souls: 78]
She was out of souls.
Sithran closed the panel reluctantly, still wanting more. The feeling of getting stronger with just a flick of her finger was truly intoxicating.
And utterly unbelievable.
If she relied on training alone, it would take years to get stronger. But in Sain Underground City, all she had to do was kill monsters!
She couldn't even imagine how crazed people who'd hit a bottleneck in their training would be once they learned they could level up quickly and easily here!
"Oh, right." Only after leveling up did Sithran remember to ask Gong Qiying what he thought. "Any advice on what I should level up?"
Gong Qiying considered it, then said, "Get your Health up to forty first."
"Oh, is there a reason for that?"
"No. It'll just improve your chances of survival."
"Okay."
Sithran was about to say something when her eyes suddenly widened. She pointed at Gong Qiying and stammered, "Y-you..."
"Me?" Gong Qiying tilted his head.
"Your body is disappearing!"
Gong Qiying, who had already been a golden Spirit Body, was gradually turning transparent. In a few seconds, he would be gone!
"That's normal. Helpers like me return after helping you defeat the area's final boss monster. Don't worry, it's not like I'm dead."
Once Sithran understood, she stopped panicking. She took a deep breath and called out, "Thank you for your help!"
Gong Qiying waved his hand. His figure vanished completely from her sight.
"He really disappeared."
Looking at the empty room, she felt a little lonely.
But that loneliness soon faded as she became fascinated by the Campfire. She circled it, examining it from every angle.
"Should I keep killing monsters on this level to collect souls, or move on to the next one?"
Sithran thought it over. She felt that the meaning of life lay in moving forward and exploring, so she decisively entered the Middle Level.
Not long after, Gong Qiying saw that the Mental Power collected by the dungeon had increased by more than two hundred. It looked like Sithran had bitten the dust in the Middle Level.
He watched the Mental Power increase, deep in thought.
"As expected, adventurers who've leveled up yield more Mental Power when they die. They can even yield twice as much."
He'd stumbled upon the Campfire and soul mechanics by accident.
At first, while browsing the available buildings, he'd discovered a Campfire from the world of Dark Souls. But after placing it, the entire Sain Underground City underwent a mysterious change.
Simply put, killing monsters now granted souls, and if you had enough souls, you could level up at a Campfire.
He'd planted a seed without meaning to, and the resulting changes were earth-shattering. It was a delightful surprise.
Gong Qiying was confident this mechanic would draw more people into Sain Underground City!
After all, getting stronger was the ultimate temptation for everyone!
Adventurers grew stronger in the dungeon, and when they died, they yielded more Mental Power. It was a win-win.
He'd been worrying that Sain Underground City didn't have a trump card to draw adventurers in. Now he saw that the Campfire mechanic had solved the problem perfectly.
"Come to think of it, what if some adventurers decide to grind the same spot forever?"
To prevent adventurers from farming souls only in the upper-level area, he'd filled it with worthless monsters. They were weak and yielded few souls. Adventurers might be able to farm them early on, but after leveling up a few times, the number of souls they needed would increase considerably.
So, to level up faster, adventurers would have to explore the areas below and challenge stronger monsters!
Then die, turning their Mental Power into nourishment for Gong Qiying and the dungeon!
To keep powerful adventurers from grinding levels, once they reached a certain level of strength, the Mental Power they needed to level up would be so high that even killing every monster in the dungeon and farming them day after day, month after month, wouldn't let them gain more than a few levels. They'd get less out of it than they would from training on their own.
Controlling the numbers was crucial.
"I hope Sithran spreads the word."
Before you continue