· Unknown Big Shot

Five minutes later, Lu Qiming slowly stood up and stretched. In the stainless steel basin before him lay a thin layer of magic stones, along with a few tooth-like drops.

"Well then, let's continue!"

Lu Qiming carried the stainless steel basin and continued deeper into the Dungeon. He was still quite far from his target of 2,740 kills, so he had to keep working hard!

As Lu Qiming ventured deeper, a wider variety of monsters appeared. Occasionally, he would encounter one or two elite monsters, each providing him with 20 experience points.

When Lu Qiming first discovered an elite monster, he had excitedly rushed up and punched it.

It turned out that it only gave 10 more experience points than a regular monster, and the magic stone was slightly larger, but the quest index only increased by one. He had initially thought that if the monster's strength increased, the system might count more toward his quest index.

As it turned out, he had overthought it; the system wouldn't let him exploit any loopholes, strictly requiring a full one million. Fortunately, even the common mobs on the first floor of the Dungeon counted.

Moreover, the Dungeon was different from other worlds. In this world, the monsters were birthed by the Dungeon itself, so there was no need to worry about hunting them to extinction.

"Huluwa, Huluwa, coming to your house in the dead of night, sleeping in your bed, stealing your mom, la~ lalalalala!"

"Smack! Smack-smack-smack!"

Lu Qiming casually hammered a few monsters that had just hatched from the wall to death, picked up the magic stones, and continued humming as he headed to the lower floors.

"Ding dang dang dong dong dang, Huluwa, ding dang dang dong dong dang, stealing your mom, lalalala, Huluwa, Huluwa, stealing your mom!"

That day, many adventurers leaving the Dungeon noticed something strange: a black-haired adventurer of unknown origin, with a silver-white basin on his head, was singing a bizarre song in the Dungeon while taking out monsters with a single punch.

He walked with an arrogant gait, a strange smile plastered on his face as he pressed forward.

Soon, more and more adventurers heard about this, and they gathered at the Adventurer Guild to discuss it.

"Did you guys run into him today?"

A Demi-human adventurer downed his beer in one gulp and stared at the person across from him.

"Billy, are you talking about that weird guy in the upper floors of the Dungeon today?"

"Yeah, it's the first time I've seen such an arrogant adventurer. He actually dared to sing in the Dungeon, and he didn't even get into any trouble!"

"You guys ran into him too?"

At this, someone from the next table leaned in.

"We did, and that guy was just a short distance from us. With just a wave of his hand, five monsters had their heads explode instantly. I couldn't even see how he did it!"

"Yeah, yeah! That lord even saved my life!"

A Cat People adventurer, her pair of snow-white cat ears twitching, looked at the crowd excitedly.

"Today on the fourth floor, we were surrounded by a group of elite Werewolf. That lord appeared just then, and in a mere instant, all the monsters' heads exploded like fireworks!"

As she spoke, the Cat People girl shyly touched her own ears. After that lord saved their party, he had even rubbed her ears. It felt so good; she wished he would touch them more!

As the discussion grew louder, the surrounding crowd was drawn in, all talking about the strange existence they had encountered today. By now, the party of adventurers Lu Qiming had met on the first floor of the Dungeon also heard the chatter.

Two little Amazon girls excitedly crowded over, beginning to tell everyone what they had seen today.

In the end, the adventurers unanimously concluded that this must be a big shot from some major Familia who usually kept a low profile, had been on an expedition deep in the Dungeon, and had only recently returned to Orario.

Bored, he had gone to the Dungeon to play with the monsters.

At the counter, Eina listened to the discussion, her expression shifting from initial curiosity to something increasingly strange. As the crowd described him, a figure became clearer in Eina's mind.

Black hair, black eyes, a silver-white basin-like object on his head. Wasn't this the novice adventurer she had just registered today? He hadn't even joined a Familia yet, nor did he have a Blessing.

How did he become a mysterious big shot from a major Familia in everyone's mouths, and a Level 5 adventurer at that?

He was clearly just a guy who didn't even have the 1,000 Valis for registration and still owed her money.

Thinking of this, Eina shook her head. It shouldn't be Lu Qiming. Perhaps a high-level adventurer from a major Familia really had returned to Orario, and he just happened to have black hair and black eyes—maybe even a fellow countryman of Lu Qiming.

However, for some reason, even though she knew it was impossible, Eina felt a tiny spark of anticipation, because of the confident look Lu Qiming had worn when he left today.

By now, the sun was setting outside, and adventurers returning from the Dungeon gathered at the Adventurer Guild to exchange their day's haul for Valis.

Eina began to focus on her work, trying not to think about Lu Qiming.

"Please."

An adventurer handed the magic stones he had collected today to Eina.

Eina checked the stones, put them away, and took out the Valis from the counter to hand to the adventurer.

"That's 9,000 Valis in total, please take it."

As Eina handed over the Valis, she noticed something wrong. The noisy Adventurer Guild had suddenly gone silent, everyone staring at the entrance in shock.

What was going on?

Eina looked toward the entrance, following their gazes. The doors of the Adventurer Guild were wide open, and there stood a young man with short black hair, black eyes, and a silver-white basin on his head.

His cold, handsome face looked calmly into the room, ignoring everyone's stares. He walked toward the counter step by step, his body shrouded in a terrifying killing intent and the scent of blood from his massive slaughter.

Wherever the youth walked, bloody footprints appeared behind him.

The youth reached the counter and fixed his pitch-black eyes on the adventurer blocking his path.

"!"

The adventurer turned pale with fright, abandoning the Valis he had just exchanged, and quickly forced a smile, stepping aside to let the youth pass.

"Thank you."

The black-haired youth offered a calm word of thanks before walking up to Eina, a faint smile breaking across his cold face.

"Yo! I'm back, Miss Eina."

Lu Qiming looked at the dazed Eina with a smile. Although he didn't know why she was staring at him in a daze, he already considered her a good friend—she was the second person he had met in this world, the one who had lent him money, and the one who had shown him concern.

"Y-you... Lu Qiming, was that person in the upper floors of the Dungeon today really you?"

Eina stammered as she looked at Lu Qiming. From the reactions of the crowd just moments ago, she had already realized that the mysterious big shot everyone was talking about was none other than the rookie adventurer she had personally registered—the same one who still owed her one thousand Valis.