"I feel a coolness in my head!" Everyone drank the potion, and they all felt a coolness in their heads.
Seeing that everyone had drunk it and no one had hidden their potion, Zhang Li collected the bottles from them.
The bottles had to be returned. After making sure they had all been accounted for, the teachers led everyone toward the Dungeon entrance.
They arrived in front of the Dimensional Rift's gate. Under the teachers' guidance, everyone began to step inside.
Li Yu walked at the front. His team was the first to enter. As he passed through the Dimensional Rift, he felt as though he were going through some enormous bubble.
There was a slight resistance, but not much. Then a dim cave came into view. This was the Dungeon entrance, and as soon as they entered, the first things everyone smelled were dirt and decay.
The other students filed in one after another. They stopped to look around, unsure which way to go without a map.
"Um, didn't the teachers tell us how long we're supposed to stay inside?" a student suddenly asked.
That was true. The teachers hadn't told them how long they were supposed to stay. Had they forgotten, or was there a reason?
"How long you stay isn't for us to decide. It's up to you. You can think of this as an exam," Shizuka Hiratsuka said as she walked in.
She had heard the students' question and explained, "How long you stay isn't up to the teachers. It's up to you!"
Everyone turned to look at her. Shizuka Hiratsuka continued, "What if some of you can't hold out? What good would setting a time limit do?"
If someone had an accident that day, their exam would be over anyway. That was why there was no time limit.
"That makes a lot of sense. Let's get going!" Li Yu didn't dwell on it. He stepped forward first, and Kato Megumi and the others followed close behind.
The students set off as well. There was no time limit, but no one wanted to be the first eliminated. They would just do their best on the adventure ahead.
The cave was rather gloomy. A student who knew a lot about geography looked puzzled and asked, "Where's the air coming in from?"
It was bizarre. Once they entered the cave, he could feel a breeze, which meant the air was circulating. That shouldn't have been possible.
"Who cares where it's coming from? Hurry up and get moving. We're in a Dimensional Rift, and you're still worrying about that?" a nearby student said, rolling his eyes.
Did he really have time to investigate where the air was coming from? Come on. There was no time for that.
No one had a map, and there was only one path for now, so they could only move forward together for a while.
After a few minutes, several branches finally appeared ahead. Li Yu, who was at the front, stopped and said, "Let's split up here. We can each explore on our own."
Li Yu turned to face the students behind him. They were taken aback by his suggestion, so he continued, "We don't have a map, and this is only the first level. Let's split up and remember the routes. Once we reach the end, we can turn back the way we came."
Li Yu knew just as little about the first level as everyone else, but that didn't stop them from exploring. That was why he'd made the suggestion.
"Sounds good. We'll follow your lead!" Li Yu was the strongest, and everyone had accepted him as their leader. They couldn't go wrong by listening to him.
After that student spoke up, the others nodded one after another, agreeing to follow Li Yu's plan. The best thing was to spread out, explore the first level, and put together a map.
"According to the teachers, the first few levels are beginner areas. If we run into monsters, we should be able to handle them easily. Still, I want to remind everyone of something." Li Yu looked at his classmates and decided to offer them a warning.
No one spoke. They all turned to look at Li Yu, waiting for him to continue.
"This Dungeon is a newly appeared Dimensional Rift. We don't know a lot about it. We've been told it can generate monsters, but where do they come from? We have no idea. They can't just appear out of thin air."
"My guess is that monsters in the Dungeon might come right out of the walls or the ground. They won't give you any warning, so I hope you'll all be careful."
"Stay alert while you explore. Even if you run into a monster and kill it, don't let your guard down. Don't think you're some kind of main character who can turn the tables or anything."
"When danger comes, you might think you're the main character, but you could just be a nobody in the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. Don't get dragged out by the teachers before you've even explored the Dungeon properly. That'd be embarrassing." Li Yu said a lot in one go, and the students listened attentively.
They might not take a teacher's lecture to heart, but when someone their own age spoke up—especially someone stronger than them—they had to listen.
Besides, everything Li Yu said made sense. No one thought there was anything wrong with it. He was only looking out for them; why would he have bad intentions?
They really did take his words to heart. A few people who had been leaning against the cave walls quietly moved away, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings.
They were afraid monsters might suddenly appear somewhere and attack them. What Li Yu had said could really happen.
"Let's split up now. I'll take this path. Anyone want to come with me?" After Li Yu finished his warning, everyone began to move. Soon, someone took the lead and chose one of the paths.
As soon as he spoke, some classmates he knew well followed with their own teams. In the end, only three teams stayed with Li Yu.
Taking them with him, Li Yu headed down the passage no one else had chosen. Not long after they split up from him, the others encountered monsters.
They realized that what Li Yu had said was coming true: monsters really were emerging from the walls. They were only weak Goblins, but even so, everyone became much more alert.
Li Yu's group encountered monsters too. The instant he sensed something, he attacked, firing a spell straight at the wall.
Whether they showed their faces or not, they were dead. One spell killed the three Goblins that had just been about to emerge. Then, just like in a game, they slowly vanished on the spot, leaving everyone staring in astonishment.
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