What was going on?
Si Telan stared in astonishment as another line of small text appeared before her:
Current Souls: 5677, available for leveling up
Leveling up!?
At that thought, a panel suddenly opened before her, startling her.
Si Telan Health: 3 Strength: 3 Intelligence: 1 Endurance: 1 Dexterity: 1 Perception: 1 Souls Required for Level Up: 644
"W-what is this thing?" She looked helplessly at Gong Qiying. This was already beyond her comprehension.
"This is the surprise I mentioned."
Gong Qiying clapped as he said, "Congratulations. Defeating the Giant Curse Frog means you've cleared the upper level. Next, you can explore deeper levels. Even more adventures are waiting for you."
"Thank you. No, no, that's not what I'm asking! I'm asking about this thing!"
"That? It's a reward for those who clear the upper level," Gong Qiying said. "I don't know much about it either, so I can only give you a basic explanation."
"Whenever you clear a level, you'll encounter a bonfire. Resting at one can quickly restore your lost stamina, and you can also use souls to level up. No matter how strong someone is, everyone starts at level one by default."
"You're asking where souls come from? They drop when you kill monsters."
Gong Qiying said, "It's a unique mechanic of Zane Dungeon. Killing monsters grants varying amounts of souls. Once you have enough souls, you can level up at a bonfire. That's right, leveling up makes you stronger, and those enhancements won't disappear even after you leave Zane Dungeon."
Si Telan's breathing grew heavier. Realizing something, she said, "So as long as I keep killing monsters, I can become stronger?"
"That's exactly it."
She hurried over to study the panel. For some reason, her Health and Strength were both 3 while everything else was 1. Was it because she had used the Giant Curse Frog's soul?
"Health and Strength are easy enough to understand. Intelligence isn't the IQ you're thinking of; it affects the damage of your magic. The higher your Intelligence, the more powerful your spells. Endurance is related to stamina. The more you raise it, the longer you'll be able to hold up a Greatshield."
"I don't need to explain Dexterity. As for Perception, you can think of it as luck. The higher your Perception, the more likely you are to obtain items from monsters when you kill them."
Si Telan froze for a moment and muttered, "This really is... a mechanic unlike anything I've ever heard of."
In that instant, she realized just how much potential the bonfire mechanic possessed. If people could keep leveling up forever, wouldn't the entire world flock here?
"Try raising Endurance by one level."
Endurance: 2
She shook her arms but did not feel any obvious change.
Souls Required for Level Up: 807
When her Endurance reached 4, Si Telan finally felt a change in her body. It was a subtle sensation, but in short, she had become stronger.
She then raised Strength, Perception, and Dexterity by one point each, focusing on balanced development.
Souls Required for Level Up: 1899 Current Souls: 78
No money left.
Still wanting more, Si Telan reluctantly closed the panel. The feeling of becoming stronger with just a flick of her finger was truly addictive.
And utterly outrageous.
If she relied solely on training, the time needed to grow this much stronger would have to be measured in years. But in Zane Dungeon, all she needed to do was kill monsters!
She did not even dare imagine how frenzied those people stuck at bottlenecks in their training would become once they learned that they could level up here so easily and quickly!
"Oh, right." Only after finishing her upgrades did Si Telan remember to ask Gong Qiying, "Do you have any suggestions for leveling up?"
Gong Qiying thought for a moment. "Raise your Health to forty first."
"Huh? Is there some special reason?"
"No. It'll just improve your chances of survival."
"Okay."
Si Telan was about to say something when her eyes suddenly widened. Pointing at Gong Qiying, she stammered, "Y-you, you, you—"
"Me, me, me?" Gong Qiying tilted his head.
"Your body is disappearing!"
Gong Qiying, who had already been a golden spirit form, was gradually turning transparent. In just a few more seconds, he would vanish completely!
"That's normal. Helpers like me return after helping you defeat a region's final boss monster. There's no need to worry. It's not like I'm dead."
Once Si Telan understood, she was no longer panicked. Taking a deep breath, she shouted, "Thank you for your help!"
Gong Qiying waved, and his figure completely vanished from her sight.
It had really disappeared. Looking at the empty room, she felt somewhat lonely for a moment.
But that loneliness was quickly washed away by the novelty of the bonfire. She circled it again and again, examining it closely.
"Should I keep killing monsters on this level to collect souls, or should I enter the next level?"
After thinking carefully, Si Telan decided that the meaning of life lay in moving forward and exploring, so she decisively entered the middle-level region.
Not long after, Gong Qiying saw that the dungeon's collected Spirit Power had increased by more than two hundred. It seemed Si Telan had bitten the dust in the middle level.
He looked at the increased Spirit Power and fell into thought.
"As expected, upgraded adventurers yield more Spirit Power. It can even double."
He had discovered mechanics like bonfires and souls by chance.
At first, he had simply found a bonfire from the world of Dark Souls while browsing the available buildings. Yet after placing it, mysterious changes had appeared throughout Zane Dungeon.
Put simply, those changes meant that killing monsters could now grant souls, and with enough souls, one could level up at a bonfire.
A happy accident had produced unexpectedly splendid results. Simply placing a bonfire had brought about such earth-shaking changes. It was truly a delightful surprise.
Gong Qiying was confident that this mechanic could attract even more people into Zane Dungeon!
Because becoming stronger was the ultimate temptation for everyone!
Adventurers became stronger in the dungeon, and when they died, they also dropped more Spirit Power. It was practically a win-win situation.
Previously, he had been troubled by the fact that Zane Dungeon lacked an ultimate attraction powerful enough to draw in adventurers. But now, it seemed the bonfire mechanic had perfectly solved his problem.
"That said, no adventurer is going to try becoming the Shili Slope Sword God, right?"
To prevent adventurers from farming souls only in the upper-level region, he had arranged only worthless monsters there. They were weak and dropped very few souls. Adventurers might be able to farm them early on, but once they gained a few levels, the souls required for further upgrades would rise dramatically.
Therefore, if they wanted to level up faster, adventurers would have to explore the lower regions and challenge stronger monsters!
Then die, turning their Spirit Power into nourishment for Gong Qiying and this dungeon!
And to stop the powerful from farming levels, once an adventurer's strength reached a certain point, the Spirit Power required for their upgrades would be so vast that even if they killed every monster in the dungeon, farming day after day and month after month, they still would not gain many levels. The results would not even compare to training on their own.
Controlling the numbers was extremely important.
"I hope Si Telan spreads the news."
Before you continue