[Target killed. Skill acquired: Boohoohoo. Boohoohoo Level 3 proficiency increased.] [Target killed. Skill acquired: Boohoohoo. Boohoohoo LV3 proficiency increased to LV4.] [Target killed. Skill acquired: Burrowing. Burrowing Level 1 increased to Level 2.] [220 experience points gained.] [22 bonus experience points gained.] [Level increased to LV17.]
As a string of system notifications flashed in the corner of his vision, Greg stopped and let out a soft breath.
He flicked the blood off his short sword and surveyed his surroundings.
The remains of several low-level monsters were slowly dissolving into motes of light.
At his current strength, handling these creatures in the shallow region was not particularly difficult.
As he worked his way from camp toward the entrance to the middle region, clearing out these weak, wandering monsters too foolish to stay out of his way felt less like fighting and more like warming up.
Still, there were benefits. He had gained both experience points and skill proficiency, which put him in a good mood.
In this world, raising skill proficiency was normally extremely difficult.
Not only did it demand exceptional aptitude, it was usually closely tied to a person's level.
Simply put, someone in their teens level-wise was already doing well if they could train a basic skill's proficiency to Level 1.
To reach Level 2 or higher, they generally had to wait until they passed level twenty, when their mana, physical abilities, and perception of the world reached a new stage, before they could deepen their mastery.
Greg's [Digestive Bacteria] talent, which let him ignore aptitude and level bottlenecks and gave him a chance to acquire skill fragments and raise proficiency simply by killing monsters, was downright absurd.
It let him skip barriers that countless others needed years of grueling practice, insight, or even lucky opportunities to overcome.
The only drawback was... most of the skills he had acquired so far were far too useless.
With a thought, Greg brought up his skill panel, his gaze settling on the skill with the highest proficiency:
[Boohoohoo Level 4] Effect: As long as you do not resist, your enemy will be unable to bring themselves to attack you for four seconds. (Can only affect the same target once per day.)
Greg: "..."
As he read the description, the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
"What is this? A survival skill for acting cute?"
He could not help griping to the empty air:
"'Unable to bring themselves to attack'? Do I have to strike a 'pretty please' pose too, with my eyes all wide and round, to get the best effect? And what the hell is this once-per-target-per-day restriction? So acting cute works the first time, but the second time they're immune and just think, 'This guy has no shame,' is that it?!"
He rubbed his brow. Raising this skill to Level 4 seemed to offer no real improvement to his combat strength, other than perhaps extending that damned duration by some negligible amount.
Against a truly vicious monster or a sworn enemy, what good were four seconds of reluctance?
Was it meant to give them time to prepare an even nastier ultimate attack?
By comparison, the other somewhat useful-looking skill, [Burrowing Level 2], was currently little more than decoration as well.
[Burrowing Level 2] Effect: Allows you to merge part of your body into the ground and move rapidly. (Duration and depth depend on skill proficiency and the environment. Forced use may result in suffocation, getting stuck, or loss of direction.)
Greg recalled his earlier experiment. Aside from burrowing underground and getting a mouthful of earthy grit, he had simply gotten stuck, unable to move.
If he had not been lucky enough to dig himself out, he would probably have buried himself alive by now.
Unless he could eventually find a gem specifically designed to support infiltration or passage to use alongside it, this skill would be good for nothing except putting on a dirt-eating performance without going anywhere.
Still, he knew this was normal for now.
After all, the low-level monsters wandering the shallow region were unlikely to drop any powerful combat or practical skills.
Acquiring an assortment of resistance and survival skills had already made his time in the Dungeon considerably more comfortable.
At least falling into an underground river would no longer leave him quite so helpless, and taking a couple of ordinary hits did not hurt as much anymore.
Unfortunately, the drop rates for those resistance and survival skills were far lower than for the useless ones, and raising their proficiency was even slower.
To build a significant advantage with them, he would probably have to grind in the shallow region until the end of time.
Shaking his head, Greg closed the system panel and turned his attention back to what lay ahead.
He had reached the vicinity of the proper entrance leading from the shallow region to the middle region.
It was a relatively open junction between caverns, with complicated terrain and rocks of various sizes scattered throughout.
Greg hid behind a sufficiently large rock and cautiously poked half his head out to observe what lay ahead.
In the dim light, he could see several short but tough-looking figures moving around nearby, their green skin gleaming beneath the glowing moss. Occasionally, he heard their harsh voices and the faint clink of weapons against stone.
"Still here, just as I thought..." Greg frowned deeply.
If this had been a game, he would definitely have suspected a bug-a misplaced monster spawn or a faulty quest trigger that had left elite monsters, which should have stayed deeper down, blocking the exit to the beginner village.
But this was not a game. It was reality.
"So what exactly is going on?"
He was filled with questions.
"Could these goblins have gotten smarter and realized they could block the entrance to stop adventurers from leveling up easily? Or... did something happen down below that forced them to come up here?"
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