Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 44: Clearing the Dungeon

John looked at the remaining monsters in the hall. They didn’t look scary anymore. They looked like walking stat points and loot drops. He decided to give his new weapon a field trip and see how much damage it could actually deliver before facing the boss.

Out of the initial fifty monsters, there were now fifteen Level 7 and ten Level 8 Elites remaining. John simply walked into the centre of the hall, moving leisurely and with a calm confidence. He didn’t even activate his battle abilities.

The Goblins roared, their eyes burning red as they sprinted toward him at high speeds.

[-212] [-212] [-424] [-192]

"Damn! One hit and any monster is killed!!"

John was genuinely surprised by his own lethality. He moved like a shadow, slipping past the first attack of every monster and delivering a casual, horizontal slash with the long sword.

The blade sliced through their Defense as if it were wet paper. Scary numbers of damage rose above their heads, and every single monster he hit fell to the ground instantly, dissipating into clouds of white light.

It wasn’t a fight anymore. It was an onslaught.

*Roar!*

The moment the last Elite fell, the Boss stood up from his throne. He let out a violent, guttural roar that made the foundations of the hall shake. The air rippled with the force of his anger.

"Time to end this," John said. He didn’t feel a single shred of fear. In his eyes, the boss was just a final gate standing between him and his Inventory reward. He just needed two successful hits.

He had noticed the notifications during his short rampage against the Elites. The Level 8s had given him points in every stat, pushing his overall stats even higher. The gap in their Speed was now over 40 points in his favour!

He watched the giant monster moving with slow, heavy steps, heading as fast as it could toward him. But in John’s perception, the monster was crawling.

"Let’s try the new special effect."

He waited calmly until the boss was within range. As the massive wooden club began its slow descent, John shifted his weight.

"Triple Slash!"

He shouted the name of the special effect out loud, his voice filled with a theatrical flair. He didn’t move like a soldier; he moved like a dancer.

The moment he activated the special effect, three shadows manifested over his sword. It felt as though he held not a single blade, but a three-bladed one! He didn’t hesitate to dash forward.

Utilising the overwhelming advantage of his Speed stat, he moved like a flickering ghost, circling the boss to reach its vulnerable rear before delivering the first, decisive slash!

[-256]

*Roar!*

Out of his expectations, the monster didn’t take more than one hit from his sword’s special effect. The massive damage from the Triple Slash, even while halved by the boss’s high defence, was still enough to shatter the boss.

The giant collapsed, dissipating into a torrential storm of white specks of light! As he watched the light dots float away, a cascade of notifications appeared in thin air, filling his vision with the sweet voice of victory.

[Ding! Congratulations! You killed Goblin Bug Boss monster level 10.]

[You gained: +5 to all stats | Mental Point Cap +50]

[Ding! Congratulations! You completed the Quest!]

[Ding! Once you decide to accept the quest rewards, you’ll instantly exit the dungeon.]

[Ding! The dungeon is corrupted beyond repair now. The dungeon is going to crash and vanish in 1 hour!]

"Hmm, I’ll wait then," John said, his voice echoing in the now-silent hall. He turned his eyes toward the ground, which was now covered with dense white clusters of codes. "I need to gather up my harvest. But I can’t store anything right now. Will I be able to take everything I gather with me?"

He had initially thought he would gain the Inventory ability the exact moment the boss fell, but it seemed he had to wait until he officially exited the dungeon to process the quest reward. He looked at the massive pile of loot, and his brow furrowed.

[Ding! The teleportation sequence will take anything within a 10-meter radius with you to the outside world!]

[Ding! 1 Mental Point is deducted for the inquiry!]

John didn’t mind the one Mental Point loss. Instead, a greedy, triumphant smile spread across his face as he surveyed the battlefield. He began the process of dragging his riches into a single pile.

The last twenty-five elites had been incredibly generous. From them, he had gathered thirty various potions, twenty-seven Level 10 Iron Codes, and thirteen pieces of useless fabric. As for the boss monster, he noticed things were slightly different.

First, there was the boss’s weapon—the big wooden club. It remained behind, a solid object of white code. When he checked its stats, he found it was a Level 10 weapon, but it was far too heavy for his current style.

With no Sharpness and a Strength requirement that made his arms ache just looking at it, it was a clumsy tool at best. Not to mention it paled in damage output and lacked any special effect, compared to his new sword.

"I won’t use this," he muttered, pushing the heavy thing toward the centre of his pile. He decided it would simply rot in the back of his future Inventory until he found a way to recycle its code.

As for the other drops from the King, he found slightly larger potion bottles, significantly heavier Iron Codes, and much larger, even uglier fabric pieces. As he touched them, the system revealed their descriptions.

[Ding! You acquired Enhanced MP Regeneration Potion!]

[Description: Drink to replenish 50 Mental points instantly!]

[Ding! You acquired Enhanced HP Regeneration Potion!]

[Description: Drink to replenish 20 HP instantly!]

[Ding! You acquired Iron Codes level 15!]

[Ding! You acquired Goblin Fabric level 15!]

He looked at the Level 15 fabric; there were ten ugly, rough pieces of it. He piled them together in a spot, deciding to let these and the other fabric pieces join the fate of the big wooden club.

"These potions, though..." holding the biggest prize in his eyes—the Enhanced HP and MP Regeneration potions—made him grin ear to ear. "I won’t have to worry about going all out anymore!"

He had gained twenty of each. As for the Iron Codes of the higher level, he had gathered fifteen. He knew that if he wanted to make a weapon even better than his current Long Sword, he would need far more than fifteen pieces. He decided to store them and wait for more chances to code higher-level weapons in the future.

John finished gathering everything he had gained throughout the entire journey into one massive heap. He stood before the pile, hands on his hips, and couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh.

"That Ricky... He probably thinks this is his private training ground. He can’t even imagine that I’ve harvested everything from his dungeon. When he tries to come back later, he’ll find the gate is gone, and the code has been wiped from existence. Hehehe!"

The thought of his rival’s face when he found his secret dungeon deleted was almost as rewarding as the loot itself. He moved his eyes over the hall one last time, looking at the flickering green clusters of special codes he had seen earlier.

"I wanted to use whatever was in these to fight the monsters and clear the dungeon, but things went down a different path. Now that the threat is gone..." he walked toward the nearest green light, his curiosity taking the stage. "It’s time to see what all these different hidden codes are about"