Life Simulation: My Talent Is Wool-Chapter 23: Finally Entering the Dungeon

[Dawn City]

A lively and bustling city.

A good portion of it was either Hunters or families of hunters.

This was the city that monopolized a dungeon. Thus, securing an endless flow of hunters.

Even the entrance to the dungeon was controlled by the City Lord.

In the city, there was also the Hunters Guild — a place where Hunters could register and accept missions. These quests were generated by the guild’s system, based on requests from people who needed something specific, and Hunters would complete them in exchange for rewards.

Among the thousands of people, Luan and Catharina moved without attracting much attention.

Wearing a cap, an overcoat, even a veil... Catharina’s disguise was well done.

Luan murmured: "Let’s stay one night here, take a good bath, rest, and tomorrow we’ll go to the dungeon, okay?"

It had been days since they left until they finally arrived in this city. And after several days without a decent bath, even Catharina really wanted it.

"Yes." She replied in a soft and cold tone.

...

"Sorry, the inn is fully booked."

"Ah, alright."

Luan left with Catharina, disappointed.

It was the third inn he tried, but all were full.

Not far away, he saw a bathhouse.

If Catharina were an ordinary girl, it would be possible to bathe there and they could simply leave and camp outside...

Luan held her hand: "Forget it, let’s get a metal water barrel, and we can take a relatively decent bath."

"I agree."

...

It wasn’t hard to find what he wanted. In fact, it was a common practice.

In fact, there were even warehouses with wooden partitions that could be rented for a low price in the city.

Many beginner hunters chose places like that, since it was cheap and they only needed to set up a tent.

But for them, it was still more convenient to camp outside with more privacy.

That said, they sold what they had to sell, and bought what was missing, mainly personal hygiene items.

...

Almost an hour later, Luan finally managed to carry the brass barrel full of water outside the city.

Although it had handles and was carried like a backpack, it was still incredibly heavy.

Catharina had to carry all their luggage which was equally heavy. But, unlike him, she barely sweated.

"Let’s... camp here tonight." Luan caught his breath and continued: "We can choose a better place next time."

They were only a few hundred meters from the city, at most one kilometer away.

Closer to the city, there were people camping.

Wanting to avoid any trouble, they kept walking until they reached this more isolated area.

...

The first thing they did was set up a tall tent that covered the metal barrel.

For safety, he wanted to reduce any chance of someone showing up and seeing them bathing in the barrel.

At the bottom of the barrel, he placed wooden planks to step on.

The barrel was positioned around stones, and right below, dry branches were placed.

Using wool, he placed it between the woods, making it as flammable as possible, then, with two stones, he struck one against the other forcefully, creating sparks. When the spark fell on the wool, he needed to blow a little and then, the fire started.

Minutes later, testing the water temperature, he noticed it was already warm enough.

"You can go first, Catharina." He said softly: "I’ll stay guarding outside."

She took a moment to respond, then nodded. She took cleaning products with her, as well as a towel and clothes to change into.

...

When Catharina left the bath tent minutes later, hot steam was coming off her skin.

Before, her skin was a bit dirty, but after a good bath, it was almost shining. Especially her beautiful white-silver hair.

"You can go now." She said softly in a cold tone.

Smiling, he nodded: "Alright."

On the side of the barrel, there were dry branches. He placed some in the fire that had already started to die out.

On the right side, there was a stick stuck in the ground with five branches of at least 10 cm. Luan hung the clothes he was going to wear, as well as the towel.

The clothes he was wearing he placed in a basket.

On the ground, right in front of the barrel, there was an improvised wooden floor and a relatively large basin, as well as liquid soap and cloth.

...

Minutes later, after putting out the fire, Luan came out feeling refreshed.

Outside, Catharina was tending to the campfire he had made earlier.

"Tea?" She asked.

"Yes, please." He nodded.

Catharina’s movements seemed like a rehearsal for a play, elegant, cold and calculated.

In moments, she prepared two cups of green tea.

The tea steamed in the cups, bringing a gentle aroma of the tea.

"Here it is." She handed it over.

Accepting it, he smiled: "Thank you."

--

--

The next morning, 05:58 a.m.

After waking up, and packing everything, they prepared to enter the dungeon.

The dungeon of Dawn City was actually a five-floor dungeon.

From what he learned, at the end of each floor, there was a staircase and, each floor has different monsters. Most beginner hunters stay on floor 1, only those who have reached Lv2 dare to go to floors 2, 3, 4, and the 5th where the dungeon boss is.

The dungeon was located at the North entrance of the city.

They needed to cross a stone bridge.

There, the dungeon was very well protected.

It was surrounded by a large and tall warehouse like a dome.

At the entrance, there were guards. To enter the dome, you had to pay 2 silver coins per person.

At the entrance, there was a huge line. At least 50 people were waiting in line.

When it was finally their turn, Luan paid 4 silver coins and they were allowed to enter.

Upon entering, voices of merchants echoed.

"Meat skewers, hot skewers, come, come!"

"Look at the love apple, love apple to make your day better~!"

"Steamed bun, come check it out!"

It was almost like a shopping mall.

There were several stalls selling all kinds of street food.

From the movement, the price was reasonable.

"Let’s go." Luan held Catharina’s hand, and they went to an area full of lockers with padlocks.

"Want to rent a locker?" The attendant asked upon seeing their large luggage.

It wasn’t really a question, it was almost a certainty.

There were more than a hundred lockers with two square meters each. Each locker had a number.

"Yes." He replied: "How much does it cost to rent one?"

"10 bronze coins per day." The attendant replied: "But, I need to remind you. After one month without collecting your things, it will be marked as dead and your things will belong to us. Do you agree with that? Of course, if you want to rent for more than one month, it’s also possible. But, you need to pay 25% of the price of 1 month’s rent."

"We plan to stay at most 3 days." He replied.

"Please read and sign here." The attendant gave him a clipboard.

After reading all the clauses, seeing that there was no trap, he signed.

Taking the clipboard back, the attendant marked the number [332] in a blank space.

"Alright, here is number 332. You can go and store your things." The attendant warned: "Don’t lose this key, otherwise, you’ll have to pay an extra fee of 1 silver coin if you want to get your things back."

"Understood." He nodded in understanding.

Soon, he and Catharina went to locker 332.

The lockers were made of wood, but coated with metal.

It was quite spacious, it fit all their things.

After finishing storing almost everything, he closed the padlock.

Everyone who was inside the warehouse, for having paid the toll at the entrance, had free pass to enter the dungeon.

Now with only one backpack with the camping tent and some supplies, Luan held Catharina’s hand and crossed the dungeon portal.