What happened after.

[Ace POV],

Opening my eyes slowly to see an unfamiliar ceiling, I had a strange thought that everything was just a dream, but remembering that this wasn't the first time I'd passed out since the end of the old world, I knew it wasn't.

As I used my hand to support myself to sit on what I identified as a bed, I turned to look at Anna, who was sitting on a chair and had her head on the bed sleeping.

I've always been curious as to why she follows me.

It's strange because I can tell she wants to follow me but I'm not sure why.

I refuse to believe that she's trying to get even with me because I didn't leave her when the Asmodeus Serpent was pursuing us.

I don't really care why she's doing it because she's useful and I've grown to feel more comfortable around her than even my own brother.

Ironic.

'Perhaps it's because we've been through this since the beginning,' I reasoned as I examined my body.

When I saw that my body was fine, I was surprised because it wouldn't be surprising if I had been crippled in some way during the fight with the goblin lord.

Good thing I'm okay, I suppose.

Looking around the room and seeing nothing worth observing, I decided to go outside and didn't bother disturbing Anna because she was sleeping, but my slight movement still woke her up.

"Uh?" She muttered weakly as she rubbed her eyes and looked in my direction.

When she saw me, she had a surprised look on her face before switching to a relieved one and saying softly;

"So you're awake, Ace," she said, adding, "How's your body feeling?" she asked, smiling.

"Good," I said, nodding and asking where this was.

"This is a room in the building where the princess told us to stay previously," she stated.

"Princess?"

"Princess Adara," she said.

I nodded when I heard this.

It's not surprising given that, aside from being an unfamiliar building where I briefly stayed, I never checked the rooms other than going to the garage to make pills.

Speaking of princess, I'm wondering what happened to Adara and the team and what happened after I passed out because the only thing I remember before passing out is Chris calling my name, followed by the primordial chronicle panel.

When this thought occurred to me, I asked Anna how I got here rather than what had happened.

"After you guys left and went into the dungeon, there were still people outside who didn't leave, so I stayed for a while. There was this person, I believe he was called Brian, who kept shouting your name and calling you a bastard over and over. However, after a while, for unknown reasons, he also entered the dungeon with four other people ", she said.

This is new information, but.....

"Anna, get back on topic," I reminded her.

"Uh? Oh! Am sorry. So...... After that episode, there were still a few people outside gathered around the portal-looking gate. I was about to return here with Mia because there was nothing else to do or see there when I heard a scream.

I was perplexed because the scream came from behind me, so I turned around only to see the team you took to the dungeon barely returning complete. It was barely 4 minutes when you entered! "You were bleeding and unconscious with the girl holding a wand with you was also unconscious," she said, about to continue when I interrupted her.

"How long did you say it was again?" I inquired.

"Only four minutes," she replied, tilting her head to the left and continuing to speak.

Ignoring her for a moment, I considered the time difference between the dungeon and the outside world.

We barely spent four hours in the dungeon, but it was also barely four minutes outside.

The time difference is likely 1:1 (1 minute: 1 hour/ 1 hour: 1 minute).

Interesting.

I wonder how long Brian was in the dungeon for, whether he fulfilled the requirements to enter the hidden dungeon or something comparable, and whether the hidden dungeon was a one-time occurrence.

I'm not even sure what condition we met for the hidden dungeon to open.

Is the condition the time spent clearing the normal dungeon?

And if Brian did experience it, I wonder if I should observe a one-minute silence in his honor.

Thinking about this, I returned my focus to Anna, who was still speaking.

".....If the girl with the wand hadn't woken up earlier than you, you might have died from blood loss," she said as she looked at me.

Is she referring to Emma?

'And, if Emma awoke later, how did I survive until then?' I reflected as I examined my body once more.

Aside from seeing no injuries, I was wearing a different set of clothes than the one I wore to the dungeon.

Hmmm, I was unconscious so who changed me?

"Who changed me, Anna?" I inquired.

"O-o-oh, that was me," she stammered, flustered.

What's the deal with her?

Before I could say anything, she spoke up and said:

"Don't worry, I tried not to see anything," she hurriedly stated.

Tried?

What is she saying?

Anyway, now I'm wondering where my blades are.

"Anna, my weapon?"

"They're in the garage. Are you going out? After all, you just woke up ", she stated.historical

"Don't worry. I was simply asking "As I lay down on the bed, I said.

Seeing this, she was about to leave the room when I stopped her and asked her a question.

"Have you eaten yet?" I asked.

I knew it was a new day when I saw the sun's reflection in the room.

It should be noon or close to noon right now.

When she heard me, she nodded and replied, saying;

"Yes, we've eaten, thanks to Princess Adara," she said as she walked out the door.

When she was outside, I heard her say to me in a loud voice, "Make sure you take a little rest at least!"

Is she being worried? I suppose, but I can't help but think she's fleeing the room instead.

Thinking about this, I adjusted my body position and sat on the bed, pulling a can of food from my storage ring.

I was starving.

Looking at the canned beef in my hand, I couldn't help but think that I should have gotten a spoon set at the mall.

I used my hand instead since there wasn't any other option and it was stressful to think of one, and after tasting the first meat, I called out the primordial status in my head as I began reading the texts that appeared after clearing the dungeon.

[You have acquired the primordial records of Rank 1 Goblin Lord level 25],

[You have acquired enough primordial records to level up],

[You have acquired enough primordial records to level up],

[You have acquired enough primordial records to level up],

[You have cleared the hidden dungeon [Goblin lord throne room] and received 1* level up reward for first clearance of the dungeon],

[You have acquired enough primordial records to level up],

......

The first thing that came to mind when I saw the rows of text on the panel in front of me was 'as expected of a rank 1 monster.'

The primordial records gained from killing it are enough to level me up three times.

And since I wasn't the only one who fought the goblin, the goblin lord's primordial records must have been shared.

If I had faced the Goblin Lord alone, I wonder how many levels I would have gained.

But this was just a thought since I knew I would have died if I hadn't had a team with me.

What is perplexing is the reward for clearing the dungeon.

Does clearing a dungeon result in rewards for the participants, or is this only true for hidden dungeons?

And the phrase "first clearance" implies that we were the first to complete that particular dungeon, right?

So, did we or perhaps I get the level up reward because we cleared the 'normal dungeon' or because we cleared the 'hidden dungeon'?

I believe it's the latter. After all, the primordial chronicle highlighted the hidden dungeon.

And this 'level up reward' should be the reason I acquired primordial records for another level up.

Good.

Even though I was trashed in the dungeon, the rewards were satisfying.

As I thought of this, I called out my status.

[Status],

[Name: Ace Blaze],

[Age: 17],

[Race: Human [Homo sapiens]],

[Level: 23[+]],

[Job: None],

[Store],

[Title: None],

........

I was able to level up in the dungeon from level 17 to level 23. That's a total of six level increase. I wonder how many monsters I would have had to kill here to get to this level, and how long it would have taken.

With the primordial records I obtained from the Goblin Lord, I would be able to level up three times, and with the dungeon's level up clearance reward, I would be able to level up four times in total.

The gain is very good.

Having this in mind, I chose to level up.

[You have leveled up to level 24],

[You have leveled up to level 25],

After reaching level 25, I was about to level up again when another text appeared on the panel in front of me.

[You have reached level 25 and cannot level up to level 26 until you get your first job and evolve to Rank 1. All primordial records acquired during the evolution process will be recorded, calculated, and stored and once the first job has been successfully acquired, you'd be able to level up].

There were other texts below this, but I was distracted when I saw this, so I ignored them for a moment.

Rank 1?

Job?

It appears that I have met the requirement for evolution.

I was thinking about this when I looked at the other texts below.