Three days before the first dungeon expedition:

  The dense forest, filled with the scent of pine and fresh earth, was quiet and serene. Sunlight filtered through the thick foliage, casting intricate patterns on the ground. Among the trees stood a boy with a bow in his hands. His gaze was fixed on a deer peacefully grazing a few dozen meters away.

  — Phew — With a characteristic whistle, the arrow flew from the bow and struck its target. The animal jerked, tried to run, but, having lost too much blood, soon collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

  — Not a bad catch today! — I exclaimed joyfully, lowering the bow. — Father, I’m done with mine!

  — Well done, Ark. I’m finished here too, — Greg replied, gathering the bodies of the slain animals into a cart.

  — Father, have you noticed anything strange lately? — I asked worriedly, approaching him.

  — Now that you mention it... It’s been unusually quiet today, and the prey has been much scarcer for the past few days. Maybe the population is declining. We should report this to the guards at the gate so they can impose a temporary hunting ban in this part of the forest.

  According to the kingdom’s laws, to prevent a significant decrease or complete extinction of animal populations in forests near cities, temporary hunting bans are imposed in certain areas. Greg had explained this to me during one of our hunting trips. Though it was a small detail, it was interesting to learn about.

  — Father, can I take a little walk in the forest before we head back? — I looked at Greg with pleading eyes.

  — Alright, but don’t take too long, and don’t get lost, — Greg couldn’t refuse his son. Once I got his approval, I quickly disappeared from his sight.

  — What a rascal, — Greg chuckled, continuing to gather the game.

  As I wandered through the forest, I carefully examined my surroundings. Suddenly, my attention was drawn to strange little footprints. They looked human but were much smaller.

  — Goblins? Gremlins? — That was the first thing that came to mind when I saw them. Curiosity got the better of me, and I followed the tracks.

  The tracks led me to a structure that felt eerily familiar. A massive stone entrance, adorned with two torches, looked gloomy and mysterious.

  — It’s a dungeon, — I whispered to myself. — Didn’t expect to find one so soon.

  — Grr...gu...gi... — An unpleasant voice echoed from the entrance. I quickly hid in the bushes, covering my mouth with my hand, and began to observe.

  Soon, four green humanoids emerged from the cave. They were goblins. Small, disgusting monsters armed with wooden clubs. And they stank horribly.

  I was terrified. Without making a sound, I stayed hidden in the bushes until the small group of goblins disappeared from view. As soon as they were gone, I emerged from my hiding spot and hurried back to Greg, leaving markers so I could return here in a few days.

  When I returned to Greg, we left the forest. I didn’t tell him about the dungeon because I planned to loot it myself. Though it was dangerous, I was confident in my abilities.

  When we reached the gates, we informed the guards about the decrease in animal numbers and the need for a temporary hunting ban in the northern part of the forest.

  — Thanks for the information, — one of the guards nodded. — We’ll pass it on to the higher-ups.

  — You’re welcome, — Greg replied, while I simply nodded silently, my thoughts already on what lay ahead.

  We headed home, but my mind was far away—in that dungeon I had found. I knew it would be dangerous, but I had no other choice. If I wanted to protect my new family, I needed to get stronger. And the dungeon was my chance.

  — Ark, you seem lost in thought today, — Greg remarked, looking at me.

  — Just tired, Father, — I lied, trying not to reveal my thoughts.

  — Well, rest up at home then. We have to get up early again tomorrow.

  — Alright, — I nodded, but in my heart, I was already making plans for the coming days.

  The dungeon awaited me, and I was ready to face its dangers head-on.

  After leaving a letter for my parents, I left the city.

  As I had expected, the guards had imposed a hunting ban in the northern part of the forest, so I had to take a detour to reach my destination. I carried a small knife, a bow, thirty arrows, and a bag of supplies. Following my markers in the forest, I realized I was alone in this area.

  — Gi... Ga... Gyr... — A strange sound reached me from the bushes. I immediately hid behind the nearest bush, pulling out the knife I had brought with me.

  — Gi... Gi... Gah... — The strange sounds were accompanied by a dull thud.

  Peeking out from the bushes, I saw two goblins fighting over the carcass of some animal. The scene amused me.

  Waiting until one goblin finished off the other, I silently drew my bow and shot the victor. The arrow hit him right in the head, and he fell without even making a sound.

  Moving forward a bit, I reached the dungeon entrance. In the distance, I noticed a small group of four goblins heading out to hunt. Hiding among the rocks, I waited for them to pass and slipped inside.

  Inside, the dungeon looked like a dungeon, but instead of cells, there were rooms.

  Though I tried to avoid drawing attention and clashing with goblins, I occasionally had to carefully kill one and hide their bodies in empty rooms. These actions reminded me of a certain game.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  — All I’m missing is being bald and disguising myself as them, — I chuckled to myself.

  To my surprise, I moved through these corridors very freely. Even though it was my first time here, the experience I had gained from repeatedly clearing similar dungeons in the game was paying off.

  Before I knew it, I had bypassed all the dangerous rooms and reached the room with the chest.

  — Suspicious. That was way too easy, — I whispered, approaching the chest.

  I sprinkled it with crushed, dried leaves. This was a special method that, in the early stages of the game, allowed you to check if a chest was a mimic. If it was a monster, it would immediately start shaking and sneezing. It was like sprinkling pepper on someone’s tongue. After waiting a couple of minutes and seeing no reaction, I calmly opened it.

  Inside was a silver ring and a dagger. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. But I understood that in a place like this, I was unlikely to find anything valuable. Though I had hoped for a scroll or at least some expensive trinket to sell for a good price. Hanging the dagger at my side, I had to discard the old one due to severe wear. I decided to see what the ring did. And as soon as I picked it up, I realized...

  — There’s no system here! — I exclaimed to myself.

  Why hadn’t I thought of this earlier? Now that the game had become reality, many of its mechanics no longer applied. To figure out what an item did, I’d need to consult someone with appraisal skills.

  Even more disappointed, I sat on the cold floor, pondering my next steps. I decided to put the ring on and try to sense what it did.

  Grrr — The sound of my growling stomach echoed in the half-empty room.

  — Seems like all I feel is hunger, — I said, pulling some food from my bag.

  After a quick snack, I decided not to despair just yet and look for another chest room. Usually, low-rank dungeons had two chest rooms. So, I headed toward the presumed location of the second chest. Along the way, I tested my new dagger—it was sharp enough to easily kill a few stray goblins.

  Soon, I reached the room with the teleportation circle. The large blue circle tempted me to step on it, but I decided it was too soon. That was my first mistake.

  As I approached what I thought was the second chest room, I froze. Instead of a chest, there was a strange red circle, similar to the one I had seen earlier. But a second teleportation circle, as I knew, was impossible.

  — Gry ha tua!

  — Gah gu na!

  While I was thinking about what to do with this room, I heard a loud rumble behind me. It was a horde of goblins—about twenty of the little freaks. Realizing I couldn’t handle such a crowd, I was about to bolt forward when I heard a similar rumble ahead.

  — Damn, the little freaks have me surrounded, — I cursed under my breath.

  Another horde of green freaks was coming at me. I was surrounded, and the only way out was that room with the unknown circle. With little time to think, I ran into the room, praying it was just another exit.

  As soon as I stepped on the unknown circle, a bright red light blinded me.

  — This can’t be good, — I managed to think before the world around me dissolved.

  — Damn, I can’t see anything, — I muttered, feeling my head splitting from pain.

  When my vision finally returned, I began to look around. I was in a gray room, half-covered in ice. With every exhale, a cloud of cold vapor escaped my mouth. And I noticed it was unbearably cold.

  ?Why were there so many of them? Such numbers aren’t typical for low-level dungeons... Or maybe my memory is failing me? And where am I even?? — My thoughts were jumbled as I sat in the middle of the room, trying to grasp my situation.

  As soon as I stood up and left the half-frozen room, I was struck with horror. Before my eyes was a city completely covered in ice.

  — The ruins of the Ice Kingdom of Mildfold, an S-rank dungeon, — my voice trembled, but not from the cold—from fear.

  I knew this place all too well. In the game, this was where I died the most. It was the last dungeon before the game’s finale.

  I began to shake. My already pale skin turned even whiter. I could barely stand. Now I understood that my death was only a matter of time.

  ?I barely managed to handle a dozen goblins. How am I supposed to survive in this cursed place?? — This question swirled in my head.

  I would have stood there, frozen, if I hadn’t felt death approaching. Jumping to the side, I saw an icy, clawed paw slam into the spot where I had just been standing. A massive snow tiger with icy claws stared at me from a few meters away. I couldn’t move. My heart pounded wildly in my chest.

  The huge tiger slowly circled me. It was an ice leopard, very similar to a snow leopard from my world, but much larger and with icy claws. In this territory, it was a mini-boss. Though incredibly strong, it had one weakness—it couldn’t see stationary targets. The beast stopped and began sniffing the air.

  ?Damn! The goblin blood...? — My clothes were soaked in the blood of those green creatures.

  As long as I didn’t move, it couldn’t see me, but with its sense of smell, it knew I was nearby.

  — RROOOAAAR!

  The beast’s sharp roar deafened me. It was so loud I nearly lost consciousness.

  The vibrations caused huge icicles hanging from the buildings to crack and fall. One of them landed right on the ice leopard, giving me a chance to escape. Seizing the opportunity, I bolted forward. My eyes searched for familiar landmarks. In the distance, I saw a half-frozen church.

  ?That’s it! Just what I need!? — I hurried toward it. Around the church were many traps. The beast quickly freed itself from the obstacle and chased after me. Noticing a small pile of snow, I jumped over it and turned to face the mini-boss. The enraged beast lunged straight at me.

  — Please, let this work!

  Stepping on the snow, icy chains tightly wrapped around the leopard’s body, immobilizing it.

  — Perfect! — I couldn’t hide my joy. — Kitty, did you forget there are traps everywhere here?

  Saying this, I pulled out my dagger. Good thing I remembered there were many traps like this near the church. After all, I hadn’t cleared this dungeon nearly a hundred times for nothing.

  ?Though I was lucky it was a restraining trap, or I’d already be dead.?

  Approaching the beast, I stabbed its eyes twice with the dagger. Blinding it, I delivered a few more strikes to its face. Due to its thick fur, I could only attack areas where the fur was thin or absent.

  Finally, I had time to catch my breath. I sat down next to the immobilized animal. The adrenaline wore off, and I began to shake violently. Fear, anxiety, panic—all these emotions overwhelmed me at once. After a few minutes, I calmed down and began to think.

  — One threat down, only the boss remains, and that’s a problem.

  Since this was an S-rank dungeon, the rules were different. First, dungeons of this level were separate worlds. The only way out was by killing the boss that sustained this place. Second, all valuable items could only be obtained by killing the boss or mini-bosses. There were no treasure rooms or teleportation circles like in lower-level dungeons.

  — Damn Asian developer, did you really have to make it so complicated? — I cursed aloud, trying to contain my growing frustration.

  As I sat and pondered my next move, I noticed something hanging around the ice leopard’s neck. As soon as I reached out to take a closer look, the beast began to thrash and kick, as if guarding whatever was around its neck. I knew the chains were strong enough to hold it—I’d killed it this way before.

  My right hand was still trembling. I tried to steady it by gripping my wrist with my left hand. The leopard stopped thrashing, and I was able to take what was hanging around its neck. It was a ring.

  — A ring? Did the leopard have something like this? — I tried to remember if I’d seen anything like it in the game.

  It was dark blue, with a snowflake pattern around the band. After examining it from all angles, I still couldn’t recall seeing such a ring in the game.

  Not knowing what else to do, I decided to put it on the middle finger of my right hand. As soon as the ring was on my finger, I fell to my knees, clutching my head. The headache was unbearable, as if hot needles were piercing my skull.

  Suddenly, the pain subsided, and I found myself in a white void. I immediately looked at my right hand—the ring was still there. Trying to remove it proved futile.

  — This damn ring, it won’t come off! — I cursed aloud.

  — You shouldn’t speak of my home that way, — an unexpected elderly voice came from behind me.

  I spun around and saw a tall old man with a long gray beard. His gaze was calm, but there was an incredible strength in it. He stood leaning on a staff, looking at me with a slight smile.