Never Die Extra (Edited)

Evan D. Sherden, Cursed (2)

[You have evolved to level 5. We are impressed by the succession of achievements as you have uncovered all the secrets hidden in the dungeon’s upper floors. So now, we will improve your skills as a whole. Your Throw, Heaven Press, and… your grip and Surprise skill will evolve now.]

After completing the dungeon’s 4th floor, Evan was blessed with raising his skill levels and increasing the quantity by one more on the 5th floor of the dungeon.

When he used to receive his blessing after playing through the dungeon, he always thought, ‘Oh, I’ll pick up some high-level skills as I have no use for this one!’, but now, when he received another ability as a blessing, there was an unexpected effect.

“I really got a surprise skill!?”

Evan was lucky enough to have grown another skill, even though he didn’t even know it existed in the first place!

He had already roughly guessed the existence of the Grip skill, but he hadn’t known about the surprise until now when a message from God confirmed it this time.

‘I kept practicing and killing the slimes even before they were able to recognize me. This is definitely recognized as a surprise attack…!’

Evan was deeply enlightened. He had been practicing slime training and surprise training at every moment, so hopefully, they might have evolved to the same level!

‘By the way… It is completely useless.’

This was because he had never initiated a surprise attack on the enemy from the back or assisted the party from behind. Even if his Surprise Attack skill leveled up, Evan wasn’t the one for surprise attacks, so it was equally meaningless.

But more precisely… It was only meaningful for his slime training. Holding slime and crushing it was recognized as a surprise attack, so of course, he would now be able to inflict more damage and increase his slime-crushing rate.

As Evan had learned about the existence of the Surprise skill, it might not be necessary for him to kill the wriggling slimes one by one with the preliminary motions, but as long as it became a habit, Evan had no intention of putting it to use.

‘If I am able to summon a much stronger slime later, I will be able to train easily, so I think it will be more advantageous in that scenario…’

Evan was surprised at first, but then he felt unhappy, and then all these emotions subsided. He then saw Shine and Belois, who had strange facial expressions.

“Aren’t you feeling special, Shine?”

“No, the change was good, Master. The skills I learned from the butler have evolved…. But more importantly, when my dungeon level was raised this time, I didn’t feel as many changes as before.”

“What do you mean?”

“My body, which had been broken and misaligned before, was half-forcibly corrected. But comparing it to the previous ones, the degree to which it changed this time has decreased, Master.”

“Maybe we will be able to improve our skills on the next floor,” Belois supplemented Shine’s words. Evan understood what they were trying to say.

The penalty of being born as a Rookie was to possess an unbalanced body from the beginning. This meant that Shine and Belois could get rid of all of their weaknesses by clearing the dungeon’s 5th floor and reaching level 6.

“I realize what you want to say. But to achieve a full evolution, you have to go beyond the Floor Master. The floors beyond are just ordeals prepared by God to prove the qualifications of one’s strength. Those who are able to defeat and adjust accordingly very well find themselves stronger than ever.”

“That means we can benefit greatly from the dungeon if we venture further than the 5th floor. But still, Master, to confirm the intensity of the change you told us about, we’ll have to experience it for ourselves on the 6th floor.”

“I can’t blame God any more for all our shortcomings. I overcame regret… Thanks to you,” Evan replied, due to which Shine and Belois beamed.

Not only did his heart mature in the process of increasing his dungeon level but also, as the body became stronger, his thinking style and mindset improved, too.

“Master Evan, what are we going to do now? Yesterday we cleared the 1st and 2nd floors and then only took a break for some hours. But today, we conquered the 4th floor quite quickly because of the blessing of my increased speed. I have plenty of physical strength, and I can even go down to the 5th floor…”

Compared to the 2nd floor where they first found the treasure chest, their speed in clearing the 3rd floor was much faster, and thanks to the vigorous buffs and their increased movement speed, they were able to completely conquer all of the 4th floor in only three hours. It took almost less than half of the time than it did yesterday.

In fact, unlike the first and second floors, it was possible they still hadn’t discovered a few of the achievements.

Unlike the 1st and 2nd floors, the explorers really started exploring the secrets of the dungeon in a more stable way beginning from the 4th floor.

“But you can’t. We need to rest now. It means that we have to make sure we all are in perfect condition before entering the 5th floor,” Raihan spoke quite reasonably.

Unfortunately, Evan forgot to consider one point until now.

“The 5th floor is where the Floor Master is located. How we clear the 5th floor is more important than how we cleared the first four floors. We have to collect all the achievements to raise the rewards at the end, because there will be a special achievement box on the 5th floor.”

“So, it is important that we all take a break…”

In fact, that was not the only reason. Floor Masters that were present on every fifth floor often required special abilities to be defeated.

The probability of obtaining a higher-ranking skill was also greater here than clearing the other floors. Finally, the most important thing was the class! They had a chance to get a new class!

‘If your physical abilities and leveling up are simply not enough to conquer the floors further, then the new class you obtain raises your skills’ powers again.’

Among the blessings that could be obtained after clearing dungeon floors, which upgraded your existing abilities or helped you get a new skill, were the many classes that could be obtained as dungeon rewards greatly enhanced body movements, muscle power, and other skills.

Silent Knight and Blood Witch were the nicknames of Shine and Belois, and at the same time, they were also their class names. In the game, Shine and Belois had obtained these classes from the dungeon, which led them both to become extremely strong. Once acquired, a good class could have a greater impact than covering the whole body with artifacts.

“None of us have obtained a class as of right now. Hyung Raihan’s probably existed before, but there is a high possibility that he lost it when he was deprived of the priesthood.”

“When I was actually deprived of the priesthood, I had a feeling that some of the divine power given to me had diminished. The effectiveness of my skills as a priest also decreased a little… I had initially thought it was God’s blessing that had been taken away from me, but now I know that it was because my class had gone.”

“That’s right. However, you don’t have to believe in God’s blessings only if you belong to the Church. This means that the further you go down the dungeon, you can be recognized as a priest again. More importantly, depending on whether my hyung is active or not, you can obtain a much higher or special priesthood.”

“Special priesthood…” Evan’s words seemed to have a magical effect on Raihan. His whole heart expanded at the thought of regaining back his priesthood.

Furthermore, he could even obtain a special priesthood! This meant he could get closer to God Himself!

“The same is true for all of us. Originally, the first time is the most important one. If you get a good job at first, then of course you can get a better job next time. That’s why you have to challenge yourself on the floor where there is a chance of getting a job.”

“I thought my job was to become a butler, Master.”

“I am also fully satisfied with being the Master’s maid.”

Evan replied in a strong tone, “That’s enough. In this world, a class is something that symbolizes the size of the footprint you can leave in the world. More directly, power. You get the power to defeat the monsters and give you greater freedom.”

“That’s right… I understand, Master.”

“…We will definitely try.”

Their answers weren’t quite up to the mark, but Evan was still satisfied with them. As long as they spoke out, they would recognize the importance of their true strengths and definitely use them.

“Okay, then let’s find somewhere to rest.”

However, they met another explorer party at the shelter where Evan led them.

“Look! It’s Young Master Evan, the second son of the Marquis of Sherden!”

The first man who recognized Evan shouted in surprise. He was in his mid-twenties.

The party consisted of a total of seven people, including him. Most of the parties consisted of eight people, and it was a rare sight to find one below that number. The explorers ventured in groups of eight or more so they could increase the limit of their achievements, and more people could take part in fighting Floor Master battles.

Although sometimes, the limit of achievements that individuals could obtain might lower due to the others’ inactiveness. As the number of people increased, it was possible for them to respond to more diverse situations as a group.

Even if a Floor Master appeared, they would not retreat and would fight it with ease.

So, if someone wasn’t confident in their skills, it was natural for them to explore the dungeon in groups of eight or more.

‘And all of them are extras, almost like me. It’s hard to remember all of their names as most of them weren’t even mentioned throughout the Yo-Ma Great Wars series.’

Of course, as the dungeon was overflowing with explorers, it wasn’t very difficult to come by such parties, at least on the upper floors. Whenever those people saw Evan and how he was battling through the extreme complications of the dungeon, they felt more affection towards him.

Noticing this, Evan put on a gentle expression as the man bent down and asked him,

“Why did Second Master of the Marquis come into such a place!?”

“Fool. Sometimes even nobles have to enter the dungeon regularly and unconditionally.”

“But didn’t the Master have to be an adult for that?”

Hearing this, Evan realized that he was one of the thousands of people of the dungeon city who didn’t know about Evan’s 12th birthday party, or that they had entered the dungeon before his twelfth birthday.

Evan then spoke to them, “Are you going to rest here? Then we will go to another shelter.”

“Oh no, Master. We’ve already rested for quite a while now. Now we will be heading down to the 5th floor!”

The man clenched his fists as he was thrilled that Evan spoke to him. A second member of their party muttered that he was doing it in consideration of Young Master Evan, and it seemed to be true as they were already packing their luggage.

“Please take care of yourself, Master Evan.”

“I am always cheering for you.”

“I want to tell you, Master, that I am dying to go inside the Brother Bathhouse once. I’d also love to see you there someday.”

“Thanks to the Brotherhood Pharmacy, we are here without a priest, Master. Thank you very much.”

As the party passed by Evan, they repeatedly spoke words of virtue. Everyone was so kind and respectful to him!

Evan appreciated their kindness, so he pulled out a round bomb from his pocket and handed it over. A female party member, who took the bomb instead of the party leader, tilted her head.

“What’s this, Master…?”

“It is an emergency escape bomb. If you are in danger, throw this in the direction of the monsters. All of them will be stunned and will not be able to move, so you would be able to run away easily.”

It wasn’t really useful, but it could help in critical situations. Because of materials and technology limitations, it was a low-class product that did not even work against monsters on the 20th floor.

But such shabby equipment could prove to be lifesaving for those who wanted to conquer the 5th floor. They quickly grasped the value of the bomb and burst into tears. However, they didn’t refuse to accept it. All of them had the perfect attitude as dungeon explorers.

“Thank you, Master Evan!”

“This must be such a valuable item, but you decided to give it to us nevertheless… We will now surely clear the 5th floor!”

They bowed their heads to Evan and left.

Only

Evan watched their backs with a slightly worried look. Shine asked for the reason.

“Why are you looking at them with that expression, Master?”

“I want those people to live.”

Evan couldn’t reply to Shine, who was still looking at him curiously.

While playing Yo-Ma Great War 3, he knew the fact that the other parties you meet in the dungeon mostly just died off.

“Let’s forget about them for a while. For now, let’s eat and then sleep.”

They all roughly wiped their bodied with a towel soaked in water and went to sleep after eating.

On that day, Belois was still rolling back and forth in her sleeping bag, trying to reach Evan in her sleep. But Shine was sleeping in the middle, and he wondered what was happening to her.