Chapter 5 Challenge Dimension
After taking more than 24 hours, all three floors of the Dungeon had been built. Pippi quickly returned to the Crystal Core room when her work was done.
"Phew." Pippi sighed. She wiped her sweaty forehead. "Pippi, didn't expect it to end so soon."
The process of building this Dungeon was fairly fast. Probably the fastest among the other nobles. It would take at least about a month to complete each floor. Considering most of the Demon Lords were perfectionists.
It used to take Isaac four months to complete his Dungeon.
He managed to do it within a day. Not because of experience, but, there were many details that he had overlooked. Moreover, the 2nd floor's terrain that did not have many natural features sped up the Dungeon building process.
Everything was done quickly because Isaac was being chased by time. He immediately wanted to move on to the next plan.
Grinding.
Isaac accessed his inventory and activated the item he just got from the Bronze Box—Challenge Dimension.
<Challenge Dimension>
[Class : F]
[Type : Item]
[Take players to a special dimension to complete 100 challenges. A certain bonus will be given every time you complete a challenge.]
[Do you want to activate it?]
[Yes/No]
The Challenge Dimension was a place where demons leveled up individually.
There would be 100 Challenges. The more challenges you completed, the more difficult the challenges were. However, at the same time, the rewards given were getting bigger.
Hence, the number of challenges a player could accept was limited, depending on the number of the Dungeon floors.
"Right now, I only have 3 floors in my dungeon. It means I can only complete 30 challenges. I need to upgrade my dungeon soon," Isaac thought.
Then, Isaac turned his attention to Pippi. ƒ𝐫𝒆𝐞w𝗲𝚋𝗻૦𝘷e𝙡.c𝑜𝙢
"Pippi, I will be gone for a while. You are allowed to use all the zenny to defend the Dungeon. Make the best of it."
"Roger, Lord!" answered Pippi eagerly. "But, by the way Lo—"
"Do as I tell you." Before Pippi could finish, Isaac cut her off.
Pippi saluted Isaac, then his body turned into light and disappeared.
There were two reasons why Isaac wanted to complete the Challenge Dimension in less than six months.
One of the reasons was, there was currently no serious threat to the Dungeon. When a demon entered the Challenge Dimension, it meant leaving the Dungeon, and it was actually very risky, especially without the existence of a monster boss.
Since it was still early in the game, the Nobles would be busy attacking the settlement areas or building their own Dungeons.
Meanwhile, humans were still struggling with 'dungeon break' for the first time. They hadn't even thought about going into the Dungeon. They weren't even that dangerous for the next six months.
This was the reason why Isaac wasn't so worried about not buying the monster boss.
So, this was the perfect time to strengthen his power and to level up.
Before leaving, he spent 10,000 zenny to buy a lot of potion items and weapon-type artefacts.
<Malice & Verdict>
[Class : F]
[Type : Artefact (Guns)]
[Dual pistol that uses Mana bullets. Offers bonus magic damage of 10% of magic stat.]
"I think this is enough."
Monsters in the Challenge Dimension could kill real demons. And even worse, the 'Shop' couldn't be accessed.
Therefore, Isaac needed to prepare himself before entering the Challenge Dimension portal.
Isaac gripped the black stone engraved with 'Challenge Dimension', then it lit up. In a split second, a black portal opened in front of him.
[The portal to the Challenge Dimension has opened!]
He took a deep breath. "Let's get started."
Then, Isaac entered the portal.
.
.
.
Isaac walked into the darkness. He kept walking until he saw a brilliant white light. The closer he got, the dazzling the light was. Then, the light swallowed Isaac.
He opened his eyes.
[Welcome to the Challenge Dimension.]
[Are you ready to start the first challenge?]
[Yes/No]
Isaac was not in a hurry to accept the challenges. All of his sensory receptors absorbed all kinds of information around him.
He found himself in the middle of the forest. Tall pine trees surrounded him. Above the ground, fern bushes thrived. Not far from Isaac, there was a herd of kobolds on the banks of the river.
<Information>
[Name : N/A]
[Race : Kobold]
[Type : Beast]
[Class : F]
[Level : 5]
After feeling that he recognized his surroundings, Isaac then pressed the 'Yes' option in the system window.
Ding!
[First challenge begins.]
[The kobold tribe has just been attacked by a herd of orcs. Their leader died in the process of escaping.]
[Success condition : Guide the kobold tribe out of the forest.]
[Reward: 1,000 zenny, 30x 'Kobold (E)']
Isaac's eyes narrowed when he saw the rewards offered by the system.
The number of gifts that Isaac currently received was rather small. Thirty kobolds were equivalent to 150 zenny. It was a chump change indeed. However, every single challenge would give him a lot of exp.
"The Dimension Challenge is a little deceptive. Behind this small gift are thousands of monsters that can be killed and earn a lot of experience," Isaac muttered. His face was straight.
He walked over to the herd of kobolds. Instantly, they screamed while brandishing stone daggers.
"Kwaaark kwaarrk kwaark!"
[Translator activated. Every language that appears is automatically translated into demon language.]
"Who are you?!" The lizard creature the size of a human baby glared at Isaac with a grunt.
Isaac was quite surprised. It had been a long time since a weak kobold dared to point a sharp weapon at his face.
"Somehow it feels nostalgic," Isaac thought.
Then, Isaac replied to the kobold comrade. "I see you are in trouble. I'm here to help you."
The kobolds seemed to be whispering to each other, discussing the creature that they had just met.
Isaac, who had a high 'Perception' stat, had extremely sharp senses. He could hear the kobolds' discussions.
"He looks like a human. I'm not sure if he's strong. But he wants to help us," whispered one of the kobolds.
"Just accept it. If the situation worsens, we can use that person as a sacrifice."
Isaac smiled at their conversation. Weak creatures couldn't sense the power of the Demon Lords.
After a long discussion, one of them approached Isaac.
"We agree to accept your help. Please help us out of this territory. If we continue to follow the flow of this river, we will get out of the forest," said one of the kobolds.
"Hmm."
Then, they walked down the river together. Isaac was leading the way, while the herd of kobolds followed Isaac like geese.
After walking quite a distance, Isaac sensed the presence of a group of monsters.
"Get ready! Someone is going to attack us."
From behind the bushes, 15 orcs leapt and surrounded Isaac and the kobolds.
"Raaawrr!" they roared. The herd of kobolds trembled in fear.
One of the orcs, with a scratch in his eyes, came over to them. "How dare lowly beings like you enter our territory? All of you will die—"
Bang!
Before he finished speaking, the orc died.
Brains and blood splattered on the ground. A three metre tall sinister creature collapsed headless. The faces of the other orcs that were originally vicious turned into shock. The kobolds also showed the same expression.
Isaac stood with his gun pointed at them. The muzzle of the gun in his hand puffed out smoke.
"I do not spare any being who dares to threaten me."