First Instance (1)

When she passed through the dungeon entrance, physical connection to the outside world was cut off. She was in her own space - her own "instance", if you will.

This dungeon, unsurprisingly, took place inside of a cave. She thought this dungeon looked fairly ordinary, but there was bound to be something unusual about this place.

*...*

There was nothing to do but walk forward.

The cave slowly grew wider the further she progressed. And eventually, it started to slope downwards.

It didn't take her long to realize something was wrong.

*Ah, I don't have a light source.*

The light from outside the cave still illuminated the pathway so far, but the further the cave descended, the less light entered. Eventually, it would be completely dark.

*This might actually be a problem.*

If she didn't have a light source, it didn't matter how good of a player she was. If an attack was silent, it would be impossible to react to it.

*Ah... The struggles of the early game...*

Jisha was used to a Tier 9 body and mind, one that was way more advanced than her current state. Since Tier 9 players were well into the range of superhumans, they would have no problem traversing a cave in a level 10 area even if it was pitch black.

However, she was currently at Tier 0. It was as if there were shackles on her senses - they were close to that of an ordinary human.

While a normal player would undoubtedly be struck by attacks with their sight taken away, Jisha's experience would help her identify attacks with sound. It was highly unlikely that any monsters in a level 10, or even 20 or 30, area would strike silently.

But... experience? How could she simply hear attacks and know how to respond to them?

Let's say there are two people sitting next to each other on a park bench. Both of them are fairly ordinary people. They aren't superhumans, nor are they Olympic gold medalists. However, one of them plays guitar in a band for fun, and one of them is an avid birdwatcher.

The ambience of the birds flying around in the park may seem like gibberish to the band member, but the birdwatcher would be able to identify each one of their calls clearly.

Likewise, a band playing music in the park would just sound like "music" to the birdwatcher, but the guitar player would be able to identify individual chords and techniques of the guitarist.

It wasn't different physiques or brainpower that allowed them to recognize these things. It was simply experience.

*My saving grace right now is that the cave floor is flat...*

However, experience could only take her so far. If the floor and ceiling of the cave were covered in stalactites and stalagmites, travel would be incredibly difficult if not impossible... much less reacting to and dodging attacks.

She was still Tier 0. She couldn't use anything crazy like echolocation. Even the most renowned scientists could only measure a sample with the precision of the instrument they were using.

At this point, the cave had turned completely dark - no light from the outside reached this far down.

The depths of a cave were among the darkest places one could ever visit.

It was a place where, regardless of whether your eyes were open or closed, what you saw wouldn't change.

Even traditional night vision abilities were useless here. Even at night, there were still trace amounts of light on the surface. Those with night vision could detect even these faintest amounts of light and see as if it were normal.

However, if there was no light... you couldn't see your fingers in front of you no matter how close to your face they were.

Vigilant. Jisha had to remain ever so vigilant.

In this pitch black world where one of her senses was completely eliminated, the other four seemed to become amplified.

*Well, only two are important right now.*

The air still smelled normal. If Jisha died from a deadly gas pocket this early in the game, she would cry. And taste... well... unless there were some salt crystals lying around or something, it wouldn't help much.

But she was straining her hearing as much as possible at the moment.

And feel was important, too. How was the ground shaped underneath her feet? It still seemed to be sloping downwards without an ending in sight.

*Well, nothing's in sight right now... I've gotta find the wall.*

Another use for feel - the cave wall.

After reorienting herself a bit, she came across a wall on her right.

This served several purposes.

1. Navigation. By aligning yourself with a wall, you wouldn't lose your way. Since the wall was on Jisha's right, if she ever needed to turn around for any reason, she could follow the same wall that was now on her left.

2. Reducing attack angles. Since one side of her was blocked by a wall, she would not have to worry about being attacked from that side.

*There better not be any traps... This is kind of a gamble, but it's my best option right now.*

Whether she was walking down the middle of the cave or along the wall, the likelihood of activating a trap was practically the same. It was important to take any advantage one was given, no matter how small.

*Step*

*Step*

*Step*

These quiet footsteps were the only thing Jisha could hear. And the ground below her feet, along with the cave wall, were the only things she could feel.

The only things that entered her world were her footsteps and the rough texture on her right fingertips.

Nothing else existed.

But this wasn't the case for much longer.

*...!*

The loud screech of a monster echoed through the cave.

From its high-pitched sound, one could assume its size was small.

*Likely some variation of a bat monster.*

There was no way to be certain since Jisha couldn't see. But, since they were some of the only animals in the real world that could use echolocation, it was an educated guess especially in the early game.

Without sight, there had to be another way to detect your surroundings, especially if you lived there.

*Let's hope that screech was its echolocation method...*

Of course, bats used ultrasound to echolocate. This may as well be silent to humans as its frequency exceeded human hearing by several times.

But, since low-level monsters would not attack silently, this screech was likely a warning that it was going to attack.

*... I can't tell where it is. I really didn't expect something like this from the early game.*

The screech echoed throughout the cave. Though Jisha could tell the general direction of the monster, she couldn't pinpoint it due to the extreme reverberation of the cave.

*... I have to take a hit.*

There was no other way to analyze where it would come from. And for the first time today...

*-36*

*...!*

Jisha took damage from a natural mob.