Chapter 10: The Key to the World and the Will of the Dungeon "

The first leaf emitted a destructive glow.

 The power that only existed in his imagination has now become reality—"The Key to the Gate of Worlds."

"Finally, finally, it's become a reality—the ability I've been looking forward to the most."

Kiyo's heart was burning with excitement, his whole body trembling. 

This ability was the one he had always dreamed of, the one he wanted more than anything, and it was surely the one he would possess.

He had successfully crossed over to the possibility brought by the world.

At first, the ability he wrote down was "Dimensional Travel," but unfortunately, it couldn't be manifested. 

"The Gate of the World" also couldn't be formed, and he had to settle for the next best thing—manifesting the key to open the Gate of the World.

The key, as the name suggests, was just a key. It didn't necessarily guarantee it could open the Gate of the World. 

After all, only a key that matched the Gate of the World could successfully unlock it.

This was a matter of possibility, and the possibility was extremely small, but even a small chance meant there was a chance to travel to other worlds.

As the ability's name implied, the door that was opened could be freely traveled through, not a one-way, one-time ticket, but a permanent door.

After obtaining the ability, Kiyo couldn't wait to try it.

Bang!

A shimmering, golden, divine door appeared in front of his eyes, and only he could see it. It was adorned with strange patterns, representing the mysteries of the world.

The Gate of the World...

A golden key appeared in his hand, and his heart was pounding so fast it felt like it might leap out of his chest.

He was about to open the Gate of the World, something even the gods could not accomplish. As long as he opened this sacred door, Kiyo could travel freely between worlds.

He nervously held the golden key and tried to put it into the only keyhole of the Gate of the World.

He slowly turned the key, but things didn't go as planned. In a flash, the key broke, and the Gate of the World turned into light and vanished.

"Failed."

He wasn't disappointed. 

After all, the possibility of opening the Gate of the World was extremely low.

"Bang!"

But just as the Gate of the World disappeared, a strange fear suddenly overtook.

Kiyo's pupils froze instantly, his body completely unable to move.

His voice, breath, heartbeat, all his senses, and even his thoughts—everything was taken away.

It felt like his soul was lost in deep darkness.

In the darkness, a pair of huge red eyes, filled with malice and killing intent, slowly opened, staring quietly at his back.

In the next moment, everything disappeared without a trace. He snapped back to reality, cold sweat streaming down his forehead, his teeth lightly chattering, and an endless chill swept over him.

"What just happened? It felt like I was going to die... gulp..."

Before Kiyo could recover from the deep fear, the ground beneath him began to shake violently. 

The sound of rocks cracking echoed as if a bomb exploded.

"Boom... Crack!"

The ground of the entire cave stretched endlessly, and the stone walls suddenly cracked open, and pairs of red eyes appeared through the cracks.

Then monsters began to crawl out of the wall, tumbling to the ground from the cracks in the stone walls.

There were goblins with green skin, small and hunched but strong enough to tear apart their prey. 

There were Kobolds with gray fur all over their bodies and towering two-meter-tall wolf standing upright and ready for battle.

There were also War Shadows with claws and Killer Ants with bodies covered in hard, instantly regenerable exoskeletons.

One, two, three... twenty...

In just a few breaths, the entire narrow tunnel of the cave became filled with countless red eyes full of killing intent and malice, like stepping into the deepest part of hell.

"W-what... Could it be? Did Eina's 'bad luck' really come true... This is a joke, right?! Monster Feast? This is way worse than a Monster Feast. I'm still on the 4th floor, only the seventh floor and above..."

He was stunned by the sudden change in his surroundings, his lips trembling as cold sweat poured down his forehead. He couldn't even find the words to describe the situation.

But at that moment, his mind raced, instantly realizing something, and his pupils narrowed sharply.

'It was when I used the Key to the Gate of the World... that terrifying gaze. Could it be the will of the Dungeon?'

At this moment, the only thing he could think of that could have caused the current situation was that using the Key to the Gate of the World had triggered the Dungeon. 

'That terrifying red eye was the manifestation of the labyrinth's will—was it the "mother" of all these monsters? I must have angered the dungeon's will by trying to open the World Gate inside it.'

This was bad.

"Hah..."

In the face of extreme fear, Kiyo became surprisingly calm. He took a deep breath, pulled out the large sword from his waist, and held it with both hands.

Suddenly, a blue magical light sword appeared in his hands, and his eyes, filled with a hint of madness, stared at the countless red eyes in the darkness.

Then, the image of Hestia's sweet smile, the blessing she had given him, and the stern reprimands from Eina flashed in his mind.

"Heh! I never expected something like this to happen, but there's no use regretting it now. The only thing left to do is one thing. If I die here, then all my dreams and hopes will be nothing but a fleeting illusion, and it will only prove that I'm no better than this. In other words, I'm fired up now. Monsters, no matter how malicious the dungeon is, my goddess is still waiting for me to come home for dinner. Don't get in my way."

Kiyo's gaze became sharp as he slowly grinned, his right hand pointing the sword toward the countless red eyes in the darkness.

The swords in his hands were made of tungsten steel, the strongest metal humans could create, capable of cutting through metal.

The sharp, loud screeches echoed in his ears.

Kiyo didn't know that at this very moment, the entire upper levels of the dungeon were experiencing unusual events. 

The adventurers on the upper floors had fallen into a state of panic.

...

6th Floor

"Are you kidding me?! The Orcs that only spawn on the 10th floor appear in large numbers on the 6th floor. It's a monster feast! Run!"

"I've never heard of anything like this happening before! Help!"

...

7th Floor

"Why? Why is this happening? Infant Dragons and Minotaurs from the 11th floor are appearing in large numbers on the 7th floor. This is an abnormal event. I've heard high-class adventurers talk about this—it's a rare disaster that only occurs on the middle floors. This is something no lower-level adventurer can handle. Run! Run!"

...

12th Floor

"Dammit, how could the monsters spawn so quickly? It's seven or eight times faster than before! What is that?! Minotaur! Help!"

"Monsters from the middle floors are spawning on the upper floor? Run! I want an explanation from the guild."

"Dammit, don't leave me behind! When I get out of here, I'm going to crush your eggs!"

The spawn speed of monsters on every upper floor had doubled abnormally. 

Monsters that originally appeared on the deeper floor were now spawning on the upper floors. 

Each floor was witnessing a large-scale gathering of monsters in what could only be called a 'Monster Feast.'