The faint chirping of birds stirred Soren awake.
The morning air outside the tent was crisp and cool, and faint wisps of fog rose from the grass that surrounded his small camp.
It was day 2 of his farming.
He blinked away the heaviness in his eyelids and stretched his arms over his head.
His body ached slightly, but it was the good kind of ache, the kind that reminded him of progress.
The sun hadn't fully risen yet, only a faint orange line cutting across the distant horizon.
"...Dawn already."
He sat up, brushed his hair back, and muttered a short chant under his breath, a circle forming in his palm.
A faint shimmer of pink light spread over his body as the spell took effect.
"「Clean」"
The grime and sweat of yesterday's rest vanished instantly, leaving behind the faint scent of mana.
It wasn't as refreshing as a proper bath, but it was good enough for dungeon life.
Then, with another word, a small orb of water appeared in the air.
"「Aqua」"
He poured the water into a bowl from his inventory.
He followed it up with another short cast.
"「Freeze」"
The water instantly turned chillingly cold.
He rubbed the cold liquid over his face, shivering slightly as the chill bit into his skin.
'That's better.'
The fatigue faded away, replaced by a fresh sharpness in his mind.
He tied his long white hair roughly behind his head, letting a few loose strands fall naturally along the sides of his face.
Then, he reached for the sleeping bag and folded it neatly before slipping it into his inventory, followed by the compact tent.
A few slices of bread served as breakfast.
He ate slowly, his gaze drifting toward the dungeon entrance not far away.
Yesterday, he had spent the entire day clearing those tunnels, only to gain 34 Points.
Not a terrible result, but not great either.
He sighed, biting another piece of bread.
'The terrain really slowed me down.'
The goblins weren't strong, that much he could say for certain, but the tunnels were narrow, twisting and uneven.
Every few steps required a change of direction or a duck beneath jagged stone.
There were places where he could barely swing his weapon properly, forcing him to rely on quick bursts of magic instead.
It wasn't glamorous, and it definitely wasn't efficient.
Still, he couldn't afford to complain.
Once breakfast was done, he double-checked his gear before the dungeon swallowed him once more.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Inside, the stale, damp air wrapped around him like a cold blanket.
The faint glow of his mana lantern illuminated the narrow corridor ahead, revealing the rough path deeper into the labyrinth.
Today, his approach was different.
Yesterday had been about testing the waters, whereas today was about efficiency.
He moved methodically, marking the magic map as he went.
Every goblin group he encountered was swiftly dispatched, with no hesitation and no wasted movement.
Steel met flesh with precision; spells flared only when needed.
Hours passed like that.
The tunnels twisted and branched endlessly, but Soren's steady pace never faltered.
Every now and then, he stopped to jot down quick notes in his magic map, tracking enemy locations and resting points.
By the time the pocket watch in his hand shifted toward the night, he had already slain dozens of goblins.
He checked his status window briefly.
[Points: +52]
A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Better."
Still, his expression quickly fell.
'No, I can do better.'
Efficiency was everything now.
If he could raise this route's yield even further, then he could leave this place even sooner.
The thought filled him with quiet determination.
He kept going.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Day 3.
The next morning came and went in the same disciplined rhythm: clean, eat, check gear, enter.
By now, Soren's movements were automatic, almost mechanical.
The narrow tunnels no longer slowed him as much.
His body had adjusted to the rhythm: kill, mark, move.
He followed the route he had built yesterday, his feet gliding over familiar ground.
The most surprising part came early on; the corpses from yesterday were gone.
Completely.
He hadn't noticed the previous day since he was focused on creating a route, but now he could tell.
Not a trace of blood remained on the ground where he had fought before.
The dungeon looked… reset.
He crouched down, brushing a hand along the dirt.
There were no signs of rot, no lingering stench.
"...So it really does reset."
In the original game, monsters respawned endlessly after a set time, and all traces of combat disappeared in the process, but seeing it firsthand in this world sent a strange chill through him.
When he encountered goblins again, none of them recognised him.
They charged forward as if seeing a fresh intruder for the first time.
It was unsettling.
"Things like this make it hard to deny that it's a game world…" he muttered, cutting through another goblin with a clean, practised swing.
By noon, he had finished the entire route.
Lunch was a quick affair, a sandwich eaten while leaning against a cave wall.
He had long grown used to the stench of goblins and the thick metallic tang of blood in the air.
His sense of smell barely registered it anymore.
He continued mapping afterwards, pushing deeper into unknown areas.
Occasionally, a stronger monster appeared, a hobgoblin or goblin sorcerer, but none could stand against his refined rhythm.
The only time his pace would slow was when he was hit by poison or curses, but after raising his divine power, they would quickly dissipate.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
It was day 4 when he found it.
The tunnel ahead widened into an open chamber large enough to accommodate a large group, and at the far end stood a massive stone door carved with intricate designs.
He knew immediately what it was.
"So this is where the boss room is."
But instead of entering, he simply marked it on his map and turned away.
Killing the boss would prevent respawns for several days, and that would ruin his farming schedule entirely.
Efficiency came first.
He continued exploring instead, mapping out every tunnel and side passage he could find.
By now, more than half of the dungeon's layout was complete.
Every notable landmark was marked, including water sources, rest areas, and concentrations of enemy forces.
Each night, he returned to his camp outside the entrance, updated his map, and fine-tuned his farming route.
By day 5, his efforts bore fruit.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
By the dawn of the fifth day, Soren's routine had become second nature.
Wake up. Cast [Clean]. Eat. Check equipment. Enter.
The rhythm repeated like a heartbeat, the world shrinking down to a single loop of tunnels, monsters and maps.
Each swing of his blade felt smoother, each movement more precise.
He barely needed to think anymore; his body followed the flow instinctively.
The dungeon that had once felt suffocating and confusing now seemed almost comforting.
Every narrow turn, every crack in the wall, every spot where goblins tended to spawn, he knew them all.
That day, he completed the final version of his farming route.
From the first corridor near the entrance to the deeper nests where goblins and hobgoblins roamed, every section was laid out in a perfect circle, allowing him to move seamlessly from one group to the next.
There were no wasted steps, no idle seconds.
And when he finished that loop before noon, he glanced at his Points window.
[Points: +97]
A satisfied smile tugged at his lips.
"Finally… that's more like it."
He exhaled softly, leaning against the cold wall.
It was an absurd pace, nearly triple what he had achieved on the first day.
The dungeon wasn't particularly dangerous, but the sheer monotony would have broken most people.
Still, Soren didn't stop there.
After taking a brief break and a few gulps of water, he set out again, not to fight, but to finish his map.
Hours passed in silence as he traced the last few unexplored tunnels.
When he returned to the entrance that evening, the entire dungeon layout was mapped out.
He opened his magic map, staring at the glowing lines and symbols of the finished product.
Every corridor, every chamber, even minor resource points, all of it marked and organised.
If he sold this to the Guild, it would fetch a high price.
Easily a few gold coins, more than enough to cover the expenses of his supplies and new tent.
And that wasn't even counting the proof items he had collected; goblin and hobgoblin ears were carefully stored in pouches inside his inventory.
When he returned, he would make a small fortune.
If he were lucky, they might even consider a rank promotion right there, on the spot.
He allowed himself a small smile at the thought.
He sat by the fire, chewing absently on a piece of dried meat.
But as the sun began to sink and the faint orange light bled across the forest behind him, something tugged at his mind.
He shrugged off the strange feeling, chalking it up to exhaustion as his eyes watched the fire crackle.
Truth be told, what he was doing wasn't normal, and Soren didn't even realise it.
No sane adventurer would grind a dungeon like this nonstop, camping right outside its entrance, entering at dawn, fighting until dusk, sleeping, then repeating.
It was something only a gamer would think of; someone who saw numbers and efficiency before danger and exhaustion.
He hadn't noticed, but his hands trembled slightly as he rested them near the fire.
It wasn't from fear, however, but from exhaustion.
Still, even if he had noticed, he wouldn't stop.
The Points were too important.
He exhaled, leaned back against the grass.
'Just a few more days,' he thought. 'Then I'll return.'
Unbeknownst to him, however, his absence hadn't gone unnoticed.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Back in the city of Ingrid, the Adventurers' Guild was bustling with activity.
The vast wooden hall echoed with chatter, boots on the floor, and the faint clinking of coins passing at the reception.
But amidst all that noise, a group of adventurers stood with grim expressions.
"Five days… She's been gone five whole days?" A purple-haired woman muttered, running a hand through her hair.
Across from her, a receptionist sighed deeply.
"Yes... She took the Goblin King's Nest request the day after ranking up to Iron."
"We told her she should have taken a party!" Hannah shouted.
The guild receptionist tried to calm them down, her expression sympathetic.
"Please, Witch Hunt… I understand your concern, but we can't exactly storm a dungeon without proof she's in danger."
The blonde-haired woman, Alice, clenched her jaw.
"That idiot! We knew something would happen!"
They had taken care of Soren for nearly three weeks, helped him adjust to life as an adventurer.
Knowing he might be gone left a bitter taste in their mouths.
Finally, Morrigan, the leader, turned away with a sigh.
"Put up a missing persons request. I'll pay the bounty myself."
The receptionist nodded and pinned a new sheet to the crowded notice board.
.
[Missing Adventurer: Soren]
[Appearance: White hair. Red eyes.]
[Last Seen: Goblin King's Nest]
[Rank: Iron]
[Reward: 15 Silver coins for any information. 30 if you bring her back alive.]
.
For a brief moment, the noise of the guild quietened, curious eyes turning toward the paper.
A few murmured among themselves, some with pity, others with greed.
And among them, a small group standing near the back of the hall watched in silence.
One of them, a scarred man with a few teeth missing, stepped forward and slowly pulled the slip from the board.
He turned it around in his hand before glancing at the group behind him.
"Well, well," he said with a grin, voice dripping with amusement. "Looks like that white-haired bastard's finally gone and gotten herself lost."
The others chuckled darkly.
"Missing, huh?" another added, licking his lips. "If she's still alive, I bet she's found something of worth after five days in that dungeon."
The scarred man placed the request slip back onto the board.
"Then let's go find her."
————「❤︎」————