The Goblin corpses dissipated directly, leaving only a few Magic Stones in their place. This left the crowd completely stunned. Someone even said with shining eyes, "This is exactly like a game!"
Wasn't this situation a bit too exciting? As long as they killed the monsters, they could just pick up the Magic Stones. There was absolutely no need to crack their skulls open or anything.
"It's a bit strange. Why didn't the ones we killed before do this?" Asuna, on the other hand, felt it was odd. She and Ren had killed Goblins before.
But those hadn't dissipated directly like this. Instead, Ren had to crack their skulls open to extract the Magic Stones. Yet, in this Dungeon, simply killing them was enough?
"It might be due to the Dungeon's rules. This is good too; we can easily harvest Magic Stones." Ren knew exactly what was going on, as this was simply how this Dungeon operated.
"That should be it. I've heard that some Dimensional Rifts have their own unique rules. I suppose this Dungeon is the same," Yukino nodded thoughtfully.
After collecting the Magic Stones, Ren addressed the crowd, "Everyone, be careful. You've all seen that the walls really do spawn monsters."
He mainly directed this warning at the squads still following his group. Hearing his words, the crowd nodded with serious expressions, understanding what they needed to do.
The group set off once more. Gradually, more and more branching paths appeared before them. The number of squads following Ren's group slowly dwindled until only Ren's own party remained.
By now, everyone had their weapons drawn, remaining constantly vigilant of their surroundings. Ren remarked in surprise, "How bizarre. Is the first floor really this massive?"
From the initial crossroad to their current location, they had already walked a long way. This surface area was simply far too large.
Ren had assumed the first floor would be relatively small, just like in the anime, allowing everyone to easily reach the lower floors.
"Otherwise, why would it be called a Dungeon?" Asuna couldn't help but retort. The next moment, she drew her rapier and rapidly unleashed a flurry of strikes at the adjacent wall.
A few Goblins that had just poked their heads out were instantly slain before they could even make a sound. As they delved deeper, everyone gradually figured out some of the Dungeon's rules.
The longer you stayed in one place, the more monsters would spawn right in front of you. However, the strength of these monsters was incredibly weak.
If you noticed them before they fully emerged, even a Tier 1 individual with a weapon could easily dispatch them.
Ren glanced at the monsters Asuna had killed but didn't say anything. Along the way, all four of them had taken action; whoever spotted the monsters claimed the kills.
He crouched down and placed his right hand on the ground. The next moment, Ren closed his eyes, and a Magic Circle instantly appeared beneath him.
Activating his sensory magic, Ren's Magic Power began to continuously spread outward, and the nearby terrain slowly materialized in his mind.
"Megumi, there are a few squads gathered in the right passage. Go call them over. Yukino, take the left passage. Asuna, head back to the crossroad and get everyone to gather here. It seems the direction we're heading is the correct path," Ren instructed the three girls while maintaining his sensory magic.
Hearing Ren's words, the three had no objections and quickly sprang into action. It seemed this Dungeon was interconnected; although it was a labyrinth, many paths ultimately converged.
Retracting his Magic Power, Ren stood up. Before long, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed over, accompanied by numerous classmates.
Although it was only a third of the class, it was still a sizable group. Upon seeing Ren, the squad leaders stepped forward one by one and presented their hand-drawn maps.
"Here, this is the route our squad took, along with the map we drew. It's a bit crude, so please don't mind!" one of the students said, handing his notebook to Ren.
The others quickly followed suit. Everyone now treated Ren as their core leader, so naturally, they handed over their completed maps to him.
Ren didn't stand on ceremony. He took their notebooks, pulled out a pen, and began drafting a master map based on his own memory and their drawn routes.
In no time, a simple map was sketched out. Ren cross-referenced it with them, noting where everyone had split up, and made revisions, making the map much more detailed.
"Just as I thought. The passages on the first floor are actually all interconnected. No matter how we split up earlier, we'd eventually converge with the others." Saying this, Ren drew a fresh copy and handed it to the members of these squads.
"Next, everyone go and bring the rest of the classmates back. There's no real danger on this floor. As long as you're careful, you can farm however you want." Ren's words instantly filled the crowd with pleasant surprise.
Glancing at the map Ren provided, everyone knew what to do. They had encountered the monsters and knew their strength was nothing special, but this was a prime opportunity to grind for money.
Since killing Goblins had a chance to drop Magic Stones, this was a chance to make a massive profit, especially for the students from less affluent families.
Furthermore, they had all thought it through: the current market price for Magic Stones in the outside world was exorbitant, but this wouldn't last long. Once the situation inside this Dungeon became public knowledge, the price of Magic Stones would inevitably plummet.
They were among the first few batches to enter. The vanguards ahead of them naturally wouldn't care about such petty profits; after all, those trailblazers were not only incredibly strong but also well-compensated.
Not to mention, those pioneers were probably still clearing the deeper floors. Therefore, these students were effectively the very first batch capable of harvesting Magic Stones from the Dungeon. How could they pass up the chance to make a killing?
As everyone sprang into action, they used the map to locate the others. Since they didn't have to worry about the monsters posing a real threat, their movements were incredibly swift this time.
In just over ten minutes, everyone had gathered together again. Ren also received a few more map fragments. After organizing them slightly, Ren spoke up, "It looks like the path ahead leads to the next floor. Here is the map of the first floor. Take a picture of it yourselves."
Saying this, Ren handed his completed map to the crowd. To map out the entire floor on their very first exploration—they truly lived up to expectations!
The students who received the map were overjoyed. Everyone pulled out their phones and snapped a picture. With this, they no longer had to worry about getting lost.
After sorting everything out, they finally resumed their journey, following the only remaining path forward. They didn't encounter any more crossroads. After walking for about ten minutes, a staircase leading to the next floor appeared before them.
Looking at the stairs, Ren walked down without hesitation. The other students followed closely behind, officially stepping onto the second floor!
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