Is It Wrong To Level Up In A Dungeon?

The next morning at the Guild, Misha leaned over the reception counter, lazily twirling a pen between her fingers.

"Another one from the Soma Familia just cashed in big," she muttered, casting a glance at the ledger. "Honestly, they keep raking in these ridiculous amounts. You'd think they were running some kind of secret operation."

Eina, standing beside her, adjusted her glasses with a sigh. "It's not surprising. Most of them are just desperate enough to throw themselves into the Dungeon without thinking twice. Their earnings are impressive, but at what cost?"

Misha huffed. "Yeah, well... when all your money gets funneled straight to Soma's pockets, there's not much left to celebrate."

Their conversation trailed off as another adventurer approached the desk, and with practiced ease, the two receptionists returned to their duties.

The Dungeon pulsed with life, its suffocating darkness broken only by the eerie glint of chitinous bodies and the gleam of Bell's dagger. The air vibrated with the relentless chittering of Killer Ants and the low, guttural growls of Almirajs. Clawed feet scraped against the stone, a rising crescendo of death closing in.

Bell exhaled, his grip tightening around his blade. His heartbeat pounded in his ears.

One.

Two.

Then they struck.

The first Killer Ant lunged, mandibles snapping for his throat. Bell sidestepped, the wind of its attack brushing past his cheek as his dagger arced upward in a silver blur. The blade punched through its head, slicing cleanly through the hard exoskeleton. Thick, acrid-smelling ichor sprayed as the creature crumpled, but there was no time to stop.

A blur of white fur shot toward him—a snarling Almiraj, its blood-red eyes locked onto his exposed flank.

Bell twisted, his instincts firing before thought could catch up. He dropped low, feeling the beast's breath pass over his shoulder as it leapt. His dagger followed, flashing upward in a brutal counterstrike. Steel met flesh; the Almiraj's body convulsed mid-air, its momentum carrying it forward even as life faded from its eyes. It crashed to the ground behind him, twitching once before falling still.

"Lili!" Bell barked, pivoting just as another Killer Ant lunged.

"Already on it!"

From the shadows, Lili moved with practiced precision, her hands a blur as she plucked magic stones from the fallen creatures. Her fingers worked fast, stripping valuable materials with the speed of someone who knew all too well how fleeting safety was in the Dungeon. Every second spent looting was another second closer to death.

Bell didn't let up. He flowed through the battlefield, his movements clean and precise—no wasted motion, no hesitation. He ducked under a sweeping claw, pivoted around another lunging Almiraj, and drove his blade deep into its side, twisting sharply before yanking it free. The monster collapsed in a heap.

The last of the swarm encircled him.

Bell exhaled, muscles coiling as he surged forward. His dagger danced, a deadly silver arc cutting through the final enemies in a blur of speed and precision. A Killer Ant shrieked as its torso split in two. Another staggered backward, antennae twitching, before Bell's blade silenced it with a swift, decisive strike.

Then—silence.

Bell straightened, rolling his shoulders as the tension bled from his body. He wiped sweat from his brow, his breath steady despite the carnage at his feet.

Lili emerged from behind a crumbling pillar, her oversized backpack now noticeably heavier. She surveyed the battlefield, unimpressed. "You really don't know how to hold back, do you, Mister Bell?"