Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

[Ding! Madness Value +50]

Lloyd took the ’subway’ to a church in the New City District.

It was a sizable, medium-sized regional church with a dozen or so Priests and Judges on duty, responsible for security across a wide area.

Lloyd found a passing Priest, struck up a friendly conversation, then took out his elaborately drawn map and asked for more information.

"Hm? This place..."

The Priest studied the map for a moment, his brow furrowed, a hesitant look on his face.

"What is it? Is it special?"

Lloyd pressed him.

The Priest patiently explained:

"It is rather special. You know how new everything is on the west side of the city, right? But this place has a long history. You could say it’s the oldest area in all of Radiant City. It dates back to the Great Expansion Era, when it was a shantytown where many laborers lived..."

After that, Radiant City developed rapidly, but this area was left behind. Even as brand-new streets and buildings sprang up all around it, this place remained much as it was, becoming an urban island, lacking any effective management or redevelopment.

"Today, it’s become a lawless zone, basically cut off from the rest of the world. The situation inside is extremely complicated. Even those little critters from Saint’s Grace Court won’t go in there. Why would you want to go?"

"There’s actually a place like this in the city?"

Lloyd was a little surprised.

He had wandered all over with Evelor as a child, living in the various commoner districts in the southern part of the city, but those places were just poor and run-down, not chaotic or outside of government control.

"What else would you expect? Did you think this was some kind of paradise? There are actually many areas like this, it’s just that this one is the oldest, largest, and most chaotic," the Priest continued.

But Lloyd was too desperate to find that book to give up now. He simply nodded and said,

"Yes, I understand. Thank you."

"You’re still going in? Fine... do as you please. But I suggest you don’t go in just like that. First, go to the toy store across the street and buy a mask. Then, you should probably spend a little money to hire a guide. Otherwise, you’ll likely get lost in there."

"Understood. Thanks for the advice."

Lloyd nodded firmly, then left the church. Heeding the advice, he walked into the toy store and bought a doll-faced mask. It looked dull, hollow, and numb, utterly devoid of any cuteness, like a crude puppet.

He also bought a box of matches, struck one, and continued to narrow his search.

The match flickered twice in the wind and went out normally, offering no direction or Omen.

Lloyd found this strange, thinking the Divination had failed, but then he suddenly felt a faint vibration from the matchbox.

He quickly opened it, and several matches jumped out. They formed a little stick figure in his palm, hopping about, before they all ignited at once, instantly burning to ash and nearly scalding his hand.

’Hmmmm, this Omen... is it still related to dancing? Do I need to find a place that’s really ’hot’?’

’It burst into flames, but it didn’t burn my hand. This means I’ll run into a little trouble on this trip, but it won’t be a big deal. The overall outcome should be positive.’

After interpreting the signs, Lloyd nodded in satisfaction.

He then hopped onto a tram, rode for about ten minutes, got off at the nearest stop, and walked for another half hour until he reached a wide river channel.

On the other side of the river was a vast, dark, and dense expanse of shanties. It was impossible to tell how many people lived there, yet only a few figures could be seen moving about, giving the place an air of lifelessness.

But just across the river, on this side, was a brand-new street. Behind it was a large construction site bustling with activity, where a skyscraper would soon rise. Further in the distance, one could see the skyline of the New City District, a symbol of prosperity.

Lloyd felt like he had arrived at the junction of two different worlds.

There were no bridges over the river, only household trash and large patches of stinking white foam floating downstream.

However, there were a few narrow boats moored by the bank, with boatmen in filthy clothes squatting on them, sizing Lloyd up with calculating eyes.

Lloyd adjusted the mask on his face, walked over quickly, and pointed to the opposite bank.

"Fifty," the boatman casually quoted a price.

Lloyd nodded and jumped onto the boat.

The small boat began to paddle toward the other side.

But just as they reached the middle of the river, the boatman suddenly stopped paddling. He casually set the oar aside, pulled out a dagger that glinted coldly, and toyed with it in his hand. Then he said with a sneer,

"I’ve changed my mind. Either add another hundred, or... you can swim the rest of the way."

Lloyd shook his head, stood up, and decided to reason with the man—to teach him that it’s wrong to hike the price on the spot.

So, he swiftly drew the Short Sword from his waist and brought it down directly on the dagger in the boatman’s hand.

CLANG!

The dagger snapped in two.

The boatman froze, probably not expecting a passenger would dare to fight back.

Lloyd gave him no time to react. He grabbed the man’s throat, lifted him up, and casually tossed him into the water.

Then he picked up the oar and brought it down on the head of the flailing boatman a few times.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The sound was loud. It was a good head.

The boatman went still, floating on the surface. Lloyd took the oar and slowly paddled the boat to the other side himself.

His childhood experiences of wandering everywhere had left him with no shortage of ways to handle such situations.

Before long, the boat reached the shore. Lloyd jumped off and walked into the dilapidated shantytown.

A pungent stench immediately assaulted him, mingled with the faint smell of blood.

The place was just as the Priest had described: a giant labyrinth. The ramshackle huts formed the walls of the maze, enclosing narrow paths that led to unknown destinations, the ground covered in sewage and all sorts of trash.

And after taking only a few steps, just like an adventurer in a maze, Lloyd ’encountered an enemy’.

A group of filthy, ragged children darted out from nowhere, surrounding him from all sides. Some tried to grab his legs, while others reached their dirty hands toward his pockets.

Lloyd sneered and, without hesitation, kicked the fastest one into a nearby puddle. He then grabbed a hand reaching for his pocket and, with a casual flick, tossed its owner into a pile of trash.

Seeing how ruthless he was, the remaining children, who were not stupid, quickly scattered in a panic.

’Heh. These are all the old tricks I used to pull.’

Lloyd sneered, never having imagined that his miserable childhood experiences would one day come in handy.

He picked a slightly cleaner and wider path and continued deeper into the area.

But again, he hadn’t gone more than a few steps before several vicious-looking brutes suddenly appeared from nowhere, blocking his path. They were carrying clubs, chains, choppers, and the like.

Lloyd couldn’t be bothered to speak, nor did he want to engage in a brawl. He simply took out his matchbox, drew a few matches, and activated his [Extraordinary Swordsmanship] skill.

He had tested this on the way over. Although a match could be lit, the system classified it as a cold weapon, like a ’toothpick’ or a ’needle’, which could be used to activate [Extraordinary Swordsmanship].

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

The matches shot out like bullets, leaving sword-like gashes on the bodies of the ’Green Forest Heroes’ and forcing them to cry out in pain.

"Agh... my ear! He has a gun! He has a gun!"

"Cough, cough... Ugh... Cough..."

"This guy’s tough! Fall back!"

The thugs helped each other up and vanished into the shantytown maze in the blink of an eye.

Lloyd’s journey became much smoother after that. He encountered no more enemies.

Although the Priest had described this place as very dangerous, Lloyd instead felt a sense of ’returning home in glory’ or ’reminiscing about his childhood’.

Still, he needed a guide. He wandered for a long time but couldn’t find any place that fit the description of ’dancing’ or ’passionate’.

Lloyd took a few more steps when the door of a nearby shanty was suddenly pushed open. A grimy middle-aged woman emerged from within.

She gave Lloyd a provocative smile, then brazenly lifted her top to show her sincerity and asked,

"You from the outside, sir? Looking for some fun? It’s just 200."

Lloyd, however, directly pulled out five 100-denomination Universal Coin bills, waved them in front of her, and replied,

"Take me to a place. A place where lots of people are dancing. It has to be hot and passionate enough."

"Hee hee, interesting... I happen to know just the place."

The middle-aged woman grinned slyly, first motioning for Lloyd to follow her inside. Then she lifted a floor mat, revealing the pitch-black entrance to a hole in the ground.

"Come on~"

She picked up an oil lamp and jumped in.

Lloyd released a tiny bit of inspiration, opened his panel, and, having prepared himself, jumped in after her.

After crouching and crawling through a short tunnel, the view before Lloyd’s eyes suddenly opened up. He had arrived in an underground facility that resembled a large sewer system.

It was well-lit, with electric lights everywhere. The view was quite expansive, revealing a network of intersecting sewer channels. The paths were flat and free of standing water, making them easy to walk on. Even the air was much better than it was above ground.

Compared to the vast shantytown above, this place below felt more like a city.

But upon closer inspection, he noticed some half-dug tunnels, partially laid pipes, and many other signs of unfinished construction.

’It seems they once tried to build a massive sewer network here, but for some reason, the project was halted? And the surface area was abandoned along with it?’ Lloyd speculated to himself.