Hero's Carnage
Chapter 45  Foreign World

Chapter 45  Foreign World

'What should I do? Should I enter the portal? But I have no idea where it'll take me…'

Lucas stood before the white dungeon entrance but hesitated to enter it.

What if the dungeon takes him to a dangerous place with powerful monsters that he cannot handle?

What if it was a trap?

There were all sorts of possibilities as well as risks.

However, before he could make up his mind, Lucas heard someone shouting, "Hey! There's something wrong with the dungeon! It changed colors!"

Lucas quickly turned around to see guards running towards him.

"You! Stay away from the dungeon! It could be dangerous!" The guards shouted at him.

'Shit!'

Lucas subconsciously ran forward when he saw the guards. It was almost like an instinct, as he would often steal when he was homeless, which would result in him being chased by guards and police.

And with the dungeon entrance right in front of him, it was inevitable that he would run right into it.

The moment Lucas entered the dungeon, he felt a sharp pain coming from the spot between his eyebrows for a brief moment.

Once the pain was gone, Lucas opened his eyes and looked around.

'There's nothing different about this place. It looks exactly what a Novice-rank dungeon should look like.' Lucas thought to himself.

'What about the guards?'

Lucas turned around, and to his surprise, the dungeon entrance had suddenly disappeared!

"W-Wait… Where is the entrance?!"

He immediately began panicking.

He looked left and right, and he even walked around the area.

However, the entrance was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey! Is there anybody else in here?!"

Lucas began running around the dungeon.

Since this was a public Novice-rank dungeon, there should be plenty of Players hunting inside.

Despite that, Lucas was unable to replace a single soul there, and he ran around the dungeon for many minutes while shouting.

"Shit! What the hell is going on?! The exit is gone, and I seem to be the only person in here! I knew I shouldn't have come here!"

While Lucas pondered about his situation, he suddenly heard noises coming from behind him, causing him to turn around.

"Who's there?"

Lucas' eyes widened with surprise when he saw the figure of a large black bear running at him from a distance.

"T-That's a Black Grizzly Bear! They should only exist in Intermediate-rank dungeons! What is one doing here?!"

Lucas didn't think twice before he started running away from the bear.

He was in an unknown environment and a dungeon that didn't seem right, and he did not want to risk fighting this monster.

Lucas ran and ran without stopping, but the Black Grizzly Bear was relentless as well, chasing him for miles.

After running for three miles, Lucas eventually outran the monster and took a moment to catch his breath.

While he recovered, he came to a sudden realization.

"This dungeon… It doesn't have an end?"

Normally, one can only travel so far in a dungeon before they reach this invisible wall that would prevent them from moving any further, but he'd managed to run in a straight line for over three miles.

"Is this because the dungeon is larger than usual, or because there is no barrier?"

In order to test his theory, Lucas continued moving in a straight line.

One mile, two miles, three miles…

Lucas walked for three hours without encountering any invisible wall.

Eventually, he even left the wilderness and entered an empty plain with tall grass.

Lucas turned around and looked at the wilderness with a dazed face.

"Key to Another World… Did I travel to another world? Perhaps this is where dungeons and monsters originated from?"

"Is this… even a dungeon? Where did the portal take me?" He mumbled in a puzzled voice.

He suddenly recalled the name of the key he used to change the portal.

"Key to Another World… Did I travel to another world? Perhaps this is where dungeons and monsters originated from?"

[You have received a Hero's Quest]

[Hero's Quest: Explore the mysterious world]

[Progress: 0/100]

[Reward: 10 Skill Points]

Upon seeing the new quest, Lucas was almost certain that he'd really somehow managed to travel to another world through the dungeon.

The image of a beautiful goddess suddenly appeared inside his mind.

'Irene… Is this where I can replace her?' He wondered inwardly.

Sometime later, Lucas made up his mind to explore this world, and he started by picking a random direction and walking in a straight line, hoping that he'd run into someone or any civilizations.

An hour later, he walked into what appeared to be a road, so he started following the road instead.

After another hour of walking, Lucas came to a halt when he noticed a group of figures and a carriage in the distance.

At last, he has encountered other people.

However, they appeared to be fighting monsters— a group of large birds that resembled ostriches.

"Hurry up and surround the carriage! Protect the Princess and Prince with your lives!"

Lucas could hear them shouting.

"Princess and Prince? What kind of world is this?"

After watching the group for a few minutes because he wasn't familiar with the monster they were fighting, Lucas decided to help them.

He used Vanishing Steps to approach the monsters from behind before swinging his sword at their long necks.

"W-Who are you?!"

The guards were surprised by Lucas' sudden entrance, but when they saw that he was helping them fight the monsters, they stopped worrying that he might be a bandit.

[You have Plundered the ability 'Minor Perception Boost']

{Minor Perception Boost(Lv. 1): Permanently increases Perception by 5}

A couple of minutes later, once all of the monsters were slain, one of the guards there approached Lucas to thank him.

"Thank you for the help, traveler."

Lucas nodded, and he said, "I'm actually lost right now. If you don't mind, can I ask you a few questions?"

"Of course. But can you give us a moment first? I need to make sure everyone is fine."

"Sure."

The guard returned to the carriage while Lucas went to inspect the monsters.

'These monsters… They're not disappearing like they do in dungeons…' Lucas thought to himself when he saw this phenomenon.