Level Up Legacy

"I challenged the tower countless times, but I failed due to the damned living monsters."

"I don't think dead monsters cause issues to anyone," said Sarohan with confusion as he tightened his armor. Mister White laughed in a heartful manner as the rest chuckled. The waiga failed to understand what he meant by 'Living Monsters.'

"That's not what I meant, little one. Inside the tower, most monsters are created through magic, making them nothing but illusions that one must conquer. However, after a certain floor, the tower begins summoning living monsters."

"Our leader is fine with defeating the strongest monster there is, but…" muttered the buff man with a wary laugh. "Our leader's greatest flaw is that he is… ahem… a clean freak."

"There are better terms than freak, Razor," said Mister White with a frown as he adjusted his tie. "I refuse to let this world taint me. I cannot understand any other mindset than that!"

"You make a good argument," said Arthur with a smile. "What fostered such a habit?"

"Some habits, we are born with," said Mister White as straightened his back with pride. Arthur smiled as he walked at the back of the group, hidden with their figures. He remembered that when he met his son, Mister White allowed himself to be dirtied.

Awakeners began to notice them as they huddled around the dungeon's entrance. There was even a line to facilitate their entrance, and everyone seemed to respect it. Everyone except Mister White, of course.

"Where are you going, old man? Go back in line!" shouted an awakener behind them, waving his hand with impatience. Of course, Mister White ignored him and kept moving forward toward the front of the line.

"Do you think that you can cut the line?!" asked a man who stood in front of them. Once again, Mister White walked past him, ignoring him. This time, the man was unable to swallow it down and reached a hand toward Mister White. "Old man, don't act so arrogant! Everyone is equal here!"

Weng!

Before the man's hand could touch Mister White's shoulder, it bent in a sharp angle upward as if he slammed it against a hard wall. The man was stunned for a few seconds, and he did not even scream. Instead, he muttered in confusion.

"My… arm…"

"I feel merciful today, little boy," said Mister White as he walked away. "Your arm will go back to normal in half an hour. Wait in line until then, or step out of line and watch how your neck bends too."

The man could no longer issue a sound, as he tried to study his arm with sweat rolling down his face. As Arthur walked past him, he noticed that the flesh was not torn and the bone was not broken. It was just bent past the normal limits of humans.

Mister White had the ability to infuse his spiritual energy into the world, breathing life into those items. It was different than what the Sin of Pride used to control the world because the items had a life of their own. In a sense, Mister White had a better ability than a calamity, but he was limited by his spiritual energy.

The crowd stared at them with confusion until Mister White reached the inspection officer at the dungeon's gate, who wore the kingdom's uniform since this dungeon belonged to it. In his hand was a small clipboard, which he used to look for guild names.

"No one can cut the line," said the officer with a frown as he saw Mister White waltzing forward without a care. "Any protestation and you will be banned from this dungeon."

"I don't think that would happen, little boy," said Mister White with a grin as he offered the young man an identification. "Because I am the owner of this dungeon."

"…what?" the entire crowd cried at the same time, shocked senseless. Arthur shared their sentiment as he looked at Mister White with confusion. Was this another underground trick, or was he a genuine owner of this dungeon?

"You are…" muttered the inspection officer as he studied the identification Mister White produced, and his eyes widened in shock. After a moment of pause, his body tensed before saluting the clean freak with reverence. "I apologize for the disrespect, sir! You can go into the dungeon without caring about the line!"

"Thank you, little friend," said Mister White as he hid his ID and patted the man on the shoulder. "Please keep protecting my beloved dungeon."

"Yessir!" the officer shouted as the guild entered the dungeon under the envious eyes of the crowd. However, this time, none of them could say a word. The man with the bent arm even sighed in relief that he was still alive.

After the group entered the dungeon's foyer, they saw the rest of the awakeners having their meals or resting. The line outside was simply to enter this foyer, where they could challenge this dungeon.

"A foyer this big means this dungeon is at least B-rank," said Arthur as he studied the lavish interior and then the supposed owner of this dungeon. "You didn't tell me that you owned this place."

"I am not a man who brags," said Mister White with a grin as he looked at the dungeon's awakeners. "Today's business is good as usual."

"How did you obtain a dungeon?" asked Arthur with confusion. "From what I know, only major guilds and the union owns dungeons in the Yalveran Union."

"I bought this when no one cared about it," said Mister White with a grin. "I have been the owner for fifty years, and the Yalveran Union thinks that's my only job. I give them a share of the profit, so they have no issue with me keeping this dungeon going."

Arthur never thought of dungeons as a business, but he might have been too short-sighted in that regard. Parties and guilds needed to pay a sum of money to enter dungeons, making them a lucrative business.

"If you own this place, why did we have to disguise ourselves? We could have reserved this dungeon the entire day," said Sarohan, who was clearly uncomfortable in the armor. After all, there was no armor big enough for his stature, making him wear makeshift armor created from many others.

"Although I own this place, I need to submit a list of guilds that challenged it every day. Every guild needs to challenge a number of dungeons per year, so the lists are important to the kingdom. We cannot raise suspicions, and Dragonfish is a legitimate guild."

"Better safe than sorry," said Arthur with a nod of approval. "I have to ask something, though. What made you choose this dungeon?"

"I would rather avoid answering that question, because you might think I'm being too corny or sentimental," said Mister White with a laugh as he motioned for them to move forward. "We should go into the dungeon before the next team. It's almost time for the dungeon's break."

"A dungeon's break?" asked Koby with confusion. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"A period of time to let the dungeon rest and respawn the monsters inside. This only applies to dungeons owned by guilds who want to keep farming for monsters and not clear the dungeons."

"This is also one of the reasons that I bought this dungeon," said Mister White with a smile. "It cannot be cleared by defeating a boss, making it an infinite source of revenue."

"Greetings, sir. How are you doing?" said one of the officers overseeing the dungeon after recognizing Mister White. "Is this the guild that you mentioned the other day?"

"Ah, little one, we meet again. This is indeed the guild I'm sponsoring at the moment. I hope to strengthen them enough to enter Glory List, hohoho."

"That's not impossible," said the officer as he looked at the ground, seeing many tough faces in them. As he saw how cloaked Arthur and the others were, he got curious. "I feel like some of your members are rather shy."

"These are my trump cards, little fella. I don't want them to get poached by stronger guilds, so I asked them to hide their identity," said Mister White with pride. "Enough with the chit-chat. Lead us into the dungeon."

"You are going in yourself, sir?" asked the officer while taken aback. "It might be too dangerous, given your age…"

"Watch it, little fella. The flesh is old, but the bones and heart are young. I am the sole man who knows everything this dungeon has to offer, and I want to take care of my men."

"Understood, sir," said the officer with a bow before leading them inside.

Before long, the paperwork was done and the group of eighteen were shown into the dungeon. Arthur felt the space shift, and expected the familiar corridors of the dungeon. But instead, a raging wind slammed to his face. As he raised his eyes, he saw the infinite sky mottled with small grasslands floating without care.