Kaelen stepped into the noisy camp, with guilds recruiting new members and shady merchants making sales pitches.

He ignored everything else and set his sights on the tower’s grand doors, only to notice one crucial detail: the players entering the dungeon were far fewer than those coming out in groups, as though they’d encountered something beyond their capabilities.

The thought of it being the mysterious final boss thrilled Kaelen to the core, but upon using his [Sharp Senses], he could tell the beast hadn’t stirred or moved an inch.

This piqued his curiosity, but he chose not to engage with any of the players and decided to enter the dungeon to find out for himself.

He didn’t hesitate and immediately made his way toward the dungeon under the noses of the other players, who didn’t spare him a second glance, and those who did had expressions that didn’t mean well for him.

He didn’t mind this at all, because if they stuck around long enough for him to conquer and completely devour the tower, then they’d only serve as dessert, because he didn’t plan on stopping with the tower and didn’t mind sparking another regional war when he began clearing out the forest.

He had a new goal now that required far more Evolution Points than he’d accumulated so far.

If everything went according to plan, he was going to devour that entire world before moving on to the next planet, then the stars.

He was going to get stronger by all means... even if it was the last thing he did.

"Hey, you!"

A voice suddenly called out from behind, and Kaelen didn’t need to turn to know the person was referring to him.

He paused to look around, only to see a large group of players heading toward him, and that immediately sparked the curiosity of every other person in the camp, making Kaelen the center of attention... and mockery.

He wasn’t intimidated by this. After all, though he could sense quite a few players beyond Tier 5, he was still the strongest in the area without a doubt, as he had enough Evolution Points to evolve three times in a row, consecutively.

When the group arrived before him, Kaelen immediately noticed it was one person who had approached him, while the rest simply followed behind that player, which made him speculate she was a guild instructor, and from the auras of the players behind her, they were only new recruits.

The beastwoman, who was from the fox family with several tails behind her waist, smiled as she stopped before him.

"I remember you," she said and folded her arms beneath her ample bosom.

Hearing that, Kaelen immediately stood on guard until he heard her next words.

"You’re that goofy slime from the city gate, aren’t you?" she said as she pointed a finger at him.

"..."

Kaelen didn’t reply.

"You might not remember me, but I’m from the White Vanguard Guild and was with Black Rose when you were asking for money."

Hearing the guild’s name, Kaelen swept his gaze across the new recruits behind the woman, his eyes momentarily pausing on an elf with bright red hair who was staring at him with a scrutinizing gaze, probably wondering why they were interacting with a common slime and what the slime could’ve done to gain the recognition of their strict instructor.

"What do you want?" he asked the fox lady plainly.

"I was initially skeptical that it was really you, but hearing you speak, I’m very much certain now. So I’ll cut to the chase.

"As you can see, not many people are entering the dungeon at this time. And those still inside should be wrapping up any time now for the big guilds."

For the big guilds? Did they also discover the existence of the mysterious beast on the last floor? Kaelen’s curiosity was piqued.

"Why’s that?" he asked to be certain.

The fox lady smiled and raised two fingers.

"You may or may not know, but the alliance of the great guilds has successfully cleared the 99th floor and is currently entering the 100th floor, led by our royal highness, Guild Leader Black Rose."

Black Rose? Why does she keep popping up everywhere?!

The fox lady lowered a finger.

"We’re also using the opportunity to clear out the entire dungeon today and use its lower floors to train our rookies.

"I honestly don’t know why you’re entering the dungeon alone," she paused to size up the overgrown slime, "but you’ll have less than an hour before you have to exit the dungeon and leave the premises."

"An hour?" Kaelen softly repeated as he turned to stare at the peak of the tower reaching into the heavens.

"But... I’m willing to make an exception for you and let you grind with the rookies under my guidance. What do you think?" the fox lady asked with a mischievous smile.

"Yeah, no thanks," Kaelen replied as he turned back to her. "I’ll do my best to clear the floors in an hour. And if I don’t make it out on time... then I guess I’ll meet y’all on the inside then," it was Kaelen’s turn to flash a mischievous smile.

"What the hell? Did this slime just say he’d clear Floor 1 in an hour?"

"I thought I heard that wrong too."

"That won’t be easy for any of us, even with Stephanie here. Talk less of a damn slime."

"Pfft. What a joke."

The recruits murmured among themselves but didn’t bother to keep their voices down.

The fox lady didn’t attempt to stop them and simply smiled as she stared at Kaelen with renewed interest.

"You’re an interesting one, aren’t you?

"But keep in mind that if you reject my offer now, you’ll be paying a hefty fine if you’re caught in the dungeon after the time’s up," she added as her nails tapped the glass of the pocket watch she was wiggling before him.

But Kaelen had already turned his back and begun walking into the dungeon.

"Catch me if you can," he said as he was pulled into the darkness beyond the dungeon doors.

"Instructor Rain, why were you trying to recruit that slime just now?" Stephanie walked up beside the instructor and asked in confusion and curiosity.

The fox lady didn’t stop smiling mischievously as she stared into the darkness beyond the dungeon doors.

"Don’t you think he’s cute?" she said and turned to Stephanie. "Let’s reduce the time to thirty minutes, shall we?"

Boom—

Just as she finished speaking, a powerful aura suddenly exploded from beyond the dungeon gates, rocking the camp and sending a chill down everyone’s spine as they all turned in unison to stare at the dungeon gates.

"W-What was that?"

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