The Heart System

Chapter 736: Chapter 736

Well... something was wrong. The clock on the wall showed two in the morning, and I still wasn’t able to sleep. I’d been swiping through reels out of boredom, but eventually realized my body wanted to sleep while my mind simply refused to cooperate. Man, this was annoying.

I gently got out of bed and walked toward the door, careful not to make any noise. Once I’d opened it just enough to slip through, I stepped into the hallway and made my way to the living room. I already had a pretty good idea why I couldn’t sleep. Part of it was Mel, and the other part was this Dungeon.

The same UI appeared in front of me again, asking if I wanted to enter the Dungeon.

”Man...”

I walked into the living room while the window hovered in front of me, following my every step. Sitting down on the single couch, I rested my feet on the coffee table and simply stared at the glowing screen with tired eyes.

”Eh... maybe another day.”

My phone rang in my pocket.

Esme?

Calling me at two in the morning?

Curious, I answered, but she hung up before I could even say hello. Thinking she’d probably called me by accident, I shrugged and slipped my phone back into my pocket.

My eyes drifted toward the front door, landing on Nala’s umbrella. I stared at it for a couple of minutes without realizing how much time had passed. It looked ordinary, yet somehow it felt like it was calling to me.

The woman with the umbrella from my dreams... I still didn’t know anything about her.

”Huh?”

The same window appeared again.

Confirm.

Decline.

It almost felt like the system wanted me to enter. I mean, was that really such a good idea? Then again, it seemed like I could leave whenever I wanted. At least... I hoped I could.

I pressed Confirm. If I spent another minute thinking about it, I’d lose my nerve and probably never come back here again. Sometimes the only way to do something was to stop thinking and just do it.

Everything went dark once more. When I opened my eyes, I was standing in the same cold stone room as before. The torch beside the wooden door flickered quietly, making my shadow dance across the wall behind me. This place was creepy as hell.

”Okay... here goes nothing.”

I slowly approached the doorway and peeked outside. A narrow corridor stretched ahead with only one possible direction. After hesitating for a moment, I grabbed the torch from the wall and started walking.

”I’m safe... I’m safe.”

Suddenly, another system window appeared in front of me, making me jump. Letting out a relieved breath, I leaned closer and realized it was a map. A white dot marked my location, and it showed the nearby area around me. Just like I’d thought, there was only one path forward.

I really should’ve brought a knife or something from the real world.

Keeping the torch raised, I continued down the hallway until I reached another open doorway.

The moment I stepped through it, another notification appeared.

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Dungeon Cleared (25 EXP)

1-5

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”What?”

Dungeon cleared?

Did that mean every room counted as its own level?

I glanced back toward the corridor before continuing forward. This place was dangerous as hell.

The map expanded, revealing more of the Dungeon. I was standing inside a wider corridor now, and another room branched off to the left.

I ignored it at first and continued straight until I reached another wooden door. I grabbed the handle and tried opening it, but it wouldn’t budge.

”Huh?”

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Clear the level before

proceeding

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”So I have to clear this floor first.”

Fair enough.

I turned around, walked back to the side room, and slowly pushed the door open.

The moment I looked inside, my stomach tightened.

Something was standing there.

Its back faced me, showing green skin and a crude wooden club resting in one hand. A strip of burning cloth was wrapped around the middle of the club, almost like a makeshift torch.

The creature slowly looked over its shoulder.

”You’ve got to be kidding me.”

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Goblin [Lv. 1]

──────────────────

HP: 10/10

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”A fucking goblin...”

I really hated my life.

”Oh, no...”

The ugly little bastard let out a strange cackle before charging straight at me. Since he barely reached my chest, I instinctively kicked him before he got close enough to swing. My foot caught him square in the chest, sending him tumbling backward.

Wait.

Fireball. I had Fireball.

I thrust my hand forward, hoping the skill would activate.

Heat gathered in my palm almost immediately before a blazing fireball shot forward and slammed into the goblin’s chest, blasting him across the room.

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Goblin [Lv. 1]

──────────────────

HP: 6/10

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”Oh, shit... I actually did it.”

I fired another fireball the moment it got back on its feet.

The goblin staggered, but when I tried casting a third one, nothing happened.

”Shit... cooldown.”

According to the system, the goblin only had two health left.

It struggled to stand while I impatiently waited for the cooldown to end. The second the skill became available again, I fired another fireball.

The goblin disappeared in a burst of gray dust.

”Yes!”

No blood. No corpse.

It simply turned into dust and vanished.

A new notification appeared.

”Huh. Ten Dungeon Coins for killing the monster? Nice.”

Honestly, that hadn’t been nearly as bad as I’d expected. The goblin wasn’t even human. It felt less like killing a person and more like stepping on a giant bug. It was still a strange feeling, but I figured I’d probably get used to it if I kept coming back here.

I walked toward the door at the end of the corridor and grabbed the handle. This time, it turned without any resistance. Taking a steady breath, I pushed it open and stepped through.

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Dungeon Cleared (30 EXP)

2-5

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”Nice. Even more EXP. Just need a little bit more...”