Galaxy's First Ruler

[…

You have entered a Dungeon

…]

The world inside the Dungeon was in its twilight. The reddish-yellow hue of the approaching dusk seemed to be stagnated in a perpetual time loop. Aldrich saw the burned and leafless trees spread wide apart on a black ashy land. And on the horizon, he saw a vague silhouette of three volcanoes. The rising flood of fuming gas had clouded most of the distant sky.

Aldrich couched down and touched the gray ash and felt its warmth through his palm. He saw Boomie approaching a shaggy branch of the barren tree. Boomie wrapped his fist around the branch and clenched it. As he opened it back, the hot air blew away the fine particles of the burned wood.

The entire Dungeon was arid and deserted because of the frequent eruptions of the three volcanoes. Aldrich took his eyes off Boomie and saw the System's notifications flashing in front of him.

[…

You have 4 new Quests

Quest 1 (Party): Secure a Return-Stone

Quest 2 (Party): Survive the next Volcanic Eruption

Quest 3 (Party-optional): Hunt Elite Crawler

Quest 4 (Party-optional): Have sex with Boss Crawler

…]

"… ?"

For a moment, Aldrich kept looking at the fourth Quest. But before he could analyze any hidden meaning behind it, a burst of hysterical laughter emerged on his right.

"HAHAHAHA… "

Boomie had both hands on his stomach and was laughing maniacally. If he hadn't leaned over the tree, he would have already rolled over on the ash. The tiny drops of tears on the corner of his eyes could only describe a part of his emotions.

"Al… Haha… Al, look System is also taking pity on a virgin."

Aldrich narrowed his eyes at Boomie and let him have his moment. It would be a lie to say that the unusual Quest hadn't baffled him. Aldrich tried to make something out of the historical facts, but even then it made little sense. Aldrich had come to this Dungeon with a clear aim in his mind. And he didn't want to waste time trying to bypass any Quest.

Aldrich stood up and saw Boomie coming towards him. He had stopped laughing, but an even more hideous grin had taken its place on his face. Aldrich hated that grin. It just meant Boomie was about to say something weird again.

"Al… What did you make out of this Quest?"

Aldrich couldn't help but raise his eyebrows upon hearing a genuine question from that sheepish mouth. Sometimes, even with all knowledge, one couldn't peek into the depthless mind. Aldrich had always tried to not think too much when talking to family and Boomie. For him, experiencing the everyday emotions of the general people was also a type of cultivation and a part of learning.

"That's the issue, Boomie. I couldn't make out anything."

Aldrich gave an honest reply but soon regretted it. Boomie put both his hands over his shoulders and shook his head, treating Aldrich as a mere child.

"I told you to turn the Aldrich mode off more often after graduating high school. But No, you didn't. And here we are, with me explaining an obvious thing to you."

"Would you just let it out in one go?" said Aldrich, shaking off Boomie's hands.

"Did you not see the 'party' in front of Quest 4? We not only need to have sex with the Boss…

…Ahem! we need to have a threesome with it."

Aldrich shut his eyes and clenched his teeth. The grating noises of his molar rubbing against each other were loud enough to be heard outside.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Aldrich shouted and turned around, eyeing a particular direction.

Aldrich dashed towards the volcanoes and Boomie followed him at the same pace. From time to time, a little laugh came pouring out from Boomie, giving Aldrich shivers. They had just crossed a distance of a few miles when a greenish fog, lightly scattered in a wide area, came into their sight. But the pair didn't stop after seeing it and marched right into it.

"Damn, what's this disgusting smell?" said Boomie, pinching his nose.

Aldrich knew what the smell was but refrained from explaining about it. A playful smile came over his face, which would have made Boomie shudder in terror if he were to see it. Some twisted revenge had always followed this smile for Boomie. But running behind Aldrich, he was oblivious to such a change.

Aldrich and Boomie soon came up to an open area with hundreds of gigantic holes running into the earth. The dense green fog was coming out of the well-like holes, but it soon got thinned out in the surroundings. Aldrich saw Boomie's face on the verge of vomiting and nodded his head in satisfaction.

They were still a couple of hundred meters away from the first few holes. Unlike Aldrich, Boomie didn't have a crazy Perception and couldn't sense what was going on inside those holes but could only see the surrounding ground. Aldrich nudged Boomie's hand and pointed to a location.

"Look."

In the distance, near one hole, there was a creature. Its ugliness could have made anybody turn away their eyes in disgust. The 5ft tall Crawler looked like a fat Pig. But its entire body was covered in warts and moles. Tiny streaks of yellow pus were running out of its nostrils, and there were two sickly yellow tusks pointed upwards.

But even more bizarre was the constant weeping sound coming from its mouth. The pair of Dreamers saw the tears running down from the Crawler's eyes and felt the aura of sadness, even when they were so far from it. But the worst was yet to come in their sight. There was a reason that Aldrich hadn't commented on the fog after entering it.

Aldrich had been holding his breath ever since he got a whiff of the fog and analyzed it with his Divine Sense.

The massive Crawler was lying flat on the floor, and its tears were wetting the gray ash constantly. But soon a vibration coursed through his entire body. Boomie saw the sudden shuddering of the disgusting beast and narrowed his eyes towards it. As the vibrations reached the Crawler's bottom, it lifted one of its hind legs.

FRRRRRRRTTT!!!

Yes, the Crawler had let out a massive fart. Boomie's eyes became wide in shock, seeing that the fart had a color and it matched the fog surrounding them. He turned his head to look at all the holes and the rising fog. From the periphery of his vision, he caught the slight smile on Aldrich's face, and his entire mind went numb.

Aldrich took two gas masks out of his bag and threw one of them towards Boomie, wearing the other himself.

"You… You… You let me smell the fart all this time. You already knew which Crawler it was, didn't you?" Boomie mumbled in a shaky voice.

Aldrich had not only guessed which Crawler had spawned, but he could also see the data on its head, which Boomie couldn't.

[…

Record of Common Squonk

Status: Sad

Level: 9

HP: 446/446

SP: 583/583

MP: 760/760

Rank: Common

Attributes -->

Strength: 26

Defense: 21

Agility: 35

Vitality: 23

Perception: 25

Correspondence: 45

Active Skills -->

1. Stinky Fart

2. Drove's Buff

3. Trampling Charge

Passive Skills -->

1. Contagious Misery

2. Tears Dissolution

…]