The portal didn't lead out. It dragged him down.
The moment Orion stepped through the other side of the portal, his legs trembled and he collapsed to his knees. Teleportation proved far more jarring than he had expected. But since his stomach was completely empty, he avoided vomiting and instead stared at the horrific scenery.
The instant he arrived, he failed to notice the observer insect following behind him and watching his every move. His actions were already under the scrutiny of the council of the massive magical academy built above.
Unaware that he was exposing his naked body to elderly people, Orion began examining his surroundings.
"Did I arrive at a lower floor instead of the dungeon entrance?"
He was in an underground region filled with crimson hues and thick fog. This subterranean terrain likely stretched for hundreds of kilometers. It felt as if someone had hollowed out the entire planet from below and constructed an artificial sky.
When he lifted his head, a ceiling revealed itself through a faint glow. It was an impressive structure covered in stone, soil and metals he failed to recognize. Yet the light embedded within it was enough to keep such a vast space from sinking into total darkness.
If there were no wildflowers or insects around, Orion would have thought he had fallen into hell.
He stood up, moved away from the portal beside the steep slope and noticed a path descending deep downward. There was nowhere else to go or explore. He stood on a tiny patch of earth at the very peak of a massive mountain. The only astonishing thing was that it existed underground.
Despite wearing no clothes, he felt warm. "Great. So this is outside?"
Even though a voice inside him warned that passing through the portal was a bad idea, he hesitated only briefly before deciding to head down instead.
After taking a few steps, he dropped to all fours near the cliff's edge and looked down. He could see lights far below, but he couldn't clearly tell what was happening.
"I'm probably hundreds of meters up." The hesitation on his face was clear now that the post-death recovery phase had ended.
As he descended along the path, strange reverberations and terrifying screams echoed in the distance. During the ten-minute downhill walk, he spotted three flying creatures in the air. They were not as small as birds, yet not as large as drakes or draglings either. Fantastical monsters with four to five meter wingspans. All of them streaked past at high speed, each veering in a different direction.
When Orion reached the bottom of the mountain-like elevation, he saw blue creatures hopping around. The entire base of the mountain was filled with them. Truly weak-looking things, with glowing cores inside wet, repulsive bodies.
"Slimes? Then where are all those creatures causing fights up there?" After battling all kinds of freakish monsters in the maze-like area he had wandered through for hours, encountering harmless slimes felt shocking.
They moved slower than he expected, leaving wet trails across the ground.
He lifted his foot and kicked the slowest-moving slime with all his strength. The small creature flew several meters away but took no damage at all. "Do they absorb shock?"
When he tried piercing it with a small stone he found nearby, the slime liquefied and flowed into the soil as its core burst with a dull "slop."
[You killed a "Goo Slime". +1 Exp]
Before Orion could celebrate the message, another sweet system notification followed.
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the Stat Panel]
Just as he tried to use his golden finger with a pleased expression, more than ten slimes around him began closing in. "Hey!" He waved his hands sharply to scare them off, but the slimes showed no reaction.
When Orion stepped backward, they sped up.
Realizing they attacked him for killing their companions, Orion began a small cleanup using the stone in his hand.
[You killed a "Goo Slime". +1 Exp]
[You killed a "Goo Slime". +1 Exp]
[You killed a "Goo Slime". +1 Exp]
Two slimes still chased him. He pierced them as well, shattered their cores and dropped the stone. After killing a total of five slimes, a new notification appeared.
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 1]
-All stats are +1.
-You acquired 1 stat point to use
His heart pounded even faster than when he realized he had begun a second life in a magical world.
With the "Level Up" notification, much of his exhaustion and the bone-deep heat evaporated. He still felt like burning when the warm wind brushed against his bare body, but it was bearable now.
He felt sharper. More alive. Like drinking a strong cup of black coffee on a crisp morning. Not a god-like transformation, but far from insignificant. A strange, buzzing vitality filled him.
Faint vibrations rippled through his chest and leg muscles. For a few seconds, his entire body hummed, like being tickled from the inside out.
"An increase in all stats is more effective than I thought." The cuts and bruises from the frantic run had vanished.
However, leveling up did nothing for his thirst. It likely wouldn't fix his hunger either. "Who cares. When will these tremors stop? My teeth are literally chattering!"
When the vibrations finally subsided, he opened his mouth and spoke the familiar command aloud.
"System."
°•○●
*Name: Orion
Gender: Mal-co (Male)
Type: Humanoid
Age: 19 (30)
Genetic Heritage: Homo Sapien (B-46)
DNA Details: Locked
Racial Details: Locked
Creatures: Locked
Job: Locked
Essences: Locked
Energy Type: Biological (Carbon-B)
Condition: Healthy
*Level: 1 - Exp: 2 / 6
Essence Points: Locked
Stat Points: 1
*Physical Details;
-Strength: 6 (+)
-Perception: 6 (+)
-Endurance: 6 (+)
-Charisma: 6 (+)
-Intelligence: 7 (+)
-Agility: 6 (+)
-Luck: Locked
At the top of the system panel sat a symbol made of thick and thin circles. At first, he thought it resembled an infinity sign. After a moment's thought, it had to be a logo.
Then there was his name. His old name wasn't Orion.
"I guess my old life or name no longer matters. I will miss that name."
The system's voice had been calling him Orion from the start. That alone convinced him he had taken over someone else's body. And that unlucky person was probably one of the youths who died in the dungeon above.
"I hope you had a good 19 years, buddy. I wish you good luck in your next life."
There was more written, but the important part was the stats. Just as he prepared to examine them, his eyes locked onto his current EXP.
"2 / 6?"
A few seconds later, understanding struck. Five EXP for Level 1. Six for Level 2. And all his stats except his intelligence were 5.
As he wondered what he could do with his new body, memories of his old life surfaced. He slipped into a brief sentimental mood. With nothing in his sight, he took a slow breath.
Just as he relaxed and prepared to sit, a fireball slammed into his back from afar, delivering another shock!
The moment he believed nothing could scare him anymore, burning pain engulfed his body.
As he collapsed, half of his body was already aflame. The fireball that incinerated his back and internal organs killed him within ten seconds.
[You have died.]
Cause of Death: Level 24 – Great Goblin Shaman's Fire Ball
For several seconds, Orion's body existed only as ash. He failed to hear the system's sweet female voice. Probably because he had no ears.
A strange vibration stirred the air.
[Passive Ability "Cheat Your Death" — Triggered]
-Restoration Begins
From a tiny remnant of ash, flesh reformed and rapidly spread, shaping Orion's body once more. Internal organs first, then flesh expanding outward. If he had seen himself like that, he would have been disgusted.
Exactly one minute later, Orion fully recovered. Lying on the ground with a pristine, untouched body, his eyes opened. "This passive ability doesn't appear on the system panel. But without it, I would never survive."
He turned his head toward the goblins gathered near a cave on the mountain slope. The largest and oldest among them stared back, staff in hand.
He was certain they had been invisible moments ago. Standing so openly without checking his surroundings had been his own mistake. Getting excited after killing a few slimes was careless.
He felt no anger. After dying in absurd ways countless times on the upper floor, something this simple felt trivial. He only wanted to examine this new world. But this dungeon refused to allow it.
Over the next few minutes, he tried killing the goblins by relying on his immortality. With only a stick and a few stones, every attempt met easy resistance. Before reaching their nest, he died repeatedly to poisoned darts, fireballs and arrows.
Soon, the goblins noticed something strange about him and retreated farther away. "They are smarter than I imagined." Their eyes showed thought and caution. Almost all monsters possessed intelligence to some degree.
A massive flying creature passed overhead. Orion ducked beneath a bush. If something that large swallowed him, even that passive ability might fail.
He camouflaged himself among tree-like plants and followed the main path with slow, careful steps.
He continued examining the system panel.
When he focused on the stat section, he immediately realized these stats were not originally his. They belonged the original Orion. The one who died in the Hell Maze by a Gargoyle.
He scanned the values again. Since leveling up, every stat had increased by one, yet some doubts about their true functions remained.
What exactly did "Charisma" do? Even if it was as overpowered as he imagined, how much difference could a single point make? And "Luck," the most critical stat, remained a mystery.
"And is it a good sign or a bad one that it gives me no quests?"
He searched the main window with hope but found no explanations.
"Now, how do I use this page?"
He reached out and touched the system panel in the air, then added one point to Charisma without hesitation. He already expected big results. The possibilities Charisma Stat offered felt limitless.
[Charisma 6 > 7 ]
After checking everything on the main page and finding nothing else, he turned to the only remaining option. Page 2.
[Essence Panel]
"Essence? People put that stuff in perfumes, right? Am I remembering wrong?" He was fairly sure he once heard a girl call a perfume aqua essence.
With the entire second page locked behind a blurry screen, he closed the panel and sprang to his feet. He wanted to test his strengthened body. He also wanted to go home.
"This Orion must have a home and a family."