The Quest

Steven stared at the three choices.

Most Players would've selected Second Chance without a second thought.

Cheat death.

Once every day.

It was absurdly powerful.

The logical choice.

The safe choice.

Steven wasn't feeling logical.

He was feeling greedy.

"...You know..."

He scratched his chin.

"If I never die..."

"I don't need a second chance."

His grin slowly widened.

"But better loot..."

"...Better loot lasts forever."

Without another moment of hesitation, he reached out.

"I choose Fortune's Favor."

The golden window shimmered.

Fortune's Favor Acquired

Item drops are permanently increased by one quality tier.

Common → Uncommon

Uncommon → Rare

Rare → Epic

Epic → Legendary

Legendary → Mythic

Mythic → Relic

Relic → Masterwork

Masterwork → Eternal

Steven read the list twice.

Then a third time.

"...Holy shit."

He actually laughed out loud.

"It just deleted Common drops."

"No more commons."

"Everything I get starts at Uncommon."

He clenched both fists.

"Fuck yeah."

He almost felt sorry for every monster he was about to kill.

Almost.

Then another thought crossed his mind.

"...Wait."

"If someone else reaches twenty Luck..."

"Do they get these same three choices?"

"Or are they randomized?"

It was impossible to know.

There wasn't exactly a Player encyclopedia documenting every hidden mechanic the System possessed.

He shrugged.

"No reason to think about useless things."

The System would do whatever it wanted regardless.

With renewed enthusiasm, Steven pressed onward.

The maze only became more elaborate.

Hallways branched into intersections.

Intersections split into chambers.

Some rooms contained only broken furniture.

Others held crude kobold camps with extinguished fire pits.

Every so often another kobold patrol crossed his path.

His increased Strength and Dexterity made short work of them.

His map continued expanding.

Room after room.

Corridor after corridor.

Until...

He entered a room that immediately felt...

Wrong.

It was perfectly square.

Completely empty.

No furniture.

No statues.

No rubble.

No monsters.

Just smooth stone walls.

Steven slowly turned in a circle.

"...That's suspicious."

His eyes scanned every inch of the room.

Then...

Something caught his attention.

Near the back corner...

One stone brick sat ever so slightly farther inward than the others.

Behind its edges leaked the faintest sliver of warm golden light.

"...Well."

"You're definitely not supposed to be obvious."

He walked over.

The brick wasn't loose.

It wasn't removable.

The only thing it seemed capable of doing...

Was being pressed.

Steven hesitated.

"This is either treasure..."

"...or I'm about to die."

He pressed it.

Click.

For several long seconds...

Nothing happened.

Then—

GRRRRRRRRRRRR...

Part of the floor slid aside with the deep grinding of ancient stone.

Hidden beneath it...

A narrow staircase descended into darkness.

Cold air drifted upward.

Unlike the damp chill of the maze...

This air felt still.

Untouched.

Steven's heart began racing.

"A secret room..."

"No way..."

He carefully descended.

The staircase spiraled downward much farther than expected.

Nearly fifty steps later...

His feet touched polished stone.

A small chamber awaited him.

Unlike the crude kobold tunnels above, this room was immaculate.

Not a speck of dust covered the floor.

The walls had been carved from smooth white stone veined with shimmering silver. Ancient murals covered every surface, depicting armored warriors kneeling before enormous trees whose branches reached into the clouds.

At the center of the chamber stood a circular stone platform.

Upon it rested a single wooden chest.

No gold.

No jewels.

Just...

One chest.

"...Now that's suspicious."

Steven approached slowly.

No monsters appeared.

No traps activated.

He cast Identify on the chest.

Ancient Reward Chest

"...Helpful as always."

He carefully lifted the lid.

The hinges moved silently.

Inside...

There was only one item.

A pair of boots.

They were crafted from soft dark leather reinforced with deep emerald-colored scales that shimmered faintly whenever light touched them. Intricate silver stitching wound around the ankles in patterns resembling twisting vines.

Steven carefully picked them up.

"Identify."

Forest Strider Boots

Quality: Rare

Effects:

+10% Movement Speed

Footsteps become significantly quieter while walking through natural environments.

Steven froze.

"...Wait."

His eyes narrowed.

"They're..."

"...Rare?"

He slowly looked back toward the System window describing his passive.

Fortune's Favor.

One quality tier higher.

The realization hit him instantly.

"If this passive hadn't activated..."

"These would've only been..."

"...Uncommon."

A grin spread across his face.

He slipped the boots on.

Just like the Slime Gloves, they immediately adjusted to fit perfectly.

The leather hugged his feet comfortably without feeling tight.

Steven took a few experimental steps.

His stride felt...

Lighter.

Almost effortless.

"...Worth it."

Then his eyes wandered back to the chest.

It wasn't disappearing.

Curious, he reached inside one more time.

His fingers brushed against something hidden beneath the false-looking wooden bottom.

"...Huh?"

He pushed gently.

Click.

The bottom panel lifted upward.

Hidden underneath...

Was a thin, weathered sheet of parchment covered in faded handwriting.

Unlike everything else the System had shown him...

This wasn't a System item.

It looked like someone had left it there by hand.

Steven carefully unfolded the weathered parchment.

Unlike the System windows, the handwriting looked unmistakably human.

The ink had faded with age, but it was still perfectly readable.

It read:

Whomever finds this note, you have at least some bit of sense in ye. In this maze are tons of secrets. Find them all, assemble the set, and revel in the surprises.

There was no signature.

No clue.

No explanation of what "the set" even meant.

Steven stared at it for several seconds before bursting into laughter.

"...What crazy ol' coot made this maze?"

He turned the paper over.

Nothing.

Held it up to the light.

Still nothing.

"No hints?"

"Seriously?"

With a shrug, he folded the parchment and tucked it into his Inventory.

Whether it was important or not...

It certainly wasn't something he intended to throw away.

He climbed back up the hidden staircase.

The secret door slid shut behind him with another deep rumble, leaving almost no indication it had ever existed.

His Mapping skill immediately updated.

The hidden room appeared beneath the maze as a tiny side chamber connected by the concealed staircase.

"...Nice."

At least the map remembered where it was.

Maybe he'd need to come back someday.

Steven resumed exploring.

Hours passed.

His map slowly expanded like spilled ink.

Each newly discovered corridor peeled away another layer of the maze's mystery.

Occasionally another kobold would charge him.

Sometimes alone.

Sometimes in pairs.

Once in a group of five.

The fights had become almost routine.

Punch.

Kick.

Dodge.

Counter.

His movements flowed naturally now, each battle helping refine his timing a little more.

The kobolds dropped the occasional crude weapon or piece of armor.

Most of it wasn't worth equipping.

Still...

Everything went into his Inventory.

Someone somewhere might buy it.

Or perhaps it would prove useful as crafting material someday.

Eventually...

His stomach growled loudly enough to echo down the hallway.

"...Fair."

"I've been here for hours."

Steven leaned against a wall and opened his Inventory.

A neatly wrapped lunch appeared in his hands.

Just as cold as when he'd packed it that morning.

He smiled.

"The handbook wasn't kidding."

Cold food stayed cold.

Hot food stayed hot.

Nothing spoiled.

Time simply...

Didn't exist inside Inventory storage.

It was one of the most practical System features he'd encountered so far.

He unwrapped his lunch.

A turkey, bacon, lettuce, cheese, and mayonnaise wrap.

Beside it sat a small bag of sour cream and onion chips.

And an ice-cold bottle of orange Gatorade.

"...Perfect."

He took his time.

The tortilla was still soft.

The lettuce remained crisp.

The bacon retained its smoky crunch.

Even the chips tasted freshly opened.

"No stale chips."

He nodded approvingly.

"Inventory might actually be the greatest invention ever."

Between bites, he sipped the Gatorade.

Still chilled.

Not even slightly warmed.

"This is cheating."

He laughed quietly to himself.

"If restaurants ever figure out how to copy this..."

"They'll make billions."

Lunch disappeared surprisingly quickly.

He crumpled the wrapper, tossed it back into his Inventory to throw away later, and stretched his shoulders.

"Back to work."

The maze seemed endless.

Every time Steven thought he'd explored a significant portion...

Another branch appeared.

Another staircase.

Another network of twisting corridors.

His map grew larger and larger.

Yet...

Large sections remained hidden beneath the fog of war.

He occasionally stopped to inspect suspicious walls.

Tapped loose-looking stones.

Examined oddly placed statues.

Pressed decorative carvings.

Nothing.

No more secret rooms.

Not today, at least.

Which somehow made that handwritten note even more intriguing.

"Tons of secrets..."

If that anonymous person had been telling the truth...

Then he'd barely scratched the surface.

At one particularly high intersection, Steven climbed onto a collapsed section of stone and looked out across the maze.

For the first time, he could appreciate its sheer scale.

Towering walls stretched far beyond what he'd expected.

They disappeared into the distance, weaving together in a labyrinth so immense it looked almost impossible for a single person to map completely.

The occasional distant screech of kobolds echoed from somewhere far away.

Other sounds answered from even farther still.

Some weren't kobolds.

Deep roars.

Heavy footsteps.

Things much larger than the creatures he'd been fighting.

Steven slowly lowered himself back down.

"...This place..."

"...is way bigger than the scouting report made it sound."

He pulled up the dungeon information on his phone.

The timer until a Gate Break still had plenty of time remaining.

There was no immediate danger.

Even so...

He couldn't shake the feeling that the reconnaissance teams had only explored a fraction of this Gate before filing their report.

His own map reflected the same conclusion.

The explored area, while respectable, looked tiny against the vast sea of unexplored passages surrounding it.

Steven smiled.

Rather than discouraging him...

The thought excited him.

There were still hidden rooms to discover.

More bosses to find.

Whatever mysterious "set" the old note referred to was still waiting somewhere inside this colossal labyrinth.

He rolled his shoulders, adjusted the Forest Strider Boots on his feet, and continued walking deeper into the maze, eager to see what other secrets its ancient stone walls had been hiding for who knew how many years.