Genesis Code: The Genetic Awakening-Chapter 36: Solo Dungeon Dive (2)

Maybe Caleb should have taken more time to assess his situation or explored the floor further before diving in alone.

But in the end, it didn’t matter. If he didn’t want to be in the dungeon, he could have escaped.

Sure, he’d be a fugitive, hunted wherever he went. And he might not be able to help Jess as he planned.

But Caleb knew that in this world, only your own strength mattered. Given the chance, and alone, there was no way he’d turn it down.

’Dammit! What now?’ His mind raced as he searched for a way out of the mess he was in.

His reaction time was still quick, but the monster had timed its leap perfectly.

Even if he tried to dodge, it was too late. And then there were the other monsters already closing in on him.

The water beneath him churned with their movement, creating a rhythmic pattern as they adjusted their positions.

Then it hit him. ’The water!’

Though the monsters dominated the lake, their sharp movements caused ripples and waves that Caleb could use.

Harnessing his immense physical strength, he leapt high into the air, barely escaping the jaws of death.

While airborne, he spun around and then slammed his foot down on the lake monsters with incredible force, exploding the one that took most of the attack in a gory of flesh and monster blood.

The rest of the monsters were plunged into the lake, resulting in a shockwave that disrupted the lake’s surface.

The sudden turbulence momentarily disoriented the monsters, scattering their tight formation.

The gap was wide enough for Caleb to escape, and without hesitation, he sprinted toward the island.

He moved in zigzags, making sure his movements were unpredictable. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

"Haa!"

Gasping for air, he collapsed onto his back, his chest rising and falling rapidly. "Hehe... who would’ve thought solid ground would feel so safe?"

The monsters were weak, however, in their natural environment, they were very fast. It could have been disastrous if Caleb hadn’t thought of something in time.

After a minute, he sat up as his eyes scanned the lake that was still churning and streaked with blood. The monsters seemed to have retreated, diving back underwater after failing to catch him.

"Fighting in water’s a bad idea," Caleb muttered as he stood. "There’s got to be something to help with that."

His thoughts drifted to his genetic system, and a skill popped into his mind—one he hadn’t used yet.

’Gene splicing,’ he recalled. ’Maybe this dungeon has monsters with some interesting abilities I can use.’

He turned toward the tower. Up close, it was even bigger than it looked—standing a towering 60 meters tall. It was honestly impressive.

’But why would something like this be here?’ It puzzled him, but he pushed the thought aside and headed for the entrance.

Dungeons were still a mystery to this world and only time would tell their origins. Perhaps that would also explain exactly where the foreign energy came from.

’In due time.’

Having learned his lesson from the lake, Caleb’s demeanour shifted. He adopted a more cautious approach.

He reached the entrance but didn’t rush in. Instead, he spread his domain sense to get a feel for what lay inside.

’I see...’ The tower wasn’t just there for decoration. It led to an underground network of tunnels. To reach the next floor, Caleb would have to navigate these tunnels and find the vortex.

’Caution,’ he reminded himself, stepping inside. The space was mostly dark, but his senses made it easy to navigate.

He moved toward the opening in the floor and eyed the staircase leading down. Quickly, Caleb retrieved a short sword before descending into the shadows.

His system scanned everything, tagging details as he went. He soon found himself at the entrance to a network of tunnels, which looked more like a labyrinth.

’No wonder this dungeon is sealed,’ Caleb thought, expanding his domain sense further. He quickly determined the correct path and, without hesitation, ventured into the labyrinth.

No monsters appeared, but he knew better than to trust appearances. They could pop out of nowhere at any moment.

To his surprise, no monsters jumped out to attack him as he made his way to the vortex leading to the second floor. Though it took a few minutes due to his caution, it was no trouble for him.

’Maybe this is just meant to confuse adventurers.’ With his domain sense, Caleb easily avoided the dead ends and false paths.

He stopped in front of the vortex, his gaze calm but focused. ’I have to keep reminding myself—this isn’t a game. One mistake, and I could die.’

After a deep breath to steady himself, Caleb plunged into the vortex and appeared on the next floor.

’Looks like this is where the real challenge begins.’ He looked around, still inside the underground tunnels.

There were no clouds overhead. The only light came from the dim crystals embedded in the ceiling, bright enough for anyone adventurer to see clearly.

The moment he entered, Caleb spotted several monsters lurking in the tunnels. His domain sense couldn’t cover everything, but from what he could tell, the tunnels stretched for kilometres.

He couldn’t even see the exit. ’I wonder if there are boss monsters in this dungeon.’ It seemed likely, especially for a dungeon like this.

Some dungeons had floors—around the tenth or so—where a more powerful boss monster had to be defeated before advancing further down.

Caleb glanced at the notifications after his system completed a thorough appraisal of the monsters within his range, describing their characteristics and abilities.

It was surprising the system identified four unique monsters on this floor. Given that this was just one floor, Caleb expected to find just one group instead of four.

’It’s not like the dungeons were built with my expectations in mind.’ he scoffed at his thoughts.

Then the numbers were unexpected as well. A rough scan calculated about 200 plus monsters, and their sizes were nothing to joke about.

The first on the list were insect monsters...