Chapter 21: A Dangerous Opportunity

"But what did I do wrong?"

"What did you do wrong?"

Chris laughed in disbelief.

"First, giving a woman compliments is indeed good, but you can’t compliment her every single time you see her! Doing it occasionally is fine, but if you constantly praise her, she’ll eventually start thinking you’re just saying things you don’t mean."

Aldric’s expression slowly changed as he thought about it. A cold sweat formed on his forehead.

"Is that really so? Did I really do it that much?"

"Of course you did! From everything you’ve told me, you’ve complimented her hundreds of times every time you approached her! That’s not thoughtful anymore. That’s just insane!"

Aldric looked like he wanted to cry.

It took him several minutes to recover before he finally looked at Chris again.

"Okay... what else?"

"Second, buying gifts is also good, but you can’t just take a woman out and suddenly offer to buy her lingerie! Buying something that intimate is for people who are already couples or are extremely close. If you’re only starting to court her, you’re going to embarrass her and make her uncomfortable."

Aldric’s eyes widened. He remembered the woman’s expression when he had suggested buying such a gift in the past.

At the time, he had convinced himself that she was simply too shy to accept it.

Now, however, he was beginning to realize that she might have been completely weirded out.

More sweat appeared on his forehead. He looked at Chris again.

"Is that all?"

"All? We just started!"

Chris rubbed his forehead.

"The next step, boasting, is even worse. Maybe boasting about your accomplishments worked hundreds of years ago, but these days, constantly talking about how powerful, wealthy, and talented you are will only make you look arrogant. If you keep doing that, she’ll think you’re an arrogant old man who’s completely in love with himself."

Aldric started trembling. His hand unconsciously moved toward his chest as he felt an anxiety he hadn’t experienced in years.

He almost didn’t want to ask what else he had done wrong, but after gritting his teeth, he forced himself to continue.

"Okay... what else?"

"Next is the worst one so far."

Chris took a deep breath.

"Treating a woman like a man? I don’t even know where to begin with that. Women and men have equal status in modern society, so yes, you should treat a woman as your equal, but not because you’re following some ancient trick to impress her."

Aldric looked confused.

"Then what did I do wrong? If treating women as equals is good, what’s the problem?"

"Treating her as an equal doesn’t mean literally treating her like one of your male friends! You can’t ask a woman you’re trying to court out for a date to drink beer while watching a sports match or invite her hunting with you. Maybe she enjoys those things, but you need to know that first."

Chris sighed.

"Just because you enjoy doing something with your friends doesn’t mean every woman will enjoy it too."

"They don’t!?"

"Of course they don’t!"

Aldric looked genuinely shocked.

Chris continued before the old man could say anything else.

"For a date, invite her to a nice dinner at a good restaurant or take her somewhere peaceful, like a park. Find out what she enjoys and actually spend time getting to know her."

"But I tried that too! Didn’t I tell you?"

"Yes, old man. You told me."

Chris sighed.

"But you can’t expect her to split the bill with you just because that’s what you do with your military friends. If you’re the one inviting her on a date, then you should be prepared to pay for it."

"It’s not that I’m stingy! I just wanted to show her that I treat her as an equal."

"I know what you were trying to do, but it still wasn’t the right approach."

Chris shook his head.

"And when you took her walking through the park, you told me you brought beer, sat down on a bench, and spent most of the time complimenting her and talking about your accomplishments."

Aldric’s expression became increasingly miserable.

"Not every woman wants to spend a date listening to an old man talk about how powerful he is while drinking beer."

"Ugh..."

Aldric grabbed his chest even tighter before slowly dropping to his knees. His vision seemed to blur as he finally understood just how badly he had handled every opportunity.

He had followed that terrible book for years. He had been convinced that every strange reaction from the woman was simply part of the process.

Now, one by one, Chris had destroyed every excuse he had made for himself.

Chris looked at his pathetic state and sighed.

"Old man, don’t feel depressed just yet. Not everything is lost."

Aldric slowly raised his head. There were tears in his eyes.

"Really?"

Chris nodded.

"The fact that she’s still talking to you and has given you so many chances, even after all the stupid things you’ve done, means she hasn’t completely given up on you. You need to change your approach, stop acting like that ridiculous book told you to, and actually get to know her. If you do that, you might still have a chance."

Some life immediately returned to Aldric’s eyes.

"Really?"

"Really."

A huge smile suddenly appeared on the old man’s face.

He jumped back onto his feet with an energy that seemed completely different from the exhausted warrior who had been complaining moments earlier.

"She gave me so many chances? That means she has some interest in me!? I still have a chance!"

He clenched his fists and raised them toward the sky.

"YES! I CAN DO THIS!"

Aldric started jumping around in happiness.

The sight was so ridiculous that Serena couldn’t hold herself back anymore.

"Pfft..."

She covered her mouth. A second later, she burst out laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

She bent over, clutching her stomach as tears formed in her eyes from laughing harder than she had in a long time.

Chris couldn’t help but smile as he watched her. Serena’s laughter was bright and cheerful, and seeing her laugh so freely made the agitation he had felt earlier disappear.

Then he noticed something in her hand, and his eyes narrowed.

He walked closer and looked at the small device she was holding.

"Did you record this?"

Serena wiped the tears from her eyes and leaned closer to him, lowering her voice.

"Of course I did."

Chris stared at her.

Serena smiled mischievously.

"When will I ever get another opportunity like this? I can use it to blackmail the old man in the future."

Chris remained stunned for a moment, and then he started laughing as well.

The two of them quietly laughed together while Aldric continued celebrating in the background, completely unaware of what Serena had just recorded.

A loud roar suddenly echoed through the forest.

Chris immediately turned toward the sound and saw Azreon flying toward them from the distance. The dragon quickly descended and landed in front of him, causing the ground to shake slightly beneath his weight.

"Did you find something?"

Azreon nodded his head.

Chris’s expression became serious as he glanced at Aldric and Serena.

"Let’s see what he found."

Azreon immediately turned around and began walking deeper into the forest, with the three of them following behind.

After several minutes, Chris suddenly stopped.

Through the trees ahead, he could see a familiar sight. A strange portal stood in the middle of the forest.

His eyes widened. It was the same kind of portal that had taken him into the dungeon where he had fought the Dark Spirits.

Aldric suddenly walked past him and approached the portal.

"What are you doing?"

Without answering immediately, Aldric reached into his storage ring and pulled out a strange device.

At first glance, it looked somewhat like a phone, although it was much thicker and had several small buttons along its sides. A long antenna extended from the top.

Aldric turned on the device before carefully dipping the antenna into the portal.

The screen immediately lit up and several symbols appeared across it, changing rapidly as the device seemed to analyze the energy inside the portal.

After a few moments, Aldric pulled the antenna back and looked at the screen.

A smile appeared on his face.

"We got lucky."

Chris raised an eyebrow.

"What did you find?"

"The dungeon is Level 50."

Chris froze.

"Level 50?"

He looked at the portal again before turning back toward Aldric.

"How did you know that?"

"I used this."

Aldric raised the strange device slightly.

"There are ways to determine the level of a dungeon before entering it, although most people don’t have access to them. This device can analyze the energy coming from the portal and determine the level of the dungeon."

Chris stared at the device with interest.

"I’ve never heard of anything like that."

"That’s because very few exist."

Aldric put the device away.

"These things are extremely expensive, and only a handful of them exist in the entire country. Even powerful families can’t simply buy one whenever they want."

Chris nodded slowly, still thinking about it.

"And it can tell you everything about the dungeon?"

"Not everything. It can tell us the dungeon’s level, but it can’t tell us what kind of monsters are inside. For that, we still have to enter and find out ourselves."

Chris remained silent for a moment before sighing.

"It would have been nice to have something like that before I entered the last dungeon."

Aldric and Serena both looked at him.

"Last dungeon?"

Chris realized he had spoken out loud.

"You mean you’ve entered another dungeon before?"

Serena’s eyes widened.

Chris nodded.

"Yes."

Aldric’s expression immediately became serious.

"What? You entered before knowing its level?"

"I did."

Both Aldric and Serena stared at him in disbelief.

"I didn’t exactly have a choice. I was being chased by monsters, and the dungeon portal was the only place I could run to. I had no idea what was waiting on the other side, so I just hoped the monsters inside wouldn’t be too strong."

Aldric stared at him for several seconds.

"You’re insane."

"I survived."

"That doesn’t make it a good idea."

Chris ignored him.

"I managed to progress quite far inside. There were a lot of monsters, so I gained plenty of experience, but I nearly died fighting the leader."

Serena looked at him strangely.

"I can’t tell if you were incredibly lucky or incredibly unlucky."

"Probably both."

Chris looked back toward the portal.

"Either way, Level 50 is still too high for me right now. Before reaching Level 40, I wouldn’t have been able to kill Level 50 monsters."

Aldric suddenly laughed.

"Who told you there are Level 50 monsters everywhere inside?"

Chris turned toward him.

"What do you mean?"

"The level of a dungeon is determined by the level of its boss, not the level of every monster inside."

Chris’s expression changed slightly.

Aldric continued explaining.

"If a dungeon is Level 50, the boss should be around Level 50. Most of the other monsters will usually be somewhere between Level 40 and Level 49, although there can be some variation."

Chris looked back at the portal.

"So the boss is the real problem."

"Exactly."

Aldric smiled.

"You could enter the dungeon and hunt the weaker monsters first. Once you reach Level 40 and evolve, you should be strong enough to fight the boss."

Chris fell silent. He stared at the portal while thinking about it.

There would likely be plenty of monsters inside that were strong enough to give him a significant amount of experience, and he wouldn’t have to search through the Wilds hoping to find something powerful enough to fight.

The only real problem was the boss. But if he could reach Level 40 before facing it, things would be different.

’This might actually be a good opportunity.’

Chris slowly nodded.

"You’re right, old man."

Aldric raised an eyebrow.

"You actually admitted that?"

"Don’t get used to it."

Serena couldn’t help but smile.

Chris turned toward both of them.

"Are you two coming with us, or do you want to stay here and wait?"

Aldric didn’t hesitate.

"We’re coming."

Serena nodded as well.

"We trust you."

Chris looked at them for a moment before nodding.

"Then let’s go."