Chapter 118 Dungeon Break!

“How much time do you think we have left before tackling that hard dungeon?”

“Six months at the latest. You’ll probably have one or two more attempts at medium dungeons before attempting a hard dungeon.”

“Silas, I need to tell you, but that is impossible. We need to conquer at least four dungeons—no, make that five, just to be safe. Five medium dungeons before we can even attempt a hard dungeon. Otherwise, we would just be rejected, just like my experience with medium dungeons. And to conquer medium dungeons, we need at least four novice dungeon cores. It would take at least two years, with each group conquering four novice dungeons in the first year and then four medium dungeons together in the second year.”

James was taken aback by how quickly Andrew denied Silas’ plea. He knew Andrew was charismatic, but he hadn’t realized he was also sharp. Andrew had already calculated how much time they would need to clear the dungeons.

If they split into three groups—one led by James, one by Kouki, and one by Andrew—each team could clear four novice dungeons, giving them twelve novice dungeon cores in total, assuming everything went smoothly. After that, they would regroup to tackle three medium dungeons together, yielding four medium dungeon cores including the one they had just conquered yesterday. With those, they could finally attempt the hard difficulty dungeons. It was a sound plan, but also a dangerous one.

James took a moment to ponder before catching up to Andrew’s line of thinking.

“I see. I understand. In that case, we would need to plan a massive evacuation. The nuclear complex is located in Lithuania. If the nuclear reactor were left unchecked, we would need to evacuate not just the entire country, but its neighboring countries and cities—up to Moscow, northern Ukraine, and southern Finland.”

“The Baltic Sea will also be lost, huh?” Andrew groaned. James opened his phone to look at the map. From Silas’ description, he realized how large the evacuation zone was. It wasn’t a world-ending disaster, but it would span multiple nations. He didn’t know the exact population of these countries, but he expected there would be at least a few hundred million people to evacuate. It was no exaggeration to say this disaster could be worse than Chernobyl, which had happened near Ukraine in the past.

It wasn’t just James who peeked at the map—Kouki and Kaina leaned over as well.

“We need to do something…” Kaina whined.

“Impossible is impossible. Even if we went out tomorrow, even if each of us tackled a dungeon on our own—even medium ones—it would still take more than a year.” Kouki shrugged. “Dungeons are dangerous. Even a novice dungeon. I almost got killed in one of them. I certainly won’t try my luck conquering medium-ranked dungeons alone.”

“... Yes. You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“That’s it for the debriefing. I’ll coordinate with other survivor guilds. We might be able to purchase novice dungeon cores to speed up the process. Survivors from Asia are challenging medium dungeons as we speak. That’s all for today. Thank you, everyone. I’m sorry you had to hear such grim news. We will proceed with Andrew’s plan. Please try to conquer as many dungeons as you can in the meantime—and let us pray these estimates are mistaken, and we are given more time.”

The meeting was then dismissed. On the plane home, James wondered about that hard-difficulty dungeon. He had bought two economy seats since his body was massive. People kept taking photos of him, and for the first time, James felt popular.

Ryan was waiting at the arrival gate with three neatly dressed employees. James waved at them, and they welcomed him into the car. As they drove toward the supermarket, James noticed an anomaly in the sky. One section was painted a translucent crimson, like an aurora.

“Hm? What’s that? The sky didn’t light up like that before. What happened?” James asked.

“I am not sure. The light comes from a novice dungeon called Dungeon CM 120. The dungeon encompasses a lake. It’s rather ominous, I must say,” Ryan said.

“Were there other dungeons that displayed similar phenomena?”

“Yes. Three in South America, two in Canada and Alaska, five in Asia, seven in Europe, two in Australia, and four in Africa. It seems to happen at random. Some of them are medium- and hard-difficulty dungeons. It started about three to four days ago, just before you guys finished the medium dungeon.”

“I see. System, do you know anything about this phenomenon?”

[Information classified.]

“I don’t like the sound of that.” James frowned. Was it a coincidence?

Standing before the supermarket, the mercenaries hired by Ryan lined up. James’ supermarket now looked more like a mercenary guild than a store. That much was expected—James was a survivor, and this supermarket would conquer a dungeon.

“We shall go toward that dungeon, Let’s go for a recon!” James said.

“Eh? We’re conquering that dungeon right away? While I salute your dedication, Mr. James, we still have that shareholder meeting.”

“No. I’m just looking. I’m not that obsessed. I want to see the dungeon up close. You guys are ready, right?” James turned toward the volunteers Ryan had gathered. About half of them gave him a military salute, which gave James an idea of how many had military training.

“Yes, sir!” Using the company’s jeep, Ryan drove the volunteers toward the reddened dungeon.

At that moment, the sound of shattering glass rang through the city. James watched as the red aurora spilled into the sky before an enormous portal spawned at the dungeon’s border. All residents gazed at the phenomenon in awe, but what came next was even more frightening—monsters spilled from the gate.

“System, is the information still classified?” James frowned, wondering whether this was a coincidence. Ryan had said this started happening before they cleared the medium dungeon, but that was only a few days ago. James knew that time flowed differently inside dungeons—a few days here might be just minutes or hours inside.

[Monster Invasion Imminent. Defeat the Dungeon Core to curb the invasion.]

Sahuagin—monsters that had plagued James on the third floor of the dungeon trial—invaded from the portal. Panic ensued. Citizens ran for their lives through the crowded streets as monsters gave chase. Along with the fishmen, other aquatic creatures such as giant octopuses, crabs, and shrimp spewed from the portal.

“You, stay in the car!” James ordered Ryan to hide inside while he engaged the enemy.

He snapped his bow into his hand and fired his bow skill, Homing Shot, at the approaching monsters. The arrow didn’t just hit—it plowed through several before stopping. Volunteers dismounted from their cars, drew their pocket pistols, and opened fire. They were in America, guns were common. Gun store owners nearby even joined in, meeting the encroaching monsters with their shotguns.

But not all the creatures were vulnerable to bullets. Thanks to levels and stats, only the weakest—such as goblins—fell with a single shot.

“They’re immune to bullets!” The volunteer shot the incoming crab, but it shrugged his bullet as if it came from a toy gun.

“Shoot at the eyes and mouth!” one volunteer shouted.

With a roar, James drew his sword and leaped. His black blade cut through the crab like a hot knife through butter. A sahuagin lunged with its spear, only to be met by James’ new sword skill, Lunar Counter.

James had been baptized in a medium dungeon where knights with multiple weapon skills were the norm. Monsters with only a single strike skill were no longer a match for him. Then came frogs the size of cars. One hopped from the gate and lashed its tongue toward him.

James might be strong, but he still had human-sized and weight. The frog’s tongue slammed him back more than four meters. Hopping to his feet, James reached for his mana core. Several icicle lances formed around him and skewered the monsters. The frog might have been strong for a novice dungeon, but its squishy body was not a problem for James.

It was skewered and perished with magic.

The battle went on for a while until the boss monster appeared—a golem, shielded on all sides with metallic armor made from an unknown material. It towered at least two meters taller than James. Bullets ricocheted off its metal frame. What intrigued James most was the golden gem embedded in its chest. He recognized the shape, as it bore a resemblance to that armored ankylosaurus. Yes—it was a dungeon core.

The boss monster raised its hand toward one of of cars on the street. A white flash of light shot out, and the vehicle exploded. Leaping toward the golem, James unleashed his sword skill, Vorpal Lunge. The boss dodged by jumping twenty meters into the air, then crashed down on the asphalt with a resounding crack. A white sword materialized in its hand. At that moment, James knew he was about to duel.

The golem lowered its stance, its blade glowing gold. Tiny mistakes like these were what got survivors killed—James included. Feeling rushed to slay the boss for the casualties it had caused, and underestimating it because it had spawned from a novice dungeon, James lunged a second time.

He thought he would win the clash. After overpowering the monster once, he planned to follow up with another skill and behead it. That’s what James believed. But when their swords met, the outcome was decided in an instant. Like a ragdoll, James was hurled into a building. He had lost the clash—utterly and decisively.

“Shit! He’s strong!” James cursed, dragging himself from the rubble and brushing off the dust. He coughed—the strike had knocked the air out of his lungs. His ribs cracked in pain with every breath, and he felt his back bruised from where he had slammed into the wall.

Reaching for his mana core, James activated his Parallel Thought. There was no way around it—he would have to use everything he had. James scolded himself. How could he be so lax? Why did he even pull his punches? to conserve mana? to challenge himself? that was stupid.

Ice spears rained down on the golem, but it shrugged them aside as if they were no more than a drizzle. Realizing the attack was ineffective, James dashed forward. The golem opened its arm, white motes of light gathering in the concave device inside its palm. James fired his horn before it could launch its beam. The ensuing blast tore his hand apart. Without hesitation, James closed the distance.

The golem had lost one hand, but it still had another. Golden motes of light shimmered along its sword as it raised the weapon high, ready to cleave James in two.

This time, James had learned from his mistake. He unleashed his sword skill, Lunar Counter, meeting the attack head-on. The moment their blades collided, an invisible force hurled James to the side, narrowly sparing him from death. Then, his sword traced a glowing arc across the golem’s arm, severing it.

James immediately followed up with another skill—Twin Fang. Two slashes tore through the monster, bisecting its head and carving a deep gash down its back. Headless, the golem collapsed to the ground. The moment the boss was defeated, the crimson aurora faded from the sky. The portal that had spewed an endless tide of monsters cracked and shattered into a million fragments, and the dungeon was freed, the beautiful lake was accessible once again.

“Hurry! There are still monsters left!”

“Shoot them down! Bring them down!” Volunteers, police officers, and armed civilians rushed to clean up the stragglers.

The dungeon break ended with the fall of the boss. As James picked up the golden dungeon core, a system message flashed before his eyes—acknowledging his level-up.