laulau20

Chapter 101: Second Floor

Added 2025-07-29 06:04:05 +0000 UTC

[Congratulations. You have slain the Sword of Mystis. You have leveled up to level 57. You have earned 400 coins. Your Attacker class has leveled up to level 38. Your Novice Sword Mastery has leveled up to level 3.]

“Oh. I thought I couldn’t receive coins and EXP from infected creatures,” James said as the black oil that smeared the walls and floor of the cave evaporated. Now that the boss monster had been slain, the black ooze lingering on the ground lost its purpose. It dissipated.

[Monsters that are immune to infection or are asymptomatic carriers are an exception.]

“I see. But damn, the smell.”

The black miasma that had engulfed the cave was nauseating. But James noticed a breeze blowing through the tunnel the boss had been blocking. The freshness it carried was unmistakable.

“...Wait a minute. If he was immune, does that mean Chimera can plunder him?”
James suddenly had an epiphany. When he tested his Chimera skill on the monster, it had activated. But something abnormal happened.

[Would you like to modify your body? Y/N]

[Available body parts:
h@%!h%
Error. Chimera couldn’t extract the body parts.]

“What happened? Did the skill fail? But it activated. Was it interrupted?”

James blinked at the system notification as green motes of light gathered around the boss monster, engulfing and consuming it until nothing remained. As the corpse vanished, the tunnel widened and more black ooze evaporated. It was the first time the system had shown an error. Behind the tunnel, where the fresh breeze was, lay his destination.

“That fatso was blocking the way…” James said with a chuckle.

The other side was free of black ooze, and three chests lay in the corner of the room. James gleefully approached them. After a hard day’s work, it was only natural to get paid. He then asked the system about what had just occurred.

“System. What happened earlier?”

[Someone or something has stolen the corpse. Chimera can only interact with an unclaimed corpse. If the corpse has a death effect or if someone else is interacting with it, Chimera cannot act on it and will return an error.]

“That was weird. So you’re saying someone interacted with the boss monster’s corpse?”

[Yes.]

“But… But I was there and there was no one else.” James wanted to press the question, but knowing the system was unlikely to answer, he let it go and focused on what was in front of him: the treasure chests.

With the wire he had gotten from a previous chest, he no longer feared opening them. Following his usual ritual, James shot ice arrows at the three chests. One of them opened with a twang as black arrows burst out.

James was over ten meters away, so the arrows struck the wall in vain.

“Whew. As expected of a dungeon. There are always traps where you least expect them.”

He then froze the wire connected to the remaining chests. After pulling them open from a distance, both chests opened, triggering no traps.

Inside the three chests were gold bars, a sword, and a pair of greaves.

[Congratulations. You have obtained gold bars, the Sword of Mystis, and the Greaves of Mystis.]

“What do they do?” James asked the system.

[Gold bars can be used as currency by the populace in this dungeon. When you collect a full armor set and are coronated at the Cathedral of Mystis, you will receive the Blessing of Mystis along with your armor set.]

“Can gold bars be traded for coins?”

[Yes. Each gold bar is worth five coins. The sword can be sold for 100 coins, and the greaves for 50 coins.]

“...” James was about to sell the items but stopped. To him, they were just ordinary weapons and armor. Given how the populace despised him for being a monster, he would never be allowed inside the city. Worse still, he had killed their knights. The system had marked him as hostile toward Mystis. That path was now closed to him.

However, Andrew or Kouki might need them. These kinds of weapons and armor seemed to be their favourite. Especially Kouki. He loved playing the hero. James understand, he had dreamed about the same thing as teenagers.

“... Damn. There’s no paper or pen,” James grumbled. “I don’t want to carry these gold bars…”

There was no inventory or item box. Everything had to be carried manually. James could carry the gold bars, but they were cumbersome. In the end, he chose to leave them all behind.

“Worthless yellow rocks. I can’t believe I actually said that,” James chuckled. He had thought about selling the gold bars back on Earth, but life was more important. He could carry just one, but the price of gold had plummeted ever since the system appeared. People cared more about food and shelter these days.

James glanced a few times at the yellow bars behind him before turning away. He thought, Andrew will probably make use of them.

The passage led to a flight of stairs, and at the end of the path, a glowing blue portal awaited.

“Blue portal?”

[A blue portal leads to the next floor, while an orange portal leads to the previous one.]

“So it’s the same as the last dungeon? You can go back to the previous floor? Where’s the arrow?”

[Arrows denoting portal locations will not be provided in this dungeon.]

“That’s a medium dungeon for you. THe difficulty has ramped up,” James muttered as he stepped into the portal. The world turned white before he reappeared somewhere else.

For a moment, James wondered if the portal had failed. The scenery hadn’t changed much. He was still in a cave. But when he looked back, the portal had turned from blue to orange—confirmation he was indeed on the next floor.

“That’s new. The monsters didn’t change.” James eyed several fully infected creatures.

They growled at the new flesh that had arrived. The hunger of the parasitic ooze would finally be satiated.

But James wasn’t their prey.

With a blast of fire breath, he roared. The ooze that had protected the creatures was peeled away.

Yet they felt no pain, no fear. The creatures still rushed at James—only to be bisected by his sword.

A red light flashed as James used his skill: Hurricane. The Sword of Khine converted its damage into fire damage. Perfect for this floor. The fully infected creatures burst into flame. Their bodies turned to crisp before evaporating, leaving nothing behind.

James looked high and low but found no chest. Disappointed, he left the cave.

“The devs are getting lazy,” James joked to himself as he observed the surroundings. The theme remained the same: forest patches scattered throughout a vast cave system. However, in the distance, a bright light glowed. James spotted a towering structure that nearly reached the dungeon ceiling. A new city had formed at its base, encircled by stone walls and guarded by a sturdy gate.

At the top of the tower, a glowing orb radiated light like a miniature sun. Unlike the bleak, dim city on the first floor, this one was bathed in brilliance. James had to squint under the intense glare.

Drawn by the light, James began walking toward it, his steps almost automatic. But as he neared the city, a bell rang—and suddenly, a golden arrow shot from the wall.

“Shit!” James dove to the side, realizing the arrow had been aimed directly at him. He turned and ran, didn’t stop to look back. More golden arrows rained down, each one a lethal weapon skill.

He ran in a zigzag, dodging as golden meteors exploded behind him, tearing up the earth like artillery shells. Luckily, once he reached the forest’s edge, the golden flashes ceased.

James exhaled sharply. If not for his above-average dexterity, he would’ve been skewered like an orc on a spit—for the simple mistake of approaching a human settlement.

“Will everyone here attack me on sight?” he muttered to no one in particular. The system answered.

[Yes. Most humans will attack you on sight, as your hostility level toward the Guardians of Mystis is at maximum. Even if Survivor James changes his appearance back to human form, people will still fear you. Instead of attacking on sight, they will imprison you and carry out an execution the next day.]

“... You even know what punishment they’ll give without a trial?”

[Yes, Survivor James’s crimes are considered severe by those who believe in Mystis. No other punishment is deemed sufficient.]

“I guess I’m basically like a cop killer, huh? Alright. No more human settlements for me. If that’s how they see me, then that’s what I’ll become. System, I should have enough to upgrade my sword skill to level 5, right?”

[Yes, would you like to spend 800 coins to upgrade your Novice Sword Mastery to Level 5?]

“Yes.”

[Your sword skill has been upgraded to Novice Sword Mastery Level 5. You have obtained a new sword skill: Twin Fang.]

“Alright! Judging from the name, this should be a two-hit weapon skill. Let me try it.”

James raised his Sword of Yailatuh. The black blade glowed golden. A golden flash cut through the air. As James completed his swing, a force pulled the sword back along the same path.

“I see. Interesting. It’s similar to V-Slash from my axe skills. But instead of a V-shape, it retraces the original slash. Ah, but it can start from any direction—below, left, or right.” James tested the skill a few more times to explore its limitations.

“Yeah, this sword skill is definitely for dueling. Not ideal for crowd control,” James concluded. Now, he had Hurricane, a sword skill suited for defense, Vorpal Lunge, one for offense, and Twin Fang, designed for one-on-one duels.

“I wonder what I’ll get at Bow Mastery Level 5…” James muttered, thinking of the knight archer’s skill where arrows split midair.

“Alright. Let’s stop daydreaming and explore this land.” James glanced around. The trees looked more vibrant now, basking in sunlight from the tower instead of relying on dungeon walls for photosynthesis.

As James wandered, a massive, half-infected giant emerged from the forest. It had humanoid features and ashen skin. With a shield in its left hand and a club in its right, it reminded James of the first-floor boss monster he had once fought.

James wanted to test how much stronger the monsters were on these upper floors—and how effective his new skill would be against them. He was also curious to see whether this enemy had a new weapon skill of its own.

Their eyes locked. Both roared.

With weapons drawn, James charged the troll.

The two monsters clashed.

Name: James
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 57
Coins: 400
Merit: 10
Biomass: 0

Stats

STR: 174 (↑2)
DEX: 173 (↑3)
MAGIC: 134 (↑3)
MANA: 1200 (↑20)

Class: Attacker (Level 38) (↑1)

Effect: +10% bonus when attacking
Per Level Bonus: +1 STR, +1 DEX per level

Skills

Novice Axe Mastery Level 5
- Skills: Powerstrike, V-Slash, Boomerang
Novice Sword Mastery Level 5
- Skills: Hurricane, Vorpal Lunge, Twin Fang
Novice Bow Mastery Level 1
- Skills: Quickshot, Homing Shot
Beginner Dagger Mastery Level 1

Magic

Mind Flay
Sense Alteration
Mana Sonar

Shop (Level 2)

Health Potion – 100 coins
Hematonic Potion – 50 coins
High Potion – 300 coins
Antidote – 50 coins
Bullets – 10 coins/round
Grenades / Flashbangs – 50 coins/piece
Arrows – 50 coins/dozen
Metal Pocket Arrows – 100 coins/dozen
Poison Darts – 10 coins/round
Merit Shop: 10 Merit per skill
Functions: Sell / Repair
Body Modding (Human): 100 Biomass/part

Unique Skill: Chimera (Level 3) (3 Extra Slots Available)

Stomach Slot: Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts)
Right Eye Slot: Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense)
Right Arm Slot: Golem Arm of Valhalla
- STR +30%, Physical Resistance +30%
- Negative Trait: Repairable, Mana -200
Leg Slot: Ratking’s Legs (STR +25%)
Lung Slot: Flaming Tiger’s Fire Lung (Fire Breathing)
- Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10
Heart Slot: Golem Core (Poison Resistance)
- Negative Trait: Mana -250, Magic -10, Repairable
Torso Slot: Orc’s Torso
Mouth Slot: Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching)
Skin Slot: Flaming Tiger Lord’s Firefur (Fire Cloak, Fire Resist, Physical Resist +15%)
- Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10
Ear Slot: Land Shark’s Ear (Echolocation: 10m)
Extra Slot 1: Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000)
Extra Slot 2: Quetzalcoatl Horn (Lightning Shot: 20 Mana per shot)
Extra Slot 3: Mana Core (Wind Spells: Wind Gust, Wind Wall, Magic +20, Mana +300)