Chapter 87: Hidden Floor

When James stepped into the portal, he was transported inside a cave. The rocky cavern was wet, with several puddles scattered about. Crystal-clear water dripped from the ceiling, creating a serene cacophony. The flash from the portal repeated several more times as soldiers began pouring out of it. There was no flashlight, but the cave was dimly lit with some kind of fluorescent moss. The scenery certainly looked magical, but James was already bored by such things.

“No more open-world games for us this time,” James said. Some soldiers who understood the reference chuckled as they admired the magical scenery.

“Did you guys bring any torches?”

“Yes, sir. With some clothes from the deceased bird monsters and oil from them, we managed to make torches,” the captain said. They were experienced and trained soldiers, so unlike James, who relied on magical means, they used their expertise. James looked at them with intrigue, hoping to maybe use—

“Here, I’ll light it up,” James said as he lit his hand on fire.

The red flame illuminated the dim cave. Several crystals were embedded in the walls, casting a soft blue glow. Glowing green moss intertwined with the stone. The red flame, blue glow, and green moss mixed together, creating a rainbow of light across the cave walls.

Then, a giant round door stood with a pedestal before it. The gate was carved with runic symbols along its edge. When James approached, the runes glowed blue. Then, a golden lining shone. But it quickly faded as golden runic letters floated before it and disappeared.

[Here lies the path of a true king.
Challenger, bring two Proofs of Generals.
Only then will you have proven yourself worthy to challenge the True King.]

“What does it mean?” a soldier asked.

“It means this door needs some kind of key. But how are we going to find it in this dungeon? Jesus. Are we seriously going to scour the entire place? Floor by floor? That would take forever!” another soldier said.

James agreed. Time worked differently here than outside. Each floor might be small—only a kilometer wide at most—but searching every nook and cranny of every floor up to this point would take days, maybe even months. Outside… who knew how much time had passed? Maybe a year or even two. James and the soldiers weren’t willing to spend that kind of time in here.

“The pedestal has something in it,” James muttered. A round disk with a glass screen sat on the pedestal.

[It’s a Challenger Medal. If a Proof is nearby, the Medal will show survivors where the Proof is.]

“Well, here it is. We’ve got a radar to find the Dragon Balls,” James said as he took the disk with the glass screen. All the soldiers chuckled at his ridiculous claim.

“Alright. Hmm… why no blue arrows?” James muttered, sensing something off. The blue arrow that was usually beside the orange one—indicating where the portal to the next floor was—had disappeared.

[The arrows will only help survivors until the 8th floor.]

“Hm? 8th floor? Wasn’t this the seventh floor?” James glanced at the system. The soldiers checked among themselves. After speaking with their comrades and comparing their memories, they all agreed this was supposed to be the seventh floor.

“Yes, sir. This is supposed to be the seventh floor.”

“That orange portal that was shown by the arrow… what floor does it lead to?” James asked.

[That portal will bring you to the 6th floor.]

“That means we skipped a floor! Why didn’t it bring us to the 7th floor?”

[There is no portal from the sixth floor to the seventh floor.]

“Why… never mind. That’s the rule of the game. So there’s a secret floor below us. That’s what matters.” James was about to complain but stopped himself. He then eyed the system. “Can you tell us where it is?”

[Information classified.]

“I shouldn’t even try,” James sighed. He then looked over to his soldiers. “Let’s search this floor. There’s got to be a way down somewhere. If there isn’t, that means we’ll have to search the other floors.”

“Yes, sir.” James then began exploring the 8th floor.

There was nothing in the giant door room, so they retraced their steps, checking every wall and floor to make sure they hadn’t missed anything. Of course, their efforts bore no fruit, as the unknown path was actually near the portal room—hidden behind vines on the wall.

“Boss, there’s a hole here. It leads to another cave,” a soldier reported.

“I’ll make a rope. Meanwhile, you guys work on clearing the vines,” James sighed.

The new path wound up and down. Luckily for them, it didn’t branch and led straight to another orange portal.

“Orange means going down, blue means going up,” James reminded himself. “Let’s go.”

The portal led to another empty room with a giant door. A few seconds later, a soldier jumped in and then went right back through the portal. James tilted his head at the behavior, before realization hit.

“Good on you for being cautious,” James nodded as the other soldiers began pouring in, walking normally.

“Yes, sir.” The soldiers saluted. When they scanned the surroundings, they couldn’t help but frown. “It looks like a dead end. But the disk lit up. There’s a dot on it.”

“This door will open. But you guys need to prepare. Some of you may die, because a powerful opponent usually comes out,” James said.

The soldiers lined up behind James. James pushed the door, and it opened. The sound of metal grinding echoed as the rusted hinge creaked loudly while James pushed it open with his arm.

“The room is empty,” one soldier said. James winced at the weird structure: a dome, with another door.

“There’s another door. Let’s get to it. I bet the proof or whatever we need is in there.” Another soldier walked past James and the others.

Such beginner mistakes. James had felt something was wrong with this room, but the soldiers didn’t. They saw the room was empty and moved on. James feared the worst when they reached the center of the dome—but nothing happened.

Feeling secure, James traversed the walkway into the dome. Another door opened before him, revealing a winged lizard… no, a humanoid dragon. Its long neck, gray scales, and bat-like wings made it clear—it was a dragonkin.

“A@($!_:}” The dragonkin opened its mouth. Alien voices, unknown to any language James had ever heard. Luckily, the system explained it to him.
[You came challenging for proof of kings. Let your champion step forth and let this duel be sacred. Will you accept?]

The soldiers’ gazes were naturally drawn to James. He was their de facto leader.

“Does that mean I have to fight you alone?”

“!*!” the lizardman spoke. His language was unknown, but it didn’t matter because the system translated it for him.
[That is correct.]

James was about to step up, but he tilted his head, wondering why the system bothered to translate the speech this way instead of just making it feel like the lizardman was speaking English—like when he spoke to the orcs, or to Kouki and Kaina. They couldn’t speak English, but James could understand them just fine. The system had translated their words in real time.

“I will accept. Everyone, I will duel this monster. Just watch,” James said, and the soldiers stepped back. James prepared his bow, his axe, his sword, and his shield—the usual setup. But since he used a halberd now, he could no longer dual wield. He stored his sword and bow on his back.

The dragonkin grinned, showing his lizard fangs as he realized how untrained and inexperienced James was. The Dragon Guardian—the king’s general—had sworn an oath to defend the throne. He was a castout, denied by lizards and birds alike. Yet the king had accepted him. He had proven his worth in combat, and he always would.

The dragon roared, and flames burst from his mouth. His prized flame bathed James from head to toe. The dragon chuckled—laughter rising from his throat—as he felt victory was at hand. Neither lizard nor bird could withstand the fiery breath gifted to him by the king. He felt pity, for he had hoped to test this human who dared to duel him. Alas, all that remained was to stab the scorched James to death.

James leapt from the fire, his axe glowing gold as he unleashed his two-hit skill slash. The halberd drew an arc from overhead, right into the lizard’s arrogant face.

It squeaked in surprise. Arrogance had gotten the better of him. Never in his wildest dreams did he think someone could be immune to his flame. He raised his shield in panic, even knowing such a gesture was futile against a weapon skill. James’s axe bisected the shield. The skill went through his arm and landed squarely on his chest, blowing him away.

V-Slash could only curve the skill sideways. Since the lizard had been thrown back, James’s second hit slashed through empty air in vain.

“I expected him to dodge the first strike. Never thought the skill would land squarely on his body. Was he stupid?” James remarked as he readied his halberd again. This was a duel, so he waited until the lizard stood up and prepared to face him again at the center of the arena.

Truthfully, James didn’t feel like entertaining this lizard. However, this was a duel. If he disobeyed the system, who knew what kind of punishment might occur? He might be drowned in a sea of cursed tar like on the fifth floor, or face some kind of dangerous trap like on the sixth floor. So, he kept the duel fair—for his own sake.

The lizard felt insulted as it saw James pitying him. It roared, as adrenaline and rage fueled its body.

“A health potion?” James muttered as the lizard drew a familiar red vial from its back. James checked his own vial—it was still there, not stolen. He then nodded in understanding. “I see. Health potions are dungeon items as well. Enemies can use them too.”

Healing potions did not restore limbs or blood loss. Without its left hand, the dragonkin was at a severe disadvantage.

A charge filled with rage and killing intent—the dragonkin’s most prized spear skill. It was severely weakened since he had lost an arm, but a weapon skill was still a weapon skill. It could penetrate through shield and armor.

The dragonkin smirked as James raised his shield to block the charge. He envisioned the shield being pierced, just as James had cleaved through his own. But surprise followed. His most prized spear skill bounced off the shield—like an invisible force granted by a god was protecting it.

James followed up with a sweep from his axe. A golden glow shone from its edge. This time, the dragonkin had no means of defense. The halberd bisected him at the stomach.

[Congratulations! You have defeated the Champion of the Lizard King.
You have earned 200 coins.
You have leveled up to Level 51.
Your Attacker Skill has leveled up to Level 30.]

Despite the fanfare the system gave him, James didn’t feel victorious after such an easy fight. He approached the corpse, wondering if there was anything worth stealing from it—as the door behind the dragonkin opened, revealing several treasure chests.