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Chapter 85: Fifth Floor, Ambush

Added 2025-06-07 13:49:14 +0000 UTC

James was faced with yet another forest as he stepped onto the fifth floor. Despite being halfway through conquering the dungeon, he didn’t feel relieved in the slightest. Since there was no boss and the portal to the floor below was still open, James felt this entire dungeon was one huge floor rather than the ten floors the system had announced to him.

A few hours after James began traversing the forest, following the arrow the system had granted him, there were no attacks. This unnerved James to no end as he kept his eye on the trees, expecting any—

“What’s that?” one of the soldiers with him pointed toward black mud on the floor. As the group drew near, more pools of black tar-like liquid began to appear here and there.

“I bet there are monsters inside…” James sighed. But he couldn’t say for sure because there were no soldiers with life-sensing or trap-sensing abilities within his ranks. He was so unlucky.

The soldiers listened to him. Their eyes locked onto the tar pools. While their eyes were focused on those pools, they had forgotten to watch their surroundings.

The eerie silence disturbed James. He looked over at the black tar-like pools, wondering whether they had the same game mechanic as the dungeon trials on the third floor, where he had to swim inside. Just like before, he didn’t feel adventurous.

In the end, the portal to the next floor lay there, unperturbed in the middle of the forest. There was no attack from any monsters.

“We found the portal to the next floor. We are ready to go, sir!” the captain saluted James.

“No chests?”

“No chest in sight so far, sir. Should we recon the area further?”

“Nah… we’ll go to the next floor. Once we beat the boss, we can take our time finding chests,” James said.

“Yes, sir.”

James walked to the portal without hesitation. Blue light from the portal enveloped him as he was transported to the next floor. James wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Dungeons were nefarious. A single moment of carelessness could mean the difference between life and death.

“Huh?” James felt dread creeping up on him as he realized his mistake. The portal had transported him inside a fortress with four ballistae aiming at him, bolts ready to make a kebab out of him. Along with the ballistae, several birdmen archers raised their bows. They didn’t smirk, but James knew they were happy that he was caught in their trap.

He immediately turned, but it was too late. The siege weapons had unleashed their fury at him, lodging spears into his body. Two bolts hit his stomach, one hit his chest, and another struck his back. James didn’t waste any time stepping back into the portal.

The captain, who was transported with James, soon appeared from the portal. Arrows came down from the walls and towers. He was a low-level survivor. Normal arrows were enough to wound him. James’ rule that one needed a weapon skill to harm anything in this world didn’t apply to him. Multiple arrows flew at him.

“Guh!” The captain could only stare in wonder at the scene before him. Unlike James, who was calm and had been baptized by blood in dungeons, the captain—while experienced and trained—had never received a bullet wound in his life. The shock of the arrow wound dropped him to the ground. Such a blunder was met with another hail of arrows. The captain saw his life flicker before him before it was snuffed out by a bolt from a ballista.

Thanks to his quick thinking, James retreated into the portal. Orange light soon enveloped him, and he returned back to the forest. James might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was not a bumbling idiot.

“Stop! Stop! We have a wounded person here!” Soldiers who were about to touch the portal after James stopped in their tracks.

“Fuck! I am so stupid!” James cursed. The pain from his stupidity felt more irritating than the huge ballista bolt stuck in his torso. It was just a mere two floors ago that James learned this could happen. “System! Health potions!”

“ARGH!!” Another soldier, who was unlucky enough to hit the portal before James returned—but not as stupid as the captain who dropped after his first arrow—screamed as he returned with two arrows in his stomach.

[A health potion has been bought for 100 coins.]

“Buy another one!” James said.

[A health potion has been bought for 100 coins. Your 1,220 coins remaining.]

Two black boxes teleported before James.

“Help me pull these sticks. I can’t pour the potion otherwise. You! Help the other guy. This other potion is for him,” James said.

Pain ravaged him as soldiers did as he said. The other soldier didn’t fare any better as he screamed his lungs out while arrows were pulled from his body. It was a fatal wound. If not for the portals, he would have died there. James was also reminded that he couldn’t buy health potions in the middle of a battle. With huge spears lodged in his chest and stomach, he would have died in less than a minute.

James felt his consciousness flicker. His breathing was shallow, and his body soon turned cold. Thanks to the magical health potion from the system, his wounds and all of his damaged organs were sealed and healed. James could not afford to lose consciousness here. This portal was a two-way street—not only for survivors but for monsters as well.

“System. Hematonic potions, please,” James said.

[You have purchased a hematonic potion for 50 coins. You have 1,170 coins remaining. Reminder: a hematonic potion is to be drunk.]

“Thanks,” James said sarcastically as he opened a black box filled with a pink potion. After he drank the contents, his dizziness went away as if it had been a lie. His ragged breathing slowly calmed down as heat and energy returned to his body.

As if on cue, the blue portal shone. James quickly grabbed his weapon, but the rather slow soldiers gawked at the magical scenery.

“Enemy! Prepare yourselves, dumbasses.” Only after James shouted at them did they pick up their weapons. Several birdmen came out from the portal. Now that the table was turned, James and the soldiers brought their fury upon these avians.

Three corpses of birdmen later, silence returned to the forest.

“Are we safe?” a soldier asked.

“No. We shall look for another portal. This portal was a trap, just like on the second floor!” James cursed. He wanted to kick his own head for being so stupid—for being so trusting of the arrows given by the system. It almost cost him his life. If the trap had been more elaborate, like pitfalls or snares in addition to those arrows and ballistae, James’ life would have ended right there, just like the captain’s.

“Yes sir!” Soldiers nodded. The soldiers nodded grimly.

“Sir, was Captain Ferdinand…”

“If he’s not coming back, he’s dead,” James answered. Easy and simple.

The soldiers gulped. Dungeons were nefarious. The successive and seemingly easy victories had lulled James and the soldiers’ sense of danger. They believed that even if they were in trouble, James—the experienced one—would handle everything. Just like when they were against goblins. But after seeing how James had almost come back from the brink of death, their expressions tensed.

“Should we move on? John is weak, but we can carry him.” A replacement captain soon talked to James. James pondered. He had 9 soldiers. With the captain dead, 1 injured, and 1 occupied, there were 6 soldiers ready. But these guys were low-leveled soldiers. Even if all of them were occupied, James could still defend them.

“I see. We shall continue until dusk,” James said. The soldiers nodded.

James and the soldiers traversed the surrounding forest, searching for the aforementioned portals. In the end, they didn’t find the portals and had to camp out. But they found something.

“Sir, we found a box we assume to be a treasure chest, sir,” one soldier reported.

James suddenly got excited. A treasure chest was finally found. James felt weird because he hadn’t found any treasure chests on these five floors. When the soldier led him to it, it looked like a normal box made of wood.

James frowned. Depending on the dungeon, treasure chests do vary. He had even found that small chest in the second dungeon. But he had never seen chests as plain as this one. He then wondered whether all chests on this floor were hidden like this one.

“It does have a lid. But as per your advice and the possibility of traps, we didn’t open nor get near it, sir!” the soldier reported.

“I understand. Good work. Keep your eyes peeled,” James nodded. Using his ice magic, James attacked the chest. Purple light flashed from the chest.

“Well, it’s a treasure chest, all right,” James muttered.

“Huh? It was protected by the system!” soldiers commented.

“It means we have to open it. We can’t destroy the chest,” James said. The soldiers all went tense, but James merely smiled. “Don’t worry. It might be cheating the system a little, but if we open them from afar, most traps will hit nothing.”

James then did just that. He took extra caution as he attached his spiderweb to the lid of the chest. He then pulled it from afar, showing it to the soldiers. They didn’t have ropes, so they couldn’t imitate him. But if they found some ivy or vines nearby, they could do what James did.

These soldiers might not have been plunged into real life-and-death battles, but they were experienced. Green gas immediately spouted out from the box. James and the team didn’t waste any time retreating.

“I will go first. You stay behind me,” James said.

“Yes, sir.”

“System, was that a poison gas?”

[Information classified.]

“Oh yeah. I forgot. I actually needed to be hit by that gas and be left dying for you to tell me what gas that was,” James sarcastically retorted. The system replied in the same sarcastic way.

[That is correct.]

Nevertheless, James needed a treasure chest. The tools inside could prove invaluable. So, he crept closer. Inside, James found a blow dart with several of its ammunition beside it.

[Congratulations, you have found a poison dart. It can now be purchased for 10 coins per dart.]

“What does it do?”

[This poison dart has 3 types: medium life-leeching poison, paralysis poison, and sleeping poison.]

“Well, I don’t need it,” James muttered as he gave the dart to the soldiers. “You can ask the system about how to use it. Use it well.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The group then leaned on the trees, resting as the moon shone brightly in the sky, casting an ephemeral glow on the dark forest. James continued to eye the tar-like pool. He could only sigh, as there was no way the dungeon would make these things without any use. Nevertheless, he was not keen to find out.

James then twiddled a life ring that was kept in his pocket. Should he use it? This ring sounded important, but so was James’ life. James decided to wear it for now. He didn’t want to experience such nasty trauma ever again.

Of course, fate would not let such things happen.

Name: James
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 50
Coins: 1220
Merit: 9

Stats:
STR: 158 (↑3)
DEX: 154 (↑2)
MAGIC: 113 (↑3)
MANA: 1060 (↑20)

Skills:

Novice Axe Mastery Level 5 (Powerstrike, V-slash, Boomerang)
Novice Sword Mastery Level 1 (Hurricane, Vorpal Lunge)
Beginner Bow Mastery Level 8 (Quickshot) (↑1)
Beginner Dagger Mastery Level 1

Magic:

Mind Flay
Sense Alteration
Mana Sonar

Class:
Attacker (Level 29) (↑1)

10% bonus when attacking
STR, DEX +1 per level

Shop (Level 2):

Health Potion (100 coins)
Hematonic Potion (50 coins)
High Potion (300 coins)
Antidote (50 coins)
Poison Dart (10 coins / round)
Bullets (10 coins / round)
Grenades (50 coins / piece)
Arrows (50 coins / dozen)
Metal Pocket Arrows (100 coins / dozen)
Sell Function / Repair Function
Merit Shop: (10 Merit / Skill)

Unique Skill – Chimera (Level 2):

Stomach Slot: Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts)
Left Arm Slot: Minotaur Leader’s Left Arm (STR +25%)
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 Skill, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10)
Heart Slot: Golem Core (Poison Resistance, Negative Trait: Mana -250, Magic -10, Repairable)
Torso Slot: Orc’s Torso
Head Slot: Orc’s Head
Mouth Slot: Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching)
Skin Slot: Flaming Tiger Lord’s Firefur (Fire Cloak Skill, Fire Resistance, Physical Resistance +15%, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10)
Tongue Slot: Elite Nirvok’s Tongue (2-meter Appendage, Medium Paralysis Poison)
Ear Slot: Land Shark’s Ear (Echolocation: 10 meters)
Extra Slot 1: Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000)
Extra Slot 2: Jumping Spider’s Spinneret (Thread Creation)
Extra Slot 3: Kraken’s Arm Tentacle (Reach: 5 meters, Negative Trait: STR -10%)
Extra Slot 4: Mana Core (Wind Spells: Wind Gust, Wind Wall, Magic +20, Mana +300)