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Chapter 83: Fourth Floor, Town

Added 2025-05-30 05:42:29 +0000 UTC

After James and the soldiers packed the snake meat and wrapped it with James’ spider silk, they went to the blue portal. There, they were teleported right into the middle of a ruined village, where only dogs and rabid goblins without any sense of sentience prowled.

“Contact! Enemy at 2 o'clock!” one soldier shouted as he saw a charging goblin with a club. Its roar was met with a gunshot, quickly fired by the excellent marksman. The bullet popped the goblin’s head like a balloon. The soldiers let out yet another cheer.

While James was amazed at their reaction time, his poor man’s soul couldn’t help but cry at how wasteful these soldiers were with the ammo.

“How much did that goblin give you?” James asked.

“10 coins, sir! Enough to buy another bullet, sir!” the soldier said.

It was enough. If one thought hard about it, survivors could certainly fight while relying on bullets and guns. Guns only needed ammo. They didn’t need to pay for bow skills like bows did. If they completely specialized in it, all they needed to spend their coins on was guns and ammo.

However, James’ gamer instinct screamed at how wasteful this behavior was. But he didn’t want to criticize them.

“I will give you another 10 bullets. From now on, you have to pay for the bullets yourselves. You too, crossbowmen,” James said. He promised this would be the last time he wasted coins on these men.

This path was not for him. He needed coins for many things. He needed to upgrade his Chimera skills, he needed to buy more spells, and he needed money to buy health potions.

[You have bought ten bullets for 100 coins.]

“Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!”

“Use them as you see fit. As long as you don’t point it at me, it’s good. Try not to lose the gun or the crossbow—they will be sold to the guild later,” James said.

“Yes, sir!”

“Guns are rare. You can’t buy them in the shop. They only exist inside treasure chests. That’s why we need to find treasure chests. That’s why we need to scour the floor first before advancing. By the way, if you find a chest, tell me. It might be booby-trapped, so don’t open it. You need to open it from afar, understand?”

These soldiers were part of the special forces. They knew about bombs, and some even had the training to defuse them. However, since they didn’t bring any tools—not even a picklock or strings—they understood that they had to rely on James’ ancient method.

“Yes, sir.”

James might have promised not to care about humanity anymore, but he still couldn't help but worry. Seeing other humans dead before him would certainly give him nightmares.

The soldiers began opening houses one after another. James thought the houses would be protected by the system, but no purple light shone even when a soldier kicked down a window or a door.

“Contact!” another soldier shouted. This time, the combat happened inside a wooden house. James didn’t go inside and instead walked down the street, heading directly to the portal. It led to a fairly huge manor at the center of the town.

“Enemy neutralized! No fire support is necessary.” The soldiers came back out from the one-story wooden house and reported to their captain.

Apparently, the goblins were as weak as James remembered. The soldiers could beat them one-on-one, or even when they were surrounded three to one.

“Boss, all houses in the area are cleared. We defeated 20 goblins,” another soldier said. “Should we check some more houses, or should we go to the big mansion?”

“Big mansion,” James said. “We need to secure the portal first.”

“Yes, sir.”

James marched toward the town square. Before he could even get near the mansion, numerous goblins poured out from the two-story building. Arrows shot out from the mansion’s windows like rain.

However, since it was not a skill, James managed to shield himself and all of the soldiers with an ice wall. The soldiers all ducked at once. They had been trained to take cover whenever someone was aiming at them.

James saw a bright yellow flash through the icy wall. An arrow pierced through the ice wall and stabbed into the ground mere centimeters away from a soldier’s head.

“Take cover!” the captain shouted orders. Sensing that the ice wall was unreliable, the soldiers began to move into the wooden houses. James was about to stop them. Mere wooden walls could still be penetrated by bow skills. Moreover, since they might not see the golden flash behind cover, it could be even more dangerous.

Nevertheless, James ignored the soldiers. Their lives were not his responsibility. His responsibility was to conquer the dungeon and level up. James charged like a bull toward the mansion. Several goblin knights blocked his way. They never realized the futility of their actions until it was too late. A firebreath soon blazed them, scattering them like chickens before a wolf.

James left the scattered goblin knights behind him and rushed to the mansion. The mansion was simple: a hall with stairs to the second floor and a portal at the center of the hall. Its blue glow soothed James. As long as it was not orange or golden, he was satisfied.

The hallway that stretched around him provided the best vantage points for archers, and the goblins dutifully used their advantage to the maximum.

Among those goblins, there were two who stood out from the rest. They were goblin snipers. They were the best among all goblin archers.

Goblins were thought to be the weakest of the species. However, these two believed that the world was fair and just. With enough training, they achieved something goblins thought was impossible. They acquired weapon skills.

Among the flurry of arrows fired by their brethren, these two goblins took careful aim at the interloper. They had missed their shot at the soldiers earlier due to how light refracts when it passes through an object. But at such close range, there was no way they would miss.

Golden glow shone from the tips of their arrows. As the arrows pointed toward James, they released their bowstrings.

These two goblins might be powerful against newcomers. However, James had been baptized by weapon skills ever since the first floor of the first dungeon he conquered. He had seen the golden flash before.

Knowing his ice shield would be useless, he decided to fight fire with fire. James held his halberd and activated his axe skill. A skill clash then occurred.

It was extremely unlikely but still possible for warriors to parry arrows with their swords or axes—and James did just that. Thanks to his level and stats, James managed to parry the bow skill with his axe. His eyes soon locked onto the two special goblins that had almost killed him.

James might be high-level, but he knew that a weapon skill could still harm or possibly kill him. So when he first saw the golden flashes that had almost killed those two soldiers, he had been searching for the special goblins who fired them.

These goblins didn’t know that James had seen this kind of trick before when he was conquering Kouki's dungeon filled with skeletons.

Realizing that the hunter had become the prey, the two goblins fled, trying to mingle with the other goblins. But James was not so kind as to let them escape. He leapt from the first floor and landed on the second floor gracefully.

James was reminded of how much he had grown ever since he conquered the trial dungeon. At that time, he could barely jump to the second floor. Now, he could easily leap to it. The other goblins tried to surround him, but with no weapon skills, they couldn’t stop him.

The two goblins fled to a room, pinning their last hope on the chance that James would come through the door. They might be the only goblins with skills, but their brains were still goblin brains. They had hoped to hit him with their bow skills when James entered.

When James did enter, they both fired their bow skills at the same time. Alas, it was useless. Their skills were repelled by James’ shield—it could deflect any weapon skill once. The two arrows bounced off the shield as if normal arrows had hit a steel wall.

They then went to the window, intending to jump from it. Goblins were low-level monsters, no stronger than normal humans. A drop from the second floor would likely injure them. And if they were injured, it would be easier for James to finish them off. But once again, their fear overwhelmed them.

They leaped from the window, dropped to the ground, and cracked their legs. James came to the window and fired several ice spears at the immobilized goblins, ending their vain lives.

Afterward, James cleaned up the rest of the goblins inside the mansion. With James around, no more archers could fire their arrows at the soldiers, who were now charging into the mansion and fighting for their lives against goblin knights.

James didn’t help and simply watched the soldiers struggle. Alas, their experience as elite special forces brought them victory. Using martial arts honed since elementary school, the soldiers soon overwhelmed the goblin knights and slit their throats. James noticed the lack of gunshots. Apparently, the captain understood how precious the bullets were and chose not to spend them on goblins.

They still had crossbows, though, and that broke the stalemate. Bolts pierced the goblins’ legs before the soldiers slit their throats or chopped their heads off with their borrowed lightning axe and sword.

After the battle was over, James dropped from the second floor. Unlike those goblins, he was perfectly fine after leaping from the second floor. He landed with a thump and greeted the soldiers. Along with the soldiers, the system also greeted him back.

[Congratulations. You have killed a horde of goblins. You have defeated a monster far below your level. A penalty has been applied. You have received 80 coins.]

“What? A penalty?” James widened his eyes. He had killed over a hundred goblins inside the mansion. If a goblin was prized at 10 coins each, he should have received over a thousand coins. And yet, he only received 80 coins.

[Yes. A penalty will be applied if you kill a monster more than 30 levels below you. You will not receive any EXP, and your coin reward will be severely reduced.]

“Fuck!” There went his plan of farming low-level monsters for coins.

“Any problem, sir?”

“Nothing. The system just gave me bad news,” James spat. “Gather around. After we check for any injuries, we shall rest for a bit before going to the next floor. The portal is in the center of the mansion, on the first floor.”

Name: James
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 50
Coins: 1420
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)
Sell Function / Repair Function
Bullets (10 coins / round)
Grenades (50 coins / piece)
Arrows (50 coins / dozen)
Metal Pocket Arrows (100 coins / dozen)
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)