Chapter 77: Debriefing

“Sorry? You said you failed? But the dam was freed, right?”

“The dungeon core was destroyed. The last floor, which was supposed to be empty, spawned a monster. That monster took the dungeon core into its body. I had to destroy the core to kill the monster,” James sighed.

“I see. Thank you for the information. It is regrettable that we can’t obtain the dungeon core. Was there any clue inside the dungeon? Why did it do that?”

“Dunno. Maybe it was sentient and chose to self-destruct with me?” James answered. “Or maybe it was a last-ditch effort. Maybe it knew I was after the core and used that as an advantage so I couldn’t fight the monster properly.”

“I shall write it down. This new information is important and potentially dangerous.”

“It is an assumption, alright. Not a fact.”

“Got it,” Silas nodded. “All information from the dungeon needs to be treated as if it were speculation. We can’t bring cameras there, after all. We also can’t bring dead monsters back here. There is nothing our scientists can study except these artifacts. I’ve been asking Anderson and Sanders whether we can bring cameras, but it has all proved to be in vain.”

“I see. Well, I brought many things…”

“Our researchers also couldn’t differentiate these from normal weapons. Survivors can even use skills with our swords and axes.”

“What about the enchanted weapons?”

“That was a bit more interesting. But these weapons lose their so-called enchantments in about a week. They lose their electricity or heat when we try to extract them. But their enchantments reactivate when they come into contact with survivors. Your steel ball was included, by the way.”

“Steel ball?”

“Sphere of Fethusiane? That steel ball where it produced corrosive acids? As you promised, the corrosive acid was magical in nature. It proved to be beneficial in producing fertilizer.”

“You did quite a lot.” James was amazed.

“It might only be a few days to you, but it has been almost two months for us, James. We did quite a lot,” Silas sighed. “Not much, really. We had hundreds of scientists working on it for half a year now, but we didn’t really make any progress.”

“I forgot about that part.” James sighed. He then got up from his hospital bed. “So, the next target is that warehouse, right?”

“Well, if possible, I want you to relax for a month. Andrew and Kouki should finish their dungeon anytime soon. Things might not go so hot there. There have been more casualties.”

James wondered for a minute how they knew there were casualties before he realized that dungeons displayed the number of survivors inside. If that number decreased, that meant someone had died.

“So, do I have to save someone’s ass again?”

“Not yet. We will contact you if there are more casualties. Kouki’s dungeon accepted seven people while Andrew accepted fifteen. There has been a death in both dungeons.”

“Did you employ newbies?”

“Yes. Half of them are non-survivors. We hoped to increase the number of survivors this way. Just like Sanders and Anderson.”

“What should I do in the meantime?”

“Well, I would suggest you try to spend your hard-earned money. Dunno, maybe open a business or fund a charity event? It’ll improve the economy that way.” Silas shrugged.

James was agape at his suggestion. For all his life, he had never led. Deep in his mind, he was that one mediocre salaryman, sitting in front of his computer all day.

He had given up talking to others; he had never even dreamt of making a company of his own.

It was impossible after all. With a salary of a thousand dollars per month, opening a business was impossible. He lived paycheck to paycheck. He could have savings, but why? A mere hundred dollars or so per month would never give him anything.

However, he had ten million dollars in his bank account now. Moreover, he had just received five hundred bucks for freeing the dungeon. All in less than two months. He could do anything.

“Well, you certainly put up a good show back there.” Silas smiled. “I was criticized about paying you and other survivors so much. But when you came out from the dungeon bleeding and with spikes poking your body like that, they relented.”

“That was an accident.”

“And that’s the reality. This survivor business is so dangerous. The public doesn’t know that, but survivors do. You see, we have hundreds of survivors, but less than fifty want to go into the dungeon. Moreover, they only want to go inside with someone like you or Andrew.”

“I don’t want to be your poster boy,” James said.

“Well… I can get rid of any reporters who approach you. But you, Andrew, and Kouki have officially become our brand ambassadors. There’s no helping it. When people hear about the guild, they’ll see you as the maniac who gets the job done, Andrew the leader, and Kouki the encourager,” Silas said.

“Fuck you.” James cursed himself at how easily he had fallen into Silas’s trap.

“Well, some people actually enjoy the fame. But not you, apparently. Still, you’ve certainly done a little bit too much. Now, I get criticized for pushing you guys. So really, just take a break for a week or so,” Silas said. “Give me a call whenever you wish to become our official mascot. Kids and their parents would love it. Your rough persona is a sensation.”

James had misunderstood human nature. People that are too nice like Kouki and Andrew were seen as boring to some. James, who openly dismissed reporters and told them to get lost, was a breath of fresh air, and Silas had used that fact to fuel the excitement about the guild.

A man in a suit brought James’s phones, together with his laptops and custom-made shirt. They didn’t bring his raptor and his dungeon items.

“We are here to escort you to the guild house, Mr. James.”

“Where is my raptor?” James asked.

“They are at the back of the truck, Mr. James, together with your other items.”

“You guys didn’t steal anything, right?”

“We certainly did not. We only brought them for inspection. It was important for security, after all. Just in case you accidentally brought some dangerous goods.”

James frowned. “Well, if you guys were just looking, I don’t care. But next time, ask for my permission. What if there really were dangerous items there?”

“...We sincerely apologize, Mr. James.” The two men in suits bowed deeply. Feeling satisfied, James followed them to the parking lot. This time, it was not a sedan that picked him up, but a pickup truck. The remnants of his raptor were put there along with his equipment.

Many reporters lined up in the distance, asking for James’s attention. Nevertheless, James didn’t indulge them in the least. He dismissed their complaints as if they were background music. Silas didn’t lie when he said he could get rid of these reporters. Five other men in suits could be seen blocking the reporters from reaching James.

“Yeah. I can’t bring all of this in my next dungeon run. I need someone to manage this,” James muttered. He had two sets of armor, a rifle, an axe, a spear, a sword, a crossbow, a bow, a shield, a halberd, and other smaller items like gems, his cloak, and rings.

After taking a rough look and confirming that most of the reliable weapons were there, a system notification popped up:

[Would you like to repair your Mount for 200 coins, your sword for 50 coins, your armor for 50 coins, and your axe for 10 coins?]

The axe was still usable—it was just chipped. But his sword was split in half, and his dustmail was torn. The worst thing was his raptor. It had turned into junk. James couldn’t help but sigh as he paid the bloodsucking system their coins. 310 coins just went up in smoke.

Motes of light surrounded the metal raptor. It quickly floated up and reassembled itself. Soon enough, the raptor walked and nudged its snout toward James, who patted it lightly. The two men in suits could only gawk at the sight.

The peanut gallery went silent after witnessing James’s skill. James tested his repairs. He rode the raptor, circling around the car for a few laps before jumping onto the pickup truck.

“Sorry about that. I’m done now. Had to check if there were any defects,” James said. The raptor then roosted on the back of the truck while James went for the passenger seat.

“Of course, sir. Shall we depart now?” The two men looked enviously at the raptor. James felt a sense of pride in his achievements.

“Go on,” James nodded.

The drive was short. Moments later, James arrived at a high-rise building in the middle of town.

“The guild occupies floor 21 to floor 23. A receptionist will lead you to your room,” the men in black suits said. Several bellboys rushed out to James, offering their services.

“I’ll take my own stuff.”

“Please, sir, let us help. We’ll get scolded if we let our customers carry their own things. We need to feed our families,” one of the bellboys said.

James frowned. He nodded while taking a crossbow, sword, and axe. “You may carry the rest. But I’m taking these with me.”

“Of course, sir.” The bellboys gave their most pleasant smiles—a bit too forced for James’s liking. It was as if their lives depended on it.

“Sir, should we send one of your pets into your room, or would you like to park them in the parking lot?” they asked James. James pondered.

“The raptor will be parked in the guild’s floor main lobby—if James allows it, of course. It would be easier to guard that way,” Silas’s henchman said.

“You guys aren’t guild members?” James asked the bellboys, realizing they seemed unrelated to the men in suits behind him.

“We are hired as a cleaning service for the whole building, sir. Not just the guild floor on the twenty-first,” the bellboys said.

“I see. Instead of just me, aren’t there other customers you need to watch out for?”

“Well, there are 150 other bellboys in this building. Moreover, we’re only paid 200 dollars per month. We can’t live without tips.”

“What the heck?” James turned to them.

“Our pay is that two hundred dollars and the right to sleep in a bunk bed on floor 5 until 8.”

“That floor is kind of a shelter,” the men in black explained, and James realized the world had turned to shit because of the system uprising.

James breathed a sigh of relief and praised himself for taking that dungeon trial. Without it, there was no way he could survive in this new world.

James wanted to say his raptor could walk on its own, but when he saw how excited the bellboys were, he let them do their job. The bellboys lifted the raptor with great effort and loaded it onto a trolley. Then, together, they followed the guild employee to the twenty-first floor.

James had decided. He didn’t like it when he had to follow Silas’s suggestions, but he thought he should give it a try—opening a company.