laulau20

Chapter 75: Final Floor

Added 2025-05-01 14:07:00 +0000 UTC

None even complained about the mechanical raptor James had. James noticed it was weird, but he dismissed it as system intervention. It was just like in games—even when you went naked or wore a clown suit, none of the NPCs even talked about it. He often dropped his leather bag and none of the monsters or animals even came near it.

James rode through the wasteland, with his axe, sword, and crossbows. He rode like a madman. Using his new bow, a golden meteor pierced through one of those Nirvok. The Bow of Yalaituh offered more range than his crossbow.

The raptors could attack as long as James was riding them. James roared as the raptor leaped and mounted one of the Nirvok. Its claw carved a deep gash on his neck. The settlement was in uproar as James barged through their ritual.

These Nirvok didn't think about fortifying their settlement, thinking they would be safe as long as they had a Huma. There were no walls, no towers, and no guards here. James wondered how stupid they were that they did not even consider putting guards. As always, the world inside the dungeon was strange—it had its own rules.

Nevertheless, when James attacked, they reacted. Many grabbed their spears while some went to the mounted machine gun. Thanks to his stats and his fur, most of those bullets only scratched him.

“Get lost!” James roared. His axe sent a Nirvok flying. He then rushed toward the first building. The control panel stood out before him as the mechanical building buzzed, trying to make a Huma inside the arena with four other buildings. James only needed to disable one of them to succeed.

[The self-destruction sequence initiated. Heavy Utility Mobile Automaton construction modified. Warning: safety protocols breached. Time until purge: 5 minutes.]

The system simplified its explanation by saying "a self-destruct button," but in truth, it was merely messing with the construction queue, disabling the safety system, and melting down the mana reactor inside the Huma.

[Heavy Utility Mobile Automaton construction halted at 87% completion. Access panel locked. Survivor James, you need to access three other control panels in front of each building to continue the Huma purge.]

“Alright.” James was about to leave, but the system gave him an impossible task.

[But you also need to guard this control panel from Nirvok.]

“What the fuck! I only have one body!”

[The assault has begun.]

A horn resounded through the encampment. The orcs and goblins mustered their horses and charged through the helpless Nirvok. The cavalry had arrived.

“Yo, James, you crazy bastard!” the orc general came to James as his group engaged with the incoming Nirvok.

“I need to go to another control panel. Guard this place with your lives,” James said. He was being corny with his lines, but with how the situation was going, the orc general merely waved him away.

“On it!” The orc nodded as he swung his axe at a nearby monster.

James couldn’t help but notice that these Nirvok were inferior to the ones he was used to. Some were even smaller. It was as if they were juveniles.

The rest of the assault was easy. The Nirvok didn’t even try to defend the control panels. They knew that without guarding all of the control panels, the Huma couldn’t be completed. Without the Huma, they wouldn’t be able to withstand the assault.

As James activated the last control panel, the countdown for the Huma was finally completed. The building exploded in a rain of fire. None of the monsters surrendered. They all fought to their last breath. After a while, a notification appeared in front of James’s eye.

[Quest complete. You have received a Halberd of Yalaituh. You have leveled up to level 50. Your attacker class has leveled up to level 27. Merit shop has been opened. Congratulations. You have received 5 Merit for reaching level 50.]

The feeling of leveling up and getting stronger was as good as ever.

“Yeah!” James flexed his muscles as he had reached a milestone. He sat down as he grinned. He had finished this floor easily and now, it was time to pick up another dungeon core.

From his experience from the two dungeons he had conquered, the last floor should be empty. James relaxed as he leaned on some random rocks. The mercenary group cheered as they walked back, leaving James by his lonesome in this desert.

When James drank from his water pouch, his friendly robotic raptor came about. It was missing an arm and in an instant, a notification appeared.

[Would you like to repair your mini Huma for 100 coins?]

“Alright, do it.” James swiped the notification away after agreeing to pay for the expense. This Huma was his now, so the system could repair it if he paid the coin.

“Hm… you said something about the merit shop, right? What does it have?”

[Merit Shop sells unique unique skills. However, unlike the normal shop, it is based on luck.]

“Based on luck?”

[For ten merit, you may gain one unique skill.]

“But I don’t know what skill I will obtain, right?”

[That is correct.]

“Come on, at least tell me what’s in the pool.”

[That information is classified.]

“Shit! Forget it then.” James cursed. He would not be scammed again. After all, he would need that merit to advance toward a Medium dungeon. He still fell short with dungeon cores and merit.

A golden portal spawned beside the destroyed camp. After scouring the area, James found a little box, openable by a keycard. Inside were 5 gems and a letter.

We have lost. They knew how to destroy a Huma. Even if we built another, all we can do is prolong the war. The world will be destroyed, our home will forever be ashen and they will soon too. The mana will be drained and life will be no more.

“What the fuck is this?” The letter made James tilt his head. Was he defending the bad guy?

James glanced at the robotic raptor beside him and at the leaving orcs and goblins behind him. Then, he glanced toward the golden portal.

“Whatever, why should I care if this world is about to be destroyed.” James threw away the letter as he packed his things on his raptor. Then he went to the portal. A feeling of guilt came to his heart, but he dismissed it.

After James touched the portal, he was teleported to the waiting room. But something was different today. Under the loading screen, a message from the letter was displayed yet again—a message that said the world was destroyed.

“Are you saying I should have joined the purple monster instead?” James sulked. How could he know? He just didn’t like the purple monster. Did he pick the wrong path? As long as he progressed through the floor, all was good, right?

“What happens if I picked the first choice?” James asked.

[If you support the Nirvok, then Nirvok would win the war. As they razed more towns and built more Huma, the world would be plunged into darkness.]

“What the fuck! So it's a bad ending for both of them?”

[That is correct. The council of the orcs and goblins would siphon mana from the earth like ticks on animals. The world would die and bring the orcs together together to its grave. On the other hand, the god the Nirvok worship tricked the tribe into hatred. While they might appear just, the god planned to destroy them all the same.]

“Why make me choose then?!” James was agitated beyond belief.

[Information classified.]

“Fuck! You know what? This is a shit game! I can’t believe I was emotionally invested there even for a moment!” James cursed. The system answered him with a ting sound, marking that the loading screen was completed.

James was teleported into an empty wasteland. As promised, the world was destroyed. Only a dungeon core was left behind. It had no tubes, no box. The core was just floating there in the middle of the ashen field.

“Alright.” James casually walked to the dungeon core, intending to grab the square piece.

The earth rumbled. James took a step back. This dungeon was unlike others. It glowed brightly as it gathered all the energy it had. From the depths of the earth, a monstrous robot took the shape of an ankylosaurus. Its armor gleamed white, and spikes jutted out from its body. Its eyes glowed green, and the tail was segmented, like that of a scorpion, with a massive wrecker ball at the tip.

James looked at it blankly. He didn’t expect the dungeon core would transform itself into a boss monster.

“Damn… of all creatures, why does it have to be that dinosaur?” James cursed. A giant robot that looked like an ankylosaurus. The usual rhino a normal HUMA was bad enough, but an ankylosaurus was way worse. Ankylosaurus was the epitome of a tank. It had heavy armor, melee weapons, and since it was a robot, it must have other modern weaponry.

Thankfully, unlike Huma, which towered dozens of meters, this robot was merely 3 meters tall. Despite its short stature, it was big—spanning over a dozen meters in width and more than twenty meters in length.

James quickly took a potshot at it with his bow skill. The golden meteor bounced off the monster. However, no purple shield—that meant James should be able to destroy it. The arrow bounced and created a dent on its pristine armor.

James felt dread creep up his spine as the armored behemoth charged at him. James regained his resolve as he charged back with a yell. His lightning axe glowed golden as he unleashed his skill.

James was certainly brave, but stupid. His mighty axe embedded itself deep into the monster’s head, but it was not enough to halt its advance. The monster continued to mow down anything in its path, and James was not an exception. Its spikes grazed James on his flank, tearing through his armor.

The dustmail that James had now had a gash on its side, fortunately, it still did its duty as James was not wounded. James was thrown under the moving tank, almost getting stomped by its burly short legs. The force of the throw made him lose his grip on his axe. The raptor that was beside James fared worse. The ankylosaurus rammed it like a truck, and it was thrown back like a rag doll. The raptor soon no longer moved.

“Fuck! I just repaired that raptor!” James cursed.

The armored behemoth turned to its side, its legs firmly planted to the ground. It roared as gears and lightning crackled through its body. The massive iron ball at its tail curled to one side. Then, like a whip, it lashed out at James.

James dived down. The massive wrecking ball clipped the sword on his back. James had inflated stats and a high level, but he never even thought about parrying such a strike from this monster. He could feel death looming with every swing. It was an unstoppable force.

James then prepared for round two. This time, he only had his sword and shield with him.

[Name: James]
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 50 (↑1)
Coins: 1100
Merit: 7

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)
Beginner Dagger Mastery Level 1

Magic:

Mind Flay
Sense Alteration
Mana Sonar

Class:

Attacker (Level 27) (↑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)
Arrow (50 Coins / Dozen)
Metal Pocket Arrow (100 Coins / Dozen)
Merit Shop (10 Merit)

Unique Skill – Chimera Level 2:

Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts) (Stomach Slot)
Minotaur Leader’s Left Arm (STR +25%) (Left Arm Slot)
Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense) (Right Eye Slot)
Golem Arm of Valhalla (STR +30%, Physical Resistance +30%, Negative Trait: Repairable, Mana -200) (Right Arm Slot)
Ratking’s Legs (STR +25%) (Leg Slot)
Flaming Tiger’s Fire Lung (Fire Breathing Skill, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10) (Lung Slot)
Golem Core (Poison Resistance, Negative Trait: Mana -250, Magic -10, Repairable) (Heart Slot)
Orc’s Torso (Torso Slot)
Orc’s Head (Head Slot)
Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching) (Mouth Slot)
Flaming Tiger Lord’s Firefur (Fire Cloak Skill, Fire Resistance, Physical Resistance +15%, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10) (Skin Slot)
Elite Nirvok’s Tongue (Two-Meter Appendage, Medium Paralysis Poison) (Tongue Slot)
Land Shark’s Ear (Echolocation: 10 meters) (Ear Slot)
Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000) (Extra Slot)
Jumping Spider’s Spinneret (Thread Creation) (Extra Slot 2)
Kraken’s Arm Tentacle (Reach: 5 meters, Negative Trait: STR -10%) (Extra Slot 3)
Mana Core (Wind Spells: Wind Gust, Wind Wall, Magic +20, Mana +300) (Extra Slot 4)