The Devil’s Cage

Kieran stabbed fiercely at the pursuer’s back, but the dagger only went half-way in.

Blood oozed out from the wound instantly.

“Ahh!”

The pursuer let out a scream and his body moved forward on its own.

Kieran followed his movement, his left hand pressing down even more on his right hand, which was the one holding the dagger. He pressed down with all his might, but the dagger did not seem to move in any further.

“Oh no, it’s struck a bone! “

Kieran was alarmed, and instinctively pulled out the dagger.

Fresh warm blood gushed out and spilled all over his face, blinding his eyes.

His vision temporary compromised, he panicked and started to wield the dagger all over the place.

In that moment, his only thought was that he should not give the pursuer any breathing space, or else he’d be the one who would end up dead.

With that thought in mind, Kieran quickened his wielding pace.

The sound of metal cutting through flesh became the only sound in the room.

After wielding the dagger around numerous times, Kieran finally figured out how to use it properly.

Blindly slicing around would only inflict a flesh wound on his target.

He should be in a stabbing stance instead.

What he had to do was avoid the man’s skeleton and go for his soft spots, which were his flesh and muscles.

His body moved naturally toward his target.

Soon he regained part of his vision and adjusted his grip on the dagger. He found that if he used his elbow right, the dagger lunged out as if it were tied on a spring.

Bam!

The whole body of the dagger entered the pursuer’s chest.

The pursuer, who was about to counter attack him with the kitchen knife in his hand, collapsed, his eyes staring at his chest and the dagger that was lodged deep inside, with an incredulous look on his face.

To his death, the pursuer could not comprehend how a seemingly harmless fellow could have become such a lethal killer in just one instant.

Kieran felt the same way. He was completely puzzled. As he stared at the dying man, the smell of the man’s blood reminded him of what he had just done.

As he faced the very real-looking corpse, the bright red blood stimulated his senses. The fact that he had killed the pursuer with his own hands made him so sick that his stomach turned, and he vomited.

When he was done, Kieran fell to the ground, weak and empty of any energy.

Tears and snot covered his face, making him look silly and messy.

“Are you done yet?”

The coarse voice next to his ear made him lift his head instinctively.

He saw a face covered with ashes and dirt. The woman’s gray eyes were cold and alert.

“I...”

“The loot is yours, I won’t fight for it.”

Kieran wanted to say something, but she cut him off. She stuck to the wall, and slowly moved towards the door while staring at Kieran.

She did not trust him.

She would not let her guard down.

Watching her actions, Kieran realized something, and that realization stopped him from saying anything or making any further movement. He was afraid that she would misunderstand and cause him unwanted trouble.

Kieran silently let her get out of his line of sight.

When she disappeared completely, he felt relieved and stood up, using his hand for support.

“She looked cold, but she was kind!” Kieran exclaimed with a sigh.

Despite the lack of law and order, she did not take advantage of him. She might have been cold and worried, but she could still be considered a kind person.

And she was at least ten times better than the thugs.

Kieran looked at the system window.

[Acquired Skill: Sharp Weapon (Dagger) (Basic)]

It was that skill that turned him from a total newbie into a highly skilled dagger user, one able to kill his opponent with one hit.

Curious about the skills window, Kieran decided to check the battle log as well.

[Stabbing: Inflicts 15 Damage to opponent...]

[Wielding: Inflicts 3 Damage to opponent...]

[Wielding: Inflicts 2 Damage to opponent. Causes bleeding...]

……

[3 Effective Hits. Acquired Skill: Sharp Weapon (Dagger) (Basic)]

[Stabbing: Lethal Attack. Inflicts 80 Damage to opponent (40 Sharp Weapon (Dagger) (Basic) x2), Opponent dies...]

(Remark: Weak Point = True Damage X2)

“Three effective hits?” Kieran mumbled to himself, before flipping to the skills window.

It used to be empty before, but now a skill had been entered in the first column, reading [Sharp Weapon (Dagger)(Basic)].

Kieran focused on the skill description, which only he alone could see.

[Name: Sharp Weapon (Dagger) (Basic)]

[Attributes: Strength, Agility, Constitution]

[Skill Type: Offensive ]

[Effect: Dagger Mastery, Increase Damage inflicted by 10%]

[Consumes: Stamina]

[Learning Requirement: Strength F-, Agility F, Constitution F]

[Remark: This is only the beginning, don’t push yourself!]

“Increase Damage inflicted by 10%.”

Kieran looked at the description and subconsciously compared it to the battle log from the previous fight.

Then he moved quickly to the man’s body and pulled out the dagger that was fully submerged in his chest.

When he held the dagger in his hand, that familiar feeling rose again from the bottom of his heart, and he plunged the dagger in again.

It felt like he had practiced that move a thousand times, or even ten thousand.

The sound of sharp metal tearing through thin air could be heard in the room.

Without the slightest tremble in his palm, Kieran accurately stabbed in the chest the imaginary enemy before him.

The whole stabbing experience was no different from the fight that had cost the man his life.

He was precise, fast, relentless.

“This is just ten percent? And I achieved this by effectively hitting him three times? “

Kieran mumbled incoherently.

He couldn’t conceive this.

It was hard to imagine that only ten percent increase in power could make such a huge difference.

The ten percent increase in power provided Kieran with a combination of Strength, Agility and Experience, which would not be possible to achieve without a long period of practice.

He had only made three effective hits, and he could already beat people who had had years of practice.

Kieran did not think of himself as talented, or thought he could be considered a genius.

However, given the circumstances, even a real talented genius could not have achieved such a feat.

Kieran gave it some thought.

Then an idea popped in his head.

“The Hint!”

He remembered the hint that was given to him when he first entered the game.

He quickly checked the system record log, looking for it.

[Main Mission: Survive 7 days, 0/7]

[Secondary Mission (Optional): Aid civilians until the war ends. Each civilian helped can provide you with a higher rating.]

(Hint: The Beginner’s Dungeon is a golden opportunity for every player.)

The game hint could be seen clearly below the Main Mission and Secondary Mission.

He paused at the words “golden opportunity”. He took a long breath, then exhaled.

“Although the game is one hundred percent realistic, some rules still apply. The system will not let a newbie start in an extremely dangerous situation, but will get progressively harder. As long as the opportunity presented is fully utilized, all danger and obstacles can be overcome,” Kieran thought to himself.

However, after some thought, he frowned at the conclusion that he reached.

He wondered what would have happened to him, if he hadn’t thoroughly searched the corpse he’d come across, and acquired a weapon for himself.

The possibilities scared him.

“So this is the underground game that only ten percent of beta players survived... I guess a number of them must have died so early on because of their carelessness and inability to adapt to the situation.”

The thoughts crawled inside Kieran’s head while he turned to the body in front of him for a last inspection.

His face looked dead serious.

When he looked at the battle log, there was no mention of Experience Points (XP), or even an experience gauge, even after he had killed the pursuer. However, he had acquired a skill, one that was marked as “Basic”.

Judging by his previous online game experience, this was a dungeon-based level, and he would not gain any XP while he was still going through it, but only when he had successfully “cleared” it. That was when he would be given a rating for his performance.

That rating would be determined by his loot and growth.

But how could he achieve a higher rating?

Excluding the mission requirements for the main quest itself, everything else would be based on his performance in the game.

From what he understood, games usually required players to kill monsters, acquire equipment and money, and so on.

Although he did not currently know much about the Secondary Mission, he was extremely familiar with usual gaming routines, killing monsters, acquiring equipments, treasure, etc.

After all, he had just searched a dead body, and now there was another one before his eyes, the latter one that he had killed himself.

The stimulating smell of blood still stung his nose.

Although he had just killed someone, Kieran was still disgusted by the smell, but also getting kind of used to it.

At least he was not throwing up anymore, and his heart held less fear and panic.

The first thing Kieran picked up was the knife in the dead man’s hand.

[Name: Butcher Knife]

[Type: Sharp Weapon]

[Rarity: Damaged]

[Attack: Weak]

[Attributes: None]

[Effect: None]

[Able to bring out of the dungeon: Yes]

[Remark : A normal household butcher knife used for slicing vegetables... or someone else’s hand.]

The moment Kieran picked up the knife, the information appeared in front of his eyes.

After inspecting it, he putted the knife away in his backpack and continued his search.

Soon enough, he made another discovery.