The Devil’s Cage

The sound was like a bus getting ready to drive off.

”Starbeck has joined the team!”

”No.1 has joined the team!”

”No.2 has joined the team!”

”Zywane has joined the team!”

The mechanical voice spoke again as four notifications popped up in the team chatroom.

”Starbeck wants to trade 10,000 Points. Accept? Yes/No?”

”Yes!” Starbeck was obviously the big client that Broker had introduced. Kieran was not going to reject the deposit payment.

The client did not type anything. It was No.1 who spoke in his stead, acting as his representative to the other team members.

...

No.1: Can we enter the dungeon now?

Zywane: Hold up, I need to replenish some supplies!

Lawless: Same +1!

2567: Same +2!

No. 1: How long do you need?

Zywane: Another hour!

Lawless: Same +1!

2567: Same + 2!

Zywane: …

No.1: Then we will enter the dungeon in exactly one hour. Hope that everyone can be on time.

...

The team chat had filled with strangers communicating with each other before everyone went quiet again.

One hour for preparation was not considered long enough, especially when one had to prepare for entering a dungeon.

Kieran scanned all his remaining points.

[Points: 13,500, Skill Points: 1, Golden Attribute Points: 1, Golden Skill Points: 0]

Although he was low on Skill Points, his Points were sufficient for him to buy the supplies he needed and still have some extra left to do what he had not managed before, during the first dungeon. Back then, his points had been insufficient for him to use the [Basic Medicine Crafting Platform].

Purchasing the grenades went smoothly. After spending 1,500 Points on them, he had gotten himself 5 [U-II] grenades. He spent another 300 Points and bought a set of [Shop Equipment], excluding the weapons.

Quality Bandages, a dagger and other basic equipment were also crucial for Kieran. When he was done shopping, he opened the [Basic Medicine Crafting Platform Blueprint].

[8,000 Points to use the Basic Medicine Crafting Platform Blueprint, Yes/No?]

[Prerequisites Met, Crafting Available]

”Yes!”

After selecting yes, the blueprint in Kieran hands floated up and was burned to ashes.

Inside the lobby room, a corner of the steel garage started to take shape. It was like when the LED screen had first appeared. The floor changed and formed a table that looked like a platform with two mechanical arms sticking out of the wall. It seemed like something out of a science lab.

[Name: Basic Medicine Crafting Platform]

[Type: Automated Platform]

[Rarity: Minted (Constant)]

[Attributes: Consumes 2 pieces of raw material within 1 hour, Able to create 1 piece of gauze bandage, 3% chance of creating a Quality Gauze Bandage.]

[Special Effects: None]

[Remarks: This is an automated crafting platform. All you need to do is to put enough alcohol and gauze, and you can create unlimited gauze bandages.]

”In the game [Shop], a common gauze bandage costs 5 Points, while a Quality Gauze Bandage costs 40 Points.”

”Among the players, the price drops to about 3 Points for the common one and 30-35 Points for the high quality one.”

”In that case, considering that crafting 1 gauze bandage costs 2 Points, I can earn 1 Point in 1 hour, 24 Points in a day, 720 Points in a month and 8,640 Points in a year... If I take into account the small chance of creating a Quality Gauze Bandage, I could earn about 10,000 Points in a year…”

Kieran calculated carefully using the information that he had. The time was real life time, though. The result was not disappointing, but it was still not good enough for Kieran.

Although he didn’t have to worry about the cost, he still couldn’t rely on the [Basic Medicine Crafting Platform] to get rich. It was just not possible. The platform would at best help him out a little with his daily expenses.

”I suppose if I were to make a profit out of this deal, I would need to upgrade it to Medium Rank…”

Kieran opened up the upgrade option for the crafting platform.

[Basic Medicine Crafting Platform Upgrade Requirements: Medium Medicine Crafting Platform Blueprint, 10,000 Points]

”A Medium Rank Blueprint costs 10,000 Points.”

The requirement did not exceed what Kieran had expected. The 10,000 Points were not a big deal for him. The problem was the Medium Rank Blueprint.

”I suppose I could ask Lawless where to find one!”

He did not contact Lawless right away, though. He knew he would also be preparing for entering the dungeon.

It was not really appropriate to ask for a favor at the moment, so all Kieran could do was double check all his belongings and make sure he wasn’t missing anything.

One hour flew by very fast. He was already down to the last second of the preparation.

...

No.1: Everyone ready?

Lawless: Alright, let’s go!

...

Lawless was the team leader representing the team as they entered the dungeon.

[Entering Team Dungeon]

[Authenticating Team Dungeon...]

[Number of Players: 6]

[Difficulty: Fourth Time Dungeon]

[Background: Alcatraz Prison has been experiencing some mysterious incidents lately. Your special expert team has been hired to solve the mysteries...]

[Main Mission: Solve the mysteries in the prison within 1 week.]

[Temporary Language Pack, Disappears upon exiting the dungeon.]

[Clothing, backpack, weapons, items, attributes remain unchanged. Temporarily different look, disappears upon exiting the dungeon.]

[Hint: This is your second real dungeon. You can fail the Main Mission, but you will have to pay 200 Points as a penalty, and your highest attributes will drop by 1. If your points are insufficient, the system will deduct from your equipment. If your equipment is insufficient, you will fail.]

...

The notification sounds rang out simultaneously. Kieran carefully went through all the content presented to him.

The fourth time dungeon difficulty was nothing surprising, but the background had been a little unexpected.

Terms like ”mysteries” and ”special expert” made Kieran think of paranormal activity or something along that line.

”Just as I expected. As the level of difficulty goes up, there will be enemies that cannot be defeated using normal methods. It’s lucky that I’m well-prepared!”

Kieran looked at his embedded gauntlet [Lightning Tiger’s Finger] in relief. The lightning power that had been fused into the gauntlet would provide him with some protection against the paranormal.

Lawless had also mentioned that he had encountered similar incidents before and dealt with them using a torch or taser, but then again that was Lawless’ words. Kieran did not buy his BS.

One thing was for sure, though. Fire and lightning could cause elemental damage strong enough to harm spirits and ghosts. It was quite similar to other games that Kieran had played, so he needed no further clarifications.

”Let’s hope these ghosts and spirits can give me enough rewards!”

While he was clear on his own goals, he still kept reminding himself of them.

Suddenly, all the words and notifications disappeared, and Kieran was thrown into a weightless, blinding passage.

He had entered his first team dungeon.