The Devil’s Cage

As the blinding light and weightlessness faded away, Kieran found himself once again in the game lobby.

The descriptions before his eyes summed up his rewards from the third dungeon.

[Third Dungeon: Wandering Beast]

[Dungeon Type: Free World]

[Dungeon Difficulty: Low]

[Main Mission: Find out the truth within 2 weeks!]

[Mission Completion: 100% (Rating: F)]

[Sub Mission 1: The Informant’s Aide]

[Mission Completion: 100% (Rating F→E)]

[Sub Mission 2: Unknown Attacker]

[Mission Completion: 100% (Rating E→D)]

[Sub Mission 3: Final Fight]

[Mission Completion: 100% (Rating D→C)]

[Battle Performance: Very Active (Rating C→B)]

[Exploration Performance: Average]

[Special Rating 1: Greatly shortened dungeon time (Rating B→A)]

[Special Rating 2: Eliminated Paul the Tamer (Rating A→S)]

[Special Rating 3: Assisted in eliminating Trumbo (Rating S→SS)]

[Acquired Title: Spectre Buster (Rep +1) (While Ghost Buster is active, kill 300 formless souls in one battle)]

[Spectre Buster: When the title is active, +10% Attack and Defense against Enemies in Spirit Form, A certain percentage is required to induce [Fear], Some places welcome you, while other places expel you!]

[Final Rating: SS]

[Calculating Player’s Third Dungeon Reward…]

[Player’s Final Reward is as follows…]

[Points: 10,000; Skill Points: 6; Golden Skill Points: 1; Golden Attribute Points: 1]

...

Compared to the Alcatraz dungeon clearance reward, [Wandering Beast] was much lower.

One of the reasons was that the difficulty was different, while another one was the rating.

Even though there was only a one-rank difference between an SSS and an SS rating, the rewards that difference represented were incomparable.

An SSS rating could grant a player a Special Dungeon.

Even though Kieran had not been able to acquire a Special Dungeon this time, the dungeon loot itself was enough to satisfy him.

The dungeon point rewards were incomparable to the rocket launchers and light and heavy machine guns on his body, although those were was only a part of his loot.

However, Kieran was not going to slack off just because he’d gotten so much loot from the dungeon.

He placed everything down and started to recall his third dungeon clearance to determine his losses and gains.

Kieran still did not know enough about the dungeon world and the underground game itself, so the only way he could increase his own strength was through the most primitive way.

”The easiest way to raise an SS rating to SSS would have been by killing Trumbo by myself... Considering Trumbo’s power and abilities, if I could have killed him on my own, the rating would have been raised by at least three ranks! So does this mean that there’s a higher rank than SSS?”

Kieran thought about the phrase ”assisted in eliminating” and came up with an affirmative answer fast enough.

”There must definitely be an even higher rating! Considering Mr. Big and Sphendix’s position in the dungeon, if I’d killed one of them, the rating would have risen up even more. What’s beyond SSS then?” Kieran mumbled to himself as his face filled with anticipation.

He was looking forward to the rating beyond SSS and the rewards it would bring.

If an SSS rating could grant a player a Special Dungeon, then surely there would be a special reward for any rating beyond SSS.

However, Kieran’s anticipation was soon replaced by somber thoughts. He knew how hard it would be to achieve such a high rating.

Using the third dungeon as an example and his current rating as a point of comparison, he would have needed to kill at least Mr. Big or Sphendix to achieve it.

Sphendix was always under Trumbo’s watchful protection, so it would have been extremely difficult to even get near him. Mr. Big might not have had his fighters around him, but killing him would have been just as much of a challenge.

Mr. Big’s men were all very well-trained and well-equipped, so if Kieran had had to face them head-on, their number alone would have been overwhelming. Kieran did not have enough confidence that he could have escaped unscathed.

Even if Kieran had succeeded in killing Mr. Big, Trumbo would still have appeared as well, and considering his character in the dungeon, he would definitely not have spared the man who had messed up his plans.

On top of everything else, there was also the Shadow Stinger.

Although the Shadow Stinger had been an enemy of Trumbo’s, that did not necessarily mean that he would have been on the same side as the player. Unless the player had displayed a certain level of friendliness, the Shadow Stinger would have remained neutral.

If Kieran had chosen a method that would have messed up the city’s law and order, like killing Mr. Big or Sphendix, the Shadow Stinger’s background as a hero would definitely have been revealed and Kieran would have had to face him as well.

There were certainly some gaps between the events, and Kieran might have been able to pull off some tricks, but he was sure that before any of those tricks could have worked, he would at least have needed to survive an attack by one of the parties. There was no way that all the parties would have believed the word of someone they could have killed off just by raising their little finger.

Especially when some of those tricks might have involved the secrets or privacy of those parties. Kieran could only imagine the risk he would have had to face if he had really done what he was thinking about.

Kieran pushed away the image of his gruesome death and let out a long sigh of regret.

He was thinking about the Grimoire Dagger and the magic tome the Shadow Stinger had mentioned. Kieran suddenly remembered his conversation with him. Considering Trumbo and the Shadow Stinger’s revelations, those two items had to be the most valuable ones in the whole dungeon.

Unfortunately, getting his hands on both those items would have been impossible, unless Kieran had wanted to face both the Shadow Stinger and Trumbo head-on.

Kieran shook his head helplessly again.

Amid all this disappointment, he had also managed to discover something useful about the Sub Missions.

”The Sub Mission [Final Fight] was considered cleared during the final calculations, even though I did not complete the mission personally. Does that mean that if I keep my promise, a Sub Mission will be considered cleared, even if I don’t hand it in personally?”

Kieran kept pondering the subject.

He was not sure what the calculation process was based on to begin with, but the authentication process could also be based on his actions during the mission.

The [Final Fight] description had stated, ”Mr. Big has decided to go on war with Sphendix, but considering that Sphendix has a sorcerer on his side, he has to watch his back. As a result, he has asked you to take care of him.”

Kieran had killed both Paul the Tamer and Trumbo.

Objectively speaking, Kieran had finished Mr. Big’s Sub Mission, although from Mr. Big’s point of view, Kieran had not delivered on his promise. Because of Trumbo’s trap, Mr. Big had lost almost every single one of his elite fighters.

”Seems fair enough….” Kieran thought silently.

At least it had prevented a lot of unwanted trouble. After all, the nasty native that had given him the Sub Mission could also have caused Kieran to fail it.

If Kieran had really come across such a nasty character, he would not have minded teaching them a lesson or two to turn them into a better person, despite the extra work it would have required on his part.

After Kieran had gone through his ratings carefully and made sure that he had not missed anything, he moved on to his loot.

First, he checked out the four rocket launchers, the two light machine guns and the heavy machine gun.

[Name: Cobra-I]

[Type: Rocket Launcher]

[Rarity: Excellent]

[Attack: Powerful]

[Magazines: 1 Round]

[Attributes: None]

[Effects: None]

[Prerequisites: Firearm Weapon (Heavy Firearm, Basic)]

[Able to bring out of the dungeon: Yes]

[Remarks: The armor-penetrating effect might vary depending on the type of rocket round that you use, if you even have such a rocket.]

...

[Name: BK-20]

[Type: Firearm]

[Rarity: Excellent]

[Attack: Strong]

[Magazines: 100 Rounds]

[Attributes: None]

[Effects: None]

[Prerequisites: Firearm Weapon (Medium Firearm, Entry)]

[Able to bring out of the dungeon: Yes]

[Remarks: A big amount of 5.56 mm bullets is the key to unleashing its destructive power!]

...

[Name: MG-08]

[Type: Firearm]

[Rarity: Excellent]

[Attack: Strong]

[Magazines: 250 Rounds]

[Attributes: Armor Penetration Lvl 1, Rapid Shooting Lvl 1]

[Effects: None]

[Prerequisites: Firearm Weapon (Medium Firearm, Master)]

[Able to bring out of the dungeon: Yes]

[Remarks: 250 rounds is definitely not the limit. An extension might be possible if you remember to modify the reloading method.]

...

[Armor Penetration Lvl 1: Able to pierce light armor (Weak or Common Defense)]

[Rapid Shooting Lvl 1: Increases shooting speed (350 rounds per minute)]

...

Next were the Magical Rank Equipment and Skill Book he had gotten from Paul and his pet bear.

[Name: Paul’s Camouflage]

[Type: Armor]

[Rarity: Magical]

[Defense: Strong]

[Attributes: Hiding lvl 2, Nimbleness Lvl 2]

[Effects: None]

[Prerequisites: None]

[Able to bring out of the dungeon: Yes]

[Remarks: Paul had named his pet bear Paul as well. The bear was brought up with Paul’s special raising method, and it grew to an extraordinary size. Its size did not affect its nimbleness or specialty to hide itself though.]

...

[Hiding Lvl 2: Increases 20% Hiding Effect during Undercover or Hiding]

[Nimbleness Lvl 2: Armor will not affect your movements]

...

It was a black sleeveless armor with a peculiar pattern on it. Kieran quickly put it on without a second thought.

It was what Kieran had been missing in terms of proper protective gear. The bulletproof vest could not keep up with Kieran’s progress anymore.

[Paul’s Camouflage] was the best replacement, and it had come at just the right time.

A Strong Defense and two extra attributes were exactly what Kieran had wanted.

The [Hiding Lvl 2]’s 20% increase effect worked well in combination with Kieran’s Grand Master [Undercover] and the special effect of [Grand Master of Shadows]. The existing 80% effect plus the new 20% granted Kieran a 100% Hiding Effect, which would prove extremely useful if he needed to go undercover for a mission.

After doing a couple of backflips to test out the [Nimbleness Lvl 2] attribute, Kieran was satisfied with the effect. Next, he turned his eyes to the Skill Book.

[Discovered Skill Book: Burning Hand]

[Prerequisites: Mystical Knowledge Entry, Fulfilled]

[Learn the skill? Yes/No]

”Yes!”

When he saw the skill, Kieran recalled the cone-shaped fire Paul had used.

He quickly learned it without any delay.

[Skill Learned: Burning Hand]

[Name: Burning Hand (Basic)]

[Related Attributes: None]

[Skill Type: Offensive]

[Effects: A 45-degree cone-shaped fire with a length of two meters will strike and inflict Strong Level Damage. There’s also a small chance of inflicting Burn Damage. (Burn Damage: Target is inflicted with a Burn for 1 second, If the authentication of their Constitution is lower than E Rank, Target will carry the Debuff for another 4 seconds, until the Burn Debuff ends.)]

[Consumes: 1 Cracked Rank Ruby and Jagen Volcanic Ash]

[Prerequisites: Mystical Knowledge (Entry)]

[Remarks: This is a spell that requires a hand gesture and tribute items. To make full use of the skill, every gesture must be done in a certain order. If you don’t want the spell to backfire, you have to remember the gestures!]

”Consumes 1 Cracked Rank Ruby?”

Before Kieran could celebrate his first Magical Skill after the synchronization and transfer process, he was shocked by the consumption of the skill.

One Cracked Rank [Ruby] would cost around 2,000 Points and 1 Skill Point per shot.

With such a harsh requirement, he would not be burning his enemies anymore, but his own points.

A true skill that burned points!

However, it might still be useful in a desperate situation. Kieran tried to comfort himself, despite the costly nature of the skill.

With 2,000 Points and 1 Skill Point per shot, it certainly couldn’t be used as a common attacking method. It could only be used as a last resort or an ambush method.

Still, each shot would be like cutting his own flesh.

Kieran turned his attention to the scrolls that Trumbo had dropped, the three Magical Rank ones and the Legendary Rank one.

He needed some joy to ease his disappointment.

What could better than checking out his most prized loot from the dungeon?

He took a couple of deep breaths and recollected his thoughts before he picked up the Legendary Scroll and opened it.

He was stunned by what he saw inside.