The Devil’s Cage

The sun was hanging high in the sky.

The noisy street and the bright sunlight were blocked by a curtain—Kieran chose this curtain personally. It had two layers, satin and cloth, and together with the decent noise cancellation of the window, it allowed Starbeck to sleep better in the morning without the noises.

Starbeck curled up like a shrimp on the bed and after Kieran covered him with a blanket, he sat on the floor.

Although he was heavily weakened, he was still at a human’s peak performance. The coldness of autumn wasn’t a big deal to him and he believed he would soon be immune to even the coldness of winter. He would never waste time by stepping on the same spot.

Sitting down on the floor, Kieran took out a piece of [Crossing Copper Coin].

This time, he did not purposely suppress the lively Origin Forces in his body and when his finger touched the coin, Cardinal Sins Force absorbed the power from the coin, like a whale consuming water.

More accurately, Gluttony.

Similar to Kieran, Gluttony was also heavily weakened, not even appearing in human form anymore, only his natural instinct left: eat.

Still, it was enough for Kieran a the moment.

He watched the [Crossing Copper Coin] in his hand turn gloomy and mottled rapidly, curling his lips into a grin.

The result was better than expected. With Gluttony’s support, his Origin Forces grew again and at the same time, what he sensed before turned out to be true.

The [Crossing Copper Coin] contained energy similar to the energy emanated when the spirits left for the ‘faraway land’.

Without further hesitation, Kieran grabbed the remaining 19 pieces of [Crossing Copper Coin].

All five of his Origin Forces grew like an expanding balloon.

Kieran knew this was just a process for him to leave his weakened state. Trying to grow strong at his current state was delusional, but when he realized he was gradually getting stronger, joy and excitement still filled his heart, especially when the notifications told him so.

[Spirit broke through a layer of seal, increased from D+ → C-]

…

Another layer of seal on Spirit was broken through!

Feeling his energized brain, the smile on his face grew wider.

As for his other stats?

According to the hints during the entry to this dungeon world, rank V Spirit was treated specially, so it wasn’t that weird for it to break through the seal first.

When Spirit had broken through to a certain level, the other stats would follow.

Kieran did not stand up after the process.

His stronger Spirit sensed that his weakened body muscle was quivering but it did not produce any noise.

The weird quivers lasted for almost 10 minutes before they stopped.

The moment the quivers stopped, Kieran had secured the control of his own body.

He didn’t mind owning strong powers, but if he couldn’t control the powers, he would rather pass on it.

That’s who he was, vigilant and careful.

There was no lack of bold attempts and risks but he has to be fully prepared.

Brainlessness could go rampant for a time; Mindfulness could go smart for a lifetime.

He then quietly stood up and sat on the chair beside the bed. He hugged the [Sharp Standard-Issued Blade] in his arms before he closed his eyes for a cat nap.

Skipping sleep and rest altogether wasn’t a problem for Kieran, but he knew the show started at night, so he would rather not waste energy during the day.

Taking appropriate rest was the way to go.

The sun rose higher and higher and when it finally moved towards the west, Starbeck woke up from his dream.

It wasn’t a nightmare, he wasn’t frightened off his bed, he woke up from a deep sleep because his body sent a signal to his brain automatically.

Starbeck hadn’t slept so well even with Afu around him.

He felt the familiar presence around him and saw Kieran beside the bed taking a cat nap.

Kieran opened his eyes when he felt Starbeck’s gaze.

“Woke up?” Kieran smiled.

“Em. I’ll go wash up first before I prepare lunch.”

Starbeck crawled out from his blanket and walked to the bathroom as he spoke.

The bathroom was inside the room.

The reason why Kieran picked this room to sleep in, other than it’s spaciousness, was because of the attached bathroom. Starbeck wouldn’t have to go to the one outside the corridor.

Fuaaa!

The tap turned on and the noise entered Kieran’s ears.

He started to think about the list for grocery shopping.

The funds had been running low because they used it to purchase sufficient ‘self-defense’ items, but after acquiring [Sharp Standard-Issued Blade] and [Gordor’s Chain], insufficient funds shouldn’t be a problem for the time.

More funds meant Kieran could do more things.

Money wasn’t almighty, but without money, nothing would work.

Unless one was rich enough to neglect the existence of money, like ‘someone’.

However, Kieran knew his own limits, he knew even if he could regain his original strength, he was still quite far away from that ‘final step’, let alone now in his weakened state.

Following the rules honestly and growing his strength quietly, those were the true ways.

Starbeck in the bathroom was also thinking about a list for today’s grocery shopping but unlike Kieran, he was thinking about the ingredients for cooking.

The steam from the hot water blurred out the mirror and the reflection, his face looking softer yet it felt like he was over thinking.

Starbeck wiped away the steam on the glass and saw his handsome face again. He tidied himself carefully in front of the mirror.

Ten minutes later, Starbeck finally walked out of the bathroom but he did not go down.

He watched Kieran go into the bathroom and the door wasn’t closed.

Starbeck watched Kieran brush his teeth, wash his face, and settle everything in 2 minutes.

At first, Starbeck wasn’t used to his speed but he had gradually grown familiar with it.

He also unconsciously hastened himself in washing up to suit Kieran’s pace—although compared to him, he was still very slow.

Kieran didn’t say anything though, everyone had their own pace to live by. He didn’t like being forced, likewise the other way around.

Respecting each other was the key to living together.

Even though Starbeck had some weird habits, compared to his cowardness, it was nothing.

The habits were pale to insignificant, anything weird was covered up by his cowardness.

“Lunch is potato braised beef belly and salted pepper shrimps,” Starbeck said before entering the kitchen.

“Em,” Kieran nodded.

Leave the professionals to their work, rookies pointing directions would never get to their goal.

Kieran didn’t sit back and wait for lunch either, he swept the first floor clean and opened the windows and door for better ventilation.

It wasn’t preparation for the night’s business though, it was just that Kieran couldn’t bear the drunken stench. He felt rather uneasy if he had to eat in such an environment.

Fortunately, when Starbeck brought lunch, the stench were removed by Kieran’s effort.

The beef aroma filled the restaurant.

The rich yet fitting piece of beef entered his mouth with a savoury gravy, Kieran squinting his eyes in satisfaction. When the rice followed into his mouth, he chewed happily.

It was very satisfying to eat with rice.

After gobbling down a plate of potato braised beef belly and two bowls of rice, Kieran turned to the salted pepper shrimp.

Starbeck removed the head and the tail in order to provide a better convenience in eating.

The shrimp shell was cooked red and formed a contrast with the golden coating outside, green scallions were used as garnish on top, adding brilliance to splendor.

Gatsst!

Kieran put a shrimp into his mouth, the crispy noise releasing the juicy meat in his mouth, very springy. Without a second thought, Kieran took a second and a third.

Kieran finally felt full after he emptied out the plate of shrimps.

“Very nice,” Kieran commented.

Starbeck smiled, his eyes shrunken into a line.

What was better than a chef receiving a compliment from the customer after the meal?

Receiving the compliment from Kieran as his chef!

Starbeck sat on Kieran’s stool and watched him bring the eatery and plates to the kitchen for washing. Kieran placed his favourite chopsticks into the disinfection cabinet before he took off the apron.

Next was shopping, Starbeck’s favourite time.

Purchasing ingredients for cooking was already a great time for Starbeck, let alone when he was shopping with Kieran.

It was the first time Starbeck felt grateful for being in this weird, unusual dungeon world.

He even hoped to stay here a little longer.

Though he wouldn’t mind leaving in advance if Kieran found a way to.

Just listen to Kieran, it had been decided in his heart a long time ago.

…

Nightfall arrived and the streetlamps lit up.

Leaf Dining’s little blackboard was placed outside the door at 11pm sharp.

Leaf Dining.

Today’s special: Salted Pepper Shrimp (a la carte or set), fried rice, chicken soup.

(No alcohol, no drunkards.)

…

The words were written nicely under the newly fixed streetlamp.

It was still as inconspicuous as ever, but Starbeck was still busy preparing in the kitchen.

Preparing the food for customers was just a side job, what Starbeck prioritized was Kieran’s dinner and breakfast, lunch on the second day, some ingredients had to be prepared beforehand.

Kieran sat in his stool and started to read today’s newspaper. The tv beside the bar counter was switched on.

The little tv was a newly bought item. Colored, less than 14 inch, with an internal antenna.

It was a little blur to Kieran but it was enough to quickly learn about this dungeon world.

The evening news was on.

“This morning at 11am, Raymond Gold & Jewelry was robbed about after an hour it was opened. The security guard was shot when the robbers moved in. He is currently in the hospital and still fighting for his life…”

The female anchor introduced the robbery through camera footage at the shop. Three masked men entered the shop with two of them holding assault rifles at a group of people, telling them to squat down. The other one went behind the counter, grabbed the gold jewelry cart by cart and poured them into the bag. The three of them left in a casual manner.

The whole process was quick, according to the time shown in the footage, it lasted only 45 seconds.

Including the time they took to break in and shoot the guard, it was still less than 1 minute.

The three men seemed to have practised the robbery for more than once and their tacit understanding helped them map the shop out.

However, there were also a lot of flaws in the process.

If Kieran was the police, he would have quickly searched for an insider through the cameras.

And if he was the robbers, he would have…

Kieran put himself in other people’s shoes, which started off as a habit and slowly grew into instinct.

He could train his mind with it and was able to simulate experiences with his thinking.

Bzzzzt!

An electrical buzz sounded again, the newly fixed streetlamp outside the restaurant flickered again.

A figure walked in blankly.

It was a middle-aged man with grayish hair, a pair of long paints, a jacket, and a pair of brown leather shoes. The edges on his shoes were almost worn out.

The man looked around at his surroundings, as if he was confused as to how he got here.

Naturally, the man saw Kieran behind the counter.

“Hello, where am I?” the man asked.

“Leaf Dining. I’m the owner, Royan,” Kieran replied, not even putting down the newspaper in his hand. His hard attitude obviously made the middle-aged man feel uneasy.

The man seemed like he wasn’t good at socializing, so he must have mustered up some courage to ask the previous question.

The man stood there with a silly smile after Kieran’s cold reply, turning around and walking out.

Kieran saw him off and didn’t say anything, continuing to read and ‘listening’ to the news.

Half an hour later when the evening news came to an end, the middle-age man returned in a panic.

He rushed in and panted heavily. After quite a while, he looked at Kieran in fear, his mouth trembling when he said, “T-T-There’s ghost out there!”

“So?” Kieran flipped his newspaper, his eyes still reading the contents.

“So?” the man was stunned.

Shouldn’t the young man be surprised or afraid?

“You must think I’m crazy! You must think this is some kind of joke! I swear I am not playing you! I really ran into one outside! In the entrance of the street, there’s a… it walked through me! I screamed but it didn’t hear me and walked away!”

The man explained again nervously after Kieran did not take him seriously.

“After that?” Kieran asked.

“Y-You don’t believe me? If you don’t believe me, I can bring you to it!”

The middle-aged man wanted to go out again, but Kieran didn’t even move from his stool.

The middle-aged man laughed at himself when he saw Kieran not give a reaction.

‘I guess it’s right, how do I prove to a stranger than I just saw a ghost? I even tried to bring him there? He would be crazy if he really followed me.’

The middle-aged man sat down dispirited.

It was at this moment that footsteps came from outside the restaurant. Three more figures entered and saw the middle-aged man on the floor, all three of them stunned.