“Sir James! I bought a Level 2 shop!” Anderson gave a military salute.

  “So, what’s in it? Can we sell that junk?” James pointed toward the scrap that was once a giant mech. He scoffed at the robot and said, “That should cost millions of dollars.”

  “Hahaha. That’s true,” Sanders said.

  “Well, the system said it will give me 10 coins for the entire thing,” Anderson said sheepishly. White motes of light engulfed the remnants of the mecha, and soon, they consumed them, leaving nothing in their wake. It was uncannily similar to how Chimera did it.

  “Well, I guess the system didn’t know what a man’s romance is. Well, that sucks. The whole thing, and it ain’t even covering our bullet cost,” Sanders sighed.

  “Well, here is our reward. The real one,” James said while handing over the gems.

  “Ah, I see. What’s this?”

  “The system said these gems could be exchanged for coins,” James answered. He didn’t explain any further and kept his share.

  “I see. But it says we need a Level 2 shop for it, though,” Sanders sighed.

  “Yeah. We will open it later, once we have enough coins. For now, let’s keep it. I want to rest for a while, got some scratches here and there. What do you want to do?” James asked.

  “I am going with you, boss,” Sanders said.

  “One more floor left!” Kaina skipped around the golden portal to the next floor.

  “We need to be in tip-top shape. There might be another boss monster on the last floor,” Anderson warned.

  Kaina nodded. “I know. I just can’t wait to get out of this dungeon!”

  “Well, we did something at the very end. On the next floor, we will be beside Boss James and kick another boss monster to the ground!” Sanders pumped his fist. “Kaina, you did awesome just now! Hitting that robot with your spear like that. It didn’t cross my mind that you could tear through its joint with just a spear.”

  “That’s why you need weapon skills. Guns don’t have weapon skills, though, so I expect their power to be severely weakened in the later stages. By the way, you can keep the gun I gave you.”

  “Really? Thanks!” Sanders jumped in joy.

  “Sanders, can I borrow the gun? I wanted to test something.”

  “Huh? Alright. What are you gonna do?”

  “My special skills are connected to the shop. It says that I can even reproduce weapons that I have. There you go. This gun can now be bought for 700 coins,” Anderson said.

  James widened his eyes at how useful Anderson’s unique skills were.

  “Here, try this Lightning Axe. I have two; you can keep one of them,” James said.

  “The Lightning Axe needs 1,500 coins to be bought. Ah. There is a maximum slot for these special logistic fabricators. I can only put two things at maximum in this slot.”

  “Ask the system: are the items produced by your unique skill registered by the system? Can they be brought into the next dungeon? And can they activate weapon skills?” James asked Anderson.

  “Huh? Wait a second. Let me ask.”

  Anderson didn’t fully understand James’ question, but when he read the answer from the system notifications, he finally understood the reason why all of their gear disappeared when they were transported into the dungeon.

  “It says that guns will not have weapon skills, and I could not produce any weapons not registered by the system. So, the gun that I plundered from that octopus man was not included,” Anderson said.

  “I see. Thanks. Two, huh…. As always, the system was so thrifty,” James sighed.

  The skill seemed broken at a glance. But after considering the limitations and the ridiculous price, James soon lost interest.

  The group lounged in the warehouse for a while as James got naked behind some broken wooden boxes. He inspected his furry body. Thanks to the fur, the bruises were not that apparent. However, he could feel his body ache all over.

  Blood had stopped dripping from some of the red spots on his body. Thanks to his enhanced stats, his wounds regenerated fast. James sighed at how inhuman his body had become. Using his magic, he then took a bath and clothed himself again. Thanks to his armor, he had avoided the worst injuries. But his armor was leather, and bullet holes ruined its aesthetic.

  [Will you repair your armor for twenty coins?]

  “No.” James shrugged it off. Most of his enemies used weapon skills. Even when they did not, magic and bullets rendered most of his armor useless. He wanted to complain that his armor was now woefully outdated. He then stopped himself and wondered whether the system could upgrade his armor just like what they had done to his weapon.

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  “System, can I upgrade my armor?”

  [No. The system can only offer repair functions on the armor you found in the dungeon.]

  “I see. So I must find another armor to replace this, huh?”

  [That is correct.]

  “I have been meaning to ask this. But were survivors and monsters given different weapon skills?” James asked while comparing his weapon skills to those of monsters. “Why did my second sword skill only get one hit while others have two?”

  [All weapon skills given were judged to have similar strength.]

  “Hm… that’s not what I meant. Wait a minute. For example, for sword skills, do you have several varieties of sword skills to give when someone reaches Level 5?” James asked.

  [That is correct. We listed them as Tier 1 sword skills.]

  “And I can't choose which skill I will get?” James asked. The system tended to answer things simply. They hated divulging information to survivors. James had to be more specific when asking them.

  [Yes. When survivors reach Level 5 mastery, they will be given a Tier 1 weapon skill at random, but someone with a unique skill may choose them at will.]

  “I see. How many tiers are there?”

  [Information classified.]

  “Knew that one was coming,” James smirked. He then lay down to rest his body. With his Dark Night Cloak, the temperature was perfect for him to doze off.

  James was not the only one who was wounded. Kaina was too, albeit only with scratches. She was thrown pretty roughly when the mech exploded. Sanders and Anderson were looking at her. Thanks to James' dagger, they could produce water easily. Kaina and Sanders had purchased a mana core, after all.

  “It will be some time before we can become a mage,” Sanders smirked. But seeing water sprout from a dagger really drove it home that they were in a magical world. When he looked at the corner, he could see James lying down and sleeping while using a black cloak as a blanket.

  “I think Boss James is sleeping. You can rest too. By the way, was that cloak from the dungeon? Does it have any special effects? I remember you carried that in your hotel. Why didn’t you bring it?” Sanders asked.

  “It’s a Dark Night’s Cloak. It makes the user comfortable in hot or cold weather, but it has some kind of limit on how hot or cold it can resist. I didn’t bring it because I thought it would be useless. You see, my unique skill is environment nullification. I should be immune to environmental damage, such as the moonlight from earlier. I could even breathe underwater without the earrings in the dungeon,” Kaina answered. She was not the sharpest tool in the shed—not by a long margin.

  “I see,” Sanders nodded. He wanted to cuss at her for forgetting to even bring her spears into the dungeon, but he held back. He realized that Kaina was merely doing as she was told. She was lightening her load as much as possible. Before the dungeon, they had loaded themselves with grenades, rifles, and ammunition. They didn’t know what the group would face. It was lucky that she found another spear inside a chest on the second floor of this dungeon.

  “This is bad. Andrew didn’t bring his sword when he entered the dungeon. Kouki did, but only half of Andrew's crew brought theirs…” Sanders cursed. Kouki wanted to be a hero, and in his mind, a hero must bring a sword. So, he brought his. But others didn’t.

  They thought that since guns were effective against survivors, they would be effective against monsters too. They did bring some spears and other medieval weapons just in case modern weapons were not effective against them. But Sanders and Anderson didn’t know whether those weapons were registered by the system.

  “Shit! If only we knew!” Anderson cursed. “We should have realized we couldn’t use weapon skills with normal weapons.”

  The truth is, Andrew did bring them. But that was a story for another time. He simply refrained from telling others because this was unverified information. Moreover, medieval weapons were heavy and cumbersome. So, he only brought half.

  It didn’t take long before James awoke, feeling refreshed. The group had to wonder how he survived getting shot by a machine gun and missiles, then fully recovered in mere hours.

  “Are you guys coming?” James stood before the portal while glancing at the group. Soon after, the golden portal brought them to a waiting room, then to a circular room.

  The room was adorned with a futuristic design, incorporating a metallic floor and walls. At the center of the room, a green sphere glowed dimly. It floated inside a massive glass tube as white light shone from below. James inched closer toward the gem, but there were no reactions.

  “What now?” James asked while looking around. He expected a massive monster to spawn as he inched closer toward the important-looking gem, but no such thing came.

  [Dungeon core located. Once you destroy or collect the green gem, Dungeon CF1902 will be cleared.]

  “Destroy or collect? What do you mean by collect?” James tilted his head.

  [Information classified.]

  “What the heck? You choose now of all times to hide information?” James cursed.

  “Let’s break the glass and get the gem. We might be able to sell it in the shop,” Anderson said.

  James suddenly understood why the system said to destroy or collect. He was amazed at Anderson, who quickly understood his assignment. He must be searching for ways to sell things in the shop.

  “Nah. Sorry, mate. But that green gem is mine. If you want it, then clear a dungeon of your own,” James said. James cleared most of this dungeon by himself—even during the last boss—he was confident he could defeat it by himself. He would not give the reward to anyone else so easily.

  “Huh? Ah. Of course, my apologies.” Anderson realized that he sounded like he was aiming for the core. “I mean, we should collect it and give it to the guild. Maybe we can glean something from it.”

  “No.” James scoffed. He had decided not to trust anyone, especially some shady company that he had never met, like The Guild. If the guild wanted this gem, they better pay thousands of dollars to him. Conquering dungeons was not easy.

  “Understood.” Anderson nodded.

  “Well, I gave you a Lightning Axe, a gun, a bullet, a flashbang, and a grenade. Let’s call it even. By the way, they are all registered by the system, so they should be more valuable since you can carry them to the dungeon.” James handed Anderson his frag grenade and his flashbang. As he was about to leave, he looked at the Waterspout Dagger on Anderson’s waist. “You can also keep the dagger. Let’s be cordial, alright? Will this put me in this guild’s good side?”

  “Of course. Thank you very much! This will certainly help the guild by a large margin! The information that you couldn’t bring modern weapons to the dungeon is the greatest treasure, and you just provided the means to counter it! We all thank you greatly. I shall personally recommend you to be the vice president of the guild!” Anderson nodded fervently.

  “I don’t need such titles. Talking is a chore. I am not good with crowds. I will do as I like.”

  Now that the infighting was over, James approached the core. With a single swing of his axe, he broke the glass cylinder. Then, he walked closer and reached out with his golem arm to it. A system message popped up.

  [You have completed Dungeon CF1902. Congratulations. You and three other survivors have triumphed. All survivors will receive one merit and 200 coins. A selectable armor chest will be given as your reward.]

  [A golden orb will be summoned nearby. Please touch the orb if you wish to exit the dungeon. Once a survivor has touched the golden sphere, all survivors will be teleported back to Earth.]