The low, rumbling roar of the heavy-duty locomotive echoed across the barren wilderness. The sound was so out of place in this monster-infested zone that every career changer nearby stopped what they were doing and turned their heads. Their eyes all landed on its rider—Lucas.
"Damn… who is this rich guy?" one muttered, his jaw nearly dropping.
"If I'm not mistaken, the bike he's riding is a special-class vehicle, right?" another whispered.
"It should be. Look at that heavy-duty motorcycle—it's so sleek, so reinforced. That thing has to cost at least several million credits!"
"Ugh, I'm so jealous," groaned a younger adventurer. "Meanwhile, I have to pedal a clunky bicycle into the wilderness. And the second a monster shows up, I have to abandon it and stuff it back into my space backpack before I get eaten!"
"Tell me about it. Just last week I rode into the jungle and was ambushed by a beast on the road. I couldn't dismount in time, and I got killed. Poof—everything gone."
"That's why only special-class vehicles are safe. With one of those, you don't have to panic about monsters wrecking you while traveling."
Their chatter grew louder, more heated.
"This guy must be some Transcendent-level tycoon. Look at his armor—it's definitely high-grade. I'd bet he's rocking purple-tier gear."
"Hah, if the system didn't limit equipment below Level 60 to rare purple quality at best, I bet this guy would be strolling around in full epic gear right now."
"Man… who is he? He looks ridiculously powerful."
"I wonder if he's soloing. Should we ask to team up? If someone like him joins, even a hard-difficulty dungeon would be a walk in the park!"
"Relax. People like him don't stay alone for long. He'll definitely recruit later, and when he does, we'll sign up. Today might be our chance to cling to his thigh and get carried."
"Yeah, fingers crossed I get picked. That would be easy profit!"
The envious voices filled the air. Every gaze locked on Lucas, hungry for an opening.
Several adventurers seeking teams edged closer. They noticed Lucas had no companions and no banners of a guild around him. Their hearts lit up with greedy hope.
It wasn't uncommon, after all, for ordinary players to piggyback off wealthy bosses. Those rich elites didn't care much about the standard loot. As long as they kept the rarest purple-tier drops, they often let the rest of the materials—blue, green, even white-quality gear—go to teammates. For freeloaders, joining such a team was basically a goldmine.
If they could score a spot with the man who drove that thunderous motorcycle, the payout would be insane.
Dozens of eyes stared at Lucas with anticipation, waiting for him to call out for recruits.
But Lucas didn't even glance their way. Without saying a word, he dismounted, strolled past them, and walked straight toward the swirling entrance of the Level 40 dungeon.
The crowd blinked, stunned. Then the star vortex at the dungeon gate blazed—a dazzling red light burst forth.
The wilderness exploded with noise.
"No way!!" someone shouted, their voice cracking.
"Did he just… enter the Nightmare difficulty alone?!"
"Impossible. This is the Level 40 dungeon! You can't just walk into Nightmare solo. That's suicide!"
"Exactly! Even with full purple-tier gear, it's insane. You'd need a five-man squad, perfectly balanced and fully geared, to even attempt that difficulty."
"Unless… he's some Level 60+ monster pretending to slum it with us?"
Shock spread like wildfire. Those who knew the dungeon's reputation stared as if they'd seen a ghost.
---
Of course, Lucas already knew what he was walking into. Before arriving, he had thoroughly researched everything about the dungeon.
Its name was Dwarf Mine. Inside stretched a sprawling maze of caverns filled with towering dwarf miners twisted by corruption. Each monster had monstrous stats, and the layout itself was a deathtrap of winding tunnels, pitfalls, and choke points.
Even the most well-equipped adventurer with a Level 50 purple loadout would struggle to clear it. Nightmare difficulty wasn't meant for individuals—it was meant to break guild teams.
But Lucas wasn't "ordinary." He was an SSS-rank Talent, fresh from his second career advancement, armed with a newly unlocked exclusive skill that no one else in the world possessed. To him, this challenge wasn't something to fear—it was the perfect test.
What truly excited him wasn't whether he could win, but whether his theory about dungeon "luck" was real.
During his earlier runs at Level 20 and Level 30, he had noticed a strange pattern. Whenever he entered Nightmare difficulty alone, he always pulled jackpot loot—sometimes even double rare drops. Could it really be coincidence? Or was there a hidden rule at play, a quirk of the system tied to his unique path?
Tonight, he would find out.
His heart thumped with eager anticipation as he drew his Pale Blade, the weapon glowing faintly under the dungeon's blood-red aura.
A system prompt appeared the instant he crossed the threshold:
"You have entered the Level 40 dungeon: 'Dwarf Mine.' Difficulty: Nightmare. Objective: Defeat the Dungeon Boss. Please proceed with caution."
Lucas smirked. "Caution, huh? Not today."
This was the perfect time to unleash his new evolution of invisibility—Shadow Sneak.
He focused. A cold ripple of darkness surged up from beneath his feet, enveloping him whole. In less than a blink, his body vanished.
Unlike his old invisibility, which blurred his form gradually, Shadow Sneak yanked him fully into another dimension. There was no delay. One moment he stood in the mine entrance, the next he was simply… gone.
Inside this shadowy layer, the world looked muted and strange. Sound no longer traveled. Even when he walked, his footsteps made no noise. He shouted once, just to test, but no echo came. He was cut off completely from the perception of the outside world.
A grin spread across his face. "Oh yeah. This is on a whole new level."
With giddy energy, he bounded deeper into the mine, eager to experiment.
It wasn't long before he found one of the corrupted dwarves.
The creature loomed more than three meters tall, muscles bulging like boulders beneath its gray skin. In its massive hand was a thick iron pickaxe, scarred from countless swings against rock. Its eyes glowed faintly red, proof of the corruption twisting its kind.
Lucas crept right up to it. He waved a hand inches from its face, even gave a fake cough for good measure.
The dwarf miner didn't react. It kept trudging along, dragging its weapon against the stone floor with a dull scrape.
Lucas chuckled. "Perfect. Completely blind to me."
He couldn't resist—he lightly tapped the dwarf's calf with his boot. The giant froze, growled, and spun in confusion. Its glowing eyes scanned the tunnel, baffled, as it muttered guttural curses in a language Lucas couldn't understand.
"Yup. As long as I don't make physical contact, I'm untouchable."
Compared to his old invisibility, this was worlds beyond. And the duration—longer too.
He remembered the time, back in his job transfer dungeon, when castle guards had seen through his blur just by being too close. If he had Shadow Sneak then, he could have been dancing in front of their noses without a worry.
"Alright," he whispered, eyes gleaming. "Time to test the next upgrade."
His old sap skill had vanished after his second advancement, replaced by something nastier: Hidden Snake's Bite.
He gave a mock salute to the fallen sap skill. "Rest in peace, old friend. You've been reborn into something deadlier."
Sliding silently behind the dwarf miner, Lucas drew his dagger. Dark energy coiled along the blade like twin serpents waiting to strike.
"Hidden Snake's Bite!" he hissed.
Two black flashes cut through the air, fangs of shadow plunging into the dwarf's back.
The monster roared in agony as the poisoned strike tore into its flesh.
And Lucas grinned wide. The dungeon had only just begun.
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