Zack's hands were shaking. He told himself it was from anticipation, from the strain of his act. But as he fumbled with his backpack, pulling out his useless first-aid kit to look busy, he knew some of it was real. The air in the cavern was cold, and the musky, wet-dog smell of the Kobolds was thick and gag-inducing. This was nothing like his clean, gray dimension. This was dirty, loud, and dangerous.
Dozens of red eyes stared at them from the darkness of the massive tunnel ahead. The yip-yip-yip was getting louder, turning into a series of aggressive, high-pitched barks.
"First group," Ben's voice boomed, echoing in the cave. "Looks like a welcoming party. Zack, stay close!"
"Alright, party up," Emily said, tapping her own Hunter Watch. "I'm sending the invites. This'll make sure the dungeon's system-logs track our contributions and we all get paid properly by the Association."
Zack's watch buzzed. A new, unfamiliar window popped up on its small screen.
You have been invited to a party by 'Emily Han'. Accept?
He quickly tapped 'Accept', trying to make it look like he'd done it a hundred times.
Immediately, a series of new, private messages flooded his vision—messages from his own System, unseen by anyone else.
System Integration: Party function detected. You will now share EXP gain with your party.
Error: Host progression is not EXP-based. Shared party EXP will be converted to Random System Shop Points. This process is totally random.
New Function Unlocked: System Shop! Spend Shop Points to purchase items. (Note: Healing potions are cheap, but stat cubes, weapons, armor, and skill books are extremely expensive. It won't be used much in the story)
You have entered a Dungeon for the first time. New functions unlocked!
Dimensional Storage (Sub-space) activated. Storage size: 1 cubic meter.
Dungeon-Loot Protocol activated: All Stat Cubes acquired by Host will be sent directly to Dimensional Storage to ensure secrecy.
Zack's breath caught in his throat. He stared, wide-eyed, at the messages only he could see. System Shop Points? Dimensional Storage? Auto-looting?
This solved his single biggest problem. He had been terrified of how he was supposed to pick up glowing, magical cubes in front of a D-Rank team without them asking questions. Now, he didn't have to. The System would do it for him. He could get stronger, right under their noses if he kills any monsters.
"Zack? You okay?" Emily asked, her voice sharp with concern. "You look like you just saw a ghost."
Zack jolted, snapping his head up. "What? Oh, no. Sorry. Just... my first dungeon. It's..." he gestured vaguely at the dark, stinking tunnel. "It's a lot."
Ben let out a hearty laugh. "He's fine, Em. Just has that 'first-time-in-a-real-cave' look. Don't worry, kid. It gets better."
Zack nodded, his heart hammering for a different reason now. He felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders. He could focus on the act.
He took this moment to truly understand the difference between him and them. He had seen the simple, glowing screens on their watches. He knew they had a "system," but it was nothing like his.
Their system was a slow, painful grind. When they killed these Kobolds, they would all get a small amount of EXP (Experience Points). When they got enough EXP, they would "Level Up." Every new level gave them +2 stat points, which they could assign wherever they wanted.
To get to D-Rank, they needed 40 points in their three main stats (like Strength, Agility, and Stamina for a Warrior) and 20 in their two 'dump' stats (like Spirit and Defense).
Zack did the math in his head. (40 x 3) + (20 x 2) = 160 total points.
At 2 points per level, they had to reach Level 80 just to qualify for the D-Rank exam.
It was an agonizingly slow process. It was why there were only three S-Rank Hunters in the entire world. They were the result of years of non-stop grinding.
They got no cubes. No quick power-ups.
Zack, on the other hand, had gotten over 40 points in all stats in just a few weeks.
His system wasn't just better; it was cheating on a cosmic scale.
"They're coming!" Maya's sharp voice cut through his thoughts.
The red eyes in the dark were moving, swarming.
"Wall up!" Emily commanded.
Ben took two heavy steps forward and slammed the bottom of his tower shield into the rocky ground.
CLANG!
Skill: Taunting Slam!
A wave of red light, visible only to the monsters, pulsed from the shield.
The yipping turned into enraged shrieks. The swarm of red eyes, which had been spreading out, suddenly focused entirely on Ben.
"Here they come!" Ben bellowed. "Get ready, Em!"
A wave of at least twenty small, dog-faced creatures burst from the shadows. They were Kobold Miners, D-Rank (Beginners). They were barely four feet tall, with mangy brown fur, glowing red eyes, and sharp, rodent-like teeth. They wore crude leather scraps and carried rusty pickaxes as weapons.
Their stats were, as Zack had guessed, around 40 in their main attributes of Agility and Strength, but their Defense was probably 10 or 15. They were glass cannons.
They ignored Emily, Maya, and Zack completely. They ran, like a wave of water, straight at Ben.
CLANG! CLANG! THUD! CLANG!
The sound of pickaxes hammering against Ben's shield was deafening. He stood like a mountain, his shield taking every single hit. Not a single monster got past him. He didn't even grunt.
"Light 'em up, Em!" Ben roared.
Emily, who had been standing calmly, her hands raised, smiled.
Skill: Firestorm!
She thrust her hands forward, and a torrent of bright, hot fire erupted from her palms. It wasn't a ball; it was a stream of liquid flame that washed over the entire group of Kobolds clustered at Ben's shield.
The monsters screamed. The smell of burning fur and cooked meat filled the cavern.
The Kobolds, now on fire, scrambled back, yipping in pain.
"Now, Maya!" Emily yelled.
Maya, who had been a silent shadow, moved. Zack's 42.7 Agility was fast, but Maya was a D-Rank (Intermediate) Assassin.
She didn't run. She vanished.
She appeared behind the group of burning, retreating Kobolds. Two long, wicked-looking daggers flashed in her hands.
She was a blur of motion. Every time her hands moved, a Kobold fell. She was hitting their weak points—necks, eyes, and spines, with perfect, D-Rank precision.
In less than ten seconds, the entire wave of twenty monsters was dead.
Zack just stood there, his useless first-aid kit in his hands, his mouth open.
He was strong. He could have survived that fight.
But he could not have done that. The teamwork, the efficiency, the raw power of Emily's fire and the sheer speed of Maya... it was on another level.
"First wave down," Ben said, his voice casual. He hadn't even taken a single point of damage. "Good work, team."
"Zack, you okay?" Maya asked, wiping her blades clean. "You're white as a sheet."
Zack forced a nod. "Yeah. Fine. Just... wow. You guys are... fast."
"That's a D-Rank party, kid," Ben laughed. "We're not here to mess around. Alright, let's move up. We're just clearing the tunnels for now."
For the next four hours, this was the pattern.
They moved slowly through the dark, winding tunnels. The path was about twenty feet wide, sloping gently downwards. Every few hundred yards, they'd find another "welcoming party" of 10-20 Kobolds.
Ben would taunt. Emily would burn. Maya would stab.
Zack stayed glued to Ben's back, his head on a swivel, acting terrified. He clutched his first-aid kit like a lifeline.
His sore, exhausted muscles, which had been screaming at him all morning, had long since gone numb, beaten into submission by the constant adrenaline.
The team was incredible. They were kind, constantly checking on him.
"You doing okay back there, Zack?"
"Need a water break, newbie?"
"Don't worry, we'll let 'em get to you."
This kindness made his guilt twist in his stomach. He was a fraud. He wasn't the fragile E-Ranker they thought he was. His stats were solid, putting him at a D-Rank (Beginner) power level. But he wasn't stronger than them. They were all D-Rank (Intermediate) Hunters—Ben, Maya, and Emily. They were a full sub-rank above his current power. While Zack was confident he could probably fight a D-Rank (Intermediate) monster one-on-one for a few minutes, this team could likely hunt D-Rank (Advanced) monsters if they worked together. He was lying about his class of strength, not his level of it. And here they were, treating him like a lost, fragile child.
Then, it happened.
They entered a larger, wider cavern. This time, the Kobolds didn't wait.
A group of thirty monsters charged them from three different tunnels at once.
"Wall up, Ben!" Emily yelled, a note of urgency in her voice.
"On it! Taunt!" Ben slammed his shield down.
He get most of them. But five Kobolds, charging from the side tunnel, were too far away. They ignored the taunt and saw the rest of the group.
They saw the "soft" targets.
"Floaters!" Maya yelled, and she vanished, intercepting two of them.
Emily created a wall of fire, blocking another two.
But one... one was smart. It was a D-Rank (Beginner), but it was fast. It dodged the fire, saw Ben's back, and saw the "weak" E-Rank Healer standing behind him.
It saw an easy kill.
It charged, its pickaxe raised high, its red eyes glowing with hunger.
"ZACK! BEHIND YOU!" Emily screamed.
Zack spun. The Kobold was three feet away, its pickaxe already swinging down at his head.
He had no time to think. He only had time to react.
To Ben and Emily, he was an E-Rank Healer who was about to die.
To the Kobold, he was a soft target.
To his System, he was an E-Rank (Advanced) Hunter with 42.7 Agility and 39.1 Defense.
Zack's body moved on its own. He didn't dodge. That would be too fast. He didn't block. His backpack had no defensive power.
Instead, he let his sore muscles and his "fear" take over. He stumbled backward, "tripping" over his own feet.
"Whoa!" he yelled, falling on his butt.
It was the most convincing acting of his life.
The Kobold's pickaxe, aimed at his head, missed by an inch as he fell, swinging through air where his chest had been.
The monster snarled, furious it had missed. It raised the pickaxe again for a second, lethal blow.
Zack was on the ground, helpless.
THWACK!
A throwing knife, buried to the hilt, suddenly appeared in the Kobold's right eye.
It froze, its arm still raised. A second later, it crumpled to the ground, dead.
Zack stared at the dead monster, his heart hammering.
Maya appeared from the shadows, retrieving her knife. "That was too close," she hissed, not at Zack, but at herself. "Sorry, I was busy. You okay?"
Zack just nodded, breathing heavily. He let his hands shake. "I... I froze. I just... I saw it, and I fell. Sorry."
"Don't be sorry!" Ben boomed, having finished his own group. "You survived! That's rule number one! You did good, kid. You got out of the way. That's all we ask."
Emily ran over, her face pale. "You're not hurt? It didn't touch you?"
"No," Zack said, letting Ben pull him to his feet. "I'm... I'm okay. Just shaken."
He was shaken, but for a different reason. That was real. That pickaxe had been aimed to kill. And his body, his stats, had saved him. His 'trip' had been a perfectly controlled fall, using his Agility to get him out of the way just in time.
He had survived.
They cleared the rest of the cavern. As Maya and Emily looted the bodies for claws and teeth (useful for crafting), a monster that Emily had blasted with fire, and was now just a smoking, twitching mess, tried to get up.
"Zack, finish it!" Ben ordered, not unkindly. "Don't let it suffer. And don't let it get up."
Zack looked at the half-dead, twitching Kobold. This, he could handle.
He walked over, his face grim. He raised his heavy work boot and stomped on the monster's head. It was brutal, but it was fast.
The monster went still.
You have killed a D-Rank (Beginner) Kobold Miner.
Dungeon-Loot Protocol: Blue Cube (Agility) x1 has been sent to Dimensional Storage.
Zack felt the notification, but his face just showed disgust. He turned away. "Ugh."
Maya laughed. "Welcome to the club, Healer. First one's the weirdest."
"Alright," Emily said, "this looks like a good spot. This is about one-sixth of the way to the main nest. Let's take a ten-minute break. Drink some water. Zack, you did great."
Zack sat down, his back against a cold cave wall. He was exhausted, but he was alive. And as he sipped his water, he secretly opened his System.
Inside the new "Storage" tab, a single, glowing Blue Cube (1.0) was waiting for him.
He smiled. It worked.
Reader's Note: Zack's Stats -
Rank: E (Advanced) / (System Rank: E (Advanced))
Class: Healer / God-Eater (Mythical)
Strength: 41.2
Agility: 42.7
Stamina: 40.7
Spirit: 39.0
Defense: 39.1
(No stat change yet...)