[CC] Chapter 48

A bright flash rippled across the dungeon portal’s surface, and a dark-haired boy emerged, a scowl etched on his young face.

Screw the dungeon! It’s so unfair and biased against me!

Shouren wanted to go kick the portal, but if others saw him, they’d start kicking him instead. After his meeting with Virelle, Shouren went into the 1st floor of the dungeon and started hunting for monsters.

However, the first notification he got on arrival had instantly soured his mood.

[Update: 4th dungeon entry detected! Monster loot and final floor rewards downgraded for current and future entries.]

[Floor 1 Clear Conditions: Kill 1 Tier 0 entity]

[Current Kills: 0/1]

At first Shouren didn’t understand the full implication of the new changes, but when the first beast he killed only dropped a single [Common] card, the reality hit him like a blow. All the monsters on the floor would drop the lowest grade loot. Although the clear conditions had been reduced significantly from 3 monsters to a single monster, it came at the cost of worse dropped loot.

This was his 4th dungeon run. The first one was where he underwent his awakening, the second one was with Rubin in a party, and the 3rd run was yesterday. If he had known the rewards would be lowered on his 4th run, he would have maximized his rewards in the first few runs. Would the penalty still be in effect if he crossed the threshold by killing more monsters?

I bet that’s why Isola made pumpkin-head drag me to the dungeon! She wanted to see if I had delved into the 1st dungeon floor more than three times. When the monsters dropped [Uncommon] cards, Rubin must’ve realized that I hadn’t reached the 4th entry yet.

Shouren shivered at the thought. At every step, Isola was always a step ahead of him. Her bubbly persona was a carefully crafted veil that made others lower their guard around her. Shouren was glad that the auburn-haired woman was only treating him like a mildly interesting kid, and not as someone worth investing time in.

I must never reveal my class card to her again once I upgrade it.

Shouren made a strong mental note to stay clear of Isola’s gaze. Everyone, including Rubin and Thalin, were just puppets to her. Pumpkin-head was too pure-hearted to see the older woman’s string of deceptions. No wonder Isola was the main recruiter of one of the most powerful guilds.

Shouren glanced at the three new [Common] cards sitting in his vault. The first one was from the monster he killed, the second one was the reward for the floor clear, and the last card was the reward for the solo clear. The normal clear reward had dropped from 3 cards down to 1, and the solo clear dropped from 2 to 1. This is most likely the dungeon’s way to force people to enter the higher floors.

Fortunately, two of the three cards dropped this time were [Common] class cards, with the last one being a spell card.

Tier 0 - Porter [Common]

Tier 0 - Forager [Common]

Tier 0 - Freshen Cloth [Common]

Clean and de-wrinkle any fabric or garment

Cost: 1 lumen per use

Shouren sighed as he walked through the long market streets. It wasn’t all bad. At least now, he didn’t have to hunt for three monsters before he could start forging his cards. He only needed to kill one and could spend the rest of time crafting his cards. Today, Shouren was able to forge 6 Spectral Threads spell cards instead of 5 like last time, along with his synchronization rate raised by another 1%, putting it at a current 49%.

Forging the same card over and over again is decreasing the synchronization rate I get each time.

Shouren passed through the rows of shops and towards the back of the market. Forging was a reliable method of increasing his synchronization, but sharding new cards was still the most ideal path. He had a feeling that there was a reason why sharding was so effective on him.

“I’m finally here.”

Shouren stood in front of the distinct abandoned shop, with the familiar ‘Dreamthorn’ sign squeaking under the gentle breeze. Taking another step, he opened the door and met the empty stares of the desolate shop. Shouren visibly relaxed, knowing that Isola wasn’t actually present. It would have been a surprise if she was indeed still in this dusty shop.

Following Rubin’s instructions on the note he’d left him, Shouren soon located the table and walked behind it.

That must be the drawer.

He quickly found the wooden compartment on the right side of the table’s belly. The dilapidated wooden storage looked nothing special, but that must have been the point. Shouren carefully grasped the drawer’s metal knob and pulled it out. It was empty.

Then, taking the 10 Spectral Threads cards, he delicately placed the stack inside and closed the drawer shut.

Did that work?

Shouren waited for a few more seconds before he slowly pulled the drawer again. The cards were gone. However, there was a small note placed at the bottom. Curiosity taking hold of him, Shouren picked the note up and read its contents.

“Good job on fulfilling your end of the bargain, Shouren. These cards have repaid your debt. I look forward to this partnership and maybe more in the future.”

Shouren knew it was Isola’s handwriting at first glance even though he’d never seen her write before. There was a cute winking face drawn at the bottom of the note, but it did nothing to lessen his uneasy feeling. According to their contract, Shouren would first have to pay back 10 Spectral Threads cards for the 12 class cards he took from Isola. It was a special onetime discount she’d given him to commemorate their partnership.

If Shouren had failed to deliver the cards in time today, then he would have to give Isola an additional 15 cards next week and if he failed even then, it would keep on increasing his debt with a sizable interest. That was why Shouren was racing to forge the cards by today. Now that he had delivered the cards, the penalty clause of the contract was no longer in effect. From now on, he could choose to trade 10 Spectral Threads cards whenever he wanted, without any time limit.

Every 10 of the spell cards would give him 8 [Common] class cards in exchange. In honestly, this was a losing deal for Shouren in terms of chronas as Isola could give him the 8 cheapest class cards while his individual Spectral Threads card was probably worth the price of two. But Shouren didn’t care. He would only continue this trade until he upgraded his class card to [Uncommon]. After that, he hoped to never see Isola again.

The deal with Isola was still better than going directly to the shops and having them question where he was getting the chronas from. It offered him discretion.

Alright, that’s one ticking problem out of the way. Now, I need to prepare for my last dungeon run before I join with Virelle’s party.

Shouren made his way out of the abandoned shop and started contemplating his dungeon run tomorrow. He planned to spend close to a week inside the dungeon and attempt to clear the floor with a high rating. It was his last chance to get something he could use on the 2nd floor. Shouren was praying for another chance to obtain a Lumen Weapon again. He didn’t want to stay long enough for the lightning beast to spawn, but get enough kills for the dungeon to give him proper rewards.

If only the first three attempts on the floor give the highest rewards, wasn’t he going to use up one of his attempts on the 2nd floor next week with Virelle?

Oh blazes! I forgot to include the clause to have Virelle pay me the 5000 chronas upfront.

Shouren mentally slapped himself when he remembered his mistake. It had slipped his mind entirely. He wanted to make sure the young nun wouldn’t renege on the deal and wanted to collect the money before he entered the dungeon with her party.

The boy was mad at himself for committing such a careless mistake. He thought he planned everything perfectly, but went ahead and forgot one of the most important clauses to include. Shouren followed the same route he took earlier and walked towards the town square. The scowl was back on his face.

In the distance, concealed within the murky shadows of the alley, a dark silhouette silently observed the green-eyed boy. It had watched him enter the decrepit shop and trailed his every move. A few seconds later, the silhouette noiselessly took out a card and relayed the report.

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It was late, and a lot of the shops were beginning to close. Although not all of them, since some villagers liked to delve into the dungeon at night. As Shouren passed through the same route, he paused for a second at the sharp sound of metal ringing.

Tang.

Ting… Ting.

Tang.

Shouren turned his head to face the shop where the sounds were coming from. It was a blacksmith shop. The boy walked closer to the shop’s window and peeked inside. The smithy was way in the back of the shop and he could only catch a few stray glimpses at the forge.

Something about the hammer, the metal, and the anvil called out to him.

Tang. Tang. Tang.