Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?

Jack had never imagined that one day he would become the "backbone" of the team.

Guided by him, this forward team made up of black market traders actually had a smooth journey lighting the beacons, with almost no mistakes. Up to now, only two people had died!

"That's fantastic, Jack. Without you, we definitely couldn't have made it here."

Standing at the fortress gate, the black market traders clapped their hands with congratulations, one after another.

As long as they don't go in, they won't trigger the twin Stone Statue Ghosts' BOSS battle; these guys seem to have learned the rules.

"Hehehe, you're making me a bit embarrassed," Jack blushed, scratching his head shyly, "What about it, mates? Remember the route? Should we head back the same way?"

"Hm..."

An older black market trader pondered for a moment and said, "The original plan was for you to show us the way, and then we'd each lead a team in to explore. In our scenario, if two or three people survived to get here, it'd count as a success. But now..."

Another chimed in, "Now we've got a full eight people and we're not weak. Why don't we delve deeper and take a gamble?"

Most of the team echoed this sentiment, with greed flickering in their eyes.

"Are you serious?" Jack's mouth twitched, "You've seen the dangers along the way. If I hadn't known the route in advance, even eight hundred lives wouldn't be enough."

He thought of the skeleton monsters lurking in the swamps, the Curse Frogs that pounced at any time, and the grass men disguised as bushes...

But all these Monsters had been cleverly avoided by him, never encountered, leading the black market traders to entertain unrealistic thoughts.

One sneered, "Even you could push through to here on your first try, doesn't that just show that this Dungeon actually isn't that scary, right?"

"Haha, don't say it like that. Jack's always been lucky. We owe it all to luck that we got here,"

"Huh?"

Jack was shocked by the disdain dripping from their words.

This contempt was natural, without a hint of malice, as natural as eating and drinking.

So, the hurt it caused Jack was doubled!

So he was not their backbone...

"Brothers, grab your weapons, there are only two Stone Statue Ghosts in there!"

The black market traders drew their weapons, eager to charge into the fortress. They no longer needed Jack's guidance.

Jack pulled out a dagger, hesitating at the entrance for a long while, before finally sighing and turning away to wait for his "friends'" victory.

Out of sight, out of mind.

"Aha, the Monsters are over there, it's indeed the lousiest kind of Stone Statue Ghost!"

"I'll hold it off, where's the Mage? Hurry up with the curse!"

"I'm injured, I'm hurt!"

"Wa! I smashed its arm, strike while it's down!"

"Final blow, watch me smash its head,"

Along with cheers, Jack knew his friends had won. Although bittersweet, he still mustered a smile, ready to give "congratulations."

Inside the fortress, a black market trader was bandaging his wounds, with the shattered remains of a Stone Statue Ghost at his feet.

This kind of Stone Statue Ghost's body, being common rock, was considered weak, typically only serving as minor Monsters in Dungeons.

"I didn't expect it to be so weak, what a windfall, hehehe," he began fantasizing about getting rich off the Dungeon's resources.

"Hey, should we get rid of Old Jack?" he suddenly whispered, "The old guy is already useless, and he might blab about this place. We might as well..."

He made a throat-slitting gesture, and those nearby chuckled knowingly.

"Dear family," that's our black market traders' kinship for you!

"Jack, come here a second,"

"What's up, brothers?" Jack walked into the room puzzled, and just as he got close, a white light flashed by with a "swoosh," and blood splattered.

He stared dumbfounded at the wound on his chest, then the snickering black market traders, and suddenly realized something.

"You..."

Jack suddenly felt the world spinning, unable to resist collapsing to the ground, blood flowing profusely from his chest wound. The black market traders even snatched his Teleportation Crystal; with that, his body could not be resurrected after death.

With life quickly slipping away, Jack didn't even have the energy for sadness. He just felt like he had fed his heartfelt efforts to the dogs.

He would be fifty next year, an old man who should have retired by adventurer standards, still active in the field for reasons he couldn't explain himself. Perhaps he didn't want to give up the thrill of adventuring? After a lifetime as an adventurer, who could adapt to a dull life after retirement?

So he exerted all his efforts. His body couldn't keep up? Then he would recruit other adventurers to form a team, even resorting to deceits just to keep adventuring. Ran out of money? Selling contraband on the black market seemed like a good idea!

"So, it's comeuppance in the end..." Jack said, mocking himself.

In his peripheral vision, he caught sight of the Monster's corpse on the ground—the Stone Statue Ghost had been smashed to pieces, looking quite pitiful.

Wait, why was there only one Stone Statue Ghost?

As the black market traders were fantasizing about the future, a black shadow suddenly loomed over the light.

"Huh?"

They looked up to see a huge figure clinging to the ceiling bricks, looking down at them from on high.

"Is... is that a Stone Statue Ghost?"

"But why is it so huge!?"

"No good, everyone run—"

[Heroic Stone Statue Ghost (Great Sword)]

[Spiritual Power required per unit: 600]

[Life: C, Strength: C, Intelligence: D, Endurance: C-, Speed: C-, Overall Combat Power: C-]

Jack lay on the ground, blood splattered across his face.

The new Stone Statue Ghost was overwhelmingly powerful and quickly knocked the black market dealers to the ground without killing a single one, leaving wails all around.

Jack thought that this Monster would come to kill him as well, but then, something beyond his understanding happened.

He saw the Heroic Stone Statue Ghost reach out to him, not to kill him, but—

...to give a thumbs up???

In this instant, Jack felt the world turn magical.

Compared to the outside world, Dungeon Monsters had their emotions more subdued, often acting on instinct to kill.

For example, goblins outside could eat, sleep, reproduce, and establish villages, but Dungeon goblins only knew to fight, fight, fight, delight in it, and occasionally reproduce.

But this doesn't mean they lack desires. If you really must bring a bound female Knight in front of Dungeon goblins, then...

Don't blame them for a full house of offspring.

So when adventurers entered Sain Dungeon and found that the Monsters here used tactics, they were greatly shocked.

And a thumbs up... Could only an intelligent being understand this gesture?

The Stone Statue Ghost sprinkled some Potion on him, and the wound on his chest wriggled as it healed, his body regaining strength.

"Roar...."

The Stone Statue Ghost handed Jack a dagger, pointing at the black market dealers on the ground,

"You mean, you want me to kill them?" Jack held the dagger, unsure.

The Stone Statue Ghost nodded.

"Quickly kill me, it hurts so much," said the black market dealers upon seeing him approach with a dagger, their faces showing "finally going to be released" expressions.

Once back at the Resurrection House, Priests would heal them, suffering much less than half-dead in the Dungeon, although they didn't understand why the Stone Statue Ghost left them alive for Jack to claim their heads.

But who would care about a Monster's thoughts?

The only one feeling uncomfortable about this was that the one to kill them was Jack; fascinating how Old Jack was revived by the Stone Statue Ghost—what was that stupid Monster thinking?

Now there was trouble, after resurrection they'd still have to catch Jack, can't let the old man run away.

Not right, not right, we discarded Jack's Teleportation Crystal, haha, this old guy's going to get killed by Monsters.

"..."

Jack remained silent, his grip on the dagger trembling slightly as he could tell what these people were thinking just by their expressions.

"What are you waiting for, kill me now!" the pained black market dealers urged.

Jack slowly raised the dagger, but at this moment, he did something unexpected.

"Eh?"

He took off their Teleportation Crystals one by one.

At this moment, dead silence filled the fortress.

"Pff—"

A snicker, which Jack couldn't help but let out; he weighed the dagger, never feeling so comfortable wielding a blade.

"No, no, you can't do this, Jack!" As Jack slowly approached, the black market dealers cried out in despair.

"Weren't you just urging me on?"

Jack lifted the dagger and plunged it down.

"Ah!"

Not fatal, the black market dealer screamed in pain but did not die.

Another stab, still alive.

Another stab, alive.

And one more stab!

For each dreadful scream, Jack's eardrums were stimulated, and he trembled violently with the blood splattered on his face, subconsciously licking his lips.

The taste of iron, with a hint of sweetness.

A slight exhilarating smile appeared on his face.

He didn't know how many times he had stabbed when he became drenched in blood and the screams finally ceased.

Looking at the corpse beneath him, his brain short-circuited from the intense stimulation, allowing the Stone Statue Ghost to grab him like lifting a figurine, heading towards the fortress's gate, returning to the swamp area.

Putrid stench was everywhere. The Monsters "living" here were either gaunt or bloated and rotting like corpses in a giant's gaze, daunting to behold.

The Stone Statue Ghost strolled through the swamp while Monsters kept their distance, only traps would be triggered.

Jack looked on hazily at the scenery, everything he saw, familiar or not, imprinted in his mind, and after an indeterminate time, he suddenly realized something.

Was this Stone Statue Ghost showing him a map of the area?

Indeed, the Stone Statue Ghost was showing him the map; main paths, side routes, shortcuts, Hidden Doors, traps, ambush spots... everything was laid out in front of Jack.

Why do this? Aren't you afraid of the map being leaked?

At the end, the Stone Statue Ghost showed him a Magic Contract—a Slave Contract.

Jack understood, and without hesitation pressed his handprint on it, thus becoming the Stone Statue Ghost's slave.

It was hard to believe when said out loud, but the Stone Statue Ghost actually revealed a "relieved" expression, then it dug into the soil and pulled out several light points representing different items, among the many white light points, a purple light point stood out noticeably.

All these items were placed in front of Jack for his use.

"What do you want me to do?" Jack believed that the Stone Statue Ghost in front of him must possess intelligence, bowing his head to survive, he had to obediently become a slave.

"Heh, heh...."

The Stone Statue Ghost let out a hoarse chuckle, and then Jack heard whispers as if coming from Hell:

"Bring... more people... in..."