It'll Definitely Bring You a Surprise

Bede City, outskirts.

With his face hidden beneath a hood, Jack crept through the dense woods, a Greatsword tightly wrapped in strips of cloth slung across his back.

What was he up to?

A seemingly abandoned Watchtower stood ahead. That was his destination.

Jack knocked on the wooden door in a steady rhythm. With a creak, it opened, revealing a desolate, dust-covered interior.

But when he pressed a hidden mechanism on the fireplace, the stone floor split open on its own, exposing a tunnel that led underground!

Beyond the tunnel lay a vast Secret Base.

So this was where the Black Market Dealers gathered!

All sorts of shady goods, strictly forbidden from being sold in Bede City, circulated here.

As a rogue with decent stealth skills, Jack could only unload the spoils from his petty thefts on the black market. Naturally, he had joined this small group of Black Market Dealers.

"I need to see the boss. I've got huge news!"

Before long, Jack was brought to a secret room deep inside. A pot-bellied fat man sat across from him. His scar-covered face looked terrifying, while his tiny eyes gleamed with shrewdness.

Sackman was the oldest and most powerful Black Market Dealer near Bede City. Everyone called him "Boss."

Without wasting words, Jack set the Greatsword before Sackman and said mysteriously, "Found it in Zane Dungeon. Have one of your men try picking it up."

"What is it? Why so mysterious? What good stuff could an old fart like you possibly bring out? Looks like an ordinary sword to me."

Sackman wore a disdainful expression as he casually grabbed the Greatsword.

"Oh, oh, oh... Th-this is!"

A moment later, the secret room was packed to the brim. Everyone gathered around the Appraiser, anxiously awaiting his verdict.

"What a miraculous weapon." The Appraiser reluctantly put down the Greatsword. "In all my years, I've never seen a weapon capable of granting its user a Weapon Skill."

"Nothing like it in history either?" Sackman pressed.

The Appraiser shook his head, then nodded. "Maybe. Only legendary Divine Artifacts can do something like this."

A Divine Artifact!

Everyone's breathing slowed for a beat. They looked at one another, seeing delight reflected in each other's eyes.

Sackman slammed his hand on the table, laughing so hard that his fat jiggled.

"Fuck, we're getting rich this time!"

"We're getting rich!"

"Old Jack, you did good! You did damn good!"

For the first time, Jack, now the center of attention, experienced what it meant to be watched by all. He immediately raised both hands and shouted excitedly:

"Get teams together, everyone! I'll lead the way! It's finally our turn to get rich!"

Years of scamming people, robbing, stealing, and dodging city guards had forged a strange kind of "family bond" among these Black Market Dealers—a mutual understanding and closeness even stronger than that of real relatives!

When there was money to be made, everyone made it together! When there were risks, everyone shared them!

Jack and his group had become the first gang to discover the "value" of Zane Dungeon.

Before anyone else uncovered that value, they had to swarm into the dungeon and earn enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives!

Besides the excited Black Market Dealers, some more "legitimate" people had also begun investigating Zane Dungeon.

"Check your gear one last time. We're entering the dungeon soon."

Si Telan called out to the group behind her.

"Do you think these people can handle it? None of them look like they've ever entered a dungeon," Xiu En, the Sword and Shield Warrior, asked quietly. Their other companions wore equally worried expressions.

Si Telan spread her hands helplessly. "It's Lord of Bede's commission, after all. We'll look after them. Just try not to let them die too soon."

"We already stressed that Zane Dungeon has become dangerous. But these people think it's no big deal and insist on coming along. What else am I supposed to do?"

After a full day of spreading, news of the terrifying mutation in Zane Dungeon had traveled far and wide throughout Bede City, causing a massive uproar.

Quite a few adventurers who had wanted to challenge the place backed down, but even more had their fighting spirit ignited. After all, the ultimate goal of this line of work was adventure!

Earl of Bede, who ruled Bede City, had made a fortune from the endless stream of rookie adventurers!

Besides making money off adventurers, the Bede Family had developed a potion called the "Blood Therapy Potion," which was highly competitive on the market thanks to its unique effects and relatively low price.

The main ingredient of the Blood Therapy Potion was a red ore called Bloodstone, a specialty found only in Zane Dungeon.

Every day, hundreds of Miners employed by the Bede Family entered the dungeon specifically to mine Bloodstone.

But yesterday's mutation had caught them completely off guard. Every Miner who entered the dungeon had been wiped out, and the day's Bloodstone output was zero!

That would not do. The Blood Therapy Potion was the lifeblood of the Bede Family. They absolutely could not give it up!

Thus, Earl of Bede had commissioned every Silver Rank adventurer team he could find nearby, asking them to bring his Ore Experts back into Zane Dungeon to explore it again.

They were to see whether the mutation had changed Bloodstone's yield, quality, or distribution areas within the dungeon.

A total of four Silver Rank adventurer teams had accepted the commission. Each team had as many as ten members once the Ore Experts were included, which was the maximum number of people who could enter a Portal at once.

The dungeon possessed a rather strange rule—

At most, only ten people could explore together.

So what about everyone else?

The answer was that the others could still explore normally—exploring the same dungeon, yet a somewhat different one.

Simply put, every person explored a different "small world" of Zane Dungeon. Each small world was identical in every way; the only difference was the people exploring it. These worlds did not interfere with one another. Loot picked up and monsters killed would reset after leaving and waiting through a one-day cooldown.

If one considered the dungeon an "instance" in an online game, it was easy to understand.

The dungeon's Portal could automatically identify who was a teammate and who was not, so people rarely wandered into someone else's world by mistake.

"The Ore Experts protected by the other teams are all polite and don't cause trouble. Why did we have to get these ones..."

Si Telan glanced back at the "experts," whose atmosphere was so carefree that they seemed to be on a picnic, and could not help shaking her head.

What experts? They were obviously rich young masters here on vacation. I could even see Earl of Bede's eldest and second sons among them.

This expedition probably would not be peaceful.

"Move out! Put those liquor bottles away! I told you not to bring anything with a strong smell!"

The tall and burly Xiu En roared, finally making the people behind them reluctantly put down their bottles. Si Telan watched them and could not stop sighing inwardly.

"Stay close to me. Don't get separated."

Si Telan took the lead and was the first to enter the Portal. The others hurried after her.

When the last person entered, he bumped straight into the backpack of the person ahead and complained, "What the hell? Why did the people in front stop moving?"

"No idea. The leader seems to have frozen up. These country-bumpkin adventurers love making a fuss over nothing."

At the front of the team, Si Telan stared blankly at the sight before her. Her mouth hung open, but no sound came out, and her delicate body trembled slightly.

Xiu En, who had come with her, spoke the words stuck in her throat:

"Why the fuck has this place changed again!?"

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