Dungeon Bug-Alice!

On the other side of the dungeon.

The familiar black-robed figure drove the short blade in her hand into a dungeon monster's skull with lethal precision.

As the monster fell, its corpse turned into a cloud of blue experience light, which the Black-Robed Man absorbed.

"Level 24."

The Black-Robed Man's voice seemed devoid of emotion. "At my current strength, I can only hunt ordinary monsters. Leveling up is still too slow!"

"The boss of this Wildwood dungeon, Wild Gorilla, has a one-track mind. There's no negotiating with him..."

In truth, an unusual existence like her faced tremendous pressure to survive. She had to contend with the professionals challenging the dungeon, yet the dungeon itself refused to accept her.

Whenever a dungeon boss took a dislike to her, an endless hunt would follow.

Otherwise, she would never have needed to feign cooperation with those dungeon bosses in the first place.

And this level-35 dungeon still posed a considerable threat to her.

"When will I finally be able to leave the dungeons...?"

The Black-Robed Man tipped her head back slightly and gazed at the sky. Beneath her black robe, sinister markings resembling black spider lilies covered the left side of her face.

Putting away her short blade, she moved swiftly, ready to search for other monsters.

Just then, however, a boy dressed in black appeared in front of her.

The boy stared straight at her, smiling as though he had spotted an old acquaintance, and lifted his head in greeting.

"Long time no see."

His friendly words made the Black-Robed Man's entire body tense. In an instant, she entered combat mode-no, escape mode!

"You again?!"

The Black-Robed Man had never imagined that, after the Beast King dungeon and the Sky Isle Realm secret realm, she would run into Yi Tian yet again!

"What did I ever do to you?!"

Yi Tian was probably the last person she wanted to encounter right now.

His combat strength was simply too absurd. Even though the Black-Robed Man had now risen to the rank of Elite Monster, she still felt she had no chance of winning.

She even suspected that Yi Tian clearly had the stats of someone above level 50, yet somehow could still enter a dungeon capped at level 35.

Was there any justice in this world?!

Yi Tian spoke calmly. "Don't be nervous. I really didn't come to kill you."

"Like hell I believe that!"

The moment the Black-Robed Man finished speaking, she prepared to escape using her spatial teleportation ability.

She reached out to pull open a Void Gate, keeping her eyes fixed on Yi Tian in case he suddenly attacked to interrupt her.

Seeing Yi Tian remain unmoved, she secretly rejoiced. "I can't beat you now, but sooner or later, I'll be stronger than you!"

Yet a moment later, the Void Gate she took such pride in failed to open. The space around her did not respond to her command.

[This area is under the effect of the item "Deathmatch Prison." No creature can leave until the owner of the Deathmatch Prison dies or voluntarily deactivates it!]

"What?!"

The Black-Robed Man's heart sank. Looking at Yi Tian's smiling face, she knew without even thinking that this was his doing.

"You went this far just to kill me?"

She knew enough to recognize how incredibly precious an item that affected space was. She truly could not understand what she had done to offend this guy!

The Black-Robed Man's gaze turned icy, and only one thought remained in her mind.

Yi Tian stood where he was, his hands in his pockets, and said with certainty, "I'm guessing you still won't give up..."

Before he finished speaking, a figure brimming with murderous intent lunged at him, whipping up a fierce gust.

The cold blade slashed toward Yi Tian's throat in an instant.

The Black-Robed Man's ferocity was almost palpable. "No matter how strong someone is, they'll still die if their throat is cut!"

She was currently classified as a dungeon monster. Though she would revive after dying, her level and abilities would all reset to zero. It had taken her over half a year to accumulate her current strength.

She had fought her way up from level 0. She refused to start over!

She had not targeted his heart because those with powerful physiques had incredibly tough skin, making serious injury difficult. The throat, however, was a place many people neglected to defend.

She poured every ounce of her strength into this strike.

But in the next instant, Yi Tian vanished from where he stood, using [Three-Stage Flash Step] to appear behind the Black-Robed Man.

Two fingers lightly tapped her body...

Boom!

A crushing force like a mountain slammed the Black-Robed Man into the ground, robbing her of all strength and any means of resistance.

"There really was no hope..."

The Black-Robed Man lay sprawled on the ground. The pain in her body did not alter her indifferent expression, but a sense of helplessness spread through her heart.

Strength. Without strength, I can only be slaughtered at someone else's whim!

Without strength, I can't do anything. I have to become stronger!

The Black-Robed Man's despair vanished, replaced by an even fiercer determination to start over next time.

Yet Yi Tian merely sat down beside her. "Now do you believe I'm not trying to kill you?"

The Black-Robed Man froze at his words... He was right. She was no match for Yi Tian at all. If he wanted to kill her, he would already have done it.

"Do you have something even crueler in mind?"

She propped herself up, revealing the face beneath her black robe to Yi Tian.

It was an extraordinarily sinister face. One half was stunningly beautiful and cold, giving her the air of a venomous beauty, while the other was covered in black spider lily markings and exuded an ominous aura.

Yi Tian paused, because the black markings covering half her face were not tattoos or anything of the sort...

They were the mark of Evil Demons!

This was someone corrupted by Evil Demons. In theory, she should long since have become one of them and lost her reason.

The Black-Robed Man looked up and met Yi Tian's eyes, baffled and unable to fathom what this boy wanted.

Yi Tian, meanwhile, opened her résumé...

[Name: Alice]

[Basic information: Female, 33 years old, Human Race of the Origin Martial World, class-Origin Martial Fighter / dungeon Elite Monster]

[Potential: Special (dungeon bug)]

[Life history: The foremost female fighter of the Origin Martial World. Encountered abyssal corruption while exploring the Abyssal Wormhole. Through extraordinary willpower, she resisted the corruption, becoming a half-human, half-demon monster and awakening the ability to travel through space...

Later, an unknown entity shattered the Abyssal Wormhole, destroying it and breaking it into multiple dungeons. After becoming a dungeon monster, Alice did not lose her memories. Instead, her half-human, half-demon form awakened a monster template, allowing her to evolve by killing enemies. However, she has remained trapped within the dungeons.]

[Investment opportunity: Hidden class-Blade Queen (60 funding points)]

The amount of information in this résumé was staggering.

The Origin Martial World, an abyssal insect nest, a half-human, half-demon existence, a monster that was effectively a dungeon bug...

Every term lay outside Yi Tian's knowledge. The only thing he had expected was probably the hidden class offered by her special potential.

"The Origin Martial World..." After experiencing the appearance of numerous Otherworld Passages, Great Xia had learned that beyond Blue Star, there were many otherworlds similar to the Yagu Dynasty.

The Origin Martial World was probably one of those countless otherworlds.

As for the other details concerning the abyss, Great Xia's textbooks contained no record of them... It's probably not just something I forgot, Yi Tian thought.

The Black-Robed Man, Alice, watched him warily. "What do you want?"

"To help you."

"Help me?"

Alice snorted. "Can you overturn the dungeon's rules and help me leave?"

Yi Tian shook his head. "I can't help you escape the dungeon yet, but I can help you become stronger."

As he spoke, he used his skill, and a contract landed in Alice's hands.

After reading it, Alice curled her lips into a sneer.

"I'd rather die than serve someone else again!"

"Heh..." Yi Tian chuckled. As a salesman in his previous life, he was not remotely rattled by rejection.

"Alice, what's your dream?"

"How do you know my name is...?"

"A tiny, insignificant ability."

Hearing Yi Tian's answer, Alice looked dubious.

My dream... As she considered it, Alice's expression turned vicious, her gaze resolute.

"Revenge!"

"Those scumbags who sent us to explore the Abyssal Wormhole, then sealed it off when they discovered the demonic corruption, refusing to let us escape!"

"So many people weren't even infected! They could still have been saved!!"

"Every enemy who stands in the way of my revenge has to die!"

As she spoke, Alice's hatred reached its peak. Her fury became almost tangible, and she nearly forgot Yi Tian was there.

Yi Tian's heart tightened. So the story glossed over in her résumé had actually been this tragic.

Still, it worked in favor of what he was about to say.

"Looks like your determination to get revenge isn't all that strong."

"How could it not be?!" Alice's eerie eyes glared at Yi Tian. "I'd do anything for revenge!"

Yi Tian smiled calmly. "Then couldn't you set aside your principles for a little while to get it?"

Alice froze.

A storm of emotions raged within her as she wrestled with herself.

Her principle of never serving someone else again came under relentless assault from the surging flames of vengeance in her heart...

After a long while, Alice shook her head. "It's no use."

"I've already been corrupted by the abyss. I can't accept any other power..."

"Unless your power is stronger than the abyss's corruption... which is even more impossible."

Hearing this, Yi Tian fell into thought...

Which was stronger: the abyss's corruption or the power of his unknown class?

He simply pointed at the contract in Alice's hand. "Why not give it a try?"

Give it a try?

Alice looked at the sheet of paper in her hand. A trace of hope and self-mockery entered her eyes, and then she pressed her handprint onto it...

The next instant, light blazed forth!