James’ palms became sweaty. He didn’t want to say that it had slipped, in order to save some face. Unfortunately, Mike spoke up.

Then, Leah leaned forward and stared at James. Then, after about 5 seconds, she said, “Mana flow, small. Either, very weak, or much stronger than me.”

James gave up. He guessed that Leah was talking about the amount of mana in his body, which should be small. There was no point in pretending to be stronger than his senior dungeon explorers.

“Yeah, it’s like Leah said. I’m actually really weak. Weaker than the average dungeon explorer. My physical ability is quite low, even for a human.”

“So, you’re a magic user, I take it?” Beck flipped his hair.

“No,” replied James. “I can’t use magic at all.”

This time it was Mike who talked. Mike looked at Leah, who nodded.

“I got basic fire, from first time in dungeon.”

Beck frowned, and then repeated his earlier question. “How did you do it then? A berserk goblin might be easy to kill, but that boss’s spear is quite deadly. If you’re really as weak as you look, you would’ve been killed immediately.”

James decided it was time to spill the beans.

“The goblin slipped, smashed its head on the floor, and died.”

“…”

“…”

After a pause, James added more. “Well, at least the first time. The 2nd time, I killed it by throwing a potion vial at it.”

After another moment of silence, Leah repeated what James said.

“It…slipped and…died…?”

Then, the table exploded.

“How did it slip?! What? What type of bitch-ass goblin was it?!”

“Dude, what the fuck do you mean the 2nd time!?!? You fought it twice!?!?”

Beck and Michael took turns swearing, and Michael’s British accent popped off again. They continued spouting obscenities that even a sailor would take notes on until John came over to stop them. John didn’t mind the cursing, and only told them to quiet down. After all, they were the only ones who spoke English in the shop. Eventually, the two of them calmed down enough for James to tell his tale. James told him everything, from the 2 fights to the potion vials passing through the barrier, and also why he wanted to buy the throwing knives.

said Mike.

Brett nodded. “That might be related to the fact that they’re indestructible. Now I’ve only known this guy for like 20 minutes, but I can tell: it’s really like James to find out something like that, huh.”

Brett flashed a blindingly bright smile at James.

said Mike.

Leah frowned. “Berserk, dangerous. Rewards. For me, not worth.”

“Wait, apart from their magic stones being worth more, do berserk monsters give more rewards?” asked James

“Yeah, they have higher chances of drops,” Beck answered.

Mike continued.

Beck looked at Mike. “Was it okay to tell him that?”

Beck nodded. “Aight, if you say so.” Then he turned to James. “Thing is, not every boss monster room has a barrier like that. Although, if what you said is true, it’ll be mighty useful anyways.”

James nodded. Then, he asked “By the way, what is the 2nd floor like?”

He wanted to have an idea of the next floor.

“Imps. Hate. Couldn’t hit magic,” said Leah.

Mike laughed

“Also, the first traps appear,” added Beck. “They’re really obvious though, so the only thing to watch out is to not step on them when you’re fighting imps.”

James nodded. “I think it’ll be a while before I can take it on.”

“I guess I’ll have to farm more orbs of strength,” said James.

“What?” Beck looked confused. Why are you doing that? That’ll take so long. Also, it’s inefficient.”

Mike questioned.

Beck said “Orbs are a way to forcefully push yourself upwards, and they’re rare too. You’d want to increase your stats by exercising and stuff before using them. Plus, as this is a place with mana, your body can be strengthened beyond the limits of a normal human. Well, you know about orbs, so you must’ve found one. You were actually really lucky to find an orb that quickly.”

James became confused. Some things that he had heard from the announcer woman simply did not add up. He held his head and thought for a moment.

“What are the stats for a goblin?” he asked.

What Michael said roughly matched up with the announcer woman’s information. James decided to tell the truth, or at least part of it. He decided to keep his luck stat hidden.

“My strength stat is at 9 right now, my intelligence is at 42, and everything else is at 2.”

Three voices chorused together. John, who had overheard the conversation, walked to the back of the shop and typed something into a phone.