Ray blinked his eyes, unsure whether what he was seeing was real or not. The dome that made up the roof above his head had pictures of strange humanoid figures slaying a gargantuan lizard-like animal. Most of these drawings were faded and covered in yellow moss.

It was a familiar place, one he had visited not long ago.

[You have resurrected to your last check point]

The never-seen-before system message flashed again, pulling Ray’s attention away from the structure. A frown found its way to his face. He looked down to his chest, half expecting to see a hole in there, but only found a smooth and unruffled jacket and a red muscle shirt underneath.

‘Huh! How can that be possible!? I’d clearly taken that arrow to my chest.’ Ray found it hard to believe. The pain he felt before death was as real as it could get. The distinctive burning feeling of his blood vessels, the soul-searing pain as the arrow poked his chest- how can all of them be mere hallucinations?

He looked around himself and carefully studied his surroundings. This place was the ‘safe zone’ of the floor before the one where he died. They had already passed by it once after slaying the lizardmen and clearing the floor. On one end of the hall, there was a door, sealed shut and no way of opening from his side. It can only be opened from the other side.

A similar door was present on the other side of the hall. The door was all too familiar to Ray. It was the gateway to the next floor, the place where he supposedly died. And also the place where he was betrayed by those three bastards. Ray’s heart burned with an uncontrolled desire to get back at them.

Rey had grown up in a world where people with power can easily ignore the laws of society. Lie and betrayal were as common as breathing. Besides, most, if not all, Raiders had blood on their hands. While he had never killed a fellow human, Ray wasn’t a virgin to these facts. Besides, the act of betrayal was like the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Taking a deep breath, Ray calmed himself down. Rationality took over as he began seeing things clearly. Those three were official Raiders, a title given to people who possess the capability to slay monsters that inhabit the dungeons. He, on the other hand, was only a porter with minimal abilities.

‘Wait!’ Speaking of abilities, Ray recalled seeing notifications about stealing something from his killer? Narrowing his eyes, he summoned his stat sheet.

Name: Ray Mc’Lore

Race: Human (M)

Job: Porter

Level: 1

Experience: 41/10,000

HP: 900/900

MP: 25/25

Stamina: 250/250

Attributes:-

Physique: 9

Endurance: 25

Strength: 11

Agility: 6

Intelligence: 5

Wisdom: 5

Abilities:

???(passive) Lv 0 Mass Reduction(passive) Lv 2 Crystalline Poison Arrow Lv 0

A lot of new things were added to his character sheet. The most glaring change, however, was his attributes. His pathetic single-digit values had increased a lot. Two of the biggest growth was observed by Endurance and Strength.

However, the real shocker wasn’t that, but his abilities. Ever since he awakened, there was that ‘???’ in his ability list. He tried many times but could never activate it. Once, he even paid a hefty price to meet a professional appraiser, yet, he found nothing in the end and had to return empty-handed from that journey.

He was forced to chalk it up to a system glitch. It wasn’t a new thing either. In the past, and still, now, many unfortunate fellas’ systems would glitch during their awakenings. Sometime it would show incorrect values and in other time, like his situation, would show something that didn’t even exist. The high-rising hopes he had for his future collapsed overnight. The job he got after reaching level 1 didn’t help either. It only sealed the deal of his mediocrity.

‘But I was so wrong!’ Ray thought as a smile formed on his face. ‘It isn’t a glitch but a very unique and powerful ability.’ Ray looked at the door for a while and shook his head. He wasn’t in a hurry to barge inside that room, not until either those three kill that thing or they get killed. Walking over to the side, he flopped down on the hard floor, resting his back on the wall.

‘Let’s see-’ Ray sorted everything he knew that happened before his ‘revival’ in this place. This ??? ability not only revives him after death, but it also gives him some of the strength of his killer. In his case, he got attributes and an ability. But, there were a few worries. One, he actually needs to die to get all these benefits, and second, there were checkpoints. He had no way of knowing which one was a checkpoint.

‘This needs further observation.’ Committing that to his mind, he shifted his attention to the newest ability. Information regarding the ability appeared in his head in a sorted manner.

Crystalline Poison Arrow

Lv 0(Max: 5)

EXP: 0/5000

Creates an arrow made of pure magic(stamina or any other form of energy can compensate for the lack of mana) carrying the property of a lethal, corrosive poison. The ability will cause (0*10)+(900*1) every second for ten seconds.

-Single targetted DOT ability.

-Guided, unavoidable but Blockable.

-Damage scales with the level of ability, level of the caster, and maximum HP of the user.

-Cost: 50 MP or 100 Stamina/any other form of energy.

‘Wow!’ Ray exclaimed as he read the description of the skill. The ability looks powerful. Even though it was still at level zero, it could still cause 910 damage per second, a total of 9100 damage in ten seconds. This type of attack power was enough to kill even a well-balanced level 2 Raider. Well, those with stronger jobs or with a unique ability, were excluded from the list.

But, it has to be noted that he was still a level 1 Porter and his ability level was zero. What if when he levels up the ability to five? What if when he reaches level 2? Wouldn’t this ability become even more deadly?

Ray’s face split into a smile again.

Sometime later, he stood up and walked briskly towards the door. Pressing his palms on the handle, he stood up silently, contemplating something. ‘It should’ve already ended, right?’ he wondered. It's been half an hour already. Either they killed the beast or got killed instead, it can be either of the two.

But no matter which one, he would be the ultimate winner. If the beast killed them, it should be wounded. He can take this chance to kill it and gain loads of exp. The loots from the dead bodies of those three would be a bonus. If it’s the other way around, he will the three raiders who should have exhausted all their strengths.

‘If push comes to shove, I can always resurrect here.’

It was the source of Ray’s confidence. The ability, whose true capabilities were yet to be known, and had ??? displayed as its name, gave Ray the necessary courage he lacked.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door… only for a yellow light to descend on him from nowhere.

[You’re afflicted with lethal poison. You will lose 500 HP per second for two minutes.]

[HP: 400/900]

[HP: 0/900]

[You died!]

[Ability ??? activates.]

[You stole +5 END, +20 PHY from your killer]

[Crystalline Poison Arrow +400 EXP]

[??? +10 EXP]

[You will be resurrected to your last check point]