“Wait!?” Ray realized it too late that he hadn’t used [Inspect] on the sword to discover its abilities. The light had already teleported him out of the dungeon. The first thing Ray noted after coming out was darkened sky. It was already nighttime. The floodlights were doing their best to illuminate the football field-sized space surrounded by high-rising walls from all sides.

Adjusting the girl, whose name he didn’t know, on his shoulders, he turned around to face the monolith standing tall and almost reaching the sky behind him. The rectangular structure, which had a thickness of a house, had a rocky appearance and archaic ancient characters decorated all over its body.

Ray felt tempted to touch the structure and go inside again. He was eager to test his newly-obtained sword in battle, kill monsters, and level up as soon as possible. The sooner he gets rid of the Porter status, the better it would be. Who doesn’t want a better status? Now that he had the means of obtaining it, is there a need to suffer willingly?

Ray walked further away from the monolith, shaking his head as he did so. ‘I will have chances in the future. No need for me to risk it now.’

The walls around the monolith had surveillance systems attached to them, keeping an eye on the stone structure around the clock. If he enters once again, without booking beforehand, then he would face a penalty.

“Mhmm.. Ah-!?” The body on Ray’s shoulders stirred. Stopping his walk, he looked back only to see the girl moving her head ever so slightly. She made some strange inaudible sounds.

“Hey!? You are awake!” Ray pulled her out of his shoulders and made her lay on the ground. Her fluttered open as brown eyes stared into black ones. Her face contorted into a painful-looking frown, her brows twitched as sweat dripped from her face and brows.

“It- It hurts!!” That was the first thing she said after she became conscious. Her pupils dilated, and her mouth trembled as tears poured from her eyes, staining her cheeks. “Help me!! I can’t move my body, and it hurts so badly!!” Her cries for help were so heart-breaking that Ray couldn’t hold back a gasp.

Scooping her up, he carried her princess style as he made a run for the exit. “Hold it in, young lady! I’m taking you out now!”

As he gradually got closer to the wall, a tight-sealed iron gate came into view. It was the only entrance to the monolith surrounded by the walls. Ray pressed his hand on a device hanging next to the door hurriedly. The girl had lost her consciousness again, but her face still looked contorted, and tears hadn’t stopped flowing.

‘Hurry up, dammit!’

Suddenly, red lights flashed, accompanied by the blaring of the loud siren, as the steel gates parted from the middle. Ray quickly rushed inside. Many armed-to-teeth guards stood defensively on the other side of the gate, all of them staring intently towards him.

“Help!! This girl is in trouble!” Ray shouted to the guards. They looked at each other and nodded their heads before a middle-aged man came forward, wearing a face of vigilance. “I would like you to put your hand on this first.” He said, showing a transparent crystal to Ray.

“Huh!?” Ray took some time to process what was happening before a frown marred his face. He placed his palm on the crystal. The guards all looked tensed, especially the middle-aged man, whose hands often twitched towards his waist, where a small sheathed dagger hung loosely.

‘Looks like something happened when I was inside.’ Ray thought as he observed the guards who seemed to be on edge. ‘They are even asking me to prove my sanity… what the hell is happening here?’

It wasn’t an everyday protocol.

The crystal didn’t give any reaction for a long time. Both Ray and the man breathed out in relief.

“He is clear.” The middle-aged man shouted before taking the unconscious girl’s hands and placing them on the crystal. Like him, the crystal also didn’t give any reaction. It was only then the guards relaxed, and the middle-aged man showed an approachable expression.

“What happened to her?” The man asked, pointing a finger towards the girl in his arms.

Ray shook his head. “I don’t know. She got captured by the spiders and was inside a cocoon.” Ray relayed everything related to the girl he rescued to the man. He didn’t want to hide anything that could potentially bring trouble to his doorsteps.

“Ah! Well, don’t worry. It's just the spider’s neurotoxins. It will only make her paralyzed and give her a painful time, that’s all. Leave her in the infirmary. She should be fine after a few hours of rest.” The man said with a small smile. Just before he was about to turn around and leave, his eyes landed on the [Wyvern’s Breath] on Ray’s hands. “That’s a fancy sword you got there.” He commented offhandedly. There was no hint of desire or jealousy in his tone. As if he was just admiring the weapon and nothing else.

Ray frowned as his shoulders stiffened. A few seconds later, seeing that the man didn’t continue, he breathed out and sighed. ‘I have overthought things, it seems.’ Ray gave himself a self-deprecating smile. He was just like a beggar who got some money. ‘Maybe the treasure for me is nothing but trash in his eyes.’ He thought, watching the man walk away.

Knowing that the girl was fine, Ray wasn’t in as of a hurry as he was before. He quickly caught up to the man and asked politely, “wait a minute, sir. Can I ask the reason behind this sudden increase in security?”

“Devin.” The man grunted out his name. He walked over to the small platform on his left and sat down on a chair, wearing a frown. “A few hours ago, a Possessed appeared out of nowhere and caused some ruckus. A few Raiders died too. We are under strict orders to check everyone’s consciousness, who came out of the dunegion, before letting them inside.

“A Possessed?” Ray found it hard to believe. “You are joking, right? It’s just a Rank 2 Dungeon! How can there be a Possessed in such a low-level dungeon?” He was in denial.

Davin fixed Ray a glare, shutting the latter up. Disregarding Ray’s shaking form, he continued, “I don’t joke around these matters, and you are neither my friend nor my family that I would joke with you. If you doubt me, go in and see for yourself. The whole place is in a mess.”

Ray nodded to the man as sweat dripped from his brows, “thank you, Mr. Devin, for clearing my doubts. Pardon my rudeness there.” he said before scurrying away with a pale face. His speed was exceptionally fast for a person carrying another in his arms.

‘Scary! So scary!! What level is this man? He should be at least level 2, right?’ Devin’s glare shook Ray to his core. It had an aura of death that made him have a hallucination of drowning in a river of blood. It was only for a brief moment, but it left Ray in a mess.

‘Fuck! I wish I could run faster!!’