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

<Yeah, I never asked. I am curious, but you don’t have to tell us. I mean, exposing an explorer’s abilities is kind of taboo. At the same time, you just entered the dungeon yesterday, and I can’t see you having any super strong ability that you’d like to keep secret.>

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.”

<What?> This time it was Mike who talked. <I expected you to be one of those magic users. If they come physically weak but with affinity to magic, an explorer will get their hands on a magic tome after killing the first goblin. At least, so I’ve heard.> 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?!”

<It bloody died?! From falling on its arse!?>

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

<Potion vial?! You threw one of those goddamned things and it died?! Sod off!!!>

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.

<I see. So, the potion vials go through barriers, huh. I never thought to check that.> 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.

<Although, I’m quite interested if this berserk thing actually works. If it does, it might help me run through the 18th floor faster,> 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.

<Leah’s right. Berserk monsters are usually much more dangerous,> Mike continued. <But not for me. I usually farm on the 18th floor, since I can clear it really quickly. You see, the boss skeleton on the 18th floor is usually really tough. You know that a berserk monster loses durability and health in exchange for a boost in speed and strength, right? A blood and flesh monster will start bleeding. But when that skeleton goes berserk, it hits my shield once and then its arms shatter.>

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

<Well, we’re all friends here, aren’t we? I mean, others might try to get money from you for that information, but I don’t care really.>

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.

<Haha, yeah.> Mike laughed <The 2nd floor is actually quite annoying. It’s full of imps who can fly. They’re pretty nimble, and they like to come at you in groups. It’s dangerous if you aren’t prepared.>

“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.”

<That’s fine. It took us years to get where we are.>

“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.”

<You do know that the dungeon stats are actually a reflection of your real strength in a mana-filled environment, right?> Mike questioned. <You can just work out normally. You look like you need it, not gonna lie. Your stats will increase that way too.>

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.

<Eh? I think its around 10 for tier 1, and around 20 for tier 2. You can think of it as a normal human child for tier 1 and a normal human adult for tier 2. Give or take a bit, though.>

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.”

< “WHAT!??!?!” >

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