The Devil's Cage

The mask pieces!

When he left the dungeon, Kieran had managed to grab a few of the bigger pieces of the mask, but when he came back to his room, his left hand was empty.

The mask pieces had vanished!

Kieran quickly opened up his notification tab and went through every single notification carefully.

Nothing!

Kieran even checked the notifications before he entered [Primordial Invasion], but he couldn't find anything about the mask pieces.

"Where did it go? Did the system take it back? Or…"

Kieran squinted his eyes as he thought of something.

He released his Intuition and the weak fire in his mind lit up in an instant.

The weak light shone throughout his body, his muscles, veins, organs, bones, even bone marrow. Everything in his body was bathed under the weak light.

Then, he noticed something different under the skin of his left hand: there was a black spot in the middle of his palm.

The spot was weird and unusual, like a piece of paper tainted with a drop of ink.

Kieran smiled coldly, and the next moment—

Wuuush!

Devil Flame burned high on his hand.

He was burning the air above his palm and the black spot in the middle.

Now Kieran could control his Devil Flame in a more meticulous, delicate way.

After his Spirit reached V-, he automatically learned this way of controlling his flames, like a grown up child learning to pick up something heavy.

There was no exact learning process, just growth, but the growth somehow exceeded the expectation of the person who clung to Kieran like a ghost.

"Aaaaargh! How did you find me!? Impossible!"

When Devil Flame touched the black spot, screams of agony sounded and the black spot burned off rapidly.

At the same time, Kieran felt hungry. He raised a puzzled brow.

Kieran was quite shocked because the hunger he felt was somehow familiar to him.

It was… Gluttony!

"Shouldn't Gluttony… Could it be?"

Kieran saw Gluttony self-destruct during the attempt to break free from the building that imprisoned the cardinal sins, but now… it had appeared again?

Kieran was quite sure that it wasn't a new Gluttony, but the one that he knew of and was familiar with, the one who wanted to taste everything within its sight.

Could it be Sloth's handy work?

Kieran didn't hesitate while he replayed the dream scene in his mind.

He let go of the bindings on Gluttony.

Gluttony flew out and devoured the fading black spot.

"No! You can't do this! Let me go! Get off of me! Get your mouth away from me! I'll tell you everything, please!"

Painful begging echoed throughout Kieran's room, but he wasn't moved. He didn't believe what the voice was saying and he also gave up on the possibility of an item drop after killing the black spot.

Without a doubt, should the black spot drop an item after its death, it surely would be a special Advance Rank item, at least rank II or rank III, even rank IV or rank V might not be exaggerating.

That was Kieran's original goal though, he had lost a lot after not getting a single item throughout the entire dungeon run. The loss made his heart heavy and painful.

Should the chance be given to him, he would not let it go.

As for the danger that followed?

Every single time he reaped his reward, danger followed, so this time would not be an exception.

Trying to get rewards without the risk? Not possible.

However, when Kieran compared his rewards from the dungeon run to the current Gluttony, the rewards seemed insignificant.

Kieran knew that without Gluttony's persistence, he would not have reached rank V that easily.

The fairness that was carved in his bone made Kieran listen to the munching quietly.

"This is what you deserve!" he said.

The devouring process was not fast but neither was it slow by any means.

When everything stopped, Kieran got the feeling that Gluttony still wanted to eat more.

After that, Gluttony fell into slumber. It seemed like the current Gluttony was much weaker than expected, but still alive.

"It's good enough to stay alive." Kieran lifted his mouth corner.

Then, more thoughts entered his mind.

"Maybe what happened just now in that dream-like sequence was not just a chance from the system reward, this sneaky bastard must have done some shady work also! But it seemed like he couldn't change the bigger picture, just messing with the edges of the process. Like the knight that represented Saint Thorns and the history of Primordial Invasion that got twisted." Kieran took in a slight breath.

He was quite certain everything that he had been through in the last dungeon was altered.

Why?

To confuse him, to divert his attention! To misguide him into an action that will defeat his purpose, thus leading him into a fake 'truth'.

Fortunately, Kieran knew his own limits.

Trying to find out what happened a thousand years ago?

Even if Kieran was from a thousand years ago, he couldn't do it.

So, after some general understanding of the history of the dungeon, he gave up in pursuing.

As for the real history about his friends in the past?

He really wanted to know but… the chance was gone.

[Dungeon Primordial Invasion has completely ended!]

Kieran sighed when he saw that particular notification.

Kieran didn't know whether or not he could get back to Joanna and the others. The appearance of the survivor of Dragon Sect gave him hope, but not now.

So—

"Wish you guys all the best."

There was no face to face goodbye, just a quiet blessing. The feeling hadn't changed since the last meeting.

After quickly tidying up his backpack, Kieran opened his door outside.

This time, he didn't board the train in a hurry, instead walking along the street around his room.

He was looking at the familiar yet strange scenery in his neighbourhood, wandering around without a purpose.

The last dungeon told him he had too little of an understanding of the 'big city', to the point that he had neglected the city itself.

Of course, Kieran wasn't at fault, because everyone had a limit, Kieran himself no exception.

He couldn't have divided his concentration into multiple things and excelled in every single one of them. Maybe a genius could, but definitely not him.

After understanding the kindness of the underground game, or rather, the big city, at least a temporary kindness, Kieran had a new plan: spend 4 days 'looking' at the big city, exploring this city that he should have understood better.

As for understanding the secrets in between?

Kieran wasn't that naive.

If the city really had some secrets, the players who had explored every single inch of the city would have found it a long time ago. Kieran wouldn't even have the chance to get close.

Kieran really admired some players' abilities to explore.

The so-called wandering without a purpose actually had a purpose. After all, the big city was changing everyday and Kieran had limited time at hand, so he came up with a considerable plan to explore.

First day, Wallway Street and the streets around it.

Second day, Harvest Inn and the streets around it.

Third day, the famous landmarks.

Fourth, and last, day, he would truly wander around and be a tourist in the city.

However, something happened on the very first day.