Visit our Patreon for more:
Get membership in patreon to read more chapters♥️💫
Extra chapters available in patreon
patreon.com/Dragonscribe31
-----------------------------------------------------
While upgrading membership use this discount code"20D9C "
It will be available for few days only use it !!♥️⚡
---------------------------------------------------
When the three at the bus stop turned their heads, the sight before them was completely different from moments ago.
The hideous, blackened dungeon entrance—the one that had been pulsing with ominous energy—was gone. In its place stood Ethan, looking slightly confused, as if he'd just stepped out of a normal training exercise rather than a life-threatening riot.
As soon as he emerged, he was greeted by a ring of heavily armed professionals. Dozens of ranged specialists already had spells and arrows trained on him, their fingers twitching, ready to unleash a full firepower barrage if necessary.
Ethan instinctively considered using Dimension Shift to vanish from the scene, but the sheer number of armed professionals gave him pause. It would look far too suspicious to disappear now.
The city defense squad—well-trained and disciplined—quickly realized there was no threat. Though they had mobilized for nothing, the fact that this was a false alarm rather than a real dungeon riot meant no casualties, no clean-up, and no monster outbreak. That was a victory in their book.
One by one, they lowered their weapons and withdrew, leaving the area secure.
Ethan, meanwhile, quickly assured the team leader, "I was just completing a first-turn mission." There was no time to exchange details, and the moat squad—relieved this hadn't turned into a disaster—marched off to resume their normal duties.
Once most of the professionals were gone, Ethan's gaze settled on the three figures still watching him from a distance—Old Wang, the bearded master, and Lily Winters.
Old Wang and the bearded master strode toward him, their faces lighting with relief.
The bearded man was the first to speak, his booming laugh carrying across the plaza. "Haha! Good boy—you really are my future apprentice. You had me worried for a moment. What kind of summoned beast did you contract to survive that?"
Old Wang, though less flamboyant, still spoke with genuine emotion. "You had us terrified! You could've taken one of the easier missions, but no—you had to choose this one…"
Ethan blinked at them. "Uh… do we even know each other that well?"
The remark hit like a slap.
For Old Wang, the truth was they barely knew each other beyond professional interactions—and his first impression of Ethan hadn't even been great. The bearded master, for his part, had only met Ethan a handful of times and had kept his identity under wraps.
To Ethan, their sudden, almost overprotective concern seemed… odd.
Old Wang was equally surprised at the bearded master's behavior. Did Ethan truly not recognize the man's strength? That couldn't be—the image of this same man punching a speed-type stranger into a literal blood mist was seared into Wang's memory.
But Ethan's words had unexpectedly placed the bearded master and Old Wang on equal footing in his mind. And for some petty reason, Old Wang found that amusing.
"I just followed because I was worried your mission might be too much," Old Wang explained quickly.
The bearded master cut in, "Near the start, some skinny stranger poured a bottle of weird liquid on your dungeon entrance. That's what caused the riot."
Ethan's brows lifted. "Dungeon riot?"
Both men stared at him.
"You don't know what a dungeon riot is?" Old Wang asked, incredulous.
After Wang explained the concept in detail—how a riot locked the dungeon and forced either total monster extermination or the death of all professionals inside—Ethan finally understood.
So that's why things got weird. When he had first entered, everything had been normal, just with slightly stronger monsters than usual. But after his summoned beast Anti-Bone Boy killed the two giant sword guardians at the gate, the ground had begun to shake violently.
That was when the monsters went berserk. Every creature in the dungeon had started pouring toward him like water from a burst dam.
Most would have panicked. Ethan, however, saw opportunity. The labyrinth-like structure of the dungeon meant the monsters came in limited waves, preventing him from being overwhelmed all at once.
Even though the Nightmare setting boosted every normal monster to gold rank and pushed the boss to dark-gold rank, their raw stats couldn't match the synergy of Ethan's summons.
Anti-Bone Boy and Big Blade Boy carved through enemies like wheat before a scythe. Ethan himself peppered the fight with skill activations and support abilities, thinning enemy ranks and keeping his beasts in peak condition.
In the end, he held the dungeon entrance alone, slaughtering the endless tide of monsters before they could spread deeper.
When the boss finally appeared, it turned out to be a skill-less replica—all stats, no technique. Ethan's Anti-Bone Boy activated "Broken Army" and transformed into a berserk war god, shredding the replica while Big Blade Boy hacked down the true body.
It had been exhausting, but far from impossible.
To Ethan, it had almost been fun.
Of course, none of that lessened the fact that Old Wang and the bearded master had nearly suffered heart attacks waiting for him.
Still, relationships could be built over time. Feelings could be developed slowly.
Old Wang gave a satisfied nod. "Well, you're safe. That's all that matters. I'll get going." He figured that with Ethan's strength, he could handle anything in the Grey Mist Secret Realm—even if the man in black tried something.
Ethan returned the courtesy. "Go slowly."
That left the bearded master.
As for Lily Winters? She had taken one look at Ethan and felt an odd twist in her chest.
What's wrong with me? she thought. I'm not worried about him… I just still owe him a favor. That's all. I'll pay it back some other time. We're not even close.
Convincing herself of this, she boarded the next professional bus without another word, disappearing into the city.
The bearded master scratched his head. Ethan's earlier question still stung—he clearly wanted to keep his distance. Perhaps now wasn't the time to push for recruitment.
Damn it… and I forgot to get Lily Winters' contact info. Rookie mistake.
"It's fine," he said at last. "I'll head out too."
He walked to his sleek new car, started the engine… and saw Ethan walking toward him.
The bearded man's eyes lit up—maybe Ethan had decided to open up.
"Darunhua," Ethan said. "Thanks."
The bearded man almost choked.
"This is a new car," Ethan continued matter-of-factly. "You called the moat team earlier. I wasn't killed by the monsters—but I was almost taken out by them."
"…Get in the car," the bearded master muttered. "And put your seat belt on."
---