A roaring wave of heat washed over the clearing, incinerating the front line of the pack instantly.

  The goblins’ cries were snuffed out as they turned to ash.

  The moment the fire touched the damp boulders near the clearing, a deafening hiss erupted. Scalding steam exploded from the wet stone in a billowing cloud, and the rocks themselves cracked from the shock.

  Wind lifted Shane’s hair as he continued to peer inside the sudden mist. The smell of burning meat filled the air.

  It took a moment for the steam to dissipate, revealing what was left of the goblin horde. Though the front line had taken the brunt of the force, the ones behind had also been caught in the inferno, burnt alive to a crisp.

  Only soot and ash remained on the cracked boulders littering the ground.

  The man, forgetting to stand, just clutched his glasses as if he was trying to zoom in.

  “H-holy shit.”

  Heat rushed from his nose. He’d expected the backlash after summoning a dozen [Fireballs], but the moment he jammed the back of his hand against his face to stanch the blood, the flow stopped.

  It was a genuine surprise; he hadn’t realized how much upgrading [Skill Copy] from E to D-plus would dampen the side effects. It seemed his investment had been worth it.

  “That, that was wicked!” yelled the guide.

  A scorched goblin leaped from a bush, aiming its stone knife at the guide’s back. The kid hadn’t even noticed.

  Shane flicked another, smaller [Fireball] to take care of the stray goblin.

  The guide yelped as the [Fireball] burned it to a crisp.

  [Skill Copy] had been his first priority to work on. Without the weapon, this was his only combat skill, so it was the only logical choice.

  [Remaining HP: 99%]

  If he waited a few minutes, his HP should return to full health, thanks to the [Family Recipe Buff] he’d acquired.

  With the immediate threat gone, Shane turned to the man he had just pulled from the water. The man was staring at the field of ash before barking out a laugh.

  “Thank you for saving me,” said the man, scrambling to his feet as he vigorously shook Shane’s hand.

  From the way the guy acted, he seemed to think Shane had helped him out of the goodness of his heart.

  In truth, it had been more like clearing a clog from a drain. He hadn’t expcted an NPC to get to the portal first.

  To his slight disappointment, this meant Shane wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of searching for the portal. He’d been planning on shoving the guide into the water repeatedly to find it. Only NPCs could get stuck in the dungeon entrance since the devs hid it from players.

  While Shane was lost in his own thoughts, the guide hurried to his side, asking the new man if he was hurt. The man told the kid he was fine, but his eyes were fixed on Shane.

  The man straightened his soaked jacket, trying to look professional, and gave Shane a look that was part grateful, part sizing him up. Pulling a business card from his inventory, he held it out between two fingers.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Clearly, he thought this was a big deal.

  Shane stared blankly at the card. A familiar name was printed on the surface.

  [Josh Miller]

  Appraiser (C-rank)

  Wynn Guild

  Josh Miller was an NPC the developers had created based on 1spector’s avatar, a tribute to mark the famous streamer’s early retirement.

  The NPC put on the practiced, friendly face you’d expect from the HR manager of the number two ranked guild, Wynn. Shane found this interesting, since many players had struggled to get on the good side of Josh Miller.

  Unlike the meek and friendly mask he wore, he’d turn on a dime the moment someone said or did the wrong thing.

  Shane always went for the number one guild, so he didn’t really interact with the man except that one time he was doing a challenge of raising the Wynn Guild to become the bona-fide strongest guild in the world.

  Well, it wasn’t him that Shane had to be careful of. It was his nephew, the number two rookie S-rank hunter.

  “Mind if I ask your name?” Josh asked.

  “Shane.”

  Josh waited for Shane to say his full name, but he didn’t continue.

  “Okay. Listen, Shane. I’d like to think I’ve got a good eye for hunters. Starting at our guild would be a great launchpad for your career.”

  Shane wanted to answer, “Thanks, but no thanks,” but the words caught in his throat. It was a jarring sensation, as if his own vocal cords were tightening up against his will.

  [Behavior Lock activated.]

  [Your action has been blocked due to conflicting with the established character backstory.]

  [This is a one-time notification.]

  [From this point on, the System will auto-correct conflicting dialogue to be in-character.]

  It was the [Behavior Lock].

  The System was blocking him from saying or doing anything that contradicted his [Predator of the Seraphim] backstory. How he was looking for vengeance against the Celestial-class monsters that killed his family and whatnot.

  It was a constraint designed to prevent players from breaking character and shattering the world’s immersion, even when interacting with AIs.

  Apparently, his lone-wolf avatar didn’t even say “thank you” to a stranger.

  Josh took his silence as a rejection.

  “Alright, but think it over. You’ve got a good build with sharp eyes. My raid party is heading this way now, so if you can just wait a moment, we can all head down the mountain toge—”

  “Got a dagger?”

  Shane forgot to bring one.

  The dungeon Josh had been stuck in was still visible in the water, fading in and out of existence like it was about to disappear for good. He had no time to waste.

  Josh looked startled.

  “A dagger? For what? The one I have is pretty dangerous.”

  “To open the dungeon.”

  Shane watched the shift happen on Josh’s face.

  He immediately looked tense, his eyes going from the fading portal to Shane and back. But Josh, ever the professional, quickly smoothed his expression over. Shane could tell Josh was trying to gauge if he actually had the skills to back up his claim.

  Josh put on his friendly mask and said, “You can open that dungeon? I… didn’t know that was possible. I’ve actually never seen a dungeon like this before. It’s like it never fully spawned.”

  Shane just nodded.

  Josh kept talking, his tone cheery with a slightly forced edge.

  “Well, then, how about I lend you the dagger, and we clear it together? Looks like you’re out here with just a guide. Teaming up with the Wynn Guild should be good experience.”

  Hell, no.

  Honestly, babysitting NPCs were a pain in the neck. Not that they could take his loot or anything. He was just allergic to people in real life, that didn’t change much inside a game, either.

  A little lie couldn’t hurt.

  Shane gave a curt nod, and held out his hand, clearly gesturing for Josh to hurry up and give him the dagger.

  A wary smile spread across Josh’s face as he handed over a dagger.

  “Good thinking. My team’ll be here any minute!”

  Shane didn’t notice he was making the NPC uneasy.

  He was finally on the verge of completing his tutorial. Things were going smoother than he’d expected, at least in his eyes. He turned the dagger over in his hand.

  [Dagger of the Unwept (B)]

  A dagger that was used in forgotten rites to spill the blood of a sacrifice. Your attacks have a 5% chance to inflict the [Unstoppable Bleeding(D)] status effect, causing the target to bleed for 30 seconds, no matter how shallow the wound.

  Not bad. This would do. He glanced at his HP bar.

  [Remaining HP: 100%]

  Right on time.

  Shane was glad he didn’t have to go to the trouble of killing the guy and looting the dagger off of him. He steadily walked to the water’s edge.

  The blue portal twisted under the wavering water’s surface, like it would disappear for good soon. Shane needed to intervene to fix the portal into place and reopen the dungeon properly.

  Only one way to do that.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, Shane jammed the point of the dagger into the soft flesh beneath his jaw and drew it sideways.