[Fishmen Lake Dungeon]

Rank: E+

Status: Pre-outburst!!

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"It's in Pre-Outburst state.."

"You can tell?"

"Yeah.."

Thanks to my Clairvoyance skill, I could tell that it was in that state. After seeing it with my skill too, it turned out that the dungeon was underwater.

pαndα`noν?1--сoМ I thought that the whole lake was a dungeon, but that should be impossible for a mere (E+)-rank dungeon to have that amount of scale.

"How can I even enter it? It's underwater.."

Goose looked at me with raised eyebrows. I could tell in a single glance that his expression was about to tell me the obvious answer. Swim and dive.

"What do you mean? Do you want to enter it? It's in the pre-outburst state!"

See? Just li– huh? Wait a minute. What?

I see.. I forgot that people here didn't know about a pre-outburst dungeon raid yet.

Staring wonderingly at the lake, I waited for a few minutes. I was thinking about whether should I raid it when it was still in the pre-outburst state, there would be so many benefits if I did so.

The dungeon in the state of pre-outburst would be much easier to kill. There wouldn't be so many mobs monster inside but instead, the boss would be enhanced. To compensate for the enhanced boss, the reward would be much better. At least one level higher than the reward should be.

So, if I was to clear this dungeon right now. The reward would have a chance of dropping C-rank items when it was supposed to only drop D-rank items as the highest.

If you ask me which was better, fighting a thousand mob monsters with normal rewards or one enhanced boss with enhanced rewards too. I'd likely go for the enhanced boss with a better reward.

Considering my stamina stats, that seemed to be the best option for the current me. But yeah, I couldn't underestimate the power of the enhanced boss.

Looking at Goose, he seemed to be deep in thought as he nervously bit his nails.

'I will need him if I want to clear the dungeon in the pre-outburst state. It's also better than fighting against them after the dungeon outburst and the monster started to flock out from the gate.'

After contemplating my decision for a while. Eventually, I decided to bring him along to raid the dungeon.

"Goose."

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Let's go in."

"Are you insane?! I said it's in the pre-outburst state, we will die if we go there!"

"Just trust me!"

I said as I jumped into the lake while dragging Goose together with me to the dungeon.

"You're insane!!"

Once in the water, I immediately dived. The water was clear. Even with opened eyes, it didn't feel aching and I could even see the dungeon rift clearly down there.

The water's pressure was heavier the closer we were to the dungeon. It didn't push me away or pull me in, it just that it was harder to swim under this pressure.

"Bluklukkukkblukmug!!" said Goose as he struggled in the water.

Ignoring his struggle, I pulled him forward and kicked him inside the dungeon rift first and I followed afterward.

When entering the dungeon it felt like being sucked in by a vacuum and then launched out quickly.

Crack-!

I hear the sound of bones breaking when I landed on the damp ground...

"Oh.. Fuck.. I think I broke my bone again.."

This weird shita$$ dungeon entrance was placed at an odd angle, fck! I should have expected it when the portal was facing diagonally upward.

Usually, the dungeon entrance portal was facing horizontally, with the portal standing perpendicular to 0 degrees of the prime meridian. In simple terms, stand like a human standing position, head on top and feet on the bottom.

Standing already was Goose, he didn't have any particular injuries on him even though I kicked him inside and might be falling faster than me.

"Goose.. Can you heal me?"

He stared at me with a cynical face. I thought he was going to ignore me but his heart was in the right place. Thank God he was not the vice leader of the biggest villain organizations yet.

"I will charge you for this."

He started healing me after saying that. Rather than pain, it was more like a tickle to me in the scapula area. Felt like there was an electric current running around the scapula and clavicle.

The process was done in the blink of an eye.historical

"Thank You. I'll pay you back later in cash.. or I can give you an immediate payout using a few secrets," I said while moving my shoulder, it felt fresher than it was before.

"Secret?"

"Yes. A secret related to the dungeon and its state. For example, this pre-outburst."

His eyes sparkled as he heard it. He seemed to think hard about it.

"What do you think?" I asked again to build his curiosity.

"Umm. I'm not interested," he said, shaking his head.

Dumbfounded, it was hard to believe that he'd passed a chance of obtaining unheard information. Looking at him while wondering why he rejected that, he instead gave me a flash of a smirk.

That smirk, I recognized it. He often did that smug expression as if he had won a battle. I knew what that smirk of his meant. He might already know about the pre-outburst raid.

Recalling back to the time outside the dungeon. I thought that maybe his attitude at that time might as well be that he was anxious, not because the dungeon would outburst and raid the village but because he was rather anxious about passing a chance to raid the pre-outburst dungeon while there was me around.

He probably didn't want me to know about the pre-outburst raid, and I thought that he wouldn't know that too. We both kept our secret very well..

But, it was not like that was the only thing I had to persuade him to work with me again in the future.

Being vice leader didn't mean that he was a strong individual, but he was a valuable asset to the organization. Even though it was a place where hierarchy was decided by power, as the weakest individual, he could still get a Vice Leader seat thanks to Utopia's leader who acknowledge his networking abilities that could provide a strong foundation and supporter for Utopia.

Making him my ally would bring me a lot of benefits, whether it was in present or in the future. Although he was the vice leader of Utopia, he was the only one who opposed the idea of accepting a demonic human to their organization. But what could he do when the only good thing he could do was to be a networker for Utopia?

"Then, how about a way to remove the drawback of your skill?"

His body flinched. No matter how hard he tried to hide his emotion, I could still feel it. He was desperate.

"What do yo–"

"Your EX-rank skill, is not a healing skill but is actually a restoration. Flawless Restoration. To compensate for its cheat-like restoration skill, there would be a side effect to limit its usage. The common side effect was a headache. But, that will be stacked, the more frequently you used your skill, the more severe the side effect is."

"You.. How did you?..."

He stepped back as he eyed me carefully. His body tensed and his hand reached for the knife in his belt bag. Looking at him, I raised my hand, signaling that I wasn't up for fighting.

Although his guard was lowered, his stance was solid, ready to attack or flee whenever.

"Now, now. Listen to me first, would you?"

His body was a bit relaxed again. He knew that he might lose if he was to fight against me, but he still bore his fang at me bravely. That was a character that a vice leader of villain organization needed to possess.

Even if you are weak, never show them your weak side to them.

The only way for people like him who fought using their brains to survive in the place of the strong prey the weak was an act and bluff. Never act weak, act arrogantly, and bluff every time you had a chance.

"How did you know about my skill?" His voice was low, almost sounding like a snake hisses.

"Let's say that I also have a skill equal to yours that gives me information about my target."

"An observation skill? Don't fvck with me. I'd have noticed it the moment you used it at me!"

"As I said, it was a skill with the same rank as yours. My observation is a bit special."

"So you obtained my information because of your skill? And was it that skill that told you about the cure to remove the drawback of my skill?"

Actually, no. It was not because of my Clairvoyance as it only give me the target's name, age, gender, and race. But, the knowledge of the future could also be considered a skill, right? Well, if he guessed it was like that, then so be it.

"It's just like as you said."

"Tell me first. What's the cure?"

Did you think I'd let you get it that easily?

"Don't wanna," I said while shrugging. "Only if you sign a soul contract with me then I will tell you."

He smirked nervously. "Didn't you say you want to pay me back with information earlier?"

"I did. I did say that, but it was before when you suddenly pointed your weapon at me. I won't take it lightly, you know."

Staring at him with a sharp stare, he flinched. Shaking his head, he lowered his weapon and put it back in his belt bag.

Raising his hand just like I did when I gesture for peace, he looked at me with a bitter expression.

"You're satisfied now?"

"Nope. I won't tell you until you sign a contract."

Taking out a scroll from my Storage Cube, I grabbed it tightly in my palm as I stretched my hand closer to his face. The scroll was opened, and what he saw was the content of the scroll.

It was a good thing I bought this scroll before I arrived at the city square.

The scroll was hanging open. The contents were not much, it just to ensure that he won't betray and backstab me. Originally, I was going to use this scroll to make a business contract with him, but the situation had gotten into this. I would say that this situation benefited me even more than I originally intended.

Sighing a long breath, Goose was eventually signing the contract.

"Good choice. Don't worry. It's not a slave contract."