Lucien felt that the system had gone crazy.

Would other hunters also receive this kind of option?

Has anyone ever attempted it and successfully broken through within a day?

Absurd. Nonsense.

But...

Lucien inhaled, his thoughts racing.

"Twenty four hours..."

Lucien’s mind flashed at the vague image of a dungeon in the Death Zone— white-green gate, worms.

He felt that he could get the required E-rank core tonight.

As for the money to buy the land—

If he sold the slimes’ materials, he could easily buy several plots!

Lucien’s inner soul paced around for a few seconds before he nodded firmly.

"I’ll do it."

It’s a gamble.

A huge risk.

But didn’t he almost abandon his humanity just to get stronger?

To survive the Death Zone?

There’s no way he’s coming back empty-handed!

The system flickered and a line of words appeared.

[Forceful breakthrough is starting in 3...2...1...]

Lucien suddenly felt a wave of energy coming from his heart— the same feeling as when he awakened.

Then, the next second— an invisible force squeezed his heart.

"Aarghhh!"

Lucien groaned, his face instantly turned pale.

Boom!

A huge amount of energy poured out of his heart, stirring his inside.

"Ugh!"

His blood boiled, every pore in his body opened and the energy swept through his veins and flesh.

Lucien felt like he was being melted alive.

His vision blurred.

His ears rang.

[Warning! Warning! Fainting during the breakthrough will increase the chance of a backlash!]

Lucien gritted his teeth so hard his jaw ached.

He yanked at his hair, forcing himself awake.

Seconds stretched into eternity and after what felt like days—

The boiling energy slowly settled down, but it was still shimmering, as if there was something unfinished.

DING! [You have successfully advanced to E-rank (Pseudo)]

[Countdown: 24:00:00]

DING! [You have unlocked 3 E-rank acquired skills (Unlearned)]

Lucien exhaled shakily, his back drenched in sweat.

"Huuu...huu..."

Damn it. That was so painful.

Even now, he could still feel the boiling force in his body, reminding him that this was a stolen benefit, a gamble.

At the same time, Lucien could feel his body lightening, his muscles getting tougher.

The flow of energy in his body became faster, smoother, and more abundant than before.

If he used his old skills again, the duration would be longer, the skill casting would be faster and he could cover a larger area.

Also, the three new acquired skills—

What could it be?

Lucien was about to check the status window when the system popped up.

DING! [Please choose your barrier’s trait!]

The image of a sphere barrier enveloping his house without a single gap spread in front of Lucien.

The sphere was still a black shadow with a white question mask, but three new options appeared beneath.

[E-rank barrier traits]

1. Devourer (-30% energy) (Offensive)

• Devour an intruder of an equal rank or below.

• 1% chance of absorbing the target’s trait

2. Reflective (-30% energy) (Passive)

• Reflect damage of an equal rank or below by onefold.

• 1% chance of reflecting the damage tenfold.

3. Unbreakable (-30% energy) (Defensive)

• Automatic regeneration without limit

• 1% chance to block one D-rank attack or above

Tick. Tick.

The clock behind Lucien continued to move.

Only thirty minutes left before midnight.

Lucien’s inner soul rubbed his chin, eyes opened wide.

All three options looked good!

The 1% chances were all tempting, but...

"The devourer barrier— can I choose which intruder to devour? And if it isn’t devouring anything, will it still work normally?"

The system flashed.

DING! [Basic defense consumes the barrier’s durability. A unique trait consumes the main dungeon’s energy.]

[The Devourer barrier is an active feature. The landlord may control it as he wishes.]

Hm? What is this? The system looked like it was answering him...

Lucien had a little doubt but he suppressed it.

The image of the Death Zone flashed in Lucien’s mind.

Thumpers.

Diggers.

Other unknown monsters.

Devour, or be devoured.

Already getting his answer, Lucien clicked on the panel.

DING! [You have selected the Devourer Barrier!]

[-30% energy]

[Main dungeon’s energy reserve: 70%]

In that instant, the purple crystal in Lucien’s bedroom dimmed, the energy flowed out of the house, slowly forming an invisible barrier shrouded in a purple-black aura.

With his 360° vision, Lucien could see the barrier twisting, moving, like the jaw of a beast.

For now, he couldn’t see what’s so special about the barrier—

He had to wait until midnight to test it out.

Seeing that there were still twenty minutes left before midnight, Lucien checked the two tenants again and found that they were already awake.

But...why are they just sitting on the bed, staring at each other awkwardly?

Lucien slowly rose from the bed and walked towards the tenant’s room, his heart still burning from the small side effects.

Inside the room, Lurenzo and Mumu stared at each other silently, the air thick with embarrassment.

"Hey..." Lurenzo was the first to break the silence, his face tense, his fingers gripping his gun tightly.

"What kind of monster are you?"

And your master...

Lurenzo swallowed his words and Mumu yelped.

"Muuu!"

Mumu is a slime! A healing slime!

Lurenzo heard a childish boy voice from the slime and he almost shot on reflex.

"W-what! You can speak?? Fck. Fck. I knew it! You and your master— ugh."

Lurenzo pointed the gun at Mumu.

His mind already played a scenario where he climbed out of the window to escape—

Until Lucien suddenly appeared at the door.

"GYAHHH! Ghost!!"

Lurenzo jumped out of the bed, rolled on the floor and smoothly hid under it.

"W-w-what! What! Are you here to eat me??"

The rogue merchant trembled like a sieve, looking like a lost lamb.

Even the mini dungeon boss in Lucien’s mind stirred, staring at Lurenzo with pity— while drooling.

Lucien shook his head and spoke irritably, his face soured.

"Heh. You blind. Am I a monster? Clearly a human."

"?? No, you are a monster! I saw it with my own eyes— "

"Tsk. Must be hallucinating."

Lucien waved his hand and pointed at the clock that was already about to reach midnight.

"Remember the death zone? We are going back soon."

Lurenzo paused, his mind churning with all kinds of questions.

Fck. Fck. Fck.

What the hell is wrong with this dude??

First, the monster thing— and he fought with Onous too.

Then the death zone...

Just what the hell is going on?!

Lurenzo refused to come out of the bed but Lucien only shrugged.

"No matter what, it’s too late."

Tik. Tik.

The hour hand pointed at twelve and the next second—

The entire house twisted, slowly entering a void.

Bzzt. Bzzt.

The television flickered again, broadcasting midnight news.

[The exploration team...found...a...dungeon...]

The screen showed a vague, flickering image of a dungeon gate—

One that Lucien was familiar with.

The next second— the TV’s screen darkened and a line of red words appeared.

[No Signal]

At the same time, Death Zone.

Thirty people clad in tight bodysuits and helmets lurked around the ruined buildings, not far from an empty plot of land.

Woongggg.

A white-green gate swirled several hundred meters away.

Thump. Thump.

The ground shook.

Giant figures slowly poured out of the gate, their figures loomed behind the red fog, sniffing—

As if searching for something.

A young woman with a red bodysuit hiding behind a bar with a pink-neon sign tapped her helmet, her voice cold.

"Report. An E-rank dungeon confirmed."

A static, muffled male voice sounded from the helmet.

"Zzzt. Species?"

"Giant worms."

"Zzzt. Report-ttt received. Our mission today— zztt. is to clean that dungeon and this street. Zzzt. Zzt."

"Roger— "

The woman was about to salute when the void above the empty plot of land suddenly twisted.

Hm?

The other lurking hunters subconsciously looked in the same direction.

Wongggg.

The void cracked.

A strange white fog suddenly spread, pushing away the wriggling red fog.

The looming giant worms behind the red fog seemed to smell something and they wriggled anxiously, their bodies simultaneously headed towards that place.

Thump. Thump.

The woman and the other hunters widened their eyes, their jaws slack.

What...?

Shaaa...

A blurry shadow appeared behind the white fog.

At first, it was like a mirage but soon, the thing solidified.

Sha...

A triangle shape.

Tak. Tak.

A square, block-like thing, standing one floor tall.

The hunters all held their breaths, their pupils shook.

That silhouette—

A house?

Everyone’s mind went blank for a split second.

What’s a house doing here??