"Berserker's Magic Beasthide Armor? That sounds like it's either amazing or a rip-off."

James took a closer look at the details on the card.

{Defense +30

Ability - Protects all vital organs from harm.

'The longer you live, the more you can stab them!'}

James didn't know if he was enthusiastic about the description written, but the armor did seem very useful. It would drastically increase his chances of survival.

"I can't take everything at face value, though. I have no idea how some of this stuff works. There's no way it can protect my vitals 100%."

But, James was still happy with the drop. At the very least, it was a nice chest piece. The outside of the armor was very tough, but the inside was padded and rather comfortable. As a bonus, when James put it on, he discovered that the size was self-adjusting. How this worked, James had no clue. But this meant that the armor was now shaped for someone very skinny-James himself.

James decided to wear the armor for now. He was currently shirtless, because his shirt had been torn long ago, and he used the rest of it to carry the magic stones.

He walked back to the entrance of the room to pick up his bag of magic stones, and put the berserk magic stone in it. Then, he turned to face the opposite side of the room.

Presumably sometime after he had killed the mini-boss goblin, another door had appeared on the side of the room opposite the entrance.

"I guess this is the exit then."

[Well then, I must take my leave.]

Announcer woman spoke.

[My job was to guide you to the end of the 1st floor, and even that was due to special circumstances. As you have probably guessed, I am one of the "administrators" of this dungeon, and thus I don't have the time to follow you around constantly.]

James was expecting this to happen. He didn't know who announcer woman was exactly, but she was definitely someone of importance, at least in regards to the dungeon. But he was worried about one thing.

"If I have questions about the dungeon, what do I do? Is there an automated system?"

[You can ask John, the dungeon shopkeeper. He'll answer any question about the dungeon system that you're allowed to know. But he's not allowed to give information on floors that will help you clear them. For that, you'll have to ask your fellow dungeon explorers.]

"John? Fellow explorers?"

James' curiosity was instantly sparked.

[You're about to meet them. Once you finish a floor, you are automatically led to the dungeon shop. You'll understand when you go.]

James nodded.

"Alright, thank you very much."

[Then, I'll be off. Oh yeah, try not to mention my help to anyone. I don't interfere a lot. Try not to die, James.]

And she was gone.

James suddenly realized that he was kind of stupid. There was so much he could've asked about. James doubted she'd tell him her name or anything, but now that she was gone, James realized something.

"When did she come? Back in the black space, the voice from the card was a recording. But the announcer woman he was talking to was clearly a person. At least... James truly hoped she was a real person!

James switched his train of thought to avoid a potential catastrophe. The announcer woman had mentioned that she usually doesn't help people like this. He should've asked her what made her take action and help him this time.

"What made me so special? I don't understand."

James got a clue about this much faster than he expected when he pulled out his dungeon card. According to the voice, all of his stats should have increased by 1 when he beat the floor mini-boss.

{STR: 8

DEF: 2

END: 2

AGI: 2

INT: 42

LUK: 27*$!9}

"Strength went from 7 to 8, intelligence went from 41 to 42, everything else went from 1 to 2. Looks good."

But James did a double take when he saw his luck stat.

"That's not even a number. I guess it's a glitch, huh."

But then James remembered that his luck stat was 9999 before, and that the announcer woman said that his luck stat was correct. What was going on?

James shook his head. It wasn't like he was trying to ignore these facts, but he didn't think he'd be able to come to a meaningful conclusion with what he knew. Besides, he was really excited to go to the shop and meet these fellow dungeon explorers. Would they be from Earth? Or from some other planet or world?

James placed his card back into his pocket, and heaved the bag of magic crystals over his shoulders. He looked down at himself and frowned. He was covered in blood and filth, and smelled awful. But there wasn't anything he could do about it. He steeled himself and opened the door.

Instead of a doorway, a mass of glowing particles rotated counterclockwise. James watched a few movies and played a few games, and he immediately knew what this was.

"A portal?"

Just like with the potions, the idea of a portal sounded very cool, but now that it was right in front of James, he was rather hesitant to go in. It didn't look very safe.

But, James was still stuck in the mini-boss room with no way out, so he could only go through the portal and hope didn't die.

"Well, here we go."

James stepped into the portal. As he approached the swirling lights, they became brighter and brighter until James couldn't see anything. James walked forwards as if nothing happened.

James squinted through the light. When the light died down, he was in a room that resembled the restaurant. Actually, it was almost exactly like a restaurant. Tables where people could dine were set up, and there was a bar. But, James then noticed something slightly disconcerting: everybody was looking at him. All ten or so people currently in the room had turned towards him.

Then, he heard the same automated voice speak out.

[A new dungeon explorer has entered the shop for the first time.]

Shit! Did he just get called out? Now everybody knew he was a newbie!

"Hey, you, do you speak English?"

A voice called out to him. The owner of the voice was a rough looking man with a large build.

"Yeah, I do."

James replied automatically.

"Not to insult you or anything, but you smell like shit. Go take a shower."