He began wearing all of his new armor.
The Crye Precision JPC 2.0 plate carrier fit snugly across his torso, the Level IV boron carbide ceramic plates settling comfortably against his chest and back. He mounted the FN FNX-45 Tactical in a kydex retention holster on his right hip, its Trijicon RMR sitting ready. Extra 20-round mags of 7.62x51mm AP lined his chest rig alongside two M67 frag grenades, while three heavy 10-round magazines of .50 BMG hung from his tactical belt.
He doesn’t need his duffel bag anymore as it serves no use to him. The important thing right now is to get out of this god-forsaken place. So he walked forward, toward the crevice where he had crawled.
He stepped out from the narrow fissure and back into the vast, open expanse of the cavern. The harsh, pale blue light from the massive ceiling crystal illuminated the aftermath of the blast—a scorched crater, atomized gray sludge, and the smoldering, mangled remains of the Level 50 abomination.
John lowered the AN/PVS-31A night vision goggles over his eyes, the white phosphor lenses instantly enhancing the dim environment into a razor-sharp, high-contrast monochrome field. Through the ComTac VI headset, the ambient low-frequency hum of the subterranean cavern was crisp, every echo isolated with mechanical clarity.
He brought the FN SCAR-H up to a low-ready position, his finger resting comfortably along the trigger guard. With his newly maxed-out Marksmanship and CQC skills, the weapon felt like a natural extension of his arms.
His boots crunched softly against the loose gravel as he navigated around the smoking crater.
Ahead lay three massive, pitch-black archways carved into the cavern’s sheer stone walls.
"Okay where to now?" he murmured as he contemplated a plan. Now it’s dangerous if he’d go in blind. He has to scout it first.
John opened the system menu with a simple thought, skipping past the standard infantry weapons and navigating straight to the Reconnaissance & Surveillance tab.
[Reconnaissance & Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)]
[Available Item: Skydio X2D Recon Quadcopter / Micro-Tactical Drone]
[Manufacturer: Skydio Inc.]
[Specifications: Thermal / Optical Dual-Sensor Array, AI Autonomous Obstacle Avoidance, 360-Degree FLIR Thermal Camera, Silent Brushless Propulsion]
[Requirement: Level 15 (Met) | Cost: 0 SP]
"Perfect," John muttered.
"System, summon the tactical drone."
FLASH!
A compact, ruggedized carbon-fiber hard case materialized on the stone floor at his feet, alongside a ruggedized tactical controller with an integrated high-definition display.
John dropped to one knee, keeping his SCAR-H resting across his thigh. He unlatched the case, pulling out the folded Skydio X2D quadcopter. The military-grade micro-drone felt lightweight yet exceptionally solid in his hands. He unfolded its four rotor arms, snapped the high-capacity battery into place, and powered on the system.
With a soft, high-pitched chime, the drone initialized. Its FLIR thermal optics whirred silently as the gimbal calibrated, syncing directly to the tactical HUD on John’s eye display and the hand-held controller mounted to his chest rig.
John flicked the launch switch.
WHIRRRRRRR!
The silent, high-efficiency brushless motors spun up, creating a gentle wash of air as the quadcopter lifted smoothly off his palm. It hovered effortlessly in place at eye level.
"Take point," John commanded softly.
Using the thumbsticks on the controller, he piloted the drone forward. The Skydio X2D shot ahead like a silent shadow, vanishing instantly into the pitch-black void of the middle archway.
On John’s HUD overlay, a secondary split-screen window snapped open, streaming a live 4K thermal feed directly from the drone’s camera.
The dual-sensor FLIR array immediately painted the cavernous tunnel ahead in stark thermal contrast. Cold, jagged rock faces rendered in deep blues and purples, while the AI navigational sensors mapped the winding passageway in a real-time 3D wireframe mesh.
Fifty meters in... clear.
One hundred meters in... the tunnel sloped sharply downward.
At the hundred-and-fifty-meter mark, the thermal feed suddenly lit up.
Multiple bright, pulsating heat signatures, colored in scorching whites, yellows, and oranges, appeared on the screen, crawling across the ceiling and walls of a massive subterranean chamber ahead.
John’s eyes narrowed behind his white-phosphor NVGs as he zoomed the drone’s optics in.
[Target Identification: Spite Spiders (Level 20 - 30)]
[Quantity: 50 Signatures Detected]
"Okay, 50 spiders huh? Well if I went in really blind they’d come down and ambush me. How about the other route?"
Using the controller’s thumbsticks, John smoothly routed the Skydio X2D back out of the middle tunnel, sending it zipping into the left archway to check the first alternative route.
The live thermal feed on his HUD shifted instantly. The micro-drone moved through the narrow left passage, its AI sensors mapping a sharp incline that spiraled further down into the cavern strata.
Eighty meters in... clear.
One hundred and twenty meters in... the wireframe mesh expanded into a vast subterranean ravine with a roaring underground river at the bottom.
John zoomed the optics in. On the thermal display, bright yellow and white heat signatures illuminated the ceiling of the ravine, but they weren’t spiders.
[Target Identification: Abyssian Gargoyles (Level 30 - 35)]
[Quantity: 12 Signatures Detected]
"Gargoyles. Higher level, fewer numbers, but they’ve got the high ground advantage over a river," John observed, weighing the tactical risk. Fighting flying threats in an open ravine while navigating slippery terrain wasn’t ideal, even with his maxed-out marksmanship.
He pulled the drone out of the left tunnel and sent it darting straight into the far-right archway—the third and final option.
The thermal camera swept through the wide, cavernous tunnel. The walls were jagged, dripping with moisture, and cleared of any web structures or high perches.
Two hundred meters in... three hundred meters in...
The thermal scanner picked up a single, massive heat signature resting at the far end of a dead-end chamber.
[Target Identification: Iron-Hide Behemoth (Level 45 - Class-B Mini-Boss)]
[Quantity: 1 Signature Detected]
[Armor Class: Heavy Bio-Chitin / Armored Shell]
John evaluated all three reports displayed across his HUD.
To the left: twelve flying gargoyles over a treacherous ravine.
To the right: a single Level 45 heavily armored behemoth in a dead end.
In the center: fifty Level 20-30 Spite Spiders clinging to the ceiling in an ambush formation.
On a tactical note, he’d choose the less difficult monsters to enter through but there’s one crucial information that he still lacked, which is the exit.
Even if he had chosen the easiest route in terms of monster difficulty, it doesn’t guarantee that there is an exit ahead of it.
"Let’s see where these actually go," John muttered.
He engaged the drone’s deep structural mapping software, steering the quadcopter deeper past the initial monster groupings in each passageway.
First, John maneuvered the Skydio X2D further down the center archway, flying it past the fifty spiders clinging to the ceiling. He guided the micro-drone another four hundred meters down the winding passage, watching the controller screen intently. Suddenly, the live 3D wireframe mesh flattened out against an immovable wall of solid granite.
A dead end.
"Glad I didn’t waste ammo on fifty spiders for nothing," John noted cold-bloodedly, pulling the drone back out.
Next, he steered the quadcopter down the left-hand tunnel, piloting it past the twelve dormant gargoyles perched over the ravine. He navigated the drone along the line of the rushing subterranean river, scanning the rock walls for an upper ledge or connecting shaft. Two hundred meters past the gargoyles, the tunnel pinched shut into a completely submerged underwater siphon—impassable without specialized diving equipment.
Another dead end.
"Which leaves the right tunnel," John said, angling the drone straight into the third and final archway.
He guided the quadcopter through the wide, damp passage, steering it carefully into the high ceiling space of the final chamber where the Level 45 Iron-Hide Behemoth lay resting. Keeping the drone’s silent motors throttled down so as not to wake the beast, John tilted the thermal camera past the towering mass of bio-chitin and scanned the far back wall.
There, glowing faintly under the thermal optics, sat a raised, artificially carved stone dais.
In the center of the dais was a circular stone platform built around a carved ancient altar, etched with glowing runes.
On his HUD, the system automatically identified the structure based on his vision feed.
[Structure Identified: Floor 9 Exit Platform & Ancient Altar]
[Status: Sealed by Floor Mini-Boss (Iron-Hide Behemoth - Level 45)]
[Requirement: Eliminate Guardian to activate Teleportation Altar to Floor 2.]
John’s eyes narrowed behind the white-phosphor glow of his AN/PVS-31A night vision goggles. The center route was a trap. The left route was a drowned cave. The right route was the only actual path forward, guarded by a fourteen-ton, bio-armored nightmare.
A slow, ruthless grin spread across John’s face behind his mask.
He piloted the drone back to his position, caught it out of the air, and folded its arms before packing it securely into his chest rig.
With a heavy, metallic click, he unslung the massive Barrett M107A1 anti-material sniper rifle from his back. He verified the ten-round magazine loaded with .50 BMG MK 211 Mod 0 High Explosive Armor Piercing Incendiary rounds, pulled the heavy charging handle back, and let the bolt slam forward into battery.
"Looks like we’re taking the right tunnel," John whispered into his headset mic, his grip tightening on the .50-caliber beast. "Time to wake up the doorman."