Chapter 18 – Confrontation

Suddenly, there was a burst of white light in front of them as a translucent screen popped up in front of their eyes, showing their experience gained and points obtained for each of them.

"What's this?" Kiara asked as she looked at the screen curiously. "Hey, my level rose by 1! And I got 1,540 Store Points!"

The couple also got their level raised by 5 and 4, respectively, and Store Points, showing that they had killed enough monsters to earn those points. The difference in their current levels showed here. Kiara made more contributions than the couple, but she only leveled up by one.

Nevertheless, Vale was happy for them because they got a good harvest in this dungeon run.

As for him...

[Dungeon Contribution]

[Experience: 0 (Unable to gain experience from combat.)]

[Points: 120 Store Points]

Just as he had expected, he had hit the max level for now. Probably he would be able to level up and get stronger in the future. And the 120 Store Points was from him killing the initial 2 wolves.

Everything was good. Except for the words written on the Experience.

'Unable to gain experience from combat?'

It was strange. But it wasn't time to dwell in it. There was time.

"Let's return. Remember what I told you before coming here, okay?"

Everyone nodded at him and began to walk back to the entrance.

***

Outside the old hotel, people and police had gathered.

Rick Lor stood behind the police line. He looked at the closed door while tapping his feet impatiently.

"Why isn't this place reported faster?! People entered an hour ago and we can't even do anything because we can't open the goddamn door when there are Survivors inside!"

He was frustrated, but no one could blame him.

Not all dungeons were managed to be found on time. In fact, there were already casualties among Survivors in the US alone, totaling hundreds. People dreamed of being rich and strong by attacking dungeons or killing monsters. However, reality was harsher than they expected.

One dungeon had opened in Los Angeles before it was reported. There were a few people who tried to enter before the police arrived.

The result? They were wiped out and monsters were exiting the dungeons for 5 minutes straight. It was a short time, but enough for monsters to kill a lot of people and injure the police who tried to contain them.

And now, this old hotel in front of him was the same. He hoped the four people inside were safe and would come out soon. The police had brought their Survivors, including him, in preparation if the people entering failed and the monsters poured out.

However, that worry might be for naught as he saw four people stepping out of the hotel and waving their hand at him. The one walking on the front was a white haired man, accompanied by a woman wearing a tracksuit. Both of them held swords, with one being real and one being a wooden one.

Reporters that gathered around took their pictures. Flashes of camera appeared everywhere, blinding them momentarily.

Rick Lor immediately approached them with a stern face.

"Are you guys stupid?" He asked with a loud voice. 

Everyone looked at him with a confused expression.

"Why did you come here without checking it first? Don't you know how dangerous it is?! News already spread how dangerous a dungeon is in Los Angeles! Monsters have no rules, and it's just pure instinct! You can die at any time! And if you die, monsters will escape the dungeons and kill civilians!"

"Oh, sorry." The white-haired man said with an apologetic smile on his face. "I didn't know that. But, you see? The dungeon is easy. We aren't even injured. Look, no bruises."

He said that as he showed his hand to him, which was free of any wounds or injuries.

Rick Lor was at a loss for words. This wasn't the first time he had seen Survivors returning from a dungeon, but he was usually greeted by bloodied people who had injuries or were limping.

And among the Survivors exiting the dungeon, they all told him that there was hell inside. Hell with a delicious reward. Even the easiest dungeon was difficult to finish.

But this guy said that this dungeon was easy? What a joke.

"Whatever." The police officer decided not to think too much. They probably just exaggerated it. "You lot follow me to the police station for questions."

"Why should we?" Vale asked, crossing his arms. "We don't break any law or anything."

"Entering a dungeon without permission is considered trespassing. If you refuse to cooperate, you will be charged with a fine or imprisonment." Rick Lor threatened him with a frown on his face. "Please, we just want to ask a few questions."

"How selfish." Kiara spat angrily, "We entered to kill monsters, not to be treated like criminals! Haven't you heard the World Announcement? Scenario 2 is coming soon. If the government selfishly limits our freedom to protect ourselves, then Scenario 2 will become hell! Do you want people to die a dog death like in Scenario 1?"

Her outburst surprised everyone. There was no one who dared to speak like that in front of a police officer. They either resigned themselves to their fate or were too afraid to argue back.

And her words were correct.

People had witnessed hell two days ago. The monsters were real, and people weren't prepared at all. They needed to survive, to defend themselves.

And dungeons were part of that survival game.

"And fine or imprisonment? Hah! How funny. Do you think that you can stop us from killing you first before you catch us?" Kiara glared at him coldly. "We have superpowers and are stronger than normal!"

She made a gesture of throwing her sword at him, which made him froze on the spot. His reaction was instantaneous, moving his hands in front of his face to protect himself while closing his eyes.

However, the sword never reached him. Vale had stopped it in time.

"That's enough, Kiara." Vale said as he held his sword with one hand while his other hand was on his waist. "There is no need for violence. Not now, at least." He glared at Rick Lor.

The experienced police shuddered. He unconsciously took a step back as he saw the cold look in his eyes.

"Tsk." Kiara clicked her tongue and grabbed her sword back, "Fine."

She walked away from the crowd and went to the couple, who were standing nearby with their equipment on their hands. They looked tense compared to the younger two. Never in their lives did they imagine threatening a police officer like that.

Vale looked at Rick Lor and sighed. "I told Aleksy Halych, the government agent, about this yesterday. Limiting Survivors' movement will only lead to a bigger chaos. Not everyone is as reasonable as me. The example was my partner, Kiara Hunt, earlier. If she rampages, no one but me will be able to stop her."

He deliberately mentioned Kiara's full name and gave the crowd a hint of who he was. Everyone knew the top 10 humans in this world, those who killed the most monsters.

Kiara was the second rank. And the one who could possibly stop her was either the first or the third ranker. With the third and fourth, people with the closest rank being Chinese, then there was only one possibility of who the white-haired man standing in front of the police was.

"Vale Gilstar..." Rick muttered audibly, his voice was heard by the police and masses alike.