Hearing Ash's infectious laugh, a smile bloomed on her face, her cheeks turning redder with embarrassment.

But suddenly, the lively atmosphere dulled as Ash paused—his Luck warning him of an approaching threat.

He grabbed Jessie, making her jump backward.

The stingers shot from the desert, striking where they had just been standing.

"So there are D-ranks too," Ash said, a mist of smoke leaving his palm and spreading across the sand.

More scorpions crawled out, their hides glowing faintly—signs of poison affinity.

Around twenty beasts emerged, hissing at intervals.

"Two bullets per beast. One to weaken its hide and the second to kill it," Ash calculated, his gun resting in his palms.

His mind was running at full speed. He had two options if he wanted to make this fight easier. He had underestimated these D-rank scorpions in the dungeon, which had pushed them into a life-threatening situation—but he wasn't going to waste his stamina on them anymore.

He had a special profession that allowed him to use weapons capable of killing beasts far above his level with ease. Not using that advantage earlier was foolish—something he understood from their last fight. If he had used his skills earlier, Jessie wouldn't have suffered.

He gave a quick glance at his system screen.

[Store Coins: 56,510]

He had enough coins to upgrade his pistol into a new, more trustworthy weapon.

[Burstfire SMG (50,000 Coins) – Short-range weapon. Three-round burst mode, optional mana-charging for added punch.]

It was only fifty thousand coins. He wasn't sure about its mana consumption, but he didn't have to worry too much—one of his skills restored 1–10% of his maximum MP per kill.

"It'll have to wait," Ash muttered, firing a bullet as he saw a scorpion rushing toward him. He needed some time to align his thoughts—he didn't want to regret his choice later.

Jessie watched as his bullet struck, sending fissures across the creature's tough armor. The second shot shattered it, killing the beast instantly.

She instantly understood what the battle demanded and cast her spell, 'Twilight Trap.'

It was a spell that drained opponents' vitality while increasing allies' defense. After reaching level 10, the spell had evolved, though its name hadn't changed.

Unlike before, it now also drained mana from enemies, replenishing her own. That wasn't the major upgrade—there was another. Now, any skills used by opponents under its influence had their effects reduced by 50%.

Ash nodded over his shoulder, noticing Jessie grasping the urgency of the situation. She was beginning to learn the true essence of battle.

A spiraling circle lit up, pulling all the D-rank scorpions within. Their vitality dropped, their defense crumbled.

Ash smiled, pulling the trigger—each bullet finding its mark. Every scorpion died in one shot.

Level 11 or level 15, it didn't matter.

Same bullet. Same result.

[+50 Exp]

[+320 Coins]

[+8 MP]

[+60 Exp]

[+240 Coins]

[+6 MP]

...

Each kill gave him three things—EXP, Store Coins, and MP.

When the battle ended, the mangled carapaces painted the sand green with blood and venom.

Jessie also received EXP for her contribution.

The system's EXP distribution wasn't unique—it was based on one's share in the kill.

Surprisingly, just casting her spell had made her eligible for 50% of the EXP from each kill.

Ash drew his short blade, kneeling on the sand, and started retrieving D-rank cores. He could ignore E-rank cores—but never D-rank ones.

He had already spent all his D-rank cores in previous battles, and poetically, these cores were his lifeline now.

"Want to see something new?" Jessie said, grinning ear to ear.

"What?" Ash asked, busy collecting cores.

Miniature stars manifested around Jessie, orbiting her like celestial sentinels.

Then one of the stars shot toward a sand dune, exploding like a grenade and leaving a crater that was quickly swallowed by shifting sand.

Ash looked at her, amused—it was similar to his grenade from the armory.

"New spell?" asked Ash, now curious.

Jessie nodded, the stars still orbiting her.

"How much did it cost?"

"Fifty MP per attack," Jessie replied, realizing she had just wasted 50 MP showing off. Her hands reached for beast cores to recover her lost mana.

"Not bad," Ash admitted, impressed. It wasn't a steep cost for the damage and area-of-effect it produced. But he didn't needed any MP to use his grenade still 10,000 coins for one grenade seemed fair against 50 MP/attack.

Ash stuffed his pockets with beast cores noticing a shimmering crystal inside his System Armory Inventory.

It was Glyph Seed. The system had allowed him to store it there—until now, he could only place armory items inside. But he realised some special items that helped him could be placed there.

He put some D-rank cores inside the Armory shop and also filled his pants with some and continued forward.

Jessie had her share of D-rank cores in her clothes too.

Continuing they were looking for any sign of life when Ash saw new system notification appear on the screen.

[You have entered Scorpion Lord's Field Dungeon]

[You have been restricted inside. Kill the Scorpion Lord to escape.]

[Your reputation is high. Restrictions have been removed.]

[Quest: Clear the Dungeon]

[Reward: ???]

Ash read the notifications, his heartbeat pausing at the word restricted, but he sighed in relief as he realized his reputation had saved them.

'So this is the use of reputation,' Ash realized.

He didn't see any scorpions nearby, which meant they had a chance to escape—but did they really want to?

He looked toward Jessie for an answer.

"Field Dungeons are different," Jessie said thoughtfully. "In field dungeons, beasts hold the authority, and they're most dangerous in their own territory."

"This beast must be equal to that King Scorpion, and we have to consider the boost it'll get from its domain," Jessie added, laying out the facts.

Ash was in a dilemma. Were they ready to take the risk? What other choice did they have?

On one side was a dragon that would kill them instantly—and on the other, a king beast.

If they decided to retreat, all their progress would be wasted, and they could still encounter another king beast—or worse.

The thought of retracing their steps through the endless desert wasn't appealing.

"Fuck it," Ash said, taking the lead, his eyes locked on his armory.

It was time for an upgrade.

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