Jera's new safe house in Chicago was exactly what The Vault had promised: clean, anonymous, and completely forgettable. It was a small, one-bedroom apartment in a pre-war brick building, its windows facing a plain air shaft. It had no cameras, no smart devices, and no digital footprint.
Jera did not rest. He did not eat. He stood in the center of the empty living room for three minutes, allowing his internal sensors to confirm the building was secure.
Once satisfied, he re-equipped his DM-100 Mining Rig. His contract was active. His B-Rank license was legal. And his prey was waiting.
He left the apartment and walked two blocks to the contract zone. The entrance to the "Chicago Deep Tunnels" was a gaping, dark hole in the ground where a subway station had once been. A rusted, chain-link fence surrounded it, covered in warning signs from the Hunter Bureau.
The air that rose from the darkness was cold. It smelled like rust, ammonia, and static electricity.
Jera ignored the "DANGER" signs, hopped the fence, and descended into the pitch-black maw. He did not turn on his helmet's lights. His eyes, enhanced by the [System Trial] boost, could see perfectly in the absolute darkness. To him, the dark, winding tunnels were as clear as day.
He was the perfect predator for this environment.
The tunnels were a claustrophobic maze of shattered concrete and twisted rebar. He moved with total silence, his multiplied agility making his steps lighter than air.
He was ten minutes into the descent when he felt it. A flicker of movement in the shadows on the ceiling. A pressure change in the air.
An A-Rank "Shadow-Stalker" was hunting him.
The monster was a true creature of darkness. It was a 10-foot-long, insectoid beast with four obsidian-black limbs and two claws like scythes. Its power was its speed and its ability to "phase," becoming partially intangible as it moved through shadows.
It attacked from above, dropping from the ceiling in a silent, blurry strike, its claws aimed directly at Jera's neck. A normal A-Rank Hunter would have been decapitated before they even knew they were in danger.
Jera didn't even turn.
He simply raised his left hand, his new, compressed reflexes moving at a speed that was beyond the monster's comprehension.
He caught the Shadow-Stalker's main claw in his grip. Mid-swipe.
The monster froze, its A-Rank power crashing against an immovable object. It let out a shriek of pure, startled terror. It had been hunting a B-Rank miner. It had caught a god.
"Noisy," Jera's digital voice said.
With his one hand, he crushed the monster's obsidian claw into dust. Before it could even try to phase away, his other hand shot out, punching a clean, effortless hole through its head.
The monster went limp.
[Monster Kill: Shadow-Stalker (A-Rank). Experience Multiplier Roll: $\times 880$.]
[Result: Experience +88,000.]
[Level Up! Jera Murphy is now Level 79!]
[Level Up! Jera Murphy is now Level 80!]
Jera dropped the corpse, which dissolved into black dust. The experience from a single A-Rank monster, multiplied, was more than he had earned in an entire day of mining D-Rank trash.
This was the new grind. He had been wasting his time.
He continued deeper, moving from a silent walk to a swift, predatory glide. He was no longer a B-Rank miner on a contract. He was an apex predator, and he had just found his new favorite hunting ground.
The Shadow-Stalkers tried to hunt him. They came in packs of two and three, using complex, "phasing" ambush tactics.
It was useless. Jera's senses saw them before they even moved.
Punch.
[Level Up! Jera Murphy is now Level 81!]
Punch. Punch.
[Level Up! Jera Murphy is now Level 82!]
He wasn't fighting. He was harvesting.
He finally reached the main chamber, a massive, collapsed subway terminal. The darkness here was absolute. And it was moving.
Dozens.
There were at least fifty Shadow-Stalkers in this one room. They clung to the ceiling, the walls, and the broken-down trains, their forms barely visible as shifting patches of deeper black.
This was the A-Rank nest. This was a force that could have wiped out an entire S-Rank Guild team.
The moment Jera entered, all fifty creatures went silent. They had recognized the threat. They had recognized the being that had just slaughtered their patrols.
In perfect, terrifying unison, all fifty monsters phased and launched themselves at him, a tidal wave of intangible, A-Rank claws and fangs.
Jera stood in the center of the room and sighed. He was annoyed.
"This is messy."
He didn't bother punching. He didn't bother using his Inventory.
He simply flared his power.
[Action: Aetheric Pulse. Mana Multiplier Roll: $\times 100$.]
He released a single, controlled pulse of his S-Rank, L512 [Aetheric Shield]. It was not a block. It was an explosion.
A 360-degree sphere of pure, white, blindingly holy mana erupted from his body.
The Shadow-Stalkers, creatures made of darkness and "phased" energy, had no defense. The pure Aether was like fire to paper.
They didn't just die. They were vaporized.
The entire nest of fifty A-Rank monsters was turned into dust in less than one second.
The silence that followed was absolute. The dark, oppressive dungeon was now clean.
And Jera's interface exploded.
[MASSIVE KILL BONUS APPLIED.]
[Level Up! Jera Murphy is now Level 83!]
[Level Up! Jera Murphy is now Level 84!]
[Level Up! Jera Murphy is now Level 85!]
He had gained seven levels in less than an hour. The path to Level 100 was now clear and short.
He walked through the empty cavern, collecting his loot.
[Loot Acquired: Shadow Core (A-Rank) $\times 50$. Loot Multiplier Roll: $\times 777$.]
[Result: 38,850 A-Rank Shadow Cores have been added to your Inventory.]
His wealth was now so large it had lost all meaning.
As the last of the loot vanished into his Inventory, a new, crisp notification appeared.
[SYSTEM V1.0 UPGRADING TO V1.1...]
[...B-Rank Registration Confirmed.]
[...A-Rank Solo Clearance Confirmed.]
[...Professional Standing: ESTABLISHED.]
[...Upgrade Complete. New Feature Unlocked: Loot Multiplication Control.]
Jera analyzed the new feature. His System's loot multiplier, which had always been random (from $\times 8$ to $\times 1000$), now had a new option.
He could now choose before picking up an item:
[RANDOM ROLL (High-Risk/High-Reward)]: $\times 8$ to $\times 1000$[FIXED ROLL (Low-Risk/Guaranteed)]: $\times 10$
This was a "quality of life" upgrade, but a powerful one. If he was just farming trash for XP, he could gamble on the $\times 1000$ roll. But if he found a single, priceless, S-Rank artifact—like another Runestone—he could now guarantee that he would get ten of them.
It gave him what he valued most: Control.
Jera stood in the now-sterile Chicago tunnel. He was Level 85. He had a new, refined System. He had a new, reliable partner in The Vault. He had a new, dangerous enemy in Captain Kane. And he had a new, cosmic purpose: find the truth of the "Torn Dimensions."
He had completed his journey. He was no longer Jera Murphy, the victim. He was Cain Walker, the hidden Overlord. The training wheels were off.
He sent the contract completion data to the Hunter Bureau. His B-Rank license immediately flashed with the 8,000,000 credit reward.
He turned to leave the dungeon. His work here was done.
A new message was waiting for him on his private comm.
To: C.W.
From: The Vault
The Midnight Auction is ready. Your private booth is confirmed.
It's time to go shopping, Mr. Walker.