Ascension from Dual Professions

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: The Dungeon Boss’s Strange Behavior

After the huge success of his first mob pull, Jon repeated the tactic. He lured another group of Rock Scorpions from a different area of the mine to his ambush point, once again showing off his masterful potion-throwing skills, and slaughtered every last one of them, earning 2100 experience points.

However, this method couldn’t be used just anywhere.

If he were facing other common mine-dwelling monsters like goblins or kobolds, the deaths of their own kind would frighten them. They would scatter in panic, hiding wherever they could, which would make clearing them out extremely troublesome.

But the Rock Scorpions were different. These big guys were essentially semi-Elemental Creatures that fed on ore. They were, quite literally, rock-headed.

Insect plus rock-for-a-brain... one could only imagine how ”touching” their intelligence was. To say they had a one-track mind would be a compliment.

This made them easy to handle, despite their ferocious appearance and impressively powerful pincers and tail-hammers, as long as one avoided a direct confrontation and used flanking tactics.

After all, according to the lore of the game *Yino*, this Abandoned Mine was just a level 5 solo Dungeon. There was no way it would be set up with any ridiculously difficult challenges.

And if, like Jon, one also knew that acidic venom could corrode the Rock Scorpions’ carapaces and prepared accordingly, the entire Dungeon run would be even more of a breeze.

But a game was ultimately a game, and reality was still reality.

And the difference between the two was what led Jon to encounter an unexpected situation.

Just as he was preparing to head to the final area of the mine and carry out his last mob pull, a giant scorpion the size of a calf appeared, blocking the tunnel!

Compared to the rest of its kind, this creature was exceptionally special.

Its silver carapace glittered dazzlingly under the faint light of his torch, and its back was covered with a layer of uneven, resplendent ore.

Combined with a size that far surpassed its kin, anyone would look at it and think, ’This thing is not to be trifled with!’

And that was indeed the truth, because this was the final BOSS of the Abandoned Mine Dungeon—the Scorpion Mother!

As Jon hid around a corner of the passage, observing the behemoth’s behavior, a sliver of doubt crept into his mind.

’It actually appeared in the shallow areas...’

’There shouldn’t be any ore here for it to eat... What is it doing here?’

From seven or eight meters away, given the generally dull senses of Rock Scorpion-type monsters, the Scorpion Mother was completely unaware of Jon’s prying eyes. It simply minded its own business, raising its massive, hammer-like tail high and bringing it close to a large rock in front of it.

Then, its thick tail pulsed and contracted, causing the hard shell in the center of its tail-hammer to violently retract and then slam forward, like a telescopic power hammer!

THOOM—

With a deep, muffled boom, the rock—which appeared to be taller than a man—was instantly smashed to pieces, sending dust and debris flying everywhere!

The immense impact sent a tremor through the surrounding area!

Jon, startled by the rubble rustling down from the ceiling, quickly moved to a more structurally sound part of the tunnel.

’Holy crap, that was almost as loud as using dynamite to blast a mountain...’

The young man patted his chest, his heart still pounding, and took a deep breath.

But as he marveled at the creature’s incredible mining power with its tail-hammer, his curiosity grew even stronger!

’Elite Level monsters do tend to wander, but this big guy doesn’t seem to be here to eat. What on earth is it trying to do?’

Originally, Jon had planned to use the fact that the monster hadn’t noticed him to sneak closer, land a few Poison Nails to weaken it, and then start the fight.

But now that it was acting so abnormally, he had to stick around and see what kind of trouble it was stirring up!

Because for a player, illogical events often spelled opportunity!

He adjusted the five Flying Nails coated with Poison beneath his Arm Shield, his eyes fixed on the Scorpion Mother’s every move.

He watched as the behemoth extended its pincers, picking up the shattered rocks one by one and crushing them, as if it were searching for something.

And, having shifted to a new vantage point, Jon gradually began to see what was going on.

The inside of the rock the Scorpion Mother had shattered was a dark, diamond-dust yellow, and it reflected tiny specks of light in the faint glow from his torch.

It was something he had no memory of ever seeing before.

’Is it some kind of high-grade ore? Or a fossil containing ancient Power?’

Jon’s mind raced. Then, in a flash of inspiration, he suddenly recalled a feature he had subconsciously forgotten—the Dungeon First-Clear Reward!

Whenever the game had a version update, all the top experts and major guilds would organize teams to clear the Dungeons.

They did it partly for the fame of getting the ”First Clear,” and partly for the extra rewards that came with it!

These rewards might be unique equipment or items, or even quests and special artifacts that revealed secrets of the game’s world...

In short, the first person or team to clear a Dungeon was guaranteed to get something [Unique]!

The reason Jon had forgotten this feature was twofold. First, he had started playing the game late and had never experienced the intense competition surrounding the first clears of the early Dungeons. Second, as an Ordinary player who wasn’t chasing the top ranks, he never would have considered participating in a ”First Clear” event in the first place.

After all, in the game, a ”Dungeon” was just a slice of content, sectioned off for players to repeatedly farm for resources. Not everyone had the drive or desire to be the first.

You could just patiently wait for a guide to be released, run the instance on a schedule with your buddies, and enjoy the pleasures of flaming your useless teammates and sucking up to the hard carry. Sooner or later, you’d get the items you wanted and be ”geared for the patch.”

As for the ”First Clear Reward,” almost everyone just assumed it was an honor reserved for the god-tier players who poured countless hours of blood, sweat, and tears into creating walkthroughs and sharing them for free.

Besides, apart from their [Uniqueness]—a trait more symbolic than practical—the rewards were never anything so ridiculously overpowered that they would break the game’s balance.

At least, that’s what Jon used to think.

But for the him of today, the situation was different.

He had transmigrated to the real Yino Continent, had become perhaps the only ”player” with a status panel, and had just so happened to arrive in a Dungeon that had never been explored...

’No, calling it a Dungeon isn’t quite right... That’s just the game’s term for it.’

Jon stared at the giant silver scorpion before him, his thoughts churning.

’After I clear this place out, will these Rock Scorpions respawn the next time I come back?’

Although he didn’t have a definite answer at the moment, he felt it was highly unlikely.

If the monsters in this world could respawn infinitely like in the game, the world would have descended into chaos long ago!

He suspected that for him, any of the so-called Dungeons from his memory—as long as they still existed and hadn’t been destroyed by the natives of the Yino Continent—would count as a ”First Clear”!

And if it was a First Clear, then there would naturally be a ”First-Clear Reward”!

And as for whether this theory was correct... that would all start with figuring out the abnormal behavior of the Scorpion Mother right in front of him!