After losing the Terralore match to the mysterious Puppetmaster, Deckard rushed to the macaque’s dungeon.

  He kept glancing over his shoulder, half-expecting the Puppetmaster to reappear, with some twisted logic about how after some thought, all of Deckard’s collection belonged to them. But they didn’t come. Whoever they were, they seemed content to honor the deal.

  The jungle trail opened into a clearing marked by the familiar stone tablet. Players crowded around it, chatting, trading, and forming groups. One by one, they placed their hands on the stone tablet and vanished in flashes of light, pulled into the dungeon’s special instance.

  Deckard allowed himself to catch a breath.

  The growing number of players brought a degree of comfort. With more eyes around, that thing was less likely to show up again. Moreover, he knew he could jump into the dungeon if something tried to harm him. Hopefully.

  Deckard paused, scanning the crowd, especifically, their weapons.

  They had spears carved from bone, machetes with jagged jungle motifs, and large wooden clubs. Almost no one here wielded the salt-crusted junk and shipwreck salvage he was used to seeing. There were no weapons made of pincers and shells, no rusty anchors or pipes.

  Checks out with what I read online. This dungeon is a great place to get weapons.

  Calls rang out from every direction:

  “Anyone with psionic skills or [Throw Rocks] come right this way. We need two more party members.”

  “Looking for someone to party with. I’ve got 40 Strength!”

  “Need one more party member! Must have [Psionic Push] or [Throw Rocks]. Over 30 Intelligence preferred!”

  “Buying [Leader Club] for 2 gold! Anyone got one?”

  That last voice hit a nerve of recognition. Deckard turned to spot Tristan—the rich brat he’d sold the [Coral Crusher] to. The kid kept flaunting his wealth around.

  After looking around for a while, Deckard approached the tablet. The noise around him faded as he stepped forward and touched it.

  Welcome to the Nest of the Armed Macaques

  Dungeon Level: 6–9

  Recommended Players: 4

  Boss: The Weaponmaster

  Elites: Macaque Leader, Jungle Tinker

  Dungeon description:

  Perched high in the jungle canopy, this is the territory of the macaques—territorial, aggressive primates that have learned to wield crude weapons.

  Defeat the Weaponmaster to claim victory.

  Would you like to enter? [Y/N]

  Are you sure you want to enter the Nest of the Armed Macaques?

  Deckard accepted.

  Light flared, and the world shifted.

  You’re alone in a dungeon. [Lone Wolf] empowers you!

  Deckard was on top of a thick branch. As he stepped forward, the branch gave the slightest sway beneath his boot. Looking down, he grimaced. He was well above the jungle floor.

  He froze, heart hammering, then shifted his weight back. No mistake—falling here meant game over.

  Good thing I don’t have vertigo.

  In front of him stretched a winding path made of overlapping branches and vines. It snaked in large S-patterns, going through different trees and clusters of monkeys roaming on platforms of branches and leaves.

  The terrain is going to be tricky here. The guide says that I'll die if I fall.

  Usually, he just had to run and keep an eye on the chasing mobs. Here, he’d have to watch his footing, too.

  I don’t know if I’ll even be able to kite the macaques.

  It was one thing to throw cards and run away while standing on solid ground. It was quite another to do it while running across a perilous canopy, where a single misstep could send him tumbling into the abyss below.

  Deckard locked on the nearest creatures.

  Clubhouse Macaque

  Lvl. 7

  HP: 200

  You’ve inspected a Clubhouse Macaque. Your Understanding of it grows.

  They were short, thick-furred creatures with patchy brown coats and oversized wooden clubs gripped in their long fingers. Their arms were longer than their legs, and their knuckles brushed the vines as they roamed the platform.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  There were three of them. One was picking its nose and eating the results. Another scratched its backside with great dedication. The third was whacking its own forehead with the flat of its club.

  They don’t look like geniuses and they don’t have lots of health. That’s good.

  Deckard estimated the distance between himself and the macaques waiting ahead.

  I don’t think I need to go around to be in range. I can probably hit them from here, he thought.

  With the road being mostly made of S-shaped curves, he could throw cards across the pit that separated him from the creatures. That would buy him some time to deal more damage before they even got close.

  Deckard checked his stats. After losing the three shark cards, his base attack had dropped to 7, but thankfully, with the [Lone Wolf] title, it shot back up to 17. He was going to be able to hit much harder.

  He ran the numbers in his mind. [Heavy Shot] dealt 250% of his base—about 42 damage per hit. [Four Aces] guaranteed four critical strikes, doubling each of those throws. Then there was [Pinch Point], which added 150% if he could hit a weak spot within five seconds of activation. He tallied up the cooldowns, his energy regeneration, and the two ways he could reload his throwing deck.

  I should be able to deal comfortably with six macaques without running out of health, energy, or cards to throw. Let’s do this.

  He shuffled the cards in his hand.

  Four Aces!

  Four of the cards in the deck became charged with kinetic energy. With the four aces shuffled in, Deckard activated his next skill.

  Pinch Point!

  You’ve seen the weak point of a Clubhouse Macaque. Your Understanding of it grows.

  Bright points of light manifested on the monkeys’ foreheads.

  OK. So that’s their weak point. Let’s see if I can hit it from here.

  With a quick motion, Deckard rolled his shoulder and sent a card flying with all his might.

  Heavy Shot!

  The card hit one of the monkeys squarely in the chest.

  -42!

  Too bad. Missed the weak point.

  It still dealt good damage. A fifth of the macaque’s health bar disappeared. The creature reared back and shrieked, waving its club menacingly in the air. The other two snapped out of their haze and located Deckard across the pit, joining their injured companion in a threatening display.

  Wave those weapons all day, for all I care. You’re just giving me more time to hit you.

  He kept throwing cards. Pa, pa, pa.

  -17

  -17

  -34!

  After a few more throws, one of the macaques was gone.

  You’ve fought a Clubhouse Macaque. Your Understanding of it grows.

  “What?” Deckard blinked, surprised at how fast it fell. He had expected it to offer a little more resistance, to at least try to dodge some of his attacks. But these macaques, while having strong attacks, didn’t have much health or brains.

  The other two monkeys began rushing toward his position, agilely hopping from branch to branch. But to reach him, they had to follow a longer path around the treetop network, while Deckard could still target them from afar.

  Seeing that [Heavy Throw] was off cooldown, Deckard used it again.

  Heavy Throw!

  -95!

  The macaque was knocked back by the force of the impact. It flailed as it toppled off the branch, howling until the sound vanished into the green depths below.

  Deckard stared. Ninety-five? With a single attack? What just happened?

  While he threw cards at the last monkey, he finally pieced it together. I must have used Heavy Throw on a card that was charged with Four Aces. The two skills overlapped and stacked.

  Deckard kept flinging cards. Pa. Pa. Pa. As the third one finally arrived at his position, seeing that it had low health, Deckard tried his luck.

  Subdimensionalize!

  The creature struggled,but he got lucky. Even without much familiarity with these macaques, he managed to capture one on his first try.

  “That went much better than I thought,” Deckard said, pleased.

  He’d seen so many complaints about this dungeon online that he’d been scared of being thrown off the branches in his first battle. Why didn’t anyone mention what a dream this terrain was for a long-range attacker like him?

  He tapped his foot, looking over the browser at different guides.

  Ah. Now I get it.

  Suddenly, all the people outside asking for players with [Psionic Push] or [Throw Rocks] made sense.

  As someone who dealt exclusively ranged damage in the beginner region, he was quite the rare bird. Most players fought up close at this stage of the game. Even those under level 10 who called themselves espers and learned every ranged skill they could were much weaker than the real thing. Their true potential only kicked in after reaching the mid-grade cities and officially unlocking the esper class, along with all the bonuses that came with it.

  Although some enjoyed getting accustomed to the role of long-range casters early, most still relied on melee weapons until they reached the city and could commit to their build. It was simply more reliable—and faster—at this point in the game.

  He could see how fighting macaques at melee range, while constantly watching your footing, could get frustrating fast. But from where he stood, he could just keep hurling cards across the gaps in the road, with all the time in the world.

  He glanced down at the [Clubhouse Macaque] card.

  He was already familiar with this one. Ratu had used it in their first game too. It was a solid, offensive card. Three points for two cost was fantastic.

  What he really wanted to know, though, was which stat it would boost.

  He placed the card next to the repository. It sucked it in, and the nanites organized themselves into a new green page, with the macaque in it.

  Collection updated.

  +0.1% movement speed.

  Nice! That was one of the stats I needed most. The faster he moved, the easier it was to maintain the gap between him and his opponents.

  Deckard picked up the loot of the macaques. The first two only dropped coins, but when he got to the third one, he found a shiny card.

  Blunt Mastery (Common)

  Description: You’ve learned how to make the most of the damage from blunt weapons.

  Effects: Passive. +10% damage to blunt weapons.

  It was a pretty simple skill, but he could see how any warrior would like to have it in their arsenal.

  Let’s see what’s the Terralore equivalent.

  He tapped the card and pulled up its game profile.

  Blunt Mastery ??

  Rarity: Common

  Type: Skill

  Affinity: Nature ??

  Cost: 1

  Effect: +1 to a creature. Bonus triples if it’s [Clubhouse Macaque].

  Oh… I see what kind of cards these are. Like puzzle pieces—you need the matching half for the real payoff.

  There should be several macaques, each one with a weapon. Then, there were skills that always offered a weak effect, but manifested their full potential when paired with the right creature card.

  Deckard didn’t care much for this kind of high-roll deck. He would start the game strong if he got the right combination early on. But what if he didn’t draw the right combo?

  Maybe there are more powerful synergies as I collect more cards. Let’s see.

  Deckard spotted the next cluster of macaques up ahead and headed toward them.