Heaven's gate

Seeing Silas’s confused expression and his lack of knowledge, the centipede took it upon herself to explain.

“From time immemorial, this world has been connected to the Nether World, a world filled with nether monsters who are bloodthirsty by nature. They have been trying to occupy this world without success for a long time.

This world’s barrier is too strong, rendering them helpless, and the only way they found to infiltrate this world was through dungeons or small portals.

Seeing the threat posed by these nether monsters, the strongest people of that time came together to create a system called the Merit System, which operates based on the world’s law—autonomous and almost omnipotent.

People can obtain merit points for killing nether monsters, and to prevent infighting and damaging the overall strength, a system similar to the Merit System was created that uses karma points. Karma points are awarded based on the impact of crimes, such as killing people from the same world. Both systems are overseen by the will of the world, preventing any falsehood.

As the centipede said this, she paused and looked at Silas, giving him time to let her words sink in. Silas understood that the only reason he was still alive was because they belonged to the same faction, and the centipede had decided to show him mercy as he had not killed anyone from the same faction yet.

On the other hand, the Noctisnappers had the right to retaliate, as he had pushed them to the brink of extinction by stealing their only food source. They absolutely had every right to retaliate against him.

Silas nodded slowly, thankful for his cautious personality; otherwise, his head would have been targeted by a bounty hunter sooner or later if his actions had continued.

Now, back to the topic.

Dungeon breaks usually happen when a dungeon is filled to the brim, overloading it and leading to its collapse.

What prevents the dungeon from overloading in a short amount of time and creating an opening for the monsters to pour in is the narrow passage that connects both worlds. These gaps do not allow the nether monsters to squeeze in large numbers, so it takes many years for a dungeon to fill up, leading to its collapse.

Due to this, not many monster breaks occur, and those that do are natural disasters, turning the entire region into a dead zone.

"The bodies of nether monsters contain nether stones," the centipede explained. "Some of them also drop soul weapons, and very rarely, skill books."

This was the first time Silas had heard the term “nether stones.” He was unsure if nether monsters existed in the human world, and as for soul weapons, he didn’t have much understanding either. The only thing he knew was that soul weapons were rare and there was almost no supply in the human world, as the drop rates for them in the gates were pitifully low.

But upon hearing the term "skill book," Silas’s eyes lit up. He was very familiar with that name. Skill books were one of the rarest, most sought-after commodities in the human world, always in short supply. Silas knew that acquiring many skill books could make a huge difference in his future journey, especially since he had the ambitious plan of acquiring all the elements. Without the corresponding skill books for those elements, all his elemental affinities would become practically useless.

And buying skill books was difficult. Even though there was a supply of them, it was rare to obtain the specific skills he needed, and the prices were extremely high. Some skill books couldn’t be bought with money alone and required special channels and equivalent exchanges.

However, there were still certain doubts in Silas’s mind. He wasn’t sure if the skills he obtained in this world could be used in the human world as well. If not, it would be a major disappointment.

After pondering for a while, Silas shook his head. These matters were currently too far away from him, and thinking about them would only waste his time. He could test it out once he obtained a skill book.

Seeing the pondering expression on Silas’s face, the centipede said, "It’s better to take you there and let you experience it yourself rather than let your thoughts wander wildly. I’ll take you to a low-tier dungeon—it shouldn’t pose any challenge for you with your current strength."

Hearing the centipede’s words, Silas’s eyes brightened. A place where he could unleash his strength without fear of retaliation—an ideal place for him to test his abilities.

The centipede, which was many times larger than Silas, used a couple of its legs to lift him by the neck like a cub. Silas was momentarily stunned and wanted to escape from its grasp, feeling defenseless, but he gave up, knowing it would be futile.

Meanwhile, the crabs that had previously been beaten by Silas looked at the centipede with awe, marveling at how easily the creature that had given them so much trouble was now being handled. Their eyes shone like gems, and some of the younger crabs even decided to venture into dungeons to grow stronger and bigger like the centipede. Silas, witnessing this scene, was speechless. Black lines formed on his forehead as he felt his pride slipping away.