The Counter Code

I stepped slowly into the second floor of the dungeon, checking my surroundings as I moved.

At first glance, there didn’t seem to be any major changes in the room, but I stayed alert, ready to take on any abyss monsters that might appear.

I tested out the item I got from the floor 1 boss:
[Magnetic Gloves], I’d never seen this drop before.

When I checked its stats, I was surprised to see that it was classified as rare equipment.

I started wondering: has the difficulty increase to Nightmare also affected the item drop rates?

Could it be that rarer items are now available as loot?

If that’s true, it would be a huge advantage for clearing each floor of the dungeon.

Wearing the [Magnetic Gloves] gave me a +15 STR boost and +10 AGI. On top of that, it also increased my Volta damage by 30%.

What really caught my attention, though, was the special skill the gloves granted:
[Magnetic Pull], which lets me pull enemies within a 5-meter radius toward me.

It’s rare to find equipment that gives a unique skill to its user.
This is a great addition to my item and equipment collection.

I also checked out the item I received after defeating the Watcher Drone.Exe:
[Automatic Hunting Drone].

I was shocked to find out it was also ranked as rare.

The effect was impressive too, it can be summoned for one hour, and it will continuously hunt any nearby abyss monsters.

That’ll come in handy for fights with large enemy groups.
I’ll save it for the right moment.

With preparations complete and both my ST and EP fully recovered, I started running through the second floor of the dungeon.

This floor is called Pulse Factory, and it’s themed around robotic factories tangled with endless cables and wires.

Normally, players have to avoid those cables, they’re dangerous.
But since I’m an EtherCode Volta user, they don’t affect me at all.

After a few minutes, I encountered the monsters native to this floor:
Voltings, drone-like creatures with bodies charged with electricity.

They usually travel in groups, and once they detect a player, they all attack at once.

Normally, tanks would block the damage while DPS players hit them from open angles.

But I’m a solo player. That kind of tactic doesn’t work for me. I have no choice but to take them head-on.

Fifteen Voltings rushed at me together, firing small lasers one after another.

I gripped my sword, [CircuitCleaver], and deflected their continuous attacks.

Their strikes felt stronger than usual. Their attack patterns had changed too.
But I was expecting that.

I dashed forward, unleashing [Volta Drive], my AoE saber skill that could wipe them out in one blow.

They tried to scatter, clearly recognizing my move that was a new behavior I hadn’t seen before.

But I just smiled and activated [Magnetic Pull], dragging them all back toward me.

SLASH! BAM!

I took them all down at once.

“Not bad... these gloves are definitely useful,” I muttered, satisfied.

…

Thirty minutes passed as I pushed deeper into the dungeon, defeating hundreds of Voltings along the way.

Eventually, I came across a new type of monster, Shock Crawlers.

They looked like mechanical quadrupeds with magnetic jaws.
They were drawn to anything metal or electric weapons, armor, you name it.

I figured as much.

They’re monsters that consume electricity itself.

To them, I probably looked like a five-star meal.

Without wasting any time, I struck first using my saber skills.

But I deliberately didn’t use EtherCode Volta. That would’ve been pointless.
They could absorb it and turn it into their own energy.

I returned [CircuitCleaver] to my inventory and drew a different weapon, [EarthDivider], a rare-grade sword infused with EtherCode Terra.

EtherCodes don’t just exist in players and monsters.
They can also be forged into weapons, if you have the right materials.

In this case, you need an Ether Core, dropped by high-level monsters who possess EtherCodes.

Luckily, I had one.
I crafted this sword using the Ether Core dropped by a boss during the Earth Day event.

Back then, no player had successfully unlocked that boss’s EtherCode.
The requirement was to defeat it ten times and only I managed to do it.

I had EarthDivider forged at the Netherbyte blacksmith.

Given that Volta is weak against Terra, this sword was a natural counter to abyss monsters with the Volta element.

Actually, every EtherCode has its own strengths and weaknesses:

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Aether, A rare EtherCode with both support and offense potential. Counters Umbra, and matches evenly with Void.
Void, Hidden and extremely rare. Dominates most elements, but is equally matched with Aether.
Ignis, Highly offensive, strong against Umbra and Aero, but weak to Glacies and Void.
Umbra, Specializes in debuffs and stealth. Beats Terra, Volta, Glacies, and Aero, but weak to Ignis, Aether, and Void.
Terra, Strong defense, resists Volta, but vulnerable to Umbra, Aero, and Void due to its slow nature.
Volta. Built for burst damage, strong against Glacies, but weak to Umbra, Terra, and Void.
Glacies, Excels at battlefield control, freezes Ignis, but loses to Umbra, Volta, and Void.
Aero, Fast and agile, beats Glacies and Terra, but weak against Ignis, Void, and Umbra.

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I’ve memorized every EtherCode matchup.
That’s why I’m confident I can fight any player or monster, regardless of their element.

With that, I was able to defeat the Shock Crawlers easily.
They couldn’t absorb the Terra-based attacks I unleashed.

That let me take them out quickly.

But strangely, some of them started using a move I hadn’t seen before.
They clung to me and then exploded.

The blast caused a Paralyze effect.

Fortunately, my [Nullwave Hoody] blocked the status condition.

They were nothing more than disposable mobs. Easy to kill.

After one hour of clearing my way through, I finally reached the boss area of Floor 2.

This place was called the Reactor Chamber, the deepest part of this level.

There it was the floor boss, standing silently at the center of the room.

It looked the same as always.

“Why hasn’t it evolved like the others? This seems… suspicious.”

…

..

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