“Hey, Sam,” the soldier said as the two stood in front of the large bronze door, “Got a smoke?”
“Shut it, Richy,” the other man grunted, glancing at his fellow guard, “We have a job to do.”
“What?” the first man chuckled, “Stare at a door all day? Don’t worry man, this is an EX+ Rank Dungeon, no one’s going to be stupid enough to try entering it. Plus, we’re completely surrounded by reinforced concrete. And it’s not like someone’s going to just randomly pop out of the Dungeon either.”
The two men glanced over at the door, nothing happening for a minute, before Richy chuckled again.
“See, told you.”
“Just shut up,” Sam sighed, “Seriously, you’re going to get court marshalled or something one of these days for being so lazy.”
“I just wanted a quick smoke,” Richy muttered, both of them blinking as the door suddenly began to hum, the pair spinning around to point their guns at it.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked.
“No clue,” Richy replied, grabbing his radio and calling in the strange occurrence, “We have a five-two-four, unknown activity from the Dungeon.”
“Roger that,” the radio buzzed back, the two men slowly backing away as they kept their eyes on the object.
Less than a minute later, a dozen more soldiers had joined them, all of them with weapons raised as the door started to swing open. They watched, eyes wide, as a man in gleaming gold and crimson red armor stepped out, his cloak flowing majestically behind him as he strode confidently out of the void beyond the door.
“Is this the outside?” he asked, his voice low and menacing, looking at the soldiers with hard eyes, before he focused on one of them, “I asked if this was outside the Dungeon. Is it?”
“Uhm…yes?” Richy squeaked, his heart racing as he was stared down by the man.
“Really?” the relief in the stranger’s voice was palpable as he relaxed, dropping to his knees with a clang as his armor struck the concrete floor, tears pouring from his eyes as he smiled, “Thank fuck! I’m finally out of that stupid fucking Dungeon! I’ll be able to eat something other than mushrooms and have a real shower!”
“Uh…” the soldiers muttered as they watched the man sob happily, their captain stepping forwards, his gun still trained on the man, “Excuse me, sir. Could you please identify yourself?”
------
“Christopher Trevor Sanders,” the uniformed man said as he sat at the table opposite Chris, who was eating a simple meal voraciously, pausing every bite to savor the taste as though it was a steak from a five-star restaurant, “No priors, only a couple of speeding tickets. Currently unemployed.”
“Yeah, that’s me,” Chris nodded as he swallowed a mouthful, “Fuck, it feels so good to be eating real food again.”
“I wouldn’t really call that ‘real’ food,” the uniformed man chuckled, “It’s just a hamburger steak MRE after all.”
“Close enough,” Chris shrugged as he ate another bite, “I’ve only been eating mushrooms for months. At least, I think it’s been months. Easy to lose track of time in a Dungeon.”
“Yes,” the other man nodded, “It’s been over six months since you were first reported missing.”
Chris suddenly choked on his food, grabbing the glass of water from beside his tray and taking a deep gulp.
“I’m sorry,” he coughed, “How long?!”
“Six months, two weeks and three days, to be exact,” the man replied, checking the folder in front of him, “That’s how long it has been since your father reported you missing to the police. Coincidentally, that was also the day after the Dungeons first appeared in our world. Is it safe to assume you went missing because you entered one?”
“I mean, yeah?” Chris said as he cleared his throat, looking back down at the food, before taking another bite, “I was…out for a walk, and I found this weird door. Stuff happened when I touched it, and I went inside.”
“Yes, we know about the Leveling System,” the other man hummed, Chris looking at him in surprise, “You aren’t the only one that’s entered, or even touched, these doors. Thousands of people worldwide disappeared into them shortly after they appeared. Barely a few hundred have managed to come out so far.”
“Ah,” Chris nodded, thinking back to his first experience in the Trial of Turmoil, shuddering as he remembered how close he’d been to dying to that Emperor Slime.
“Anyway,” the uniformed man said, “I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Sergeant Ryan Peterson, the person that has been put in charge of your debriefing.”
“Debriefing?” Chris muttered as he sopped up the last of the gravy from the meal with a bit of bread, “What do I need a debriefing for?”
“You just spent over six months inside a high Rank Dungeon,” the sergeant explained, leaning back in his chair, “A Dungeon that has already claimed the lives of over a dozen highly trained soldiers.”
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“Are you sure?” Chris asked, “I mean, I know it was set to Hell difficulty, but it wasn’t that bad…I think?”
“What do you mean?” the sergeant asked calmly, Chris just shrugging as he continued.
“Well, the first floor was just Slimes. I mean, yeah, they could turn into Great, King and Emperor Slimes way too easily, but if you hit them with some magic, they’re easy enough to beat.”
“Slimes?” the sergeant hummed, “I see. Please, continue.”
“The hardest part of that floor was the fact that there was absolutely nothing to eat,” Chris sighed, “Not even any water. Just this glowing moss that tasted terrible and gave you glowing diarrhea. Oh, and Slimes, but it’s a bad idea to try eating those as well.”
“I see,” the sergeant nodded, indicating for Chris to continue.
“Second floor was undead, stuff like Skeletons, Zombies and Ghosts. There wasn’t anything to eat there either. The third floor was a mushroom forest, lots of mushrooms, though most were extremely toxic,” Chris continued, “And the fourth floor was a rat’s nest, literally. Like, actual Giant Rats.”
“And the Bosses of those floors?” the sergeant asked, Chris just giving him a friendly smile.
“Well, it’s not like I can tell you everything,” Chris hummed, “Not without getting something in return.”
“I see,” the sergeant nodded, “Then how about an exchange of information? You answer a question for me, and I’ll answer one for you?”
“Sounds good,” Chris nodded, “That first bit of info was a thank you for the meal, so ask away.”
“What were the Bosses like?”
------
“Why are we here?” Elizabeth asked as she watched the four boys chatting casually, each holding a bat or piece of pipe.
“To check out this Dungeon, duh,” her best friend laughed, “I mean, it’d be rude not to come when Peter invited us.”
“But the news said-,” Elizabeth muttered as she looked at the strange wooden door standing in the middle of the forest.
“Blah blah blah,” Jessica cut her off, “Jeez, you gotta live a little, girl! Break some rules every now and again! Plus, we’re just going to be doing the Tutorial Difficulty, so even if we get hurt, we’ll just reappear outside the Dungeon.”
“How do you know that?” Elizabeth asked.
“Cause it’s happened to plenty of people,” she said, holding up her phone, “Lots of online posts talking about it. At least before they get taken down.”
“I don’t know if I trust that,” Elizabeth said, looking over as the four boys approached them.
“You two ready to go? Don’t worry, we’ll protect you from the monsters inside!” Peter laughed as he hefted the bat on his shoulder.
“I still think this is a bad idea,” Elizabeth whispered to Jessica as the other girl rolled her eyes, grabbing Elizabeth by the wrist and pulling her towards the door.
“It’ll be fine!” she laughed, pressing Elizabeth’s hand to the wood as she touched it herself, a screen appearing in both of their visions, “Oh! That’s pretty cool!”
“Right?” Peter laughed again, “Now, everyone has to touch the door at the same time to go in together. So, get ready!”
------
“Sounds like you had quite the experience,” Ryan hummed as he sat back in his chair, “What level are you now, anyway?”
“Ten,” Chris replied, Ryan nodding as he made an impressed expression, “What? It’s not like that’s all that high, is it?”
“Actually, yes,” the sergeant answered, “The highest level we know about currently is only eight, and that’s held by an elite in China.”
“Seriously?” Chris blinked in amazement, “So what, does that make me the strongest guy in the world or something?”
“Not necessarily,” Ryan shook his head, “We don’t know their actual Stats, but it’s believed that they’ve done several Dungeon Dives on at least Normal Difficulty, meaning that they had a Free Point multiplier of at least two.”
“Two?” Chris hummed, thinking back to when he’d first appeared in the Hell Difficulty Dungeon, “Cause mine was five.”
“What?”
“The Free Point multiplier for Hell Difficulty is five,” Chris repeated, watching as Ryan’s mouth dropped open in shock, “Uhm…is that a bad thing?”
“No,” the sergeant said, quickly schooling his expression back to neutral, “It was just a bit of a shock to find out you were getting, what? Ten Free Points a level?”
“Yep,” Chris nodded, “What’s the normal number?”
“Two,” Ryan hummed, rubbing his cleanly shaven chin, “If that’s the case, you might just be the strongest person on the planet after all.”
“Damn,” Chris nodded, “That’s kind of a scary thought, to be honest.”
“Oh, why?”
“Because,” he chuckled nervously, “I’m not entirely sure how I even survived. I don’t know shit about fighting or survival, it was probably all thanks to one of my Skills that I’m even here to begin with.”
“Which one?” Ryan asked, leaning in closer.
“Sorry, can’t say,” Chris shook his head, “I know it’s a strong Skill, so I’d prefer to keep it a secret.”
“Understandable,” Ryan nodded, unable to hide the disappointment on his face, “Well, would you be willing to share some information on your other Skills?”
“Sure,” Chris shrugged, “I haven’t actually looked at my Status screen since I completed the Dungeon, so I’d like to see what I’ve got now as well.”
Chris quickly summoned the screen, his eyes going wide at what he saw.
Name: Christopher Trevor Sanders
Level: 10
Class: War Magister
Job: Master Alchemist
Experience: 5876/51200
Health: 350/350
Mana: 150/150
Stats:
Strength: 15
Vitality: 25
Dexterity: 20
Intellect: 30
Wisdom: 20
Charisma: 5
Free Points: 0
Titles:
Leader, Explorer, Truly Ambitious, Mage, Giant Slayer, Survivor, Demon
Skills:
[Self-Regeneration lv 2]
[Studious Sage lv 2]
[Elemental Mastery lv 3]
[Weapon Mastery lv 1]
[Armor Mastery lv 1]
[Alchemical Magic lv 1]
[Potioncraft lv 1]
“Is something wrong?” Ryan asked, Chris jumping at his words, before shaking his head frantically.
“N-no, just surprised by all the new Skills I have after getting a Class and Job,” he said, taking a deep breath to calm himself down, “Sorry, do you mind if I check all of these before I tell you anything?”
“Go ahead,” Ryan nodded.
Chris quickly opened the screens explaining the new Skills, his face going pale as he stared at the words.
[Self-Regeneration lv 2. Rank S. Regain 1 Health and Mana per second when out of combat. Regain 1 Health and Mana per 5 seconds when in combat.]
[Studious Sage lv 2. Rank SSS. Halves Experience gained. Grants Knowledge on myriad topics.]
[Elemental Mastery lv 3. Rank S. Control all elemental energies with magic.]
[Weapon Mastery lv 1. Rank S. Handle all weapons expertly.]
[Armor Mastery lv 1. Rank S. All armor is 50% more effective when worn.]
[Alchemical Magic lv 1. Rank A. Alter the shape, state and composition of materials using magic.]
[Potioncraft lv 1. Rank A. Craft superior potions.]
“What the actual fuck?” Chris whispered as he read over the screens again, “Seriously?”
“Is something wrong?” Ryan asked again, Chris looking at him in confusion and more than a little fear.
“All my Skills…they’re at least Rank A.”
