1 Prologue
"Status"
Level: 1
Name: Janu Dewanto
Class: <locked>
Sub-class: <locked>
Title: <no title>
HP : 220
MP: 60
Strength: 45 (+)
Vitality: 40 (+)
Intelligence: 25 (+)
Spirit: 20 (+)
Dexterity: 30 (+)
Agility: 20 (+)
Luck: 5 (+)
Active Skills
- Appraise
- Craft
Passive Skills
<empty>
Stats Point: 70
Click (+) to allocate points
"What the..!?" Janu couldn't believe the Information Window in front of him. 'Isn't it a little bit OP? The stats are way above newly awakened's. And what is this sub-class? Never heard of it. The hell.. I already have skills. Looks like I'll be a Blacksmith. Who wants to be a smithy!? Life sucks.. Allocate points? No hunters in this d*mn world have free points. Not to mention point allocation. Well, maybe I can be a Super Blacksmith or something. Making tons of money with no risks. Hell, yeah.'
Being a blacksmith limited a hunter's freedom. He couldn't explore the dungeons - because his skills were useless in a fight against monsters - and only waited for the materials to be delivered to him. After the materials were available he did his job. No one really wanted the job, except those who didn't have the guts to enter dungeons. But because of his circumstances, Janu didn't really care as long as he got money, a huge amount at that.
"Aaarrrghh... Sh*t.. My head's gonna explode."
Suddenly Janu felt like his head was in severe pain and soon he fainted.
20 years ago, the Earth was a peaceful place to live, at least for some fortunate people. For those who considered themselves unfortunate had a hard time surviving in this world. Opportunity was not something they could get for free; they had to strive to create it. It waited for no men. They could still enjoy life, only if they managed their time and money well. For those spenders, however, they had barely enough to fill their stomach. They sought instant pleasure like gambling, getting drunk, and relieving their stress in some 'jasmine hotel'. The bottom of society was composed of all kinds of criminals. That was the world as we know it.
Yuda Dewanto was a Captain in a military base in Bandung. He just got married to Riana, his high-school girlfriend. A promising career and a beautiful wife was a life that many would envy in this uncertain society. For Yuda and Rianna this was their fairy tale which ended with 'they lived happily ever after'. Or so they thought.
Not long, suddenly an unknown phenomenon began to appear. Weird structures began to rise in the form of a cave on mountainous areas, a vortex on the sea, a burrow on the ground, and the like. Humans began to investigate it, but this new structure consisted of nothing. Its atmosphere, though, was completely different from the outside. Its air was denser but surprisingly refreshing. The inner part was like a labyrinth with many forks, most of which were interconnected and led to a dead end. Its size could reach the size of a small city. Only one path in each dungeon had a tightly-shut gate at the end with a symbol never seen before. It had a rune-like inscription in a circle form with a diameter of approximately 1 meter. In the middle of the rune was a symbol representing elements like fire, water, earth, wind, leaves and lightning. But there was only one symbol in each dungeon. No one knew how to open the gate or the meaning behind the symbols. Due to its mystery and unknown danger, the military took measures to limit the access. Only a selected few had the access: Investigators, which included military personnel, geologists, archeologists, scientists, and even zoologists and botanists.
The dungeons began to change at a slow pace that humans did not notice. The labyrinth began to bring life to grass and small creatures like insects, frogs, and even snakes. These flora and fauna were so common on earth that the investigators failed to recognize the differences. They were, if observed properly, slightly bigger, faster and in some cases more venomous. People who spent their time investigating inside the dungeon also underwent changes. Their body was fitter, stronger, and performed better by a considerate margin than normal people, even in the military.
Captain Yuda was tasked as the chief in command for the investigation in the area and like many who joined he was one of those whose body had been undergoing changes. This happened to people all around the world who went inside dungeons for a prolonged time.
Inside a military laboratory.
"How is the result, Prof. Margo?" asked Capt. Yuda without much expectation. He was almost sure that the result was better than the previous ones, like always.
"As you have probably guessed, it's better. It may even still be rising," Prof. Margo remarked.
Smiling, Capt. Yuda joked, "Well, glad to hear that. I may become a super soldier."
"We still don't know the side effects. But, don't worry. If there's any, it would have shown already," said the professor without much care. "You may leave now, Captain."
Soon, the report was sent to the higher-ups. Commander Baskara was the leader of the dungeon investigations in the nation and he got reports from his subordinates, one of which came from Prof. Margo and Capt. Yuda. Having stuck with no development in the investigation, he issued orders to the investigators to intensify the research.
"Come on, everyone. Make sure to keep your eyes open. We're here to take samples. Take one specimen of every plant and animal you can get," ordered Capt. Yuda.
"Roger, Captain," his four soldiers replied at the same time.
"Make sure all of you wear your gloves," reminded Dr. Gina, a botanist from Bandung University of Agriculture who joined the investigation.
"We don't want to take risks. So, please be careful everyone," added Dr. Lakso, a zoologist from the same institution as the botanist.
In less than an hour the team had already collected specimens they could find and they arrived at the front of the locked gate. The symbol on the gate resembles a leaf and it was still sealed. And soon they could feel energy in the form of bluish air sipping from the gate.
"Are you alright, Dr. Gina? Dr. Lakso?" Capt. Yuda tried to confirm after seeing the changes in their condition .
"I don't know what is happening to me. I feel dizzy and sleepy. Feels like I don't have any power," answered Dr. Gina.
"The same here. The air is so heavy. It's getting hard to breathe," added Dr. Lakso.
"Ugghhh.... Oh gosh, it's disgusting. Sorry, I couldn't help it," Dr. Gina threw up after nausea hit her stomach.
"Never mind, Dr. Gina. Corporal Jono, take Dr. Gina and Dr. Lakso back to the base. Sergeant Anton, help them with the specimens.'
"Roger, Captain," the two soldiers took the order.
"It seems this bluish air is responsible for the sickness, Captain," said Sergeant Bimo, one of the remaining soldiers.
"Most likely. Make sure to record this. Stand back," Capt. Yuda said while knocking the gate lightly several times with his rifle stock. Seeing no results, he pondered, 'Nothing happens. How can we open this gate?' Just as he thought about it, the gate and the ground started trembling.
"Captain, look, the blue air is getting faster," shouted one soldier.
BANG!!
"Aaahhh..."
'Godd*mn it!'
The three soldiers screamed at the same time. They even cursed inside at the same time.
A blast of wind from the inside swept and sent them flying several meters backward when the gate banged. They were rolling on the ground before stopping.
Groaned because of the pain, they struggled to stand up. The wind was so hard like an impact from a huge explosion.
"Are you alright?"
"Aye, Captain."
"It seemed my left shoulder was dislocated," said Corporal Ellyas. He was holding his left shoulder while gritting his teeth trying to suppress the pain.
"Hold on and take a deep breath," saying that, Sgt. Bimo fixed his comrade's shoulder in a quick motion.
"Aaarghhh...Huff..huff..." Cpl. Ellyas caught his breath after the treatment he received.
They were enraged and stupefied for not knowing what actually happened. But shocks soon replaced it. When the debris and dust cleared, their mouth was wide open: The gate opened! The sound of wind whistling could be heard inside the gate, giving a creepy feeling. It was dark inside but not impossible to see. Some stones on the ground and boulders emitted faint blue light. Their vision got clearer and they couldn't believe what they saw. What's in front of them was so astounding that they forgot their fear. A magical forest like seen in fantasy movies was beyond the gate. A path from the gate led to deep into the forest. Trees of various shapes and heights could be found there. The biggest and highest trees could be up to 30 meters in diameter and 80 meters in height. They were notably comparable to the giant sequoias on earth. Alien yet beautiful flowers were here and there. Looking up, there was a silvery moon hanging in the sky, but stars were nowhere to be found. It was like another world appeared in front of them.
"Sergeant Bimo, contact the headquarter," Capt. Yuda gave the order.
"Yes, Capt."
"Bravijaya, this is Black Hawk. I repeat, this is Black Hawk. Do you copy? Bravijaya, this is Black Hawk."
After repeating the same call for several times without answer, the team was sure that connection to the outside was not possible.
"What do we do now, Captain? Your order?" asked him.
"Can you move, Corporal?"
"Yes, Capt."
"Let's take a look inside. Turn on the recorder," Capt. Yuda led the other two inside through the gate.
The air was still heavy. Though the scenery was beyond imagination, nervousness made them unable to admire it. It was dead silent.
'I've got an ominous feeling about this.' "On guard, everyone," alerted the leader.
"Hoot... hoot..."
Feeling nervous, the soldiers aimed their rifle at random tree tops trying to figure out what creatures which scared them out of nowhere.
"It seems to be an owl. Relax, everyone." calmed Capt. Yuda.
They continued the exploration following the path deeper in the forest. But, before they even reached twenty meters....
Screeech.....
"Watch out!!" warned Sgt. Bimo realizing the danger.
A greenish humanoid creature with an ugly but menacing look jumped out of the bush trying to attack Corporal Ellyas who was at the rear.
Surprised, Cpl. Ellyas barely managed to dodge the ambush by dropping his body to the ground and rolling to the right, thanks to the combat training in the military. His left shoulder, however, was deeply cut by the attacker's weapon and blood splattered drenching his uniform. The recorder was dropped because of the attack. It was still on, though.
The attacker's weapon was a dagger which was made of bone, if not some kind of strange metal. It was quite hard to notice because it was not common in the human world. It was so sharp despite its looks. The attacker looked like a human in some ways. Its height was below an adult's average height and was skinnier than a normal human. Its eyes looked like those of human's, but smaller and rounder. Its ears were uglily longer and pointy.
"It's...it's.. a gb..gob.. goblin," stuttered Sgt. Bimo called the creature.
'Goblin? What the.. Is it some kind of fantasy movie?' Capt. Yuda couldn't believe what he just heard.
Angrily, the creatures tried to land another attack on its prey who sluggishly jumped backward. Seeing the scene, Capt. Yuda and Sgt. Bimo barraged it with their rifles making sure that it didn't hit their comrade. The creatures fell back to the ground from the impact, but soon it tried to stand back. Seeing the attack failed to kill the enemy, the soldiers were filled with terror.
'F*ck! How can a living creature be invulnerable to gun attack?' Bewildered with the reality in front of them, Capt. Yuda and the other two couldn't think of any possibility. Despite that, soon the leader gathered his thoughts and tried to stay composed.
In the middle of their confusion, the creatures executed a jumping attack to the victim of his first attack. Before the attack landed, Sgt. Bimo reacted and intercepted it. He blocked it with his rifle and to his surprise the attack was not so heavy. It lacked power, just like the strength of a male teenager or a young adult woman. At the same time, Capt. Yuda sent the goblin flying with his jumping kick. The goblin dropped his dagger before it even landed. Blood was seen dripping from its mouth. Now, it looked frightened. Capt. Yuda dashed toward it while grabbing the dagger on his way and stabbed it right through the heart. It grunted in pain and soon met its maker.
'What's with this monster? It's definitely weak but its dagger is so sharp. It can even leave a deep cut on human flesh with such a weak attack. Is it bone?' After a close look, it's now clear that the dagger was made of bone. A call from Sgt. Bimo brought him back from his deep thoughts.
"Captain, Corporal Ellyas lost so much blood. First aid can't do much. We must evacuate him soon." reported Sgt. Bimo.
Evacuating Cpl. Ellyas should be their first priority. But Cpt. Yuda felt that he needed to determine the danger this new world posed before going back.
"Sergeant Bimo, take Corporal Ellyas and the recorder back. I'll stay here to scout the area."
"But, Captain. It's dangerous. We must go back now," protested Sgt. Bimo.
"Don't worry, I'll avoid direct confrontation. Remember, we are now much stronger than normal humans. You can also see that goblin was definitely weak. I'll catch up after I finish," calmed Capt. Yuda.
Sgt. Bimo carefully supported Cpl. Ellyas tracking back to where they came leaving Capt. Yuda alone. He then once again carefully examined the dagger. He wondered what creature the bone originated from. When he was still pondering about it, a screen suddenly popped out, giving information about the dagger.
'What is this? It's like those in the game.'
Name: Bone Dagger
Type: Dagger
Rarity: Common
Attack: 25
Description:
A common dagger made of monster bone.
Equipable Skill:
- Normal slash
- Normal stab
The flabbergasted soldier needed some time to digest the information.
'If this is like a game, then...'
"Status Window"
Another screen popped out, giving information about himself. In it he could see his level, name, class, stats and skills.
Level: 1
Name: Yuda Dewanto
Class: Warrior
Title: <no title>
HP : 120
MP: 25
Strength: 25
Vitality: 20
Intelligence: 10
Spirit: 10
Dexterity: 20
Agility: 6
Active Skills: <empty>
Passive skills: <empty>
Equipped Skills:
- Normal Slash
- Normal Stab
'Are these skills from the dagger. Hmm.. It seems that I can get other skills if I equip different weapons.'
He then looked at the goblin's corpse and saw another screen. His status window disappeared and was replaced by it.
Level: 1
Name: Goblin
HP: 0
MP: 0
Strength: 12
Vitality: 10
Intelligence: 4
Spirit: 3
Dexterity: 8
Agility: 4
Drops:
- Bone Dagger
When he was examining the corpse, trying to figure out how to take the monster's drop, he faintly heard a strange sound. It was like some creatures talked in a grumpy manner with a language he had never heard before. Their voices were almost similar to those of humans. Capt. Yuda carefully moved away to hide himself behind a big tree leaving the corpse in its place.
[Look...!?]
[Who is it? Who is it? Who killed Kolock]
The two goblins ran toward the corpse of their kin.
[D*amn.. We must avenge him.]
[The blood isn't cold yet. The killer can't be far. Search for him.]
The goblins searched for traces around and they could clearly see the footsteps left by the two soldiers when they were going back.
[There..there.. Follow these steps!]
Seeing the goblins following the traces, Capt. Yuda couldn't just ignore it. Silently he followed them from the back and looked for a chance to ambush them. The goblins weren't aware of their surroundings because they were looking down as they moved.
Capt. Yuda dashed towards the goblin on the left when he felt the momentum was right.
'Normal Slash' He activated his skill while jumping towards and the attack landed cleanly on the neck causing the blood to splatter. Before the other goblin could react, Capt. Yuda raised his right leg diagonally upward to knock his enemy's head.
"Thud"
The goblin staggered and Capt. Yuda didn't let this opportunity go to waste. He followed up with Normal Stab, which went through the goblin's left temple. It died on the spot.
[Level Up]
Killing three goblins gifted him with a level up. He wondered what changes happened to his stats so he checked his Status Window.
Level: 2
Name: Yuda Dewanto
Class: Warrior
Title: <no title>
HP : 132
MP: 28
Strength: 30
Vitality: 25
Intelligence: 12
Spirit: 11
Dexterity: 22
Agility: 6
Active Skills: <empty>
Passive skills: <empty>
Equipped Skills:
- Normal Slash
- Normal Stab
'All of my stats are rising, except for Agility. Guess, it won't be enough to raise it with just one level up.' Then Capt. Yuda examined one of the corpses and a window appeared.
Level: 1
Name: Goblin
HP: 0
MP: 0
Strength: 11
Vitality: 10
Intelligence: 5
Spirit: 3
Dexterity: 6
Agility: 3
Drops:
- Low monster tooth
- Bone Dagger
Do you want to take <Low monster tooth> and <Bone Dagger>?
Tap to select the drops or you can <Take All>
Capt. Yuda tapped <Take All> and the items appeared on another screen.
"Inventory"
He could see his loots there. There were 10 slots in the inventory and he couldn't find any clues whether it could be expanded or not. He tried to take the Bone Dagger, but...
"System Prompt"
Cannot equip two weapons (class limitation)
'Too bad. If I could equip two weapons it would be much more convenient.' Disappointed, he checked the other corpse and took all what he could. He didn't bother to deal with the goblin corpses and moved deeper in the forest.
Outside the dungeon, the same thing happened to a number of awakened humans. They could see their own information in the status window, but they couldn't see others'. Some others didn't get the status window, but their strength was still beyond normal humans.
Those who had status window were later known as Raiders. They got classes and skills unique to their class. Among the known classes were:
- Knight, High Vitality and Dexterity which affected HP and endurance during fights. Role: Tank
- Warrior, High Strength and Dexterity, which affected the physical damage output and endurance. Role: Physical DPS
- Assassin, High Agility and accuracy, affecting the damage output, speed attack, and movement speed. Role: Burst DPS
- Black Mage, High Intelligence and Spirit, affecting their magic damage and MP. Focused on Offensive Spells. Role: Magic DPS
- White Mage, High Intelligence and Spirit, affecting their magic efficiency and MP. Focused on Healing, Buff and Debuff Spells. Role: Support
- Forgemaster (non-combat class), Average but balanced stats with Craft skill, enabling them to produce weapons, armors, accessories and potions.
Soon raid parties composed of different roles were formed throughout the world to explore dungeons. Many died during the raids, but the gain wasn't little. Humans began to reap unimaginable benefits. Almost everything they could find inside the dungeons proved to be invaluable. Some unique monsters dropped skill stones that enabled Raiders to gain skills according to their class, making them more powerful and effective in combat. Monsters' drops were fundamental in crafting weapons and making potions, while magic stones were essential in imbuing the products with magic, resulting in improved stats and performance.
The military also formed a rescue team with their best Raiders, including Sgt. Bimo and Cpl. Jono who became A Rank and B Rank Raider. They raided the dungeon, killing various types of monsters along the way before they reached the Boss Room. The room was a marsh and the Boss was a level 15 monster which had a body of a gigantic snake and a female human head. Its hair was snakes and its eyes were glowing red with a sinister glare which sent shivers down the Raiders' spine. The first attempt to kill the boss was a failure. Many Raiders managed to escape, but a few were so unfortunate. The Raiders who could still fight came back with reinforcements and with a different strategy. This second raid was successful with minimum casualties. It was good news, but the initial objective of the raid wasn't completed. Capt. Yuda was nowhere to be found inside the dungeon. He couldn't have been escaped, for if it were true he would have reported back to the base. This fact left the Raiders with gloomy expressions despite the successful raid.
On the other hand, all over the world raids gave different opportunities to raiders; they got different skills and their growth also varied based on their potential. As a result, Raiders were divided into several Ranks: S, A, B, C, D, and unranked, which was based on their skill tiers and stats.
Successful raids made Raiders prosperous. They got fame, money, and power. Conflicts, however, were inevitable. Many died from battles among Raiders. Civilians were also victims of power abuse. In the span of 10 years, fights for power had stabilized. Raiders established Guilds. Military also founded United Raiders, sort of Raider Guilds, but they had the authority to manage dungeon permits and uphold justice to protect raiders and civilians.
Five Guilds raised to the top: Srivijaya, Garuda Mystic, Red Moon, Abyss Dragon, Four Kings, and innumerable raiders aspired to join them. Those guilds had become qibla solely because they were led by S Rank Raiders; Raiders who obtained legendary skills and had highest stats. Only those viewed as untalented founded or joined smaller guilds, which didn't have the same privileges as those five big guilds.
No living creatures on Earth could understand why dungeons were formed, what purpose they served, how long they would exist, and what danger lurked inside. They seemed to have forgotten about those things. They only knew that the dungeons were just like gold mines ready to harvest. And that's the biggest mistake humans could make.
