Prologue B

Prologue B

A SIMPLE BARTENDER

"Give me your finest drink." An adventurer had just beaten the Magnum Dungeon and arrived at the bar all the way at the end of the dungeon.

"..."

Dionysus threw him a bottle of champagne that was well known throughout the world for being one of the most intoxicating drinks. The adventurer observed the bottle before taking off the cork and beginning to down it.

"Thanks."

The only reason Dionysus had thrown him a bottle was because the guy was someone who came to his bar on a daily basis. To reach his bar, people had to beat a whole dungeon, as it was the "treasure" of the dungeon. For that reason, he trusted this man who constantly risked his life to come here.

"You still got nothing to say, after all of the times I've been here?"

The adventurer found many things to be peculiar about the bartender. For one, he never spoke no matter what insulting things he said, or how many times he attempted to abuse him.

Second of all, he clearly was quite strong. In order to make a dungeon yours, you need to beat it's final boss, meaning that the bartender behind the counter actually has some combat experience.

Third of all, he decided to put a bar inside of a dungeon. He had never seen anything else similar to this, as most people would defend their dungeons to the death. Yet, this man made a bar out of the throne room that was once here.

Finally, even though he couldn't confirm it, he felt as if there was a presence watching him whenever he got close to the bartender. It wasn't the bartender himself, but something else. Yet, he couldn't find the basis for this belief, except for a slightly chilling aura that sometimes felt like it breathed on his neck from behind.

After chugging the whole bottle, the adventurer dropped some gold on the counter. The bartender's eyes widened a bit, and the adventurer just smiled.

"I always get a good drink out of you, and you never ask for some sort of payment, so consider it a gift. Thanks for the drink, see ya tomorrow."

After saying that, the man walked onto the teleporter all the way at the back of the bar, and disappeared. It was a teleporter that allowed an adventurer to leave the dungeon after they completed it, but it never let people come into the dungeon through it.

Dionysus picked up the bottle that the adventurer dropped on the counter, and threw it at the wall. No matter how anybody looked at it, the bottle was definitely supposed to shatter…

WOOSH

...Yet, the wall seemed to become something like a curtain, through which the bottle went right through. After the bottle went through, the curtain like wall became a normal wall once again, and it looked like there was absolutely nothing left of the bottle.

Dionysus turned around to wash cups that had accumulated after multiple months. Not many people came here, but after not washing the cups for so long, they were bound to accumulate.

--- SEQUENCE 2 ---

"Are you sure this is the place?" A group of people were running through Dionysus' dungeon. They were nearing the end, all they had to do was beat the minotaur infused with demonic energy, but it was proving to be a bit of a challenge.

"I'm telling you, this is the dungeon that was taken from me, meaning that it was taken away from our whole faction!"

The person who said this was a woman at the back of the four person group that was raiding this dungeon. This dungeon originally belonged to this woman, who was part of the empire army. As a result, she lost her position, and could only get it back if she reclaimed the dungeon.

"RAHHHHHHHHHH"

The minotaur roared as it lost one of it's legs. It's mobility had been greatly reduced, and all that was left was to slay it.

"Draiko, finish it with a shot!"

"Got it!"

Draiko pulled a bow out of seemingly nowhere, and pulled on it with nothing to be shot out, or at least it looked like that.

FWISH

Yet, a ghostly arrow shot out the second he released the string, and the minotaur's heart was cleanly pierced through. The mighty beast fell, and the demonic aura surrounding it disappeared.

"Huff, Huff…"

The whole group was somewhat worn out, but they definitely had it in them to continue. Besides, they'd have to continue even if they didn't think they could, just because of the fact that their positions were on the line. The other four in front of the woman were her subordinates, so her losing her position meant that they would also be demoted or completely terminated.

"Alright, all that's left is the final boss."

The woman was attempting to somehow motivate her four subordinates.

Draiko piped up.

"Actually ma'am, there is no final boss according to what people who have beaten this dungeon say."

The woman was intrigued.

"What do you mean Draiko?"

"According to other people, the throne room that was once the final room is just a bar."

The woman got confused after hearing what Draiko had to say.

"Oi Draiko, stop confusing captain Brine and walk upright like a man."

Draiko looked behind him and saw that it was one of his female companions who said the remark, Locratia.

"I've also heard the rumors though, so Draiko's rumors can't be that far fetched."

Discus also had his fair share of rumors relating to this dungeon, so he could also jump in on this conversation somewhat.

The group continued to walk forward while bickering with each other. The captain, Brine, took the lead.

'Wait, who was that?'

In the corner of Brine's eye, she could have swore that she saw the silhouette of a person staring at her around the corner in front of them.

In fact, she had the feeling that they were being watched the second they entered this dungeon, but she couldn't tell why. Now, she had a slight inkling of a feeling as to who was behind that.

'Does that person have the ability to stay out of sight to their max capabilities?'

While thinking of this, she activated her own ability.

It was called The Descriptor, and for good reason as well. As long as she looked at a person for five seconds, she would immediately know the name of their ability. While it didn't quite tell her what it did, it gave a really big hint.

However, the black silhouette of a person was nowhere to be seen when she turned the corner. Instead, all that was there was a big gate at the end of the hallway.

"Behind there is the throne room of my dungeon."

At the captain's words, all three of the subordinates stopped bickering to look forward.

"Wow, I've never actually been to your dungeon captain, but it looks pretty splendid from what I've seen!"

"Don't bother complimenting it Locratia, this wasn't how my dungeon looked at all."

At these words, Locratia blushed out of a bit of embarrassment.

BANG

Brine kicked open the door, which seemed to be brand new.

After entering the room, Brine now knew what Draiko meant when he said it was a bar. The throne room had quite literally been transformed into a bar. Nothing was the same as it was when she was the dungeon master.

'Damn, looks like it's going to take a bit of time to change it back to the way it was.'

"..."

The person who seemed to be the bartender gestured to the seats in front of the counter. The three subordinates looked around suspiciously, but the captain knew otherwise.

"Behind The Curtain, ey? Show us where the final boss of this dungeon is and you'll be allowed to leave alive."

The captain had already looked at the bartender and saw his ability's name.

"..."

"Captain, this guy's crazy. No point talking with him."

Draiko knew what kind of person was in front of them. According to him, Dionysus was a loony who was stuck in his own world.

"...I suppose so."

Brine pulled her sword out of its sheath, and then proceeded to give out orders to her subordinates to take the man down.

"...unforgivable."

Before anything else could happen, these words were uttered, and right after they came out...

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

…a scream was heard. Brine, Locratia, and Discus whirled around to see what happened to Draiko, who's voice they could recognize from a mile away.

"Wha-!"

However there was nothing to see; the presence of Draiko had vanished and all traces of his existence were gone.

"Shit, this must be Behind the Curtain!"

Brine whirled around and looked at where the bartender was.

WOOSH

Out of nowhere, a curtain appeared next to the bartender who was behind the counter. It was a simple yellow curtain, nothing abstract. After it appeared, the bartender began to walk into it.

"Stop him!"

Brine and her subordinates charged at him.

WOOSH

However, just as suddenly as the curtain had appeared, it disappeared.

". . . Sorry."

They couldn't stop him in time, and he walked through the curtain. Right after he walked into wherever he went, the curtain disappeared.

"...unforgivable."

Discus heard the same words that were uttered before Draiko was taken away, and felt a chill on his neck. It felt like someone was breathing pure ice onto his neck.

"GET AWAY!"

Discus took his daggers out and activated his ability, heat sync. It allowed him to change the temperature of anything he touched to whatever he wanted, at the cost of his body also becoming that temperature.

SIZZZZZZZ

His daggers began to sizzle, showing that they were quite heated up. However, he always had gloves on, even when he went to sleep, so he could hold them.

SWISH

He sliced behind him, only to hit absolutely nothing. Discus whirled around, only to see that there was nothing behind him either. He began looking around in a frenzy.

"...drop dead."

"Above you!"

Discus heard Locratia's voice and looked up…

"...Huh?"

… but it was already too late, because all he could see was teeth and a tongue.

CRUNCH

Discus' body hit the ground, the only missing component being his head.

"N-No… I don't wanna die!"

Locratia dropped the lantern she was carrying and began running towards the teleporter at the end of the room.

"Locratia, stop!"

Brine tried to stop her, but it was all for nothing. She kept running, as if she had no will of her own.

'I can't die here, not with that bitch being above me!'

WOOSH

All of a sudden, the torches got completely extinguished. That is, it got completely extinguished except for where Locratia was.

"Why is the light only on me!?"

SLISH

"O-Oh my god!"

Brine hit the ground in fear of what was happening. Out of nowhere, Locratia's legs were cut off, and her blood sprayed the floor.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Locratia was screaming in pain before all light completely disappeared, meaning that even she was doused in darkness.

"Locratia?! Locratia!"

Brine continued to call out to her subordinate, but no response came out.

MUNCH, MUNCH…

All she could hear was the sound of chewing. Brine, who was still on the ground, was in a puddle of piss.

After a while, the chewing sound stopped, and the only sense that Brine had to rely on was her hearing, which was clearly picking up on the sound of someone running towards her.

"D-D-Don't come this way! Stop!"

Brine used The Descriptor to try and get a better visual on the person in front of her, as a circle would manifest around any living thing and tell her it's power.

"W-What?! WHY?!"

Yet, there was absolutely no circle. However, she could most definitely hear the running stop, right in front of her.

"...unforgivable."

"P-PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!"

CHOMP

--- SEQUENCE 3 ---

After fighting for a long time, a new group had finally beaten the dungeon. They arrived in front of a door that seemed fairly majestic.

"Now, prepare for the boss!"

The person who was clearly the leader of the group tried to motivate the rest, who seemed pretty confident in themselves.

"Now, let's get going!"

He shoved open the door, and already had his staff out. The whole group piled into the room one after another, all of them assuming their battle positions. Yet, all that could be seen . . .

". . ."

. . . was a simple bartender.