One
[Welcome dungeon raiders! You are about to enter the most thrilling adventure of your life time. If you would like to proceed tap 'Yes' button. If you're not interested just tap 'No' and this trapdoor will vanish forever.]
"What the hell!" James Ryan cursed as a transparent blue screen appeared before his eyes. His hand was hovering over a suspicious looking trapdoor in the middle of his newly-rented apartment while the screen appeared out of thin air.
His gaze swept around the room to search for any projecting device. He found nothing. Aside from his meager possession that he dropped carelessly beside the front door, the room was empty.
Something was off with the trapdoor or the room in general. He thought that he could use the wooden trapdoor to sneak into the room bellow or took a peep on whoever live there. He was living in the second floor afterall.
But what he found upon touching the handle was something that could only exist in video games or any fictional works. Not a peephole like he expected. Well, he didn't expect too much from a $50 per month apartment actually.
It was a stone staircase that lead down to a dark room. Not the apartment below his room obviously.
The boy was a bit hessitant when he tapped his hand on the 'Yes' button. All his sense screamed danger but what else he could do. Either it was real or just some sort of prank, He doubted that it was the second, he has nothing to lose, much.
He grabbed his cellphone and activated the flashlight to iluminate the way down.
"Here goes nothing!"
The young man stepped cautiously down the stone stairs. It was dark, so he left the trapdoor opened. Just in case that he needed a way out.
James continued down for about ten feet before he arrived at a mossy stone floor. The room underneath the trapdoor was a cubical stony room. Twelve feet to twelve feet wide and twelve feet high.
He breathed a sigh of relief as the light from his cellphone shone brightly to illuminate the musty room. Well, electricity did work in this pocket dimension.
He assumed that it was a pocket dimension because the staircase did not lead directly to the apartment in the first floor.
His mind run miles an hour to think about any possible use of a room like this. He could build a save sanctuary that only he could access. That was convenient. With a little bit of maintenance and redecoration he got another room free of charge.
He patted himself on the head for finding Alibaba's treasure cave.
The room itself was bare and constructed purely from stone. What caught his attention was a stone pedestal, yes James could say that the room was stoney, in the far corner of the room.
He scanned the room for any potential threat. He kicked himself in his backside for not bringing any equipment to check his surrounding or disabling any traps. He didn't have any.
The eighteen years boy walked cautiously to the pedestal. His light blue eyes scanned the strange stone construction that stood three feet high.
The light from his cellphones fall on an oval emerald the size of his fist.
"Jackpot! An emerald this size should worth millions!" James rubbed his hands together. He cackled at the possibility of selling the gem. Even at the half price he would be a millionaire.
He picked the oval gem giddily.
[Warning! Removing the dungeon core is dangerous. The risk is death. Proceed with your own risk.]
As if knowing James' intention, another transparent blue screen appeared over the gem. He cursed whoever created this dungeon who denied him a chance to be a millionaire. His hand barely touched the emerald when another blue screen popped up.
[Congratulation raiders! You have completed all of the challenge. Your bravery and courage shall be rewarded]
[Low level skill book x 1]
[Gold coin x 1]
[System Lvl. 1]
[Accept?] [Yes] [No]
"What the hell!" As much as he wanted to take the dungeon core, it just didn't worth the risk.
James sighed morosely as he tapped the 'Yes' button. The dungeon core was clearly more valuable than the rewards. At least, the gold coin must worth hundreds dollars.
"A bit anticlimatic for the so called adventure of the lifeti.." James stopped his musing. Something crept up from his navel to his chest. It grew from an ice cold sensation in his core to a thousands silver needles piercing his every limbs.
James cried helplessly as his body convulsed on the ground. The pain was excruciating and felt like it would last forever. He begged it to stop and hoped someone heard his plead of help. As he was nearing the edge of his conciousness the pain stopped as fast as it came.
He panted on the ground, his body was sweating a lot. The pain he experienced was nothing like anything he ever felt before. It was like every single cell in his body was on fire. Hot and painful at the same time. "Adventure m-my ass. Pain of a lifetime more like it." He growled.
[Congratulion! Your body has been synchronised with the System level 1. You can invest growth poins to increase your strength, agility, intelligence, endurance, and wisdom. You will earn growth poins after completing all challenges in the dungeon.]
[Personal status can now be accessed by swiping down your left hand. Please note that only you can see the status window]
James patted his trousers and jumper to get rid of the mosh that stuck on his clothes.
He warily swiped down his left hand and again a blue screen appeared. This time, it was a two section screen. The left screen contained the picture of himself wear nothing but a white boxer, which he was sure he didn't wear any.
Name : James Ryan
Age : 18
Level : 0
Skill : -
Strength : 5 +
Agility : 4 +
Intelligence : 6 +
Endurance : 6 +
Wisdom : 3 +
Unassigned growth point(s) : 5
On the right side was his inventory consisted of 16 boxes. There are currently two spaces that displayed its contents. One space contained a leatherbound book and another space contained a blank looking circular shiny thing. A gold coin.
He tapped the book hesitantly. He got a painful experience after cluelessly tapping on something in this dungeon.
[You are about to activate Appraisal Lvl. 1. Do you want to proceed?]
[Yes] [No]
He shut his eyes as he pushed the 'Yes' button to anticipate the pain that surely will come.
[Congratulation! You have gained skill Appraisal Lvl. 1]
[Appraisal Lvl. 1]
[Know yourself, know your surrounding, know the world. This skill enable you to gain information from your target. The higher skill level the more detailed information can be obtained.]
James stared blankly at the blue screen for a full minute before it automaticaly disappeared. He expected another batch of pain and it never came.
He tapped the coin and it materialized in his palm. It was cold touching his skin and a bit heavier than it looks. He did a quick mental calculation and decided that this coin should worth thousands bucks.
James smiled as he flipped the coin and caught it midair. Now that he had a stable source of income, he did not need to worry about his future. He could afford much with this coin alone. He carefully pocketted the coin and smiled contently.
James concentrated his sight on the gem and a tranparent blue screen once again materialized before his eyes.
[Core of Ares]
[This core is the manifestation of the great Ares. His legacy, to nurture the greatest warrior and leader.]
James shook his head. He was no warrior or leader. Just James Ryan ordinary schoolboy in his last year of higschool.
Next thing he assigned his growth points. It just a matter of clicking on the '+' sign. The problem was that he did not know what he would like to improve. After several minutes of playing with his imaginary dice, he decided to assign one point for each status
[Confirm to save the assigned growth points]
[Confirm] [Cancel]
James anxiously tapped the confirm button. His body was suddenly blanketted in a soft glow that emitted a warm feeling. His body felt like feeling the sun light touching his skin in the morning. Warm and comfy.
The sensation lasted for about a minute before the light completely dissappeared. James felt nothing afterwards, either felt stronger or smarter.
"I guess the growth points are too to make effect." He concluded. He decided to leave the dungeon
[Warning! The dungeon is only accessible once every 24 hours. The entrance will vanish once you stepped out.]
James thought that it was fair that the dungeon needed a cooldown time to repair itself. He shrugged carelessly and ascended the staircase with spring in his steps.
The trapdoor vanished as he stood once again in his dingy apartment. The smell of an abandoned building was intoxicating. He had to do complete redecoration to make his apartment more livable.
He patted his pocket and found the gold coin rested peacefully. Hi grinned from ear to ear as he imagined what he should by after converting the coin to fresh dollar.
Tha day was still long and he needed to buy some supplies and foodstocks for his appartment. A dungeon raider needed equipment and food afterall.
"To the next great adventure!" James exclaimed exitedly.