The Portable Dungeon

"Ahhh... After months and months of coding, designing, and even sleepless nights, I finally did it..."

The bright screen of the monitor displayed a working game where the user has to control a dungeon and defend it from the invaders. A few seconds later, a clash occurred. Adventurers versus monsters that the player summoned were having a bloody bout inside a darkness stricken cave.

After a few clashes, the monsters won in the end, standing atop the corpses of the adventurers as if to say, "These are our prey!!!"

"... I'll have to include a non-gore function for the minors."

I stretched my limbs and yawned because of the drowsiness. Being in front of the computer for a whole night is incredibly taxing to the body.

'For now, I'll post this on the internet in my website for curious players to test since this is still in the beta.'

I clicked on the upload button after typing a few descriptions about the game, as well as a request for the players to send any info of bugs to my email.

After the task of uploading the game, I took a quick glance at my digital clock beside the monitor.

23:56

'4 minutes until midnight...'

I got up and slowly crept towards the bed. My body, fatigued from the continuous work of programming, felt very comfortable on the soft bed.

'Tomorrow... I'll have to think up of a main storyline of the game...'

"Uwhaaaawww..."

A deep yawn escaped my lips as my consciousness sank into the world of dreams.

****************

"Mhhmm..."

I opened my eyes and did a quick survey on my surroundings.

"..."

Tree... Tree... Tree... Bush... Bush... Grass... Chocolate fudge that reeks...

"Oh fucking shit!!"

The chocolate fudge smothered my hands with its chocolate rich goodness. And allow me to say this, this chocolate fudge can kill with just it's smell alone…

"Oh for fuck's sake! This smells fuckin' horrible!!"

'What kind of animal dropped this for it to smell this bad!?'

Preoccupied because of the foul smell, I quickly searched for a water source. Luckily enough, there was a river nearby and I quickly soaked my hand stained with chocolate inside the cold water.

The brown color, as well as the awful smell kept me nauseated throughout the process of finding a water source and dipping it in possibly-but-now contaminated drinking water.

After a few minutes of intense rubbing, I finally got the horrible smell off my hand and got to my senses.

'Where am I...?'

I am not back at home which is obvious because of the thick nature, and this doesn't seem like a dream either since this seems all to real for it to be one.

'This... Did I get kidnapped while I was asleep?'

Various situations entered my brain. Most of these were because of surfing too much in the <Night Net> or <Low Web>.

'But if that is true, then what do they want to do with me here? Don't tell me...They want to see me suffer as I struggle to survive in the forest!?'

My body shivered from fright at the possible scenario I am experiencing at present.

'Hmm...? I can feel something in my pocket.'

My hand dived into my pocket and took out a rather tiny ball that fits into my palm. It has a golden hue and engraved on it were beautiful shapes and designs that makes it breathtaking to look at.

There was also a button that screams, "PRESS ME!!" on one side of the golden ball.

'I need more information, and this is one thing that rouses suspiciousness.'

After pondering for a moment, I hesitatingly pressed the button. Upon pressing the button, an amazing scene entered my eyes.

(Welcome to Andeght! You were selected by the results of a lottery and gained the privilege of permanent residence in this world. Fret not for the organizers of the lottery will make sure that no harm is to come to the winner for a full month, as well as few items that make living in this world easier.)

'... What the hell...?'

In front of me was a holographic screen commonly seen in video games. The sentences written on the screen refused to register within my head as I dazedly looked upon the horizon.

(As of now, the remaining time for your <Danger Repellant> as what the organizers say, is 29 days, 15 hours, and 12 minutes. After the duration, you will be susceptible to monster or bandit attacks which may result in death.)

A few seconds later, new sentences filled up the screen, burying the past sentences into oblivion.

'Death...'

"Are you fucking serious now? ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS!?!?"

(Now, to introduce you to the world system, please call upon the special skill you have been granted by the organizers by saying <Dungeon Menu> or wishing for said skill to appear.)

As if to ignore my previous outburst, the screen continued to write sentences and more sentences, which right now, can't be bothered by the 'me' who is in pure fury.

"YOU FUCKIN' ORGANIZERS!!! YOU THINK THIS IS SOME SORT OF JOKE!? SEND ME BACK RIGHT NOW!!"

(... I see that for the moment, you are incapable of reasoning. Not to worry though, the organizers have some measures pertaining to situations such as these.)

Once the screen displayed such lines, I was hit by something that felt like a strong electric current that sent my mind into near oblivion.

(Do not worry as this action will not result in death. This is the result of linking your pain senses with another living being that is experiencing such pain at the present.)

Because of the pain, I was not even able to read the sentences written on the screen. The only thing that registered in my mind was the feeling of death creeping closer.

'Shit… Am I going to die like this…? Hell no!'

My iron will that has been tempered by going through countless hours of suffering and work will not let me down today!!!

(… It seems that the organizers have picked up a rather interesting winner for this lottery. This is the first time after a thousand years for a human with a strong will like you have been chosen. Past winners mostly had the fear of death while experiencing such pain… I wonder what you had to go through for your will to be tempered by this far…)

My body writhed with pain and my breathing turned ragged. My consciousness was fading in and out and my tongue was hanging out of my lips.

'Endure!! Endure!!!'

"Hahhh…. Hahhh… Hahhh…."

After a few minutes of enduring the unbearable pain, it finally left. As if it was a lie, the pain faded away into nothingness, but my body still remembered the harsh memory of it occurring.

'If I don't want to experience that again, I'll shut up for a moment and read all the sentences and commit it to heart.'

Because of the earlier incident, my mind became a little calm and clearer, but tinged with a little bit of fear.

'I'll need to squeeze out information from this holographic window… I'll just call it 'Tutorial Board'…'

Because of reading too much isekai novels, I got a gist of what I need to do to survive in an unknown world filled with unknown creatures.

(Have you quieted up now? Good. Moving on… Start by saying <Dungeon Menu>. We'll continue once you have called upon the skill given to you by the organizers.)

Once I read up to the end, I got a little bit of information regarding those who have brought me here, otherwise known as 'Organizers'.

'If I'm not mistaken… These 'Organizers' must have some sort of special power in this world… Best not to mess with them for now…'

Setting that as one of my creed in this world, I sucked up some air to catch my breath before following what Tutorial Board displayed.

"Dungeon Menu."

Dungeon Master: Drake Wota

Dungeon Level: 0

Type of Dungeon: Not set

[Market]

[Customization]

[Statistics]

[Community] (Available at Dungeon Level 5)

(This is the Dungeon Menu, where you will spend most of your time creating and managing your own dungeon.)