Chapter 21: Monsters coming out

A man in a black coat and white pants was walking inside a beautiful-looking corridor that seemed to be made by expensive interior designers. 

He had beautiful silver hair that fluttered down to his neck. His curvy hair matched the thin beard he supported. His deep black eyes couldn't help but observe his surroundings that were filled with classy beauty. 

Everything seemed expensive here, from the pillars to the vases that were lying near the walls. Even the portraits that were hung on the wall seemed to be made by the greatest of artists. 

Strangely enough, all of these portraits were gifts. 

The man soon reached the end of the corridor, where he stopped. He turned to his left to face a black, metallic door. Reaching out his hands, he knocked on the door. 

"It's me, Jamison," the silver-haired man said softly. He made sure that his voice had a certain tone. Even though the man only talked about himself, his tone was fully respectful, as if the person who was inside the room deserved the utmost respect. 

"Come inside," a calm voice echoed from within.

The silver-haired man nodded his head as he pushed the door open to step inside. 

The room was fairly large, but it seemed even larger because of how empty it was. There was only one table inside the room, behind which a man was sitting calmly, immersed in the documents that were in front of him. 

The man sitting on the chair seemed to be in his late thirties at best. He was wearing a black coat as well, but the coat suited him more than the silver-haired man as he seemed like a handsome CEO of a multi-billion dollar company. 

Even though the man was looking at his documents, his eyes could be seen. His beautiful dark hazel eyes were lazily going through the documents in his hand. 

The man had beautiful dark hair that was neither too short nor too long. His hair seemed to have a shade of brown as well. It was unclear if that was because of the lighting or if it was the way it naturally was. 

"You're here. Have a seat," the man told the silver-haired man without even raising his head to look at him. 

Even though the dark-haired man had only spoken lazily, his voice seemed to contain some magic that was enough to send a chill shiver down the silver-haired man's spine. 

The silver-haired man nodded as he said, "Yes, Sir." He strode forward and sat in front of the dark-haired man. 

"So, what did your investigation uncover? Zale Azarel… was he killed by the monsters in the Dungeon, or were Dark Variants involved in it?" The dark-haired man asked lazily. He didn't stop reading the documents that he held, as if they had a heavier priority than the discussion. 

Jamison could feel his heart beating faster. He took a deep breath before he answered, "Sir Varant, we did uncover some clues, but they are not enough to prove anything. We can't be certain if this was the act of Dark Variants or Monsters."

The Dark Haired man finally raised his eyes to look at Jamison. 

"You know how important it is, don't you? Zale Azarel was the strongest Warlock. He, along with his wife, was wiped out inside the dungeon they went to explore. Not only them but all the other Variants were also killed with them. If even after five years, you can't get a single clue about it, then what use are you all?" He asked. 

"S-Sir. We're trying our best. But it's tough indeed. No clues were left behind. At the moment, it seems to be the job of the Monsters, but some things definitely don't make sense," Jamison answered carefully. 

"Fine. Tell me what you found. Let me decide if makes sense or not," the dark-haired man said. 

Jamison opened the black bag that he had brought with him and pulled out a file which he placed in front of the Dark-Haired man. 

"As you know, about twenty-five years ago, this world changed forever," Jamison said softly. 

"That's right. It was the time of the Great Awakening. Dungeons started appearing all around the world. The landscape of this world changed. Moreover, kids who were younger than ten years old started awakening Various Powers," the dark-haired man acknowledged. 

"Exactly. It was a mysterious event that changed the whole world. Scientists all around the world started investigating the Dungeons to know more about it only to realize that the Dungeons were filled with incredibly powerful monsters."

"Fortunately, we discovered that Monsters couldn't come out of their dungeons. Humanity was safe from these dungeons, which seemed to bring the gift of powers upon us. It seemed to be a golden age of evolution of humanity." 

Jamison started talking and couldn't help but start reminiscing. 

"You call it fortunate, but I see it as unfortunate. This discovery made our scientists lax and lazy. When the dungeons possessed no risk, there was no need for research. They couldn't go inside the dungeons as the monsters were too strong and kept killing everyone. As for the Monsters, they couldn't come out. This status quo was bad for humanity as research stopped," The dark-haired man muttered as he placed the paper—that was in his hand—on the table. 

"That's right. Every good comes with a bad. Exploring the dungeons was risky. Even our armies couldn't control monsters inside the Dungeon. But since the monsters couldn't come out, we had no risk. Scientists stopped researching with as much zeal as before. Only an army was assigned before each of the Dungeons to make sure that no human entered inside to die. We thought that was all. Oh, how wrong we were…" Jamison muttered. 

"True. If we weren't this content the status quo, the tragedy of 2028 wouldn't have happened." The dark-haired man commented. 

"That's right. I can only imagine the shock on the face of our government when the monsters finally started coming out of the dungeons. So much bloodshed… even now, the footage of that time makes me shiver." Jamison let out as he realized that his hands were trembling.