Dungeon

The day of trial arrived and the time to gather was here. The traversers gathered in a district with medieval themed structures. The group was waiting in front of a structure fully enclosed by giant, metal walls. The location was also securely guarded by a couple of law enforcers.

Arriving at the meeting point, Pro was greeted by a cheerful voice.

"Yo, Neo, you are here. I thought you had descended after not seeing you for the past couple of days!"

Looking towards the voice, Pro was met with a chubby, round ball of fat. His face had a sly grin as his tiny, beady eyes squinted as it swept back and forth.

This fatty who was waving at him was Tu Fu, one of his classmates.

Perhaps his appearance didn't fit in with the aesthetics of the rest of the handsome youths and beauties, this fatty became the only one in class that was willing to lower himself to speak with Pro, who was famous for being the weakest in the batch.

Still, don't think that this fatty was weak.

Any traverser that came to this world was not a normal weakling, and Tu Fu was no exception. Pro learned that his fat was just a part of his cultivation, and the fatty claimed that he was some glutinous devil lord in his previous world. Well ... Pro believed it.

Anyways, an average looking male and a fatty. It wasn't a bad combination. If this was a light novel, there was always a fat friend that gets along with the protagonist right?

"I was preparing for the trial. Tu Fu, how's it going?"

"Haha, thought you would never ask. You don't know all the goodies I found in the Tower of Negativity. Oooh, and there was the Bai Hua Lou. Damn! They were fine, more so than that foxy Su Mei! We should go together next time!"

"You know I don't have merits to spare like you guys."

"Yo, Neo, I'm sure you'll be able to get some soon enough. I heard these newcomer trial dungeons gives a hefty amount. Too bad there is only three chances. Oh, have you heard about the details of this dungeon?"

Raising an eyebrow, Pro looked over at the proud expression on Tu Fu's face, "No? I thought the instructors said they would tell us when the time comes? Did you get the info somewhere?"

"Yo ..." Tu Fu shifted closer to Pro as he placed his arm on Pro's shoulder to pull him closer before he whispered, "I heard that this dungeon was a solo dungeon. It's meant to be a test to separate the traversers with potential and those who don't."

Pro frowned a bit as a hint of worry arose in him, "How does that work?"

"Heh, isn't that obvious?" Tu Fu said with a sly smirk, "Those who have potential comes out and can stay. Those who don't ... descend."

Pro's heart skipped a beat. Isn't this a bit cruel? However, Pro didn't have much time to worry about this.

"It seems that everyone is here. Then, let's begin the introductions," a gruff voice calmly stated.

Hearing the law enforcer, the group of students quieted down.

"Today you will enter your first negative dungeon. This is both a trial and an opportunity. I won't say much about the dungeon itself because every one may get a different trial. Just know that this F- solo dungeon is named Fairy Tale! I'm sure you've heard about the precautions, but let me repeat-"

"We know! We know! Don't waste this emperor's time! Hurry up and let us in already!" Ji Fan's sneering remark rudely interrupted the law enforcer.

Some other traversers also made noises in agreement.

The law enforcer paused for a moment before he signaled towards another law enforcer as he stepped aside.

Still, he diligently reminded, "Remember, this will consume one of your trial chances, but if you descend, you will lose all three of your trial chances. You will be alone in your journey through this dungeon. After 48 hours, you will be expelled from the dungeon whether you succeed or fail. I hope I can see you come back rather than descending. Now, file in one at a time."

A large mechanical gate slowly grumbled as it pulled apart to reveal a swirling red portal that was hovering a couple inches off the ground. Red mist constantly drilled into the portal as if it was devouring the negative energy of the outside world. This was a dungeon entrance.

The group began to file towards the portal.

Pro was in the back with Tu Fu. It didn't really matter in which order one went in.

Clear time had no relation with entry time. Strength, wisdom, and luck were all necessary conditions. Perhaps there may be even more conditions in future higher-grade dungeons.

One traverser after another confidently stepped into the portal and vanished in conjunction with the distortions in space.

As Pro walked past the law enforcer, he bowed his head and whispered, "Thank you for your hard work."

The law enforcer's face stiffened a bit before it returned to normal. He stared at Pro and nodded back before turning away.

Tu Fu who was walking besides Pro couldn't help but ask, "Why did you do that? You know they are just descendants. Their potential are far beneath us, there's no use with getting along with them is there?"

That's right. Traversers were not the only inhabitants of this world. There were another groups of known inhabitants in this zone, and they were known as descendants.

True to their names, they were descendants of traversers. Although conceiving a child as a soul body may seemed impossible at first, a way was eventually discovered after millennials of trial.

Not only that, some traversers had special abilities to create minions while some created new lifeforms through research. Some esteemed being in the god sequences also gave birth to life from their own domains.

All of these lifeforms born due to traversers are known as descendants, and the descendants of these descendants were the same. Their numbers made up a major part of the population in the safe zones, but they were also the weakest bunch with the worst treatment.

Unless the traverser who created them was still alive and was powerful enough to protect them, these descendants could only be exploited by other traversers in exchange for 'protecting' them. They had no respect from traversers and would face discrimination by some.

Still, no traverser cared because there was simply too many descendants. Even a new traverser would rather create their own descendant rather than care about these extras.

Even if it was a god sequence who needs faith, they couldn't keep all of these descendants. It was also difficult to convert them into believers due to some restrictions set by their creators.

It was not impossible, but it was more efficient for one to create a new group of believers either by purchasing a clean slate from others or creating them through an ability that can be purchased from the Tower of Negativity.

These descendants left here were the unwanted outcasts, just striving to survive and barely staying afloat in this desperate world.

This group of law enforcers can be considered to be the luckier group. At least they had a stable job. As for the rest, a pitiful bunch.

A good example to explain their situation would be the fact that there was no slums in this city. No matter how prosperous a city, there is usually a slums area somewhere.

Here? Pro only heard from Tu Fu that the slums area had been 'cleaned up'.

Unlike the traversers, most descendants were not immortal. Most descendants were created from negative energy, and after death, they returned to the embrace of the Negative Zone.

Glancing back at law enforcer who had a stoic look, Pro shook his head as he recalled the helplessness he felt in each world. Although he wasn't the bottom class, he was still part of the weak group and never had a chance to fight back.

Sighing inwardly, Pro responded to Tu Fu in a soft voice, "You don't understand how it feels to be weak."

Tu Fu glanced back at Pro with queer eyes as if questioning why would a traverser like you say something like that.

Even though Pro was known as the weakest, he was still a traverser. No matter how weak a traverser was, a traverser was most likely still stronger than a descendant and traversers had high growth potential.

Well, Pro didn't explain. He didn't want to pretend to be deep or show sympathy for the weak. Pro knew he wasn't that type of person.

He was too weak himself to be a hypocrite and care about others. If anything, he was just depressed over the bleakness of the Negative Zone.

Perhaps, he was just doing everything he could to survive. Maybe a random act of kindness can bring him benefits in the future, and Pro was not going to let these chances slip. He was weak. The weak has the weak's way to survive.

He approached the swirling red portal and glanced back at Tu Fu, "See you later."

"Yo, let's go for a walk in the Tower of Negativity after we come back!" Tu Fu answered with a chuckle that caused his fat to jiggle.

Pro smiled back as he stepped into the portal. His surroundings blurred as he felt a force suck him forward.

It was time for his first trial in this world. Will he survive? Or will he descend?