The night is deep and the sky above is cloudy, veiling the solemn light of the moon. The city is sleeping, though a few establishments are necessarily open for nocturnal people's convenience.
In a humble neighborhood, there is a two story house within a wooden fence together with a pretty lawn in the front and a garden on the opposite side. Looking from the outside, the first floor is completely dark. But on the second floor, a certain room has light flashing on the window.
In that room there is a young man sitting on a black office chair locking his brown eyes on the computer monitor lying on a wooden desk. Suspiciously, a box of tissue papers lies on the same desk. He often uses it to relieve himself mainly on fictional characters.
The young man appears to be in his early twenties and possesses black and unkempt hair that is under a wired headset. He has his hands simultaneously on a keyboard and mouse. Intense key clicks and slams from mouse drags fill the silence of the dark. Currently, he is playing an online game which features dungeons and dragons.
"..."
He has been facing the computer for hours grinding in that game. He is farming for the materials his character needs for a quest. This is his daily routine for months since the game's release.
[You died]
(Damn it!)
His character just got killed by a ridiculously overpowered and HP-inflated boss, which is a large mimic. This is the fourth time he tried and failed. He cannot pass that monster since he encounters it.
The game is quite difficult even for a competitive player like himself. Passing that level requires masterful dodging and accurate attacks. Right now, he is not on that level yet, and so are most of the players.
(Well, I think I should stop.)
The shorter hand of the clock has passed two. He closes the game and shuts down the computer before he throws himself to his bed facedown. He rolls around in order to get his back on the mattress and stares at the ceiling. The amber night light on the wall emits the lowest light setting. He takes a glance at it before his closes his heavy eyes.
Crackle!
The moment he sleeps, lightning and thunder rages in the night sky and rain begins to pour over the city.
◆◇◆◇◆◇
Around the same time, somewhere in a certain place...
Wielding their axes, three men ranging the ages of thirty and forty are walking along the forest one summer morning. One of the men is holding the reins of a pair of healthy horses, which are pulling a wooden wagon carrying hemp ropes and a newly sharpened hacksaw.
Those men are lumberjacks. Their jobs are to cut trees for their wood. After cutting down and trimming the fallen trees, they would place them on the wagon for them to carry the logs to the nearby town to be used for various purposes, such as materials for construction and fuel for the furnaces and stoves.
"Hm?"
As they are on their way, the man who holds the reins notices that the horses suddenly stop moving. Not hearing the sounds of their hooves anymore, the two other men turn around.
"What's the problem with them?"
"I have no idea. They just suddenly stopped without my command."
The horses have been their companions with their work for years, so they are used to their behavior. However, this is the first time they see them acting strange. From the looks of the quivering legs, the horses seem to be terrified of something.
The man then tries to pull the reins in an attempt to make the horses march again, but the horses don't budge. He applies more strength in his pull, albeit it only makes the horses pull their necks.
"Hey! What's your problem?! Cut it out!"
Neighhh!
"Whoa! Calm down!"
When he forces himself more, the horses then raise their bodies and cry, which makes the man lose his balance and fall to the ground. The two rush to the horses in order to keep them cool, but their efforts seem to be ineffective as the horses continue resisting.
"Did you feel that?"
"An earthquake?"
In the middle of calming down the frantic horses, the men then suddenly feel that the earth seems to be shaking. At first, the earthquake is weak, and in an instant, the shaking intensifies so terribly that the men stumble on the earth.
"What the hell is with this shaking?!" One man yells as they duck. "It's so strong!"
The earth terribly shakes and the trees sway with it. Though they do not see it, the men hear some snapping noises coupled with crashes. A number of trees have fallen down due to the intensity of the quake.
A minute has passed and the disastrous earthquake comes to an end. The three men immediately hit their asses up as the shaking subsided. Upon scanning the area, the results of the calamity unfold before their naked eyes.
"What the hell just happened..." A man pondered.
"Hey, everyone. Looks like something big is there."
A man points his finger in a certain direction as if he sees something. The other two follow his finger and look where he is pointing at, and their eyes widen in shock.
"What the hell is that thing...?"
"I don't know, man. But there is one thing I am sure of. That thing was not there earlier... It just suddenly appears."
Around a hundred meters from them, there is a huge structure that suddenly and mysteriously appeared in the place. It is so massive that it could be seen over the sea of trees they certainly used to know as a place without any man-made structures.
Out of curiosity, one of the men walks deeper into the woods and tries to approach the mysterious object.
"Where are you going to?" Asks one of the men.
"Of course, I'm going to see what it is." He turns his head and expresses his mind. "I know you two are curious as well. We are in the same boat here."
They know themselves that they are quite wanting to satisfy their curiosities. In spite of knowing nothing about how dangerous that can be, the two men eventually let their curious minds overwhelm and give it a go.
"Ugh... Alright."
"But if things get a little dangerous, we have to back out immediately."
"I got it."
Upon drawing up to a conclusion, the lumberjacks go deeper in the woods to check what just happened there. They have no idea what they will find there or what will happen to them.
As they walk in caution, their minds are racing with emotions such as fear, anticipation, and excitement. Every one of their steps intensifies their feelings, but they are brave men and have survived multiple life-and-death situations. They are not going to back out unless it is necessary.
The nearer they get to the structure, the better the image of the mystery. At a certain distance, they get a grasp of the structure and have a clearer vision of it.
"What the hell is this thing...?" A lumberjack opens his mouth in shock.
When they are a few dozen meters from the alleged source of the shaking, they can see a massive structure protruding from the earth. It is surrounded by fallen trees and is covered by dirt.
The structure is all black and seems to be made out of durable rock. What is strange about it is that it is shaped like a pyramid. A pointed tip and smooth surfaces.
The size is also absolutely massive. From the lumberjacks' estimation, the pyramid is around fifty meters high, and each side is a hundred meters wide at the base. They also think that the whole thing is bigger than what they can see.
"I am not sure if I am right since I haven't seen one," one of the lumberjacks spoke. "But I think this is what they call a dungeon..."
Afterwards, the news that the woodcutters reported to the nearest town quickly reaches the heart of the kingdom.
◆◇◆◇◆◇
At night time...
"A new dungeon, huh? Interesting."
In the living room of a villa in the middle of nowhere, a woman is lounging lazily on an exquisite sofa with a piece of paper in her hand. Her body is covered by nothing but a piece of white bath robe.
She just reads its contents and she smiles out of the excitement from the latest next in the kingdom. The low table in front of her is where her half-drunk glass of wine stands. Her lip marks are noticeably visible through the glass.
The woman is seemingly looking like a person in her late twenties to mid thirties, the range she considers the physical prime age of a woman.
She is a woman with a fair skin tone and has vibrant indigo eyes and long and silky lavender hair. Her body is pleasantly shaped, having prominent chest and curvaceous hips and waist that would make any woman feel insecure when she is around.
Both men and women admire her. For them, she is considered the peak of beauty and maturity. Some can argue that her beauty is as dangerous as she is captivating. Under her elegant and composed demeanor, she conceals her true nature, which is a mystery yet to unveil.
"This dungeon is reportedly big. I better see it myself."
"My lady, the bath is ready."
"Excellent."
Notified by her servant, the paper burns in her hands and the letter instantly turns to ashes, which is blown by the breeze. She stands up elegantly and walks her way to the baths.