Nico dragged himself home after a long shift at the supermarket. All he wanted was sleep and nothing else. He caught the bus, stared out the window without really seeing anything, and let the ride blur by.
When he finally reached his apartment, he fumbled for his keys, pushed the door open, and headed straight for his bed. The moment he hit the mattress, he was out cold.
After a while, Nico woke to the sharp smell of smoke. Still half asleep, he pushed himself upright, blinking at the hazy grey cloud drifting through his room. It took his brain a second to catch up, until he noticed the flames licking up the door.
Panic hit him instantly.
He stumbled out of bed, coughing, eyes darting around for any kind of exit. The fire was spreading fast, crackling louder with every second. His gaze finally landed on the window. It wasn't a good option, but it was the only one.
He yanked it open, cold air rushing in. Then reality hit him: he was on the eighth floor. A long way down.
Nico looked back at the fire, swallowing hard. The heat was already pushing into the room. He didn't have time to think. So he made the gamble.
He jumped.
The world blurred past him a mix of wind, lights and the distant ground rushing closer and closer. Then everything went black, and his body stopped responding altogether.
After what felt like an eternity though it might've only been a few seconds, Nico finally noticed something in the darkness. A small white orb drifted nearby, glowing softly like a floating candle flame.
He tried to move toward it, instinctively reaching out only to realize he still couldn't move at all. His body didn't respond. His limbs weren't there. Panic flickered, but before it could settle in, the orb began drifting toward him instead.
It hovered right in front of him for a moment, pulsing gently, and then it touched his forehead. A blinding light exploded around him, swallowing everything in pure white.
The next thing he knew, he hit something solid, cold, hard rock.
Nico groaned and pushed himself up, blinking rapidly as his vision adjusted. He wasn't in darkness anymore. He wasn't anywhere familiar, either. He was in a cave. A huge cave.
Jagged stone pillars rose from the ground and hung from the ceiling like the teeth of some ancient beast. Water dripped rhythmically from above, collecting into a small pond that reflected the dim light around him. The air was cool, damp, and strangely still.
Nico stared, stunned, trying to piece together what had just happened.
Before Nico could even process what had just happened, the white orb appeared again, this time it was floating in the center of the cave. Its glow flickered in soft pulses, each one sending a faint flash across the stone walls.
Curiosity tugged at him and Nico found himself stepping toward it, drawn in by the gentle light. When he reached out and touched the orb, a tiny jolt shot through him.
Then a line of glowing text suddenly materialized in the air right in front of him, bright and impossible to ignore:
"Welcome, Dungeon Owner, to your new dungeon!"
Nico blinked, stunned, wondering if he was still dreaming or if this was somehow real. "What the hell is this…?" he muttered, waving his hand through the glowing text. It didn't disappear. Instead, another line popped up right beneath it.
"As a first time Dungeon Owner, you will receive a gift pack."
He stared at the new message, completely lost. "I must be dreaming, right?" To test it, he slapped his own cheek."Ow- ,okay. Definitely not a dream…"
Before he could think any further, another message appeared.
"Do you wish to open the gift pack now?" [Yes] [No]
Nico blinked a few times, then hesitantly tapped the Yes button.
"Loading rewards…"
A moment later, a long list unfolded in front of him:
"You have received the following items:¨
– 3‑Day Protection
– 10 Random Beast Souls
– 1 Weapon Ticket (F‑Rank Gear)
– 1 Armor Ticket (F‑Rank Gear)
– Access to: Stats, Missions, Summoning, Shop
Nico stared at the list, eyebrows slowly climbing. "Protection, souls, tickets… and access?" he repeated under his breath. "Well… at least the protection sounds useful. No idea about the rest." As he tought about the new things he received the text infront changed and new words appeared.
- Stats
- Missions
- Summoning
- Shop
Nico looked at the words before him and focused on the Stats panel.
Name: Nico Vox
Title: [None]
Race: Human
Tier: F-
Level: 0 (Exp:0/100)
Str: 10
Int: 8
Agi: 11
Wis: 9
End: 10
Vit: 11
Chr: 5
Mna: 1
Mrg: 1/d
Cst: 100%
Cmd: 0/10
Available stat points: 0
Sub panels:
- Inventory
- Skills
- Threat rating
Nico looked over his stats ´ Well thats not too bad i guess..., lets check out the sub panels then´ he focused on the Inventory
1 weapon ticket for F gear
1 armor ticket for F gear
´Well that was to be expected´ he returned to the stats panel and this time focused on the Skills
Passive skills:
Observation [lvl: 1] (See basic information about things)
Fall resistance [lvl1] (Take less damage when falling)
Night owl (Increase Agi, End, Str by 1 at night)
Active skills:
Swiftness [lvl: 1] (Increase Agi by 1) Cost:1 Mna
Stamina boost [lvl:3] (Increase End by 3) Cost: 1 Mna
´....well not bad´ Nico returned to the stats menu and focused on the threat rating sub panel.
[Threat Rating – Nico Vox]
Overall Threat: 0.1
Classification: Harmless
Recommended Adventurer Rank: F-
Environmental Threat: 0.0000000001
Physical threat: 0.1
Psychological Threat: 0.1
¨Yeah looks about right¨ he sighed somewhat dissapointed ¨Should have workded out more in my previ-´ before he could finish his sentence the system send him a notification.
¨New mission available: First one¨
Reward: 1 SF
Description: Summon the first monster who will follow your command.
[Yes] [No]
Nico went over the mission before choosing the Yes button. ´So i should just summon a monster´ he went back to the main screen and focused on the summoning tab
Summoning
Current souls: 10 beast souls
List of available summons:
Beasts
– Bone Rat — Cost: 2 Beast Soul
– Cave Bat — Cost: 2 Beast Soul
– Dark Slug — Cost: 1 Beast Soul
– Moss Crawler — Cost: 3 Beast Soul
– Hollow Pup — Cost: 8 Beast Souls
"Shit… at this rate I'll be broke forever if I want anything even halfway decent…"