Kael, Welcome to the New World.]
Welcome to the new world... Before Kael could process what this sentence could mean, another one popped in front of him.
[Congratulations, you have awakened the following Authority:
Dungeon Master
Greed ]
hmmm! What's this... New world, Authority, what are these game-like visuals?... have I really fallen into another world… Previously, it was only an assumption, but now he couldn't shake the feeling off.
Having plenty of experience in VR worlds, Kael thought of using that experience to understand the situation better. Moving his hand forward, he was about to interact with the screen when it changed.
A new sentence appeared in front of him, this time it wasn't a simple greeting or congratulation.
[Authority 'Dungeon Master' is compatible with 'System'. Do you want to upgrade it?]
[Yes/No]
Looking at the blinking 'Yes' and 'No' buttons in front of him, Kael had no idea how to proceed. He didn't have an ounce of clue what either of them could lead to.
With nothing to his name, he turned to face the screen and asked, "What would happen if I choose yes..."
...
Silence. The system didn't have any answer for him either.
Huh!... no reply... That's a bummer… Not discouraged, he tried forming some answer from the silence.
One thing is clear, at least, there isn't any AI controlling this system that could give the answer to my question. Is it like a preprogrammed application… O-or, maybe I'm not worthy of its answers.
What to do... then, Kael mused, looking at the still blinking panel in front of him. After looking at it for a moment, his patience got the best of him.
Muttering, "...To hell with it..." he clicked the 'Yes' button. The moment he clicked the button, the panel in front of him changed, giving him a new piece of information.
[The upgrade is in progress.]
[9 minutes 58 seconds left.]
Looking at the clock ticking away for a few seconds, Kael waited. Even a minute later, when nothing new had popped up, he sighed and moved around.
Now that the panel was gone, he had a few minutes to arrange his thoughts and look at his situation carefully. And the very first thing that he understood was,
'Sigh!!... this is not my world. I got transmigrated... is that what it is called!?...' Sighing, he remembered the name and whispered,
"New world. So, that is what this place is called." Remembering the name, he couldn't help but chuckle, "New world… how unoriginal."
"New world... new world... new..." Muttering the names, he moved around and began inspecting where he was currently.
W-what exactly is this place!? Have I spawned in some kind of cave?..
As he moved around, it became apparent to him that he had spawned in some sort of enclosed space. The walls were roughly 20 meters apart from each other.
When he was done with the basic inspection, one thing became clear to him, 'No shit... this place is really closed. Fuck… doesn't that mean I would die from the lack of oxygen loss before anything else?'
The gravity of the situation began dawning upon him as Kael began frantically searching for a way to get out of the cave.
He didn't want his second life to end before it even got any chance to start. And even then, he didn't want to die a pathetic death.
'Like fucking imagine if they know I die from lack of air… wouldn't I die of embarrassment before anything else. It's not like it was easy to breathe in my world… I can do it…'
Motivating himself, he moved toward a wall and tried scratching it. Unfortunately, he was deep underground and everything around him was made out of hard stone.
'fuck!... let's calm down first... there must be some way out of it.' Calming himself, Kael looked at the timer. There were still five minutes left before the upgrade.
Trying to find even a shred of hope, he moved around the cave and began looking at every inch of it like a hawk waiting for its prey. As he looked around, something caught his attention.
'Wait a minute... how did I miss it...' Tilting his head, he moved closer to the location where he was lying at the beginning.
A pool of blood had gathered on the ground, but he paid it no mind for now. Something else besides that crimson puddle had captured his attention.
Getting closer, Kael kneeled down and saw what it was.
There etched on the floor was a wide circle. It was rough on the edges as if left for a very long time. Despite being rough, one could see the markings in and around it clearly.
Inside the circle were sharp lines connecting smaller circles that looked like some sort of coins. Strange marks and runes filled the spaces between.
And at the very center of the circle lay a shape that looked like a broken star or an angular flower, with five sharp points stretching outward like some sort of hand.
'What is this thing... some ancient drawing... a sigil!?' Looking at the only artificial thing inside the cave, Kael couldn't help but have his curiosity piqued around it.
As if the ruin were calling to him, he stepped closer and raised his hand. Gazing at the ancient structure once more, he thought, 'Why do I feel like this isn't a good idea!?'
'What do I mean, why!? It probably… because it fucking isn't!' With his hand still hovering over the angular flower mark, second thoughts began to appear in his mind.
[4 minutes 5 seconds left.]
Looking at the time, he sighed and pressed his hand on top of the flower print.
And the moment he did that... nothing happened.
'H-huh!... nothing?... Was that a dud!? Haha! Was I afraid for nothing?' Chuckling nervously, he was just about to pull his hand away. That's when the realization hit him.
"What the fuck.." he muttered panicking.
No matter how much Kael tried, his hand didn't move from the ground. It was as if it had glued to the ground. No amount of strength could move it an inch.
He was about to panic when something else caught his attention.
The blood around him had begun to move.
As if it had a life of its own, the pool of blood began flowing toward the ruin, and in the blink of an eye, there wasn't a single drop of blood left on the floor.
Everything got sucked into the ruin.
And that's when it happened. The strange runes around the sigil began to glow in crimson, and the suction that was gluing his hand began to loosen.
Ouchhh!
A shock ran throughout his body as Kael was finally able to move his hand from the rune.
'What was that!?'
The questions were piling up when the vision in front of him lit up. Another panel had appeared in front of him. As the timing hadn't reached zero, he knew it wasn't notifying him of a successful upgrade.
If it wasn't that, then what was it?
[Synchronization - 20%... 30%... 70%... 99%]
[Synchronization has been completed.]
[Congratulations, Kael, you have become the owner of the dungeon: Dungeon Of Greed.]