First Dungeon Experience (2)
For an adventurer, a dungeon was something close to destiny. It was, after all, the only gateway to the next floor.
Only those who felled the boss—or otherwise proved themselves worthy—could claim the right to climb higher.
An NPC walking into a dungeon, however, was a rarity even across the Tower's long history.
"Huh?"
"Wait. Is that…?"
Every gaze at the dungeon entrance snapped toward a single point, as if the crowd had rehearsed it. Novice adventurers in battered armor and worn weapons parted, and through the gap a cascade of platinum-silver hair traced a beautiful arc on the wind.
The slender line of her throat, the porcelain skin bared beneath a habit of deepest black—it looked like white jade a god had spent ages sculpting.
"Good lord. She's even prettier than the rumors."
"If I'd known, I would've gone to the chapel at least once…!!"
Under the barrage of undisguised stares, the girl in the black habit—Zion—let out a quiet sigh.
"…I'm drawing more attention than I expected."
Beside her, standing guard like a sworn knight, Rin smiled sweetly and laid a hand on her sword hilt.
"Just give me a moment, unnie. I'll gouge out every last one of those filthy eyes for you."
"Kyaau!"
The tiny dragon nestled quietly in Zion's arms chirped in apparent agreement. Zion, of course, stopped her at once.
"That's enough."
"But…"
"No means no."
Zion hastily reined Rin in before the girl could make good on a promise to start plucking eyeballs. The staring was unpleasant, yes—but gouging out perfectly functional eyes was still a bit much. Rin clicked her tongue in disappointment and let her hand fall from the hilt.
Watching the whole exchange from the side, Ifrit clicked her tongue as well, making no effort to hide the look that said Rin had lost her mind.
"What's the point of getting so worked up over a bunch of newbies?"
"They're pigs who don't know their place, sending unnie those filthy looks."
"If they cross the line, you punish them then. Right now those idiots have no idea how big a deal this actually is."
Ifrit flicked a bored glance over the adventurers still staring at Zion, too dazed to remember themselves. Quests that took an NPC into a dungeon were vanishingly rare. This was only the 1st Floor, which was why it was still this quiet. At the mouth of a dungeon on the 50th Floor or higher—where veteran adventurers clustered like wolves—an NPC appearing would have started a feeding frenzy nine times out of ten.
"Let's get inside before this drags on any longer."
Zion followed the direction of Ifrit's chin. Her cross-shaped pupils widened.
A colossal stone gate, hewn from rock as black as pitch, loomed ahead. Unknown sigils crawled across its surface. And in the same instant Zion took it in, the gate took her in as well.
Conditions satisfied.
Now entering a Hidden Dungeon.
The stone gate ground open with a harsh, grinding roar. Cold, clean air spilled out to meet the three of them.
Ifrit and Rin followed Zion through. What waited on the other side stopped them both cold—and how could it not? The Dungeon of Beginnings they remembered had nothing in common with the sight unfolding before their eyes.
"What is this place…?"
"Ifrit, do you know anything about this?"
"No… I've never seen anything like it either."
In their memory, the Dungeon of Beginnings was a cramped, barren labyrinth of tightly stacked stone. The view in front of them denied that memory outright. A vast, dense sea of trees stretched away in every direction without end—an unreasonably enormous dungeon, the kind you shouldn't see until the 30th Floor at the earliest, sitting on the 1st Floor as if it had every right to be there.
"…It's been a while."
The one who answered their confusion was the last person they expected. Both High Rankers turned toward the voice.
Zion brushed a strand of platinum-silver hair from her face and gazed out over the woodland, her eyes gone distant and soft. A shiver ran through them both. No matter how they turned it over, there was only one person who could have caused a change this absurd.
Whoa. Talk about a blast from the past. How long has it even been since I last saw the Forest of Divinity?
Not that Zion noticed. She was lost in her own nostalgia. The Forest of Divinity—a beginner dungeon from a very long time ago. The gentle BGM, the forest painted entirely in gold… the map had vanished as the story progressed, but for any veteran who'd been there since the beginning, it was a sight you never forgot. And here it was again, spread out in front of her.
"Zion. Do you know something about this place?"
"…"
The problem was how to explain this tangle of feeling to Ifrit, who was watching her with a deadly serious face. She could hardly say, Actually, I'm a game character, and this is a dungeon from the game!
In the end, Zion settled for something vague. As roundabout as she could make it—and, strictly speaking, not a lie.
"I'm sorry. A familiar sight caught me off guard, and I…"
"Unnie…"
"A familiar sight?"
"Yes. This place is called the Forest of Divinity. It was the land of beginnings—where every adventurer of that time, myself included, first set out."
"…!!!"
"Though by now, it's become a land forgotten by everyone."
It wasn't a lie. The Forest of Divinity had been the starting ground of Dungeon & Soul in the early days, where every player began their adventure. Later, as the main story advanced, the lore said the forest had burned—and the map was deleted for good. Calling it a forgotten land was, strictly speaking, the truth. There was no reason the other two, who knew none of that, would hear it that way.
A Hidden Dungeon…!! And not just any—one of the great dungeons from legend. You've got to be kidding me…!!
So this is where unnie first began her adventure. It's beautiful… but there's something bittersweet about it.
A Hidden Dungeon. A dungeon that opened only when special conditions were met, and one whose existence few people even knew of. Each had its own requirements, its own environment—but they shared a single common trait: enormous rewards.
Clear this place and the payout would be beyond anything I can imagine. But…
"…Unnie. Are you all right?"
Both of them looked at Zion with careful eyes. She was only taking in the golden woodland, saying nothing. But the bitter melancholy welling in her gaze was something no amount of composure could hide.
Rin saw it. So did Ifrit—who had, at first, thought of Zion as nothing more than an NPC—and both of them made a silent vow.
I don't know what happened here. But I never want to see that look on her face again. So I'll stay. I'll watch her back.
Don't worry, unnie. I'll never leave your side. Not ever.
Man, I suddenly want to play Dungeon & Soul. Must be seeing the Forest of Divinity again after so long…
"Bao! Kraaaang!"
Those three parallel lines of misunderstanding—destined never to meet—held until the hatchling in Zion's arms let out a roar.
Zion snapped out of it first. For a second she thought the little dragon was just hungry and begging for food. It wasn't that small a problem. The hatchling was staring dead ahead, growling like a beast.
Thud. Thud. Thud!!
"…Something's coming."
"Unnie, get behind me."
The two of them dropped into a combat stance with a High Ranker's speed. The presence bearing down on them was far too threatening to belong on the 1st Floor. Ancient trees that made up the woodland snapped and toppled, unable to withstand whatever was forcing its way through.
The body that emerged from the wreckage was as powerful as a lion's; the head, as noble as an eagle's. A strange thing, really. They had taken only the finest traits of each—and yet the result was grotesque beyond measure. Radiant golden feathers, steeped in the light of the gilded woods, sheathed its entire body as finely and tightly as armor.
The two of them identified the bizarre magical beast the instant it stepped into view, bringing an overwhelming pressure with it.
"A griffin…?!"
"I didn't expect a griffin on the 1st Floor."
"KRAAAAAANG!!"
The thing loosed a roar that shook the earth and unfurled the vast golden wings at its back. The gale that rose from that gesture alone slammed into the three of them without a care for the dense forest in its way.
The sheer presence, the raw destructive force—both of them had to admit it. That was no ordinary griffin.
I didn't think a boss would show up right at the start.
…If it's to protect unnie, then so be it!
Enormous talons gleamed, sharp enough to shred steel in a single stroke. Murderous intent burned in a pair of keen eyes. An ordinary adventurer would have turned and run at the mere sight of it. These two were not ordinary adventurers. They were High Rankers, and a threat of this level was well within what they could endure.
Zion, meanwhile, had slipped back into nostalgia.
Ohhh, no way. They even brought out the Golden Griffin!
The Golden Griffin. A boss from the alpha test through closed beta—an unfortunate monster that had been cut before launch. Meeting it again after almost ten years was a treat, but there was still a job to do. Zion settled into her stance.
The Golden Griffin's difficulty, in itself, wasn't particularly high. This, however, was not a game. This was reality.
"Battle Aura."
Battle Aura
Which meant she was going in at full power.