“Get that thing away from me you freak!” Ranma shouted. He ducked frantically under an incoming electric hair buzzer aimed for his head, repeatedly dodging and weaving around more strikes. The grinning man attempting to give him a buzz cut just kept on jabbing said buzzer at him.
“Now, now, Keiki. Try ta hold still so tha’ I can give ya a propa haircut for school!” Principal Kuno gleefully exclaimed as he continued to chase the pigtailed boy. Ranma continued to avoid the principal’s frantic attempts to cut his hair as they weaved and leapt through the trap-filled obstacle course that said principal created inside the gymnasium. It didn’t last long as it quickly got broken in their ensuing fight.
“Aiya, crazy man no harm Ranma!” Shampoo suddenly interjected, slamming her heels into the side of the older Kuno’s face and pausing for a moment to give Ranma a quick wave and a “Nihao!”. In her hand was a basket of food that didn’t waver the slightest from the force of her impact with Principal Kuno’s head. Ranma had not been expecting the girl as he didn’t even know she was here.
“Shampoo? When did you even get he-oof!” Ranma was cut off as Shampoo used the principal’s face as a springboard leaving the now knocked out man to fall to the ground in a heap, and flipped in the air before tackle-glomping the boy in excitement.
“Airen! I save you from crazy man so we go on picnic date, yes?”
“Now hold on just a minute!” Ranma replied, trying to wiggle out of the girl’s death grip. “I had him right where I wante-eh?”
Akane stood nearby, glowering at Ranma as her eyes fixated on the girl unashamedly pressing herself into him.
“H-Hey, it ain't what ya think ‘Kane!” Ranma stopped trying to push Shampoo off of him to desperately hold a hand out as if to ward Akane off. He tried to plead his innocence to the irate girl, “She just appeared outta nowhere!”
“Shut it, Ranma!” Akane shouted before she grabbed a nearby piece of heavy debris from one of the many destroyed traps that littered the gymnasium and hefted it over her head. “If you wanted to go on a date with Shampoo then do it out of my sight!”
Then she jumped and flung the heavy piece of debris down as hard as she could and it was only then did Ranma notice that he and Shampoo were laying down on a large board resting over a barrel. It was one of the many random things that the principal set up before their battle but Ranma didn’t have the time to ponder on their recent battle before he and Shampoo were flung into the air through a hole in the ceiling.
Ranma only let out a yelp as he and Shampoo suddenly found themselves flying through the air. Shampoo blinked in surprise at this new development and used this opportunity to cling onto Ranma tighter.
“Damn it, Akane!” Ranma swore. He wondered how he was supposed to get out of this predicament when he remembered the basket Shampoo brought and still held onto. Getting a bright idea he looked to Shampoo, “Hey, hold onto my waist! I need the blanket!”
Shampoo brightened and was more than happy to comply with that request as she wrapped herself tightly around his torso. Ranma only grumbled a bit but quickly tore the blanket out of the basket and gripped its corners tightly as he used it as a makeshift parachute. With their descent slowed significantly Ranma was able to finally take in the scenery around them from their new vantage point.
For about five seconds.
The change was nigh instantaneous. Right in front of Ranma and Shampoo’s eyes the surrounding buildings and cityscape vanished in an instant. As if they were aluminum cans being crushed and pressed into the earth itself. Wind rushed around as if filling in empty spaces as buildings, street signs, and even cars seemed to be almost sucked into the ground leaving behind only churned rock and earth. The only things left behind seemed to be trees and random scattered objects that for whatever reason were not sucked into the ground as well.
“What just…” Ranma and Shampoo gaped at the scene before them as all sound seemed to vanish in an instant, neither comprehending what they had just seen. For a while they just floated down through the air until a voice spoke to them. It did not come from anywhere around them, instead it seemed to have been directly planted into their minds.
It was robotic and it didn’t speak Japanese or Chinese yet Ranma and Shampoo could still understand it perfectly.
Surviving humans take note.
The words popped up inside a small text box in front of Ranma and he nearly lost his grip on the blanket above them as he started at its sudden appearance. Instead, he just let out a small cry of surprise and desperately worked to keep their descent under control. The words never moved more than an exact distance from him no matter his orientation and were not in any language that Ranma or Shampoo knew yet they were still able to read it.
Per Syndicate rules, subsection 543 of the Precious Elemental Reserves Code, having failed to file a proper appeal for mineral and elemental rights within 50 Solars of first contact, your planet has been successfully seized and is currently being mined of all requested elemental deposits by the assigned planetary regent.
Every interior of your world has been crushed and all raw materials—organic and inanimate—are in the process of being mined for the requested elements.
Per the Mined Material Reclamation Act along with subsection 35 of the Indigenous Planetary Species Protection Act, any surviving humans will be given the opportunity to reclaim their lost matter. The Borant Corporation, having been assigned regency over this solar system, is allowed to choose the manner of this reclamation, and they have chosen option 3, also known as the 18-Level World Dungeon. The Borant Corporation retains all rights to broadcast, exploit, and otherwise control all aspects of the World Dungeon and will remain in control as long as they adhere to Syndicate regulations regarding world resource reclamation.
Upon successful completion of level 18 of the World Dungeon, regency of this planet will revert to the successor.
A Syndicate neutral observer AI—myself—has been created and dispatched to this planet to supervise the creation of the World Dungeon and to ensure all the rules and regulations are properly followed.
Please pay careful attention to the following information as it will not be repeated.
Per the Indigenous Planetary Species Protection Act, all remaining materials—estimated to be 99.999999% of the sifted matter—is currently being repurposed for the subterranean World Dungeon. The first level of this dungeon will open approximately 18 seconds after the end of this announcement. The first-level entrances will be open for exactly one human hour and one hour only. Once the entrances are closed, you may no longer enter. If you enter, you may not leave until you have either completed all 18 levels of the World Dungeon or if you meet certain other requirements.
If you choose not to enter the World Dungeon, you will have to sustain yourself upon the surface of your planet, and this may be the last communication you receive during your lifetime. All previously-processed matter and elements are forfeit. However, you are free to mine and utilize any remaining and naturally-occurring resources for your own benefit. The Borant Corporation wishes you luck and thanks you for the opportunity.
For those who wish to exercise their right of resource reclamation, please take note.
There will be 150,000 level-one entrances added to the world. These entrances will be marked and easy to spot. If you so choose to enter the first level of the dungeon, you will have five rotations of your planet to find the next level down. There will be 75,000 entrances to level two. There will be 37,500 entrances to level three. 18,750 to level four. 9,375 entrances to level five and 4,688 entrances to level six. The number of available entrances to the next lower level will continue to decrease by half, rounding up until the 18th level, which will only have two entrances and a single exit.
Crawlers who choose to enter the World Dungeon must find a staircase and descend to the next level down before the allotted time is up for that level. Once the time has passed, the level will be reclaimed and all remaining matter in the level, organic and inanimate, will be forfeit. Generated loot and other matter that is not gathered and claimed may be placed in the Syndicate market.
Each lower level will have a longer period of reclamation. Additional rules come into play once any crawlers descend to the tenth floor. These rules will be explained when and if any crawlers reach this level.
If you so choose to enter the World Dungeon, it is highly recommended you immediately find and utilize a tutorial guild. Multiple tutorial guilds will be seeded throughout the dungeon on levels 1 through 3.
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If you have any additional questions, or you wish to file an appeal, such requests must be submitted in writing directly to the closest Syndicate office.
Thank you for being a part of the Syndicate. Have a great day.
Ranma was not able to truly take in what was happening. Everything was happening so fast that the surreal experience wasn’t able to truly sink itself in. Instead he and Shampoo simply floated there in the air in stunned silence for a while until a loud and obnoxious trumpet noise jolted them back into the present. Ranma tried to carefully turn around towards the direction the noise came from to see what it was but a sudden gust of wind picked up speed, catching their makeshift parachute, and knocking the two martial artists around.
“Crap!” Ranma yelled, desperately trying to keep the two of them from going out of control.
It was in vain as Ranma wasn’t able to keep hold of the blanket for long nor direct their landing. Instead the blanket caught into a nearby treetop and the force of their spiral threw Ranma and Shampoo down. They crashed to the ground and bounced once off of it, before their momentum sent them tumbling into a large hole in the ground.
Ranma was able to briefly see that said hole had ornate stairs made of iron leading down into it. The stairs seemed almost immoveable and unchangeable in their design yet right before his eyes said stairs morphed into a slide and neither he nor Shampoo were able to stop their sudden descent into the Dungeon. Their screams of panic and confusion echoed throughout the tunnel into the ground.
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Ranma and Shampoo didn't get the luxury of taking their time to get used to this new development as they slid down. Instead, as the end of the slide neared into a large cavernous room, the two managed to get their bearings and slammed their feet into the iron slide and leapt into the air. With a graceful flip both of them landed on the ground.
“What is that?” Shampoo asked. “A door?”
“Seems like it,” Ranma agreed.
The room they were in was wide enough that a dozen or two people could fit comfortably next to each other and tall enough that Ranma would have needed to put some effort into reaching the ceiling. The floor was white tiled marble and in front of them was a set of wide double doors thirty feet wide and tall. They were designed like some sort of aquatic creature that neither of them could identify.
“Should we go in?” Shampoo asked.
“Maybe, I’d like to give whoever did all this a piece of my mind,” Ranma replied. Then he paused and paled as he remembered what just happened and snapped his neck back towards the slide. “Akane! Shit, what if she was still in the gym when this all happened!”
“Ranma!” Shampoo exclaimed as the boy tried to run back up the slide. He didn’t make it far as he almost seemed to freeze mid-step and tumbled back down the slide. Shampoo watched as he repeatedly tried to go back up only to repeatedly fail.
After the sixth time Ranma pushed himself to his feet and glared at the slide.
“I don’t think that whoever did this is just going to let us go back up,” Shampoo said.
“Yeah, I got that. Guess I just gotta kick the ass of whoever set this all up first then make sure Akane is fine,” Ranma growled. After a few seconds he blinked and stared back at Shampoo, “Hey, Shampoo, you’re not speaking with an accent.”
“I noticed, I think whoever did all of this is making us use a different language. We’re not speaking Japanese or Chinese,” she replied.
“Well, whatever, let’s get this over with,” Ranma said as he and Shampoo made their way to the double doors.
As Ranma focused harder on them a box of text with a little X on its upper right corner appeared over it.
This is a rendition of a Kua-Tin, the dominant species of the Borant System and principal owners of the Borant Corporation. They’re the head honchos of this little thing (besides me, but don’t tell them I said that), so try not to piss them off too much.
The two of them found that they can control the box by focusing on certain parts of it like the X on its corner. Then by refocusing on the doors they could make the same text box reappear. It was good information to know and they wasted no more time. Ranma and Shampoo each took one of the double doors and pushed them. They opened with surprising ease and the two stepped in.
Once crossing the doorway Ranma and Shampoo took note of their surroundings. They were now in what looked like a large hallway-like tunnel system made of brick. The tunnels were as tall and wide as the doors they just came from and were lit with intermittent torches attached to pillar-like arched protrusions from the walls. Besides the torches Ranma and Shampoo didn’t see anything else of note.
The doors slammed shut behind them, causing the two to whirl around and see that the doors were now gone and replaced with bare brick walls.
Welcome, Crawlers, to the First Floor.
A new voice appeared in their heads now but this time it was much more energetic and overly enthusiastic. It reminded them of some game show hosts that they had seen on TV, or ringmasters in a circus. Ranma was certain that it was the same voice that made that declaration though he was basing this solely on the fact that both voices were being sent directly into his brain.
The text in front of them was not like the text box from before, it was more like subtitles and no amount of focusing would let either of them make it go away. In the upper right of their vision a countdown timer appeared: 4 days, 23 hours, 36 minutes. Neither of the two actually knew what this was for but they had a few guesses.
Ranma glanced over at Shampoo and focused on her like he did with the doors, mostly to see what happened.
Crawler #5,379. “Shampoo.”
Level 1.
Race: Human.
Class: Not yet assigned.
Right after he finished reading the information box even more boxes appeared in his vision.
You are designated as Crawler #5,380. Your Crawler Name is “Ranma.”
Your assigned race is Human. You are level 1. A new race may be obtained once you have descended to Floor Three as well as the ability to choose a class. Based on your current physical and mental aptitude your stats have been automatically assigned as well. See the stat menu for more details.
Ranma was barely even able to process what he just read before an explosion of text to follow alongside the announcer’s voice filled his vision.
Congratulations! You’ve earned your first achievement: Nerfed!
You have entered the dungeon as one of the few people on this backwater planet that would have had stats far exceeding what is necessary for the first few floors! As a result, your body has been reduced to a much lower stat pool than what you would have had. All to give those other poor soon-to-be-dead fools a chance to make it big themselves… But not to worry! We recognize the hard work you have put into your body so we won’t leave you without at least a consolation prize. After all, we all know that hard work alone is all that people need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
Reward: You receive a Gold Skill Box!
New Achievement! Indistinguishable.
You have entered the dungeon with “magic” already on hand! In this case it's a “curse”. Who knows, maybe you could find that long awaited cure in this Dungeon? Or die trying, either or.
Reward: You receive a Legendary Mystic Box!
New Achievement! Empty Pockets.
You entered the dungeon without any supplies? You’re either brave or just stupid.
Reward: You receive a Bronze Adventurer Box!
New Achievement! Tumbler.
You have entered the dungeon by bouncing and rolling off the ground like an acrobat! Well, actually more like a flailing chimpanzee. You don’t really deserve anything good for that.
Reward: You receive a Silver Adventurer Box!
New Achievement! Unarmed Combatant.
Most would call someone entering something called a “World Dungeon” without any weapons to be stupid and reckless. Then again, most are wimps that can’t even throw a punch. Unlike you! Still, not everything can be beaten with just your bare fists….
Reward: You receive nothing! What, unlike most of these people you don’t really need whatever crappy weapon you’d get in a bronze box. If you want something good go find or make one or do something outrageous enough to get a better reward box! Get moving sucker!
New Achievement! Dynamic Duo.
You entered the dungeon with someone else and only that someone! Will you face the trials ahead together in jolly cooperation or will you turn on each other for even the barest scrap of loot? Let’s find out together.
Reward: You receive a Silver Savage Box!
Ranma and Shampoo stared at the walls of text they each received. Ranma himself barely knew what to think about this AI thing that was running this place. It was clearly not on his or Shampoo’s side and was a mouthy thing despite not having a mouth. Whoever or whatever this Borant Corporation was was bad news if they used this thing in whatever sick games they had planned. Plus the hostile takeover of their planet, he couldn’t exactly ignore that even if he had no idea where or how to even start to do something about it beyond following whatever this World Dungeon thing was.
After taking some time to settle their minds they gave each other a nod. Ranma pointed down a section of the hallway, “Let’s head that way, maybe we’ll come across someone who knows something. I think that first message said something about a Tutorial Guild?”
Shampoo nodded, “I agree.” Just as they started to walk down the hallway she smirked and took the chance to glomp onto Ranma’s arm as she now had exclusive alone time with her future husband without any annoying distractions. Shampoo smiled up at him before she did her best to press their bodies as close together as possible, “Lead the way, my beloved!”
“H-Hey! C’mon, Shampoo! This ain’t the time!” Ranma complained as he awkwardly tried to walk with Shampoo hanging off of him.