The air in the dungeon grew heavier as a group of hunters cautiously entered.
Their steps echoed faintly, their eyes darting around the cavernous halls.
My golems, stoic and unyielding, guided them forward without a word, their heavy footfalls resonating like distant thunder.
The hunters exchanged nervous glances, clearly aware they were at my mercy.
Soon, they stood before me.
“Did you bring the item?” I asked, my voice cold and unwavering.
One of the hunters, a lean man with a scar running down his cheek, stepped forward hesitantly.
His hand reached into a pouch, and he withdrew a bracelet.
“Yes,” he said, holding it out to me. “Here it is.”
The bracelet gleamed under the dim dungeon light, its silver surface adorned with intricate patterns.
Tiny green and blue gems sparkled like captured starlight, their arrangement almost hypnotic.
The craftsmanship was exquisite, a testament to the skill of its creator.
“If you wear it,” the hunter continued, his voice tight with unease, “you’ll temporarily gain player status.”
I took the bracelet from his trembling hands, turning it over slowly.
The patterns seemed to pulse faintly, as though the object was alive with hidden power.
“Good,” I murmured, my gaze fixed on the bracelet.
Then I turned slightly, addressing Krothe without looking away.
“If anything goes wrong, kill them.”
“Kaw! Okay,” Krothe replied sharply, his wings flapping as he perched higher above, his black eyes gleaming with anticipation.
“What?” one of the hunters blurted, his face draining of color.
But before they could react further, the forest shifted.
The golems and chimeras emerged from the shadows, their forms towering and menacing as they encircled the hunters.
The air grew suffocating with tension, and the hunters froze, realizing their predicament.
Their weapons trembled in their hands, but they made no move.
Their survival now hinged entirely on the bracelet working.
I slipped it onto my wrist slowly, every movement deliberate.
The cold metal sent a shiver up my arm, and as it clicked into place, a sudden sensation rippled through me.
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[Checking the wielder qualifications...]
[Condition Met: wielder doesn't have player status]
Few messages started appearing before me, glowing faintly in the air.
[Maelk's bracelet transforming your status]
Almost immediately, a blue aura flared to life around me, wrapping me in a radiant cocoon.
[Job is being assigned....]
It pulsed and shimmered, an ethereal glow that seemed to seep into my very being.
[Skills are being modified....]
I felt it then—something shifting deep inside me, like a lock being undone.
A weight I hadn’t even realized I carried lifted, and with it, a strange clarity washed over me.
[Congratulations! You’very gained player status for 30 days]
The aura began to fade, its light dimming until it disappeared entirely.
I flexed my fingers, feeling a strange new energy coursing through my body.
Though there were no outward changes, I knew something profound had occurred.
“Status window,” I muttered softly.
In an instant, a translucent blue screen materialized before me, displaying details in crisp, glowing text:
[Name: Cyrus Movok]
[Species: Matrivan]
[Job: Dungeon Boss]
[Skills: Dungeon Summoning, Matter Manipulation, Matter Life Induction...]
I scanned the information quickly. Most of it remained the same, but there were new additions.
A Job had been assigned to me: Dungeon Boss.
And alongside it, a new skill—Dungeon Summoning.
Beneath the list of skills, new numerical values caught my eye:
- HP: 5000
- MP: 3400
- Intelligence: 94
- Vitality: 83
- Agility: 76
- Dexterity: 89
- Strength: 78
For the first time, I could see my existence quantified, categorized like a player.
The sheer strangeness of it made my pulse quicken.
I turned my gaze back to the hunters, who were watching me with a mix of awe and fear.
My voice was steady, but it carried an edge that cut through the silence like a blade.
“It worked.”
The hunters let out shaky breaths, their shoulders sagging in relief.
For now, their lives were spared.
But I couldn’t help but smirk as I stared at my own status screen, my mind racing with possibilities.
This new power—it was just the beginning.
----
[Scelet City]
Nestled in the rolling hills of the countryside, Scelet City was a quiet, unassuming place where life moved at a slower pace.
Its cobblestone streets wound between modest houses, and the faint smell of earth and grass lingered in the air.
Few people lived here, and fewer still ventured out after nightfall.
But everything changed when that dungeon appeared.
A massive portal in the air marked its entrance, surrounded now by hastily erected barriers and a near-constant guard presence.
The dungeon, rising swiftly to orange rank, loomed over the city like an unspoken threat.
Its dark energy pulsed faintly, a sinister reminder of the horrors that lay within.
“What do you think? When will this dungeon finally be cleared?” one guard asked, his voice carrying the weariness of sleepless nights.
“I don’t know,” the other replied with a sigh.
“I just hope the guilds step in soon. It’s only a matter of time before something worse happens.”
The first guard shook his head.
“The big guilds won’t bother. They’re too busy chasing red-ranked dungeons. And the smaller ones…”
He trailed off, his expression darkening.
“They’ve tried. Failed. No one else will risk it now.”
As they spoke, the tension in the air was interrupted by movement near the portal.
The guards turned, watching a group of hunters emerge, their faces pale and drawn with exhaustion.
“Tch. Looks like they ran away,” one guard muttered.
The other nodded grimly.
“Can’t blame them. That place…” He shivered, leaving the sentence unfinished.
But then, something happened that neither guard could have anticipated.
A figure stepped out of the portal behind the hunters.
At first, the guards thought it was another hunter, but the moment they laid eyes on him, they froze.
So did the hunters.
The civilians nearby stopped in their tracks, their chatter dying mid-sentence.
Even the spies planted by rival guilds, who had been lurking in the shadows, found themselves captivated by the being now standing before them.
His skin was pale, almost luminescent, like the surface of a pearl.
His hair, long and wild, resembled strands of green algae, damp and glistening.
Coral-like horns jutted from his head, twisting upward in jagged, asymmetrical spires.
His body was adorned with organic crystals, some jutting from his shoulders and arms, others embedded in his chest like jagged armor.
But it was the crystal on his forehead—a gleaming green gem—that drew the most attention, glowing faintly with an inner light.
His presence exuded power, raw and primal, and it felt as though the air itself grew heavier with every passing moment.
The guards’ hands trembled on their weapons.
The hunters stumbled back, their courage evaporating under his gaze.
Civilians whispered in hushed tones, their fear palpable.
And the spies, hidden as they were, could barely breathe as they watched this being, trying to comprehend what they were witnessing.
The creature looked around, his sharp, predatory eyes taking in the city.
For a moment, there was a flicker of wonder in his expression, as though this world was something he had only dreamed of.
“Haaa…” he exhaled, his voice smooth but laced with an eerie undertone. “So this is what the outside of a dungeon looks like.”
His gaze swept over the gathered crowd, lingering on each of them like a predator surveying prey.
Then, his lips curled into a cruel, mocking smile, baring sharp teeth that gleamed in the light.
“Pathetic,” he muttered under his breath, before raising a hand adorned with crystalline claws.
His voice rang out, sharp and commanding, like a crack of thunder.
“Sweep them away.”
At his command, a wave of energy rippled outward, and from the portal behind him, monstrous forms began to emerge—golems, chimeras, and other unnatural creations of his dungeon.
Their growls and screeches filled the air as they surged forward, their massive forms tearing through the barriers as though they were paper.
Screams erupted as the crowd scattered in every direction.
The guards tried to rally, raising their weapons, but their faces betrayed their terror.
The hunters, paralyzed by fear, could only watch as the nightmare unfolded before them.
And in the center of the chaos stood the being, his cruel smile growing wider as the city descended into panic.