“It’s this way.” Sholin led Yaaro through the crowded, but beautiful boulevards of Kuln. There were regularly spaced trees, as well as a sidewalk and a wide cobbled road for carriage traffic.
The people on this street wore a myriad of expressions: identical to ones you would see in any big city on Earth. Most people walked as if it were always stormy, some walked without a care in the world, and others walked slowly, taking in the sights. The only difference was the clothes they wore: many of them wore unexpectedly colorful tunics.
In the carriages, people wore more elaborate clothes with colorful jewel-embroidered jackets, elaborate headwear, fancy embellishments.
“We take a right over here and we’ll be there in a few minutes.” Sholin said, pointing to a boulevard that branched off the main one. Entering the boulevard, Yaaro was absolutely entranced.
There were colorfull stalls and equally colorful vendors, with people thronging each stall. Elaborate scimitars, polearms, broadswords and all sorts of weapons hung like meat at the butcher’s.
There were even some weapons that had odd properties: there was a scimitar with a bright blue blade and an equally bright golden handle, there was a floating book that flipped its pages to onlookers as if showing off its worth, a dancing dagger performed parlour tricks, eliciting cheers from a group of children, and many more oddities.
It would take days to fully explore.
“Yaaro we’re going to be late.” Although Sholin urged him to hurry, he was transfixed by the exotic sight.
And then he stopped, squinting his eyes.
In between a stall with chained floating eyeballs and a stall with tiny dancing statues, there was a small, nondescript old man who had sheets of scribbled paper in front of him.
“Sholin, follow me for a second.”
Without bothering to check if Sholin followed, he approached the old man— who simply chuckled as Yaaro approached— and asked,
“Hi, what is this?”
There were many missing teeth when he opened his mouth, “@## :{#!”:~!@”
Tch.
“Translate.” He asked Sholin.
“We’re going to be the last ones to enter at this rate.” Sholin said anxiously.
“Let it be. Can you translate what he said?”
Sholin reluctantly obliged.
“He says, ‘Someone with the voice eh?’ And then he cackles like a madman.”
Yaaro glanced at Sholin and then looked at the stack of papers in front of the old man.
“Ask him what these are.”
“#@! #@! ?” Sholin asked.
“@#! ~ :”>” The reply came.
“He says these are monster drops.”
Yaaro’s brows furrowed, “Monster drops? What kind of monster drops pages? A book?”
The old man cackled uncontrollably, the phlegm in his throat making his laughter sound choked,
“#@! ~:>”#@! # !”
“He says you’re spot on. It was a book that dropped these pages.”
Not knowing what the old man was saying, he sighed, “What does he mean a ‘book’ dropped these pages? Did he tear them from some book?”
“No, it was a book monster.”
“Ask him if I can see it.”
“#@!#@!$@! ?” Sholin asked, to which the old man gestured. Yaaro didn’t need translation to understand what he meant, and he gladly obliged. He took a few sheets and casually looked at it.
His jaw fell slack.
What he couldn’t see before, now that he brought the paper to reading distance, he could see it well.
This was written in English.
Immediately he shoved the paper into Sholin’s gaze and asked, “Can you read this?”
“Huh?” Sholin was caught off-guard by his sudden action, “What? This? No, nobody can.”
Nobody can…
Those words resonated in his mind. Memories of his conversation with Ariadne came to the surface, and he remembered what she had told him. That there had been quite a few otherworlders in this world’s history.
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“Yaaro let’s go!” Sholin pleaded, to which Yaaro simply brushed him off.
“How much for these?” He asked. And before waiting for a response, he turned to Sholin, “Can you pay him? Thanks.”
His attention quickly turned to the paper, the words in the paper quickly taking on a voice of its own inside Yaaro’s mind.
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Day 1
It’s hard to keep track of time here so I made a clock! It’s not exactly a clock, but it’s a candle with nails. Each of the nails is 15 minutes and when the candle is completely burnt, it reforms itself and restarts the timer. Next to it is a mechanism that counts how many times this has happened. So based on how many times the candle has been reformed and how many nails have fallen, I can tell how many hours and minutes have passed and then how many days.
Let’s start today as Day 1.
Yaaro’s brows furrowed at the strange description. He tried to imagine what the author made, but couldn’t form a clear picture. More than that, there was more than one pressing question on his mind. Only reading more would give him answers.
Day 23
I should redesign the facade of the mansion to be more modern, I think it’ll be a nice contrast against the savannah grass.
The outside world is growing more hellish, just like I suspected. I feel bad for them, but they should have been prepared for this.
His confusion only grew and suspiciously, he turned to the old man.
“Can you understand me?” He asked in plain English, without using the voice. But the old man simply replied in his own language. The old man was not the one who had written this. His questions only grew, but there was one more page.
Day 44
They have found me. I pray my defenses hold.
His eyes bulged wide and he read over the following lines in quick succession.
Day 46
They have already come to the 26th floor. Some of them have even gone to the 56th floor. Please God, please let the defenses hold.
Day 47
there’s more than 10,000 people inside. they’re ruining my dungeon, pissing, shitting and breaking everything. my dungeon. my precious BE-9. FUCKING 9!!! they came after the first 8 and now the ninth??? i will kill them i’ll kill them all i swear to fucking god i’ll kill them all i’ll fucking kill them how dare they i’ll fuckin
Day 49
someone really scary has come here. he’s in the 79th floor right now.
i have a plan. they’re all going to pay for invading my home.
Day 53
that man has come to the 87th floor. he’s going to reach me at this rate. let him, he has no idea what’s about to happen! he has no idea he has no fucking clue!
Day 57
they’re all gone
i didn’t know this would happen
Day 58
it is complete. goodb—
A long, wavery line streaked across the paper, ending as abruptly as it began. Chills ran down Yaaro’s spine as he read over the papers again and again.
What was he reading?
“Done?” Sholin asked, and lost in thought, he replied that he was done.
As he followed Sholin, he stuffed the papers inside his pocket, secretly storing it in his inventory. The surrounding sights, while exotic and dazzling, didn’t interest him as much as those esoteric words. They walked and walked, and at some point,
They had finally reached the dungeon.
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It was extremely underwhelming: in fact, it was simply a large mansion in the center of a massive plaza. Among the crowd standing at its facade, Yaaro spotted students from his University. Darius, Hyphis and the people he shared his carriage with were the only faces he recognised. He followed Sholin and regrouped with the people in his carriage— whose names he never bothered to learn.
Finding this fact odd, he whispered to Sholin, “What’re their names?”
“You’re asking this now??” Sholin’s reaction was understandable. They had travelled with each other for a week after all. With a sigh, he simply answered,
“The girl with the long black hair is Claire, beside her, the one with the short blonde hair is Aurore, and the guy is Mikhael.”
Yaaro nonchalantly stole a glance at everyone present and repeatedly rehearsed their names, committing them to memory. Even if they didn’t know how to use the voice, it was odd to be in a team of nameless strangers.
“Guys I know this is very, very late, but it’s time for introductions.” Sholin said, and then made way for Yaaro.
He was reminded of a business meeting on Earth, the way he politely shook hands with everyone present. Of the three of them, only Claire knew to use the voice, and she wasn’t particularly talkative. Aurore was reluctant to even look in his direction, it was a wonder that she shook his hand. Mikhael meanwhile, was extremely standoffish, constantly muttering threats to Yaaro as they shook hands.
Yaaro sighed, I sense great teamwork ahead, he thought sarcastically.
“Alright let’s go?” Sholin asked the group. Because of Yaaro’s fascination with those papers, every other team had left. Yaaro’s group was the last to leave.
As they approached the entrance to the ‘dungeon’, Yaaro lagged behind the group, preferring to observe and absorb everything about this experience.
There was a dig at his side.
Sholin had playfully hit him with his elbow and whispered,
“Aurore likes you by the way. You going to make a move?”
Before he could reply, Yaaro’s gaze drifted to the blonde woman in front of him. She had a delicate face and very adorable doe eyes. Any man she looked at would be overcome by the instinct to protect her.
“She’s a looker too.”
Unconsciously his gaze wandered, but before it could wander too much, it snapped to Sholin.
“Isn’t she your friend?”
“So?”
Yaaro was speechless.
“What?” Sholin asked.
“Nothing. Just get inside.”
The doors opened to a very large interior. It was sparsely furnished and had rocky walls and flooring, almost mimicking a cave. Everywhere in Kuln that Yaaro had seen was crowded. And this place was no exception. His languid eyes skipped over the crowds and suddenly froze.
The notes he has read crossed his mind. One phrase in particular, ‘My dungeon’, the author had called it.
“Sholin…” He asked, “What’s the name of this dungeon?”
Sholin raised an eyebrow at his question, “It’s just called the Great Dungeon of Kuln. Why?”
“Then what is that sign?” Yaaro pointed. Sholin threw a glance and replied half heartedly,
“Oh that? It’s just what’s there on every floor. Nobody knows what it means.”
“Is that so…”
Yaaro muttered half heartedly. An intense mystery fixed his gaze on that sign. Because on a metal signboard on the wall, read the heavy set letters:
BE-9