Observing the lake, Alex made his way to the walls of the large town. The stone walls are at least 2 stories tall with some guards wearing heavy armor on watch while two stood outside an open gate.

One man sat at a table, sorting out the small line of people waiting to enter the city. Entering the line, Alex observed those before him before realizing they weren’t human.

For instance, three of them had pointy ears, tall, lithe and unnaturally good looking. The man seated at the table appeared to be a Dwarf, the rotund short man who had a glorious beard on his face, and well defined arms as thick Alex’s legs.

“Who might you be stranger?” He inquired as he rubbed his beard.

“A weary traveler looking for respite.” Alex answered. The dwarf hummed and nodded.

“Need you to place your hand on the orb in front of me.” He stated. There was a clear crystal orb, like a fortune telling crystal ball sitting on a stand.

“What’s it do?” The dwarf rose a brow at Alex’s question.

“It’s a Scrying orb, just need to make sure your not the unsavory type. It will give me a reading of your combat and utility class.

Placing his hand on the orb after the explanation, Alex found that it glowed before a screen appeared before the Dwarf and he received confirmation on what was written on it.

Alex Hastings

Combat classes; Technomancer, Cleric

Utility Class; Magitech Engineer

“By Merlin’s Beard, you have two combat classes?!” He exclaimed questioningly as he stared up at Alex.

“Yeah?” It had taken a second to understand why he seemed shocked but now that he understands the implication, he quickly tried to disarm his surprise.

“I got it as a hidden dungeon reward.” Alex Stated.He was glad he was last in line and that no one else was behind him.

That however, only seemed to set the dwarf off more as his jaw dropped even further. “It was a first time clear type of situation, it won’t likely happen again.” Alex quickly explained.

He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it, paused then sighed as he slumped in his chair. “Pity…” He mumbled, before grumbling “Lucky Bastard.”

“Alright you’re free to go. Welcome to Krysta”

”Any recommendations for someone new to the place?” Alex asked. The dwarf tapped his chin as he pondered the question.

“Well, if you found an undiscovered dungeon, you could go to the adventurers guild and report your findings such as its location, the monsters, level and how many floors there are. They pay handsomely for that kind of information”

”You’re also a healer, we are lacking those as of now, you would be more than welcome at the House of Healing.”

”Where can I find these locations?”

“The house of healing is a white pristine chapel near the adventurers guild.” He started. “The Adventurers guild looks like a three stories tall tavern with a shield insignia. In the shield is a sword and Mages staff. They are both near the center of the town, near the Nexus crystal. Best way to find it is to go straight through the main shopping district, you cant miss them.”

‘That answer only opened up more questions, but I guess ill find out as I go.’

“Take care mate.” Alex bid him farewell with a casual wave before entering the town.

If there was any where that can answer his questions, it would be the staple of all fantasy novels, the adventurers guild.

Alex was now alone in a place full of different races, which was the same as being among aliens, though it didn’t feel threatening or harrowing, but calm, peaceful…

Normal.

Having been in the apocalypse on his lonesome for about a week has been a lonely affair, even for an introvert such as he. It makes him think of his online friends, his older brother who distanced himself after their parents died, and high school buddies he lost contact with.

Alex took the main district road like the guy at the gate suggested, blending in with a motley array of colorful and weirdly dressed races, the most prominent being dwarfs and elves. The scent of seasoned grilled meats and baked goods caused his mouth to water as he lamented the fact that he has no currency.

‘what even is the currency?’

His stomach rumbled as he passed by the food district and entered the crafting and shopping district, filled with stalls and shops galore of crafting materials, consumables, weapons, armor, camping supplies and other such sundries.

“Woah…” He uttered as he spotted what looked like a giant crystal, hovering over a central stone display piece within the center of a large round about.

He found what he was looking for.The pristine white chapel, the house of healing. Next to it was indeed what looked like a giant tavern or pub, with the adventurers insignia and two swinging doors.

Rambunctious laughter, chatter along with the smell of sweat and beer greeted Alex as he crossed the threshold into the tavern. Only a few of the patrons even gave him a glance before going back to their merriment. This social scene just had too much energy and excitement for his taste.

He quickly scanned the room, chairs and tables littered the better right half of the tavern, along with a bar serving table and kitchen. There were three lines on the left side of the room, some more popular than others as one line has what looks like a cat girl as a receptionist. This only caused Alex to shake his head as he entered the line of least resistance.

“Next.” Alex looked towards the line to notice that he was indeed next.

A small, older gentleman with a red cap was seated on a high chair, who had a quick glimpse of Alex’s attire

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Good afternoon sir, what can I do ya for?”

“Yes, I was told to come here about information pertaining to a hidden dungeon.” The chatter nearby quieted down as those nearby eavesdropped on the conversation. Even the other receptionist stopped what they were doing.

“Giving or receiving?” He asked

“Oh, uh, giving.” He gave Alex a studying look before nodding.

“Sheri, be a dear and watch the young lad for me will ya?” He said to the nearby cat girl receptionist.

“No problem sir.”

The… Gnome? Halfing? Jumped down from his stool and walked up stairs behind the reception.

“Um… Where is he going?”

“Mister Grom is going to go to take the case up with the Guild branch leader. Information pertaining to undiscovered dungeons are important cases, but hidden dungeons are another matter all together.”

“I see…” Alex muttered while tilting his head.

Murmers and whispered conversations about his discovered hidden dungeon was the hot topic for those nearby as they kept stealing glances at Alex before Mister Grom hurried down stairs.

“Lad, the guild leader will see you.” He said. “Come, come, follow me!” He motioned. Sheri showed Alex how to get behind the reception area and Mr Grom harried Alex upstairs to the third floor to a large ornate door before he knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Came a gruff female voice.

”I’ll leave you to it.” Grom said as he hurried back down stairs to the reception.

Opening the door, he was greeted by a large fiery red headed woman built like a shit brick house.

She was dressed like some kind of Barbarian class with only the bare minimum of thick fur clothing, and fur boots, leaving little to the imagination. Her confident demeanor, beauty and height was what Alex pertained her to be the definition of a ‘Dommy Mommy’.

The guild leader gave Alex a knowing smirk, which just added to her charm. She motioned for him to take a seat at the opposite side of the table she was currently sitting at, which was lined with paper work.

“So, you say you have information about a hidden dungeon?” Alex nodded. “Do you have any proof?”

”I… Not really? How will you know that I’ve found a hidden dungeon?”

“You could share your system map and message logs with me to see.” Alex gave her an disbelieving stare at hearing that.

“You can do that?!” Wait! There’s a bloody map?!”

She gave a snort and guffaw at hearing that. “Of course you can. And you don’t know about the map feature?” Alex’s Incredulous look was all she needed to see that he wasn’t lying, making her chuckle in amusement. “Did no one teach you about how to use the Great System?”

Alex’s shoulders sagged as he shook his head. “I was meant to go to the tutorial zone when Earth was integrated, but somehow woke up in a dungeon.” The Guild branch leader’s brows rose at hearing that

“You’re saying… That you are a integrator, but instead of going to the tutorial, you woke up in a dungeon? A hidden dungeon no less?” Alex scratched the back of his head at hearing that but nodded non the less.

“Wow… I would say sucks to be you, but you survived a hidden dungeon, which shows me that not only are you made of sterner stuff but your shitty luck turned into a boon.” He can’t complain he supposed. He did purchase that drawback.

“So, how do I show you my maps and log?”

”Well, much like opening your status, you just need to will the map feature to show up.”

Alex did that and lo and behold, there was a map. It wasn’t much of a map, it has a great deal of Fog of War on it, meaning the auto mapper only seems to update on its own depending on where he has been. He could see Krysta, placed on the map as a nexus town marker and where he started during his long treck. On the map was a indicator for a level 20 dungeon but it didn’t state that it was a hidden dungeon, which might be why she needed confirmation with the message log.

It seems she couldn’t see it so he had the intuition to share the map with her.

“Ah, there we go.” She muttered going over the map. “That’s pretty far out.” She commented. “Scouts haven’t even gone that far yet. And I see where you started. Care to share the message log with me?”

Now, Alex had to be careful with this, he didn’t want to level up on accident, so he silently prayed as he opened his message log and there it was, the last message that wasn’t his level up indicator showed up.

Alex Hastings

Combat classes; Technomancer, Cleric

Utility Class; Magitech Engineer

It was the indicator from when he talked to the guard. Willing it to ‘scroll up’, was a success. He started at the very top and found what he was looking for before pausing… ‘Meh.can’t be helped.’ he thought before willing for her to see that part of the message log.

Congratulations! You are the first Person on Earth to find and enter a hidden dungeon You have earned the title: Novice Dungeoneer!

This title gives you the ability to detect nearby hidden dungeons and pinpoint them with unerring accuracy by up to 50 meters away. When ever you discover a hidden or undiscovered dungeon, you will gain 2 allocation stat points.

“Now that is interesting.” She murmered as she read over the description. “Quite the title, not only that it states that you indeed enter a hidden dungeon.” She stated with a nod.

“Okay, I have updated my map with what you showed me. The guild pays 10 Gold for undiscovered dungeons and 50 for hidden dungeons.” She stated. She pulled out 50 gold coins from her inventory and placed them in front of him which he stashed in his inventory.

After that, she asked for information on what to expect in the dungeon, which he went through great detail.

“While we are on the topic, what’s the difference with a dungeon and a hidden dungeon?” He didn’t want to admit it, but the question was on his mind the whole time and it was driving him nuts.

“Higher risk, but rarer rewards. You must have gotten something worth your time in that dungeon.”

“Not really.” She rose a brow at hearing his response.

“If you want, you can show me what you got that you don’t want and I might buy them myself. For a fair price of course.” She grinned. Alex pondered the proposition and shrugged. What was there to lose?

“Only stuff I don’t want or need.” He stated before going through his inventory and placing down on the table the skill book, 2 lessor healing potions, 4 of the 8 minor healing potions, the two swords which were too big for the table, the bat fur, he has the ornate knife which he was keeping so when it came to the vampire knife, he hesitated.

‘No, better to keep it, it does its job well when it comes to dispatching stunned enemies.

Looking up from his inventory he sees the wide eyed look of Barbarian as her eye was locked on the skill book and swords. She pulled out a magnifying glass before looking at the swords with it, and a strange glint entered her eyes before she put it away.

“Whats the magnifying glass for?”

“Huh?” She looked up as he spoke. “Oh. That’s a identification lens, lets you identify the effects and enchantments on an item.” At his look she went onto explain. “The magic swords are enchanted, sharpness, durability and self repair.” She stated before looking up. “How much do you want for them?”

Alex thought on it and mentally shrugged. She said she would give a fair price, and being a respected branch leader, she would have to follow up on that lest she dirty her image. “How much can you offer?

”For such high quality blades, and with how early the integration is, these rare rank blades would go for a small fortune… I probably couldn’t afford them at the time.” She admitted with a sigh.

“I’d say around 400 gold at a bare minimum per blade.”

”Sure, I can sell them to you.” He didn’t want nor need them. He wasn’t sure he could really salvage something that was enchanted without something happening “Hell, you could pay me at a later date if you want.”

He knew for a fact that, the longer he waited, the less valuable these would be, especially if that boss re appears when adventurers go to that dungeon and they farm them.

“Great!” She Grinned, rubbing her hands together before her eyes landed on the skill book. “May I?” Alex nodded as she gestured to the skill book.

Picking it up, her eyes went out of focus as she read the notification that popped up and her grip softened, as if she were carrying a treasured gift or a delicate baby. Her eyes went to the book, to Alex, and back to the book.

“Something wrong?” Alex asked.

The woman seemed to hesitate as she placed it back on the table before sighing.

“If I’m being honest, I read the description of the skill book and, it would be perfect for my class.” She stated with much hesitation. Alex had gathered as much with her build.

“I’m willing to part for it at say, the same price as one of the swords?” Her eyes widened at hearing that.

“Are you sure?”Alex was caught off by the soft and almost vulnerable question.

“Is it that much of a big deal?” She nodded with a serious look on her face.

“Skill books are not that frequent of a drop and hardly if at all drop in a regular dungeon. Which is why hidden dungeons are much more valued. A skill book that fits my class to a T would be

”Priceless.” Alex finished for her, getting a sad nod from her. “Do you have any skill books that I could trade with?”

”No.” She stated with a shake of her head. “This early on in an integrated world it would be unheard of to even think of seeing a skill book. Any one who found one would likely use it right away instead of fathoming selling it. Which is why I’m asking if you are sure.”

“It doesn’t suit my build. I’m ranged support and a healer. Going berserk would be counter productive and tantamount suicide in the situation.”

“Still.” She questioned, looking guilty with the paltry sum he asked for.

“Look.” Alex started. “You were honest in explaining why, which it is greatly appreciated, and because you’ve been so genuine, there would be no hard feelings with selling it to you, even if I could ask for an arm and a leg. If you’re so adamant, I’ll ask for a few other things. I need information on the system, the integration and would like to join the guild if possible.

She was surprised, but shook her head out of her stupor before quickly nodding in agreement. “ I can do that, though the payment for the book will leave me nearly broke, it would be worth the cost. I can waive not only the cost but you don’t have to worry about the test.”

With haste, she grabbed a blank piece of paper and writ down something before sliding it to Alex.

“Give that to Grom, the gnome who brought you up here. And,” She a large pile of coins cluttered onto the desk which she proceeded to push forward, causing Alex to place in his inventory.

”Guess I won’t be able to unload the potions or fur then.” He stated, getting a sheepish grin from the woman.

“You can try your luck with other adventurers, the potion store is pretty much running out of stock all the time as well, so you could unload them there.”

Honestly, he doesn’t think he will be hurting for money for a long while, so he might just hold onto them.

“Is there anything else you need?” At the shake of his head she stood up, and offered her hand for a shake.

‘Jesus she’s huge.’ If he thought she was big before, she towered over him, she’s over 7 feet tall.

“It was nice meeting you…”

”Alex.” She gave a firm handshake at that.

“My names Scarlet, welcome to Krysta and welcome to the guild.”