Ten years ago, mysterious structures or land formation suddenly emerged on different parts of Earth. These mysterious areas spawned monsters which almost overwhelmed the human civilization. Conventional weaponry worked at first, but stronger monsters emerged as time passed.
Heavy weaponry became unreliable except for defense as these mysterious structures couldn't be destroyed even by a hydrogen bomb. Infantry deployment became the go to strategy of most countries at the early days of the emergence of these alien environments.
Later on, everyone would call it in a single term. A Dungeon.
As to how everyone from Earth decided to call it that, it was because of the people who suddenly awakened with mysterious abilities. A Skill Board, a disembodied panel that only they could see, shows everything as if it was a video game, with the only difference was that there were no status for them to increase.
Instead, they could have skills on that board, analyse things within the dungeon, and acquire messages from the unknown about their many things like achievements, acquiring new skills, or other minor stuff about them. The Skill Board also identified these alien environments as the Dungeons, hence the term became universal.
This phenomenon happened a month after the emergence of dungeons. As the year passes, more and more people acquired their own Skill Board. Some of them became lucky enough to acquire powerful skills that surpassed WMDs.
With the existence of these people, they became more valuable than owning nuclear weapons. They were the hope of the humankind against the dungeons, and they were called in different terms depending on what country they were. After two years, people decided to colloquially call them as Adventurers for easier identification.
As the time passes, dungeons slowly became a boon to the humankind. What was at first an unprecedented disaster that could cause the extinction of humankind became a hotspot full of opportunities. A new reusable energy called Magicite changed a lot of things on the energy companies among many things.
Majority of the nations abolished other environmentally damaging energy source due to the existence of Magicite. It was proven that it was 300% more powerful than nuclear powerplants. This was only one of the many things that the dungeon changed on this modern age.
Resources within the dungeons were much stronger than common resources found on Earth. Everything in the dungeon was worth more than anything produced on Earth due to the importance and effectivity of most loots within the dungeon.
If it was possible, they would dismantle the dungeon itself if they could destroy it.
Regardless, life had changed since the emergence of dungeons and the adventurers. Military couldn't be the only group that could go to the dungeon as anyone from the citizens could get a strong skill that would make them more effective than ten specially trained armed forces.
Governments creates another system so they could nurture these Adventurers, institutionalized them so they could work for the betterment of their nation.
So Adventuring became available to almost every people. A school has been built just so children would be ready for dungeon diving. Many laws were changed, and now almost every people were allowed to wield dangerous weapons.
To be a licensed Adventurer was the dream of the people of this current age. Mizufune Mikoto is one of those people who wants to become a licensed adventurer.
Born in one of the rural province in Japan, Mikoto has seen how the world has turned into hell at the first emergence of the dungeons, and she had seen the transition within the old modern age, and the new modern age. How the life of people changed just because of this.
She was 15 at that time when the dungeon starts appearing on the world. Now in Year 2035, ten years after that time, she spends her time doing her hobbies while living alone at her parent's farm in her province.
She really wants to become an adventurer, but since she acquires the Skill Board eight years ago, she quickly realizes that her life won't amount to anything. Her Skill Board is empty. A very rare case, and one of the worst things to have in this new age.
She tried of course. Taking the test for dungeon diving to become a licensed adventurer. Though she couldn't beat even a single monster. She got beaten up by one goblin before she was rescued by the experts on that dungeon test.
Since then, she could only watch other people go inside the dungeon. Feeling useless and aimless at her life. Her dream of going on an adventure. There is nothing else she can do.
After a few years of being in a slump, she finally decided to live her life normally. Though her desire for that kind of life still burned within her heart. She took a new hobby five years ago.
That was making models of dungeons.
Since she was a child, she liked making maps of dungeons. It might be an influence to some of the dungeon crawling games she played where she was forced to make her own maps for it. It was fun for her.
She returned to her own roots. Creating her own dungeon model so she could imagine herself within the halls of the dungeon she dreamt of exploring. She made simple mazes using cardboards, and later turned it into full-blown mini-dungeon halls as she became more skilled at the art.
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Even when she came back home to inherit the farm of her parents, she resumed with her hobbies. Using most of her time to create dungeon models.
Slowly, this hobby she did out of her longing for adventure slowly turned into a leisure activity for her. She came to like making dungeon models, and she felt this had been calling all this time.
She was satisfied with her life like this. She didn't thought her life would change abruptly on one certain day.
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One day, when she woke up, she heard a nostalgic noise. It was the sound of a digital prompt that echoed on her mind, something that occurred to her when she first acquired her own Skill Board.
"Hnn?"
She opened her eyes, and her sleepiness quickly vanished as she saw a floating message in her vision.
[The God of Labyrinth is impressed at your dedication. They have decided to sponsor you!]
[You have been gifted with a skill!]
She immediately stood up as she mentally opened her Skill Board. A floating panel only she could see appeared in front of her eyes. What once was an empty Skill Board had something written on it.
> Dungeon Builder (God Class)
The skill to build and manage your own dungeon with your hands.
"W-what!?" She exclaimed in surprise.
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"I-it's true... I can actually make my own dungeon..."
In front of her is the entrance to a dungeon. An entrance entirely made up of cardboard. Though unlike her models that was incredibly small, this one was bigger than her. It looked like the enlarged version of her cardboard dungeon model.
She decided to check inside the cardboard dungeon. She remembered that this cardboard model was the roofless one she made. Though when she looked up, there was a cardboard ceiling covering the top of this dungeon. When she got to the stairs part of her dungeon model going down, she finally realized something.
"... It's too dark."
Other than the entrance to this dungeon, there was no other light source to illuminate the dark hallways of this cardboard dungeon. Which was obvious because she doesn't expect her dungeon model would turn into an actual one.
And she knew it was a dungeon because of the vibes it gave. Unlike normal caves and other natural landmass, dungeons gives the feeling of naturalness within it. The air within a dungeon felt more fresh than the air outside, and something invisible and magical could be felt within it.
This was because of the Magicite that a dungeon naturally produces. Everyone who had a Skill Board could sense it. Even her who had an empty Skill Board could feel the Magicite on the air.
Another thing why she knew it was a dungeon was something obvious. Dungeons appears out of nowhere. Even if this was a structure made entirely out of cardboard, it was still something that popped out of nowhere. It gouged a space underground, though at the same time it doesn't even caused any damage to the soil.
It was because the interiors of a dungeon was a different space than the real world. It was only connected from the real world through its entrance. That's what she learned from the forums talking about the dungeon.
"I can't believe I can make my own dungeon..." She was amazed at this fact.
The dungeon model she had on her room was now a dungeon on her yard. When she first tried to use her skill, she was asked to choose one of her creations as a base for the new dungeon, and she picked one of her earlier creations. After that, she was asked to pick a location where it would manifest. She chose her yard.
She tried it a bit half-heartedly as she still felt doubtful of these series of events. She felt like she was dreaming. Now that the dungeon was in front of her, all of her suspicions were put to rest.
Now she just had to check the interiors of the new dungeon, and hopefully the monsters within were weak enough that she could handle them.
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After she equipped her old adventuring equipment like her construction helmet with the flashlight on it along with her safety equipments, she explored the dungeon she made and quickly verified the interiors of this dungeon.
It had the same paths, rooms, and dimensions as the one she used as a base for this dungeon. Another thing she discovered was that this dungeon lacked any monsters. It simply was an empty dungeon made of cardboard.
It was a small floor she admitted. Barely having five rooms with some paths that returned back to the starting path. It was a simple base for her own dungeon model, so it wasn't complicated like her recent creations.
"But this feels lacking... a dungeon without any monster can't be called a dungeon at all..."
Dungeons always have monsters within it. They were the main source of loots when it came to dungeon resources. Without monsters, it might as well be a useless piece of land.
"Oh, I also have to report this to the local association branch."
People were encouraged to report newly discovered dungeons to the local authority. She knew she had to do that or she would be charged with treason against the nation if she was discovered for deliberately hiding the existence of her dungeon.
"Mmm... but it will feel awkward just reporting about my dungeon when it doesn't have any monsters inside it. How can I get monsters inside my dungeon? I don't think I have a summoning ability for it?"
She was currently in her room. Her eyes focused on the cardboard model of her dungeon. She wondered how she could get a monster as she stared at her dungeon.
When she peered her eyes at the cardboard model of her dungeon, she gasped at the sudden popup of stylish pointers on various spots of her dungeon model. It indicated the image of each dusts that coated the dungeon model for a bit, along with some options shown on her eyes.
Would you like to turn this dust into a minion?
> Yes
>
> No
"... I can turn dust into my minion!?" Mikoto screamed in bafflement.
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"I actually did..."
On the cardboard model of her dungeon were dusts that moved on their own.
Sentient Dust (Rank I)
Each of these dust became sentient after she picked "Yes" on the prompt.
She tried to go to the dungeon once more to check on it, and she was surprised to see a floating clump of dust moving slowly on the air. It was on the same spot that she saw it from her cardboard model.
"And it doesn't attack me." She muttered under her breathe as she saw it move past her, ignoring her as she walked around her cardboard dungeon.
She checked up on the other parts of the dungeons, and encountered more of her dust minions.
This revelation made her realized something.
"Wait... so I have to provide my dungeon models stuff to turn into my monsters!?"
It felt a bit troublesome, but it seemed like that was how her powers works.
This was the start of her life as the Dungeon Builder.