-Vol 5: A New Life-
-Revelations(1)-
Kenshin didn’t care about the drops from the ugly scorpion. He ran towards the mountain where the shake came from. He was getting worried for some reason, and his [Dragon Sense] was making him uncomfortable. Using his full speed, he started to scale the mountain.
Not long after, he arrived at the other side. What he saw blew his mind away to the other side.
A huge, probably even huger than the tallest skyscraper to ever exist in the current era, the armored humanoid giant was holding an equally big hammer and hammering away something on a crudely made anvil that looked even bigger than a mountain.
To Kenshin who was mentally prepared to find nothing and declare that image to be a hoax, this situation was something out of his wildest imaginations. His first reaction was to alert everyone of the presence of such a huge monster, who was calmly hitting away something on the anvil. Just as he was about to pull out his phone from his pocket, a booming voice entered his ears that shook his very soul.
“Don’t bother, Kenshin. I won't be here for long.” this voice was heavy and filled with power. Even after his awakening, Kenshin felt overwhelmed and nearly keeled over in dizziness. The sound alone was enough to make him dizzy. Few seconds after he felt better, he stood straight and looked horrified at the huge giant.
“Who are you? How did you know me?” Kenshin asked after calming himself enough to converse normally. That sound came with a huge shock to his senses. Now Kenshin was a little apprehensive about staying there and listening to the giant. But he had to find out how it knew his name. Still, he couldn’t shake that familiar feeling about this huge giant whose alignment was yet to be known.
Kenshin wasn’t overly worried about that. He had spare lives, if he dies, then he can always revive and continue with his life.
“Hahaha! Yes, of course, you won’t recognize when I am like this. I am Core, the one who initiated the contract with you.” The giant didn’t turn around, still continuing to hammer away something that Kenshin couldn’t see from his side. But his voice could be heard especially clearly even to where he was standing.
“Core! That’s impossible. How can Core be a giant…wait! Don’t tell me the destruction of the dungeon has something to do with you.” Kenshin suddenly had a bad premonition. His intelligence had increased a lot, deducing something like this was just a child play to him. Now that Core appeared in the form of a giant, he could make the guess of what exactly happened.
“Haha! You are intelligent, alright. As expected of my guardian, or should I say, my jailor.” Core’s mocking laughter came next. Despite that, he continued to hammer away the thing.
Suddenly Kenshin started to have a bad premonition, narrowing his eyes he looked at the giant’s back “What do you mean by that?” By now, he had already realized that somehow he had been duped by this giant who was pretending to be a powerless pretty boy in a low leveled dungeon. That contract might be the reason.
“Haha, yes. Of course, you won’t know anything about it. Or else, you wouldn’t have signed that contract with me. I must thank you for this.” Core laughed once again. Kenshin was sure he was being mocked by that crafty deceiver. From the beginning, he had felt this Core to be somewhat fishy. He never tried to spend too much time with him, lest he would do something to Kenshin. But even after all the caution, he had never expected to be duped from the very beginning.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Kenshin felt like dying right then and there. He always thought he was careful enough with his every action, but now, it seems he was just fooling himself. Although he felt angry at being cheated, he didn’t show it on his face and instead stared at the giant with narrowed eyes.
“What exactly is the job of a Dungeon Guardian?” Kenshin had already guessed the root of the issue. He was too mal-informed. In fact, it could be said he knew next to nothing about a dungeon and its various working process. He became a dungeon guardian, but he knew nothing about a guardian’s job. In the end, he was duped with someone who was pretending to be a dungeon core.
“Hmm! I can tell you everything. Consider this is a ‘thank you’ for leveling up so soon and allowing me to be free from my confines. You should take a seat there, this will take some time to explain.” Core said as the giant stopped hammering. It then sat there, shaking the ground and the neighboring area for a few seconds.
“These things called dungeons, they are not actually made to hold these monsters, they are in fact made to hold creatures like me. The monsters you see in it, as well as the boss that spawns every now and then, it was all so that nobody would come close to the core and try to free what’s in there.” Core stopped there, allowing Kenshin to soak in the info he had given out.
A look of astonishment, as well as horror, flashed on Kenshin’s face. Looking at the huge giant’s back, he mumbled, “So you are saying, the dungeon is the jail. The one who is supposed to be dungeon core is the prisoner. The dungeon guardian must be the warden that would make sure the core didn’t play any games, as well as prevent the intruders from reaching the core. The hunters who regularly challenge the dungeon, are actually the ones who are the intruders. And the monsters are there to stop these intruders…by your story, didn’t it make us the bad guys?”
With Kenshin’s intelligence, he instantly deduced the important points and the crust of what Core was trying to explain. As he did so, his face began to twitch, and his thoughts began to swim. Covering his face with his palm, he thought ‘it's not that we wanted to be the bad guy, we are forced to be the bad guy. If we didn’t clear the dungeon regularly, the monster within would overflow, and a dungeon break would occur. If that happens, many lives will be lost.’
“Yes, you are intelligent, indeed. I am relieved that the one who was my jailor isn’t a dumb person. But you shouldn’t think like that. In fact, if you guys don’t clear these dungeons, it's you whose life will be in jeopardy. It can be considered self-defense. Haha!”
“Then tell me, how did these dungeons appear on earth?” Kenshin ignored Core’s mocking laugh in favor of asking questions. He wanted to know what he was dealing with. The more he began to know, the more he realized how dire their future was becoming.
“The same way you guys build jails for criminals. Usually, the people responsible for maintaining law and order in the multiverse would find unpopulated dimensions and built these dungeons there to prison heinous criminals that had done damage on a multiversal scale. Usually, the guys responsible for building these dungeons would find a nice little unpopulated planet and do their work. Usually, they would choose planet which had no hope to be ever come in contact with magic to build their prisons.” Core stopped, then a few seconds later, his voice came again, “Earth, the place you are now is actually one of such planets. Chosen to be a prion ground even before the first life appeared here. According to their calculation, the earth should never have come in contact with magic and the stuff.
But something changed.
Kenshin, there are 999 planets like the earth which were made to be prison planet for multiversal criminals like me. But that number decreased by 1 just now. Earth no longer a simple prison plant. Since it came in contact with magic, it will slowly evolve and so will be its residents.”
Kenshin felt like a bomb went off in his head. The revelation was too much for even him who had formed his Intent Manifestation to take in calmly. His vision blurred, and he felt faint.
“What?”