Chapter 1: The First Floor

Two friends were crossing the entrance of a certain building together when they suddenly felt the urge to look at the sky, and they weren't alone. The boy and the girl suddenly saw a red star crossing the sky at a suspicious speed... the meteor wasn't even showing any sign of falling. Everyone around also felt the urge to look at it, and they were mesmerized by the object...

A few minutes earlier...

"I feel like there is something off in the air today… it must be my imagination," A brown-haired seventeen years old young man said while watching the city through the window of his room. "The wind is crying… and I laugh while saying: I told you. One more for my list of shitty poetry."

          That day when the world changed, things were going like usual for most people. It was a sunny day, but the wind made the weather feel pretty nice in the hometown of a certain someone. That someone was the brown-haired youth, who was fixing his hair while looking at the mirror with light brown eyes. His name was Andrew Carter, 1.8 meters tall and a relatively troublesome teenager. Today was graduating from high school and was preparing for the ceremony, but he still couldn't stop with his antics…

"Well, if it isn't saucy, Andrew… you can't stop living for the memes, Andrew. Still, you should look for a doctor, just in case. It must not be normal for someone to tell himself jokes while looking at the mirror, considering that you don't want to be a comedian."

          Andrew slapped his face a bit to change his mood, and then he left his apartment with a serious expression on his face. Before closing the door, he took a good look at the place because he felt that he needed it for some odd reason. It was the same as usual, but he also felt that something was off. Still, he didn't find anything out of place…

"... I should get going,"

            Andrew decided to use the stairs of the building instead of the elevator. It was a good chance for him to get some exercise done, considering that he will have a few weeks off and won't have many reasons to leave his apartment. There were other reasons for that, but they were such normal thoughts that they quickly disappeared from his head.

          When Andrew reached the entrance hall of the building, the elevator also stopped there, and then a certain short blond girl appeared and then smiled while approaching Andrew. That was Ann, Andrew's childhood friend, and they had known each other for over a decade. While she was a bit older, Andrew felt like she was his little sister since she was short… which was a landmine that he really avoided with all his might.

"Wassup, Andy," Ann said. "It is finally time, huh? We are finally graduating today, and most of society will treat us like adults."

"Yes, now we can go to jail and pay for our crimes thoroughly. We need to pay taxes or go to jail," Andrew said. "We need to be a lot more mindful of our interactions from now on in order to build a good reputation as an adult and obtain good jobs to be able to pay for taxes and not go to jail. I guess adulthood is all about not going to jail."

"Your image of adulthood is so twisted…" Ann said while forcing a smile. "We still have college life ahead, but I think I will miss a lot more these high school days."

          Andrew didn't feel that way at all. He will gladly welcome the days when he would meet people every day that didn't know about his past and look into his eyes with either pity or outright disgust. He won't miss those days… the only thing that he will miss is the fact that he and Ann went to school together pretty much every day. There were no romantic feelings between them, and they were fully aware that the other felt like a sibling. That was why he didn't tell her which college he was going to study at.

          Andrew did that in order to let Ann choose her real path instead of following him out of worry, and he would hate himself if she ended up messing up her life because she felt that she had to look after him. She was too much of an important person for him, and he couldn't let that happen…

          When those two crossed the entrance of the building, they suddenly stopped and felt the urge to look at the sky. Weirdly enough, a lot of people did the same and ended up looking in the same direction. When that happened, they saw a meteor crossing the sky… it seemed like a meteor, but it was crossing the sky without falling down.

"That isn't something you see every day…" Andrew said when he realized that the meteor was emitting a red glow.

"I feel that it is kind of ominous," Ann said while grabbing the side of Andrew's shirt.

"... Relax, it probably isn't a meteor, just a new type of airplane or something," Andrew said.

        Ann nodded, but then the red start suddenly stopped moving and fell downward. The ominous feeling quickly spread around the people that saw that… but at least it didn't fall nearby. The size of the object didn't seem that massive, either.

          Still, the sky began to change. Several octagonal shapes of crystals suddenly appeared like it was covering the sky, and they began to glow even more strongly as time passed. Eventually, they emitted a light that moved like a wall downward. Something big was about to happen, so Andrew put his right arm on Ann's shoulder to make her get closer. Fortunately, when the light reached the buildings nearby, it didn't do anything to them. However, it made people close their Eyes for a moment. The same thing happened to Andrew and Ann as they felt some lightness on their bodies.

          When they opened their eyes, they had a hard time adjusting to the new environment. The light of the day had disappeared and given room for the darkness of the interior of some buildings. It looked pretty rough and massive in size. Andrew felt like he was inside a dome made only out of dark brown bricks. Even the floor seemed to be made of the same material…

"What the hell…"

"Mommy! Daddy!"

"Where am I?"

          Things suddenly got noisy around… Andrew found a lot of people around, and while it was time for people to go to work, that number of people was just way too weird. Besides, Andrew found something even weirder.

??? - ??? Lv ??

??? - ??? Lv ??

??? - ??? Lv ??

          Andrew found those at the top of the heads of everyone. At the same time, he found something like he would only find in a game screen in the corner of his vision.

Health: 20/20

Magic: 30/30

Stamina: 34/34

"... Let's keep quiet about this for the time being," Andrew thought.

"Andy? What is wrong? What happened?" Ann asked.

          Fortunately, Ann was still there, so Andrew sighed in relief, but then he found something at the top of her head as well.

Ann - Fireball Lv 01

"... I am not sure, I would like to think that this is some kind of mass hallucination, but I don't think that being in denial would help a lot," Andrew replied while looking around. "It seems that we were moved to

somewhere… for the time being, let's look for uncle and auntie."

'Welcome to the world dungeon. Your species have been invited to enter the ranks of the cosmic creatures.'

        Andrew and Ann frowned, they suddenly heard a weird voice in their heads, but it seemed that they weren't the only ones. Everyone went silent after hearing that.

'The goal of the world dungeon is to determine the strongest and smartest species in the cosmos in order to determine the future of the current chaotic universe. You can do everything you want here, aside from a few things. The rules are: don't reveal the system that you have obtained. Don't stay on the same floor for more than thirty days upon finding the entrance to the next level, and lastly… don't go against your system. We wish you all a good stay in the world dungeon.'

"What the hell… who are you? Show yourself now!"

"This must be some kind of TV prank… I am going to sue the producers of this."

"No entiendo que esta pasando aqui,"

"Wir müssen einen Ausweg finden!"

          Things were starting to get even noisier now, and thanks to it, Andrew realized that not only Americans were there. The voices of people all around the world could be heard, but after looking around, he could only see a few thousand people… that dome-like place was large, but not that large. Fortunately, he found a corridor ahead, so there was a way out, but it was hard to say where it would lead them to.

"We need to leave this place…" Andrew said after looking around.

"Why? We need to look for my parents," Ann said, visibly shocked.

"That is exactly why we are going to look for them. However, I don't recognize a single person around. That means that those who were in the building were sent somewhere else," Andrew explained. "It seems that we ended up in the same place since we were in contact with each other, while there are people looking for their friends and relatives around but can't find them."

"But if they are somewhere here, even if the chance is small…" Ann insisted.

"Chaos and panic will spread soon enough, and we can't be here once that happens," Andrew explained. "We can only ask a few people around where they are from to confirm my hypothesis. Hey, where are you from?"

"Me? London,"

"Rome, Italy,"

"Canada,"

          Some people looked weirdly at Andrew, as if they couldn't understand his words, that confirmed things, so Ann could only nod… people from all around the world were sent to that place, and it seemed that people from Earth were also sent to other parts of that world dungeon.

"It seems that the red meteor was the cause of this," Ann said while they were leaving the large group of people. "Was it some kind of machine? Maybe we were kidnapped by aliens."

"Maybe, but we don't have time to worry about that; let's just see if we can find other spots like this beyond that corridor," Andrew said.

          Although he said that, Andrew was only thinking about how that whole situation was possible… someone or something did something to Earth, and he figured out that the light wall that enveloped the world teleported them to that place. That must be one heck of a technology since it managed to affect so many people. At the same time, that seemed weird, considering the apparent goal. Still, he had to forget about that as well when they reached the corridor. From the outside, it seemed just like a random tunnel made out of bricks.

"We can't reveal the systems we have, so it seems that we might have different ones," Andrew said. "Still, we should be able to talk about what we can do or if we obtained some skills. Do you understand your system?"

"More or less," Ann said. "It seems a bit weird."

"Well, as long as you know that you can do something with it, you can figure out how things work," Andrew said. "Still, I should take a test just in case… I can use… Fireball… phew, nothing happened. It seems that we can talk about the skills we have."

"Don't be so reckless… what would have happened to you. If that was forbidden as well?" Ann asked.

"No clue," Andrew said.

"Seriously, you are…" Ann said and then sighed.

(Your relationship with Ann improved and is now at level two.)

(The skill Fireball has leveled up, and its firepower increased by ten percent.)

        Andrew blinked several times… something crazy just happened. In any case, he decided to check if there was more to the system and confirmed that he was right.

Andrew

Health: 20/20

Magic: 24/24

Stamina: 34/34

Strength: 05

Wisdom: 06

Dexterity: 09

Vitality: 05

Mentality: 06

Perception: 08

Friend List: Ann Lv 02(Fireball)

Fireball Lv 02

Damage: Skill level + Wisdom + 10%

You are reading story The Dungeon World at novel35.com

Cost: 04 points of magic

Range: 15 meters

"What kind of system has a friend list and not a skill list? Something is off about this…" Andrew thought, but then he put those thoughts aside. "What can you use?"

"Something called wind sphere… apparently, we have to charge for a while to make it stronger," Ann explained.

"That means that we both can attack from a distance, that is good… for the time being, let's keep our ears and eyes open before thinking of using those," Andrew said and then grabbed one of Ann's hands. "Let's go."

            Andrew didn't want to think, but the chances of that event being one of those where humans have to fight for survival were pretty high. The goal of the world dungeon was to discover the strongest and most intelligent species, and competition was the best way to prove that. Maybe even compete against other humans or monsters; that was why they had to be careful.

          They began to cross the corridors of the dungeon, and it didn't take long for them to find the path splitting in two. Andrew knew that such a thing was bound to happen, given that humans had been teleported. So, there were supposed to be many starting points like the ones they have been… who knows how many.

            Before choosing a path, those two approached the walls, and Andrew signaled for Ann to watch one side, and he would watch the other. They should move at the same time and attack if they find something dangerous ahead. The atmosphere was so tense that they were already sweating. Fortunately, when they turned on the sides, they found nothing.

"Nothing here…" Ann said.

"Same here… now starts the difficult parts," Andrew said. "We have to choose a side to go to…"

"When it comes to labyrinths, to find the exit, one has to follow the rule of the left, right?" Ann asked.

"I have the feeling that the someone who built this place would be smart enough to know that and make sure that things won't be easy," Andrew said. "By the way, do you have some pen and paper with you?"

"Yes, do you want to start a map?" Ann asked.

"We don't know how big this place is, so we will have to make something more simple," Andrew said.

            While it was graduation day and Andrew decided not to bring anything with him, Ann was another matter. She was a girl, and girls never go anywhere without their bags.

              In any case, on the notepad that Ann had, Andrew wrote L and R before a comma, and then he put a circle on the L. That will make things easier for them to identify the way back or the paths that they hadn't explored.

"Pretty smart of you," Ann said. "but I thought you wouldn't follow that rule."

"Well, it is better if we learn if that rule is applicable or not as soon as possible," Andrew explained. "Anyway, let's get going."

        Ann nodded while wondering how Andrew could keep his cool like that and make his decisions without hesitation. He was an oddball when he was with others. However, she knew that it was just a mask that he put on, even in front of her… still, she could tell that he wasn't wearing a mask, he was truly concerned, but at the same time, he looked excited. She hoped that he wasn't treating that like a game… because that would get him killed.

          After taking a few steps while following the left side, those two suddenly felt the ground trembling, and then all of a sudden, a wall appeared behind them. They opened their eyes widely since the bricks seemed so well-connected together. However, they still were able to move like that… as if things weren't weird enough, another wall appeared twenty meters in front of them.

"This is making me recall bad scenes of exploration moves…" Andrew said.

          The space in the center of that area also changed, the ground moved to the sides, revealing a hole, and from it, a platform emerged. At the top of the platform, two short and green creatures emerged… Andrew couldn't help but let his mouth hang open when he saw goblins for the first time.

          Goblins were dirty and fat creatures, they weren't taller than one and a half meters, but they still emitted a certain aura of danger. Those two were smiling while looking at Ann, showing their putrid teeth and while letting spittle fall from their mouths. Ann felt shivers while looking at them, while Andrew felt his blood boiling. He pointed his left hand at them and used Fireball, the creatures protected themselves with their knives, but Andrew emptied his mana and fired four of those. Each of the attacks caused a small explosion that burned the arms and the heads of the creatures until they fell to the ground, lifeless.

"I got carried away and emptied my mana… shit," Andrew thought. "I have no idea how much I can recover, so this might be bad…"

"You used magic so well and hit them on the heads… how were you able to control that spell?" Ann asked.

"Hmm… I am not sure," Andrew said while he watched the walls sink on the ground. "Come to think of it, and it is weird that we can use it so well… I feel like it is a knowledge that I always had."

"Same here, but even so…" Ann said.

"Yeah, we need to be careful…" Andrew said and then approached the corpses.

          The knives of the enemies were made of rough iron… probably forged by them. They also suffered some damage, but Andrew decided to take them. It wasn't like he had any other option now that he had used all of his mana.

"Do you think we should touch them? Maybe they have some kind of alien disease…" Ann said.

"It can't be helped…" Andrew said. "It is a risk I will have to take. Just keep your distance, just in case."

"I don't like this situation, but I like it even less when you treat me like I am made out of glass," Ann said while frowning after crossing her arms.

          Andrew had many things to say about that, but they would only put oil on the fire, and they had time to argue. After checking the bodies of the goblins for a while longer, he decided to move on after finding nothing. Besides, the smell of burned flesh was turning his stomach.

"I don't think that we activated any trap, but just in case, we should stay close to each other in order not to be separated by those walls when they emerge," Andrew said. "In any case, before moving, you should test your magic. We should be fine here."

          From what Andrew knew, he could tell that all the systems had their way of making the users stronger. His was supposed to make him stronger when people had a good impression or trusted him… it was the most unsuited system for someone like him. He was also curious to know how Ann's worked, but it was too dangerous to ask.

          Ann charged her spell for a moment, and Andrew noticed that the wind around was moving toward her hand. After charging for a second, the spell became the size of a fist… and upon being fired and hitting the ground, it caused a small but relatively powerful shockwave.

"I guess it won't work well to kill the goblins directly, but it should be enough to push them back and buy time," Ann said. "Still, the feeling of using it is so natural… it is weird."

"Never mind that. It seems that I can recover one magic point per minute…" Andrew said while scratching his chin. "If we somehow combine our spells, we can make them a lot more efficient. We need to practice that, but using it in battles is too risky right now."

"Yes, we should take turns or perhaps rest here before moving," Ann said.

"I would rather gain some ground over the others just in case some people are bound to check the path ahead, and I want to avoid problems dealing with others right now," Andrew explained. "Let's go."

          Andrew would benefit from interacting with others, and he had to know how his system worked… he didn't add Ann to his friend list. Still, she was there, and while he talked with those three at the starting point, they didn't become part of the friend list, so he had to find the trigger in order to find the best way to use the system.

"Still, it will be hard… I can't hide my feelings when I find someone that I dislike," Andrew thought.

          Andrew and Ann advanced for a minute before finding another path, and this time, it was splitting to the right side and continued ahead. If his guess was right, if they go in a straight line, they should soon find the path splitting to the left and the front… the left side would guide them to another group of humans.

          After explaining his theory, Andrew and Ann kept walking in a straight line, and then they confirmed his thoughts. Instead of looking for the next group, they heard some shouts and decided to stop.

"It seems that the people there are nervous… maybe we shouldn't go there and check," Ann said while biting her lips. "What were the chances of us finding my parents there?"

"Well, it is hard to say how many starting points this dungeon has, but considering its name…" Andrew hesitated while trying to avoid Ann's eyes.

"The world dungeon… if this place is truly like a world and all humans were split into groups of ten thousand…" Ann said and closed her eyes to hide her exasperation. "There are over seven hundred thousand groups split in this place."

          Those numbers were insane, but the math was right… What were the chances of them checking so many places? How much time will it take? There is also the chance that they will miss them if Ann's parents move. Food was another problem that will force them to move.

"We have to keep moving and hope to find them at the end of the first floor… That is how things should work here, right?" Ann asked.

"That voice said that, and I agree that it is the best place to find people in whatever the hell this place is," Andrew said while nodding.

"Let's search for the end of this floor… by the way if the starting points are connected like this…" Ann said.

"Yes, there must exist only one exit," Andrew said. "If we follow the path of imagining the table of a tournament while heading in that direction, we should find the end of the first floor."

          The only problem with that logic was the fact that the starting points would lead to paths that would be divided by two until only one was left. That would take a while… in any case, and those two looked for the path that would lead them north but were forced to stop again when the walls appeared in front and behind them. Andrew readied his knives to fight, but he couldn't help but hesitate when two other goblins emerged from a platform on the floor.

"There is no point in trying to act like I know how to fight…" Andrew thought. "I will have to learn, but against a vicious and confident opponent, I have to play it by ear."

"I will separate them," Ann declared while pointing her left hand at the enemies.

          When the goblins charged, she was smart enough to wait until they were only three meters away, and then she hit the head of one of them. The impact made the target hit its head against the wall on the side, and the shockwave made the other trip. Andrew used that chance to charge, and then he attacked the second… he awkwardly trusted his right knife on the heart of the enemy… the creature trembled for a moment but soon fell dead.

          Andrew had a hard time pulling the knife, and when he did it, he saw the first enemy recovering. He threw the dirty knife at the face of the target, and while the monster was trying to clean the blood from its face, Andrew approached and attacked… His knife pierced the stomach of the beast and made it agonize, failing at muttering strength to fight back. The enemy also fell dead on the floor, and Andrew recovered… however, the hot blood in his hands made his heart race.

"... Are you all right?" Ann asked after she approached.

"I will be… I just need to think that these are wild animals that tried to take our lives," Andrew said and then grabbed the knives of those two enemies, and then he gave them to Ann after getting rid of the blood. "Keep them just in case for self-defense. We can't tell each other how our system works, but we should be able to see if one of us gets stronger than the other to take the Frontline… I suspect that you will want to do that."

"It is only obvious that you would know that since we have known each other for over ten years," Ann said while smiling.

        The idea still bothered Andrew. Let a girl and a short one fight while he stays in the front line was rather… hard to swallow. Still, at least recognizing that helped him.

(Your relationship with Ann improved, and it is now at level three.)

(The skill Fireball has leveled up, and its cost decreased by two percent.)

        Fireball improved again, but it seemed that the power wasn't the only thing that would be enhanced with each level-up.

"It doesn't seem like the spell will improve by using it alone… I have to improve my relationship with Ann, then… what a weird system," Andrew thought. "We are basically best friends already, but I guess the system is only recognizing the progress from now on… in any case, how the heck does this kind of thing make me able to use magic?"

          The number of questions was increasing, but Andrew didn't have time to think about it for the time being. They soon found the next corridor that was leading to North, so they hurried up. It didn't seem like the monsters would appear at fixed intervals. Still, it was hard to imagine them appearing whenever they crossed a certain amount of distance.

"It doesn't seem like I can see the skills other people will give me before they are added to the friend list, so I will have to test with a lot of people… but my focus should be to increase my basic parameters," Andrew thought.

            The next corridor was a lot longer than expected. Still, even before they could find the next bifurcation, Andrew and Ann had another encounter with goblins… Andrew wanted to save mana for really difficult situations, but he decided to use that chance.

"We will combine the spells now," Andrew declared when the enemies suddenly charged at them.

"Eh? All of a sudden?" Ann asked, surprised.

"Aim at the one on the left and… fire!" Andrew shouted.

          Ann only charged her attack for a second, so her power hadn't been that high. However, the two magic spheres collided at the same time on the target, and the impact created a larger explosion that burned the upper body of one of the goblins and killed it. Meanwhile, the other had its arms burned more than a little bit… The creature stopped moving and tried to extinguish the flames. Andrew used that chance to attack the beast, and once again, he aimed at the heart… the knife pierced well, but he realized that he instinctively avoided targeting the head or the neck.

          It was time to move on again, but before that, Ann grabbed the enemy's knives, and then they disappeared from her hands…

"I guess her system does something with loot… it means that she will get stronger the more we fight creatures like goblins. Not bad, I guess," Andrew thought.

"I guess I understand how this works now, even if it is weird," Ann said. "Still, what should I do with the parameters?"

"You already can use them?" Andrew asked. "I think you should focus on Wisdom to increase your magic power, which will help you save mana and make your spell stronger. Still, you shouldn't let people see you making the weapons disappear like that, and they might figure out by that alone the secret of your system."

        Andrew wished that he could do something similar to get stronger… being social wasn't his forte…

          Those two began to move again, and then they found the end of the corridor… but instead of the path splitting, they found a door. Andrew and Ann looked at each other and then shrugged. Andrew moved to slowly open the door and then be found a simple room that had another door in front of the one they opened and another on the left side. There was a chest in the middle of the small room, and it seemed like a treasure was there or a trap…

          Andrew looked at Ann again, and he nodded. In one way or the other, they had to check it… However, when Andrew touched the chest, the other door opened, and then three people showed up…

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