?SYSTEM PANEL?
NAME: Aelar Veyrin
RACE: Elf
CLASS: Ghoststep Striker
STATS: DEF: F (5%)/ MP: F (0%)/ FOCUS: F (0%)/ STR: F (15%)/AGI: F (70%)/ LUCK: F (0%)
?SYSTEM PANEL?
NAME: Orik Durnak
RACE: Dwarf
CLASS: Iron Vanguard
STATS: DEF: F (30%)/ MP: F (0%)/ FOCUS: F (0%)/ STR: F (50%)/AGI: F (5%)/ LUCK: F (0%)
?SYSTEM PANEL?
NAME: Korgan Bronzebrow
RACE: Dwarf
CLASS: Aegis Vanguard
STATS: DEF: F (80%)/ MP: F (0%)/ FOCUS: F (0%)/ STR: F (10%)/AGI: F (0%)/ LUCK: F (0%)
?SYSTEM PANEL?
NAME: Dawson Rook
RACE: Human
CLASS: Charge Reaper
STATS: DEF: F (0%)/ MP: F (0%)/ FOCUS: F (0%)/ STR: F (45%)/AGI: F (35%)/ LUCK: F (0%)
?SYSTEM PANEL?
NAME: Mira Halden
RACE: Human
CLASS: Blade Dancer
STATS: DEF: F (0%)/ MP: F (0%)/ FOCUS: F (0%)/ STR: F (30%)/AGI: F (60%)/ LUCK: F (0%)
?SYSTEM PANEL?
NAME: Nyx Sableclaw
RACE: beastkin
CLASS: Support mage
STATS: DEF: F (0%)/ MP: F (20%)/ FOCUS: F (65%)/ STR: F (0%)/AGI: F (1%)/ LUCK: F (0%)
LOYALTY: Loyal
NOTE: Due to your recruit’s perception of your strategy to recruit subordinates, her loyalty has increased.
‘What the actual fuck, why are they so strong? Did they get destroyed because they met a level two undead?’
‘Each one of them could slap me to death, so why do they want to follow me?’
I forced myself into calmness, “You three”, I said while pointing at Nyx, Aelar, and Orik “, will come with us, as for you two, stay with Korgan, he will need your help once he wake up as a devil seed, plus your injuries won’t heal for a while, and we must finish our objective as quickly as possible.”
‘Although I’m annoyed at the fact that they are stronger than I, I won’t mind more help; destroying the dungeon core won’t be easy.’
As Vorn thought of this, he couldn’t help but check on the dungeon core again. When he saw that the completion rate had reach 80%, he shivered.
‘Once the dungeon core forms, the undead currently in gestation will become a level three; once that is done, no matter how lucky I am, I will still die a horrible death. There is absolutely no surviving a level three at our current level.
After some push and pull, the cowards huddled in the corner, begging them to stay and protecting them.
Vorn finally spoke coldly, cutting down the useless talk as he, Lilith, and the three new subordinates started heading toward floor 40.
As we descended, I explained to them the main danger before entering floor 40
“Wardens”
“They’re blocking the door to the 40th floor,” I said calmly, “One per stairwell.”
I explained to them slowly how strong the warden is.
Level two.
DEF: E (55%)
STR: E (15%)
As I explained, I looked at the 40th floor
CORE FORMATION: 80% → 81%
“We take the warden on stairwell C,”
As we descended, I checked a few items in the system shop; it was filled with countless items of every kind, but I only picked three for the recruits, otherwise they would be useless in a fight with a level two undead.
A set of daggers for Aelar.
A large two-handed sward for Orik.
A mana focus similar in appearance to the one in Lilith’s hand.
‘Three common items for the low price of 105 shop points.’
When I gave them the items, they were very surprised, as they knew how expensive these items were in their shop.
I gave them no mind as I looked at the walls.
Condensed mana, sticky, and dark.
As the number on the landing changed to 40, I saw him
The warden
I raised my hand, two fingers, and everyone froze instantly.
The warden, an undead almost two times the size of an ordinary one, looked at us in cold and lifeless eyes that held intelligence.
I spoke quickly. “Orik, First contact, just keep it facing you.”
“Aelar, attack its tendons and joints. Your main job is to distract it.”
“Nyx, buff Orik and Lilith, but focus on her more; she will be the one to kill it.”
Nyx nodded; she was excited to test her new focus. When the apocalypse arrived, she received much information, among them was that the focus in the status window is mainly divided into two parts.
One part is the magical knowledge, her knowledge revolves around support magic, which is why her focus status is very high, and the other is control over mana, which needs practice.
The item given by Vorn basically removes the fact that she needs practice, which made her much more efficient.
“Stop wasting time and go“
CORE FORMATION: 82%
The Warden moved first.
It didn’t shamble. It launched a brutal step that cracked the landing and turned into a shoulder-charge aimed straight at me.
However, before I could curse my bad luck, Orik met the warden’s hand with his sward.
The new two-handed sword came up like a wall, as the impact drove Orik back two steps.
The Warden’s arm hammered down again, one blow that would’ve folded a normal man in half, and Orik caught it on the flat of the blade.
Aelar vanished to the side, daggers flashing.
He didn’t try to kill it; he focused on limiting its movement: Achilles, knee tendon.
The Warden snarled and swung blind for him.
Nyx raised her focus, the tool in her hand brightened, and a thin, steady stream of mana threaded into Lilith’s back and Orik’s.
Lilith stepped forward once
The Nexus orb in her palm pulsed, and the air around the Warden’s head began to compress.
The warden roared out of anger and pain, but only received a dark and sticky tentacle that materialized from Lilith’s spell.
The warden became even more frantic as it destroyed the tentacles, but they kept on coming.
Its injuries began to increase by the second, and even Aelar and Orik were injured by it.
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Until a large dark spike flowed out of Lilith’s hand and pierced its head.
Orik didn’t hesitate—he drove the sword through its chest and twisted it for insurance.
The giant's body hit the floor hard.
The door behind it flickered, then unlocked with a dull, metallic click.
This door isn’t normal; if entered, we might go to a special space.
It flickered like a screen, a thin film of white light stretched across the frame.
CORE FORMATION: 85%
The core formation process is accelerating for some reason.
“Everyone, enter now”, I said, but I didn’t enter out of fear. After I saw the recruits enter, I entered too, followed by Lilith.
“That’s… Floor Forty?” Nyx asked.
I didn’t answer. I was surprised as well. This place looked like an endless expanse of white space. Just as we were admiring this new experience, a prompt slammed into everyone’s vision, bright and cruel.
[[Challenger prompt]]
You have challenged the Hollowlight dungeon
Number of challengers: 5
The dungeon rules are currently being designed by the core
…
The dungeon rules have been modified.
One challenger must face the challenge; in case of failure, another participant will be selected.
Please vote
For a second, no one breathed.
Then all eyes turned to me.
Of course they did.
I was terrified, no, I must tell them to vote for Lilith otherwise, there will be no tears left to cry.
And in less than a second after this prompt showed up, Lilith voted for Vorn.
I cursed her in my mind, but wanted to continue speaking.
I was interrupted by Lilith.
“Don’t waste your life on the illusion of rewards; this trial, even I don’t have full confidence in passing.”
‘FUCK YOU’
Just then, more people voted for Vorn, and a system notice appeared.
[[Challenger prompt]]
Challenger Nightworn has been selected to face the challenge.
Please be prepared, teleportation to the trail area in T- 00:59
T- 00:58
T- 00:57
My mind was blank.
Haven’t I tried enough?
Haven’t I burned all of my brain cells working to find methods to remain alive?
I’ve worked so hard, why would the world be so mean to me?
I saw Lilith’s confident face.
Nyx's hopeful expression.
Aelar's eyes that screamed fanaticism.
And Orik…… forget it, I don’t want to know.
A film of light slowly enveloped me as I disappeared right in front of everyone.
However, when I opened my eyes, prepared for death, I saw the same endless expanse of white.
In the center hovered the dungeon core.
Bright enough to hurt the eyes, wrapped in spirals of blue glowing current feeding into it like a river.
And then…
It spoke.
“Finally.”
My heart almost stopped, but I knew my end was death, so I asked casually without emotion.
“You can talk?”
“Of course I can.” The core pulsed, almost offended. “I simply don’t waste conversation on creatures that will be dead within minutes.”
“I watched you since the capsule kissed the roof,” it said, a touch too proud, “You should have died immediately, yet here you are… walking into my mouth.”
“I don’t understand how you survived, how you drove the guardian of the upper floor into madness, how you seem to understand everything about me and the locations of my army”
“If it wasn’t for the rules that restrict me, I would have definitely sent every undead to kill you ”
“However I must be impartial, I must offer the challengers a fair opportunity, now the maximum of what I can send is five level two guardians, and I have a strong feeling that they won’t be enough to clean your teeth”
“I must say, I will probably break the record for the fastest core to die in the history of the end games.” The core said, half joking, half deprecating.
“So, my killer, any words before we begin?”
‘FUCK ME SIDWAYS’
‘Why do people always think I’m some kind of a god?’
‘Couldn’t you have killed me and got it over with?’
The gears in my head started turning at full speed; if smoke could come out of my head, it would have.
‘A solution, I need a solution’
Suddenly, a distant memory of a celebrity whom he had already forgotten.
He spoke while laughing, “He didn’t destroy the core, He contracted it; everyone said he was insane.”
I spoke calmly, trying hard to keep my image of a powerful god.
“I heard that participants could contact dungeons. Is that true?”
‘Please be true, please be true, please be true.’
The dungeon core "..."
“Fine,” the core said, “Become the Dungeon Master.”
[[System prompt]]
Would you like to become the dungeon master, Y/N
Vorn “…”
‘Why do I feel like I’ve been scammed?’
Before I could start contemplating, I received a system prompt that five level 2 undead would be teleported here within 10 seconds, and I should be prepared.
What other choice did I have?
I agreed to become a dungeon master with no idea of the consequences.
Just then, the air around me changed, and what could only be described as a ghost of a 3 to 4-year-old appeared laughing.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you wanted to become a dungeon master? You scared me, hahaha”
Vorn “…”
