Date: March 12, 2021 (Friday)
Location: Ground Zero, Washington D.C., USA / Inside the B-Rank Hell Gate
America's Alpha Squad stepped into the colossal forty-foot portal, followed closely by a specialized collection team of C, D, and E-Rank Dungers.
The moment they crossed the dimensional threshold, the scenery before them defied the logic of a typical cavern. While C-Rank dungeons were already known to be luminous and resource-rich, this B-Rank ecosystem existed on an entirely different spectrum. The walls and labyrinthine structures were heavily embedded with glowing crystals and stones of varying hues—crimson red, emerald green, violet, azure blue, and deep purple. The entire underground environment radiated like a surreal, neon treasury.
For a brief moment, even the hardened S-Rankers were stunned by this multi-colored, paradisiacal view. Surprisingly, the lower-rank Dungers behind them were breathing comfortably. Despite the crushing density of the ambient mana in a B-Rank zone, they experienced no physical drawbacks surviving in this environment.
But this tranquility was short-lived.
Heavy, aggressive mana signatures began surging from the deeper sections of the cavern. The S-Rankers instantly sensed a horde of B-Rank monsters rapidly approaching. Wasting no time, they drew their C-Rank Magitech weapons and stepped forward.
In the next second, dozens of massive B-Rank beasts burst out from the glowing tunnels, charging directly at the intruders.
However, against four S-Rankers, this wasn't a battle; it was a unilateral execution. Utilizing their raw speed and physical superiority, the Alpha Squad tore through the horde. Their C-Rank blades moved seamlessly through the air, cleaving through the tough hides and dense bones of the B-Rank monsters without any extra effort. The beasts were undeniably powerful, but before the absolute aura and might of the S-Ranks, they were completely helpless.
As the S-Rankers carved a bloody path forward, the collection team immediately got to work. Strictly following David Wilson's orders, they rushed to the monster corpses, rapidly extracting the highly valuable B-Rank Essence Stones and Mana Cores and stuffing them into their specialized bags. Interestingly, not a single person laid a hand on the glowing environmental crystals or stones embedded in the walls. They were blinded by the resources they already knew.
The slaughter continued unabated. The four S-Rankers pushed into the deepest, final chamber of the cavern without taking a single breath of rest.
Their path was suddenly blocked by a massive, solid door—an architectural part of the dungeon itself. One of the S-Rankers stepped forward, shattering the heavy barrier with a single, devastating impact from his sword.
As the door crumbled, the Boss Room was revealed. In the exact center stood the B-Rank Boss, radiating a mana pressure exponentially denser than the regular monsters. The creature charged to attack, but against the highly coordinated strike of four S-Rankers, it stood no chance. In a mere matter of seconds, the Boss's body was riddled with lethal slashes before it crashed heavily onto the floor, dead.
The moment the Boss died, an unknown, dense aural energy began to condense near its corpse. As the light faded, a distinct object rested on the ground—an 'Artifact'.
The eyes of all four S-Rankers narrowed. Up until this day, no E, D, or C-Rank Boss had ever dropped anything other than a mana core. This was the first time in the history of the gates that a monster yielded a physical artifact. One of the S-Rankers stepped forward, picked it up, and securely stored it away.
Exactly fifty minutes.
In less than an hour, the Alpha Squad had completely cleared the world's first B-Rank Hell Gate. The dungeon structure began to destabilize, and the dimension faded away. The American team safely returned to Washington D.C., their bags overflowing with unimaginable wealth, and in their possession: the world's very first artifact.