"What? How? I never registered anything. This is my first time coming here," Zayden said, confused.
Max then asked the receptionist to check again. After multiple checks, the result remained the same.
"It still says the same thing. You were registered at 9 p.m. last night."
'9 p.m. last night? Isn't that when I was hit by the shooting star? I should ask Jenny about this later' Zayden thought.
"Maybe someone registered my name by mistake," Zayden said with an awkward smile.
Max looked at him. "So we just wasted our time coming here."
"But Mr. Zayden still hasn't claimed his Space Ring. Please wait a moment." The staff retrieved something from the rack and handed it to Zayden.
"All the best on your journey as a dungeon hunter. We expect great things from you," the staff said with a professional smile.
"Thank you." Zayden smiled back, though he knew she was just doing her job and didn't really mean it. He then examined the ring
"What is this ring?" Zayden asked. The ring was silver in color with a small blue jewel set on top. Its design was simple and elegant.
"This is a dimensional ring that can store items. All hunters receive one."
"Whoa! They give this kind of thing for free?" Zayden was amazed as he slid it onto his ring finger.
"Nah, it's just a basic one. It can only store up to 25 items. A few dungeon runs and you'll be out of space already," Max said.
"Now, which dungeon do you want to enter?" Max asked as he looked at a map of the entire state on the LED screen. The state of Rahiel was divided into 72 districts. The hub was located right in the center, at the 27th district, as it marked by a "You Are Here" symbol. The map was zoomable, and Max zoomed in on the local district. Blue and yellow dots were scattered across the map.
"What do all these dots mean?" Zayden asked.
"The blue ones are stable dungeons. The yellow ones are in a cautious state. And the other color, red ones mean a dungeon break is imminent," Max explained.
"Ermm...I don't know which one to choose… I'll just follow you. And please, choose the easiest one first, okay? I don't want my first dungeon experience to be a nightmare," Zayden said.
"Chill, dude. Hmm… okay. Let's go to this one, just a five-minute drive." Max pointed to one of the dots.
The duo then set off toward their destination, the 34th district, Whitesand City.
---
Yawn!
Fenton was already getting bored in his van. He had a bald head with just a few stubborn hairs clinging desperately to the edges of his scalp. His body was short and fat, and a trimmed beard decorated his messy appearance. He sat in the driver's seat, surrounded by empty snack wrappers strewn across the seats and floor.
Today marked one month since he started coming here every day. His goal? To find promising raw talents he could recruit under his company. For the past six months, the company had been in shambles. His company specialized in training new dungeon hunters who would eventually work under its banner. But during those six months, not a single dungeon hunter had signed on. That meant zero income, since the company relied on hunters to gather resources. From a staff of ten, now only one remained, himself.
Fenton sighed.
"Life's really rough these days. All the top talents have already been grabbed by the big companies. If things keep going like this... I might have to find a different job."
He reached into the glovebox and pulled out a Talent Glass, a device that looked exactly like a magnifying glass. It could scan and display the stats of hunters. Very expensive and only company-level scouts owned one.
He had been focusing on the gate at the 34th district for a while now. This gate mostly led to low-rank dungeons, and most of the hunters who passed through were newly registered. The reason he chose this place is because other scouts rarely searched here. The monsters in this area dropped low-rank cores, which didn't affect hunter stats much, making it an unpopular place for competition.
"Hmph… really hope I strike gold today."
He kept scanning the hunters, eyes darting from face to face. Then he spotted two men walking toward the gate reception. He focused his Talent Glass on both.
"That spiky orange-haired guy looks decent. Rank C, huh? What's a Rank C doing here? Usually only F and E come around. The other guy… black hair… Rank F. Eww. His stats are trash."
With a disappointed grunt, Fenton continued scanning hunters. Then he saw a group of three hunters walking towards the platform.
"Those thugs never give up. They must searching newbies to blackmail. If that F rank guy met them, then I pity him."
---
"Listen here, Zayden. This is the most important matter. If you mess this up, it could cost you your life," Max said as they stood in front of the dungeon gate.
The gate loomed large, nearly 20 meters tall, with a swirling blue light at its center. It was encased in a metallic frame, and situated right in the middle of a park. Opposite the gate stood a small building with a signboard that read: "34th Dungeon Gate Reception." Around it, Dozens of stands with holographic screens hovered above. A few hunters had already arrived and were interacting with the screens.
"This is the dungeon's main menu," Max said as he approached one of the holographic displays. "This is where we choose which dungeon to enter. This gate links to 30 low-rank dungeons, all perfect for beginners. I'm choosing Long Cave Dungeon. It is a Rank 1 dungeon, perfect for newbies."
The holographic monitor displayed [10 Zents to enter.]
Zayden blinked. "Wait… we have to pay to enter a dungeon? Talk about easy money."
"Every dungeon managed by the government or private sector requires payment. It's been that way for decades now," Max replied.
'If I could create a dungeon, I'd be rich like a tycoon. I really need to check later if that's possible with the system.' Zayden thought.
The payment could be made via QR code or debit/credit card. After the payment was complete, a small portal opened up beside them on a small gateway.
"We go through this little one? Not the huge gate?" Zayden asked, pointing to the massive swirling portal.
"It's the same thing. They just split it up like this to avoid overcrowding. You ready?"
Zayden nodded.
Both of them leapt in.
And just like that, Zayden's journey as a dungeon hunter had begun.