Chapter 1

‘Looking back, it’s kind of hard to believe really. I mean it happened but… Arg, why do I always get a headache when I think about it? I’m pretty sure if I didn’t get hurt so much I’d still assume it was all a dream. Hmm, maybe a coma would explain it? Well just maybe...’

These were just a fraction of the thoughts that usually went through Yu Jin’s head every time he had to venture into a dungeon. Life in Korea had changed these past few years, well to be exact life on earth had changed.

It was roughly 7 years ago when dungeons suddenly appeared. Every being on earth was in frenzy. Presidents made speechs reassuring their people but everyone knew that nothing in the world could make sense of what had occurred. Not the scientists who at first claimed it was due to a sudden increase in the movement of tectonic plates that caused the cave like structures to easily rise up. Some were convinced by the preachers who bellowed on and on about the end of times. The only thing people could reach a consensus on was that things would never be the same.

The caves that appeared weren’t really odd except for the fact that they appeared randomly in very country at the exact same time. They were roughly 500 metres long with entrances that differed depending on the terrain and were located at the outskirts of cities which led to no damage to property but that just made them even more suspicious.

In Seoul they were immediately cordoned off and a research team was formed in order to investigate the origin of the caves. Military personnel were provided and they ventured inside. Surprisingly enough electronics didn’t work inside the cave yet the team still ventured on since they deemed the exploration wouldn’t take too long.

The exploration was meant to be televised yet with the failure of electronics within there was a cameraman taking a video outside in-order to ensure the viewers would be able to see what was brought out of the cave.

The atmosphere was somewhat tense but the ruling emotion was curiosity as nothing dangerous had occurred since the caves appeared. After the first hour passed people started wondering why the research team was taking so long. After the second hour the viewers as well as the soldiers stationed outside started becoming restless.

A platoon of soldiers was sent in to follow the research team inside to check on their status which might have seemed excessive but when dealing with the unknown you could never be too careful.

Yu Jin was in the second grade of middle school when all this was happening. Not overly concerned with anything other than finding a way to talk to his crush yet that very day he was glued to the TV with his parent’s waiting to see what happened.

By the time the soldiers entered he had already started losing interest and was on sns with his friends. 30 minutes had passed when suddenly gunfire rang out from the TV. When Yu Jin looked up he saw four soldiers running from the cave randomly shooting back from where they came. That’s when the world caught their first glimpse. That was when the first monsters set foot on earth.

There were four of them and to a high school student with a passion for manhwa, he was sure what they were but just couldn’t believe it.

“Goblin…”

The word came out of his mouth by itself and he didn’t even notice. From the big ears, short stature and the green skin he couldn’t think of anything else. He was pulled from his daze by the sound of his mother’s scream.

By the cave’s entrance one of the soldier’s was caught by a goblin and they all jumped on him and the nation watched a human being have their limps torn off and eaten on live television. For a while the soldiers just standing there froze and in the next moment some simply dropped their weapons and ran. Yu Jin saw a soldier throw some sort of balls at the feasting goblins and the next moment there were explosions.

Not much could be seen on the screen due to the dust in the air and the feed was cut by the network. In the house no one could speak and they stared at each other as if asking whether the others had seen the same thing.

At the scene there was blood splattered all over the place and body parts here and there. Fortunately it seemed that all the goblins had died.

Ding

At that moment a screen suddenly appeared in front of every person earth.

[First kill confirmed]

[Planet 1558220 [Earth] Undergoes Status Update]

[Formation Stage > Fully Active]

Ding

[Stage One]

[Status - Active]

[Level System – Active]

[Dungeon System – Active]

Yu Jin couldn’t believe his eyes, Absurd things just kept happening one after the other. A day after the caves appeared, he saw monsters for the first time and now this. The green text was just starting to fade and yet the words were just as confusing as when they first showed up in front of him. He couldn’t make sense of any of it.

As he started repeating the words he had just seen trying to understand them as soon as he reached the word status more text showed up.

Ding

STATUS SCREEN

Name [Yu Jin]

Race [Human]

Level [1]

Job [Jobless]

Title [N/A]

Stats [Strength – 7 Agility – 5 Magic – 10 Health – 50]

Active Skills [N/A]

Passive Skills [N/A]

Yu Jin could not understand what he was looking at. After somewhat settling down, he had a rough idea of what happened. Well considering the fact that his idea was based on a manhwa, he was reluctant to say it out loud but since he was with his parents he decided to do it anyway.

“Mom… Dad… I think I know what happened”

He could see that his parents were still in a daze as they turned to look at him.

His father tried regaining some of his composure

“Yes... son?”

“I, I think… I think reality turned into something like a game….”

The expression on his father’s face didn’t change and he didn’t register any surprise. Father and son just gazed at each other, while a million thoughts kept going through their heads.

That day there was no communication from the government but as the days passed it became known that some similar incidents had happened in other countries such as the U.S and Germany. On the third day people were finally informed on what the governments had discovered and shared with each other.

It seemed the dungeons were not what they appeared and though their lengths seemed to not exceed 500 metres inside , they were vastly larger and no one had been able to confirm the true size. Inside the dungeons they had seen goblins and skeletons and the monsters differed depending on the dungeon. It seemed the monsters could not come out by themselves but could follow a person out if they followed right behind the individual.

Guns also did not work and only heavy artillery showed an effect or explosives. Metals had been discovered in the early parts of the dungeon which were superior to the metals on earth.

The discovery of the status showed that like everyone had assumed, it displayed an individual’s information and could not be viewed by others. The stats in the status seemed to vary depending on a person’s ability and could rise and fall accordingly.

Countries decided to close off the dungeons to the public but after some months of inactivity and the fact that monsters couldn’t come out by themselves these restrictions were lifted and anyone could access a dungeon after gaining permission from the government and this was done as a growing amount of corporations had interest in the materials found inside the dungeons.

This led to people entering and retrieving valuable materials and metals in order to sell to corporations some of which used these material to create superior weapons which made exploring the dungeons easier which in-turn created more would be adventurers. Though it was risky people saw this as a way to come up in life and those who didn’t have much to their names were the first to jump in chasing wealth.

This was the start of the age of the dungeon hunters.