Dark. That was the first thought that entered Ed's mind. His fleeting consciousness could barely formulate any other thoughts. He couldn't even see his hands.
'No, wait a minute... I can't feel my hands?!?' The incorporeal feeling sent him into an immediate panic, the panic helped him regain his sense of self, however.
'Where the hell am I?' He asked himself as he looked around the endless black void.
He wanted to scream, he wanted to run but he couldn't feel anything. It felt like he was just a thought. He didn't have a body.
'Alright, I need to calm down' He felt his panic slowly dissipate as his thoughts stabilized. He wanted to breathe out in relief but he had no lungs.
'I need to analyze the situation...' Following that train of thought, he tried to recall as much information as possible.
'My name is... Ed?' He continued to think but...
That was it. That was all he could remember. Even his name seemed to be incomplete.
No... wait... He started to remember small insignificant details.
Ed was an 18-year-old College student. He loved to play games and didn't have many friends. His appearance was above average. At least that's how he remembered it, his appearance was only a blurry image in his mind after all.
Where am I?
That was the next question he hoped to answer after settling the issue of Identity.
A glowing message appeared in his field of vision.
[Summoning Dungeon Champion]
'Huh?' As if the glowing message wasn't shocking enough, its words only deepened the confusion.
He felt his consciousness waver at this moment. It felt like he was getting sucked up by a vacuum. No! He was getting sucked up by some sort of vacuum. The endless darkness didn't let him see anything though. The only thing he could see was the glowing message disappearing rapidly into the distance.
He suddenly hit something. Some sort of splitting pain could be felt throughout his body.
'Body?' Ignoring the pain, Ed quickly came to be. He opened his eyes and was shocked to find himself in a dimly lit hallway.
'This... wasn't what I was expecting' He thought as he examined the corridor.
The cracked brick walls looked like those of an old dungeon, torches hanging against them provided only the most primitive of light. The atmosphere could not be more cryptic. He would feel goosebumps if he could.
'Eh?' That was when he realized something else.
He stopped focusing on his surroundings and quickly scrutinized his body.
It was like that of a Skeleton, oddly enough he seemed to be in a pristine condition, completely unlike those of a cadaver. His white bones even looked like someone had been polishing them.
'How does this even work?' It was a mix of confusion and curiosity.
It felt weird. When his consciousness first entered the skeleton he instinctively felt like he had entered a body, yet his body was that of a skeleton?!?
Before he could continue questioning his existence, his thoughts were interrupted by some sort of message. Its words leaving no room for argument, it felt more like a command.
[Kill trespassers. Failure to kill trespassers may result in a penalty.]
The message startled him, killing? He had never killed anything in his whole life! He could barely remember anything apart from his vague identity but he knew for a fact he had never killed.
Not to mention that the dimly lit hallway was still exuding a creepy aura making Ed reluctant to go anywhere. And this weird message wanted him to kill something or someone? Forget it!
But... Ed knew he had no choice but to comply, he was especially afraid of the potential penalty.
He chose to move. The command was clear and the area was creepy. It was his only option.
He took a couple of steps before coming to a stop. The sound of his creaking bones was unsettling.
[A trespasser has entered your floor.]
It seems he was summoned anticipating a challenger. The first message did say he was a Dungeon Champion after all.
Wait... how could he be a champion of any dungeon with zero combat skills whatsoever!
He was worried, not yet panicking. His initial panic was enough to get him somehow accustomed to the situation. A gamer must have a stable mind to face their adversaries! Something felt wrong about that though...
In the first place, what was a game?!?
'I am getting sidetracked' He mentally admonished himself.
A dungeon. That's the important part.
'The aesthetics do seem like that of a dungeon.' He thought while taking a second glance at his surroundings.
The fact that he knows what a dungeon is like suggests that whatever brought him here selected what memories he could keep.
Dungeons are riddled with monsters and traps, the ultimate adventure! The treasures are usually worth the risk as well!
The thought alone is invigorating!
But it seems he has become one of the monsters instead. How did that happen?!?
Too many questions with no answers. Ed might never even find out, he was about to face his first trespasser after all! Who knows if he will survive the ordeal.
The penalties suggested it was possible to avoid what he presumes are adventurers though.
He had to rack his brain and figure out a way to survive. He seemed to want to instinctively avoid the option of killing.
A loud bang could be heard off in the distance. He knew something might soon approach him. He couldn't help but get curious though.
If trespassers are adventurers, was he perhaps a floor boss? Describing himself as such was a bit embarrassing though. Without any skills who would dare call him that. It was an insult to real floor bosses.
He could hear another loud noise off in the distance, this one seemed more indistinguishable. It was a sound unfamiliar to him. Maybe like that of sizzling electricity? His memories were not as useless as he thought they would be.
Based on his memories, those are likely spells. An adventurer tends to have different professions each excelling in different fields.
A chance! If the trespasser is indeed a magician he might be able to eliminate them! Magicians are known for their weak bodies. there are rare exceptions.
'No! I wanted to escape, a confrontation is suicide!' Ed was conflicted. He was stuck between the two choices and he had to carefully weigh them in order to survive.
After a moment of deliberation, he came to a conclusion, 'Eliminating the intruder seems like the best option no matter how I weigh them'
Trying to escape a dungeon or hide in a dungeon that he was unfamiliar with was stupid. Landing a sneak attack on a weak magician shouldn't be too hard though, right?
As much as he hated the sound of his creaking bones, he needed to move. he ran in the opposite direction of where he heard the sounds. Looking once more at the hallway he felt he was more akin to a mini-boss. But even that was an insult to mini-bosses...
It didn't take him long at all for him to enter an unfamiliar room. The room was as expected also poorly lit, but more importantly, it had decorations! There were broken crates and rusty tools randomly arranged around the room.
what caught him by surprise however was the mobs! There were other skeletons littered around the area as well. They each held a rusty weapon.
He blanked momentarily. Would they attack him? He hoped not! But they were fellow dungeon mobs so there shouldn't be a problem, right?
He carefully walked towards one of the skeletons. His creaking bones instantly alerting them. The skeleton he approached dropped his jaw.
No, quite literally! Its jaw fell to the floor which it proceeded to hastily pick up. It soon after stood at attention making clear it's respect towards him. This made Ed a bit dumbfounded but he didn't lose track of his original goal, a weapon!
He retreated because he needed a weapon! No matter how weak a magician was, there was no way he could kill it in one shot with a sneak attack.
He planned to find a room with something to use as a weapon. The decoration around the dungeon room was unfortunately just that. If he hadn't found a better alternative however he would have no choice but to use one.
The rusty sword the skeleton that dropped its jaw held was suitable for him. Rusty or not it should get the job done!
Now in front of the seemingly excited Skeleton, Ed made a gesture of wanting. He wanted its sword but it just looked at Ed blankly.
'Do they not have intelligence? It was pretty smart of this brainless skeleton to show respect towards me so I thought it would understand.' Nothing to it, he had to change his plans.
The sounds where drawing closer with the passing of time, he couldn't afford to dawdle. Ed grabbed the Skeleton's sword while looking at the other Skeleton straight in the eye sockets.
'F*ck that thing's creepy' Before cursing inwardly and averting his eyes.
He probably looked exactly like that though...
The other Skeleton didn't respond positively though. It held onto it tighter instead. It would be stupid of it not to know that a weapon was its only lifeline. Wait it was stupid. The dungeon must have adjusted its knowledge as well.
Ed wasn't having it though, he obviously had no sympathy for a bunch of skeletons, as if he will let himself die!
He decisively smacked the other Skeleton's arm and its shoulder joint got dislocated.
'Eh?' If he had a face it would be dumbfounded.
He was stronger than he thought! It must be the benefits of a champion. It wouldn't make sense for him to be like any other skeleton.
This new discovery put his mind at ease. He definitely stood a chance now!
The other Skeleton also realized this and politely removed his arm off of the sword with his non-dislocated arm.
Ed properly held the sword now that the other Skeleton backed off. The other Skeletons seemed disinterested in getting involved, it was a good thing they didn't suddenly become hostile.