Alex - POV
In this world, competence means strength. So, I have decided to venture into dungeons. Only by venturing into dungeons can I gain strength.
Being kind to the weak is unheard of in this world. It is the truth. No matter what argument I come up with, in front of absolute strength I am nothing but a joker. The schemes I cooked up will buy me time. But I don't think they will save this world. That worries me.
So, Like all people in this world, in search of strength, money and recognition. I too chose to explore the dungeon. All that I have is my hope that I will survive through it while gaining strength.
For the main character, it will be easy to become strong through tribulations and tests. But for me, it was a suicide mission. There are no easy ways to gain strength. Even Edward almost died before coming across fortuitous encounters. So, I can imagine what it would be like for me, an extra.
But before that, I need to check the DNA comparison results.
After our daily mission of mapping the river. I exited the boat.
Walking to the warehouse in a hurry, I tried to find Tin-man. A fellow that is extremely shameless and tiresome to interact with.
Although I get very angry with that guy, I kind of like him too. He was like Leo, a misunderstood human being struggling to survive in this gruesome world.
He was useful and kind and his jovial nature brightens the place. He was a hundred times better than an untrustworthy helper that I always have to guard against.
Looking around the warehouse, I saw Tin-man asleep on a desk. He was sprawled on top of a hardwood desk without a care in this world.
Seeing his uncomfortable sleeping posture, I felt a little guilty.
Did I push him too hard?
Even though he willingly came to work for us in exchange for more information and tissue samples. I feel like I was exploiting his kind creature too much.
For goodness sake, I am a kid inside a Twenty-eight-year-old body. If a person like me can intimidate him, you could imagine how pathetic he was.
Soon, I noticed a stack of papers near the drooling Tin-man.
"DNA comparison results."
"Detailed analysis of a Plant-type demon."
Two bold headlines caught my eyes.
I was excited to see the DNA comparison result. Because it will determine how I am going to react in the future.
Pushing the drooling Tin-man away. I slowly took the papers to look inside. Most of it was technical terms like Chromosomes, genes, and tracing the mitochondrial DNA to find hereditary relationships. It was difficult to understand, but I got the gist of it pretty fast.
As expected!
It didn't surprise me to see that there was more than one DNA that matched with the demon DNA. This confirms that the DNA sample I gave matched the demon DNA.
Wandering into the depth of this world. I have finally come across a well-kept secret that even the novel didn't explain.
Looking at the other paper which showed a detailed analysis of the demon DNA. I finally understood what game the Demon King was playing.
The conclusion of the detailed analysis of demon DNA said this.
The Human strand from Demon DNA does not show the presence of Y chromosomes. In conclusion, the Demon is female and shows the presence of genes related to tetrachromacy.
Demon DNA is a pure strain that is closely related to the first demon, possibly the first-order demon. And the plant DNA shows a wide range of genetic similarities with many underwater plants. It is impossible to determine the origin of plant DNA, which might be caused by the use of a superpower.
Remark by Tin-man, First-order demons are demons directly made using the blood of the demon king. I thought they were all dead. But it seems like they are still alive and well.
By using my super-intelligent brain and using the data provided, I assess the age of Demon to be in the fifties. (Extra remark: I am so cool and intelligent.)
After reading through the paper, I was baffled to see the odd remark below. But everything above it was according to my guess. And this meant my life was fucked. And I know the identity of the demon. My future is getting tangled in a mess that I can't untangle.
End-POV
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After a difficult day, Alex finally grasped the identity of the demon in the river. And it was someone he knew. Assessing the situation, Alex decided that this secret was better kept hidden for now. Or else could spiral out of control and wreck all his plans.
With that in mind, Alex began preparing the tools needed for Dungeon exploration. Driving around, he bought a lot of stuff. And soon his bank balance returned to zero. His salary for the previous month was not enough for his use.
'How I wish that I had a space ring or something!' Alex thought seeing a heap of stuff he had to transport to his car.
While Alex was dazed, Leo picked up the packs of instant noodles and carried them to the car. He was very helpful.
It didn't take long for Alex to reach home. After sending Leo inside, he logged into the government portal. He had to register to use dungeons. But due to him being a public servant entering the dungeon for training. He was not required to pay any special fee.
That was not the case for most. When large corporations or any business firms used a dungeon portal, they had to pay a fixed amount of fee accordingly. And the flow of materials in and out of the dungeons was strictly regulated and taxed.
It was a system built to prevent unauthorised access to dungeons and to prevent people from monopolising them.
Quickly Alex scrolled down to the last part. It had information about different types of dungeons and best practices. And next to had the link to the registration form.
Alex clicked on the registration form and began typing.
Name, Alex Fort.
Occupation, Detective
ID number, *******
Purpose, Training
Visiting Dungeon, 4
It was a large form with many more columns to fill. It took Alex a couple of minutes to completely go through it.
After filling in all the details, he submitted the form. Soon, he was authorised to enter dungeon 4, The demon world.
Although this world calls anything beyond the portal a dungeon. It kind of limited the imagination of what a dungeon could be.
In this world, there are five dungeons. There were no more or no less, only five. And the five are,
1 - Celestial world
2 - Mythical beast world
3 - Fairy world
4 - Demon world
5 - Unknown
From these five dungeons, Alex was entering the Demon world. It was a dungeon filled with extremely hot desert, fires spitting active volcanoes, mineral-filled mountains and caves with special ores.
It was an expansive area unlike dungeons seen in fantasy novels. The only reason they were called dungeons is because of their special structure.
In the case of the demon world, the dungeon spans a wide area that is almost the size of Greenland, the largest Island in Alex's previous world. And it was also structured in a special way.
Whenever humans enter a portal, they come to the fringes of the demon world. This was the part with the lowest amount of hostile lifeforms. The further you travel into the dungeon, the number of hostile lifeforms also increase. And the strength of these hostile lifeforms also increases.
So, humans took over the outer fringes and made cities. These cities were made in collaboration with multiple countries and were marked as safe zones in the dungeon. And it also houses portals to specific cities to exit the dungeon.
And this structure was the reason, an island-like pocket space was called a dungeon. Not because the lifeforms respawn. Nor because it resets like in a fantasy novel.
Now, Alex had to go into the Demon world to complete his plan. It will be a dangerous voyage with many trials and tribulations. Yet he wished to return safely.
After all, It was said that no one, not even S-ranked superhumans, could walk carelessly inside a dungeon. You can expect anything to happen inside a dungeon. Because it was beyond the control of people and the law.