After the message suddenly appeared in front of me, I grew relaxed. I fell back to the ground and leaned against the cold stone wall as I watched the timer slowly draw closer to 0:00. As I waited, I was left alone with my thoughts. My knees had been brought to my chest as I leaned to the left and right like an unstable ball.
"Still, what does that message even mean?" I asked aloud. I had asked it aloud, but I wasn't even trying to figure it out. Instead, I was fantasizing about what I would do after I got out of this small room. It was obvious that I had been created out of nothing and was given a high level of intelligence, but I had no idea what I was even supposed to do.
Something created me. Something put me in this room and gave me this system. What were they trying to accomplish?
"Regardless, my creator is the only reason I exist right now," I shrugged, "It's not like I should suddenly start rebelling! Hahaha!"
After my laughs echoed through the room, I stopped and folded my arms to my chest.
"Still, it makes me curious. Why am I here?" I sighed, "I suppose that will be my goal. First, I'll find out why I'm here, then I'll decide if I want to follow my creator's will."
After my moment of seriousness passed, I went back to rocking back and forth like a child as I waited for the timer to slowly reach 0:00. The wait was only fifteen minutes long, but it felt like an hour.
I continued to wait for the timer to reach zero seconds with only my thoughts to keep my company.
Then, after the long wait, the timer finally reached 0:00. I quickly stood up and stared at the screen in anticipation as the words on the panel began to change.
﹃
Dungeon Core Construction has been Completed
Dungeon Settings Unlocked
Randomly Choosing Race
Race Chosen
To Access Race and Dungeon Information, Open 'Status'
﹄
I quickly nodded and hummed like a child waiting for candy, then watched as the timer and the messages disappeared. I thought back to the three screens I saw earlier, the ones that told me my status.
As my mind thought of my status, the three panels from earlier suddenly appeared. Although this was the first time summoning my status like this, it felt natural and easy to perform, like it was a form of muscle memory that had been ingrained into my body.
As the three screens appeared, I first looked at the middle screen and tried to find any changes there.
﹃
Aureys
Race: Dragon
Level: 1
HP: 20 -> 70
MP: 30 -> 100
AC: 10
Rank: SS
Titles: Dungeon Master
Skills: Appraisal, Morph (LOCKED), Ancestral Magic (LOCKED)
﹄
"Dragon?" I muttered in confusion. I looked down at my body and became even more confused than before. My body was still human. Although I seemed more muscular than before, the change was so minor that it could've been an illusion created by the lack of light when I first looked at my body.
Because the panels in front of me were as clear as day, they even managed to generate some light. They acted like small computer screens in a dark room, illuminating the area around me.
"Still, I didn't even bother checking out my skills. What does appraisal do?" I wondered aloud. I looked to the word, then tried to activate the skill. My brain only thought of the skill for a moment, though that was enough for the skill to activate.
『 Appraisal (LVL 1): The skill allows the user to gain a plethora of knowledge about any sort of object found in front of them. Though the skill is only at its first level, it can prove to be very useful in the future 』
"Oh! That's simple!" I cheered as I read the skill's description. After I read over the small paragraph about the Appraisal skill, I turned my attention to the other skills that were on my skill list.
『 Morph: After you created your first dungeon core, the host has adopted the bloodline of the dragon race. This will allow the user to physically transform their body into a dragon corresponding with their physical Level. Not recommended to transform while in small spaces, though. To unlock, reach level 2 』
『 Ancestral Magic (LVL 1): Locked. To unlock, reach Level 5 』
"That sounds super interesting!" I yelled in excitement. After reading over my three skills I felt overjoyed. I was barely able to stop myself from jumping around in excitement. However, before I had the chance to do that, I realized I still had one more panel to look at.
I turned right, then read the lettering on the right panel. However, before I could read what was labeled on the panel, there was another panel over it, hovering just an inch away. It was almost half of the size of the main panel, though.
﹃
Congratulations for creating your first Dungeon!
As a celebratory gift, you have been awarded 100 DP
Use them well!
﹄
Suddenly, the screen disappeared and revealed the main panel. I quickly read over it, absorbing every word like a sponge absorbs water. However, there wasn't much to read.
At the center of the panel were two simple lines of white letters,
﹃
Please Select your Dungeon
Nameless
﹄
I quickly pushed my finger against the 'Nameless' Dungeon, then watched as the words on the panel suddenly changed. At the top of the panel were three lines, hugging the top left corner of the panel like glue.
﹃
Dungeon Name: Nameless
Dungeon Level: 1
Dungeon Theme: Draconic
﹄
Hugging the other corner were two lines of letters, though they were shorter than any of the other lines on my status page.
﹃
Available DP: 100
Current DP Gain: 0 per day
﹄
I looked away from the corner and turned my attention to the center of the panel. I found what looked like a map. It was simple and wasn't colored in, like a 2-D black and white image. In the center of the map was a single small square, most likely the room I found myself in now. I touched my finger against the map, then watched as the square suddenly began to move. I watched as the 2-D square became 3-D and perfectly managed to show me the dimensions of the room I was in in now.
It was almost like I was watching a black and white copy of the room around me from outside of the room itself. When I looked into the room, I saw what seemed to be a golden figure with two arms and two legs. The figure was human in shape, though I couldn't see any of its features because of the solid gold color of its skin.
As I moved, I saw the figure move as well. It only took me a moment before I realized the figure was myself. I quickly turned to the wall, where a supposed invisible camera was recording me. I quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to see it from past the wall, so I quickly zoomed in and moved the camera into the room itself.
However, even after I did this, I still couldn't see the camera.
"Damn," I muttered in annoyance. Then, I looked away from the map and turned to the bottom of the screen. Four large buttons were laid out there, though they didn't stick out from the panel itself.
『 Add 』 『 Remove 』 『 Upgrade 』 『 Shop 』
"Interesting," I mumbled as I pressed my finger against the 『 Add 』 button. Suddenly, the map disappeared and was replaced by a list. The list was very short, as it only had one item on it. The item itself was very easy to recognize, as it had both a small picture and a label.
『 1x Dungeon Core 』
I pressed my finger against the item, then watched as the map returned to my view. However this time, there was another thing that came with it. I watched as a small pedestal, glowing green with a similar vibrancy as my own body, appeared on the map.
At the same time, a similar thing happened right in front of me. The same pedestal, an exact replica of the one that appeared in my system, appeared in the middle of the room. As I looked at it, I realized a lot of the features on the item's surface didn't show up well in the system.
The pedestal was about as tall as my waist and had a curve to its shape. Both the top and bottom of the column were thicker than the middle and had decorative stone carvings on both edges. Above the curved column was what looked like a floating ball. The ball was perfectly spherical in shape, and even slowly bobbed up and down like an apple in water.
『 Be Warned: Dungeon Cores are the most vital part of a Dungeon. If it is destroyed, the dungeon will collapse and all progress spent on the dungeon will be lost. Once the core has been placed, it cannot be moved. Choose the Dungeon Core's location wisely 』
"That's rather stressful," I joked. I turned back to the system, then canceled the placement process and watched as the core returned to the shop. Then I turned to the other functions of the system and began experimenting with them.
The 『 Add 』 function was obvious. It allowed me to open the shop and place anything in my dungeon. The 『 Remove 』 function was a bit more mysterious, as I didn't want to risk removing the only room in the dungeon, so I didn't know if I got rewarded DP or anything when I removed something. After all, I didn't know what surrounded the small room I was in. What if I suddenly found myself buried alive or stuck in the middle of space?
So instead of experimenting with the 『 Remove 』option, I turned to the 『 Upgrade 』 option. After I clicked the button, the room around me on the map suddenly became highlighted. Nothing changed in front of me, so I assumed something would only happen if I used the function.
I tapped on the screen and watched as a small panel appeared just below where I tapped my finger.
『 Upgrade『 Broken Down Room 』 for 15 DP? 』
『 Yes 』『 No 』
I thought hard about what to choose, but I eventually pushed against the 『 No 』 option.
"I want to see what else I can do before I decide to go off and spend points," I sighed. I turned away from the upgrade function and looked to the final option, the 『 Shop 』 option.