I was lying in my bed, gazing through the window at the stars. "Oh, I think it's too late to regret that I never traveled to space again," I chuckled lightly, my voice hoarse with age.
Tomorrow will be my birthday, and I will be 133 years old, the oldest person who has ever lived.
I closed my eyes and remembered the feeling of flying in space, gazing at the blue planet called "Earth."
Next to my bed, there was an old pendulum clock. I listened to the steady sound of the clock and noticed how my consciousness drifted closer and closer to sleep. My final thoughts were, "Good night."
————
I floated aimlessly in an empty space. I saw nothing, heard nothing, and neither felt nor smelled anything.
Suddenly, everything became bright, and I found myself in a cave. Although it was dark, I could perceive everything. I couldn't move, but it didn't feel unfamiliar, as I had been confined to a bed for the past 20 years.
[You awakened as a Dungeon core]
"Hm?" I questioned as I saw the message in front of my eyes and simultaneously heard it in my head.
[Choose two characteristics:
• Earth
• Water
• Air
• Fire
...
• Space (unique)
• Time (unique)]
"Um," I said, "Is this because of the new antidepressants I'm taking, and now I'm hallucinating?"
...
[Please make your choice]
"Wait, wait, is this some kind of transportation to another world? I think my grandson once told me about something like this."
"But don't you have to die for that?"
"Well, at my age, it's not that unlikely," I chuckled inwardly at my monologue.
[Please make your choice]
"Well then... I'll take those!"
"It's quite obvious, it's the only cool thing that excites me and that I've had some experience with."
[You have successfully chosen:
• Space (unique)
• Time (unique)]
[Please place your Dungeon]
"Okay, then I'll place it," I said to the voice, still confused.
[Please decide:
• In the depth
• To the sky]
"Wow… so many choices. I'll choose 'to the sky'!" I exclaimed with excitement.
[Successful, please wait a moment...]
Okay, I thought to myself, at first, nothing happened, but after a while, the ground started to vibrate. Stronger and stronger. I saw the walls beside me trembling, and suddenly, everything became bright. A rift appeared in the ceiling, and the glaring sun shone down on me. And then, I lost consciousness.
[Successful, here are some memories about what a Dungeon is]
I slowly opened my eyes, or what seemed to be my eyes. I was now in an empty yet brightly white room. I would estimate the room to be 10 x 10 x 10 meters in size. It was quite plain.
I seemed to have a 360-degree view, and I was floating in the middle of the room. I glanced around, and when I focused on myself, I was astonished.
I was startled at first because what I saw was not a body but rather a ball, seemingly made of glass. It floated in the air, exuding a mesmerizing aura. It was as big as a football and shimmered with an enticing allure. It looked like a giant glass marble, perfectly smooth and flawless. One could get lost in it, as although it wasn't very big, it felt infinitely deep.
The ball was mostly dark, not black, but not bright either – more like a deep black with a touch of blue. In the midst of the marble, one could see thousands, if not millions, of lights floating around. At first glance, it looked like a galaxy, but upon closer inspection, the stars were arranged like a clock. There was a shimmering circle on the outer side and two hands inside – one larger, one smaller. Everything revolved around the center, which, from the outside, looked like a black hole. As the hands moved around the center at different speeds and the outer circle had no numbers, it appeared to be a functioning clock.
Slowly but surely, more and more memories began to settle in my head. At first, inconspicuously, but as they multiplied, I took note. It was like a river, steady, and therefore not painful.
In these memories, I learned more about my situation and what I am. As the voice explained at the beginning, I am now a Dungeon Core, a new one. Whatever that means.
Through the memories, I found out that the Dungeon Core, like everything else in the world where I am, is a living being. "Hmm..., apparently, being a living being is defined differently here. I seem to be unable to move, reproduce, or have a metabolism. And nevertheless a Dungeon is defined as a living being."
„But I'm just a floating marble?!"
Like everything else, there is no meaning; it all came into existence by chance over millions of years. Evolution. Just like me, the Dungeon, too. As a result, there is no 'good' or 'evil'; it's all about 'survival of the fittest.' Adapted to the environment, just like where I am now. Only, from the looks of it, there's a new player. "Mana?" I asked, "What is that?"
I waited a few moments until enough information was provided to explain it to me. Through this, I learned that Mana is a type of essence, much like fuel. I didn't really understand how it works, but I did learn what one can do with it. Mana can be used to cast magic and other amazing things; with Mana, I can build a Dungeon!
"Yippie...?"
Originally, Mana was apparently like oxygen; it was present but not in the air, in a different form. By chance, a few plants evolved to utilize this energy, like water. As with photosynthesis, they released the oxygen split from the water [H2O -> H2 + O].
The same happened with this Mana, but there was a chain reaction. The initial release of Mana, which increased over many years, somehow triggered other Mana to also break free. The concentration in the air increased over thousands of years, and, as with many things, the saying goes: "The dose makes the poison."
So, everything that wasn't resistant or couldn't utilize it in time died off. Over the next millions of years, the world adapted more and more to Mana and now can't be without it. Some learned to handle it, while others didn't and became more resistant. With Mana, it seems one can create things and summon objects. Simply put, it's multifunctional!
"Hmm..., concerning Mana, there doesn't seem to be any more information, just that at some point, someone figured out how to make it their own, but how..., that remains a mystery to me for now. Just like that strange status thing that came with the information," I talked to myself
"Ahh, now some more relevant information about me and my 'species,' I can say, right?"
...
"Well then, nevermind," I said.
Apparently, as mentioned before, in this world, there is a kind of status system that goes hand in hand with leveling. How it works, I don't know. It just is.
A Dungeon is actually just the marble. However, it has the ability to build a 'defense' around itself, which also helps it become stronger or 'level up,' as they call it in this world.
The marble is more like the heart and brain combined; it builds something around itself for defense. As this becomes the body, they can control it.
There are two types of Dungeons, a Tower and a Cave.
Both are fundamentally the same; they become stronger when someone is inside them or dies. This replenishes their supply of Dungeon Essence [EC] and eventually makes it larger. It's like super Mana with more power.
Since almost every living being now has Mana in their body and can regenerate it, a small amount of Mana is constantly released, which the Dungeon can convert into [EC]. When a living being dies, all the Mana is released at once.
"Hmm..., that doesn't sound very economic if they regenerate it anyway. You would earn more if they stay inside longer, right? Or does it take too long to balance out?"
...
"Am I wrong?"
...
"Okay then, nevermind," I said.
With [EC], one can create things, even life! I'm really surprised about that.
There are a few pre-made things, like animals, plants, and monsters. They are part of the Dungeon's instincts and are like blueprints. I can also create my own, but that's complicated, more time-consuming, and very expensive. I can't just create anything; it has to, in simple terms, be capable of living.
There's also dead material, like stones, water, etc. I need those as well because the stronger a Dungeon becomes, the more 'Floors' it gets.
I have to create each one, but there are no templates, and you have to generate everything by hand and with the materials you can create. Once you've created it, apparently you can't make any fundamental changes, and it remains that way forever.
It's odd that the higher the 'Floor,' the larger it is. I wonder if that's safe, as typically with a tower, the lower part should be the largest for stability.
"It probably has something to do with this Mana," I said.
I learned more; the size doesn't have to do with how it looks from the outside. Every Dungeon has the ability to stretch space and can create entire worlds within at higher levels.
"Is my characteristic useless then since apparently everyone has it?" I asked, but like the other times, I didn't get an answer.
I just kept learning more, and it turns out that the blueprints for the living and non-living beings are adjusted according to the previously chosen characteristics. Because, in a way, they're all part of 'me.'
The stronger I become, the more I can apparently unlock. However, there's a limit, and you can't have a characteristic that is marked as unique if someone else already has it. It's truly unique.
"Hmm? The information doesn't seem to be coming in a very organized way," I said, because now I learned that Dungeons are considered evil. As they are known ruthless and try to kill anyone who enters the Dungeon, to steal the marble or 'core' as they call it.
This 'core' is a pure accumulation of [EC], and some human species try to steal it because they found a way to use it for some magical purposes where a lot of Mana is needed.
"What kind of creatures are they? They call me evil and ruthless, even though I'm just defending my life? They shouldn't even come near," I asked, bewildered. "Moreover, a Dungeon doesn't even need the Mana of the dead because, as the information says, we can draw Mana from living beings and from the atmosphere or ground, which also makes us stronger!"
"Hmm...," I grumbled, "these creatures are quite senseless!"
But I thought it's enough of the theory now, and I was glad that finally, the information about operating myself came.
As mentioned before, there's a status thing or so, where you have information about yourself. To access me, I have to reach out from my inner self and place my hand on the marble, which is basically me.
I just have to say [Status] to call the status up. So then...
"Status!"