I groggily opened my eyes, squinting at the rays of sunlight piercing through the grimy window of my tiny apartment. Just another day in this worn-down city I called home. With a yawn, I hauled myself out of my creaky bed and shuffled to the kitchen in my holey t-shirt and boxers.
As I poured stale cereal into a chipped bowl, I glanced at the news headlines on the flickering TV: "10 More Dungeon Zones Open Across the Country" and "Hunter Association Announces New Ranking System for Slaying Mythical Beasts."
Ever since the Discovery two years ago that changed humanity forever, these were the kinds of stories that dominated the news cycle. Giant tunnels leading to labyrinthine dungeons full of treasure and teeming with monsters were uncovered deep underground, located in hot zones throughout the country. Daring individuals started venturing into them, taking on fantastical beasts straight out of legends and gaining extraordinary abilities in the process.
These dungeon raiders became known as "hunters" - heroes with the power to battle creatures like orcs, goblins, slimes and more for fame, fortune, and magical energy crystals that could be used to buy all sorts of artifacts and potions. Sort of like a real-life MMORPG.
The Hunter Association then formed to test hunters on their abilities, assign danger threat levels to different zones, and organize an official ranking system. S-Rank was the highest, denoting expert monster slayers and dungeon conquerors. The ranks went all the way down past C, B and A to F for the truly pathetic.
As for me - Im hiro just a normal office worker and i was as far away from being called a hunter as you could get. I spent my days working a dead-end desk job processing insurance claims. The only "battle" in my life was fighting rush hour traffic to and from my run-down apartment every day.
But all that changed today...
On my walk home from the office later that evening, an ominous glowing portal opened up in the alley I always passed by. Strange magical energy seemed to grip my body and pull me closer no matter how hard I struggled. The light grew brighter and brighter until I had to squeeze my eyes shut from the intensity.
When I was finally able to open them again, I found myself somewhere completely different - inside a gloomy stone chamber lit by flickering torchlight. The portal had dropped me into the middle of a dungeon!
I slowly got to my feet, staring around with wide eyes at the moss-covered stone walls and thick cobwebs filling the corners. In the center of the far wall was a heavy wooden door with an old iron handle.
Where was I? How did I get here? Was I actually inside one of those mythical dungeon zones I always heard rumors about?
As I pondered this strange twist of fate, a pop-up box suddenly appeared before my eyes:
[Dungeon Entered: Relnor Ruins]
[Discoveries 0%]
[Enemies Defeated 0]
[Level 1 Novice Hunter]
What on earth? Was this some kind of magic video game interface? I reached out to touch it, only for my hand to pass right through like an illusion.
Before I could process this development any further, another pop-up box flashed to life with different text - text that made my jaw drop in disbelief:
[SSS-Rank Spatial Domination Ability Awakened!]
SSS-Rank?! I could hardly believe my eyes. That was the stuff of legends - the highest possible tier for abilities and only granted to one out of ten million people! Few hunters even made it to S-Rank, much less this!
I eagerly tapped the pop-up to read the ability description:
[Spatial Domination - Control and warp spatial dimensions at will...]
My mind raced as I finished reading about my newfound power. This was unbelievable! With mastery over space-time, no enemy could touch me! I could become one of the greatest hunters on the planet!
A wide grin spread across my face just imagining the possibilities. But before I could revel too much, a sudden boom shook the chamber. The heavy dungeon door rattled violently on its hinges as something large began pounding on the other side...
Clenching my fists, I steadied my stance to face whatever beast had come to welcome me. Now was the perfect chance to try out my abilities. With my SSS-Rank power, this would be the dawn of a new era!
Let the battles begin!