"Dammit, dammit, why did I overlook the mine? That's where it all started the first time,"
Arlo muttered to himself, his heart pounding like a drum as he sprinted towards the mine.
The world around him became a blur as he raced through the streets, the biting wind stinging his face. Words flashed before his eyes in rapid succession:
[Building]
[Rubbles]
[Tents]
[Random man]
[Random women]
[…]
The sensory overload was disorienting, making it hard for him to keep his focus.
"Smack!"
He collided with a lamppost, the metallic sound echoing through the air. Pain coursed through his body as he stumbled and fell. Concerned onlookers rushed to his side, their voices a symphony of worry, but Arlo shrugged them off, his mind set on his destination.
Ignoring the pain and the sweat trickling down his face, he pushed himself up and resumed his frantic run.
Upon reaching the Jay Voidstone Mining Site, he noticed a group of workers in blue uniforms huddled outside the buildings. He made a beeline for them, his footsteps reverberating against the pavement.
Out of breath, he managed to gasp out,
"Where's Andrew?" His voice was filled with desperation, begging for answers.
The workers exchanged glances before bursting into laughter, their guffaws ringing out like a chorus of bells.
Anger welled up within Arlo, his frustration reaching a boiling point as he balled his fists.
"Tell me where Andrew is, now!" he demanded, his voice seething with rage.
The laughter abruptly died down, replaced by a heavy silence.
A burly worker, head and shoulders above the rest, stood up, his muscles taut with aggression.
Another worker, sporting a bushy mustache and beard, stepped between them, his expression stern but calm.
"Andrew's in the office. He probably just got here. Go check," he suggested, his authoritative tone diffusing the tension.
Without uttering a word of thanks or apology, Arlo turned to leave. The mustachioed man grinned and warned,
"Arlo, watch your step. We're not as patient as you might think. Next time, I won't be the one holding you back. I'll be the one taking you down."
Arlo spun around and stormed off towards the office, his footsteps echoing in the deserted corridors. Bursting through the door, he called out,
"Andrew! Andrew!" His voice bounced off the walls, creating an eerie echo.
In the corner of the room, a worker with jet-black hair and a round, friendly face was engrossed in a screen tablet, his brow furrowed in concentration.
As Arlo approached him, his heart pounded in his chest. It was then that he noticed the name tag on the worker's chest, reading "Tommy".
Confusion clouded Arlo's mind as he blurted out,"Andrew!"
"HA…HA..."
The worker chuckled softly, a warm smile spreading across his face.
"I'm not Andrew; I'm Tommy," he clarified, his voice gentle and soothing.
A wave of embarrassment washed over Arlo, his cheeks flushing with humiliation.
"I apologize for the laughter. The workers thought it would be amusing to introduce me as Andrew," Tommy explained.
Arlo realized his mistake. He hadn't bothered to properly look at the workers' faces or their name tags. This misunderstanding could have been avoided if he had been more observant. With a sheepish grin, he replied,
"It's my fault. I should have made an effort to learn my coworkers' names."
"What brings you here, Arlo?" Tommy asked, his tone soft yet curious.
Arlo hesitated before responding, "I want to see inside the dungeon now."
A look of sympathy crossed Tommy's face. "I'm sorry, Arlo. The dungeon's threshold has dropped below 5, so entry is prohibited," he explained, his voice filled with regret.
"Threshold? What's that?" Arlo asked, his curiosity piqued.
Tommy sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.
"You don't know? You're at a mining site; you should understand how dungeons work and familiarize yourself with the rules and instructions," he gently reprimanded.
Arlo shifted uncomfortably, feeling a pang of embarrassment at his ignorance.
With a sigh, Tommy gestured for Arlo to sit down, bracing himself for a lengthy explanation.
"Even my 10-year-old daughter understands how dungeons work, Arlo. This is going to be a long explanation."
Dungeons are where Voidstones are harvested. No one knows how dungeons are formed.
As far as humanity knows, dungeons were formed during the birth of the world. Dungeons usually appear at random locations.
In the past, no one knew where they would appear. When a dungeon appears, the ground shakes, and rocks pile up to form the entrance to the dungeon. After a few hours, dungeon riders can enter.
Once inside, dungeon riders are transported to a new biome. Even now, researchers don't understand how this teleportation works.
Once riders enter the dungeon, they battle the monsters of the biome until they defeat the dungeon boss. The monsters will constantly revive at regular intervals until the dungeon boss is defeated.
If the dungeon is cleared by either the Mage, the Innovators, or the Outliners, then Voidstones will be mined by cybers, mage golem, or necromancer's undead.
Tommy took a deep breath. "Do you understand now, Arlo?"
Arlo nodded, his mind buzzing with the influx of information.
Arlo asked politely, "Tommy, you still haven't told me about the Threshold and also who the Outliners are. I've never heard of them."
Tommy paused momentarily, rubbing his temples wearily, his expression strained.
After a dungeon is cleared, it becomes an underground cave extending for some kilometers based on the dungeon's level.
Dungeons exist inside teleported biomes due to the magical powers of Voidstones. We still haven't fully understood Voidstone's capabilities yet, or how they actually power the dungeon.
Miners mine the Voidstone, and the threshold is the device used to predict where the dungeon will appear. It monitors the ground's abnormality and records it. It also measures dungeon conditions like its health. If the Threshold Point TP(1 to 100) goes below 5, it means the dungeon will collapse at any moment due to Voidstone depletion.
"Yeah, you asked about Outliners also, right?"
Tommy paused for a few seconds and continued.
Outliners is a faction that consists of a group of people who don't belong to the Mage or Innovators Orders, and also people who have magical abilities but not enough to compete against high-class mages.
They use Innovators' machines to compensate for their shortcomings. The Outliners remain neutral between Mages and Innovators.
When dungeon riders from Outliners clear a dungeon, they usually auction it because they mostly care about money. It mostly consists of riders from gangsters, syndicates, street thugs, and the criminals from underworld.
After Tommy responded to Arlo's every doubt, Arlo stayed silent for a few moments and asked with hesitation,
"Does that mean a dungeon can never collapse when it's above the threshold? Has it never happened before? And is nobody allowed inside when it is below TP?"
Tommy replied with confidence, "Yep, never. Since the discovery of the threshold device, something like collapsing above 5 TP (Threshold Points) has never happened, and the entrance will be sealed with restriction devices if TP is below 5."
Arlo stood up, gratitude swelling within him.
"Thank you for everything, Tommy," he said sincerely, offering Tommy a grateful smile before exiting the mining site.
As Arlo walked down the street, his mind buzzing with newfound knowledge, he couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that gnawed at his gut.
Lost in thought, he stared down at the ground, his footsteps echoing against the pavement.
Suddenly, a forceful slap on his back jolted him out of his reverie, causing him to stumble and fall.
[End of Chapter]