Somewhere far away in a dimly lit room.
Hundreds of candles flickered across the floor. Some of them were nearing the end of their life while others stood fresh and tall. At the room's center hung a chandelier made purely out of white quartz.
From the chandelier, a rope dangled, stopping just a centimeter above the ground. At its end rested a diamond-shaped crystal about the size of a golf ball.
Crackkk!
With a crack, the crystal crumbled into white ash. The ash drifted across the room, snuffing out a quarter of the candles. As the flames died, shadows spread around the chandelier, leaving a five-meter-wide circle of pure darkness.
Despite the other candles burning in the room, the center remained dark.
creeeekk!
With a long creak, the door opened and a few men wearing white cleric robes entered the room. An upside-down cross hung from their necks.
Looking at the center of the room, one of them, the old man in his sixties, brought his cross toward his glabella and closed his eyes.
When he opened them, they dilated a bit. A drop of sweat appeared over his head as he moved toward the center with cautious steps.
Reaching the center, he examined the area around the dangling rope.
'ohh! dear lord!...' With a hint of worry, he moved toward the group and got out of the room. Closing the door behind, he frowned and looked at the others.
Shaking his head, he announced, "A new dungeon had appeared… somewhere?" Remembering the number of extinguished candles, he added.
"It's probably… not must be of a high rank... but the master shouldn't be that strong… yet." After thinking for a while, the old man added, "Send the inquisitors to eradicate it as soon as possible."
Listening to his words, the others nodded their heads, "As you wish, sir, bishop."
Listening to his command, they were about to move on when the bishop's voice rang in the empty hall once again.
"The master, it's probably of the demonic nature so make sure to send a priest with the inquisitors as well... and yes! tell Kite to change the crystal and light the candles."
Nodding their heads, the others vanished in the dark hallway. Looking toward the door for a few more seconds, the bishop shook his head.
"May you be the light in this everlasting darkness, my lord." Whispering, he once again put the inverted cross to his glabella and disappeared into the darkness as well.
*****
Looking at the upgrade notification, Kael couldn't wait any longer and thought of knowing about his information.
At first, he had thought about some voice command that activated the status, but to his surprise, a mere thought was enough to show him the desired information.
<---------------------------------------------->
[Name: Kael]
[Species: Human (Former)]
[Level: 0 [0%] [Tier: I]]
[Stats: Strength: 5, Agility: 6, Stamina: 4, Spirit: 7]
<---------------------------------------------->
There were still a few things left on the status, but instead of looking at them, Kael stopped and continued to stare at one particular section of the panel.
'Former… human… what does it mean by that?' Frowning, he tried clicking on the section.
Remembering how nothing had replied to his question previously, he wasn't expecting much, but to his surprise, a new panel opened beside this one.
[Species: Due to the Authority of 'Dungeon Master' and being bound to the 'Dungeon of Greed', you are stripped from the race of 'Human'. It is advised to evolve to the next tier and become a member of another species, or else your existence could be in danger.]
Kael's eyes widened as he read the horrifying truth.
What the fuck is this bullshit… I haven't done anything, and my existence is already in danger. And what is this evolve to next tier… how to do that… hey hellooo… can you guide me..
Being forced to do one thing after another, his idea of getting out of this world was only growing stronger each moment. He couldn't help but reminisce about how simple his world was.
'First, I got transported… then became dungeon master against my will…' finding himself sitting on the throne, he coughed… 'not complaining about this one… but… now my existence is in danger.'
'What now… will I be hunted by some organization or what?...' Trying to cope with the information, he tried being sarcastic for once.
Tsk!! What more do you have for me? New world... thinking, he moved forward in his status.
<---------------------------------------------->
[Authority: [Greed],[Dungeon Master]]
[Trait:. ...]
[Skills: Covetous Tongue Lv. 1, Pick-Pocket Lv. 1, Summon Lv. 5]
[Dungeon: Dungeon Of Greed]
<---------------------------------------------->
'So, the upgrade didn't remove the Dungeon master authority… hmm! So what exactly are these…' Curious, Kael clicked on it. Suddenly, a third panel opened in front of him.
[Authority: Born from the cosmos itself, each being holds an affinity with something. Authority is the power that grants you the right to wield that affinity.
Everyone is bestowed with some share of the authority. You can hunt others with the same authority as yours to increase your own. ]
[Dungeon Master: Chosen by the cosmos, you wield the power to rule over the dungeons.
Rule: 0.02%
Skill Granted: Summon Lv. 1][Greed: It's in your nature to covet what is yours as well as others.
Rule: 0.0001%
Skill Granted: Covetous Tongue Lv. 1, Pick-Pocket Lv. 1]
Strangely, Kael didn't know what to feel about his information. Should he be delighted that the cosmos had considered him worthy of holding the power over dungeons?
Or, should he be mad that it had labeled him as 'Greedy'?
'If it weren't for the fact that I'm getting some skills… then… then you would see… why am I commanding such a low percentage of authority…' Taking a note about his share, he thought of something.
'So, if I want to increase my share… I've to hunt others…'
Being a mercenary, he already had a long list of kill count, but the point was that almost all of them deserved to die.
He wouldn't want to kill someone just to increase some measly numbers.
'Such a drag… can't it be simpler… what am I talking about… it's already this simple… all I've to do is kill someone..' Sighing, he moved and clicked on the skills.
[Summon: Let you summon monsters to manage the Dungeon]
'Neat… I don't have to do everything…' Smiling, he moved forward.
[Covetous Tongue: Using your sharp tongue, you can incite the greed of others.]
Smirking, he moved to the last one.
[Pick-Pocket: Such a flexible hand… I should use it to steal.]
Hmmm! What the hell is this description… huh!… Taken aback by such a description, a chuckle left his mouth.
Nodding his head, he moved to the last section and clicked upon the dungeon. The moment he did so, a long screen appeared, drawing his attention entirely to it.
'Hmmm!... this gonna be fun…' Smiling, he began understanding everything about them with great care.