[Dhruv, Welcome to the New World.]
Welcome to the new world... Before Dhruv could understand the weight of these words, another one popped in front of him.
[Congratulations, you have awakened the following Authority:- Dungeon Master- Greed.]
Am I dreaming.... Looking at the game-like visuals, he couldn't help but question the reality he was experiencing at this moment. Pinching himself, he soon understood nothing was out of place.
'Have I been drugged... no, my thoughts wouldn't be this clear then...' Thinking so, he moved his hand and it went right through the panel, distorting it. Soon the panel recombined and displayed its content.
After contemplating for some time he looked into a corner and muttered, "Yes... I get it.. now you can come out. I can see right through you."
....
Silence. No reply came from that direction.
'Is there really no one here?'
Even when his last-ditch effort bore no fruit, Dhruv decided to go with the flow for the time being.
So... what exactly is this New World and Authority... As he was musing about these, he couldn't help but remember his childhood when he loved to read novels and play games.
These look awfully similar to that... Musing, from 'New World' he concluded that he might have teleported into some foreign land.
And for the authority... could these be his powers? With a frown, he whispered, "And my powers are Greed and Dungeon Master."
He could understand Greed somewhat but had no idea what Dungeon Master could do for him.
Not knowing what to do he looked at the screen and announced, "Yes. I accept the power. Now what am I to do."
Being a mercenary, forget that, being a human, Dhruv knew better that there is no such thing as free bread in the world. There is an equivalent exchange for everything and if something... or someone is giving him powers, there must be something that it wants in return.
"So, tell me... what do I owe you. I don't like being in debt." Pausing, he looked at the sky and muttered with a grin, "I don't like them having unsettled."
As if the heavens paid no attention to the chirping of the birds, a notification appeared but not the one he desired.
[Authority 'Dungeon Master' is compatible with 'System'. Do you want to upgrade it?
- Yes/ No]
'Trying hard to play... haha!..' Thinking so, Dhruv looked around the cave, he still couldn't find a way out of it.
Smiling he looked up and muttered, "Let's play your game for the time being then," Looking at the notification he clicked, "Alright. I accept."
[The upgrade is in progress.9 minutes 58 seconds left.]
Seeing the notification he patiently looked at the ticking clock. A minute passed and with no new notification coming he sighed and moved around the cave. Now that the panel was gone, he had a few minutes to arrange his thoughts and look at his situation carefully.
Despite being in this weird predicament and possibly an entirely new world, he couldn't shake his mind from going back to his world. A world which knew him and he knew some of.
'Those fuckers just had to do it...' Thinking so, he clicked his tongue, remembering their days in the mission.
'Didn't they save me from getting shot in the Mahinton mission...' Dhruv could remember numerous missions where they had saved him and he had done the same for them, but still in the end, they decided to betray him.
As he thought some more, one thing became clear to him, 'I didn't know them enough.... Greed...' Pausing, he looked at the ceiling where nothing could be seen except for the darkness and muttered, "Greed. It truly is the worst of the sins."
Slapping himself across his cheeks, Dhruv took a deep breath and thought to himself, 'There is no point thinking about those bastards. I will have to get out of here first to do something about them.'
Muttering the names of those who had betrayed him, he moved around. Feeling the cold and the roughness of the surface of the wall, he was sure to know that he was in some sort of cave.
'How exactly did I get transported here!? No, more important than that... how would I get out of here?' The more he inspected the place the heavier the truth dawned upon him.
It truly was an enclosed space with roughly 20 meters apart from each other.
'Looking at my beard, I haven't been teleported here that long. So, even if the space is closed there shouldn't be any lack of oxygen. Ugh! Why am I worried about oxygen when the real problem is food. And greater than that, water.'
Not wanting to die in his second life before it even got any chance to start, Dhruv moved toward a corner and tried to mine something out of it.
....
Soon it became obvious how futile this attempt of his was.
'Am I about to die without even getting my chance to avenge myself...' Getting himself cornered like that, Dhruv couldn't help but get sarcastic.
"Ohh!! cube god, couldn't you have teleported me somewhere else, like a mansion..." Ahh, is this too much... "Then what about a house, that would've been nice." No!?... "Can't you teleport me to a forest." Saying so, he closed his eyes waiting for something to happen.
Alas it was futile. There was no god, or even if there was, it wouldn't hear the prayer of a puny ant.
When even begging brought no result, he went and did the only thing he could do at the moment. Moving around the cave and looking at every inch of it like a hawk waiting for its prey.
Soon, he found something that looked out of place.
'Wait a minute... how did I miss it...' Tilting his head, Dhruv moved closer to the location where he had been lying at the beginning.
Because of the pool of blood that had dried up he hadn't noticed it before. But now that his eyes had adjusted even more to the darkness, there was something inside the crimson puddle. A marking of sorts.
Getting closer, Dhruv removed the blood stain and began examining this foreign marking.
There, etched on the floor, was a wide circle. Inside the circle were sharp lines connecting smaller circles that looked like some sort of coins. Strange marks and runes filled the spaces between.
And at the very center of the circle lay a shape that looked like a broken star or an angular flower, with five sharp points stretching outward like some sort of hand.
'What is this thing... some ancient drawing!?... a sigil!?' Looking at the only artificial thing inside the cave, Dhruv couldn't help but have his curiosity piqued. As if being mesmerized by it, he continued looking at it.
Answering its call, he stepped closer and raised his hand. Gazing at the ancient sigil once more, he thought, 'Why do I feel like this isn't a good idea!?'
'What do I mean, why!? It probably… is because it fucking isn't!' With his hand still hovering over the angular flower mark, second thoughts began to appear in his mind.
[4 minutes 5 seconds left.]
Looking at the time, he sighed and pressed his hand on top of the flower print.
And the moment he did that... nothing happened.
'H-huh!... nothing?... Was that a dud!? Haha! Was I afraid for nothing?' Chuckling nervously, Dhruv was just about to pull his hand away when something made his hair stand on end.
"What the fuck.." he muttered, panicking.
No matter how much Dhruv tried, his hand didn't budge an inch. It was glued to the ground. No amount of strength felt enough at the moment.
Panicking, he looked around when something else caught his attention. The blood which had dried up had begun to move. As if it had a life of its own, it flowed toward the sigil, and in the blink of an eye, there wasn't a single mark of blood left on the floor.
Everything got sucked into the rune. And that's when it happened.
The strange runes around the sigil began to glow in crimson, and the suction that was gluing his hand began to loosen.
Ouch!
A pained cry left his mouth as a shock ran throughout his body. After which, Dhruv was finally able to move his hand from the rune.
'What was that!?'
The questions were piling up when the vision in front of him lit up. Another panel had appeared in front of him. As the timing hadn't reached zero, he knew it wasn't notifying him of a successful upgrade.
If it wasn't that, then what was it?
[Synchronization - 20%... 30%... 70%... 99%]
[Synchronization has been completed.]
[Congratulations, Dhruv, you have become the owner of the unique dungeon: Dungeon of Greed.]