1 Chapter 1: Emergence of Hope

"Shit, I'm really an idiot. I thought it was going to work. I never imagined it would turn out like this. Fuck! Now what?" I repeatedly cursed at my fate as I leaned my back on the grass under the shade of a tree.

Acting stupid and realizing it late really is ridiculous. It wouldn't be strange if the world just laughs at me.

Well, no one will probably understand what I feel at this moment. But just to let you know, it all started from five days ago...

[Five days ago, July 26, 2021...]

...

[Raven's Monthly Expenses:

* House rent: 750 pesos

* Electricity: 280 pesos

* Food consumption: 2400 pesos

* Monthly down-payment (loans): 1000 pesos

* Miscellaneous: 1250 pesos]

[Total: 5680 pesos]

[Raven's salary: 6000 pesos]

My eyes turned back and forth between my monthly expenses and my recent salary amount.

I sighed helplessly.

I've been working at a factory as a contractual worker for a few months. It was a hard job, with lifting weights, and have quite low payment. However, I had no choice but to take it without complaining.

And, as you can see, I'm barely surviving...

Unfortunately, the contract has ended this month so I'm back to being jobless with only 300 pesos to spare.

I wasn't one of those people who can hunt monsters inside the 'Dungeons' to earn a living because I was born without superpowers.

Also, I couldn't finish my education because I stopped after I was devastated by my single mother's death from lung cancer when I was at second-year college two years ago.

Life has been very tough for me...

After thinking how pitiful life was, I quickly shoved the instant noodles into my mouth and drained my bowl.

Suddenly, a certain ringtone was played by my old smartphone.

"Boom boom boom boom. I want you in my room. Let's spend the night togeth..."

Yes, an old call ringtone, and I knew just what the call was about.

It was my loan.

"Ah yes, of course... yes, I know... yes, no worries, okay... Yes, I'll make sure to send the payment online either today or tomorrow. Yes, thank you."

"~Beep." I immediately ended the call.

There were still five months left in my loan and I had to pay 1000 pesos per month. I still don't know where I can get enough money to pay them.

Back then, I borrowed money from my acquaintances just to pay my pre-existing loans and buy more time. But this time, that is certainly not going to work anymore.

'I have to get a new job soon, or I'll starve.'

Leaning my back on the chair, I checked the internet while hoping I'll find a job offering notice in some social media local pages.

However, I still wasn't lucky.

I scrolled again.

Soon, an eye-catching shared post popped out in my news feed.

There was a single picture showing the blue sky and something like a dark-grey giant cube in the middle of the sea. The picture must have been taken from a distant aircraft.

"What is this?"

I got curious and tried to read the first few sentences.

[July 25, 2021, 8:17 AM (GMT +08:00)—A magnitude 3.2 earthquake occurred in the northern part of the Philippines Sea. This occurrence was reported to be a result of the emergence of a new SSS-rank dungeon in the mentioned location...]

'So, it was a new dungeon after all.'

It wasn't a bit related to my current purpose but, because such thing has always been fascinating to me, I still checked it out anyway.

Dungeons are mysterious massive structures that suddenly appeared everywhere out of nowhere on the Earth's surface. They began emerging one after another since 30 years ago, which was the same time when many people, especially newborn children, were discovered to possess some extraordinary powers. Until now, humanity is clueless about where these mysterious things came from.

Dungeons have their separate dimensions inside of their colossal structures, housing very strange, magical objects and creatures. From a massive structure that is consist of a few floors to a finite world of otherworldly environment, they are truly bizarre. Most importantly, they are highly dangerous, and it costed a lot of lives just for humanity to learn about them.

It turned out, if dungeons can't be destroyed or cleared, they must be visited from time to time and reduce the number of deadly beasts inside them so that a 'Monster Breakout'—an event where tides of monsters escape from the dungeon—will not occur.

So much for that... I scrolled to the end of the post and saw a few webpage links. I clicked the first link which led me to the International Dungeon Information Provider website.

On the top of the webpage, the acquired information about the new dungeon was displayed.

[Dungeon Name: World of Treasures]

[Dungeon Rank: SSS]

[Difficulty Range: Easy to Insane]

[Dungeon Master(s):

* Doom (demon)]

[Number of Levels: 2]

[Inner-dimension Area:

* First Level: 10,000 square-kilometers (estimate)

* Second Level: Unknown]

[Visitor Count Limit: None]

[Entry Restriction(s):

* Each dungeon visitor can bring any number of objects as long as the total weight doesn't exceed 3 kilograms.]

[Dungeon Rules: (acquired from the Dungeon Settlers)

* After every 15 days, the dungeon's exit portal will reactivate for a day. At that time, a black portal will also appear somewhere in the World of Treasures and hordes of monsters will come out of it and attack the exit portal. The exit portal must be defended so that no monster escapes from the dungeon.

* The dungeon can be cleared by beating the Dungeon Master on the other side of the black portal—the dungeon's 2nd level.

* A dungeon visitor who dies in the dungeon will respawn at the respawn point after 18 hours.]

...

After a quick look at the information, I couldn't help but be amazed.

The World of Treasures...

In truth, I never entered a dungeon even once. It's not that it wasn't allowed, but I was a bit scared and also thought it's just a waste of my time. Moreover, it was dangerous inside for people without a 'Super Ability' like me, they say...

Maybe, I should go back to searching for a new job.

I scrolled on the webpage again.

I was already going to press the 'back' button. But wait...

I felt as if a certain lightbulb suddenly flickered inside my head. Thus, I looked at the page again, to where I thought my eyes saw something interesting.

"Those who dies in the dungeon will respawn at the respawn point after 18 hours..."

I reread the sentence at the bottom. I haven't been paying enough attention lately so I almost neglect it.

Certainly, this new unique dungeon is already capturing everyone's attention globally.

In my knowledge, there weren't any dungeon before this new one where dungeon hunters don't die when killed inside. Because of that, this 'World of Treasure' dungeon just seems like a game, and it's hard to believe. However, the information came from a one-hundred percent trusted source so perhaps it's the truth. Moreover, why would the government make a false information for something that threatens the whole world like a dungeon?

At the same time, a brilliant idea came into my mind, at least I believed it was. 'Right, good thing I've thought of it!'

The difficulty of the dungeon can be as high as 'insane' while I'm stuck inside for 15 days but, at least I won't die for real. Thus... it's most probably safe.

"Then, if I can obtain dungeon treasure items, I can bring it out of the dungeon then sell it at high price." I muttered while pondering.

With a nod, a decision came to me as fast as lighting.

'For the sake of money...'