It was night, and a ten-year-old child slowly walked down a deserted street. His body was covered in wounds, his clothes were torn, and his face was stained with blood and dust. Even staggering from the pain, he kept walking until he stopped in front of a simple house whose windows were shattered and whose door remained slightly open.
The boy hesitated for a brief moment, took a deep breath, and stepped inside. As soon as he crossed the doorway, he saw a man sitting in the living room and a woman in a wheelchair. Both of them smiled when they saw him, but the very next instant, their smiles vanished completely. Their bodies began to disappear before his eyes until they vanished without a trace.
The entire house was swallowed by darkness. Before he could understand what was happening, he felt three hands grabbing his leg. Looking down, he saw three people. One had the top of their head completely split open, another had their throat cut, and the third had been completely burned. All of them were crying as they screamed at him.
"Die, you bastard! Why won't you disappear? Burn in hell... you should never have been born..."
Everything suddenly disappeared. Enrico slowly opened his eyes, feeling the first rays of sunlight strike his face. He raised one hand to block the brightness and spent a few seconds staring at the sky before finally getting up.
"Damn... it's already morning. I have to get ready to go back, and my whole body still hurts."
He slowly stretched his arms and legs before picking up his backpack. His clothes were completely torn, exposing the numerous bandages wrapped around his body.
"I'd better not show up at the academy like this. I'll stop by the city first."
Enrico began walking through the forest, and about forty minutes later, he finally reached the city. He entered a small clothing store, causing the attendants to look at him in surprise. Judging by his appearance, he looked more like a beggar than a student from Astrong Academy. Without saying a word, Enrico took a few coins out of his pocket and placed them on the counter. After buying them, he changed his clothes, putting on a simple white shirt and a pair of gray pants.
"I'm running out of money. Calm down... there's only one more week until I receive the Solcren family's monthly allowance."
[You're awake.]
Enrico turned his head toward the system.
'Where were you?'
[It's a secret.]
'Of course... of course...'
[And what do you intend to do now? After what happened yesterday, you should rest.]
A small smile appeared on Enrico's face.
'Aw... how cute. The system is worried about me.'
[No. I just don't want my host to break down so quickly.]
Enrico gave it an incredulous look before shaking his head.
'Anyway, I'm going back to the academy and, like you said, rest for at least two hours before continuing my training.'
[I meant rest for the entire day.]
Enrico let out a long sigh.
'If I stop training, even for a short time, the gap between me and the protagonists will only grow. All of them have absurd potential for growth, while Enrico was born with below-average talent. Just look at the progress of my Circle Zero.'
Magic: Fire — Circle Zero (28%)
'It took me an entire week to gain only three percent. If I keep going at this pace, it'll take me months to reach the First Circle, while the protagonists will probably have already reached the Third.'
A short while later, Enrico boarded a wagon carrying passengers to the academy city. Throughout the entire journey, he remained looking out the window at the vast territory he had just left behind. That continent was far larger than Earth, making its cities gigantic as well. It was strange to think that the entire continent had been inspired by five different countries—Japan, Italy, England, Brazil, and China—represented by five great cities. The other continents were also formed by combinations of different countries, but they were so far away that traveling between them took weeks.
'Sanos City... the place where some of the greatest heroes in history were born. It represents England and is home to the two most powerful families on the continent, as well as the best academy in the world. It's no wonder this place has so many monsters.'
[If they're so strong, then why did you say the academy would be surrounded by a barrier in the future?]
'Like I said before, the author never revealed who created that barrier. But I suspect it was one of the forty-three Evil Gods... and one of the strongest. After all, the most powerful man alive had to study the structure of that barrier for two years before he was finally able to break it. Its concept was spatial.'
When the wagon reached its destination, Enrico got off and walked toward the entrance of Astrong Academy. Instead of entering normally, however, he decided to act cautiously. He slipped discreetly through the gate and quickly hid behind a wall.
[Now you've become a criminal?]
Enrico looked to the left, then to the right, and finally straight ahead. After confirming that no important people were nearby, he ran to another hiding place.
'If the student council president sees me all beaten up, she might suspect that I've been training in secret. And if she tells the protagonist, my entire plan could fall apart.'
"Enrico."
His entire body trembled. He quickly turned his head, and when he saw who it was, he let out a long sigh of relief.
'Thank goodness... it's just Serenya and the other two idiots.'
[Don't forget that you're the third.]
'You really never miss an opportunity, do you?'
Elian and Caelan approached while observing the many injuries scattered across Enrico's body.
"What happened to you?"
Enrico desperately began thinking of a convincing excuse.
"I heard you went to visit your parents. Don't tell me they..."
Serenya narrowed her eyes, and Enrico immediately nodded inwardly.
'Whatever... I'll use that.'
"Yeah... you know how complicated my family is."
Serenya's hair fell over her eyes, completely hiding her expression. Meanwhile, Enrico simply scratched the back of his neck, pretending to feel embarrassed. Elian walked over and gave him a hard slap on the back.
"Damn... they really went overboard this time."
Enrico grimaced in pain, prompting an immediate apology from Elian. Serenya returned to normal and pointed behind her.
"Come on. We need to get going."
"Going where?"
She smiled.
"You've been avoiding it for an entire week, but now we're going to that warehouse people say is cursed... and this time you won't escape."
Enrico watched Serenya begin walking, and before he could refuse, Elian and Caelan grabbed him by the arms and started dragging him after her.
'Why do I have the feeling she's trying to cheer me up? Either way... I really wanted to avoid that warehouse.'
Enrico raised his eyes toward the sky and let out another sigh.
'At the very least, I'll do everything I can to stop these idiots from activating the dungeon.'
There are two types of dungeons: normal dungeons and true dungeons. Although they are completely different, they share one thing in common: they were all created by a god. Normal dungeons are considered failures made during a god's attempt to create a new world. Like discarded creations, these incomplete worlds are cast into this world together with a reward for those who manage to clear them. That is precisely why there are so many dungeons scattered throughout the world. Every day, the gods attempt to create new worlds in order to reach the level of a Primordial God.
True dungeons, on the other hand, are completely different. Inside them, everything is real. Each one contains a complete world with its own solar system, numerous races, and even an independent dimension. All of those worlds coexist within the same space, as though multiple dimensions were layered over one another.
The problem is that this world is considered the origin of everything, the place where the gods themselves were born. Because of that, from time to time, a true dungeon opens, and those who enter take on the identity of someone from that world until they complete their mission, something that can take years. Normally, this happens when that world is on the verge of destruction, functioning as a cry for help sent by the god who created it—or simply for the god's own amusement.
'The gods of this world are pretty lazy. Why don't they solve their own problems?'
Enrico kept walking until he finally caught sight of the old warehouse. The building was enormous and had a frightening appearance. The wooden windows constantly creaked in the wind, making the place truly seem cursed. It stood in a field just beyond the city, outside the academy's boundaries.
'She probably didn't even ask for permission to leave the academy.'
On one hand, Enrico was lucky that this dungeon was only a normal dungeon. On the other hand, if it were activated with the level of strength they currently possessed, all of them would die with ease. In the original story, that very same dungeon had forced the protagonist to reach the Third Circle just to survive.
The four of them entered the warehouse. The inside was dark, silent, and covered by a thin layer of dust.
"See? It's not that scary."
Elian tried to look brave, but his entire body was trembling. Caelan stood completely still, while Serenya slowly walked around the place, observing everything around her.
'If you're all so scared... why did you come?'
Suddenly, a noise echoed through the warehouse. Serenya let out a startled scream and, on reflex, hurled a chair forward. Enrico immediately jumped into its path and ended up taking the hit.
"Why did you do that? You're already covered in injuries!"
"You were about to break some beautiful vases. I couldn't let that happen."
As blood ran from Enrico's nose, Serenya quickly grabbed a cloth and began wiping it away.
"I can buy new ones."
"But I couldn't stop myself from wanting to protect them."
It was a perfect excuse, after all, the original Enrico really did enjoy collecting vases.
There were only two ways to activate that dungeon: finding the hidden portal or breaking two vases of different colors.
A short while later, Caelan heard a noise coming from another room and started walking in that direction, but Enrico grabbed his shoulder before he could leave.
"Nobody's splitting up."
"Right."
Right afterward, Elian bumped into a table, causing one of the vases to fall. Before it could hit the floor, Enrico dove forward and caught it in midair.
"That was an accident."
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"How did you figure it out?"
After that, Enrico started protecting every vase he found along the way, preventing any possibility of the dungeon being activated.
"It's actually not that scary."
"It's even kind of fun."
"Hehehe."
"I'm going to kill you two."
The three of them laughed while Enrico stared at them with a murderous look.
[In the original story, you wouldn't have even entered this place.]
'Why do I feel like you're enjoying this?'
[Of course I am.]
'I want to strangle you.'
'In the original story, they were caught before they even entered the warehouse and were forbidden from leaving the academy for two weeks.'
[What a shame.]
While trying to think of yet another way to insult the system, Serenya smiled faintly and clapped her hands.
"All right! It's decided! This will be our secret hideout!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"What?"
[Hahahahaha.]