Kai still could not wrap his head around his current situation. An unknown person had messaged the entire world’s population and magically transported them all here.
He looked around. There were mere teens and children, elderly folk and young adults. Who would do such a thing?
Aliens.
Had that old man been telling the truth? Were they all taken by aliens for an experiment?
In sci-fi movies, weren’t the aliens supposed to take over the Earth, not take people away from it?
Before he could think any further, a large screen-like image appeared.
It was massive, and almost everyone’s eyes turned towards it. As it appeared, a voice boomed throughout the area.
"WELCOME PARTICIPANTS."
"It’s them aliens! They here to eat us!" the old man wearing a thin foil hat screamed, attempting to run away.
People stood terrified. They couldn’t run. They didn’t know where they were or the danger awaiting them.
"DON’T FEAR, PARTICIPANTS. I AM MERELY AN AI SENT TO TELL YOU ABOUT THIS GAME."
Game.
"What game?" a man asked from the crowd.
"DUNGEON GAME. YOU HAVE ALL BEEN BROUGHT HERE TO PARTICIPATE IN IT."
DUNGEON.
Wasn’t that like a cave with different levels and monsters one had to battle?
"Like a manga dungeon?" a girl asked. She looked to be cosplaying Sailor Moon, but she had pink hair.
"CORRECT. BUT THIS DUNGEON CONTAINS 10 LEVELS."
"Are we supposed to believe this bullcrap? A weird supposed AI?" a man asked from the crowd.
True, they had all just been going about their daily lives before being brought here.
They couldn’t simply trust anything or anyone who showed up.
"I UNDERSTAND YOUR CONFUSION, BUT I ASSURE YOU THAT YOU WON’T BE EATEN OR USED."
"How should we know that? You might roast us at any moment," the man retorted.
Roast? How exactly would the AI voice do that? It was merely a screen-like window displaying messages.
"THAT WOULDN’T HAPPEN. THIS GAME IS DESIGNED FOR PARTICIPANTS TO COMPLETE. IT MAY BE DANGEROUS, BUT YOU SHALL ALL BE GIVEN SKILLS TO HELP YOU ALONG."
SKILLS.
"Like powers or magic?" the pink-haired girl in the cosplay asked once again.
Kai had just been listening throughout, although he was still in denial about being transported here. It hurt even more that he had just finished eating.
"YES, EXACTLY. IF YOU TAKE OUT YOUR PHONES, YOU SHOULD SEE AN APP INSTALLED."
Although skeptical, Kai did as the AI said and looked around his apps. Indeed, there was an app he had no memory of installing.
Appraisal App.
He opened it along with the others, and a small window appeared before his eyes.
[KAI ZHUANG]
[AGE: 19]
[STATUS: FIRST YEAR COLLEGE STUDENT PARTICIPANT]
[SKILL: COOKING]
[RANK: F]
[SPECIAL SKILLS: NONE]
[UNIQUE SKILL: GOURMET’S EYE]
Kai looked at it again.
No special skill.
Rank F.
What did that mean exactly? The AI had only told them to look at the app.
He turned to the man beside him.
"Excuse me, could I ask what you saw after opening the app?" Kai asked hesitantly.
The man looked up from his phone.
"Oh, it says Rank B, Special Skill Level 20, Water Mage," the man responded.
Water Mage?
What did that mean?
Before he could ask any further questions, a commotion broke out.
"He has fire in his palm!" a person shouted from the crowd.
"Look! I can fly!" another person said, and truly they were being lifted from the ground.
"EVERYONE, PLEASE CALM DOWN. NO NEED TO RUN. THESE ARE YOUR SKILLS, TASKED TO HELP YOU THROUGHOUT THE DUNGEON."
"How exactly do we start this game, and what are the rewards?" a person asked from the crowd, who had now begun to settle down, accepting their situation.
The screen changed into a tower with many floors. On each floor looked to be a number, signaling different stages.
"THIS IS THE LAYOUT OF THE DUNGEON. YOU WILL HAVE TO COMPLETE IT ALL IN ORDER TO BE SENT BACK."
"But aren’t dungeons supposed to be downwards?" the girl with pink hair asked once more.
Kai’s eyes stayed on her. She seemed to know lots about dungeons. He wondered why.
"INDEED, BUT THIS LAYOUT IS MORE OF AN UPWARD KIND. ON EVERY LEVEL YOU WILL HAVE TO DEFEAT MONSTERS OR THE UNKNOWN. ON YOUR JOURNEY, NUMEROUS TREASURE CHESTS OF GOLD SHALL BE FOUND."
At the mention of money, everyone’s eyes sparkled.
They just had to complete a simple dungeon game, plus they had powers now.
"How do we start?" an eager man asked.
Humans were really suckers at the mention of riches.
"SIMPLY HEAD OVER TO THE TREES THERE AND STEP INSIDE TO BE TRANSPORTED TO THE FIRST LEVEL."
Everyone’s eyes turned to a massive tree in the middle. It looked to even surpass the ceiling itself.
People rushed towards it. As they reached it, it opened like an elevator.
There were other massive elevator-like trees beside it, making sure everyone got there without having to wait for turns.
Kai had also walked into one of the trees.
He didn’t know if he was doing the right thing.
He had quickly seen "None" in his Special Skills section.
Maybe it was a glitch.
Or he was just rushing into danger with the chance of being killed.
The tree doors closed, and soon they felt the ground moving.