A normal hideout, Chad Dungeon:
The hideout building was tattered and a small scale battle was going on.
Level 3 Abyssals and human awakeners of equal level fought, with humans asserting their dominance.
"Fire!" A passionate cry sounded.
What followed was a screeching sound and a metal suit shook.
"Fire!" The cry sounded again, with less passion and a bit of fear.
Screech!
The black metal fully body suit without anyone inside shone with a red light, and raised its arm…before its arm collapsed down.
"Fire!" The cry was desperate this time..
Screech!
The metal suit shook and collapsed on the ground.
A teenager knelt on the ground and touched the metal head with trembling hands.
"Hey lad, don't worry too much." A middle-aged adventurer patted the thin young man on the shoulder and turned to his team.
"Fire Bois, take cover. Hey you, block the space at proper times, will ya? Our client lost a relative to Abyssals. He wants twenty heads." He co-ordinated his team and they swiftly took down the Level 3 Abyssals.
The middle-aged adventurer was a Level 4 Extreme Awakener. He brought his team to the hideout for practice.
Kyle also tagged along. Of course, his level was too low to fight. But what he wanted was to test his new weapon in progress.
A full body suit that could exhibit fighting prowess of a Level 3 awakener and theoretically, could scale up to a Sovereign.
But it failed. For the eleventh time.
"Haaa~" Kyle sighed and gathered his damaged body suit back into his space ring.
"Bro, why the fuck did you die?" He patted the dust on his body and muttered.
"Thanks, cap." He waved at the captain and big his farewell.
"No probs. Besides, you improvised my star treasures, no?" The captain grinned.
The adventure team set off to the next hideout in haste.
The number of hideouts, however great, were ultimately limited. Thus, an intension competition erupted among all participants.
What could they expect when even students of Defense Academy joined the fun?
"I thought I would see you in this mission." Kyle muttered as he walked to the exit of the dungeon.
He didn't return to Academy of Sciences. Instead, he visited a graveyard on the outskirts of pearl city.
He bowed in front of a tombstone with an epitaph: "Combat madman. Caring friend. A great human."
In small fonts, a line was added at the end: "Died single. Still a virgin."
Kyle read the last line and chuckled. "Bro, you'll be so mad if you see this line. It's my idea…"
He looked at the tomb and smiled brightly. "So tell me to erase it. Just tell me once. I will remove it."
His voice shook, and he said again. "Please… you don't want everyone to know that you never dated, right? Talk to me once… and I'll era—."
He paused as he felt something salty on his lips. As he touched his lips, he realized his cheeks were wet.
But he still tried to smile.
He remembered how Varian would never give up, no matter the odds.
'I will try to be strong. I will try to smile. I will—' He looked at the tomb and seemed to see Varian carrying his dying body to the spaceship during the entrance.
He collapsed and knelt in front of the tomb. "I'm not that strong. I can't smile."
His smile collapsed, and his eyes reddened.
"I am making a special weapon. It will be super powerful." Kyle took out the broken metal suit.
He showed it to the tomb, explained its specs and then awkwardly smiled. "It's still not working properly. But I promise it will."
He bowed his head and gripped the armor. "I will avenge you."
A warmth enveloped him and Maya's voice rang in his ears. "I miss him."
"Hm." Kyle nodded lightly. His body was shaking.
"I always wanted a sibling… he is that elder brother." Her voice turned weaker and ended in a whimper.
"Ha.." Kyle's voice also shivered.
"But why…" Her tears dripped on his face as she hugged him tighter.
"Kyle, please don't do anything reckless. I don't want to lose you too." Maya pleaded.
"I'm sorry…" Kyle gently pushed her off and grabbed the black armor.
"Mom knew something about his death. She said the traitors must be high awakeners. I can never reach that level myself…" He tightened his grip on the armor. "If I can make this thing, I can avenge him. I will do it, no matter how long it takes."
He looked at Maya's tear stricken face and sighed. "I cannot spend time with you like before. I don't want to drag you." He paused and saw her eyes widening.
But he still bit the bullet and said. "So if you want to stop our relationship, you can."
Maya stared at him in shock and as his words slowly sunk in, her face contorted in rage.
"Kyle!"
Slap!
She slapped him and stormed out.
Kyle glanced at the sky and headed to his lab.
*** *** ***
An inconspicuous young man was walking on the pedestrian path.
The aura he emitted was level 1 paek and he looked to be around 18 years old.
The most remarkable feature about him was that there was nothing remarkable.
Average face. Average body. Average temperament. He was the kind of person that would get lost in a crowd.
"Hey, little brother!" The young man turned to the woman calling out and pointed to himself.
"Yes you! We're throwing a party. It's on the house. Join quickly!" The energetic woman said cheerfully.
"Ah…" Why was she so excited, anyway?
"Come on! There is even meat of Level 2 magic beasts. It will be very beneficial." She held his arm and pulled him into a famous pub, dispelling any worries that it could be a shady scam.
"Two demon rabbit roasts. And a blue shot." She ordered and sat him down across a large round table. Around fifty people were seated across the table and it was extremely lively, err, noisy.
"Have fun." She smiled and walked off.
'What fun can I even have…' He thought when a smooth arm tugged at his sleeve.
A girl, around 20, smiled at him and said. "The owner of this pub cleared 5 hideouts. That's why this party."
The young man scratched his cheek. "Um, I can understand the excitement, but why this splurge?"
His question elicited a few light-hearted laughters.
"You don't know what's gonna happen, do you?" A boy around his own age, with a confident aura, asked him.
"No?" The young man shook his head. 'Was he a prophet or what?'
"Once we take control of the hideouts, dungeons become incredibly safe." The boy stretched out a finger and smirked.
The girl added, "That's right! We have the surveillance in place. Even Level 1s can go in and train without worry. Almost all emergencies can be reported to the adventurers before they turn fatal."
'Ah!' The young man nodded.
Indeed, if Level 1s could be informed before a Level 2 comes to their area, they could save their lives.
At the same time, murders in the dungeons can be detected and will be punished. So adventurers need not fear about other humans.
This was actually the biggest benefit, even more than the former.
It would save so many lives!
If the same technology can be implemented in Mid and High dungeons, then a revolution would take place in the way dungeons operated.
Every common person would benefit!
"Also, treasures of dungeons can be found early on." The girl chuckled.
"Then who will they belong to? The government?" The young man frowned.
"No. That'd cause backlash. The government is trying to form fair laws that could ensure opportunity to everyone. The end goal is to give everyone a chance without casualties." The boy spoke.
The men and women across the table, mostly young, nodded.
"It's nice." The young man coughed like he was embarrassed.
Perhaps he was feeling ashamed that he couldn't think of these possibilities.
"Hahaha!" The boy laughed and said. "Don't worry fam, I too only knew this after my uncle in adventure guild told me."
"Yes. But one thing is certain, our lives will change. We will have more opportunities." The girl said and raised her glass.
"Wherever you are, whoever you are, Dreamer, thank you for your gift. To the dreamer." She gulped down her drink.
"To the dreamer." The rest followed suit, except for the young man.
Realizing that all eyes were on him, he, too, raised his glass and gritted his teeth.
With much difficulty, the actual 'dreamer' said.
"To the dreamer."