DNSG CH 02

People cheered as they gathered toward one place.

Looking closely, Myojin saw a white monitor standing alone in the center. The voice had come from inside it.

“Shortly, the Dungeon NPC Recruitment Examination will begin. All apprentices who are taking the examination will be automatically transferred to the main building of the Training Center, so please wait in an orderly manner.”

After the brief announcement ended, the monitor fell silent again.

On its white screen, the four-leaf clover made of dots—the icon of Dungeon of Legend—blinked repeatedly.

“It’s finally starting…!”

Someone muttered excitedly.

‘What exactly is the Dungeon NPC Recruitment Examination?’

Myojin frowned.

As the number one ranked player in Dungeon of Legend, the occupation of Apprentice was completely unfamiliar to her.

The occupation given to users when they first logged in was Beginner.

‘Something about this feels ominous.’

Myojin instinctively took a step backward and reached into the air behind her.

But what was this?

The doorknob she had used to enter the room just moments ago had completely disappeared.

‘W-What?’

Flustered, Myojin hurriedly tapped her wrist.

— Uncle, Uncle, I came to some strange place. I don’t know where I am, but this place isn’t even in the guidebook. There are lots of people here, and there are strange occupations and quests I’ve never heard of.

— We can talk about that later. Try logging out first.

Right.

If she logged out, everything would be solved.

Having regained her composure, Myojin slowly spoke the sentence exactly as she had been taught.

“Log… out.”

Nothing happened.

‘Was my voice too quiet?’

Myojin repeated it in a louder voice than before.

“Log out! …Log out!”

No matter how many times she said it, there was still no response.

As if responding to her repeated logout commands, a translucent system window appeared.

[The logout function is disabled in this area.]

Her heart sank.

Myojin froze for a moment before grabbing her wrist with trembling fingers.

— Uncle…

— I told you to log out quickly. Why are you fooling around again?

— …I think I’m trapped here.

The fingertips of the hand holding her wrist slowly became transparent.

Soon, her vision twisted and shook as though she were being sucked into another dimension.

The place Myojin was transported to was a gigantic hall with a ceiling that appeared to be at least three stories high.

Hundreds of monitors covered the walls. They were arranged in perfect rows and columns, packed together like the cells of a honeycomb, as if reflecting the personality of whoever managed the place.

[Apprentice Orientation (English)]

People murmured as they looked at the large letters displayed on the main monitor.

……Bzzzt……bzzzt.

The letters on the screen distorted as though the monitor had malfunctioned.

Then, a dazzling spotlight suddenly descended onto the center of the stage.

“Look over there.”

Someone pointed toward a thin crack that had appeared in midair.

Everyone’s attention immediately turned toward it.

At first, the crack was as thin as a single strand of hair.

Then—

Crack!

It split open.

An unfamiliar hand suddenly thrust through the opening.

“!”

It was covered in fluffy brown fur.

Then an arm, a leg, and a shoulder emerged one after another.

Finally, a large, bushy tail slipped through the crack.

Gasps of surprise erupted throughout the crowd.

‘That character… Rune, the squirrel beastkin?’

Myojin recognized the character before the other party even opened their mouth.

For someone who had played Dungeon of Legend, or DunOre for short, for such a long time, identifying the character was easy.

“Hello, everyone. I am Rune Spale, the chief examiner of the 237th Dungeon NPC Recruitment Examination.”

The squirrel beastkin, wearing an acorn-shaped mask over his head, slowly surveyed the crowd.

Myojin’s mind began working rapidly.

Furry NPCs normally appeared only in the main story.

Among them, the squirrel beastkin served as one of the guardians of the World Tree, the central element of DunOre.

‘If a squirrel beastkin has appeared here, does that mean this mysterious examination is connected to the World Tree?’

Before she could organize her thoughts, a nameplate appeared above Rune’s head.

Since no one else seemed to react, it was obvious that this information was visible only to Myojin.

ミ★ [NPC] Rune Spale

Squirrel beastkin who guards the World Tree.

“Now then, who will survive until the very end and become the final official Dungeon Maker?”

The final survivor?

The sentence reminded Myojin of a survival movie she had watched once.

“There are three evaluation criteria for the examination to become an official Dungeon NPC.”

Red letters appeared in the air, being drawn stroke by stroke.

>> EXAMINATION CRITERIA <<

➊ Dungeon Management Ability

➋ Crisis Response Ability

➌ Teamwork

After a brief silence, murmuring erupted among the people.

“Teamwork? Don’t tell me this year’s examination is going to be a team competition? Thank goodness.”

“Don’t get too excited. Didn’t you hear what happened two years ago? One promising candidate got eliminated immediately because they were paired with the wrong partner.”

“Damn it. We’re screwed.”

Amid the uneasy atmosphere, the spotlight gradually focused on the very center.

“I anticipated your concerns. Therefore, this year’s examination will be conducted with teams of three rather than teams of two.”

“How are the team members chosen?”

A sharp voice came from somewhere in the crowd.

“An excellent question. The first team member will be selected at random.”

Rune waved his hand through the air.

The ground trembled, and the area split into separate sections.

The section where Myojin was standing was marked A, while the opposite section was marked B.

Rune, who had been floating in midair, gently landed on the passage connecting the two sections.

“From this moment onward, everyone will be randomly assigned a number. Those who receive the same number—one person from Section A and one person from Section B—will become a team.”

A short, cheerful sound like an arcade machine’s game effect rang out.

Numbers appeared above everyone’s heads.

ᕷ˖° Ding! ᕷ˖°

The number 3 appeared above Myojin’s head.

Everyone hurriedly searched for someone with the same number and formed pairs.

Myojin was swept along by the atmosphere and looked around as well, searching for the person with the same number.

‘Who is going to be on my team…?’

Myojin’s gray eyes met those of a man standing across from her.

The middle-aged man grimaced and clutched his leather hat.

“Damn it! Why is my team luck always this terrible?”

The man dropped down where he stood and began complaining.

The people around him laughed and chimed in.

“You’re going to have a tough time with that one, old man!”

“Good luck! Haha!”

Several people looked Myojin up and down before patting the Number 3 man on the shoulder.

“Is there anyone who is unhappy with their assigned teammate?”

As the commotion grew louder, Rune stepped forward with a microphone.

He slowly scanned Section A.

Then his eyes met Myojin’s.

His gaze was uncomfortably direct.

‘…It feels like he’s asking that on purpose.’

Myojin felt uneasy.

Do not speak carelessly to anyone connected to the World Tree.

A sentence from the guidebook flashed through her mind.

There had been an explanation that followed those words, but she didn’t have the time to recall it right now.

Either way, her instincts told her she shouldn’t simply ignore this.

“I want to change my teammate!”

A complaint suddenly erupted from Section B.

“Who are you to say that?! I don’t want to work with someone like him!”

Someone from Section A immediately shouted back.

The two people glared at each other furiously.

The number 4 was displayed above both of their heads.

“Oh dear. Complaining about the fate decided by the World Tree…”

Rune’s voice distorted strangely, like a tape being stretched.

“I believe I clearly said something earlier, didn’t I? One of the evaluation criteria is teamwork. Team 4 is disqualified from the examination.”

His eyes flashed as he pointed toward the screen.

Red letters suddenly appeared on the enormous electronic display.

[Team 4 – Examination Terminated]

Immediately afterward, the floor beneath the two people bearing the number 4 split apart.

They plummeted downward.

“U-Uaaaargh!”

Their echoing screams gradually faded into the distance.

Then—

Crack!

The sound of bones being crushed echoed through the hall.

Like a Venus flytrap closing its jaws after devouring an insect, the split ground closed back up.

“……”

Silence descended over the entire hall.

Myojin could barely move her frozen lips.

“What happened to those people?”

“…What do you think happened? They died.”

The person beside her managed to answer.

‘Is this a dream?’

Her breath caught in her throat.

“If you’ve been summoned by the World Tree to become a Dungeon Maker, there are only two possibilities. You either survive together with the dungeon…”

He paused.

“…or you perish together with it.”

“…Perish?”

“You die.”

Thud.

It felt as though a gigantic boulder had dropped onto Myojin’s heart.

The dizziness rising from the tips of her toes gradually grew stronger until it became a tidal wave that swallowed her whole.

‘Uncle… Uncle. What am I supposed to do?’

No matter how many times she touched and rubbed her wrist, there was no response.

Instead, a translucent window appeared before her eyes.

[A system anomaly has been detected.]

[Player ‘Myojin’ data is being newly recalibrated.]