In front of the pitch-black cave, a exhausted Chlor gasped for breath, her chest rising and falling heavily.
Not far behind her, a squad of fully armed soldiers burst out from the woods, surrounding her.
Though she couldn’t see their expressions beneath their helmets, Chlor guessed they must be laughing at this moment.
It was obvious that an Imperial Princess from a defeated nation had no chance of a good ending, especially when the enemy Emperor had declared he would imprison her in his Harem as his prized Concubine.
Chlor had no intention of living such a hopeless life.
Having escaped from the Capital, she was almost beyond the border when, unexpectedly, she was recognized by the very Guard Soldiers who had once defended her country.
Those damned Traitors!
“Imperial Princess, surrender now. His Majesty the King—no, the New King—won’t treat you badly.”
“Yes, Princess, compared to your father, at least you won’t be sent to the chopping block, right?”
“Isn’t it better to become the New King’s Concubine than to charge into the Dungeon and be eaten by monsters?”
…
Clenching her teeth, Chlor looked at the soldiers closing in behind her, then at the Dungeon’s gaping maw before her like a monstrous beast. Without hesitation, she charged inside.
“What now? Boss—oh no, Soldier Captain, this looks like an unknown Dungeon. Should we keep chasing?”
“Nonsense! Of course we chase! The shining gold and titles are calling out to you. Do you want to chase or not?”
The men beneath their armor exchanged glances, their eyes full of greed.
——
Deep inside the dim and endless cave, an eerie silence reigned. The good news was there were no monsters here. The bad news was… there was absolutely nothing!
Chlor now felt a hint of regret. This Dungeon seemed brand new—there wasn’t even a bug or mushroom in sight.
“Light, disperse the darkness.”
Her clear, cool voice recited a spell, and a small orb of white light appeared at her fingertip.
Chlor had successfully reached the very depths of the cave. In fact, she’d gone too far—this Dungeon didn’t even have a maze!
In the empty space, her heavy breathing echoed clearly.
“Damn it, just as I thought, a new Dungeon with no second floor!”
Frustrated, she rapped on the rocky wall in front of her. Her worst suspicions were confirmed—no traps, no mechanisms. It was simply a large cavern.
Judging by its state, this Dungeon had likely formed only days ago.
No wonder she hadn’t sensed any magic inside. Places like this, apart from dampness, were even too desolate for wild beasts to enter.
Behind her, the clinking of armor rang out.
The soldiers holding torches once again formed a semicircle.
“You really are unlucky—or rather, we’re lucky. We planned to clear monsters as we advanced, but who knew, Princess, you chose a dead end all on your own. Be good now; we don’t want to harm our future Queen.”
The lead soldier pulled out a bundle of rope.
Chlor drew a dagger from her waist and glared at him. Though her legs trembled, she still charged.
The experienced soldier easily dodged and grabbed her wrist, then twisted it with force.
The dagger slipped from her hand. Chlor’s arm was bent behind her back and she was pinned to the ground. In that position, struggling was impossible.
“Damn it, let me go!”
The rope coiled tightly around her arms, and for the first time in her life, the Imperial Princess shed tears of unwillingness.
“Boss, in front of you!”
“What front? Almost done here. Don’t disturb me!”
“No, boss! Above your head!”
The man looked up, eyes wide as saucers. He threw the rope aside.
Trying to stand, he instead fell backward onto the ground.
Chlor was kicked in the side, but it was accidental. The man pushed himself up with his hands, wildly kicking his legs, desperately trying to escape something.
Curious, the Princess looked up.
“Hiss…”
She couldn’t help but gasp.
A huge dragon’s head loomed overhead.
The Black Dragon had appeared somehow—about three or four stories tall. For a dragon, this was likely a hatchling.
But even a hatchling wasn’t something a human could provoke.
Its jet-black membranous wings spread wide, scales gleaming with metallic luster. Its blood-red vertical pupils narrowed into slits, coldly glaring at the intruders.
Compared to the unarmed Chlor, it seemed to despise the armed pursuers even more.
The dragon raised its head high, opening its jaws wide, revealing bright red flames inside.
“Run! It’s Dragon Breath!”
Someone shouted. The soldiers abandoned their armor and fled.
The man on the ground struggled to his feet and followed without looking back.
The dragon’s head lowered toward Chlor.
“Hey! They’ve all run off, hey…”
“Fainted?”
Suddenly, the Black Dragon’s shadow vanished without warning, leaving behind a faintly glowing white orb that gradually dimmed.
——
When Su Yao woke up, he found himself transported to another world. It was pitch black around him, and he was completely immobile.
“Where am I?”
Though he could hear his own voice, no one answered.
Strangely, he could clearly sense his surroundings but couldn’t see a thing.
More precisely, he could sense everything within about a kilometer from his location, all the way to the cave’s entrance.
Calming down, he noticed new options appearing in his mind. Judging by their names, he made a ridiculous guess—it was a system.
Makes sense. After all, he had transmigrated; having a system wasn’t that surprising.
Panel.
【Name】: Su Yao
【Race】: Dungeon Core
【Level】: Lv0
【HP】: 1
【Strength】: 0
【Agility】: 0
【Magic】: 0
【Skills】: None
Well, how to put it—he seemed to have transmigrated into a sphere, literally a white orb as shown on his panel.
And he wasn’t even human. His race was… something strange.
But none of that mattered. The most important thing was—what kind of hellish start was this? Not only were all his stats zero, but he also had no skills and couldn’t do anything.
Right now, all he could do was wait for a miracle to fall from the sky. Except he seemed to be stuck inside a cave, so no miracles were coming.
With no other choice, he explored the other options.
Warehouse.
Fortunately, the warehouse wasn’t empty. It contained three item cards—probably starting items.
【Phantom Card】: Upon use, transforms the host into the phantom image of a monster the host imagines; host returns to original form upon cancellation. Phantoms may cause fear, charm, blindness, etc., depending on the monster type.
【Transformation Card】: Upon use, transforms into any creature within the Dungeon. The appearance adjusts according to the host’s level. Can be canceled or layered.
【Binding Card】: Upon use, allows the host to bind with a creature inside the Dungeon, turning it into the Dungeon’s exclusive BOSS. The host can acquire 1–3 skills and some attributes from the BOSS, which increase slightly as the BOSS levels up, capped at 100 points.
The item effects were mediocre at best. Except for the first card, the others were completely unusable.
Why? Because this Dungeon seemed newly born; there were no creatures around!
Not even mushrooms.
And even if there were, he definitely wouldn’t turn into a mushroom!
Well, only one option remained.
Shop.
DP (Develop Points): 0
…
His system really didn’t disappoint him when it came to disappointment.
Most Shop items related to Dungeon development: adding rooms, setting traps, treasure chest rewards, summoning monsters, spawning points…
But right now, he couldn’t afford a single thing.
There were three ways to earn DP. The simplest and most direct was killing invading creatures.
Yes, creatures—humans, slimes, goblins, anything living. This method yielded the most points.
However, as a civilized person from a modern society, Su Yao politely declined to kill.
The second method was to make the Dungeon “prosper.” The more creatures lived inside, the more DP he would receive daily.
The last method was “recharging.” Anything valuable left inside the Dungeon could be converted into DP.
Faintly, he saw hope. His Dungeon would thrive under his leadership, teeming with life and vigor.
But reality was, he didn’t know how long he waited—no stray ant had appeared.