Following the emergence of the dungeons, global conflicts came to a temporary standstill. Every faction was stunned by the sudden, anomalous upheaval and refrained from further military action. Even the most active terrorist organizations followed suit, a testament to the sheer shock of the event.
However, in nations where government control was already fragile due to civil war and ongoing strife, authorities were unable to regulate access to the dungeons that had materialized overnight.
"What is this thing?"
"Who knows? It certainly wasn't here yesterday."
"...Well, should we head in and take a look?"
"Stop it, stop it. Don't go wandering into an unknown place like this without any preparation."
"Fine, then stay here. I’m going to check it out myself."
In front of a dungeon entrance on the side of a low hill, two men stood debating whether to step inside. The younger man insisted on investigating out of curiosity, while the older man argued that it was best not to meddle with things they didn't understand. After their opinions clashed for a while, the youth lost his patience. Leaving the older man with a final word, he hurried into the dungeon.
"H-Hey! Wait! Don't you go in there alone!"
Determined to rein in the reckless youth, the older man set down his pack and rushed after him, stepping into the dungeon.
"It's so dim..."
"I told you to wait! Come on, let's get out of here right now!"
"If you want to leave, then go by yourself. I'm going to explore a bit and then head back."
"Don't be a fool. We're leaving."
"Ugh, you're so annoying..."
"Ah, hey!"
The youth shook off the older man's restraining hand and bolted down the passage leading deeper into the dungeon. The distance between them grew rapidly; by the time the youth rounded the first corner, they were already far apart.
"Damn it! Which way did he go?!...This way?!"
The older man gave chase, but after navigating two or three turns, he lost sight of the youth entirely. Faced with a three-way junction and no idea which path the boy had taken, the man relied on a hunch and took the left corridor.
"Honestly, he's so overprotective... or just too cautious. Still, this place is incredible. Who could have built these stone-paved floors?"
After the older man had disappeared down the left passage, the youth emerged from the right, having been watching from the shadows. After a soft sigh, he began to observe the dungeon with eyes that had adjusted to the low light.
Uniform stone blocks were fitted together without gaps, the paved floor was perfectly level, and lamps were placed at regular intervals. It was blindingly obvious that this corridor was not a natural formation, but something man-made.
"With this level of craftsmanship, it's not just something someone threw together..."
He ran his fingers along the walls and floor, noting that they were strangely free of dust.
Just then, a scream echoed from the corridor the older man had taken.
"Gyaaaaa!"
"Wh-What was that?!"
The youth abandoned his observations and sprinted toward the source of the cry. When he reached the end of the passage, he found the older man slumped in a pool of blood.
"H-Hey! Stay with me!"
"Ugh... uugh..."
"!"
The youth rushed to his side and lifted him up; there was a faint flicker of a response.
However, the man had a gaping hole in his abdomen, and blood was gushing from it relentlessly. With internal organs and major vessels clearly shredded, it was a fatal wound.
"What happened?! Who did this to you?! Hey, talk to me!"
"..."
"What was that?! I can't hear you!"
"Ra... ra..."
"Ra? Ra, what?!"
The youth pressed a cloth against the wound and shouted, desperate to keep the man conscious. He needed information, but more than that, he knew that if the man slipped away now, he would never wake up.
As the youth shouted again, something moved in the corner of his eye.
"Is that... a rabbit? No way, did that thing do this?"
"..."
With his consciousness fading and his vision blurring, the older man caught sight of the rabbit and gave a slight nod. Upon closer look, the horn protruding from the rabbit's forehead was stained with a gruesome amount of blood.
The youth instinctively recoiled, and the rabbit lowered its horn, fixing its gaze on him. It began to accelerate, leaping when it was five meters away in an attempt to impale him.
"Uwaaaa!"
"Squee!"
The youth instinctively swung his heavy shoulder bag, striking the rabbit hard in the face. The mid-air creature couldn't dodge the blow and was sent flying with a dull thud, slamming into the wall. The impact shattered the rabbit's horn, and it remained pinned to the wall, leaking blood that was a different color from the man's.
For a moment, the youth could only stare at the scene in a daze.
"...Ugh."
"...Hah! H-Hey! Pull yourself together!"
"...Wa...ter."
"Water?! Oh, hold on!"
Snapped out of his stupor, the youth heard the man's faint, pained plea. He hurriedly reached into his bag for his canteen, but...
"Damn it, it’s broken! Was it from when I hit that rabbit?!"
The canteen had been crushed, and the water had completely leaked out. He had no way to satisfy the man's request.
"...Wa...ter."
"...I’m sorry....Wait, what’s this?"
Feeling a surge of despair at being unable to grant what was likely a final wish, the youth noticed a strange bottle that had rolled to his hand. He picked it up; it was hard to see in the gloom, but there was liquid inside. Suspicious, he uncapped it and sniffed, but it was odorless.
"...Here, have some water."
"..."
After a heartbeat of hesitation, the youth tilted the mysterious liquid into the older man's mouth. He didn't know what it was, but without any other options, he felt he had to fulfill the man's dying wish. The older man swallowed the liquid with a weak movement of his throat.
And then...
"..."
"Damn it! Damn it all!"
The older man's body went limp. The youth, consumed by guilt for his own arrogance, began to weep, blaming himself for leading the man to his death.
But then...
"...Hmm?"
"Uwaaaa! Aah! You! Y-You're not dead?!"
The man he thought was gone suddenly sat bolt upright. The youth let out a shriek and scrambled backward.
"...Unfortunately, I'm still alive. Though I have no idea how."
"But... but you had a hole in your stomach! You lost so much blood! It was a fatal wound, no matter how you look at it!"
"Yeah, I thought I was a goner too... wait, the hole is gone?"
"Eh?"
The older man pulled up his blood-soaked shirt to check. Though he was still covered in gore, the lethal wound had completely closed.
"...It really is."
"Hey... did you do something to me?"
"Eh? No, not really... oh, wait."
"What? You know something?"
"Ah, yeah. It was probably that."
The youth searched for the bottle he had dropped in his shock. He found it quickly, though most of the contents had spilled onto the floor. Barely a teaspoon of liquid remained at the bottom.
"...This?"
"Yeah. You woke up the second you drank that, so I think it must have healed you."
"..."
The older man took the bottle and stared at the remaining dregs.
"I don't know what it is, but..."
"...Well, forget it. More importantly, let's get out of here. We don't know when another one of those things will show up."
"Ah, right."
The man grimaced at the feeling of his blood-drenched clothes, but prioritizing their escape, he began to run back toward the entrance with the youth. Following behind, the youth tilted his head in bewilderment, wondering how the man could be running so vigorously.
And finally...
"We're finally out."
"I’m just glad we made it back safely."
After several minutes of sprinting, they exited the dungeon without encountering another monster. As they caught their breath, the youth reflected on the day's events.
A mysterious structure that appeared out of nowhere, a horned rabbit that attacked with lethal intent, a strange liquid that healed a fatal wound in an instant... it was a sequence of events that defied all logic.
As the youth realized the gravity of what he had caused, a chill ran down his spine. Overcome with guilt for his reckless actions, he bowed deeply to the blood-stained older man.
"I am so incredibly sorry! I put you in such danger because I was being selfish!"
The older man looked down at his bloodied clothes and then at the bowing youth. He let out a long sigh.
"...Well, we both made it out in one piece, so I'll forgive you. But from now on, listen when someone gives you a warning, alright?"
"Yes! I'm so sorry!"
"Well, I feel disgusting in these clothes... shall we go home?"
"Yes!"
Accepting the apology, the older man gathered his things and began the trek home with the youth.
Once back, they had to explain the blood to their terrified families. When they learned more about the dungeons from the news, they realized exactly how close they had come to death. The older man broke out in a cold sweat, finally grasping the miraculous luck that had brought them back.
However, this was a rare case of good fortune. Most people who ventured into the dungeons as they had were killed or maimed by monster attacks and traps.
As the news spread that treasure could be found within the dungeons, small-scale skirmishes broke out between government forces and armed factions. Dungeons were scattered everywhere, regardless of borders or territories, and every group began moving to secure them as a source of funding. Fortunately, since most dungeons were in remote mountains or wilderness, civilian casualties remained low.
But several months later, a single announcement changed everything.
In the office of the President of a certain country, the man behind the desk was currently grappling with the upheaval of the global order.
"...You're telling me Western support has begun to stall?"
"Yes, sir," the Secretary replied.
"That's madness! Those people only supported us because they wanted our oil! If they withhold aid now, the stability of the oil-producing regions we control will collapse! What could they possibly be thinking?!"
"...It is likely related to the announcement recently made by Japan."
"...Core Crystal power generation."
At the Secretary's remark, the President's expression soured.
"Yes. That announcement has fundamentally shaken the value of oil as an energy resource..."
"Tch! To think they could get something like that from a dungeon...!"
The President slammed his fist onto the desk in frustration.
"When compared to oil, Core Crystals are an overwhelmingly superior energy resource."
"...If the Japanese reports are accurate, they even outperform nuclear power."
"Precisely. Furthermore, there is a vast difference in accessibility between oil, which is concentrated in specific regions, and Core Crystals, which can be harvested from dungeons across the globe."
If energy could be secured anywhere, it was easy to see why nations that had relied on imports were pivoting toward Core Crystal power generation. Even from the perspective of environmentalism, Core Crystal power generation—which was touted as completely pollution-free—was set to become the premier energy source of the next generation, making fossil fuels a relic of the past.
"And so they've started cutting our aid!"
"While oil will remain important as a raw material for plastics and fibers, its value as a fuel is plummeting. We will never see the massive demand of previous decades again."
In fact, nearly 70% of crude oil usage was dedicated to fuel for power generation and transportation.
"Under these circumstances, it is only logical for the West to cut ties with a region as troubled as ours. They can simply import what little they still need from stable regions."
"Troubled circumstances... those are the seeds they themselves planted because they were so desperate for oil! And now they intend to just abandon us?!"
"Considering the history of Iraq and Iran, it is certainly not outside the realm of possibility."
"...Damn it! Damn it! Damn it all!"
Knowing the Secretary was right, the President slammed his fist against the desk again and again.
As the value of oil crumbled and Western nations began to withdraw from the Middle Eastern quagmire, the various factions that had been held in check by foreign influence began to stir. These groups started selling dungeon drops through black-market channels, using the proceeds to buy weapons and expand their influence. For a government whose control was withering alongside its foreign aid, stopping these movements became an impossible task, and the region began to sink further into chaos.
Finally, roughly a year after the dungeons appeared, the fragile peace maintained by the balance of power collapsed entirely. Ignited by an invasion that ignored all ceasefire treaties, the curtain rose on a new era of war in the Middle East.