Chapter 26: Dungeons—a 'slightly' overused tropeExcerpt from "Dungeons—What are they really?" by Eresrahcre

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  Dungeons have incredible treasures. It is said that you could even get treasures that would allow an ordinary person to compete with a full-grown dragon from the deepest dungeons. Some people even believe that the holy artefacts of the churches, the one thing that allows them to hold so much power, were retrieved from a dungeon, and not bestowed by the goddesses.

  Since dungeons contain such incredible treasures, many have sought to learn how these treasures are generated. However, none succeeded. Some hid in the dungeon, waiting for such items to be generated, yet, as if the dungeon itself had a will, the treasures were simply generated in other pces on the floor. When someone built a surveilnce system to monitor the entire floor, pcing people there to continuously keep watch, new rooms appeared suddenly when someone looked away for just a second.

  Interestingly, some people attempted to use this to force the dungeon to expand. But somehow, the space was still reduced somewhere after the dungeon reached a certain point. Even when somebody filled the whole pce with humans, they would be quietly teleported away when nobody was looking. When found and asked how getting teleported by the dungeon felt, they would say that they didn't even notice it until much ter, when they turned around from the wall they had been facing at the time. A closer inspection revealed that the teleportation happened along with the wall.

  This interesting trait of never letting the inhabitants experience any magic directly seems to be a trait shared by all dungeons.

  [...]

  Dungeons are capable of creating monsters as well. Many have debated whether these monsters are alive or just puppets controlled by the dungeon, yet no conclusion has been reached. Their complete ck of sentience and their simir movement patterns hint that the monsters are puppets following some kind of prearranged protocols. And yet their anatomy is the perfect reflection of monsters from outside the dungeon. From this, some people specute that the monsters outside also come from the dungeon and escaped its control. However, no other reted evidence has been found to support that theory.

  As with the treasures, nobody has ever witnessed the creation of a monster. Therefore, none of these theories can be confirmed or denied for sure.

  [...]

  Because dungeons are very rare, the chance of two appearing within the same pce is already minimal. Therefore, it is no surprise that the appearance of three dungeons within a distance of one hundred meters prompted the creation of the now-greatest dungeon city, Zurk.

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  3rd Person Pov

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  Ardevreunt wakes up at 8 AM and gets ready for the day, as always. He is a B-Rank adventurer who relocated to Zurk after feeling a bottleneck in his growth. In other words, he sought some kind of stimution to reach the next level of strength, which would be Aura. However, even after 2 years of living in Zurk, he didn't get much closer to that illusory level.

  Soon, he has finished getting ready and steps out of the house, making his way toward the adventurers' guild. Although theoretically, he could enter the dungeon directly, he has made it a habit to always check the tasks at the guild. The prices of different materials fluctuate every day, so from this, he can decide which of the three dungeons to go to.

  As he is about to enter the guild, he notices two unusual figures in the distance. One of them is a full-grown dy with red hair and a valiant aura. She practically screams: "I'm formidable!" The other is even more peculiar. She is a small girl wearing a white blindfold wrapped around her eyes, and yet isn't led by the woman. Somehow, completely on her own, she can avoid every obstacle even without sight.

  The pair gives Ardevreunt a feeling of Déjà vu, as if he had only recently heard news about such a pair. Shaking his head, he dispels the useless thoughts. He steps into the guild before looking at the board for several minutes. By now, he has already developed a unique way of calcuting the current value of a dungeon. For every monster that can be found in the dungeon, he has a certain factor by which he multiplies the current price. Then he adds them together, estimating the approximate profits he'll be able to get in each dungeon for the day.

  Suddenly, he hears a child's voice beside him. "So many different requests! Are there really so many different types of monsters in the dungeons?"

  "Yes. You must remember that each floor has a different type of monster. If we conservatively calcute fifty floors per dungeon, that will make one hundred fifty different types of monsters." Without much thought, Ardevreunt answers the child's question. It is one of the things he loves to do: guiding newbies. He'll never admit that he does this not only out of the goodness of his heart but also to feel superior.

  "There are really no overps?" the child asks sceptically, "Or are variants considered different types in this context?"

  "Well, there are some overps between different dungeons, but there has never been a dungeon where two different floors house the exact same type of monster."

  "Do you know why?" the child asks curiously.

  "Dungeons are mysterious, kid. We don't even know how the monsters are created, let alone why."

  "I see. Also, why do you still have your head turned away? Are there problems with your neck? I know a bit of healing magic. I should be able to help."

  Hearing the child's 'considerate' words, Ardevreunt abruptly turns his head towards it. Seeing the same child with the blindfold, he is slightly shocked before composing himself, guessing that the child can see through magic.

  "Oh, I guess you're fine," the child mutters before going to Rtescienpoti, the receptionist of the guild.

  "Excuse me, I would like to register," the child says.

  "Sure. Fifteen Mon please."

  "Here," the child pulls some bronze coins out of its pocket.

  "So what adventurer name do you want to have?"

  The blindfolded child smiles and says, "Lunar Rabbit."

  In an instant, the guild is silent. Yet, the silence doesn't st long.

  "Is it that Lunar Rabbit?!"

  "Blindfold and childlike stature. The description fits."

  "Say, who is this Lunar Rabbit?" Suddenly, an innocent voice asks. Then, all eyes turn there and look at the person who just spoke with disbelief, as if surprised there would still be somebody so uninformed among the adventurers.

  Suddenly feeling everyone's gazes, the adventurer, Ptlo Deecvi, pulls his head down before saying, "It was just a question!"

  HidingInTheNovels