As Zero opened his eyes, he found himself in a strange corridor lined with torches that looked as if they were protruding from the walls.

Almost as if the structure was not something a human could create.

"What the hell? Where am I?" He muttered to himself as he staggered up and dusted off his clothes.

Ding!

[You are currently in an unnamed Tier 1 dungeon, commonly formed when mana irregularities appear.]

"Mana irregularities? Wait, who the hell are you?" Zero questioned as he spun around trying to locate the unknown entity with a robotic voice.

[I am currently residing inside of your soul. You do not have to worry, only you can hear me.]

"Yeah, I don't think that's what I'm supposed to be worried about right now. Who the hell are you and where am I?"

[I am The System, host. You are currently in the world of Aurim within a first-tier dungeon.]

"I-I, what?" Zero stuttered. "This is the kind of stuff that only happens in those fictions I read, right? I must be dreaming, there's no way this is possible."

[Rest assured, you are not currently in a state of unconsciousness. I can, however, trigger the nerves responsible for registering pain in your body to prove that this is reality.]

"What? No, wait. Don't do that."

[Very well. However, it would be best if you tried to escape the dungeon as quickly as possible. It is unsafe. Please proceed with caution.]

"Huh? What do you mean?" Zero called out. "Hey, are you there?"

Zero frowned as the self-proclaimed system didn't respond.

Seriously, what the hell is going on right now? The first thing I need to do is find other people who know what's going on. I can't just stand here forever and starve to death. I need to get going as soon as possible. But...

Zero looked around him. Both directions of the corridor he was trapped in seemed to stretch on endlessly with no exit.

...where the hell am I supposed to go?!?

Zero sighed and started walking down the corridor that seemed to stretch on infinitely.

As Zero slowly walked down the corridor, he tried to spot any sign of where he was.

That system said I was in some sort of dungeon, right? Isn't this bad? I have no way to defend myself, assuming what it said was true.

As Zero kept walking he eventually arrived at a wall at the end of the corridor.

Hm? What's this?

Zero carefully inspected the wall and found that there was an almost unnoticeable slit right down the middle. Zero looked around and saw that there was a podium off to the corner with a glowing portion on the top.

Zero walked over to the podium and hesitated before placing his hand on the smooth surface of the top of the podium.

WHOOM!

The two walls slid apart surprisingly easily, revealing a portal-like rift floating about a few inches off the ground.

I have no other choice, do I?

Zero sighed and walked through the rift. He felt a feeling of weightlessness as well as a feeling of disorientation. After a few seconds, he landed back on his feet.

Ding!

[Congratulations, host. You have entered a Room. Be wary, or you will lose your life.]

As Zero took in the sight around him, he saw corpses lying around everywhere as well as an overpowering stench of blood in a wide-open area enclosed by a rocky valley.

Zero frowned.

Some of those bodies almost look... inhumane?

He walked over to one of the bodies and flipped it over with the tip of his shoe. With a bulbous nose, skinny eyes, as well as a mouth full of yellow and rotting teeth, it was a goblin.

Zero couldn't see the dark green skin earlier because of all the blood covering the monster, but he could see it now.

I'm not on Earth anymore, if I couldn't tell from the portal from earlier.

Zero sighed before a yell interrupted his thoughts.

"(I-I did it! I'm not dead! Hahaha! I can't believe it!)"

Zero looked over and saw a person in around his teens adorned in rusty armor laughing with an insane look in his eyes. However, what the person didn't notice was a goblin crawling out from under one of the piles of corpses on the ground.

"There's one behind you!" Zero yelled.

The person looked towards Zero and asked, "(Huh? Who are yo-)," before a shortsword went through his stomach.

The goblin behind him cackled in glee before it pulled the weapon back out. The person looked down towards the gaping wound in his stomach in disbelief before collapsing over onto the ground.

Zero spotted another shortsword in the hands of the dead goblin standing next to him. He bent over and pried it out of its dirty hands.

It was just in time too, as the still madly grinning goblin had noticed Zero at that point. It let out an incomprehensible scream and charged toward Zero with the shortsword held high.

Zero felt his heart beat faster and his muscles tense. Zero shivered, not from fear, but from the adrenaline that filled his body.

He took in a deep breath as he intently stared at the goblin rushing towards him, saliva flying from its mouth. Zero raised the sword in front of him as he readied himself for the goblin's attack. As it swung the shortsword towards Zero's face.

Zero tried to block the attack by raising his shortsword causing the goblin's shortsword to smash into his own, almost making Zero lose his balance.

This is way harder than I thought.

Zero could already feel sweat beading on his forehead as he readied himself for the goblin's next attack.

The goblin grunted as it swung its shortsword toward Zero again. However, this time Zero was prepared.

Zero's blade met the goblin's and using his superior strength, pushed the goblin's shortsword toward the side causing the goblin to lose its balance and stumble.

Zero leaped toward the opening and kicked the goblin with all his might, causing the goblin to stumble backward with the sword still in its hand.

Zero pushed forward and was prepared to end its life, but hesitated.

It's not human, but... Zero grit his teeth.

But in that brief moment that Zero hesitated, the goblin had already recovered from the blow, lunging at Zero from the ground, its blade glowing a faint blue.

Zero did not have enough time to block, so he dodged to the side. The blade narrowly missed him, but still cut the side of his body. Zero hissed in pain as he quickly backed up from the goblin.

[Skill Acquired: Piercing Thrust]

But Zero did not have time to think over what the system had just said, as the goblin had raised its blade again, cackling in glee. The blade hummed and emitted a faint blue light once more, as the goblin thrust its blade toward Zero.

Shit.

Zero quickly backed up but didn't realize that there was a dead body behind him.

He tripped over the body and fell to the ground as the goblin's sword pierced the place where he was just moments before. The goblin then rushed toward where Zero was and swung the shortsword in a downward arc.

Zero quickly raised his shortsword to try to block the attack. The goblin's blade slammed into Zero's, causing Zero to lose grip on his weapon. Zero's shortsword clattered to the side, causing the goblin to grin in excitement, thinking it had finally captured its prey. Zero inched back, still facing the goblin.

The goblin slowly walked towards Zero, expecting to see fear in Zero's eyes, but actually, Zero was quite distracted.

[...and that is how you activate a skill.]

Shit, are you sure this will work?

The system didn't reply.

Zero lunged for the blade that he had dropped on the ground earlier, grabbed it, and pounced toward the goblin. The goblin, visually flustered, raised its blade as it started emitting a faint blue light once again. However, this time Zero was ready.

[Skill Activated: Piercing Thrust]

The goblin did not have time to react before the shortsword entered through its face, and out through the back of its skull. The weapon slipped from its hand and Zero released his hold on his blade, causing the goblin's body to collapse to the ground along with Zero's shortsword.

Zero collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, his legs trembling without realizing it.

Holy fucking shit, Zero thought as he sighed with relief.