While the Integrated Humans dispersed in many directions to complete their Daily Quests, Kohl was focused on the most important project yet, Void Converters, the object he imagined many days ago that would convert the void into Mana, and with luck, he'd finally create his very first.

He had no idea how much creating such a device would cost, so he wiped out most of his work on the city surrounding the ARK and its biomes.

With his memory, he could still remember whatever he took down so that he could rebuild it later on, but he still felt a little distraught at having to tear down his creations to recycle the mana he used.

And so, he began to draw all of the mana he could, pouring it out of his body in a visible blue stream to an open space in the sky near his core.

The streams of mana flowed to a small area next to him, slowly condensing into a ball.

The blue ball started to solidify, becoming something reminiscent of rubber.

Satisfied, Kohl began, using the mana he had left to start carving runes, symbols, and more into the surface of the orb, creating a sort of chain of enchantments that should work together.

There were many types, and some were designed to do the same things yet were from a different path of enchanting.

Kohl did this so that in case any of the Enchantments failed, there would be backups that would activate in emergency scenarios and prevent the entire generator from being destroyed or causing some form of explosion.

The runes, symbols, and images let out a golden glow as he pumped them full of Mana and activated them. 

However, it did not work, as it was missing the source from which it would draw.

Taking a deep 'breath' or whatever equivalent a Dungeon Core could do, Kohl began to manipulate his dimension, probably far past what was intended, as he tore an infinitesimal hole at the very center of the Void-Mana Converter.

If the tear was open outside of the Void-Mana Converter, Kohl was afraid that a great many things in his Dungeon would have been sucked into the void, killing and destroying everything he had built so far.

Luckily, it was contained within the Void-Mana Converter.

Suddenly, the blue orb covered in Golden etchings turned black and, to Kohl's immersion satisfaction, actively began to convert the Void's energy into usable mana.

However, there was a problem. The conversion rate was atrocious, and it didn't seem exactly stable.

The Void-Mana converter was clearly struggling with converting the Void energies to Mana, and Kohl feared that the enchantments and the device itself would need breaks so as not to self-destruct or have the first set of Enchantments break down.

Calculating, Kohl found that the Generator would cost 500 Mana to create and would require 25 Units of Mana a day to maintain, not including recreating any of the Enchantments if they were to be destroyed, while it produced 30 Units of Mana a day.

This meant it would produce an excess of 5 mana a day while the rest could be used to maintain itself, though he'd have to make a few more enchantments if he wanted it to be self-sufficient.

Hopefully, he can improve the enchantments and the conversion rate with time, but it would be a long-term investment for now.

Though now that he had that thought in mind, he wondered, what would happen if he created one that was, let's say, as big as a building? Or the sun?

He'd be drowning in Mana.

Now, he needed to create more and more of the Void-Mana Converters until it shouldn't cost him a dime to create one.

With enough of the Converters, he should be able to build and create whatever he wants; it would just take time.

...

So, as time passed, the Settlement under the ARK grew.

Walls of furniture surrounded the settlement and the portal. Guards with makeshift swords and crossbows above these walls, watching over the portal and the wall surrounding the outside of the town.

Buildings were fashioned from furniture, and people went about their days.

Everyone was now integrated with the System, as the benefits outweighed the suspicions some had about the system.

Every day a group would leave through the Portal, journeying through the Infinite IKEA to gather food, water, and furniture, which was brought back to the settlement, supplying the settlement with everything it needed.

The one thing they did have trouble getting was Medicine, as it was a rarity in the IKEA, with few groups even having sources of medicine.

Unfortunately, by creating a new settlement and abandoning their old one, they had lost contact with many of the settlements they knew of, though efforts were being made to reestablish contact with them so as to reestablish trade and show them the way out of the hell they were trapped in.

Any new arrivals that were found roaming around the IKEA, lost and unaware of the dangers, were led back to the Settlement and informed of the situation they found themselves in.

It happened quite frequently enough that eight new humans of varying ages were added to the settlement, the youngest being 15 and the oldest 72.

The Council was planning to expand what they'd need, and now they were even working on making a list of 'rules' and 'laws' that must be followed to keep the peace.

Sure, none of the humans were overly aggressive or caused many problems, but in any society, there are grudges, fights, arguments, and more.

So, a group of 'Guards' was made, led by a man with a combat class.

The Guards were responsible for guarding the walls and keeping the peace, though their main purpose was to keep the Settlement safe.

There was also a group of 'Explorers' made to scout the edges of the four Biomes that surrounded the planes and ARK, where the Settlement was founded.

Of course, it was noticed that the biomes were significantly safer than the first Scouting Party encountered.

So, from the Scouting parties, fresh meat, bones, and other animal parts were frequently gathered as the Scouting parties adventure deeper and deeper into the Biomes every day and returned with the carcasses of whatever they hunted.

Also, the four gate stations around the ARK were manned by guards, and the energy fences were activated, making those four gate stations the only viable way to get to the settlement other than through the portal.

This was done to alert the Settlement of any attacks and retaliation from the creatures that dwelled in the Biomes while also being a vanguard for any potential outside human contact that is made.

Hope was in the air, and happiness was plentiful while discontent and anger were at an all-time low, as the many who found themselves trapped within the Infinite IKEA for years were more than happy to see a sky, taste the dirt and wood in the air, and feel 'natural' light on their faces.

Little did they know, small black spheres were slowly appearing in the sky above their home, and eyes watched their every move with intrigue and happiness at the story that was unfolding before their eyes.