Surviving in my Own Unpublished Failed Novel-Chapter 3 Hidden Dungeon
— Yellow Sun Station, Northernmost Olympia
After at least an hour of sitting on the Red Star Air Train's comfortable seat that makes a person feel at home, Russell arrived from the Starlight Station of the Northern Olympia to the Yellow Sun Station of the Northernmost Olympia.
Exiting the Air Train he had ridden, he looked around and saw the mountainous environment, not from afar. He was reminded of a certain, peaceful country in his previous life that he only saw through pictures on the internet.
The only difference was the atmosphere this region gave off, although it's rural, it possessed quite a futuristic-like vibes, but the mountain range seen from afar remains the same as nature should be — untouched or left by the human hands of ruin.
His eyes darted around for some time, and after admiring the grandeur of the scenery of this region, he didn't waste any more time as he started walking for his journey.
As of this moment, although the afternoon Sun in the sky illuminated the surroundings as though there's nothing that can be hidden, the cold winds of the region still permeate one's skin.
Russell opened the System's Map as a holographic screen came into his view.
...
[Map: Armageddon Mountain]
– A mountain range in the Northernmost Olympia, rich in pure Mana.
– Area: 787 kilometers across.
...
"This is a very stretched-out mountain range..."
He mumbled as he reached the foot of the mountain.
He's nowhere near the rural region of the Northernmost Olympia at this very moment, and after pondering for some time, recalling the direction where he could find 'that' thing, he moved forward through the northwest of Armageddon Mountain while navigating the map with the System's help.
After walking from an unknown period of time, the darkness of night enveloped the afternoon as the world rotated, hiding the Sun in this particular region as it appeared in others while the bluish moon in the sky revealed itself along with the starry sky.
Russell took out a disc-shaped metal from his Dimensional Inventory and press something like a button that was attached to its middle, he then threw it into the ground made of rich soil.
After a few seconds, the disc-shaped metal transformed into a single-person tent, befitting his marital status.
He recalled the System information of the Portable Tent, which has two illuminating magic circles of different structures engraved on two different sides, as he lay down comfortably while both his hands were on the back of his head, looking at the grandeur starry sky.
...
[Portable Magic Tent]
– A magic tent that provides a little bit of comfort for an aspiring adventurer.
Rank: F
Classification: General Goods
Enchantment:
– Lowest Light Magic
Effect:
Provides a bit of light just necessary for the night during an adventure.
– Lowest Heat Magic
Effect:
Provides a heat that was suitable enough to regulate one's body temperature.
Intrinsic Effect:
– Portability
Makes the tent portable for the adventurer's convenience.
– Transparent Eye
Makes the person inside the tent sees the outside as though the tent was transparent from the inside.
...
Intrinsic Effect could be achieved for two reasons: What kind of ingredients were used to make something or how that something was made? While Enchantment was either provided by a certain profession, Enchanter, or a product of Magic Engineering.
...
After some time, Russell sat on the ground, while he was still inside the Portable Tent, and took out the necessities he bought earlier; an opaque, blue, small bottle that contained an engraved small magic circle on its bottom, but it was not illuminating; and beef jerky which looked like normal food, but if one has a Mana sensitivity-related skill, it would emit a miniscule amount of Mana through that person's eyes.
He then inspected it.
...
[Dimensional Water Bottle]
– A product of magic engineering that provides convenience for one's adventure.
Rank: F
Classification: General Goods
Enchantment:
– Lowest Dimensional Storage Magic
Effects:
This makes the size of the bottle irrelevant as it could store up to 30L of water.
Intrinsic Effect: None
...
[Beef Jerky]
– Made for a quick way to satisfy one's hunger.
Rank: F-
Classification: General Goods
Enchantment: None
Effects: None
Intrinsic Effect:
– Lowest Mana
It restores a bit of Mana Points upon consumption as this was cooked or processed by something related to Mana.
...
Russell ate some beef jerky, and gulped a mouthful of water, setting the indicator of the Dimensional Water Bottle's volume to 15L.
"What a world…"
He muttered as he fell into a dazed with the night sky that seems to pierce his soul with its beauty, and unconsciously made him fall asleep after resting.
...
Brrring-! Brrring-!
The sound of the alarm clock through his smartwatch invaded Russell's ears for a few minutes before it managed to wake him up from his shut-eye.
He stood up, stretched out his arms as a yawn escaped from his mouth, then he exercised before he ate his breakfast, the beef jerky.
"It's almost 8 hours..."
He muttered as he checked the time when he woke up, and compared it to the time he fell asleep. After he finished the morning routine, he cleaned up the place, organized his tent, and began to stride for his destination.
"If I'm not wrong, it should be a few kilometers from here..."
Russell muttered, continuing his stride in the northwest of Armageddon Mountain while occasionally staring at the System's Map.
|| The inconspicuous small trees that seem to be leaning against each other provide a mysterious view for the person who notices it. The trees formed an arc...||
It was the lines from his unpublished novel which referred to the entrance of the Hidden Dungeon where he's going at this moment.
Originally, the Hidden Dungeon was to come across by certain Obelisk students during exploration, but wouldn't be able to discover it. That's why Russell, the aspiring author of an unpublished novel, considered this as one of the "Untouched Elements".
The more he delved into reality, the more he felt like he was being slapped by the failed writing he did.
"Should I be grateful that I got run over by a supercar and not manage to publish it?"
Russell muttered along with a chuckle that turned into a smile as he recognized what he was looking for after an unknown period of walking had passed as the time reached twenty-eight to nine – 28 minutes before 9 A.M.
...
The System's Map couldn't provide the accurate location of a Hidden Dungeon as it would cause imbalance among players, finding themselves in a race to find one.
Although that's the case, Russell was pretty certain that he reached the right place. He looked at the normal-looking, at least 15 meters small trees with a trunk width of a meter from the distance.
If one looked closely, it would appear normal, but they were bent, facing each other, as though they were pulled together by a distorted gravitational force.
A person could accidentally walk through it, but the tricky part that Russell provided in his unpublished novel was that it couldn't be accessed accidentally, which means that a person must either be aware of the Hidden Dungeon's existence beforehand or noticed the peculiarity of the trees.
"...Let's check everything first."
He muttered as he did a quick check of his Dimensional Inventory items, and though it's a very far away location from the Northernmost region of Olympia, he still looked around to see if there were any stray people in the area, and he felt relieved when nothing checks out. Then, after taking two deep breaths, he walked through the space between the arching inconspicuous small trees.
...
[You have discovered a Hidden Dungeon.]
[The dungeon "Oldest Root of Yggdrasil" has been discovered.]
The System messages appeared in front of Russell's eyes after he stepped into the entrance and was warped in an unknown place.
Based on the dungeon's name, it literally referred to the root of the World Tree, Yggdrasil of the Norse mythology, and with its age identifier, "Oldest", it only meant that this Hidden Dungeon existed prior to the creation of everything else in the world.
Russell walked through the 7-meter hallway of the dungeon before he appeared in a 20-meter-in-diameter circular hall made of roots that were thicker than a gigantic tree branch, where a stone table altar was situated in the middle with nothing on it. The ceiling was also made of roots where strangely, a bit of moonlight, not sunlight passed through, providing him quite a vision.
It's nothing like a dungeon where monsters exist as silence seemed to ironically echo in his ears, but he didn't let his guard down as he took out the Crude Shortsword (Normal) he bought in the Player General Store.
He didn't take out his weapon because he knew that there would be monsters or caretakers in this Hidden Dungeon, rather, he took it out because he wasn't sure if there would be one. At this very moment, Russell has no knowledge of whatever's inside of this place aside from 'that' thing that he needed to acquire. After a minute or two of observing everything, he began his search.
...
Ding-!
A notification sounded in Russell's ears just a minute after he began his search, prompting him to stop scurrying around and quickly glance at the System message.
[The Constellation, 'Night of Primordial Chaos', observes your very being.]
The unexpected System message caused his body to tremble in fear, his weapon left his left hand as a clang reverberated in the dungeon.
It's an instinctive reaction the moment the System message was cognitively registered.
'C-calm down... c-calm d-down...'
He repeatedly told himself, but he felt like he was going to faint at this moment.
Russell knew exactly the identity of the Constellation that was observing him, he then tried to compose himself, forgetting the weapon on the ground, he quickly search for the 'thing' that he was aiming for with his trembling hands and knees.
He needed 'that' thing to provide him with great help to become stronger, to survive the future that he knew... If that future wouldn't divert from the original story of his unpublished novel. If some things, by any chance, diverted from what he knew, it would either be for good or mostly for worst.
...
'F*ck... F*ck! Where is it?!'
[The Constellation, 'Night of Primordial Chaos' asks about your identity.]
"Russell Moon."
In a hurry and panic state, he replied without thinking after he skimmed through the System message.
[The Constellation, 'Night of Primordial Chaos', constricted "Her" cosmic eyes, while feeling shocked by your behavior.]
[The Constellation, 'Night of Primordial Chaos', asks why and how you are here.]
"What...?"
As though a bucket of cold water from the Southernmost Orion was poured into his whole body, he realized what he just did, a certain kind of pressure was added to him.
'It's do or die...'
Russell inwardly said, mustering up the courage as he felt that he could converse with the Constellation that was observing him right now.
"...I-I apologize for my impertinent behavior. A-and I came looking for a seed..."
He didn't say how he got here as it would sound mental if he said that he came here because of a novel. 𝑓𝐫𝑒e𝒘𝚎𝘣𝚗𝘰𝘷𝐞𝑙.co𝑚
[The Constellation, 'Night of Primordial Chaos', looks at you suspiciously.]
After reading the System message, he suddenly prostrated down, feeling goosebumps all over his body, and his heart thumps faster as though he has overdosed with caffeine.
'...A-ah, sh*t, sh*t! I-I'm going to die.'
Russell's thoughts were already clouded by death. He never anticipated or accounted for the presence of the Constellation as he didn't elaborate or had written thorough details about the Hidden Dungeon.
If he dies at this moment, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry or if he should blame how failed he was in writing his unpublished novel.
'...F*ck Untouched Elements!'
He screamed in his mind, waiting for his life to be ceased or erased from existence, but at that moment, a few notifications sounded, prompting him to skim through them.
[The Constellation, 'Night of Primordial Chaos', laughs at your sudden action.]
[The Constellation, 'Night of Primordial Chaos', knows what you are looking for.]
[The Constellation 'Night of Primordial Chaos' wants to make a contract with you.]
...
"S-spare me, p-please! I-I won't disturb yo–,...
"W-wh-what? A c-contract!?"
'T-think! Think! Think!'
Russell slapped his cheeks with his both hands, seemingly to forget for a second his thoughts of death just a few seconds earlier.
From prostrating himself to sitting down on the ground made of very sturdy roots, he rubbed his deep blue eyes repeatedly to check if he was dreaming, to the point that they would pop out as he profoundly stared at the System messages.
'What the hell?'
That's all he could say in his mind after confirming that he was not dreaming, that he really left the Obelisk Academy, went to three different Air Train Stations, saw an Untouched Element in the Player General Store, bought items from there, and strode for a few kilometers to reach this place.
[The Constellation, 'Night of Primordial Chaos', is patiently waiting for your answer.]
"A-ah, w-what's the condition?"
After some time of disordered thoughts, he tried his best to calm himself down from the extremely unexpected, and sudden situation he was thrown into.
He asked for the condition because making a contract with a Constellation could not and must not be done impulsively.
This was where the Obelisk Academy, along with any other academies for players exists. It serves as a learning and training ground for candidates or future champions of Constellations, which means that NOT everyone could have a contracted Constellation because of the sole reason that the moment the champion dies, it would deal a massive blow to the Constellation's divine or evil power that could threaten 'His' or 'Her' existence.
With his pathetic and weak self, along with his rank, it's very suspicious why the Night of Primordial Chaos wanted to make a contract with him.
- Ding-!
Numerous sounds of notifications entered his ears, sending his thoughts back to the reality of the situation.
[The Constellation, 'Night of Primordial Chaos', is materializing.]
[You have gained the Title: The One Who Witness the Impossible.]
[You have gained the Title: The One Who Saw the Night up Close]
[The Constellation, 'Night of Primordial Chaos', has used a cosmic skill you are not qualified to know.]
[Your body will feel relaxed, and you will not die in 'Her' presence.]
Russell's deep blue eyes widened in shock at the extremely unexpected notifications he ever received since he was reincarnated into this world.
