<2: 01 pm>
Others have left already, and the rain of snakes and salt might be over, but…
The ground shakes and the trees rumble violently. It feels as if the Earth’s own gravity field is going berserk, as pressure emanates from all directions and the world itself seems to shake.
This is merely an omen. Let me see what they have been cooking up here as I watch from high up in the clouds. I could simply stay up here and observe everything that is happening on this continent. It is very easy to tell what is going to be changed…
———Orrel———
<2: 06 pm>
D-Did it stop already? I honestly thought at least a few things would end up damaged. That was a very quick earthquake. It felt more like some sort of premonition or warning rather than a true natural disaster.
*Slurp*
Seni tried to quietly eat her noodles, but the fact that no one else makes any sound means that is pretty much the only thing we can hear right now.
*Buzz*
Suddenly the TV screens on the walls and ceiling start to light up. Those barely ever turned on. It’s mainly used for special announcements and such.
A video is shown on the broadcast. It seems to be in… an icey, snowy area. Hmm… The sky looks a bit odd. It’s hard to tell the time… Is this from either the North or South Pole? That silver structure is…
“The strange set of structures in Antarctica? Why are they showing it off now?” I couldn't help but ask. Why are they showing us this, of all things?
“How did they even get the footage for it? Is this live?” Jeff asked, understandably confused as to the reasoning for it all. Whoever manages this pce definitely knows what is actually going on.
The structure, or to be more accurate, this evil-looking metropolis, is growing. I don’t really know how it works, but the structures are expanding, there are more buildings popping out of the ground, it is taking up more space in Antarctica. Are these more signs of things to come?
“Can’t say I know why they showed us this.” Malk muttered. Indeed, it is rather odd.
“I do think a giant unknown location growing and contorting in such an incomprehensible way does at least give off a message.” Gregori chimed in. His expression is rather grim. “More unknowns are bound to exist and grow, becoming harder to ignore. I doubt this is the only thing this broadcast will show us.”
As if predicting what would come next, the scene switches to a wilderness with the exact location written down on the bottom of the screen. Suddenly the ground seemed to shake and suddenly the ground raised, forming into mountains.
“W-What? That’s gotta be edited or sped up, right?” Jeyst is in complete disbelief looking at the scene.
“No. It’s not.” I said, knowing full well they’re not going to feed us falsehood. I know that the ones running the show here in this school have a lot of knowledge and what to expect. They seem to be sending out drones to capture these footage so we can all see what is happening to the world in real time.
Aside from the ndscape changing, things like the fauna and rivers are also changing. What in the world is happening to these pces? They are switching to different locations every few seconds, and they are all changing in a bizarre way. These aren’t dungeons, they are here in the world with no way to ignore it.
The colors of the fauna are much more vibrant, almost alien in their design.
Some parts of the desert are filled with weirdly colored sand, some parts of it turned green and show more signs of life…
What is unmistakable is the creatures that started to pop up in these… ‘mutated’ areas.
“Monsters…” I muttered out loud. Those unnatural features and the ferocity in their eyes are plenty evident.
It wasn't as if there weren’t any monsters roaming around already, but those that exist outside of the dungeon usually don’t attack unless provoked. There are exceptions, but they are pretty rare and they don’t chase someone into a building.
“There… aren’t any near us, right?” Seni asked, probably already spotting the ck of areas near our town, but just wanted to ask for assurance.
“Yeah. We’re fine.” Gregori is the one to answer her. “Looks like a lot of pces have to up their security. They better have a bunch of warriors in stock, or a lot of guns and bullets. Surely they have at least one of those.”
“Wasn’t a lot of the military power lost due to the government kicking out demi-humans?” I pointed out. It was a bone-headed move by the president, all things considered. “Not to mention those kinds of operations being halted in general.”
“Mhm. True, true. I guess they just have to pray for the first option.” Gregori said with a smirk.
“Still, what are we supposed to learn from all of this?” Qyunda can’t help but ask. The fact that there
“The fact of the matter is, the world is now much more dangerous…” I said as the scene changed to that of an isnd springing out of the ocean, a massive one that is quickly filled like greenery and creatures. Then the drone filming the scene gets closer to get a better look at the isnd, and shows us actual living dinosaurs roaming the isnd.
“Holy crap! Hey, do you think the school will let us go there even once?” Jeff quickly got excited.
“It would be a novel experience, but it’s not like we have a lot of time in the school, right?” Sixson suddenly said, and the mood of the group dropped by quite a bit.
“C-Come on now guys, I’ll ask my parents for a tour there if we need to.” Useph quickly chimed in to lift the mood back up.
It’s weird to feel bad about not being in school anymore, but the amount of work in this school is quite low, and novel experiences like tournaments and trips to dangerous areas means that it is worth sticking around. There is also the library as well, full of interesting facts that aren't shared to the rest of the world yet.
“
“...Well. Crisis averted?” Jeyst jokingly said. All of us have already agreed to this kind of trip, so we’ll get to go to a new pce every week. That should mean less csses to attend and get stressed about.
“That’s a rather quick decision. What do they gain from that?” Malk can’t help but wonder out loud. It is odd for them to make a decision so quickly, even if they have all the necessary tools.
“Their goals are quite incomprehensible, but I don’t really hate it. I mean, being stuck in css isn’t going to be anywhere near as fun as a school trip.” Gregori said. Indeed, a field experience is much more educational anyway.
“
” The mechanical voice said, ringing throughout the entire area.
Right, the broadcast is still on-going. It is still showing more locations and the changes made to it. Would all of these monsters affect the local ecosystems? Maybe they just stay in their designated zone? What did they call it? Fantarban Realm?
Now the world at rge is probably in panic as posts start to appear showing the change to many habitats. Unusual ndscape, colors that rarely appear in nature, new nds appearing out of nowhere, monsters starting to appear outside of the dungeon more frequently. There is no doubt that now, more than ever, strength holds a lot of value.
Unless those higher-ups suggest nuking all of these pces, which I doubt they are that idiotic to do, we have to deal with these new locations with a lot of care. Admittedly I would rather let them deal with it rather than us, since it’s not like there are any pces so close by that we feel compelled to go into and deal with ourselves. In the first pce, we are simply students, they are the ones who should deal with the fallout, being in the position of power and all of that.
As for the others who might be capable fighters who have braved a dungeon multiple times over… I’m not really sure what is going on in those people’s minds, but I wish them the best of luck regardless.
———Lerim———
<2: 29 pm>
*Chomp*
“Mhmpm…” Why do they taste so smokey? I just grill them normally without any wood or charcoal. They taste good enough, maybe like a cross between chicken and beef. No idea why a giant monster snake would taste like this, but I’m not going to compin as long as it is going to fill my stomach, and I have tasted worse.
Anyway, I need to remember to store all the parts I’m not going to eat properly and find a pce to sell it. If that guild doesn’t want to deal with snake skins and stuff, then I have to find a shady person in a dark alley to sell it to. I’d rather not, but I also don’t want any of these to go to waste.
As for the meat. Just one of these suckers is probably enough to feed me for a few days, and with eleven of them in total that I killed, probably going to st me for a few months, if I have a pce to store it properly… Where in the world am I gonna store the meat of building-sized snakes? I doubt I could even finish half of one snake in a day. Do I buy an extra fridge? Maybe I should’ve tried studying ice magic more so I could freeze them all in a fsh? Ugh! There’s so many possible answers and none of them are satisfying to me.
Whatever, keep that question for ter. So what even happened just now? An earthquake and that’s about it. I haven’t checked the internet or anything. I bet a lot of people are panicking right now.
Time to see the chaos the online ndscape is in right now… Wait. What the hell is that image? It looks way too detailed to be drawn or generated… It looks weird… And I scroll down and see more odd ndscapes and such. What are all of these?
“Kreeek!” Ah! What in fresh hell is that sound!?
I turned around and saw a giant bird with scales on its body and wings, looking like a cross between a normal bird and dinosaur.
What in the world is a monster doing here? It’s not even nighttime yet!
*Dive* *Leap* *Ssh* *Chop* *Stab*
“K-Kree…” It tried to steal all of the snake parts I had carefully dissected, so I quickly grabbed my giant sword and ssh its wings and chopped one clean off, then stabbed it right in the torso. All of this is done in mid-air before it could crash into the rooftop and destroy my house.
“Phew…” Thankfully both of us dropped onto a grassfield and not another person’s property. Can’t imagine all the pain that will come with that. It died pretty quickly from just a few strikes. It’s definitely not as strong or durable as those apocalypse snakes.
…I guess I have to dissect this one as well. It’d be a shame not to.