"Tempered by flame
Forged by fate
Where fires cry
New life awakes
Tempered by flame
Reforged by hate
In the world that drowned
I await."
***
[You've been chosen!]
[Assigning random dungeon…]
[You are now the Master of the Fifth Vice Dungeon: Dungeon of Lust!]
"What the…"
A lone man lay in an endless white expanse.
A Voice whispered sweetly, almost seductively, in his mind.
[Commencing Dungeon Master tutorial…]
[Think of the word 'Status' to awaken the system and claim your rightful legacy!]
The man sat up. He looked around in search of… anything.
But there was nothing.
Empty.
An area void of everything but himself.
No clothes to cover his naked body.
Nothing solid took form on the ground.
Nothing hovered above in the endless white sky.
No wind tickled his thick, velvety black hair with wisps of purple.
It felt as if he'd been cast away from anything worldly, left to float in an expanse with no beginning, middle, or end.
He would have loved nothing more than to claim this all a dream. But it felt real.
Very real.
Clutching his head, his mind drifted to the word the Voice pressed upon him.
'...Status.'
In the next moment, blinding rays of golden light speared down from above — then from his right, his left, even beneath him.
They collided, curving and lashing through the air, each impact bursting into showers of sparks.
Yet with every clash, a strange harmony began to emerge. The lights slowed, falling into orbit around one another, spiraling into a vast, radiant sphere.
The incandescent strands tightened, swirling faster, like water caught in a vortex.
Then, all at once, the sphere collapsed inward and burst.
A shockwave followed, forcing the man to throw up his arm, shielding his eyes from the overwhelming light.
When he reopened his eyes, a golden frame with pink words shone in front of him.
♥︎♥︎♥︎
Name: [Valentin Laurent]
Title: [Fifth Advent of Lust]
♡♡♡
Dungeon Class: [Vice]
Dungeon Core Rank: [Nascent]
♡♡♡
Aspect: [Lust]
Class: [Vice]
Core Rank: [Nascent] - (0/700)
♡♡♡
Aether: [10]
Satisfaction: [10]
Traits: [Rudimentary Shapeshifter] [Charm] [Ember of Lust]
♥︎♥︎♥︎
'That's… my name.'
'What's with all the hearts…?'
'And… What is a Title? And why is mine "Fifth Advent of Lust"!'
'I'm not lustful! Well, I'm respectful at least! True lust is vile!'
[Congratulations!]
[You have awakened the Dungeon Core.]
[You have awakened your Aspect.]
"What the hell is going on?!"
Valentin, called Vale by most — a preference rather than Val for… personal reasons — jumped to his feet and swiped at the weird translucent screen before him, causing it to disappear.
As the golden frame dissipated, it revealed a pink sphere it had been hiding from Vale's view.
[Explore your dungeon!]
'I need… to move.'
Vale felt an unusual compulsion. It was as if his instincts were being overridden. He felt he should be scared and apprehensive about this bizarre situation; however, he felt calm and accepting, as if he were meant to be here and nowhere else.
He didn't even long to see his 'mothers', the few friends he had, or anyone really.
He had the dungeon, and that was all he needed.
Vale knew what he had to do.
Before even giving a conscious input, his foot had lifted from the ground. As he delicately set it back down, he feared he would begin to plunge endlessly, but he was pleasantly relieved. Yet, it didn't feel as if he'd actually stepped on anything — It was as if he was pressing against an invisible barrier, which was no barrier at all.
His caution disintegrated as he picked up his foot again.
That pink light? He needed it. He needed to reach it.
He finished his step. Then another. And another.
When he finally reached it, he lifted his hand and slid it inside the light mass. In the next moment, the pink began flickering and spinning before being consumed by a darkness — darkness that felt ancient, all-encompassing and all-powerful.
Then, the chilling dark swiveled into a muted gray, and from that gray the vibrance of color burst.
Sight had returned, regular and unimpaired. Although it was a little questionable how he could see in full color when he found himself in the mouth of a cave, bereft of a light source.
No, it wasn't a cave.
'It seems more like an alcove carved into the side of the mountain.'
The gray, rocky walls surrounding him had only one exit.
A seeming exit, at least.
But an ominous, slightly translucent obsidian wall was blocking it off.
Vale turned around and faced the furthest point in the room from the black wall and saw a pink sphere that hovered a little in the air.
[If the Dungeon Core is destroyed, you and your Legion will perish.]
[You can enter the core by making contact with it.]
[Think 'Map' to pull up the map of the dungeon to visualize and customize it.]
[Think 'Store' to pull up the store.]
'Wait…'
"What?!"
Like a hurricane, his reality dawned on him the moment he heard the Voice. His will rapidly returning, the foreign influence waning.
'Destroyed?'
"Like dead? Destroyed as in die?"
'What the hell?!'
Vale didn't sign up for this!
"Hey, uh… send me back, asshole! Assholes? Just send me back!"
His feet shifted involuntarily as annoyance overwhelmed him.
Why did the world never give him a break? Why was it so intent on beating him down again and again? Giving him impossible trials with impossible tasks in impossible situations?!
Running his hand through his hair, Vale took a deep breath.
He was getting quite sick and tired of what the shitty world had to offer, but the last thing he was going to do was bow down and take it like a good boy.
If the world wanted to fuck him, he'd tell it to go fuck itself.
Letting go of his long breath, Vale focused.
At least it wasn't hard to figure out his situation to some extent.
That floating ball of light in the corner…
'That must be the Dungeon Core. I must be in the dungeon right now.'
Vale must have exited when he touched the mass of pink light. If he touched that core, he could return to the white void if he so wished.
And, if that core was destroyed…
'I die?'
Vale clenched his fist.
'Seriously?! I didn't ask for this!'
Vale didn't know what would actually threaten the Dungeon Core, but he was almost sure its safety was anything but guaranteed. It would kind of be nonsensical if it weren't with everything going on around him.
'Map.'
In the next moment, a 3D model of the alcove appeared before him with a little arrow pointing in from where the obsidian wall was.
Cautiously, he reached his hand in and nudged a replica sphere. Simultaneously, the actual sphere in the room moved a little.
There were two other options — Mining Blueprint, Building Blueprint — but they were grayed out.
'I see.'
'What about…'
'Store?'
Recruitment:
Champion: [10 Satisfaction]
Worker: [1 Aether]
Warrior: [10 Aether]
Archer: [15 Aether]
Mage: [100 Aether]
Random: [25 Aether]
Items:
Starter Kit: [10 Aether]
[Congratulations!]
[Summon your first Champion and then purchase the Starter Kit!]
[First challengers: 2:59:59]
'First challengers…?'
Vale knew it.
'I knew this damned situation wouldn't be one filled with peace.'
Most kidnappings weren't, to be fair.
'Damn it.'
They were most likely entities looking to kill the Dungeon Core for one reason or another. Entities Vale would have to fight.
While he'd love to show a measure defiance to his situation by refusing, with his life supposedly on the line, he had no choice but to comply.
'How do I…?'
He slowly, in his head, wished to purchase a Champion.
[Would you like to purchase a champion for 10 Satisfaction? Y/N?]
'Oh?'
Vale tapped his foot, thinking for a breath, then eventually said:
"Yes…"
A weird feeling ran through his veins like he was being drained of something.
Alone in the alcove, Vale quietly waited as he began to ponder…
'What is Aether? Satisfaction? I have 10 of both. But what is being quantified?'
Also, why did only the Champion cost Satisfaction? And, how could he get more of that or Aether? And, what was a Champion exactly?
[Perform coitus with the Champion to satisfy and claim them!]
'Huh? What?'
…
An icy chill ran down Vale's spine as a towering woman walked out of the pink sphere.
The woman was probably around 180 centimeters — just a little shorter than he — and had majestic black bat-like leather wings containing an odd array of quills. Each quill contained a purple, almost pink, underglow.
She had long raven-black hair tied back, and two curved black horns protruded from the sides of her head. Her eyes glowed pink with black slit pupils. A neon pink earring dangling from either ear.
A one-piece cropped corset tightly contained her thin waist, the top splitting around the cleavage, accentuating her large breasts. Her plump, smooth thighs were adorned only by a single strap from a garter belt, which snaked up and connected to the sleek, black felted bottom of the corset.
Behind her, a thin black tail that ended in an almost heart formation wiggled back and forth.
Black bracers covered her wrists, and small belts wrapped around her biceps, mirroring the black collar she wore around her neck. Her thin hands ended in what looked to be pink spikes, but were just her fingernails, which were fashioned like claws on a delicate kitten.
Her smooth, alabaster skin was harshly juxtaposed with the pitch-black outfit, which had only a few faint golden lines here and there.
Her plump lips looked soft, delicate… inviting.
The woman stopped. She flapped her black wings while pressing her hand to her chin, partially covering her mouth with her fingers.
"Are you the one who wishes to be my master?"