Dio was a resident of Elora, one of the five superpowers on the planet Nebula.
On Nebula, a nation earned the title of "superpower."
It wasn't through conquest or wealth.
It was because no citizen lived below the poverty line and everyone had a roof over their head.
Though, it was fifty years ago.
Now, strength defined power.
A country could only be called a superpower if it possessed at least one Mythic-rank Hunter within its borders, and Elora did.
Even so, Elora had already held that title long before the dungeons appeared.
And somehow, despite the chaos that followed, they've managed to keep it to this day.
Thanks to living on the planet Nebula, Dio never had to worry about money.
The government provided everything necessary for a stable life until the age of twenty.
Even after that, orphans who pursued higher studies continued to receive support.
Dio was seventeen now.
That meant he still had three years left to enjoy life without worries.
But since he wasn't good at studies, there was only one path that could let him keep his privileges after twenty, to Awaken as a Hunter.
But Dio didn't worry about things like that.
His only concern was finding new ways to bully others, that was what gave him his kicks.
He flew toward the eastern district of Madhupur, a relatively small city by Eloran standards, yet far more advanced than most.
Towering buildings stretched seventy to eighty stories high, and every smaller house floated gently in the air, supported by the city's levitation systems.
Soon, he reached his apartment.
Though it was called an "apartment," by Earth's standards it was more like a seven-star hotel.
The building stood sixty floors tall, radiating a level of luxury that was hard to imagine.
Dio went straight inside.
He didn't need to stop for any identification.
The miniature sensors scattered throughout the area had already confirmed who he was long before he reached the entrance.
Not long after Dio reached his room, the door slid open automatically, responding to his voice.
"Welcome home, Mr. Dio Scarlett," a robotic voice greeted him.
Dio didn't seem to care.
He simply walked inside.
As he stepped inside, his room came into view, neat and spotless,
completely unlike what anyone would expect from someone like Dio.
Of course, he wasn't the one who kept it that way.
The room cleaned itself through a network of invisible nanomachines that worked around the clock.
He lay down on his bed after changing into his regular clothes, though "regular" was a stretch.
Even everyday wear on Nebula carried a sleek, high-tech design that made it look more like a uniform from the future than casual attire.
"Haa…"
Dio let out a sigh, his lips curling into an excited grin.
"If I can just get my hands on a monster corpse," he muttered.
A spark of greed flashing in his eyes.
"Hehe… I'll definitely Awaken. Haha!"
Dio glanced at the clock.
It was 3:30 in the afternoon, still too early.
He'd have to wait until night.
He'd already decided to sneak into the dungeon, but getting in without being spotted by the guards would be tricky.
He might even have to knock one of them out if things went wrong.
Fortunately, not everything on Nebula was automated.
People still needed jobs to earn their living, so human workers were stationed even in places where machines could easily take over.
He stood, snapped his wrist, and the watch unfolded into a thruster.
From a distance it looked like a pistol, but it didn't fire metal, it spat concentrated energy rounds.
"Lucky I got the materials," Dio muttered, stroking the device.
He'd built it himself.
A single hit could keep a normal human unconscious for thirty minutes, even with their defense systems active.
"With this, sneaking in would be easy. A little blood, or even flesh, would be enough." He grinned at the thought.
Time passed as he checked and rechecked everything he'd need for the mission.
"It'll be tough to avoid the consequences," he murmured, stroking his chin.
He knew he'd probably get caught once he entered the dungeon, but as long as he Awakened as a Hunter, he told himself, it would be worth it.
He glanced at the clock: 12:30 a.m.
"Time to Awaken," he breathed, grinning.
"Just you wait, good kid, your grandpa Dio will show you tomorrow." He laughed.
And a sharp, excited grin rose across his face.
"Let's go," Dio said to himself.
He headed for the door, which slid open automatically.
The same robotic voice greeted him again, calm and mechanical.
"Return within three hours, Mr. Dio."
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, half-serious, already stepping into the night.
His thruster flared to life as he shot toward the western district, where the dungeon waited.
This dungeon was among the first to appear on the planet Nebula.
For five long years, no one had managed to clear it.
The monsters spilling out of its depths ran wild through the city, forcing people to abandon their homes as chaos spread.
It was classified as a B-rank dungeon, which meant that even its weakest monsters were terrifyingly strong.
Conventional weapons were useless against them.
Just when everything seemed lost, the first Hunters emerged.
They wiped out the monsters infesting the city and, soon after, conquered the dungeon itself.
Dio flew toward the dungeon with an excited expression, as if whatever idiotic thought crossed his mind could actually turn him into a Hunter.
He was really a piece of work: reckless, selfish, and somehow always managing to get what he wanted.
And now that he wanted to Awaken as a Hunter, if he somehow succeeded, then God only knew what kind of trouble he would cause afterwards.
"Just you wait, good kid. I'll make you take a round of the school naked on your hands, hahaha!"
Dio muttered to himself, laughing like a third-rate young master in a cultivation novel.
The kind who proudly gets engaged to the heroine, not knowing the hero is about to beat the crap out of him.
Meanwhile, the good kid was sitting at his desk, studying quietly.
The room was calm, the only sound was the soft tapping and swiping as he worked on his study devices.
Suddenly, a strange chill ran down his spine, making him stop for a moment.
He looked around, a bit confused, but there was nothing unusual, just the same room, the same peaceful night outside the window.
He shook his head with a small smile and muttered, "Just two more months, and I'll finally be at the Hunters Academy, hehe.
The thought alone made him chuckle.
He could already imagine his future, standing tall as a Hunter, protecting people, saving lives with his power.
It felt like everything he had dreamed of since childhood was finally close.
He leaned back in his chair, still smiling, unaware that far away, a certain lunatic was working hard for the most ridiculous reason, just to bully him.
"Sigh… life really is interesting," he said softly, looking out at the night sky.