Dio hovered above the western district, watching the city lights fade behind him.
This part of Madhupur was smaller, quieter, and far less advanced than the rest.
Most houses stayed on the ground instead of floating, almost like the city had decided not to invest too much here.
Maybe it was because of the dungeon.
If anything went wrong, evacuating people would be easier this way.
He flew forward until the buildings ended and a wide empty stretch appeared.
A whole kilometer of nothing, flat, open land, silent under the night sky.
Dio slowed down and landed at the edge of the area.
The moment his feet touched the ground, his thruster folded back into his wristwatch with a soft click.
He frowned.
"There should be a protective barrier," he muttered.
"Why isn't it here?"
This entire zone was supposed to be restricted.
A strong energy shield was always active around it, keeping people out and monsters in.
But now, Dio couldn't feel even a trace of it.
He stepped forward slowly, his eyes narrowing.
Dio clicked his tongue and shrugged.
"Whatever. Works better for me anyway. Breaking that barrier would've taken hours."
He stepped into the empty zone.
His wristwatch shifted again, unfolding into a skateboard-shaped thruster.
With a quick push, he shot forward.
He glided above the ground.
The deeper he went, the more trees appeared, rising out of the darkness like silent pillars.
In less than a minute, he had already crossed nine hundred meters into the restricted area.
"Hmm?"
Dio slowed down, eyes narrowing.
There was no one.
No guards.
No patrol drones.
Not even the usual swarm of nanomachines that floated around high-security places like invisible dust.
Just quiet trees and cold air.
"Did the dungeon get destroyed?"
He wondered out loud, lowering his speed even more.
He kept moving forward, the stillness creeping under his skin, making the whole place feel wrong in a way he couldn't yet name.
Just as he was wondering whether the dungeon had been destroyed or not, a faint blue light flickered in the distance.
"Hmm?" His eyes narrowed.
He flew toward it, and the moment he got a clearer view, his face lit up.
He didn't hold back, his thruster roared and he shot forward at full speed.
"There it is! Hahaha, it's not gone! What a relief!"
He laughed hard, the sound echoing through the empty trees.
As he closed the distance, the light grew clearer, sharper.
Soon the shape formed, a massive gate.
Its center glowed with a deep blue shine, while its sides were built from large stone blocks.
Strange letters, symbols he couldn't read, glowed faintly across the stone like ancient runes waking up.
"That's it… I found it." His grin widened.
"And there aren't even guards here."
He slowed down only a little, excitement buzzing through him.
The gate stood there, alone and unprotected, like it was waiting for him.
He stopped in front of the huge gate.
From far away it had looked small, but now it towered over him like some sleeping giant.
"Yes… that's it," he whispered.
"If I get a dead monster, I'll Awaken. Then that good kid will finally learn what real bullying is."
Dio smirked and reached out to touch the dungeon door.
…Hm?
His fingers didn't meet any resistance.
His hand passed straight through the glowing blue surface.
"Is somebody inside?" he muttered.
The only time the gate let you pass was when it was already open.
That meant someone had gone in before him.
Could it be…?
His eyebrows pulled together.
"Are the guards inside? Stealing leftover monsters?" he grumbled.
For anyone with common sense, the situation was strange.
An open dungeon gate.
No guards outside. No drones. No barrier.
Most people would think something serious had happened.
But not Dio.
His brain had jumped straight to the idea of guards stealing the monster corpses he wanted.
His eyes twitched impatiently.
"No. I can't wait any longer," he muttered.
"If I don't go now, they'll steal everything."
With that, he pushed off the ground and jumped straight into the gate.
And the moment he did, the world swallowed him whole.
Whosh.
The moment he passed through, his head spun.
A wave of dizziness hit him hard.
"Ah…" Dio groaned.
He grabbed his head and forced himself to stand.
When the spinning finally calmed, he opened his eyes.
A sharp breath slipped out of him.
"Gasp…"
He couldn't help it. The place was massive.
The space stretched on for almost a full kilometer.
Huge crystals, each the size of a grown man, stood everywhere, glowing in different colors.
Red. Blue. Green. Gold.
The whole place looked like a cave made of frozen lightning.
He tapped his wristwatch.
It responded instantly, unfolding back into the thruster.
He stepped onto it and shot forward.
Whosh.
He flew deeper into the dungeon.
His eyes scanned every corner, looking for even a scrap of a monster corpse.
Nothing.
"Damn it… They stole everything."
His teeth clenched as he pushed the thruster faster.
The empty crystal-lit halls rushed past him, the silence growing heavier the deeper he went.
After a while, his thruster started making strange sounds.
Thump… thuk… thuk…
"Oh no…" Dio hissed.
"The energy reserves are getting empty."
He dropped down fast.
The moment his feet touched the ground, the thruster folded back into a wristwatch with a weak click, like even the device was tired.
He let out a long breath.
"Sigh…"
He walked forward, shoulders low.
There wasn't a single monster corpse anywhere.
Not even a broken claw or a loose fang.
After all the trouble he went through, the dungeon looked cleaner than a hospital room.
A bitter feeling spread in his chest.
All that sneaking… all that planning… and nothing.
But giving up wasn't in his nature.
He kept walking, going deeper and deeper into the glowing crystal maze, each step echoing softly as the silence wrapped around him.
After walking for what felt like forever, Dio finally stopped.
His legs were getting heavy, and even his breath felt annoyed at him.
He sat down on a crystal chunk and let himself sink into it.
He pulled out his flux bottle and took a few long gulps.
"Damn it… how am I supposed to Awaken if there aren't any monsters…"
He muttered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
He closed his eyes for a moment and rested, letting the cold air calm him.
Then—
Crack…
A sharp, tiny sound echoed through the glowing chamber.
His eyes snapped open.
"Huh? What's that?" he whispered.
He stood up and followed the noise.
It repeated again, soft, crisp, like something hard was breaking from the inside.
An egg.
The sound was exactly like an egg about to hatch.
He moved deeper into the crystal maze, his steps quickening.
Then his eyes lit up, excitement bright and wild.
"Could it be… a monster egg? Hatching after so many years?"
A new idea sparkled in his brain, dangerously bright.
"What if…" he whispered.
He leaned closer, voice dropping.
"…what if I make an omelette out of it?"
Dio stood there, the picture forming in his mind:
Him, frying a monster egg in the middle of a dungeon, awakening after eating the omelette.
The dungeon crackled again, as if even it was offended.
This guy never learns.
Even after getting his ass beaten again and again, his brain keeps inventing new nonsense.
Only God knows… no, only he knows how he comes up with this stuff.
"I'll make that egg into an omelette and eat it. The monster proteins will help me. Yeah, that's it,"
Dio muttered, nodding as if he'd just solved world hunger.
His pace quickened.
Then he broke into a full sprint, running with everything he had.
His footsteps echoed in the glowing chamber, fast and reckless.
But the truth followed right behind him like a shadow.
No, Dio.
You won't Awaken from an omelette.
You're going to get your ass whipped.
And the dungeon already seemed eager to start the process.