The lives of ordinary people had never been the same since the appearance of the dungeons.
Overnight, reality itself had been rewritten. Gates tore open across the earth, bleeding forth creatures from beyond and treasures that defied logic. The very foundations of civilization trembled, and humanity had no choice but to adapt or be consumed.
Once, governments ruled with laws, taxes, and the steady rhythm of bureaucracy. They controlled the masses through systems perfected over centuries through schools that taught obedience, through armies that enforced borders, through healthcare and welfare that bound the people's lives to their mercy. The weak survived because the state allowed them to.
But after the dungeons arrived, none of that mattered.
Artifacts appeared, blades that could split skyscrapers, rings that could heal incurable diseases, potions that defied science. Hunters emerged- humans marked by the System, gifted strength beyond tanks, missiles, or medicine.
