[Intruder detected in the Control Room]
"What the…?" I muttered. "What happened? Did I sleep that long?"
I stared at the wooden door, which was slowly opening with a long, creaking sound.
Switching into Avatar Mode, I quickly positioned myself in front of it. Behind me stood my house, and beyond the door lay the lake.
I was now wearing something resembling pants—far better, in my opinion, than the burlap sack I used to wear. Gaia had made quite a bit of progress lately.
"Gaia!" I called across the grass. The sheep, looking slightly thinner than before, was still drinking leisurely from the small lake when Gaia herself hurried out of the house and across the meadow.
"Ah, Isaac, what's going—?"
She didn't finish her question, because just then, a foot stepped onto the threshold. Slowly, with deliberate drama, a man began to crystallize into view.
In the one arm he still had, he clutched a warped, half-melted sword. Its icy sheen glittered under the midday sun that streamed into the Control Room.
"AHHH!" he roared, a battle cry echoing through the space, as his entire body emerged from the door—only to freeze in place the moment his one remaining eye fell upon me.
His gaze was wide with shock, and the sword in his trembling grip lowered. His entire left side was burned and fused with his armor, and the remnants of his body creaked and cracked in icy blue with every movement.
"A… a… a human?" he stammered in disbelief. His legs gave out, and he collapsed, the bent sword slipping from his grasp and landing softly on the ground.
I cleared my throat and gave Gaia a quick nod toward the house. She understood immediately and headed toward our small shelter. Then, in the best New World English I could muster, I asked:
"Who are you?"
The man's one good eye darted between me, the door behind him, and the open sky above the meadow, as if trying to decide whether this was reality or some cruel hallucination.
His breathing was ragged and shallow—each exhale releasing a faint cloud of frost despite the warmth of the day.
For a moment, he didn't answer. His gaze flickered downward, to his fused armor, then to the sword lying in the grass.
Finally, his voice broke through, hoarse and trembling.
"…I… am… Commander Rust… but the question is… why are you in the Devil's Head already?"
A cold shiver crawled up my spine. Still, I sat down beside him.
"Calm down, you're safe here." I laid a hand on his cold shoulder. "I'll tell you, but first—what happened to you? If I know, I can help."
I tried to smile at him.
He shook his head slowly. "I… don't… know. Only… the thunder. It hit me. The… cold mountains of Mephisto." His eye narrowed in sudden pain, and his good hand clutched at his head. "Ten years! There was… the door. But—" he winced— "everything was… ice!"
He looked up. His one eye was wide open, staring straight into my soul.
"Please! Help me!"
The wooden door behind him creaked again, as though breathing, but when I glanced at it, it was already starting to fade, its outlines melting into the air like smoke.
Gaia's voice called from behind me, soft but urgent. "Isaac… something's wrong with his mana flow. It's really unstable."
I stepped closer, cautious but curious, taking the cup of water from her hand. "How unstable?"
She hesitated. "Like a dying star."
The man let out a hollow laugh, though it was more like a cough. "That's… about right." He lifted his head enough to look me in the eye. "If you're human… then you're the first I've seen in… god, It's feels like an eternity."
The air between us grew colder—not metaphorically, but literally. Frost began forming on the grass around him.
"Hey," I said firmly, "whatever happened to you, you're safe here. Can I do something for you?"
His lips trembled, and he spoke in a whisper that was almost lost in the wind.
"…Kill it… Kill the… Apostle of Mephisto…"
I smiled faintly.
Then, with a burst of cold and a cloud of white mist, his frozen body crumbled into icy fragments. The only things that remained were the bent, rusty sword and half of his armor.
I scratched the back of my head, turned to Gaia, and asked with an grim smile not sure how to feel, "So… what do we do with this now?"
Completely baffled, she stared at me with wide eyes, spilling some of the water from the cup. "That's the wrong question!" Gaia shrilled. "What just happened?"
"Hmm?" I laughed somewhat awkwardly and bent down to pick up the sword. "I'd like to know that too…"
Before I could think further, a message appeared before me.
[Would you like to add the bent sword to your blueprints?]
My eyebrows shot up. My gaze shifted from the sword in my hand to the glowing message, then back again. I felt the cold iron, the blunt edges.
Then I nodded, and a new section opened in my status.
————
[Status]
Name: –
Age: 0 years, 8 months, 0 weeks, 1 day, 1 hour
Species: World Dungeon Core
Level: 2/6
Exp: 1690/150,000
EC: 100/1500
• 2 EC per hour regenerated
• Earnings from intruders: 0,1 EC/h
Characteristics:
• Space (unique)
• Time (unique)
• consciousness
Floors:
• Control Room
• First Floor (Tempora) ——> 1.3 EC/h
• Second Floor (no name) ——> 0 EC/h
[Mode]
[Dungeon construction]
[Living beings]
[Inanimate objects]
[Blueprints]
—————
—————
[Blueprints:] (Processed items received in the Control Room can be added here.)
• Bent Adamantite Sword
—————
I shook my head and grinned at Gaia from ear to ear.
She backed away a little, her eyes uncertain as she asked, "Wh… what?"
"Haha! Nothing! I just got a new feature!"
In short, I explained it to her, my thoughts already racing with all the possibilities this opened up. Not only could I upgrade my house and the Control Room into something more comfortable, I could also create cool things for the dungeon floors!
My heart—or whatever I had that counted as one—leapt with excitement. "Maybe I can even create ancient ruins with a magical weapon at the end!" I muttered to myself, covering my mouth with one hand.
"Problem is…" I frowned. "How do I even get more of these blueprints?"