With a deep breath, the dungeon gate swallowed us whole, reminding me of when I had passed through the white gate.
One step across the violet-lit threshold and, once again, the world simply… dissolved.
No sound was heard for a moment, no winds on my skin, even the pressure against my skin was gone now.
For a heartbeat, I thought I'd fainted, for a moment, I was confused whether this was how all first dungeon entrances felt like. But then I realized how my feet weren't touching the ground.
I was flying… or floating, would be a better way to say it.
Below me, my body stood among the other rookies, perfectly still, eyes glassy like a doll left on a shelf.
Riddle's sharp profile remained where she'd been in the observation gallery beyond the dungeon gate visible from this side, her glare trained on me, frozen in place like a painting.
The scrawny mage, Cassiel, clutched his staff, lips parted in a half-breath. Even the flicker of torches had halted mid-sway.
Time itself had paused.
'This isn't normal now… is it?'
A ripple of light pulsed above me just when I thought that. Not violet of the dungeon's glow. Not blue of the magical lights. But a bright pink.
Dozens— no, hundreds— of status windows exploded into existence around me, layering over each other in frantic, translucent sheets.
They jittered, overlapped, glitched like some bugged-out augmented reality headset, popping out one over the other, saturating the entirety of my field of view.
[Skill: Assistance System has been triggered.]
[Detected environment: Dungeon Space.]
[Detected class: Dungeon Architect.]
[Trigger condition: Met. Class unsealed to 100% capacity.]
My mouth went dry. "Uh… hello? Wait, wait, wait… what is this? One at a time, please—"
The windows didn't care. More flickered into view and almost painted everything before me pink.
[Architect Mode engaged.] Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by novel(ꜰ)ire.net
[Dungeon analysis in progress…]
[Warning: Owner is inside a third-party dungeon!]
[Proceeding with controlled movement protocol.]
"Protocol my ass! This shit looks like the world's ugliest screensaver!"
The pink panes swarmed like locusts, filling every inch of my vision with technical jargon. CU, EP, Coins. Core protocols. Structural blueprints. Monster generation subroutines. Words I recognized. Words I didn't. All mashed into a migraine-inducing hailstorm.
I clutched my head, or tried to… only to remember my hands weren't really hands anymore. My spectral fingers passed through my own glowing outline like smoke.
"This is absurd! Hey! Assistance System, are you listening? Do you really expect me to parse all this garbage?! I'm not some kind of a compiler! Talk to me like a person for once instead of vomiting pop-ups!"
This was just too complicated. I hadn't even taken a step inside the dungeon and I was already eating a screen spaghetti! Without meatballs at that!
For a moment, the barrage faltered. For some reason, right after my curse, the windows froze mid-glitch.
Then, softly, from somewhere inside the pink glow, a voice spoke.
Not mechanical monotone, not divine thunder. Something in between.
[ "…Request recognized. Adjusting interface parameters. Would you prefer vocal guidance instead of visual output?" ]
Clean, synthetic, but oddly warm— like a customer service rep who cared just enough to fake it convincingly.
But my jaw had already dropped at the sight. "…Holy crap. It talks."
[ "Yes," ] the voice replied, calm and steady.
[ "The assistance module has analyzed your complaint and will now provide spoken responses formatted to your comprehension level." ]
I let out a shaky laugh, looking up at the sky and thanking those three headed admins for the first time. "Thank god. Or thank code. Or thank… whatever you are. You almost gave me an aneurysm with those pop-ups."
[ "Noted response. The module will focus on the owner's personal comprehension from now on. Shall I begin the briefing?" ]
I liked this. Instead of those rainfall of pinkness, this sweet voice was much better.
"Brief away, system-san. But start from the top. Pretend I'm the intern who just wandered into the server room by mistake."
The windows receded, folding into neat rows of faint pink glyphs that hovered at the edges of my sight like obedient tabs. Blessed silence spread across us, save for the voice threading through my head.
[ "You are currently in a paused state. Your physical body remains within the dungeon instance, time suspended until this orientation concludes." ]
[ "In this form, you are spectrally detached: an elevated perspective, allowing you to perceive the dungeon as architects do." ]
I blinked, looking down again at my frozen self. "…Detached is one way to put it. I look like a corpse waiting for the open-casket ceremony."
[ "No harm will come to your vessel during this phase." ]
It seemed like the skill had just become my personal assistant, something I needed perhaps more than I had ever realised.
I rotated slowly in midair, realizing the dungeon present before me stretched around in ways that weren't visible before.
Beyond the association's controlled entry chamber, corridors branched like arteries, glowing faintly with blue-white veins of mana. In the distance, clusters of shifting light pulsed: monsters, resources, adventurers, alive yet not alive.
It was beautiful. Terrifying in a way, but beautiful.
The new sys-voice continued, unbothered by my awe.
[ "You bear the class Dungeon Architect. In ordinary contexts, your capabilities are suppressed to prevent environmental instability. Within a dungeon, however, the class operates at full capacity." ]
Much like how swordsmen are best when holding a sword, a mage is best when asking magic or doing something suitable, or when someone does something corresponding to their class… for me, the dungeons, other's nightmare, were the home turf.
[ "This is your ideal environment. Here, you may observe, analyze, and interact with structures on a level unavailable to challengers." ]
A new window pulsed open, clean and sharp…
[Class: Dungeon Architect]
Primary Resources: Creation Units (CU), Essence Points (EP), Coins.
Primary Functions: Environment inference, boundary definition, challenge configuration.
Unique Privileges (Current dungeon): Direct interface with dungeon core protocols. Resource harvesting. Guest-task access.
I skimmed the lines, lips moving silently. CU, EP, Coins, these were the terms I was already familiar with. Still… there might be more to them than I had known until now.