Isekai Dungeon Architect

The entry hall stretched wider than a stadium. High vaulted ceilings painted with stars soared overhead, enchanted to shimmer faintly with real constellations.

Balconies lined the second and third floors, crowded with clerks scribbling on scrolls, runners carrying messages, and the adventurers all chatting among themselves and the staff.

The ground floor was chaos disguised as order.

Lines of armored men and women waited at counters staffed by happy-faced administrators.

Racks of quest postings lined the walls, glowing faintly with mana to indicate freshness. A giant board at the far end displayed names, ranks, and live updates of cleared quests— like a fantasy stock market ticker.

And everywhere I could see, there was energy. That same buzzing pressure I'd felt outside, amplified here.

Adventurers laughed, argued, traded monster parts and dungeon loot in loud voices, their auras brushing against one another in clashes of dominance, friendship, and rivalry.

"Whoa," I gasped at the unexpected scale. "It's like walking into a LAN party where everyone's armed with weapons and magic."

Reddy was a little surprised to see my surprise since she didn't expect this kind of reaction, but she smiled after seeing this side of me.

With her guidance, we moved through the crowd, drawing a few stares. Not at me— though I did catch more than a few appreciative glances— but at Riddle.

Adventurers bowed their heads slightly when she passed. A few straightened their backs. Respect. Fear. Maybe both.

She didn't have a combat-focused class, as she had told me earlier, but she was the one responsible for most of the potions that passed through the hands of the adventurers in this city's dungeon.

Her formulas were used in the production factories; she had created a few formulas that were used specifically in this part of the nation.

Even though she didn't boast about it, she was a big deal. There weren't many alchemists in the nation, and not many were as good at their job as she was, earning her a kind of respect that only a few in this lobby currently possessed.

"Remind me again," I murmured as quietly as I could, leaning closer to her, "what exactly is your rank here?"

"None," she replied flatly, but not in a quiet voice like mine. "The Guards and the Association are separate entities. But respect carries between them."

"You must mean," I smirked in complete understanding. "Big boss energy travels."

Her sigh could've powered windmills this time.

'Hehe.'

Near the very back of the hall, we paused before the main counter.

An older clerk looked up from his ledger, eyes widening slightly at Riddle. "Captain Arcage? Anything that warrants your presence here?"

"I'm off duty," she answered, tone clipped but polite. "Here on personal business this time."

His gaze flicked between us, lingering a heartbeat too long on me, before he nodded. "Understood. May the dungeon be kind to you."

Dungeon, be kind. I had heard this greeting a few times by now, but I still don't quite understand why they say it.

We stepped aside, finding a quiet alcove where benches lined the wall. From here, the view of the hall was clearer, less chaotic. Adventurers came and went, some striding with confidence, others limping with bloodied armor. Some carried monster cores that glowed faintly, dropping them off at appraisal counters. Others shoved bags of materials toward buyers, shouting about prices.

"This," Riddle said softly, her gaze steady, "is the heart of Westford." Her eyes had a kind of sadness and longing that I couldn't understand at that moment. "The Association coordinates everything, be it quests, resource flow, or the dungeon expeditions. Without this place, the city would collapse."

I nodded, understanding that very much well.

Even from where I come from, without the stock market or even places like grocery stores, the economy would collapse completely.

Watching the flow of people like a system diagram comes to my mind once again. Input, process, output. Adventurers as data packets moving through a giant network… just like how 1s and 0s are the cells of each system, the people are the cells of a society.

'In the case of this world and this specific city, the adventurers are the prominent neuron cells.'

But me?

I was supposed to be one of the architects who built the dungeons that spat out this endless stream of blood, loot, and stories? How was I supposed to take on such a task…?

And do I really have to do that? Architect dungeons?

Or will there be something else that life wants from me?

'Why was I even given that class when I wanted something completely different?'

A few curses left my mouth for those damned Administrators.

A strange feeling that someone… something nearby was calling for me lingered on my skin, on my soul.

Through the tall glass panes at the far end of the hall, I could see it— black and immense, stabbing into the sky. The Dungeon.

I couldn't look away for a moment.

"Let's go, Aria. The test will start soon." But Reddy's words, her unexpected words, made me jerk my head sideways.

"Test? What test?" What was this surprise test?

And why didn't she tell me about it beforehand?!

"You wanted to be an adventurer, correct?" She gave me a smirk, similar to the one that I usually have on my face when I tease her. "Then this is the only way, Miss Aria Solona."

Dungeon, association, and now a test to become an adventurer. Was it going to be like what I've read in books or played in RPGs?

Was I supposed to show my skills or give an actual written test when I don't even know how to write this world's language yet??

'She should have at least told me yesterday.'

I wasn't mentally prepared, and I for sure wasn't physically prepared for a test on my second day in a new civilization!

'But the test itself wasn't really my biggest fear or concern right now.'

It was the question of what would happen if they found out I'm a dungeon architect, a being that can create safe zones and traps out of nowhere.

'What would happen if they find out a legendary entity that's supposed to be hidden away from the regular public has appeared in public?'

I was going to hide my Class for as long as possible, but if the association has any means to find out about it, a crystal ball that shows one's status window perhaps, then I'm in for bigger trouble than ever before…