Born in apocalypse

Out of hundreds of portals around the dungeon, one of them suddenly lit up... coming to life.

A man stepped out of it, followed by another six people. After which nonstop people began to get out. Slowly, the area began to fill with people appearing from the portals.

Seeing this many spawning from a single portal, the people couldn’t help but get curious about their origin.

"Hmm! Who are they? Are they from some guild?"

"The White Lotus perhaps?"

"No... I don’t think so. The White Lotus has a lotus badge on their armor."

"A new guild then.."

"Maybe...."

Who knows how many guilds are opening these days..."

"Judging from the armor they seemed to have blacksmiths as well."

People began talking about them because of the way all of them were dressed. Except for a few, almost all of them were clad in white armor. From head to toe, they were adorned in white.

"How powerful do you think they are?"

"Should I join their guild?"

"What are you talking about... let’s just go in. The fifth floor is already cleared..."

"Ohh! Yes, let’s go."

Some paid little attention to the group, while others couldn’t help but speculate about their standing in the world.

’Hmm! We certainly are getting the limelight... Isn’t it.’ Dhruv thought, having never experienced anything like this before and thus didn’t know how to react.

No matter how new he was to these things, it didn’t stop him from feeling good though.

’I guess giving them armor was a good idea. Now that everyone thinks they are part of some guild, no one will try to harm them or at least will think twice before committing something like that,’ Dhruv mused, felling a bit relieved.

Turning his attention toward Aurora, he muttered, [Should we directly enter the fifth floor... or go from the start?]

[There is no point in starting from the top, Master. We should aim to kill as many bosses as possible,] Aurora replied, thinking about the board where the first boss kill name was listed.

[Agreed...]

Nodding, Dhruv led the group as they entered the dungeon. Soon the surroundings changed, and all of them found themselves standing in the middle of a tavern-looking area. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Huh! This doesn’t look like a dungeon at all."

"I didn’t doubt Lady Aurora’s words... but still, seeing it with one’s own eyes feels a bit strange."

"See, there are all sorts of things here..."

While people were talking around her, Aurora began observing floor zero with some more interest.

’The area seems expanded,’ she thought, noticing new people pouring into this floor each second.

Glancing toward the board above the bartender’s head, she moved toward her master and whispered something in his ear.

Nodding his head, Dhruv looked at the group and announced, "Everyone, I don’t think there is anything exciting here. Let’s head toward the fifth-floor door."

Hearing his words, everyone looked toward the door with a large ’V’ written on top of it. Existing about the hunt that is about to commence, everyone enters the door with a goal.

Some wanted to hunt higher-tier monsters.

Some aimed at the boss.

Some would want to level up...

While some wanted to evolve further.

All in all, everyone was here with a clear picture.

[Let’s go...] Saying this to his guardians, Dhruv entered the door as well.

The moment he got out of the door, he found himself standing in the middle of a lush green forest. Everywhere his gaze could reach, there was nothing but towering trees.

"Reminds me of your dungeon... don’t you think, Grec..."

"...." Finding no one replying to his words, Dhruv turned and looked around.

[Are all of you separated?] Dhruv asked, activating his senses to its fullest.

Still, he couldn’t find anyone familiar around him. No one had spawned with him.

[No one is with me,] Azarex replied.

[I can sense some of them. But yes, no one spawned with me,] Alric replied, sensing a few familiar presences around him.

[I’m fine, Master,] Vexar replied, thinking his master was worried about him.

[Same.]

[...]

[...]

One by one, everyone replied, but the answer remained the same. No one had teleported together.

’Tsk! This could be problematic. Those who rely on groups could be at a massive disadvantage because of this,’ Dhruv thought, connecting with everyone through the mark simultaneously.

[This is Dhruv. I think all of you must have noticed by now, but let me repeat once again: It seems that all of us have been separated from each other. As Aurora said, the floor isn’t that big, so it shouldn’t take long to find each other...]

[... those who hunt in groups engage with monsters as minimally as possible and try to join with your or any other group.]

[Okay, my lord.], [As you wish.], [...], [...]

Hearing hundreds of replies coming in an instant, Dhruv forcefully disconnected the connection and hoped they would heed his words.

’Shall we start then...’ Smirking, Dhruv expanded his mana sense and began looking for the boss of this floor.

***

[You have killed a Tier III monster: Mindless Vinoraptor.]

’Huh! How can Aurora say the floor is small... This place is bigger than most states,’ Dhruv thought, killing yet another monster.

[Has anyone found it yet?] Not having any patience, he had forgotten how many times he had asked this question.

[No, master.]

[No, master.]

Yet each time, the same replies came.

"Man, where the fuck is this boss?" Cursing, Dhruv launched himself into the air.

Because he was in the open, he hadn’t summoned his wings. Instead, at this moment, he was using his air manipulation to propel himself. He had advised all his guardians to do the same.

’Where are you... where are you...’ Activating his senses to the max, he began searching for the boss once again.

Time passed as his patience began to deteriorate. If it weren’t for the numerous people on the floor, he would have nuked the shit out of this place.

A sonic boom echoed as Dhruv began to let loose his power. Moving at the speed of sound, he scoured the forest.

’Here you are...’ A smile appeared on his face as he finally found what he was looking for.

He was about to dive in and kill the bastard but stopped after noticing something interesting happening around the boss.

’Someone is already fighting the boss,’ he mused, looking at the group of five people struggling a bit against the boss.