The truth

Jarred jolted awake, his eyes snapping open with a suddenness that mirrored the adrenaline still coursing through his veins. Disoriented, he scanned his surroundings, trying to make sense of where he was. The familiar, decaying walls of the abandoned warehouse came into view, bringing a wave of relief and confusion.

"Where am I?" he muttered to himself, his voice shaky as he took in the sight of the dusty, graffiti-covered walls. It was the same place where he had first entered the mysterious dungeon, yet it felt like a world away from the otherworldly realm he had just battled through. "I... I'm back?"

The reality of his situation began to settle in, but before he could fully process it, a series of sharp, metallic pings rang out in front of him. Startled, Jarred stumbled backward, landing hard on his rear as a cascade of notification messages materialized in his vision, floating ominously in the air. His heart raced as he squinted at the glowing text, still struggling to shake off the remnants of the dreamlike state he had been in.

"What the...?" Jarred breathed out, his voice tinged with a mix of fear and bewilderment. The notifications blurred together, making it difficult to focus on any one message. He tore his eyes away, realizing that his clothes—once simple jogging pants and a jersey—were now tattered and caked in grime. Mud and blood were smeared across the fabric, a visceral reminder of the brutal encounters he had survived.

Desperate for some semblance of normalcy, Jarred fumbled for his phone, the cool glass of the screen offering a fleeting sense of comfort. But as he glanced at the time, his breath caught in his throat. It had been ten hours since he had first stepped into the dungeon.

"Ten hours?" he exclaimed, his voice rising in disbelief. "But I was only in there for... an hour?"

The realization hit him like a cold wave. The dungeon he had entered wasn't like the ones other hunters frequented. Those dungeons had no time distortion between their reality and the outside world. What he had stumbled into was something entirely different—a dungeon with a time gap, an anomaly no one else knew about. Jarred's mind raced as he tried to wrap his head around this revelation. While he had fought for what felt like a mere hour within the dungeon, almost half a day had passed in the real world. And in that time, he had collapsed from exhaustion, unconscious for who knew how long.

His phone buzzed incessantly, drawing his attention to a flood of missed calls and messages from his sister, Hana. Guilt twisted in his stomach as he imagined her worried face, waiting anxiously for him to return. "I have to get home," he decided, pushing himself up despite the lingering fatigue in his limbs. Hana would be beside herself with worry if he didn't return soon.

The ride home was quiet, with only the hum of the engine filling the silence as Jarred tried to process everything that had happened. His thoughts were a whirlwind of the dungeon, the time distortion, and the unexpected power he had gained. The driver eventually pulled up to his home, breaking the spell of Jarred's thoughts.

"We've arrived, sir," the driver announced, his voice snapping Jarred back to reality.

As soon as he stepped through the front door, Hana was there, her eyes wide with concern as she took in his disheveled appearance. The torn clothes, the dirt, and dried blood were impossible to miss. "What happened to your clothes, brother? Are you okay?" Her voice trembled slightly, betraying her anxiety.

Jarred forced a smile, trying to ease her worries. "I'm fine, Hana. Just had a bit of an adventure, that's all. Fell while I was out exploring." He hoped the half-truth would be enough, but Hana's sharp gaze told him she wasn't convinced.

"Brother, I know you're not telling me everything. Please, just tell me what's going on," she pleaded, her voice soft but insistent.

Jarred sighed, realizing there was no hiding the truth from her. He led her to the living room, where they both sat down. Slowly, he recounted the day's events—the strange, uncharted dungeon, the time gap, and the battle that had nearly cost him his life. Hana listened with rapt attention, her eyes widening with each new revelation.

When he finished, there was a moment of stunned silence. Then, Hana finally spoke, her voice filled with awe. "Brother, this is incredible. You've found something no one else has. You need to go back and explore it more. Who knows what else you could discover?"

Jarred was hesitant. The memory of the brutal fights and the near-death experiences was still fresh in his mind. But Hana's words struck a chord within him. She was right—this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The dungeon was dangerous, but it was also filled with potential. His desire to uncover its secrets, combined with the prospect of the wealth it could bring, began to outweigh his fears.

"I'm ready," he said, determination hardening his voice. He knew he couldn't let this chance slip through his fingers.

The next time he entered the dungeon, Jarred was more prepared. The monsters were tougher, the traps more cunning, but he had learned from his previous encounters. His improved stats made him faster and stronger, and he moved through the dungeon with a confidence that had been absent before. The creatures that had once posed a significant threat now fell before him with relative ease.

"That was easy," he muttered to himself after dispatching a particularly aggressive beast. His increased strength allowed him to take down the creatures with less effort, though he noticed that the rewards were not as bountiful as his first venture. Still, the valuable drop items were worth collecting, and he dutifully stored them in his inventory.

As he rummaged through the remains of one of the monsters, a glimmer of light caught his eye. Buried within the beast's corpse was a small, crystalline object. Jarred carefully extracted it, holding it up to the dim light of the dungeon. His breath hitched as he recognized what it was—a mana crystal, and not just any mana crystal, but one of high concentration.

"Mana crystal…" he whispered, the words barely escaping his lips as his hands trembled slightly. He knew the value of such a find; the higher the concentration of mana within the crystal, the more it was worth. The dungeons he usually hunted in had nothing that compared to this.

Tears welled up in his eyes, unbidden, as the enormity of what he held sank in. This crystal alone could change his life. "With this amount, I can provide for Hana, get the medicine for Mom…," he murmured, wiping away the tears with the back of his hand. It wasn't sadness that brought the tears, but relief—relief at the thought of being able to care for his family without the constant struggle.

Hours passed as he delved deeper into the dungeon, each step bringing him closer to the heart of the mystery. The creatures grew stronger, their attacks more vicious, but Jarred's resolve only hardened. He navigated through winding passages and avoided deadly traps with the precision of someone who had done this many times before.

Eventually, Jarred found himself standing before a massive, ancient-looking door. Pushing it open with some effort, he stepped into a large, cavernous room. The walls were lined with strange, glowing runes that cast an eerie light across the chamber. In the center of the room stood a pedestal, and upon it rested an object that radiated a powerful, almost palpable energy.

"What is this?" Jarred approached the pedestal cautiously, his eyes locked on the glowing object. It pulsed with a strange aura, one that seemed to call out to him, beckoning him closer.

As he extended his hand toward it, a surge of energy shot through his arm, coursing through his veins like liquid fire. The light from the object intensified, enveloping him in its brilliance. Jarred's heart pounded in his chest as the light overwhelmed his senses, blinding him to everything else.

"This is—!!" His voice was lost in the blinding light as the energy consumed him, filling him with a power unlike anything he had ever known. The object's true nature remained a mystery, but whatever it was, it was about to change Jarred's life in ways he couldn't yet imagine.