Locked in an instant dungeon (Part-1)

Tianzhu's brows furrowed in irritation. "Tch. We had to be stuck in a dungeon, at times. And that too, a Grade 3." Since transmigrating to this world, Tianzhu had never gone inside a dungeon, but the former self had been in many.

But, still, his past self hated them, atleast since five years ago. Not because they are threatening his life, but due to the fact that his children were forcefully awakened at the tender age of 9 because of such an instant dungeon.

Basically, dungeons are of three types.

1) Open dungeon, which generally encompasses a certain region like a forest, an island, mountains, etc.

2) A dimensional dungeon, which exists in a different dimension with its own space-time laws, but its entrance appears periodically at certain historical sites. They are mostly harmless, as no monster escapes from the portals.

3) Instant dungeon, which can randomly open up anywhere in the world, taking over a certain amount of space based on its grade. When it appears, the entire region it encompasses will be locked down and everyone inside. No one can escape the exit. People can only enter this type of dungeon. Based on its grade, there will be a time limit for the preparation. The Higher its grade, the greater the time limit. And when the time limit is over, the monsters will flood the dungeon and massacre everyone inside. The ones who weren't caught inside will have no issues as the monsters won't escape this dungeon either, but still, an instant dungeon space will be locked forever until the boss monster of that dungeon is killed. It was was often the worst type of dungeon.

However, luckily, this one is only a Grade-3, a medium difficulty dungeon that spans over 25-100 meters in radius, with over 120 minutes of preparation time, and will release from 50-200 monsters.

And right now, Tianzhu and his two teenage children, alongside more than a thousand people from various floors who were currently shopping in the mall, were stuck in this instant dungeon.

Some began quickly, hurrying toward the safe zone, pushing others away in the process.

Some calmly put away their carts and followed the staff in a careful manner.

And there are some who seemed unhurried and continued their shopping as if this were a daily occurrence to them, or it might be because there were still two hours left.

Tianzhu pushed away the carts and tightly held Theo and Vera's hands instinctively, following the employee who was with them earlier. Together, they made their way to the nearest escalator marked SAFE ZONE -> CENTRAL ATRIUM.

Due to the network being dead, having no other way to contact his subordinates who were still inside the mall and perhaps observing them, Tianzhu tightly held their hands as he moved along with others.

"Please stay calm! Hunters are en route. Please move orderly!" A young employee nearby directed the traffic and tried to manage the rushing crowds, although his own voice was shaking in panic.

Around him, shoppers ran frantically, not heeding his calls at all. He got pushed by many, but he tried to manage, using his voice as loudly as possible.

*Uwaaa*

A child started crying as she was abandoned in the middle of a rushing crowd. The employee saw it, and his facial expression changed, his body turning into a blur of lightning sparks by the surge of mana. He then rushed forward, passing through the people, and picked up the little child in almost an instant, dragging the boy to the side. "Damn it. This is getting worse."

*95 minutes left till the Rift activation.*

Tianzhu, Vera, and Theo finally arrived at the atrium, packed with thousands of people. There was panic; screams were coming from everywhere. Some mothers lost their children, some were even injured, and many were, of course, scared as hell. 

"Dad!" Vera clung closer to him, her voice barely audible in this chaos. "Dad, they say it is Grade 3. That means the boss monster will be a Class-2, right?"

Tianzhu held her tightly and put up a smile. "Everything will be alright. No need for panic." After a brief pause, he looked to the side at his son. His face turned a bit serious. "Theo, I know what's going on in your mind, but you must not fight, understood?"

"Eh?" Theo was mildly surprised. "But this is an emergency. If we don't fight, who will save these people?"

To that, Tianzhu sternly replied. "The hunters will come soon enough and take care of the monsters. You don't need to try to play the hero. Just sit and wait like everyone else."

*72 minutes left till the Rift Activation*

By this time, more than thirty hunters from Starlight Guild and another ten hunters from Haze Guild had already arrived at the mall, entering the dungeon.

The Haze Guild Hunters came down to the atrium to protect them while the Starlight Guild Hunters went to the fourth floor, where the spatial distortion was happening—meaning, it is where the rift will be activated and the monsters rush out.

*18 minutes left till the Rift Activation*

Tianzhu sat there in a corner; Vera and Theo sat beside him against the wall, Vera sitting in the middle. The former had her eyes closed and was listening to music to calm her nerves, while the latter was constantly observing his father and the surroundings.

The atmosphere was calmer now, compared to an hour ago. It is not that everyone has become calmer.

If anything, more and more people began to worry as the time was ticking down to the last twenty minutes. However, at the very least, there was less noise and crying in the atrium. Whoever had separated earlier was reunited with their companions, with the support of the staff members of the mall.

Four men in suits were seen standing not far away from the Qin family, but far enough to keep their presence largely unnoticed.

Tianzhu, on the other hand, is also busy on his phone, playing an offline chess game against the Bot. The probability factor was displayed on the side, the engine analyzing the bot's moves and Tianzhu's, giving a live score of 46.4 : 53.6, i.e., Tianzhu was slightly losing.

He seemed so engrossed in the game that he didn't notice someone sitting beside him and observing his game for a while, too. As his eyes were darting left and right, all over the board on the screen to find the move, a voice obstructed his concentration. "Knight to F7."

"Eh?" Tianzhu cast a sidelong glance to the right and saw a woman looking at his phone and then at him. "Hi." She smiled.

She seemed Korean, and yet at the same time, she didn't seem like one.

"Inspect."