The Train to The Dungeon

Chapter 1: Porter

Jakarta, 2033

The tone of the notification on the phone was heard several times. While wearing a deep blue jacket that looked small on the body, I glanced at the screen and read the message from the Hunter Association.

[Dungeon Event will start at 15:00 WIB. All Hunters who will participate please gather at Jakarta Kota Station at 14.00 WIB].

The wall clock showed at half-two, I still had quite a bit of time before departure into the dungeon.

I looked at the fatty round face that was bouncing on the hanging mirror. Both my eyebrows are thick like Shinchan, my nose is pug with both eyes narrowed because of the cheek fat. While wearing box glasses with a black frame, I tidied up the dark hair bangs.

Though my hairstyle is quite trendy following the style of coma like the Korean oppa-oppa. What power, said my online game friend instead looks like a pig wearing a bowl hat.

I switched to wearing a brown vest made from the skin of a dungeon monster. There's a puncture mark here and there, the strap has even come off but I'm still trying to stick it with glue. Don't forget I took out a super thin ash shield that was already dented and scuffed in some parts.

Although the shape is pitiful, I can't throw this shield. Not because this shield is a valuable object, but it is very expensive. With the money I have now, I can't even buy a shield of more or less the same quality than this.

Then I draped the place of the sword on my wide waist. The sword with the length of the adult's arm looked like a child's toy next to my waist. My appearance seems ridiculous, but this is the SOP that must be met to work as a Hunter.

The lower the Hunter level, the more stringent the salience procedures it should be subjected to.

“Oke, time to work, Arka,” muttered me, self-admonishing.

I went down to the first floor and greeted Aunt Tara who was watching TV in the living room.

“Tante, I'm leaving first yes!” I said while wearing shoes.

“Be careful, Arka! Don't go home with wounds again!” reply Aunt Tara.

Aunt Tara is my mother's sister, but they are like the earth and sky. Looks like Aunt Tara got the best genes from my grandmother and grandfather. His brown curls are always stroked, his skin is still tight at the age of four heads. His body is good and he is fit to wear any outfit. His smile makes you want to run into his arms to tell various complaints.

I closed the door and walked to the front of the housing complex. Not long after, the online motorcycle taxi I ordered came and we headed straight to Jakarta Kota Station.

On a hot and scorching day in Jakarta, the city is like a hot battlefield. Streets that are usually already congested become more severe during the day. Cars and long-lined motors, trying to move forward at a very slow pace. Horns were heard pounding along the road, accompanying the desperate sighs of drivers caught in traffic. The heat of the temperature makes the riders look sultry and sweaty behind their steering wheel.

The motorbike finally arrived at the station. I wiped the sweat off my forehead that was already flooded. If it wasn't for work, I would have been lazy to leave the house this afternoon. Arriving in front of Jakarta Kota Station, there have been many Hunters gathered.

In the middle of the field stood the old red tents belonging to the Hunter Association. The Hunter Association is an organization that works with the government. Their main task was to protect the public from the threat of dungeon monsters. They created the Hunter Rating system, mapping locations and giving news of dungeon appearances. This organization also became a facilitator for traders who intend to buy and sell materials from dungeons, ranging from medicinal raw materials to building materials.

While “Dungeon” is a designation for portals that appear on the station. We Hunters are in charge of cleaning up every dungeon that appears at the station. If the mission inside the dungeon is not completed in three days, then the monsters inside the portal will come out into the human world— as happened 10 years ago.

Of course, no one wants the tragedy to repeat itself, including me.

Although it has been 10 years, I still clearly remember the phenomenon of the first Dungeon appearance on December 31, 2023. At the time, I was 13 years old. I watched a stream recorded by a KRL user.

The streamer was taking KRL from Tebet Station to Manggarai Station. However, the electric train never made it to Manggarai Station. He sat in the second carriage and witnessed the appearance of a glowing white circle in front of the platform. The train could not be stopped and eventually went into a circle. As soon as the train came out of the long white hallway, it turned out that they were already in the middle of nowhere.

Surrounding them was a dense forest, then came a small hairy monster with fangs and claws. They don't know what to do, but the monsters end up killing everyone, including the video recorder. Before long, the same white circle appeared in the middle of the city and the monsters that had been slaughtering passengers came out from there.

The incident happened simultaneously all over the world. All the stations suddenly turned into dungeon portals. Those who entered and could not complete the dungeon would get punished. The same portal would randomly appear in the city, then those monsters would break out of the portal and wreak havoc. This event is referred to as “Outbreak”.

The Jakarta outbreak 10 years ago not only left infrastructure partially crippled, but also cost thousands of lives. The new outbreak was successfully dealt with after the entire army was deployed to kill the monsters. The phenomenon only occurs in capitals around the world, such as targeting places with high population densities.

After the incident, all stations were closed and only used as a place to clean the dungeon. Mass transportation diverted to buses and taxis online.

The Hunters in charge of clearing the dungeon could only enter the portal using the carriage. Thus, Japan in collaboration with the Hunter Association created a special train without a driver to deliver the Hunters into the dungeon. It's considered safer. They named the train Dungeon Rapid Train or DRT.

I walked over to one of the posts containing three officers from the Hunter Association. The three men were wearing black suits that looked like executives at SCBD.

I'm a little offended to be called “Bapak”. I'm only 23 years old. I pulled out my phone and opened my Hunter ID card app. The man simply did a scan and then appeared a photo along with a brief identity on the computer screen.

“You.. Hunter Without Rank?” he asked, a little surprised while reading my data. “You sure you want to get into the dungeon? Although this is an event but the minimum requirements are Hunter Rank E.”

“It's okay, I'm just here as Porter.”

“Ah, Porter.” It's mangosteen. “Alright, no problem then.”

The man typed something on his keyboard. “OK, your license has been taken care of, happy hunting, Hunter.”

I left the table with a deep breath. Actually, that reaction wasn't the first time I'd experienced it. Dungeons have several levels, but even the easiest Dungeons have a minimum Hunter Rank E requirement. While I am a Rankless Hunter which means that my status is even below the weakest Hunter.

Among the many choices of profession, I actually became Porter because I was forced to. My parents left me with a lot of debt. Aunt Tara has put me in her house, there's no way I can trouble her anymore to pay off my parents' debt.

To earn a lot of money one of them is to become a Hunter. However, my abilities are not enough to become a Hunter, that's why I ended up being a Porter.

“Oh that's him! Hey, Arka! Here!”

I heard someone say my name. I looked at the source of the voice, appearing a muscular man with a layer of silver armor on his body waved to me near the station entrance. He was surrounded by 9 other people who were members of his party.

My steps are approaching towards him. Actually, I'm lazy to work with that guy's party. My experience with them has never been so good. But how else, that party called Bothunter is the one that most often hired me as Porter.

Bugs!

A small blow landed on my stomach. Because it's Hunter power, obviously the pain is many times more than ordinary human blows. The blow was landed by Rozak, a member of the Cepmek-style BotHunter. He was dressed like a medieval swordsman, complete with a long silver sword at his waist.

“Udah paid dearly, even dateng late!” mean it.

“Rozak, baby, don't be rude so dong,” said Fani, her boyfriend who is also a member of the Party BotHunter.

Fani was arguably the only good party member to me. He also has a seductive crazy body. Now she wears the famous sexy Mage dress with a low cleavage and black stockings that wrap her legs up to her thighs.

Rozak seemed to catch where my eyes were headed, he immediately threw another punch in the stomach.

“Ugh!” I grimaced as I fell to the floor of the station, some people immediately noticed us.

“Rozak!” Fani pinches her boyfriend's arm, anxious. Then the girl helped me stand up. “Maafin Rozak Yes, Arka.”

I nodded shyly. As a gesture of kindness, I offered to bring her a bag.

“Let me bring you,” I said as I grabbed Fani's bag and put it on my back.

“Hey, mine too, don't that chick doang!” Another member of the BothHunter man, Malih, threw his backpack at me. Forced, I brought the bag too.

The final total was three bags that I carried in my hands, one on my back and one on my chest. It is like this the work of a Porter— party goods bearer who will enter the Dungeon. Porter's work was usually taken by low-level Hunters, such as Rank E and No Rank.

The Chairman of the BotHunter Party, David, told us all to go inside the station because there was already an announcement of the Dungeon opening. Upon entering, there were already many Hunters gathered in the waiting room. The DRT door opened and the Hunter-Hunter went inside.

We got to a spot in the eighth carriage. The interior is similar to the Rapid Train series in general, but DRT only has ten car chains. The train was crowded and crowded as many were interested in the Dungeon Event. I'm guessing there might be around 500 Hunters participating this time around.

There was a whistle, the train moved to leave the platform. At the end of the station's track, there was a glowing purple circle. The train entered the portal, the view of the skyscrapers in Jakarta instantly disappeared and changed the long purple hallway. Within five minutes, the train exited the tunnel and arrived at an area of forest submerged by swamps.

The intersection in the carriage made a sound. “Welcome to The Dungeon, Hunter!”