As Zero opened his eyes, he found himself in a strange corridor lined with torches that looked like they were nailed to the walls.

"Ack. What the hell? Where am I?" He muttered to himself as he staggered up and dusted off his clothes.

Ding!

[You are currently in an unnamed Tier 1 dungeon, commonly formed when mana irregularities appear.]

"Mana irregularities? Wait, who the hell are you?" Zero spun around as he tried to locate the unknown entity.

[I am currently residing inside of your soul. You do not have to worry, only you can hear me.]

"Yeah, I don't think that's what I'm supposed to be worried about right now. Who the hell are you and where am I?"

[I am your personal system, host. You are currently in the world of Aurim within a first tier dungeon.]

"I-I, what?" Zero stuttered. "This is the kind of stuff that only happens in those fictions I read, right? I must be dreaming, there's no way that this is possible."

[Rest assured, you are not currently in a state of unconsciousness. I can, however, trigger the nerves responsible for registering pain in your body to prove that this is reality.]

"What? No, wait. Don't do that."

[Very well. However, you should try to escape the dungeon as quickly as possible. It is unsafe. Please proceed with caution.]

"Huh? What do you mean?" Zero called out. "Hey, are you there?"

Zero frowned as the self-proclaimed system didn't respond.

Bastard. Seriously, what the hell is going on right now? The first thing I need to do is find some other people who know what's going on. I can't just stand here forever and just starve to death. I need to get going as soon as possible. But...

Zero looked around him. Both directions of the corridor he was trapped in seemed to stretch on endlessly with no exit in sight.

...where the hell am I supposed to go?!? I can't just be wasting time here, I need to get going. And that "system", it's dangerous. It can trigger nerves in my body, so it can probably mess with my body as well. I don't know the full extent of what it can do, but it's best to be cautious of it for now. Hmm... what should I do?

Zero looked at the walls for clues and noticed that the torches seemed to be angled more in one direction than the other, alongside the patterns on the wall that seemed to form an arrow.

It's almost as if it wants me to go in that direction... then I'll just do the opposite.

Zero started walking down the corridor that seemed to stretch on infinitely.