Becoming The Strongest Using My Would-You-Rather System!-Chapter 43 - Entering The Dungeon

Not long after, the vehicle began to slow down.

Ahead of them stood a massive reinforced gate, surrounded by thick concrete walls and multiple watchtowers.

A dozen armed men lined the perimeter.

As the vehicle approached, barriers lifted and the gate slowly opened.

Owen’s eyes widened slightly.

"...Damn."

Theo didn’t say anything, his gaze serious as he glanced through the window.

’This is on another level,’ he thought.

The sheer scale of it all was... far beyond anything they’d expected.

As the vehicle passed through the gate, it only drove a little further before coming to a stop.

The soldier stepped out immediately and opened the doors for both of them with a serious expression.

Theo stepped out first, taking in a deep breath as he took his surroundings in.

Owen followed right after, also freezing for a moment.

That’s when Theo spotted Iris, standing only a few meters away in front of the vehicle.

She was dressed in lean military clothes, with a medium-sized backpack and her spear strapped to her back.

Beside her stood two soldiers, one of whom seemed to be a younger female while the other was a middle-aged man.

"You’re here," Iris said, smiling softly as she walked over.

Theo gave a small nod, scratching the back of his head.

"Good morning."

Owen glanced between them for a moment, raising an eyebrow.

"...You two know each other pretty well, huh?"

Theo’s expression froze.

He turned to look at Owen, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Before he got the chance to say something, Iris stepped in with a smile.

"You must be Owen," she said before pausing for a moment.

"Nice to meet you."

Owen blinked once, then quickly straightened his posture.

"Yeah," he said, giving a small nod. "Nice to meet you too."

Iris returned the nod before her expression shifted slightly, the softness in her smile fading.

"Before we head in, there are a few things we need to go over," she said.

She turned slightly, gesturing towards the young female soldier beside her.

"This is Emma," Iris said. "She’ll be joining us."

The girl gave a small nod, her posture straight.

"She’s a bronze core who specializes in research and analysis," Iris continued. "If something’s off inside, she’ll be able to help us figure it out."

Theo glanced at her briefly and nodded once.

"Nice to meet you," he said. "We’ll be in your care."

Then he turned to Iris again.

"So," he started, his expression serious. "Can you explain a bit more about the dungeon’s irregularities?"

Iris’s gaze hardened as she nodded.

"The last few teams that went in for training reported... a strange phenomenon," she said. "It’s something you more or less know about already."

Theo raised an eyebrow immediately, a familiar uncomfortable feeling rising in his chest.

"Creatures are aggressive to the point where they risk their lives just to kill," she continued. "They are also moving in large groups and appear in places they normally wouldn’t."

Hearing that, Theo’s jaw clenched together.

’That again,’ he thought. ’...Everything about this feels off.’

His mind raced for a moment before glancing up at Iris.

"What can we do to help or figure out why this is happening?"

Iris didn’t respond immediately, her gaze briefly darting to Emma.

"We’ll be collecting some blood samples and cores," she said. "Pretty much anything we can get our hands on."

That’s when Emma stepped forward.

"If their behavior has changed, something likely affected them on a biological level," she added. "Like mana instability in their cores or contamination from some kind of disease, for example."

Theo nodded slowly, deep in thought.

After a moment, he glanced up.

"Sounds reasonable," he said before turning to Owen.

"Are you also fine with this? It could get a little dangerous."

Owen blinked once, glancing between the three of them.

"...I’m gonna be honest," he said. "I have no idea what any of you just said."

Theo stared at him for a few seconds, clearly unable to believe what he just heard.

"But if you’re going in," Owen continued, grinning, "then so am I."

Theo let out a small breath, shaking his head slightly.

"...Alright," he said. "We can move to the dungeon then."

Iris nodded once, smiling as she locked eyes with Theo before gesturing for them to follow her as she turned around.

The two soldiers moved alongside her, walking deeper into the facility while Owen and Theo followed closely behind them.

After a few seconds, Owen leaned slightly to the side and elbowed Theo.

"I can’t believe you lied to me," he whispered. "You two definitely have something going..."

Theo didn’t even bother looking at him.

"I told you," he replied quietly. "It’s nothing like that."

"Sure," Owen muttered.

Theo felt the brief urge to hit him, but ignored it. He kept his gaze forward as his expression turned serious again.

Something felt off.

But he just couldn’t understand or explain what exactly it was.

A few minutes later, the group came to a halt.

Both Theo and Owen stared in front of them, their eyes wide.

A large tunnel stretched deep into the mountain, wide enough for at least four vehicles to pass through side by side. White mana lights lined the ceiling, lighting up the path with a soft glow.

"...Woah," Owen muttered.

Even Theo couldn’t help but feel amazed at the sight of such a deep tunnel.

Iris stepped forward, gesturing to the tunnel with a hand.

"This tunnel will take us about four miles into the mountain," she said, "and roughly five hundred meters down."

She glanced back at them.

"It opens into a land pocket from there."

Owen let out a low whistle, his eyes still wide.

"That’s... insane."

Theo nodded slowly, fully agreeing with Owen. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"I didn’t expect it to be anything like this," he said, his voice low.

Emma stepped forward slightly, noticing their expressions.

"Most people don’t," she said. "They think dungeons are just caves."

She paused briefly.

"But that’s not even close."

Theo’s gaze shifted to her, intrigued.

"Dungeons extend deep into the earth, usually beneath mountains," Emma continued. "Each contains a land pocket filled with resources and creatures that live and reproduce there."

Just before she could continue with more, Iris clapped her hands together.

"Alright," she said. "Let’s do the final check-ups on our gear."

All three of them snapped out of it and immediately nodded.

Owen glanced over his backpack and sledgehammer, while Theo did the same with his spear.

Emma glanced down at a small device around her wrist, tapping it once before nodding.

All three of them gave a small nod to Iris, signaling their readiness.

"Good," she said. "Let’s go in now."