The Wandering Dungeon Store

It had been three days.

When Victor woke up in the morning three days ago, his life changed. His bedroom door and windows were locked, and blocked by some unknown force. When Victor looked out of the windows, the only thing he saw was an endless white space. His whole living space was reduced to his bedroom, and the adjacent bathroom, whose only small window also shared the same fate as its bedroom counterpart.

There was no phone or radio signal, no internet either. He didn’t have a landline phone, but Victor doubted that it would still be working even if he had one. At least he still had running water and electricity.

For the first day, Victor had banged on his door and windows and screamed, hoping for anyone to hear him, but even when his voice turned hoarse from being overused, no one answered his call. He even tried sending out messages from his phone, calling the emergency numbers, slipping pieces of paper under the bedroom door, nothing worked. At the end of the day, or at least that was what Victor guessed from looking at his phone’s clock, he gave up and went to sleep, wishing that it was all a dream, that he would wake up in the morning and forget all about this nightmare.

He woke up, but the ‘nightmare’ continued.

However, on the second day, Victor noticed a strange program running on his computer. When he opened it up, a black screen appeared, with a progress bar and a line of text that said [Syncing: 45%]. He didn’t know what was syncing, but the progress was definitely going up as time went by. By the end of day three, it had already reached 80%. By Victor’s estimation, it would complete around noon on the fourth day.

What would happen once it was completed? He didn’t know, but there was nothing else he could do but wait. He had food stashed in the desk drawer, and there was a kettle inside his bedroom. As long as the water and electricity kept working, he could live off them for at least another week. Hopefully, things would have changed for the better by then.

With that in mind, Victor sat down in front of his computer, and started playing some offline games that he had installed. His mind wasn’t in it, but he needed something to pass the time, or else he would go crazy from staring at the progress bar.

On the fourth day, at around eleven, it finally reached 100%. Victor was waiting for it, holding his breath. He knew that he was going to be released from his imprisonment one way or another. In front of him, the screen flicked for a moment. The bar and line of text disappeared, and was replaced a second later by another bunch of text.

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[Host: Victor Wright]

[Welcome to Durith, which is, according to you, a fantasy world.]

[This is an automated message from the creators of the 40th Beta System, which was assigned to the host to help him with the basics of surviving the harsh world of Durith. At this time, its functionalities are limited, but the System will grow with the host, so try your best to survive and grow. You won’t be disappointed.]

[Now, you’re probably in a panic, or not, given how adaptability and a stable mind are just some of the qualities that we used to choose the host. Nevertheless, you’re owed an answer. In short, you’re no longer on Earth. You’ve been chosen from millions of suitable candidates to be the host of our 40th Beta System. Why Beta, you ask? Because it’s not complete, and you’re the one who will help us to complete it. You will be rewarded accordingly each time the System makes progress.]

[Here are the rules: You will be given a small shop, connected to your bedroom door. Your mission is to run this shop, selling the goods to customers from all over Durith. Keep in mind that the above primary goal may change as the system grows, but for now, that’s what you have to work with. At this point, your store won’t have a fixed location. It’s simply a space that exists in the infinite void. During operating hours, an entrance will appear at a random, safe location inside one of Durith’s many dungeons, where potential customers may wander in. You get to decide on the opening hours, but our advice is to keep it running for at least 8 hours a day.]

[You’ve also been given all basic things needed to have a functional store. Outside of those, you’re free to acquire more furniture or goods either directly from Durith, or from the System’s store, which can be accessed by your computer or phone app. However, only goods bought from the System’s store will contribute toward both your and the System’s progress. Besides, the quality of our stuff is leagues better than what you usually see in Durith, so we don’t see why you would want to waste time trading with that, unless it’s an exceedingly rare item.]

[One last thing, you can expand the shop, and add more functionalities to it, for a fee. In the end, it might not even be a shop anymore, depending on where you want to take it. We’re excited to see what you will do with the gift you’ve been given.]

[We will leave the rest for you to discover on your own. Good luck, host.]

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“This…is a joke, right?” Victor sat, bewildered, staring at the computer’s screen with wide eyes, but a part of him knew that it was true. A quick glance showed him that the outside of his windows were still a white space as far as the eyes could see. Checking his phone, Victor saw that there was another app named ‘System Interface’ that just appeared.

Victor’s brows furrowed as he stood up and headed toward the bedroom door. After a second of hesitation, he tried pushing it. The door opened without making a sound, revealing the familiar small hallway with a staircase that led down to the first floor where his kitchen and living room were supposed to be. The only difference was that the door that led out to the second floor balcony, which was on the other side of the hallway had disappeared.

Victor took a deep breath and walked downstairs. He didn’t have to go far though. His entire first floor had been changed into a small room around 25 square meters. Its aesthetic completely clashed with the bedroom above. Victor’s living quarter retained its modern look. The store space, however, was really basic, just like what was written in the message. Its wooden floor was rough, covered with a cheap looking brown rug. Right in the middle, running across the room was a wooden counter with glass display spaces on top of it. Leaning against the back side of the shop, behind all the counters, was a small kitchen counter, though there was nothing but a kettle and a microwave on it at the moment.

On the other side of the room, near what Victor assumed was the front door, was a set of one round table and four chairs. That was it. There was no other decoration, nor was there any window. Though the latter made sense to Victor. What was the use of windows if he was just floating around in the infinite void?

With a sigh, Victor dropped down, sitting on the stairs with his face buried into his hands. At least he was still alive. There was still a chance that he was already dead and this all was just a hallucination before him passing to the afterlife, but he had to be positive. He was alive until proven otherwise.

The bad thing was…pretty much everything else. He was stranded in the infinite void, with a shop that wouldn’t pass any modern standard forced onto his lap. There was still no phone or internet signal, and Victor didn’t know the first thing about running a store. Just a few days ago, he was just a normal, freshly graduated guy who was looking for a job. His academic record was average. If there was something that Victor was proud about himself, then it was his look. He knew that he was handsome, and could be charismatic when he needed to.

There was also the fact that he was the, now former, captain of his university’s archery team, competing in various tournaments at the national level. But Victor didn’t think that it would help him run a store, unless he wanted to use his customers as practice targets.

“Or would it?” He wondered. The message mentioned that Durith was a harsh place, and that his shop would appear in dungeons, where dangerous being frequented, if his knowledge from reading tons of webnovels held true. “Yes, better safe than sorry.”

Victor would need to check on the composite bow and some dozens of arrows stashed under his bed later. While the university provided equipment for its club members, Victor always liked to have his own set, and he felt like he performed better with them than without.

For the time being, Victor accepted the message at face value. If this was all a dream, then he would wake up sooner or later. If it wasn’t, then there was no need to let despair and indecisiveness consume himself. It might even be a boon. He had been trying to get a job for weeks without any success, and now one was given to him without any effort on his part. It was shady as hell, and he didn’t even know what his ‘salary’ was going to be, but since he wasn’t given a choice, might as well went with it, and broke himself out of his stupor, passing the days by reading fiction and playing video games.

Relatives? None left. At least none that would be concerned by his wellbeing. His parents had passed away while he was still a sophomore, and he had no siblings.

After adjusting his mindset and taking a positive look at the situation, Victor even felt a little excited. His own shop! Transferred to another world just like in the novels that he liked to read! Even if the shop was shitty, he could, and definitely would improve it. He even had a System!

Speaking of System, Victor pulled out his phone and touched the new icon. A screen popped up with three options: Status, System’s Shop, and Open Store.

“Let’s check out status,” said Victor as he tapped the option.

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[Host name: Victor Wright

Shop name: Unset (Tap to set)

Progress: 0%

—- Host Attributes —-

Strength: 6

Strength represents the host’s physical power. With higher strength, your melee attacks will be stronger, you can carry more without slowing down, and draw heavier bows. You will also move faster.

Dexterity: 8

Dexterity represents fineness. The host will have an easier time doing complex and delicate tasks with high dexterity. Traversing rough terrains and dodging incoming attacks will become easier. Dexterity also has a small effect on aiming accuracy when using range based attacks.

Perception: 6

Perception represents awareness. With high perception, the host will be able to sense incoming danger without actually seeing them. Sight and hearing will also become better, though not very noticeable at low perception.

Vitality: 5

Vitality represents the recovering power of the host’s body. The higher this attribute, the faster you will heal from non-lethal injuries, as well as gaining resistances to various status effects and poisons.

Mind: 5

Mind represents the host’s compatibility with all things magical. You will have an easier time casting spells, experiencing less drawbacks, and have a better chance of having magical enhancements on your body without them being rejected. 

Each attribute has an average of 5, equal to an adult human without any training. Every time the host makes progress, a random attribute will increase by 1. Please note that a Mind attribute of 5 is equal to having no compatibility with magic at all, as most humans tend to be.]

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“That kinda sucks, doesn’t it?” Victor felt a little disappointed. Transferring to a fantasy world without the ability to use magic was like eating a meal without seasoning. He didn’t lose hope though, since a random attribute would increase each time he made progress, so his Mind would definitely improve as long as he kept working.

Aside from those, there were some other entries for Host’s talents, and Shop’s skills. Both of them were empty though, so Victor decided not to bother with them for now. He needed to check out other things as well, especially the System’s Shop, to see what he could sell on the opening day of his store.