The rain hadn't stopped since yesterday.
Riven sat hunched over in his dimly lit apartment — or rather, an apartment that looked identical to his own, but existed in a world that clearly wasn't his.
Same cracked ceiling. Same battered bookshelf in the corner. But the books it held? Titles he had never seen before.
But he still he could understand them all like he has learnt it before.
His fingers swiped across the phone screen again. It booted up like any normal smartphone — but the news app showed something entirely foreign.
[Breaking: Storm Howl Clears A-Rank Dungeon in Zareth Highlands. Two Healers Injured.]
[Editorial: Should Guilds Be Allowed to Auction Dungeon Relics?]
"Zareth Highlands… Storm Howl…?"
He dug deeper. The phone's browser seemed synced to this world's internet — Earth-1's internet.
"Earth-1," he muttered. "So that's what this world calls itself…"
The realization hadn't fully settled in, even after the volcanic dungeon collapse and his strange reappearance in this warped reflection of home.
He was in the same city, but with a different sky.
.....
Over the next few hours, Riven devoured the headlines, articles, archived footage, and even digital encyclopedias. Everything pointed to one truth:
This was a world that had long known about dungeons, hunters, and awakeners.
"In the year 2000, the First Dungeon Awakening changed everything. A dimensional rupture in the Solvarin continent marked the birth of modern dungeonology. Beasts spilled into the world, followed by the first signs of human Awakening."
Some individuals developed heightened strength, speed, even elemental powers — triggered by direct exposure to dungeon energy. The rest remained ordinary.
"Twenty-five years of monsters, power grabs, and sealed vaults…" Riven muttered, scrolling through archived timelines.
From 2001 onward, humanity scrambled to adapt. Guilds were formed — powerful factions that trained and controlled Awakened individuals.
By 2010, they had grown into military-scale organizations, clearing dungeons and claiming territory across all six continents:
Valdera
Solvarin
Jezrak
Ithrial
Morae
Kaveth
Riven was currently in Valdera, in a city called Caelmire, according to a local weather app.
GoingThrough the Screen
He tapped on a link titled "A Relic's Echo: The Legacy of DNA Rings". The article was from a science journal, dated two years ago.
"Recovered relics from S-Rank dungeons suggest the existence of a lost civilization that attempted to manipulate genetic codes through wearable artifact-tech. These failed attempts, dubbed 'DNA Rings,' appear to be primitive, unstable versions of an unknown device class."
A photo showed a cracked metallic ring, half-melted into obsidian. It glowed faint green.
"They tried to make an Omnitrix," Riven whispered, eyes narrowing. "But they didn't know what they were doing."
Another article referenced secure storage facilities operated by top guilds. These vaults contained alien DNA samples extracted from dungeon cores. Some samples were fused to monstrous bosses. Others were dormant but unstable — too dangerous to tamper with.
He noted a highlighted classification:
Type-R DNA Sample — Containment Required. Do Not Activate.
His fingers hovered over the screen.
"They've been finding alien DNA all this time... and they still don't understand what it really is."
...
The phone battery died around midnight.
Riven turned to the bookshelf, finding a history textbook labeled "Post-Awakening Civilization: Year 2000 to Present."
He flipped through it slowly, absorbing the rise of the World Dungeon Council, the founding of the major guilds, and the evolution of hunter society.
There were even maps — showing S-rank dungeon zones, cleared relic sites, and guild headquarters.
Each major guild controlled different kinds of dungeons and relics, all protected by elite Awakeners — many of them harboring powers rivaling monsters themselves.
One page summarized the global power structure clearly:
"To be recognized by the World Dungeon Council, a guild must possess at least one S-Rank Awakened. These individuals are capable of resisting complete dungeon assimilation and can clear catastrophic-level relic zones — often sites where ancient technologies have fused with living DNA."
His mind flashed back to the Hellbound Guardian, the molten creature he defeated in the first dungeon. That thing was sentient. It learned, spoke, and adapted. It wasn't just a monster — it was guarding something ancient.
And it bled alien fire.
"That wasn't just a random creature. That was… the dungeon itself. A failed clone. A relic guardian."
...
The city lights flickered outside his window. Neon signs buzzed, the hum of distant hovercars drifted through the glass, and somewhere beyond the skyline, more dungeon gates shimmered in the night.
He had the real thing.
The real Omnitrix — the original device those ancient civilizations had failed to replicate for centuries.
But it needed more DNA.
And it wasn't just the dungeons he had to worry about.
"If the guilds are hoarding DNA samples, they're not going to give them up quietly."
He clenched his fist and looked down at the watch.
"If I want to unlock more aliens… I'll have to take them myself."
And if that meant entering the deepest vaults, defying the guilds, or clearing the most dangerous dungeons this world had ever seen — so be it.
He wasn't their hero nor was he a villain.
" But if they try to stop me, i will not guarantee if they will live or not."
End of Chapter 5