Upon landing, Logan got a message notifying him that someone was waiting at his door.
''Did you enjoy the view?'' Silas asked after Logan opened his door.
''Yeah,'' Logan answered, smiling. ''It was a great experience.''
''Good,'' Silas nodded. ''Because the next few hours won't be that great.''
Logan lifted an eyebrow.
"I've had the dungeon locked down for you," Silas said with a smile. "Stay as long as you want and make the most of it."
"Your first dungeon run is always something you'll remember."
''Thanks,'' Logan said, raising a thumb with a smile.
"No problem, kid," he said with a grin. "Just make sure you're out before the assessment."
''We don't want to pay another 200 million, after all.''
''I don't think that'll be a problem,'' Logan laughed.
''I'll go change into my own combat clothes now,'' Silas said, pointing at a room with his name on it. ''I'll wait for you at the hatch when I'm done.''
Logan nodded. Silas had told him beforehand that he would stand guard outside of the gate since he couldn't enter it himself.
Logan closed the door behind him and walked over to his gear.
Exhaling sharply, Logan started putting his gear on.
First, he changed into flexible, reinforced clothes designed for dungeon use, along with durable boots made to walk long distances.
Then, he moved on to the special items.
'This stuff is light,' he thought, picking up a special utility belt prepared by Silas.
The belt held two emergency flares, a map, some mana restoration pills, a healing potion, and extra rations.
From the display stand, Logan picked up a forearm attachment with a small crystal orb embedded in it.
'A mana shield generator,' he thought, remembering the one-time-use device.
Wrapping it around his left forearm, Logan continued to the final item.
''My beautiful glaive,'' Logan said, picking it up.
Looking at himself in a mirror, Logan could barely contain his excitement.
'I really wonder how a dungeon looks in real life,' he thought, smiling wildly.
Then he recalled the notes he'd seen at the end of the Flaming Body manual.
'Eventually, I'll figure out if that's the truth,' he thought. Though internally, he'd started to believe those words a lot more when he'd seen how good the Flaming Body technique was.
Logan walked toward the hatch, holding his glaive with one hand as it rested on his shoulder.
In front of him stood Silas, wearing a metallic bodysuit while holding a long silver-like sword.
''Good,'' Silas nodded, glancing at Logan's armor as he approached.
''I think I'm ready,'' Logan said, smiling.
Giving a small nod, Silas tapped a few buttons on his wristband and lowered the platform.
As the platform lowered, Silas gave a few more instructions to Logan.
''Inside the dungeon, you won't be able to use any signal devices,'' he said. ''That's why there are emergency flares in your utility belt.''
Silas continued as the platform lowered. "We've stationed a few hunters deeper in the dungeon as backup, but don't count on them. They're spread out and won't get to you right away if things go south."
Logan nodded, having mixed feelings of excitement and nervousness.
The platform finally touched down on the ground floor, where several unfamiliar people were waiting.
'I can tell they are nervous,' Logan thought, observing them carefully.
As Logan and Silas stepped off the platform, several people straightened up immediately. A middle-aged man in uniform stepped forward, giving a respectful nod.
"Mr. Mercer, Mr. Verrick. Welcome," he said, his text clearly rehearsed. "I'm Darren Cole, the current site overseer. We've prepared the area per your instructions. Everything's cleared and secured."
The hunters and technicians standing behind him bowed slightly.
''Very well,'' Silas responded, giving a small nod. ''Lead the way.''
Darren gave a nod, straightening his back before he turned around.
Passing by a hotel, they arrived at a five-story-tall wall, with a large open gate in it.
Behind the gate, Logan could see around 300 feet of open space until he found a large tunnel leading down underground.
'So that's the entrance,' he thought, following the concrete path towards the tunnel.
He'd expected some kind of barrier or blue gate to lead him into the dungeon, but instead, all there was was an ordinary tunnel leading into the ground.
Logan stared in amazement at the stairs leading underground, lit up by the mana lights installed in the ceiling.
''So, Logan,'' Silas said behind him, snapping him out of his thoughts.
''Yes?'' Logan asked, turning around.
Darren and the others were no longer there. In the distance, the gates shut as a transparent barrier formed along the walls with a soft hum.
''This dungeon goes down around half a mile before opening up in a land pocket,'' Silas said, pointing underground. ''And my final tip,''
''Don't be surprised once you feel a strange mana wave washing over you while walking through the tunnel.''
Logan nodded, nervousness slowly starting to course through him again.
Like every human being, Logan subconsciously feared the unknown.
Despite the nervousness, Logan's eyes remained fixed on the dungeon entrance.
''I'm ready,'' Logan said, gripping his glaive in one hand.
''Good luck,'' Silas said, smiling.
'This is it,' Logan thought, walking down the stairs.
About a hundred feet in, Logan suddenly felt the urge to throw up as he passed through a foreign mana wall.
'Ugh,' Logan thought, feeling disgusted. 'This must be what Silas was talking about.'
Still, Logan found the weird phenomenon interesting.
'I've read from books that this wall is the reason why higher-ranked hunters can't get into certain dungeons,' he thought. 'It becomes an unbreakable wall if someone with a core stronger than the limit tries to pass through.'
'This dungeon only allows Bronze Cores and lower to go through, for example.'
Logan didn't dare turn around, however. 'From here on, creatures could be everywhere.'
The tunnel ahead widened immensely, only barely visible by the installed wall lights, while the stairs had completely disappeared.