Genesis Code: The Genetic Awakening-Chapter 35: Solo Dungeon Dive (1)

The moment Caleb stepped into the vortex; he found himself surrounded by a picturesque landscape. The clear blue skies, fluffy white clouds, sparkling bodies of water, and distant mountain ranges made him pause.

"Are dungeons really supposed to feel this peaceful?" Caleb muttered with a hint of doubt in his voice.

It all seemed too serene, too much like the real world to be a dungeon.

"But first," he said, glancing at his tattered clothes, "I need to get out of these rags."

He accessed his system store and chose a fresh outfit: a black turtleneck, pants that looked like jeans, and matching shoes. He set the coat aside for now—it might get in the way during a fight.

"Why do I always pick black?" Caleb wondered aloud but quickly shrugged off the thought. Maybe it was because black felt sleek, mysterious, and just... right. Whatever the reason, he liked it.

With that settled, Caleb began exploring.

Unlike the first dungeon he had tackled, this one was massive, stretching over several kilometres in all directions.

The first floor was largely empty, populated only by small creatures like rodents and insects. His goal was to find the way to the next floor below. Without hesitation, he headed toward the mountains.

"Wait," Caleb said, realizing something. "How many floors does this dungeon even have?" He frowned, knowing the information wouldn’t tell him how long it might take anyway.

His HUD scanned everything he passed, ensuring he didn’t miss any details.

Before long, he reached the base of the mountains and began searching for clues to another entrance. Spreading his domain sense, he scanned the area, but nothing turned up.

"Maybe it’s higher up," he thought, shifting his gaze to the mountain peak, hundreds of meters above him.

Normally, a climb like that would take hours, but Caleb wasn’t one to be slowed down.

*Whoosh.*

In seconds, he stood at the summit, taking in the view below.

The sudden altitude shift brought gusty winds and a noticeable chill, but Caleb brushed it off—it was nothing he couldn’t handle.

From his new vantage point, his field of vision expanded, and something unusual caught his eye.

"A tower?" he murmured, focusing on the distant structure.

It looked more like a monolith, with a small entrance at its base. Even from this far away, his sharp eyesight picked up the details.

The tower stood isolated on a small island in the middle of a tranquil lake. The sight was unexpected, almost out of place, and left Caleb intrigued.

Without lingering too long, he descended the mountain in a flash and sprinted toward the tower, effortlessly covering hundreds of meters in mere seconds.

In less than a minute, Caleb reached the lake’s edge, but a new problem presented itself—there was no visible path to the island.

"Was I mistaken?" he wondered, narrowing his eyes to the still water.

Spreading his domain sense across the lake, he confirmed what he suspected—something was lurking beneath the surface. The lake, though small, was surprisingly deep, stretching tens of meters down.

"For a lake this size, that’s pretty unusual," Caleb noted. "And why are there monsters here on the first floor?"

His past dungeon experiences hadn’t prepared him for this. Maybe those earlier dungeons were outliers, and monsters existed on all floors. Either way, the challenge was clear.

"The first test is crossing this lake without becoming a snack," he said, steeling himself.

The creatures lurking below appeared weak individually, but the water wasn’t an ideal battlefield for him. One misstep could quickly turn into a life-or-death struggle.

As he deliberated on his next move, an idea crossed his mind—a certain speedster from old tales who could run on water.

"System, how fast am I in kilometres per hour?" Caleb asked, his excitement rising.

The system promptly displayed the answer, going a step further with precise details:

[Top speed: 465 km/h]

Caleb’s top speed was impressive, but he hadn’t yet needed to push himself that far. The next piece of data from the system, however, caught his attention.

[A speed of 72-108 km/h is required to run on water.]

The estimate factored in his weight and height, with the note that carrying additional weight would demand even more speed.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," Caleb said, grinning widely.

He stepped back to create some distance from the lake, mentally calculating his approach. The island was about 370 meters away—barely a few seconds’ run at his speed.

With a burst of energy, Caleb launched himself forward, the ground cracking beneath his feet as he shot off like a bullet.

His heart raced, not with fear but pure exhilaration. The sensation of skimming over the water’s surface was surreal, almost magical.

’This is amazing!’ Caleb thought, grinning as he sprinted across the lake.

But the joy didn’t last.

The calm waters around him erupted as the creatures below reacted to his movement. The disturbance had woken them, and they surged after him with shocking speed.

"Oh crap!" Caleb cursed, his grin vanishing. He hadn’t expected the monsters to be this fast. Pushing harder, he accelerated toward the island, his feet slapping against the water with increasing urgency.

Suddenly, a massive creature burst from the lake directly in his path, jaws wide open and aiming to swallow him whole.

There was no time to check its stats on his HUD—its size and razor-sharp teeth told him everything he needed to know.

The creature was a terrifying hybrid of fish and alligator, with fins, a powerful tail, and a bone-crushing maw.

Without hesitation, Caleb veered left, narrowly avoiding its lunge.

But his relief was short-lived. Another creature exploded from the water to his side, its gaping jaws snapping shut right where he’d moved. It was as if they had anticipated his every step.

’Damn it...’ Caleb thought, adrenaline spiking as he prepared to make his next move.

Things were spiralling out of control, and Caleb had barely begun!

Two monstrous predators were already snapping at him, and the rippling waters around him signalled the approach of even more. He had to act quickly and falling into the lake was not an option.