Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

A New Player Has Entered the Server

*

The diner was nearly empty when I arrived, which I was thankful for, since I didn’t want anyone staring at me like I was some hobo who wandered off the street. My dirty t-shirt and jeans couldn’t have been doing me any favors there.

It was one of those 50s-themed diners, with chess tile floors, a jukebox in the corner, and a whole lot of chrome. There was a single row of red and white booths lining the window wall, and a long counter facing the kitchen doors. I could see an old couple eating together over by the corner booth, and what looked like a redneck trucker sitting on a bar stool, drinking a beer as he watched a TV hanging from the wall.

I quickly but calmly sat on a bar stool and took a menu lying on the counter. My stomach growled as I read through the all-day breakfast part of the menu.

“Anything I can get you, hon?” asked a waitress holding a small notepad. She was on the young side, maybe 19 or so, with long blonde hair, a shapely body, and a bored look on her face. Floating above her head were some words I had recently become accustomed to.

[<College Dropout>

Lv. 2: Chloe Park]

“Yes, actually,” I said, making sure not to stare at the words for too long. “I’ll have three very strong cups of coffee, a large omelet with hash browns, a cheeseburger with everything on it, some fries, and a 20-ounce T-bone, please.”

The trucker sitting on the other end of the counter seemed to have heard me, because he glanced at me with a raised eyebrow.

The waitress wrote down my order, now looking slightly curious. “You gonna eat all that by yourself?”

“I’m very hungry.”

She smirked. “Haven’t eaten all day, hmm?”

“More like all month,” I said with a chuckle.

“I’ve never seen anyone eat that much in one sitting, but if you think you’re up for it, hon, be my guest.” She gave me a small smile and poured me a cup of coffee, then left to pass my order to the kitchen.

[A new side quest has been created.]

+

<Side Quest – Order Up>

Category: Side.

Difficulty: F.

Clear Conditions: You have been challenged to eat everything you ordered before Chloe’s shift is over. Hurry up and don’t waste time chewing!

Time Limit: 37 minutes.

Reward: 500 XP, 100 Coins, you impress Chloe.

Penalty for Failure: Lose the respect of everyone in the diner.

Accept / Refuse

+

Once the waitress was gone, I clicked on the ‘Accept’ button and calmly drank the cup she gave me, making sure to savor every drop. These quests were something else I was getting used to.

[The side quest, Order Up, has begun.]

Even though I knew this was a cheap brand prepared poorly, the coffee tasted absolutely delicious – going a month straight without food or drink and somehow not dying apparently made for an amazing seasoning.

I made sure not to finish my first cup until Chloe brought me the first plate I ordered, so that she could give me a refill. Once I had that omelet in front of me, though, I couldn’t wait any longer and gulped down whatever coffee I had left before digging in.

[The item, Day-Old Coffee, has been used.]

[You are immune to fatigue for one hour.]

[Your Dexterity has been temporarily increased by 2.]

[Dexterity Lv. 10 -> Dexterity Lv. 12.]

As I practically inhaled my food, I glanced over the pop-ups and saw my reflection on the window of the kitchen door. I was a reasonably short man with short dark hair and naturally light brown skin, some people mistook for a tan. I wasn’t ugly by any means, but I didn’t really consider myself the handsome type either.

I mentally dismissed the notifications and continued eating.

If the only change had been me seeing game-like effects in real life, maybe I could have been capable of living normally –  ignoring these messages was honestly not that hard. But no, something else had changed as well. It was something that no amount of ignorance could have ever solved… no matter how tempting it was to give it a try.

I turned to look at the TV and saw the source of my biggest worry.

“…runaway train almost spelled disaster for Metropolis today. What has been identified as a malfunction in the brake system could have cost the lives of dozens of passengers. Thankfully, Metropolis’ newfound guardian angel, Superman, arrived just in time and stopped the train with his bare hands. After the incident, only Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent–”

Well, it went on from there.

In case you were wondering, no, that wasn’t a clip from a movie or a show. It was the national evening news.

The trucker scoffed at the TV. “Just what we needed, an actual fuckin’ alien. Bet he’s illegal. Ain’t we got ‘nuff of ‘em already?”

[<Drunk Driver>

Lv. 7: Jordan Franklin]

My grip on the fork got tighter, and I may have bent it a little. Whatever, I thought. Just you wait to find out he’s from Kansas, asshole. I looked away from the guy and continued to eat. 

I remember I had a friend in elementary school who liked superheroes as much as I did. We would always play pretend and act out our own epic battles during recess. One time he said to me, “How great would it be if we could be real heroes!”

I’m pretty sure I loved the idea back then, but, to tell the truth, if you were to ask me now if it was all that great, I would say, “Nah, not really.”

[The item, Omelet with Hash Browns, has been used.]

[You have recovered 58 HP.]

I finished the last of my omelet and started to work on my cheeseburger.

Looking at my reflection one more time, I saw the only really strange thing about my appearance, though nobody else seemed able to see it. They were the words floating above my head, and even though they were backwards on the glass, I could easily read them.

[<The Gamer>

Lv. 3: Leonardo Lázaro]

My name was Leo Lázaro, a regular guy who got transported to the DC Universe with a weird power called <The Gamer>.

Thirty or so days ago, I had woken up in a New York alley with nothing but the clothes on my back, and to add insult to injury, they weren’t even my own clothes! I didn’t have my phone and wallet with me, so I couldn’t afford to stay anywhere, nor could I get help. What I did instead was just walk around the city, completing random quests I got, and hoping something would occur to me.

I ate the last of my fries and drank my second cup of coffee.

[The item, Greasy Cheeseburger, has been used.]

[You have recovered 57 HP.]

[The item, Salty French Fries, has been used.]

[You have recovered 9 HP.]

[You have used two compatible items.]

[Your HP recovery rate has increased by 1% for ten minutes.]

[The item, Day-Old Coffee, has been used.]

[You are already immune to fatigue for one hour.]

[Your Dexterity has temporarily increased by 1.]

[Dexterity Lv. 12 -> Dexterity Lv. 13.]

I started to cut my T-bone and thought about everything that had happened so far.

It hadn’t taken me long to notice the game-like notifications – they weren’t exactly subtle – but it did take me a few days to realize that I wasn’t in the New York I knew.

My first clue was the tall skyscraper in downtown Manhattan with a modified LexCorp logo, which simply made me think that the owner was a Superman fan.

After that, during a visit to the Met – there was a publicity campaign giving free admission – I saw an ancient Egyptian mural depicting a battle between Klarion the Witch Boy and Doctor Fate, which had been discovered by an archeologist named Daniel Garrett, who I knew to be the first Blue Beetle. At the time, I believed that this was part of the publicity campaign — just some sort of practical joke by the museum I didn’t get.

Next was the poster promoting the upcoming show of the world-renowned stage magician, Giovanni Zatara, at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel. I had chosen to assume that the name was some sort of strange homage to a famous fictional stage magician and quickly moved on.

Finally, there were the different stories on the covers of newspapers and magazines I kept seeing. There was National Geographic with Markovian Civil Unrest Escalates Into Armed Conflict, Time with Professor A. Ivo Receives Prestigious Award for Robotic Engineering, and USA Today with Ferris Aircraft, Inc. Announces Development of Next Generation Jet Fighter. These were harder to dismiss, what with them being from different sources on different days at different places and all that.

It didn’t take long after that for me to realize what was going on, but my mind refused to accept it — no matter what evidence I saw, it simply didn’t feel like reality to me. As a last-ditch attempt, I had tried to call my parents in Long Beach from a public payphone (yes, a few of them still existed) with some change I stole from a couple of fountains, but their number turned out to belong to a gas station. I then tried again with a few other numbers I could remember — siblings, cousins, friends, coworkers, and even exes — but as far as I could tell, no one I knew from my world existed in this one.

I had managed to make it through so far, but just barely, and it was all thanks to the power of <The Gamer>. After a week or two of killing time by wandering around Manhattan and doing quests, I discovered my skills, especially one called [Gamer’s Body], which made my body like that of a video game character. I just wished that I could have figured out what that actually meant without some punk with a knife trying to mug me.

At least I got his knife, cellphone, and stolen money; plus some new skills, and enough XP to raise my level twice after we beat the crap out of each other. So, you know, I guess I should thank the guy. Maybe I’ll visit him in the hospital later, I thought, enjoying the food he was technically paying for. I should probably get him something… perhaps some wine, a gift basket… or maybe a gift basket with wine.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, right, [Gamer’s Body]. Having this skill meant that I could survive starvation, sleeplessness, and getting stabbed without my body showing any signs of damage whatsoever, and only feel some mild discomfort from any of it. I still hadn’t figured out any of it, so don’t ask me how that worked.

[The item, Overcooked T-bone Steak, has been used.]

[You have recovered 44 HP.]

I placed down my knife and fork, and calmly began to drink my third cup of coffee as I continued watching the news.

“…attempted armed robbery. Officers of the Central City Police Department were late to respond to the incident, but upon arrival at the scene, they discovered that all the perpetrators had already been apprehended. The director of the bank claimed that a ‘red and yellow blur’ fought the criminals in a matter of seconds. For the last few weeks, many similar reports of what many are calling ‘the Red Streak’ have been given by—”

Again, it went on for there.

“I really hope it’s Wally,” I muttered under my breath, hiding my smirk as I sipped my coffee.

Having said all that, I was still faced with a far greater problem than a fictional reality or homelessness, though it wasn’t anything imminent. Sure, I was in the world of DC Comics with a video game-like power, but I had absolutely no idea exactly in which DC Comics world I was.

Confused? Let me explain.

What was considered to be DC Comics had been in publication since before my great-grandfather was born, and in that time there have been a great number of different worlds where their stories took place. There was the classic Earth-Two of the Golden Age’s Justice Society of America, the famous Earth-One of the Silver Age’s Justice League of America, the masterpiece of DCAU’s Earth 12 (my personal favorite), the depressingly serious Young Justice’s Earth-16, the now obsolete Post-Crisis’ New Earth, the Arrowverse’s live-action multiverse, and most recently the New 52/Rebirth’s Prime Earth, just to name a few. There was also a whole bunch of Elseworlds, alternate timelines, and time travel bullshit out there. So, yeah, I had absolutely no fucking clue which DC Comics world this one was supposed to be.

That’s not to say there aren’t some helpful hints, I thought as I kept looking at that TV.

“…fire broke out in downtown Gotham after a bomb of unknown origin exploded in City Hall. Though there have been no confirmed casualties, the number of injured victims has been estimated to be in the dozens. Many eyewitnesses of the event claimed to have seen a giant bat entering the burning buildings and rescuing civilians. Though the spokesman for the Gotham City Police Department has denied claims of such a figure being present at the time, many similar accounts of what Gotham’s citizens are calling ‘The Bat’ have been given in the last month— ”

Once more, it went on for there.

I sipped my coffee as I thought about the implications of what I had learned after being here for nearly four weeks.

The fact that Superman was the only openly known superhero in the world indicated that I had arrived very early on in this world’s story, since, as Doctor Manhattan put it, Superman was a pivotal constant in the universe. So long as a universe had a Superman, he would always be the first to appear, bringing with him the Age of Heroes. The Dark Knight was never too far behind the Man of Steel, as demonstrated by the news reports, though the fact that he wasn’t yet known by the name of Batman made me a little uneasy – he usually preferred to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies at the mere mention of his name. The details of what happened after Superman’s debut were always varied, being determined on an Earth-by-earth basis.

After all, what was the point of always writing the exact same story?

As far as I knew, there had been no sign of Green Lantern, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, John Constantine, Captain Marvel, Martian Manhunter, or any other major superhero. Because of that, I just didn’t have enough pieces to figure out the puzzle of which world I was stranded in.

“I should be fine so long as this doesn’t turn out to be Earth 10, 14, 22, 43, 49, or 50,” I muttered to myself as I chucked down the last of my coffee, deciding to worry about it later.

[The item, Day-Old Coffee, has been used.]

[You are already immune to fatigue for one hour.]

[Your Dexterity has temporarily increased by 1.]

[Dexterity Lv. 13 -> Dexterity Lv. 14.]

[The clear conditions of the side quest, Order Up, have been fulfilled.]

[You have received 500 XP.]

[You have received 100 Coins.]

[The character, Chloe Park, has been impressed by your deed.]

[Your affinity for the character, Chloe Park, has increased.]

I sighed as I placed down the empty cup. Looking upwards, I joined my hands in prayer and said softly, “God, the Presence, the One Above All, I have been good for… most of my life, and I have helped a lot of people in need. So, please, for the love of all that is holy, for the love I know You still have for Samael, for the love of Jack Kirby, let this somehow be Earth 11.” After a short moment of thought, I added, “Earth 24 would be good too.”

I sighed and dropped my hands. It wasn’t like I was actually expecting Yahweh Himself to answer my prayer, but I mean, He had to be listening, right?

I paid for the meal with some of the money I took from the mugger I beat up, and left the diner to wander the bright streets of Manhattan once more. New York truly never slept, which was fine with me, since, apparently, neither did I anymore.

For the moment, I would go back to Central Park and sit by the Umpire Rock just in time for the sun to come up. After that, however, I still didn’t have a plan for what to do next. I mean, what even was there for me to do? I was essentially a Cosmic Hobo in this universe; I had no documents, money, acquaintances, or literally anything other than the clothes on my back and the junk in my pockets.

“Hopefully something interesting will happen soon,” I said absentmindedly as I waited for a pedestrian signal to change. “This feels like a game tutorial that’s gone on for way too long.”

Looking back on it, the Presence was definitely listening, because it must have surely been Him who decided to twist those stupid words of mine and throw them back at me.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

The Instant Dungeon

*

There were a few phrases in fiction that you just didn’t say if you valued your life. Some of the classics were “Nothing could possibly go wrong,” “I’m unstoppable,” “We’ll be together once this is over,” “I can keep this up all day,” “Ha! You missed,” and “At least this can’t get any worse.”

Now, I was an avid consumer of fiction, and I was well aware of the Tempting Fate trope. However, please try to remember that I used to live in the real world, where the powers that be (if there were any at all) just didn’t concern themselves with the random bullshit people said. So, when I said that I wanted something interesting to happen soon, I had completely forgotten to consider that I now shared a reality with the Presence, the Endless, Mister Mxyzptlk, the Phantom Stranger, the Lords of Chaos, and so many other cosmic entities that can, and often do, treat mortals as their personal playthings.

Oh, right. I guess I should explain, shouldn’t I?

Picture a serene forest full of walnut trees, red maples, oaks, and chestnuts. The air was pure and still, with no hint of pollution in sight. The ground was covered with fallen leaves, giving the faint smell of early-autumn rot mixed with the sweet fragrance of wildflowers. There were no sounds to disturb the calmness, save the babbling of a nearby stream somewhere in the distance. A single dirt road led deeper into the forest, twisting and turning along the roots of the trees.

Under different circumstances, this would be the sort of place I would love to visit for a long weekend. I could practically picture myself setting up a tent under a canopy, roasting marshmallows around a campfire, and gazing at the immaculate night sky.

Some of you are going to read this and think to yourselves, “Wow! It sounds wonderful, Leo! How do I find that little corner of paradise?”

Well, you see, that’s just the thing. I had absolutely no idea how I had gotten here. One moment I was walking through the southern entrance of Central Park, and then, in the blink of an eye, I found myself in the middle of a virgin forest.

Even the sky was wrong. It had still been nighttime when I arrived at the entrance of the park after leaving the diner, around 6 in the morning, yet the sun was right above me as if it were high noon.

The only explanation I got was the strange messages the system gave me.

[You have entered the Umpire Rock Dungeon.]

[You have discovered an instant dungeon.]

[This instant dungeon has already been discovered. The discovery achievement reward cannot be obtained.]

[A new hidden quest has arrived!]

[The hidden quest, Cease the Hunger, is already in progress.]

+

<Hidden Quest – Cease the Hunger>

Category: Hidden.

Difficulty: A-.

Clear Conditions: Defeat the master of the Umpire Rock Dungeon.

Time Limit: None.

Reward: 2,000 XP, 4,000 Coins.

Penalty for Failure: Death.

* This quest cannot be refused.

+

“A hidden quest?” I said in confusion. “Not a side one? And how can it already be in progress? I just got here!”

I wasn’t given a choice on whether to accept or refuse the quest, which meant that it was mandatory. The penalty for failure was death, even though there was no time limit, so that probably meant that either I had to kill the master of the dungeon or it would kill me; and judging by the difficulty, I didn’t like my chances.

I turned around to see the direction I had just come from. It looked just like the rest of the forest, but I got the sense that there was something not quite right about it.

Reaching out my hand, I was stopped by an invisible wall.

[A hidden quest is currently in progress. No one may leave the instant dungeon until the hidden quest has been completed.]

I was afraid this could happen. In some games, you couldn’t exit a certain area until you completed the challenges there. The Pokémon Leagues were a prime example of this.

“And what the hell’s an instant dungeon?” I said as I closed the quest window. “This has never happened to me before.”

I knew most men said that phrase at some point in their lives, but I seriously doubted that anyone had ever used it for this particular scenario.

“Let me think…” I murmured, holding my chin in thought. “What do I need to do to survive this? Hmm. <Status Window>.”

[Checking the Status Window.]

+

<Status Window>

Name: Leonardo Diego de Jesús Lázaro

Occupation: The Gamer / Gender: Male

Job: Clinical Psychologist / Title: Game Junkie

Level: 3 / Next Level: 12.44%

Age: 27 / Race: Human

–

HP: 200/200

MP: 200/200

–

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 14 (+4)

Constitution: 10

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 10

Charisma: 10

Luck: 10

–

Available Stat Points: 10

–

Skills: [Gamer’s Mind Lv. MAX], [Gamer’s Body Lv. MAX], [Observation Lv. 2], [Physical Endurance Lv. 2], [Forceful Strike Lv. 1], [Agile Feet Lv. 1]

+

I still had the temporary buff from the coffee I had earlier, plus 10 stat points from leveling up twice. If I wanted to, I could use them right now to make myself tougher in a fight.

“Better not,” I sighed as I dismissed the holographic screen. “Those points are more precious than gold. I can’t just spend them blindly and hope for the best.”

At that moment, I had just one path to follow. Literary. The dirt road before me was sure to lead me to the master of the dungeon, or at the very least to a clue of where to find it.

“Face front, true believers,” I said with a heavy sigh as I slowly began to follow the road deeper into the forest. I held my breath and looked around, but did not see anything. Yet I could not relax; carelessness was not allowed in situations like this. Even amongst low-level monsters in games, there were ones like kobolds and goblins who specialized in masking their presence and ambushing their enemies.

I crossed a small stream and came upon footprints on the mud of the bank. There seemed to be three different sets of tracks, with two of them being made by different-sized formal men’s shoes, and one of them being made by a woman’s high heels. With no humans in sight, the tracks only served to unsettle me. A hair-raising chill washed over me.

Kneeling over the footprints that showed I wasn’t alone, I looked around anxiously. My surroundings were empty, but I could hear a soft rattling sound coming from the distance. However, I couldn’t pinpoint the location. It was as if the source of the rattling was waiting to ambush a prey.

Deciding to test my theory, I stood up and showed my back on purpose, then slowly continued walking along the dirt road. Predators tended to attack when their prey was most vulnerable, and I saw no reason to believe whatever was in this instant dungeon was any different.

It was after reaching a clearing at the end of the dirt road that I saw what, or rather who had made those footprints by the stream. The clearing was surrounded by a thick wall of trees, but there was a section that had been burned off, allowing access to the open meadow on the other side.

There was the unmistakable sound of fighting coming from the meadow. Peeking from behind the branches, I struggled to believe what I saw.

There was a terrifyingly large monster, yet also disturbingly thin. It had sunken eyes, and sharp yellowed fangs and claws. Its lips were chewed off as if it had eaten them. It was completely hairless, and there were a pair of deer antlers sprouting from its head.

[<Master of the Umpire Rock Dungeon>

Lv. 34: Wendigo]

“Hole shit,” I whispered as I gawked at the 15-foot monster. “That thing is nearly twelve times my level.”

I was familiar with the Wendigo. It was a popular monster used in horror fiction, with origins in Native American folklore. It was said to be a murderous demon with an insatiable hunger, especially for human flesh, for they were once humans who had broken the taboo of cannibalism. Depending on who told the story, they could be smart or savage and were sometimes even known to use tools, yet never weapons. These monsters could not be reasoned with since the only thing they cared about was devouring anything and everything they could get their hands on.

“[Observation].”

[Your skill, Observation Lv. 2, has been activated.]

[Your skill is not powerful enough to view all of the information about this character.]

[Converting Status Window to Status Summary.]

+

<Status Summary>

Species: Wendigo.

Title: Master of the Umpire Rock Dungeon.

Alignment: Chaotic Evil.

Level: 34.

HP: 13205/15200.

MP: 1200/1200.

Overall Evaluation: A cursed demon who is driven by an insatiable hunger. The more it eats, the bigger and stronger it gets. Given the chance, it would eat anything; people, animals, wood, dirt, or even itself. Don’t approach it if you want to live.

+

I turned my gaze to the other side of the fight and nearly let out a whimper at what I saw.

Battling the Wendigo was an older man with a mustache, dressed in an old-fashioned tuxedo and top hat, very much giving him the classic stage magician look. With him were a younger man and woman, both around their early twenties or very late teens, who were dressed as if they were his lovely assistants. For a brief moment, my eyes were fixed on the tight fishnets the woman wore, but I quickly forced myself to look away.

[<Master Magician>

Lv. ???: Giovanni Zatara]

[<Princess of Prestidigitation>

Lv. 24: Zatanna Zatara]

[<Teenaged Magician>

Lv. 21: Zachary Zatara]

“Eight times… seven times… and I can’t even see his level,” I said as my breathing started to quicken.

In the few weeks that I had been in this world, I had always been able to see everyone’s level, whether they were man, woman, child, animal, and now even monster. So why was Giovanni’s level hidden with question marks? There had been no glitches with the system so far, so I doubted that it could be a mistake.

I continued to watch the fight as I thought. In true Zatara fashion, the three magicians were uttering backward incantations, conjuring fire, lighting, and blasts of pure magic against the wendigo. The fact that they were practically running circles around the wendigo showed their experience and talent in fighting the occult.

My eyes widened, and I said, “Could it be…”

There were some games where certain features were restricted if you weren’t of a high enough level. For instance, a legendary weapon may require you to reach, say, level 50 before you could even find it, let alone pick it up. So it was possible that if someone was way higher in level than me, it would show it as “???”.

But if that is the case… I thought, my face going pale as I watched Giovanni summon a spectral tiger that leaped at the Wendigo. His level must be leagues beyond my imagination!

“Just how strong is he?”

I shook my head and backed away from the fight. This didn’t concern me. I had no intention of joining the battle, so it truly didn’t matter how much stronger than me they were. The quest would be over once the wendigo was defeated, but it never said that it had to be me who did it.

“I better stand by the sidelines and wait this out,” I said, walking in the direction I had come from. “It’s a shame that I won’t get to see them fight in person, but I’m not taking any risks.”

It was after I took my third step that it happened.

The only warning I got was the faint sound of rattling coming from the trees, the same one that I had heard earlier. Before I could even stop and inspect the sound, I suddenly felt an arrow piercing my ribs.

[You have lost 12 HP.]

[You have been afflicted with a dozing poison.]

[Your skill, Gamer’s Body, has neutralized most of the effects of the poison.]

“Son of a bitch!” I hissed as I ducked behind a nearby tree, hiding from whoever had shot me. I reached down to pull the arrow out but saw nothing there except the hole in my clothes, even though I could clearly feel the arrow implanted in the side of my chest. Grasping the shaft of the invisible arrow, I ripped it out and tossed it to the forest floor. The pain subsided instantly, and there was no wound left.

Peeking my head from my hiding spot, I saw the creature that had attacked me standing at the other end of the clearing.

[<Restless Hunter>

Lv. 11: Baykok]

It was an extremely emaciated, skeleton-like figure with thin, translucent skin and glowing red points for eyes. It was wearing what once may have been clothes; with its rotten body covered by a putrefied deerskin breechcloth, a pair of moccasins that were half peeled off, and a dirty beaded headband with a feather or two remaining. It had a bow in its hands, which appeared to be made from bone, and what looked to be a wooden war club strapped to its side.

[The undead monster, Baykok, is hostile towards you.]

Baykok? Now there was a monster I had never heard of before.

“[Observation],” I said, staring directly at the baykok.

[Your skill, Observation Lv. 2, has been activated.]

[Your skill is not powerful enough to view all of the information about this character.]

[Converting Status Window to Status Summary.]

+

<Status Summary>

Species: Baykok.

Alignment: Neutral Evil.

Level: 11.

HP: 1200/1200.

MP: 500/500.

Overall Evaluation: A baykok is a malevolent spirit created when a human warrior or hunter dies a dishonorable or shameful death, particularly after committing evil acts like fratricide or incest. A baykok only preys upon warriors, but does so ruthlessly.

+

“That explains it,” I grumbled from my hiding spot. “It’s a hunter, that’s why it’s been stalking me. But it thinks I’m a warrior? Its brain must truly be rotten.”

Opening its jaw, the baykok let out a shrill scream that made my bones shake. I clutched my ears with my hands, feeling my head echo with the intensity of the scream.

[The undead monster, Baykok, has activated the skill, Dread Howl.]

[Your skill, Gamer’s Mind, has neutralized the effect of the skill, Dread Howl.]

The pain that came over me left as quickly as it came, but I didn’t have time to be thankful for my skill. In the precious seconds that I had spent frozen in pain, the baykok had closed the distance between us, its war club raised high.

[You have lost 153 HP.]

[Your skill, Physical Endurance Lv. 2, has reduced the damage taken.]

“Fuck!” I hissed as the war club struck my back. “[Agile feet]!” I added and quickly ran to the end of the clearing with the speed of an Olympic athlete.

[Your skill, Agile Feet Lv. 1, has been activated.]

I stopped as I reached the wall of trees and turned to look at the HP bar in the top right corner of my vision.

[HP: 35/200]

I turned around, dodging another one of those invisible arrows, and began to run in circles around the clearing, not staying still, lest the baykok hit me again. The disgusting thing had taken nearly all of my remaining health with that single strike to my back. If that war club were to hit me again, then it would surely kill me.

Right in that instant, I was in more danger than I had ever been before. One mistake would cost me my life. I could die at any moment, and no one would ever know or care. So why was my heart beating steadily? Why was my breathing calm? Why was I excited? Why was I smiling?

“I feel like I’m back home playing a new game,” I said with a chuckle. “Man, what’s wrong with me?”

I remembered what I said earlier. What did I have to do to survive? I could try running away, but I got the feeling that this thing would just follow me to the edge of the dungeon. Fight it, then? Yes, that seemed my only option. Plus, I still had 10 stat points from leveling up twice, and if now wasn’t the time to use them, then I didn’t know when. Then the question was, which stat should I increase?

I dropped to the floor and rolled, avoiding a swing from the baykok’s war club before swiftly getting back up and continuing running.

[The skill level for Agily Feet has increased!]

[Agile Feet Lv. 1 -> Agile Feet Lv. 2]

I was still wired up from the coffee buff, so [Dexterity] was covered. [Luck] was too much of a wildcard for me to bet my life on, so that was out too. I immediately discarded [Intelligence], [Wisdom], and [Charisma], since I doubted that I could think or talk the baykok to death. I briefly considered [Constitution], since that would give me more HP, but decided against it because the baykok would still one-shot me even if I had a few dozen more HP.

Knowing all that, my choice was clear.

“I would like to invest all <Available Stat Points> into [Strength].”

[You have spent 10 stat points in Strength.]

[Strength Lv. 10 -> Strength Lv. 20.]

[Your Strength level has been considerably enhanced!]

[Your physical prowess has greatly increased!]

I smiled as I read the messages, and was surprised by what I saw next.

[You have had a moment of deep reasoning and thought.]

[Your Wisdom has increased by 1!]

[Wisdom Lv. 10 -> Wisdom Lv. 11.]

Stats could increase on their own? Well, that was handy. If thinking logically increased my [Wisdom], then what would increase my other stats?

Stopping on the opposite end of the clearing from the undead hunter, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the butterfly knife I had taken from the punk who tried to mug me. I unfolded the blade and pointed it at the decrepit monster.

“You are free to try to take my life, but in return, I will make sure to end yours.”

The baykok didn’t say anything in return – I wasn’t sure it could – but instead aimed its bow at me, drawing back the string without notching an arrow, and then fired.

I quickly moved to the side with unnatural speed, easily dodging the invisible arrow with the help of my improved [Agile Feet]. Without giving it enough time to fire again, I ran back to the baykok with my knife in hand.

“[Forceful Strike]!” I shouted, laughing despite myself as I dodged the baykok’s war club and swung my knife with all my force, slashing its ribcage as I kept running to the other side of the clearing.

[The skill level for Forceful Strike has increased!]

[Forceful Strike Lv. 1 -> Forceful Strike Lv. 2]

[The skill, Knife Fighting Lv. 1, has been created.]

My smile widened into a grin as the knowledge of my new skill flooded my mind. It felt closer to remembering something that I had trained for a long time and then completely forgotten about, rather than truly learning something new. I could now see my mistakes in the way I was using the knife to fight the baykok and knew just how to correct them. My body was too high off the ground, my legs were too close together, my swing had been too much of an arch, and my balance was completely off.

I chuckled as I corrected my stance, holding the handle of the butterfly knife tightly in my hand, and glanced at the baykok with a predatory grin.

The HP bar over the baykok’s head had been reduced, not nearly by as much as it had reduced mine, but by a decent enough amount. I guesstimated that it now had about 90 percent of its HP left.

“Ya te chingaste, cabron.”

What followed couldn't even be called a fight; at least not a fair one. The baykok’s movements seemed so slow to me now, and its attack pattern was laughably simple. Unconditionally, if I moved too far away, it would fire an invisible arrow. If I stood still for more than a second, it would rush at me with its war club. After I got close, it would attack me with its war club, always going for my chest, back, and head (in that order).

I kept running from one end of the clearing to the other, chipping away at the baykok’s HP with the knife and [Forceful Strike], making sure to never give it a chance to hit me back. Some people would call hit-and-run tactics the mark of a coward, but I chose to see it as strategically advantageous. Hey, if it worked, it worked.

After about 6 good hits, I got a new notification.

[You have scored a critical hit!]

The baykok’s remaining HP dropped like a stone in water with that single strike to its neck, turning it into nothing but a cloud of dark smoke that dissipated in the wind.

[The undead monster, Baykok, has been slain.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro.]

[You have received 2,950 XP.]

[Your level has increased!]

[Level 3 -> Level 4!]

[You have earned 5 stat points!]

[Your HP has been replenished!]

[Your MP has been replenished!]

[Your level has increased!]

[Level 4 -> Level 5!]

[You have earned 5 stat points!]

[Your HP has been replenished!]

[Your MP has been replenished!]

I gained two levels just from killing the baykok?! That’s amazing! It took me a month of doing random quests to go from level 1 to 3, and now I went from level 3 to 5 in a single fight. In video games, low-level characters were able to level up quickly, which meant that each level required more XP than the last one. By that logic, I had just earned much more XP in the last four minutes than I had in the last four weeks.

“Now that I think about it, I also only leveled up when I fought the mugger,” I said in thought. “So hunting is better than doing quests, then? Damn, I wish I knew that from the beginning.”

As I pondered the best way to level up quickly, I saw something shining amongst the fallen leaves where I had killed the baykok. It was a long, yellowed bone.

“It dropped loot?” I said with a smile. “It truly is like a game, isn’t it?”

When I reached out to pick it up, a message appeared.

+

<Item Information>

Name: Baykok’s Femur.

Grade: Almost Useless.

Lore: The rotten bone of a malevolent spirit. You can use this item as a component for dark magic or alchemy if you're really desperate. You can store this item in your <Inventory>. You can sell this item in the <Gamer Shop>.

+

I read the description of the bone and was taken aback.

“There’s a shop in this game?! I have an inventory?!” I looked up at the sky and glared at it because I knew He had to be watching. “Why do I have to figure everything out as I go along? I mean, seriously. Would it have killed You to make a manual?”

I gritted my teeth and called out the inventory.

“<Inventory>.”

I half expected a door or chest to pop out of nowhere. I was a little disappointed to find that the <Inventory> just ended up being another information screen floating like a hologram. As if that wasn’t enough, the screen displayed an empty grid with no items inside it.

“Yeah,” I said with a heavy sigh. “No starter equipment either. Figures.”

I held the bone to the screen, and it disappeared. There was now an image of the femur on the very first square of the grid, with a “1” in its bottom right corner, showing me the amount.

Disappointed, I turned to leave. I was disappointed at the lack of free weapons or armor in my inventory, but I was not about to waste time crying about it. As I turned to leave, my disappointment melted away like snow in Texas.

[The humanoid demon, Wendigo, has been slain.]

[Contributors: Giovanni Zatara, Zatanna Zatara, Zachary Zatara]

[Final Blow: Zatanna Zatara]

[The clear conditions for the hidden quest, Cease the Hunger, have been fulfilled!]

[You have earned 2,000 XP.]

[You have earned 4,000 Coins.]

[Due to not contributing to the defeat of the master of the dungeon, the number of Coins you have earned is halved.]

[You have earned 2,000 Coins.]

My level didn’t increase this time, meaning that the necessary XP to reach level 6 was much higher.

I turned to look at the hole in the wall of trees and slowly approached it. Again, peeking from behind the branches, I saw that the Wendigo was gone, probably turned to smoke like the baykok.

Also like the baykok, the Wendigo seemed to have dropped loot. Each of the three Zataras was holding an odd trinket in their hands, and they were talking about something that I couldn’t make out from this far away, though the confusion was evident in their faces. I could see that Zach had a couple of vials containing some red liquid (most likely some sort of potion), Giovanni had a set of large antlers, and Zatanna had…

Wait… is that a… book?! I thought, my eyes wide in shock.

The book was an old leather tome with golden letters on its cover. It was too far away for me to read the title, but I didn’t need to. I knew precisely what that book was.

“The Wendigo dropped a skill book,” I said in awe.

All my skills were created when I did something related to them, particularly when I was fighting. But skill books were different; they simply let you learn whatever skill they had inside them, no strings attached. Granted, some games gave requirements for learning skills that way, like level, class, race, or what have you, but that wasn’t always the case.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stay put. Every game-loving part of me was screaming at me to go and take that skill book. The only thing that stopped me was the comic book-savvy part of me, reminding me of the fact that it was currently in the hands of a woman so powerful that Felix Faust himself feared her.

Besides, I thought to myself in a comforting voice, there’s no guarantee that the book has any skills in it at all. Maybe it spreads the Wendigo’s curse to whoever reads it.

I gave a heavy sigh and nodded in agreement. That guy really sounded like he knew his stuff.

The Zataras appeared to have finished their conversation, still looking very confused for some reason. Giovanni took off his top hat and placed the much larger pair of antlers inside it, followed by the book and potions. The hat was clearly magical because there was no way all of that could actually fit inside it.

Putting his hat back on his head, Giovanni placed his hands on Zach and Zatanna’s shoulders. He recited an incantation and they all banished in a puff of smoke.

“That’s it?” I said as my jaw dropped. “Shit! I still have no idea how to get out of here!”

I don’t know if it was an answer to my problem or just dumb luck, but a crack appeared in the air. The crack expanded, covering the entire sky until I felt like I was looking at the world through broken glasses.

The cracks suddenly shattered in a flash of light, and I instinctively covered my eyes.

[You have exited the instant dungeon.]

I waited for millions of glass shards to fall from above, but they never came. Instead, I could hear the cacophony of cars, I could smell the smog in the air, I could feel the early dawn’s light, and I could see the great lawn I was standing on.

This was Central Park.

Lowering my arms, I asked no one in particular, “Am I… back?”

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Setting Goals

*

It just didn’t feel real to me.

I had just met the Zatara family, actual fucking superheroes, yet I had been as calm as back when they had been nothing but ink on paper. Not even the baykok, the undead hunter that almost took my life, felt like anything more than a monster I quickly fought in a video game.

There was a name for what I was going through. It was called dissociation. It basically meant that one was feeling disconnected or separated from one's reality. I had treated a couple of people with it, mainly as a symptom of something else, but this just seemed different to me somehow. Most of the time, dissociation was a coping mechanism used to avoid facing an unappealing truth, but I wasn’t avoiding mine. I knew that I was in a fictitious world, I knew that I had seen the Zataras, and I knew that I had fought a baykok.

So why didn’t any of it feel real?

I gave a heavy sigh and leaned back on the park bench I was sitting on. Morning joggers ran past me, a group of people were doing yoga on the great lawn, and a bird sang on a nearby tree branch. Had I not seen it myself, I wouldn’t believe that all this had been an empty forest just less than an hour ago.

There was no point in continuing to think about my dissociation. I had gone around in circles for the last half hour, trying to make sense of what was happening to my mind, but I had come up with nothing. So, instead, what was there for me to think about? Well, quite a bit, actually.

The first thing that came to mind was the fact that apparently, “instant dungeons” were a thing. I had no clue what they were, where they were, how they were formed, how to avoid getting stuck in them, or how to get out of them without having to fight the boss. Now, what did I know about them? Well, I knew… uh…

“Yeah, maybe not that much to think about there,” I murmured. “I mean, it's essentially just a video game dungeon. You hunt mods, kill the boss, and get loot. There’s not much to it.”

All right, fine, next topic.

There was the fact that I had seen the three Zataras in person. I hadn’t actually talked to them or let them know I was there, but there was still much there for me to dissect about our encounter. I already knew about Giovanni from seeing his posters around town, but the fact that all three of them existed told me a whole lot about this world. Zachary Zatara, or just Zach, first appeared in the Kingdom Come universe as the son of Zatanna and John Constantine. Since then, he had been reintroduced into the mainstream comics as her cousin rather than son, and seeing how this world’s Zatanna had looked to be just a few years older than him, that seemed to be the case here as well.

Knowing that this wasn’t Earth 22 brought me no end of joy. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I loved the Kingdom Come storyline. It was a great representation of what happens when great power doesn’t concern itself with great responsibility, but you couldn’t pay me to live in that world. Sure, that Earth eventually knew peace, but it literally had to be blown to kingdom come in order to get there.

That’s 90s comics for you, I guess. Nothing but grim and gritty antiheroes as far as the eye could see; also lots of pouches for some reason.

Anyway, back to work. Zach wasn’t that much of a popular character amongst the DC fans. That’s not to say he was hated or anything, but most people either had never heard of him or just thought something along the lines of, “Oh, that’s Zatanna’s cousin, right?” To be fair, I got where they were coming from. Zach acted like a brat when he first appeared on the main continuity, and he had a bit of a complex about how much more powerful and famous his cousin was than him.

 Because of his lack of popularity, Zach didn’t appear much in comics, and when he did, he was often a supporting character at best. Thanks to that, I could count on one hand the number of Earths where he existed, or at least that I knew he existed. There was his original Earth-22 self, after which he was brought to New Earth, and then he finally had a very late introduction to Prime Earth. I also knew that Zach appeared in Tiny Titans since I bought those comics for my little nephew after he said he wanted to get into comic books.

Now that I thought about it, there was also the possibility that more versions of him existed somewhere in the multiverse without the fans knowing about it. A chill ran down my spine at the thought.

Zatanna’s clothing was also a good clue. Her costume infrequently included pants, so that excluded a few Earth possibilities. Yep, that was why I had been checking out her legs, and no other reason. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I was a straight guy and she was a hot girl in tights. Nope, not at all.

“Damn. Even I don’t buy that,” I mumbled, looking away from a fit woman in the yoga group. They were doing the downward-facing dog and I was behind them. You do the math.

“At least I know one thing for sure,” I said, disappointed. “This isn’t Earth 11 or 24.”

All three Zataras had been their right genders, so that sadly eliminated Earth 11. As for Earth 24, well, World War II was long over. I knew that it was a dumb thing to be disappointed about, but a man can dream, alright?

The next thing there was for me to think about was about the Wendigo. Yes, the Zatara family had taken care of the monster, but what would have happened if they had not been there? I would have died, that’s what. Even the system itself had told me, “Don’t approach it if you want to live.” In this world, there were powers beyond mortal or immortal comprehension, and, frighteningly, the Wendigo ranked very low on that particular scale. Oh, don’t get me wrong; the Wendigo could have probably killed me in a single punch, but it was nothing when compared to the likes of Darkside, Black Adam, General Zod, The Batman Who Laughs, the Specter, and the Anti-Monitor.

Those guys will truly fuck you up, then bring you back to life, and fuck you up again.

The last things to consider were the two new features I discovered about <The Gamer> system.  I had already used the <Inventory>, but not the store. Might as well try it out, right?

“<Gamer Shop>.”

[Welcome to the Coin store, the <Gamer Shop>.]

There were two usual ways to use money in MMORPGs.

One of them was as a requirement to use high-level spells and abilities. The second was to use it as a common form of currency amongst players and in-game stores, such as with this <Gamer Shop>.

[To explore the catalog, please create an account.]

I groaned. “Oh, come on.”

[Would you like to use the ID, Oh Come On, for your account?]

[Yes / No]

I clicked ‘No’.

“Who would even use that name?” I murmured. “Let's just keep it simple and use ‘The Gamer’ as my ID.”

[That ID is already in use. Try another.]

…Say what now?

But how could it be taken? If an ID was taken, it meant that someone was using it, which would mean that someone else had access to the store, which would mean that I wasn’t the only one with access to this system, which would mean that… there were others like me.

I gulped and shook that thought out of my mind.

“I’ll use, uh, ‘Isekai Victim’?”

[That ID is already in use. Try another.]

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. Of course that was taken too. I needed something unique, something that defined me.

“How about ‘Multiverse Historian’?”

I wanted to go with True Believer instead, but that would have been more in theme if I had been in the Marvel Universe, not in DC. But Multiverse Historian wasn’t bad either. I had seen a few very knowledgeable DC Comics fans call themselves by that name and I liked to think of myself as one of them.

[Would you like to use the ID, Multiverse Historian, for your account?]

[Yes / No]

“Yes.”

[Your ID, Multiverse Historian, has been registered.]

A jumble of electric holograms appeared in the air, showing me many transparent screens much like the ones I was getting used to seeing.

[Buy it now! A starter bundle for your squire at just 11,000 Coins!]

[Limited stock available! Feeling like you need that extra spark when grinding level? Buy the new Flame Tongue Laso for 90,000 Coins!]

[A today-only special! Buy one High-Grade Recovery Potion for 500,00 Coins and get one free!]

[20% discount! Deserts, jungles, forests, and tundras! Create this and more with the Instant Dungeon Expansion Kit for only 800,000 Coins!]

There were numerous items up for sale, including what looked to be packages. All of the advertisements in the <Gamer Shop> were aimed at high-level users with lots of Coins to spend. It was natural. In video games, few people stayed in the low levels for long, as most either died or leveled up quickly. I imagined that, if other people could indeed use this store, they would have to pay a hefty commission so that their ads would be shown first.

I got rid of the pop-up ad screens one by one.

It was nothing compared to the power Kryptonians or New Gods wielded, but the Wendigo was no different from death herself for the common man.

I needed some items to defend myself from such monsters. Let’s see…

I skimmed through the catalog before glancing over at the search button in the lower right corner. I ignored the items on the screen too rich for my blood, and pressed the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the shop window.

[The product search function is activated.]

I opened my mouth to use the search function and said, “Search for the item ‘Lantern Power Ring’.”

[There are 12 search results.]

A small pop-up window soon emerged over the previous one.

+

* Black Power Ring – Stock: 0

* Blue Power Ring  – Stock: 0

* Green Power Ring  – Stock: 39

* Indigo Power Ring  – Stock: 7

* Orange Power Ring  – Stock: 4

…

+

I chose the [Blue Power Ring].

+

<Item Information>

Name: Blue Power Ring.

Seller ID: Won’t Stop Sparkling.

Customer Reviews: ★★★★

Grade: Quasi-Mythical.

Description: The Blue Lantern Ring allows Blue Lanterns to be a conduit of pure hope. It grants near-limitless potential for the user. It is one of the most powerful weapons in the universe and has the ability to affect and use fundamental forces of the universe.

I have plenty more magical jewelry in my catalog, so don’t forget to click on my ID and check out my collection. Au revoir, mes amis.

Price: 1,500,000 C.

Stock: Sold Out.

+

I had searched for the power rings on a whim and had expected them to cost a fortune, but that price was just outrageous. And what was up with that ID? Was this person an MHA fan?

I shrugged and clicked the search icon again, saying, “Search for something that will let me travel to another universe.”

[There are over 100,000 search results.]

+

* Mother Box – Stock: 3

* Sling Portal Creation – Stock: 4

* Breach Device – Stock: 7

* Blessing of Raphael – Stock: 1

* Sanchez Portal Gun – Stock: 10

…

+

There were many items in the catalog I recognized, even from outside DC Comics. This was unexpected, but it really shouldn’t have been. I myself was a being from outside DC Comics, and if there were others like me, why would they all have to be in the same Multiverse? Fine, technically, there was a chance that my world did exist in DC Comics as Earth 33, but that had never been officially confirmed.

As I scrolled down the item list, a thought occurred to me. There was an in-world explanation as to why the real world wasn't constantly being invaded by supervillains; Earth 33 was the only one in the multiverse closed off from the rest of existence, with only thought being able to travel to and from that universe and the rest of the multiverse. If I were correct in assuming that Earth 33 was truly my home universe, ordinary multiversal travel wouldn't be enough to get back home, though I had absolutely no idea how I had managed to get out. I clicked the search icon again.

“I need something that will let me travel to my home universe, bypassing the Fictive Membrane.”

[There is one search result.]

+

* Subway Token – Stock: 1

+

I clicked on the [Subway Token].

+

<Item Information>

Name: Subway Token.

Seller ID: Oldest Dream.

Customer Reviews: None.

Grade: Immeasurable.

Description: You can use this token to ride the subway I used to read in. That subway will take you anywhere you want to go, even outside your story.

I have my hyungs and noonas now, so I don’t need to go anywhere anymore.

Sorry for the price, but the plausibility didn’t let me set it any lower. I wish I could help, but Big Brother Junghyeok says dinner’s ready.

Price: 1,000,000,000,000,000 C.

Stock: 1.

+

My jaw dropped.

“Ten… twelve… fourteen… fifteen. Fifteen zeroes. That’s, uh, a quadrillion?”

I glanced at the corner of the shop screen.

[Coins Possessed: 6,520 C]

That’s the amount of Coins I had earned in the month I had been here. It wasn’t even a billionth of the price.

I stared in silence at the price for a moment before closing the item screen and pulling out the butterfly knife in my pocket. I unfolded the blade and stared at my reflection in the metal.

“I need to get stronger,” I said with a frown. “Strong enough to survive. And survive long enough for me to earn my way back home.”

I called out several items and then added them to my shopping cart if I was pleased with them. After a moment, I had formed a small list of items I could buy right now.

+

* Civilian’s Defense – Stock: 511

* Iron Sword – Stock: 99

* Warrior Starter Pack – Stock: 21

* Create Instant Dungeon – Stock: 124

* Escape Instant Dungeon – Stock: 176

+

I compared it to the items I usually used in the early game of many different adventure games. Basic armor that looked like regular clothes, a better weapon than the stolen knife I currently had, a temporary buff to my stats that also gave me the [Weapon Proficiency] skill, and a safe way to get in and out of dungeons. I had no doubt about it. This was the best combination I could afford at the moment.

[You have spent 5,800 Coins.]

[The item, Warrior Starter Pack, has been applied.]

[The skill, Weapon Proficiency Lv. 1, has been learned.]

[All your stats have temporarily increased by 2 until you reach level 20.]

Beside me on the empty park bench, a sparkling light gathered, and the sword, clothes, and skill books appeared in a neatly arranged pile.

I could no longer bury my head in the sand and hope for the best. I was in the world of DC Comics, whether I liked it or not. Besides, it wasn’t like I was going to put on a cape and call myself Captain Gamer. From the moment I realized where I was, I had decided that I had no interest in becoming a superhero, and that had not changed.

All I was planning to do was figure out these weird powers of mine, clear a couple of instant dungeons, level up a few times, train and get more skills, increase my stats, and earn a quadrillion Coins so that I could buy my way back to my own universe. See? Nothing crazy about that.

I picked up one of the skill books and got a new message.

[Would you like to learn the skill, Create Instant Dungeon ?]

[Yes / No]

I clicked ‘Yes’.

[The skill, Create Instant Dungeon, cannot be learned.]

[This skill requires 15 Intelligence.]

[This skill requires 15 Constitution.]

Status limitations – great. I had hoped there would be no features like this one, but I guess it just made my power even more like a game.

“I would like to invest five points into [Intelligence], and another five in [Constitution].”

[You have spent 5 stat points in Intelligence.]

[Intelligence Lv. 12 -> Intelligence Lv. 17.]

[You have spent 5 stat points in Constitution.]

[Constitution Lv. 12 -> Constitution Lv. 17.]

I picked up the two books and smiled at what I saw.

[Would you like to learn the skill, Create Instant Dungeon ?]

[Yes / No]

[Would you like to learn the skill, Escape Instant Dungeon ?]

[Yes / No]

“Yes to both.”

The books disappeared in a spark of sparkling light, dissolving into nothing.

[The skill, Create Instant Dungeon Lv. 1, has been learned.]

[The skill, Escape Instant Dungeon Lv. 1, has been learned.]

Grinning at the messages, I called out, “<Status Window>.”

[Checking the Status Window.]

+

<Status Window>

Name: Leonardo Diego de Jesús Lázaro

Occupation: The Gamer / Gender: Male

Job: Clinical Psychologist / Title: Game Junkie

Level: 5 / Next Level: 83.51%

Age: 27 / Race: Human

–

HP: 370/370

MP: 370/370

–

Strength: 22 (+2)

Dexterity: 12 (+2)

Constitution: 17 (+2)

Intelligence: 17 (+2)

Wisdom: 13 (+2)

Charisma: 12 (+2)

Luck: 12 (+2)

–

Available Stat Points: 0

–

Skills: [Gamer’s Mind Lv. MAX], [Gamer’s Body Lv. MAX], [Observation Lv. 2], [Physical Endurance Lv. 2], [Forceful Strike Lv. 2], [Agile Feet Lv. 2], [Weapon Proficiency Lv. 1]...

* You are currently using [Warrior Starter Pack].

+

I was currently level 5. You could say that I was slightly above average for a regular old human, but still bottom of the barrel when compared to Zatanna’s level of 24. I had increased my [Strength] as far as I could when fighting the baykok, doubling my 10 into a 20. But I didn’t feel just twice as strong; my power now felt much greater than that. Did the effects of my stats increase exponentially? That was something to look into later.

There was also my [Wisdom] to consider. That stat had increased on its own after a moment of logical thought. My first guess for logic would have been [Intelligence], but I wasn’t about to argue. Anyway, the point was that training could increase my stats without me having to invest points into them. I had to be careful, though. Just as more XP was needed to increase my level every time, it made sense to me that it would also be harder to increase my stats through training the higher they got.

“My MP and HP increased?” I said with a smile. “I was expecting HP, but MP is surprising. It didn’t increase with my [Wisdom], so is it tied to [Intelligence], then?”

All my skills were for close combat fighting, so I had ignored my MP until now. I guess that was silly of me, since [Forceful Strike] and [Agile Feet] were active skills rather than passive ones, meaning that they consumed MP when I activated them. More MP meant that I could use them more often and for longer periods.

“<Investory>.”

At my command, an information box showing a grid with dozens of item slots appeared before me. Fitting for my level 5 status, my <Inventory> was almost completely empty, except for the first slot with the [Baykok’s Femur].

I dropped the knife and sword into the <Inventory>, but something interesting happened when I tried to put the clothes in.

[Would you like to equip this item?]

[Yes / No]

I shrugged. “Sure.”

There was another flash of sparks, this one around my body, and then I was wearing the [Civilian’s Defense]. My old clothes were now inside the <Inventory>.

+

<Item Information>

Name: Civilian’s Defense.

Grade: Not Quite Ordinary.

Lore: Simple armor worn by those on the sidelines. It may be cheap, but it's still good.

Effect: Physical Resistance increases by 2%.

Effect: Increases the user’s intuition to perceive danger.

+

It was a set of clothes consisting of a pair of brown pants, a plain black shirt, a leather belt, and comfortable hiking boots. It wasn’t much, but my old, ripped, and dirty clothes couldn’t compare. It even came with clean underwear.

[You have gained an additional 2% physical damage reduction.]

[Your enemy detection skills have been enhanced.]

[You begin to feel sturdier.]

I couldn’t help but laugh. Remembering the similar starting equipment I had used in so many games, I felt like I was on the right track. Finally having a fresh change of clothes was also a welcome sight.

My eyes became fierce.

“I can do it. I can get strong. I can go home.”

I was a man who didn’t easily give up on a goal.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

Finding Fate

*

“[Create Instant Dungeon].”

[Your skill, Create Instant Dungeon Lv. 3, has been activated.]

[You have entered an empty instant dungeon.]

“[Escape Instant Dungeon].”

[Your skill, Escape Instant Dungeon Lv. 3, has been activated.]

[You have exited the empty instant dungeon.]

“[Create Instant Dungeon].”

[Your skill, Create Instant Dungeon Lv. 3, has been activated.]

[You have entered an empty instant dungeon.]

“[Escape Instant Dungeon].”

[Your skill, Escape Instant Dungeon Lv. 3, has been activated.]

[You have exited the empty instant dungeon.]

I dropped to my hands and knees and began panting heavily. My MP was completely depleted from the many times in a row I had been making and destroying instant dungeons. It was hard to describe how it felt to have no mana left in my body, but I will do my best.

Years ago, back when I was just a nerdy high school student, I was once forced to participate in a triathlon to improve my grade in P.E. class. I could still remember the way my muscles burned, my bones felt like they had shattered, and my every breath was torture.

This was worse.

I lobbed myself to my ass and leaned back against the trunk of a tree. I was in a small grove of trees near the Lounging Rock in Central Park, away from prying eyes. It wasn’t like I wanted secrecy or anything, but I also didn’t want to come up with an excuse as to why I was disappearing and reappearing. A group of Chinese tourists had seen me banish the first time I used my [Create Instant Dungeon] skill, and I was lucky enough that they thought it was a street magic act. I even got 9 dollars and 50 yuan in tips.

That was about three days ago, however, and I had been busy since then.

All the training I had been doing since meeting the Zataras a few days ago had paid off in more ways than one. Firstly, I was now level 9. Yep, I nearly doubled my level in just a few days. Oh, please, no applause.

My increase in power was entirely thanks to my [Create Instant Dungeon] skill. Initially, I could only create empty instant dungeons that mirrored reality, but after leveling up that skill, I became able to fashion dungeons populated with monsters, although they still resembled the real world. So far, I could only summon baykoks and flying heads, yet they were sufficient for me to hunt like mad. I had anticipated that a Wendigo would eventually appear, but it never did. Oh, well. Perhaps when my skill level rose high enough.

Speaking of which, [Create Instant Dungeon] and [Escape Instant Dungeon] weren’t the only skills I was focusing on. Both [Forceful Strike] and [Weapon Proficiency] were now level 7, and [Agile Feet] wasn’t far behind at level 6. I hadn’t had much luck with my other skills, but I guess that just represented the fighting style I was making for myself.

Even some of my stats had increased with training. Working out in a fitness park had increased my [Strength] by 3 points, my [Dexterity] by 2, and my [Constitution] by 1, and researching the legends of the baykok, Wendigo, and flying heads in an Internet cafe had increased my [Intelligence] by 1 as well. Now I understood that [Intelligence] represented knowledge and [Wisdom] comprehension. That realization had earned me a [Wisdom] point.

I also learned that I would get exhausted when I was completely depleted of my MP, but I only needed a half-hour break before getting back up again. My MP took longer to fully replenish itself, over an hour and a half, but at least I could move.

I let out a pained groan as I let my head hang loose.

This waiting around for my MP to recharge was getting annoying. Maybe I should look into a way to increase my MP recovery rate. I was sure that there had to be something in the <Gamer Shop> that could help me with that.

“Hey, you alright, bro?”

I raised my head and saw a blonde guy standing in front of me. He looked like he could be in college. He wore baggy cargo shorts, open-toe sandals, and a sleeveless Bad Bunny shirt. A Frisbee was lying nearby on the ground, so he probably came here to pick it up.

[<Legendary Prankster>

Lv. 7: Noah Davis]

“Uh, yeah,” I said, panting. “Just sore from, uh, working out. Yep, working out.”

“Been there, bro,” Noah said with a smile. He then reached into the side pocket of his shorts, pulling out a small water bottle. “Here,” he said, offering me the bottle. “Don’t forget to hydrate yourself.”

I raised an eyebrow and gingerly reached for the water, whispering under my breath, “[Observation].”

[Your skill, Observation Lv. 3, has been activated.]

[The skill level for Observation has increased!]

[Observation Lv. 3 -> Observation Lv. 4.]

+

<Item Information>

Name: Water Bottle.

Grade: Normal.

Lore: It’s a water bottle. What did you expect?

+

Well, at least now I knew that he wasn’t trying to drug me and take my stuff. Not that there was anything for him to take since I kept everything in my <Inventory>.

“Thanks, man,” I said as I uncapped the bottle and drank from it. My exhaustion may not have been physical, but the water did feel nice. “You’re a very nice guy.”

[The item, Fresh Water, has been used.]

[You have regained 1 MP.]

“Pfft, nah,” he said with a smirk as he took back the empty bottle. “Ask any of my friends, they’ll tell you I’m a jerk.”

“Jerks don’t help randos in the park.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said with a shrug. “But I don’t really think of myself as the good Samaritan type.”

“Is there a reason you decided to help me, then?”

“Well, I’ve just been feeling good lately, you know? Like, I dunno, relaxed and shit.” He laughed and shook his head. “Why am I even telling you this, bro?”

“People like to tell me things, and I like to listen. It’s part of my job as a therapist.”

At least it used to be before I was brought to this world. I hadn’t done a single session since getting here, and I was beginning to miss it.

Noah turned around, hearing his friends call him. He picked up his Frisbee and began to run in the direction he came from.

“Anyway, I hope you feel better, bro. See ya!”

I chuckled as Noah disappeared from view.

That had been happening a lot lately. People being nice, I mean. I wouldn’t have even noticed had I not spent a month wandering Manhattan, where every person exercised their God-given right to be miserable and treat other people like dirt.

I wasn’t complaining or anything, but it was weird.

I let out a long breath as I rested under the shadow of the tree, my body loosening up. Noah had been right. I had also been feeling ‘relaxed and shit’ for the last couple of days. I wasn’t sure why either. Could it have had something to do with all the monster hunting I had been doing inside my instant dungeons? It was certainly exciting, but I wasn’t sure that hunting would get me as relaxed as I was.

If I had to put it into words, I would say that the anxiety, worry, and resentment that I had been feeling from being brought to this world had just disappeared, or at least massively decreased.

“I think I’ll go grab a bite,” I thought out loud. “But what am I feeling like today? Burger? Tacos? Pizza? Gyro? Hot dog? Hmm. A New York-style hot dog sounds great right about now.”

*

I didn’t care what anyone said, street food was best food.

I took a large bite from my hot dog as I walked away from the vendor. This sucker was good.

For the first month that I had been in Manhattan, I had been as broke as a public school’s air conditioner, so I hadn’t been able to buy anything to eat… or anything at all, really. However, that didn’t mean that I didn’t check out the street vendors just for fun. In fact, one of the first side quests I got was to find a falafel truck that charged less than a dollar. That one had taken me a whole two days, and I had found it in Chinatown of all places. Funny thing, that.

I took another bite and let out a moan at the rich flavor. The way the beef combined with the spicy mustard was divine.

“Oh, crap,” I said as I looked down and saw a mustard stain on my black shirt. It wasn’t a big one, but it would leave a mark if I didn’t clean it quickly.

Maybe there was a laundromat nearby. I didn’t know of one, but I could try asking around. With how nice people had been lately, there was a good chance that someone would take me there.

I just needed to find that someone and… Uh?

“Where the hell am I?” I asked as I looked around the desolate forest.

The sidewalk had been replaced by brown dirt, and the rusting of the tree branches above me had taken the place of the noisy cars on the road. I was now surrounded by trees as tall as skyscrapers rather than by skyscrapers themselves. There was still the afternoon sun in the sky, but nothing else was the same.

“What’s going on here?”

[You have entered the Midtown Manhattan Dungeon.]

[You have discovered an instant dungeon.]

[You are the first to discover this instant dungeon.]

[You have received 1,000 Coins as an achievement reward.]

[A new hidden quest has arrived!]

[The hidden quest, Snake Hunt, has begun.]

+

<Hidden Quest – Snake Hunt>

Category: Hidden.

Difficulty: A+.

Clear Conditions: Defeat the master of the Midtown Manhattan Dungeon.

Time Limit: None.

Reward: 3,000 XP, 9,000 Coins.

Penalty for Failure: Death.

* This quest cannot be refused.

+

I sighed. “That explains it. A hidden quest – great.” I looked around the empty forest. “But where should I go now?”

I sighed again and placed my half-eaten hot dog in my <Inventory>, not having an appetite anymore.

I had no idea why this instant dungeon covered all of Midtown Manhattan, but then again, I didn’t know why the last one only covered the surroundings of the Umpire Rock. Perhaps every hidden dungeon was just built differently.

It made no difference either way. I had been preparing for this moment.

Having a skill gave me an intrinsic understanding of how it worked. Thanks to [Create Instant Dungeon], I knew that an instant dungeon was something like a small bubble attached to a much larger bubble, with the big bubble being reality and the small one being the inside of the instant dungeon. And thanks to [Escape Instant Dungeon], I knew an instant dungeon could be burst by overfilling it with mana; essentially filling the bubble with too much air until it popped.

I raised my palm to the sky and said, “[Escape Instant Dungeon].”

[Your skill, Escape Instant Dungeon Lv. 3, has been activated.]

[Your skill, Escape Instant Dungeon Lv. 3, has failed.]

[You cannot escape this instant dungeon.]

“Shit.”

However, some bubbles could hold more air than others. It didn’t matter. Even if this instant dungeon was a little stronger than the ones I could create, there had to be a limit to how much mana it could hold.

I raised my palm again, gripping my wrist with my other hand, and began to focus all of the mana in my body on the palm of my hand. I could feel the flow of energy within me, concentrating on a single point, forming into an almost tangible substance. All I had to do now was to release the energy and…

[The skill, Mana Bolt Lv. 1, has been created.]

BOOM!

A blast of energy shot from my hand, flying in a straight line through the air until it crashed against the thick trunk of a tree. I couldn’t see from where I was standing, but I could hear the sound of a small explosion coming from over there. A few seconds passed, and there was a creaking noise, then a rustling, and finally a crash as the tree fell to the ground.

“Ohhhhh… fuck.”

I was pretty sure that it was illegal to chop down trees on public land, so I hoped that no one would realize who had brought down that tree. I only had about 70 dollars in cash to my name, so I couldn’t pay the fine. No, forget paying. I didn’t have so much as a birth certificate in this world. If someone called the cops on me, then I would go to jail for sure.

I quickly confirmed that there hadn’t been anyone around to see that and then ran away.

I stopped almost as soon as I had left the felled tree behind.

Leaning on a huge pine tree was a monstrous creature resembling an enormous bear with no fur and an oversized head. It was scratching the bark of the tree, marking its territory. These scars on the bark were so high that I couldn’t reach them even if I jumped.

[<Great Naked Bear>

Lv. 17: Nyah-Gwaheh]

“Naia-guaje?” I said slowly, trying to read the name, knowing I was totally butchering the pronunciation.

The giant furless bear turned to look in my direction, growling its huge fangs at me. It seemed the bear had heard me.

“Shit, shit, shit! <Inventory>!” I called, quickly taking out my [Iron Sword]. “[Observation]!”

[Your skill, Observation Lv. 4, has been activated.]

[Your skill is not powerful enough to view all the information about this character.]

[Converting Status Window to Status Summary.]

+

< Status Summary>

Species: Nyah-Gwaheh.

Alignment: Neutral Evil.

Level: 17.

HP: 1,700/1,700.

MP: 1,040/1,040.

Overall Evaluation: This monstrous bear is hairless because its fur falls out as a result of eating human flesh. Naked Bears are nearly invincible to human attacks. Though these bears can be tracked, they have magical abilities intended to thwart such attempts.

Emotions: Hunger, Hostility.

+

The naya-gar… uh, the monster rushed at me with a loud, deep, resonant roar, its bright red eyes focused on me.

I jumped out of the way as the bear got close enough to graze me with his huge claws.

[You have lost 55 HP.]

I held my sword with one hand, ready to attack, but the evaluation had said that it was nearly invincible to human attacks. Instead, I stretched out my other hand. “[Mana Bolt]!” I yelled, shooting a bolt of energy at the face of the bear.

[Your skill, Mana Bolt Lv. 1, has been activated.]

The bear stumbled to the side from the small explosion it took in the face, its HP dropping by just 10% or so. I rushed at it with my sword raised high.

“[Forceful Strike]!”

[Your skill, Forceful Strike Lv. 7, has been activated.]

[You have scored a critical hit!]

I slashed its neck, and the HP bar over its head went down like a cheerleader on prom night. Glancing at its <Status Window>, I saw that it had lost over 900 points of damage with one attack. I had my doubts, but this confirmed it. My attack power wasn’t just determined by my [Strength] but also by my level, working as a multiplier of sorts, increasing it exponentially. Basically, a level 10 character with [Strength] of 20 would be stronger than a level 1 with [Strength] of 20.

“Don’t get distracted,” I told myself as I stared at the whimpering bear. Not missing my opportunity, I attacked it again while it was still dazed from the explosion, killing it with two more uses of [Forceful Strike].

[The bestial monster, Nyah-Gwaheh, has been slain.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have received 3,290 XP.]

As the dark smoke dissipated, I saw something shining on the ground. It looked like a purple piece of shattered glass, about the size of a quarter. I picked it up.

+

<Item Information>

Name: Lowest-Grade Spirit Stone.

Grade: Somewhat Useful.

Lore: A crystal made from concentrated mana. It can be used in various circumstances.

+

“Interesting,” I said as I dropped the crystal in my <Inventory>. “I wonder how much I can sell it for.”

I took out my half-eaten hot dog and began to eat it as I walked away. This was called the Midtown Manhattan Dungeon, so I suspected that I would find the boss near the center. At first, I had thought that the bear could have been the boss, but it had gone down too easily. Not that I was bragging or anything. Plus, the hidden quest was called <Snake Hunt>, not <Bear Hunt>.

[The item, New York-Style Hot Dog, has been used.]

[You have recovered 32 HP.]

A thunderous roar came from behind me, and I froze. Turning around, I saw another one of those niya-gud – ugh! Another of those giant furless bears was bearing its huge fangs at me.

[<Great Naked Bear>

Lv. 17: Nyah-Gwaheh]

“So you guys are mobs?” I said as I looked at the growling bear. “Alright then. I guess I could do some farming. [Mana Bolt]!”

*

Near the town of Salem, alone in a forest clearing, stood a slim but tall brick tower with ramparts. The tower was cold and lonely without any doors or windows.

This tower went by many names: Tower of God, or Castle Destiny, but it was better known as the Tower of Fate. It had served as a nexus point between all realities and a beacon of magical power for thousands of years, having been built in honor and as a symbol of the Lords of Order long before Columbus, the Norsemen, or even the Paleo-Indians arrived on this land.

A man stepped out from behind one of the trees circling the clearing. The tree wasn’t large enough to hide his whole body, so if anyone had seen him, it would have looked like he appeared out of nowhere.

This well-dressed man, Giovanni Zatara, approached the lone tower. Reaching into his top hat, he pulled out an ornate golden key.

The tower walls had no doors or keyholes, but Giovanni inserted the key into the stone wall and turned it. The key quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later Giovanni was facing an archway large enough even for a car, an archway onto a carpeted hallway that twisted and turned out of sight, far beyond what the exterior of the tower should have allowed.

Standing on the other side of the archway was a beautiful woman whose youthful appearance didn’t disclose her age of over a century.

“Good evening, Inza,” said Giovanni, tipping his hat to her as he pocketed his key. “You’re looking dazzling as always.”

“Good evening, John,” said Inza, a smile on her lips. “Flattery will get you nowhere, but please do not let that stop you.” She signaled for him to enter and gestured to the twisting hallway inside the tower. “We were expecting you.”

Giovanni chuckled at Inza using his American name and began walking the way she gestured. “But I didn’t call ahead,” he said, knowing that didn’t matter whatsoever.

Inza continued smiling as she accompanied Giovanni through the tower, down and up passages that defined the laws of physics. “One need not inform Fate of their intentions,” she said, almost laughing at their inside joke.

Walking past passages that led to the ends of the Earth and the worlds beyond, Inza asked, “How do your wards fare, John?”

“As well as can be expected from each one,” Giovanni answered tiredly. “Zatanna is advancing remarkably fast in her training; too fast for my liking, if I’m being honest. Zach, on the other hand, well, is Zach.”

“I would advise you to be patient with young Zachary. You yourself were once an overeager boy with passionate dreams of becoming a great sorcerer.”

“That’s what worries me. I see a bit too much of myself in that kid.”

Inza turned to look at him as they walked.

“I sense that young Zachary is not your only source of worry, John. Is something the matter?”

“I wish I knew, Inza,” he answered, sighing heavily. “Honestly, that’s part of why I’m here. I’m hoping your husband has some answers for me.”

They remained silent the rest of the way to the library. Once in front of the dark wooden door to the library, Inza excused herself, having business to attend to in the scrying chamber.

The door to the library had no handle, but Giovanni knew how to enter nonetheless.

“Nepo,” he said, and the door swung wide.

The library was as large as a cathedral, its many bookshelves housing ancient texts, many of which once resided within the Library of Alexandria. During his younger days, Giovanni had spent countless hours studying the contents of this library, sometimes for days or even weeks on end.

As Giovanni went deeper into the library, he found the man he was looking for, reading an ancient scroll on a long table. Though his hair and beard had turned grey and his face had some wrinkles, no one would have guessed that this vigorous man, Kent Nelson, was in his thirteenth decade of life. Were he not the host of Nabu, he would have surely died long ago.

The scroll rolled itself up with a flourish of Kent’s hand, freeing the table. He turned his chair around and gave Giovanni an amused smile.

“Back so soon, John?” Kent asked jokingly, gesturing for Giovanni to take a seat.

“I wouldn’t call four weeks ‘soon’,” Giovanni said as he sat down.

“I imagine you would not,” said Kent. “But once you reach a certain age, a mere month feels no less fleeting than a single day.” Giving Giovanni a grandfatherly smile from the opposite side of the table, Kent asked, “May I offer you some refreshments?”

At the snap of his fingers, a porcelain tea set appeared on the table. Without needing to be touched, the steaming kettle began to serve two cups.

“Do you have anything stronger?” asked Giovanni.

Kent raised an eyebrow and snapped his fingers again. The tea set was replaced by a bottle of wine and two tall glasses.

“Keep going,” said Giovanni.

Another snap, and there were now two pints of ale instead of a bottle of wine.

“Almost there.”

Kent snapped his fingers again, now looking at Giovanni with troubled eyes. The two pints disappeared, and in their place, there was a bottle full of well-aged whiskey and two Glencairn glasses.

“We have a winner,” said Giovanni, serving himself a tall glass of whiskey and downing the amber liquid in one gulp.

“Are you feeling well, John?” asked Kent, looking worried. “You may confide in me. If you have fallen victim to your old vices —”

“I didn’t come here to get drunk,” interrupted Giovanni, his voice firm despite his unnerved expression. He placed the empty glass on the table and took a deep breath. “You know all that’s behind me. I just needed something to calm my nerves.”

“I take it this has to do with your discovery of… what did you call them? Protected spaces? Illusion barriers?”

“Yeah,” said Giovanni, a sigh escaping his lips. “At least that’s what my card readings told me they were called. Now there’s a new name for them: instant dungeons.”

“Curious name,” commented Kent, calmly serving himself a glass of whiskey with a flourish of his wrist. “But are you certain? Did you not say last time we met that the inside of these protected spaces were recreations of Mannahatta? I find it hard to believe that a virgin forest would hold a castle, much less dungeons.”

“They are still forests,” said Giovanni, eying the bottle of whiskey before looking away.

“So what has changed?”

“This,” said Giovanni. “Wohs tseuq swodniw.”

A recreation of the holographic screens Giovanni and his kids had suddenly seen in the middle of their fight with the Wendigo appeared in midair. They weren’t just simple illusions, but the actual logged messages themselves.

[You have entered the Umpire Rock Dungeon.]

[You have discovered an instant dungeon.]

[You are the first to discover this instant dungeon.]

[You have received 1,000 Coins as an achievement reward.]

[A new hidden quest has arrived!]

[The hidden quest, Cease the Hunger, has begun.]

+

<Hidden Quest – Cease the Hunger>

Category: Hidden.

Difficulty: A-.

Clear Conditions: Defeat the master of the Umpire Rock Dungeon.

Time Limit: None.

Reward: 2,000 XP, 4,000 Coins.

Penalty for Failure: Death.

* This quest cannot be refused.

+

[The humanoid demon, Wendigo, has been slain.]

[Contributors: Giovanni Zatara, Zatanna Zatara, Zachary Zatara]

[Final Blow: Zatanna Zatara]

[The clear conditions for the hidden quest, Cease the Hunger, have been fulfilled!]

[You have earned 2,000 XP.]

[You have earned 4,000 Coins.]

[You have exited the instant dungeon.]

Kent silently read the text on the transparent screen, occasionally taking a small drink from his glass.

“This is certainly… unusual,” said Kent, cradling his glass of whiskey. “The composition of these texts seems cold and detached, almost mechanical in nature, though I must admit my knowledge of machines is rather limited. I am also unfamiliar with this ‘XP’.”

“That makes two of us. But there’s more,” said Giovanni, taking off his top hat. He reached shoulder-deep into it and began to pull out the items that had appeared after the Wendigo was defeated. He placed the large antlers, the vials, and the leather book on the table next to the whiskey, handling them like live bombs.

“I fear you have me at a disadvantage,” said Kent, taking a sip from his glass. “What are these supposed to be?”

“These are the… rewards my kids and I received from the instant dungeon after killing a Wendigo.”

“What?” said Kent, his body freezing.

“You heard me.”

“That is impossible,” said Kent sternly, placing his half-drunk glass on the table. His eyes were fixed on Giovanni’s. “We have confirmed that an illusion barrier is precisely that: an illusion. Nothing material exists within them, just the gathered evil thoughts of the masses given the shape of monsters. That could be potent as an energy source, but it should not be capable of this. For you to be granted these ‘rewards’, it would require something to be created out of nothing. Not even the Lightbringer himself has such power.”

“That’s not even the worst part,” said Giovanni, serving himself another glass of whiskey and swiftly downing it. “Pick up the book.”

For a moment, Kent’s eyes remained fixed on Giovanni. He studied him closely, observing the unnerved look in his eyes, the slight twitch of his hand, and the uncertain way he carried himself. This was much unlike how Kent had known him during their many years of friendship.

Giving Giovanni a nod, Kent glanced at the leather book with golden letters on its cover. The title was written in one of the ancient languages of the Algonquian people and roughly translated to Strength of One Who Broke the Taboo of Cannibalism.

He picked up the book.

[Would you like to learn the skill, Ravenous Hunger?]

[Yes / No]

Kent’s eyes went wide.

“Did a new text appear?” asked Giovanni. “Can you see it?”

“Y-yes,” stuttered Kent, stunned for the first time in years. “It is asking me whether I desire to learn a skill.”

“Decline immediately,” Giovanni said firmly. “If you learn that skill, you will gain the ability to draw power from absolutely anything you devour, but your mind will be overwhelmed by a demonic madness to consume everything in your path, especially humans.”

“The curse of the Wendigo,” said Kent, pressing the ‘No’ button in front of him and placing the book on the table. “A part of the power of that monster was transferred to the book after being slain.”

“Precisely,” said Giovanni. “Somehow illusions are becoming reality.”

Grabbing his half-drunk glass of whiskey, Kent drank it all in a single gulp, just like Giovanni had done. The burning sensation in his throat was a nice distraction from the fear creeping into his mind. “And what about those?” he asked, gesturing to the vials and antlers.

“I’ve been studying them for the last couple of days. They’re a pair of potions to heal lesser injuries and a weak catalyst for dark rituals. Nothing dangerous.”

“Yet,” Kent added gravely.

*

[The bestial monster, Nyah-Gwaheh, has been slain.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have received 3,122 XP.]

I laughed as I cut off the head of the monstrous bear with just one bolt and a swing, not even having to use [Forceful Strike] anymore. Having run around the entire instant dungeon looking for monsters, I had gained a whopping six levels just from hunting the niag-ya… nyeh-hab — aargh! From hunting the great naked bears. I was now level 15.

Not only had my skills and level improved, but I had even gotten a title, [Bear Slayer]. I was surprised to see that my powers had a title system, but it was a pleasant surprise. This title gave me a 40% increase in all my stats when I was fighting bestial creatures, which was niche but useful.

There had been some nice loot to be found in this dungeon. There were the spirit stones, sure, but the bears had plenty more to offer. I had gotten fangs, bones, pelts, silver daggers, and many other miscellaneous items, most of which I was going to sell in the <Gamer Shop> later. I was even wearing one of the best items I got, called the [Hide of the Wild Guardian]. It was a sleeved hooded cloak, which gave me a boost to my defense and resistances while at the same time making my tracks nearly impossible to follow.

This bear I’d just decapitated had dropped a fang the size of my forearm, a battered-looking stone axe that was weaker than my [Iron Sword], an ornamental silver dagger, and another [Lowest-Grade Spirit Stone]. I probably had over two hundred of those stones by now.

“<Inventory>.”

I reached into my <Inventory> and pulled out the burner phone I took from the punk who tried to mug me. I really needed to remember that guy’s name. Was it Perry? Brian? Paul? Whatever.

I turned on the phone and checked the time.

“Damn,” I said as I placed the phone and loot into my <Inventory>. “I’ve already been here for 10 hours. Thank God I don’t have to work tomorrow.”

My HP and MP replenished themselves each time I leveled up, so I didn’t feel tired at all. But it had been a while since the last time I leveled up. Perhaps I had reached the limit of what the great naked bears could get me.

“I think I’ll go for the boss now,” I said as I began walking towards the center of the dungeon.

I had found the entrance to the master's lair a few hours ago, but had decided against entering to instead hunt the bears. Now that my level was as high as it would get from hunting mobs around the dungeon, I felt like I was ready.

“<Status Window>.”

[Checking the Status Window.]

+

<Status Window>

Name: Leonardo Diego de Jesús Lázaro

Occupation: The Gamer / Gender: Male

Job: Clinical Psychologist / Title: Bear Slayer

Level: 15 / Next Level: 53.79%

Age: 27 / Race: Human

–

HP: 803/880

MP: 744/880

–

Strength: 25 (+2)

Dexterity: 14 (+2)

Constitution: 18 (+2)

Intelligence: 18 (+2)

Wisdom: 14 (+2)

Charisma: 12 (+2)

Luck: 12 (+2)

–

Available Stat Points: 50

–

Skills: [Gamer’s Mind Lv. MAX], [Gamer’s Body Lv. MAX], [Weapon Proficiency Lv. 11], [Forceful Strike Lv. 9], [Physical Endurance Lv. 7], [Observation Lv. 6], [Mana Bolt Lv. 3]...

* You are currently using [Warrior Starter Pack].

+

My level was in the mid-teens, and my skills had considerably leveled up as well. If the master in this dungeon was close in power to the Wendigo, I was confident in my chances to kill it.

That was my final thought as I arrived at the mouth of a cave where the master of the dungeon resided. Even though the path below was wide open, there was a reason why I spent hours hunting bears around the dungeon.

[You have detected bloodthirst.]

I had gotten the [Detect Bloodthirst] skill just after finding the entrance. My enemy detection skills were enhanced thanks to [Civilian Defense], so I knew for a fact that whatever was down there wanted to kill me strongly enough for the system to warn me. I had come here twice after reaching levels 10 and 13, hoping that I was strong enough, but that only increased the level of [Detect Bloodthirst] with each visit.

Even after reaching the limit of my growth inside this dungeon, I still felt an uneasiness as I stood before the entrance of the cave.

I took a deep breath.

“Anxiety is a natural response to danger,” I reminded myself. “It keeps us safe, but we should not let it command us.”

Holding my sword in my hands, I slowly descended into the cave. The lighting of the cave was much dimmer than the forest, but small pools of water on the ground seemed to give a luminescent glow.

As I cautiously descended, I came across a vast cavern. The floor was covered with thick mud and large ponds of black water. Some light was still coming from the pools, but I couldn’t see in them. There were trees, reeds, and tall grass all around. This place reminded me much more of a marsh than a forest or cave.

I took a step forward to get a closer look.

Suddenly, something large — much larger than the naked bears — shot out from the waters. It was a huge, scaly, dragon-like serpent with horns and long teeth. On its forehead, a roughly carved crystal shone with the light from the waters.

[<Master of the Midtown Manhattan Dungeon>

Lv. 40: Great Horned Serpent]

The giant snake coiled at a distance, hissing and staring at me with intelligent yet fierce eyes.

[A bestial spirit, Great Horned Serpent, has appeared!]

I gripped my sword with both hands and got into a defensive fighting stance, ready to parry the snake when it jumped to strike me.

We both stood still for a moment, locked in a deadly stare. After the moment passed, I raised an eyebrow at the horned serpent. It was still hissing at me, but made no move to attack.

I quickly glanced around me, trying to see if there was some sort of trap that the serpent was waiting to activate, but found nothing. It just sat there, staring daggers at me.

“Oh, I get it. You won’t make the first move, will you? Wait… No, that's not right. It’s more like you can't, can you? Oh, this is rich. It truly is like a dungeon raid.”

Every game was different, but there was a trend among MMORPGs where players had to be the ones who initiated boss fights. That rule didn’t apply to mobs like the naked bears, but it did seem to apply to masters like the horned serpent.

I glanced at the HP and MP bars in the top right corner of my vision.

[HP: 811/880]

[MP: 752/880]

“Yeah, like I’m not going to abuse the shit out of this.”

I sat down on a nearby log and smirked at the horned serpent. I flipped my middle finger at it and began to whistle the tune of The Girl from Ipanema.

[The bestial spirit, Great Horned Serpent, is hostile towards you.]

The horned serpent hissed at me, its stare showcasing its anger at having to wait.

I didn’t care how much it hissed at me; I wasn’t moving from that spot until both my MP and HP were at full, which took about fifteen minutes.

Once my MP was full, however, I got up from the log, my sword in my hands, and said, “[Observation].”

[Your skill, Observation Lv. 6, has been activated.]

+

<Status Window>

Name: Oniare.

Species: Great Horned Serpent.

Title: Master of the Midtown Manhattan Dungeon.

Alignment: Lawful Evil.

Level: 40 / Next Level: 21.51%.

Age: 56.

HP: 2,340/2,340.

MP: 2,250/2,250.

Overall Stats: [Strength Lv. 66], [Dexterity Lv. 59,] [Constitution Lv. 39], [Intelligence Lv. 30], [Wisdom Lv. 48], [Charisma Lv. 34], [Luck Lv. 24].

Special Skills: Poisonous Breath (Active), Steel Scales (Permanent), Invisibility (Inactive), Coiled Strike (Active), Immunity to Poison (Permanent).

Overall Evaluation: Oniare is a dragon-like, horned water serpent of Iroquois legend, lurking in lakes and rivers to capsize canoes and eat people. It is said to have supernatural powers over storms and weather. The only things it fears are lightning and thunder, for they are its natural enemies.

Emotions: Patience, Hatred, Pride.

+

The serpent made no move to attack, so it probably didn’t recognize my [Observation] skill as me starting combat. I had been worried it would, but I was glad to be wrong.

“Lightning and thunder?” I said after reading its <Status Window>. “Shit. I don’t have either of those. And what’s up with those stats? They’re way higher than its level.”

All characters started with 10s in their stats and 100s in HP and MP, earning 50 HP and MP and 5 stat points at every level. This serpent was level 40, which should give it 265 points, but it had way more than that. Worst of all, its highest stat was [Strength].

“I guess it’s because it's a named monster and a master?”

Named monsters were stronger than the common mobs, and gave out better loot and much more XP. Not only was this giant snake named, but it was also a raid boss, which made it a monster way more powerful than even named ones.

“[Agile Feet].”

[Your skill, Agile Feet Lv. 8, has been activated.]

Now that my buff was on, I was ready to begin the fight. I extended my palm as I held my sword with my other hand, saying, “[Mana Bolt].”

[Your skill, Mana Bolt Lv. 3, has been activated.]

As soon as the ball of energy shot out of my hand, the horned serpent jumped at me from its coiled position. It reached me in the blink of an eye, evading my magic attack, and I reflexively struck the snake’s head with my sword.

“[Forceful Strike]!”

[Your skill, Forceful Strike Lv. 9, has been activated.]

Clank!

My eyes widened.

“WHAT?!”

Although I managed to parry the head of the horned serpent as it was coming at me, I was now staring at the broken sword in my hands. All that remained of the [Iron Sword] was the hilt and about 4 inches of the blade. It reminded me of when Aragorn first got Narsil, except this blade would stay broken. That was 700 Coins flushed down the toilet.

I quickly turned around.

As if disoriented by the power of my strike, the giant snake coiled at a distance, staring at me with a piercing gaze. Quickly checking its HP, I saw that it had only taken 24 points of damage.

“You’re one tough bastard, aren’t you?”

[The bestial spirit, Great Horned Serpent, is hostile towards you.]

In response, it hissed at me again.

I gulped and began to properly analyze the master of this dungeon.

Next to the ordinary monsters I had fought until now, this thing's speed and durability were incomparably greater. Speed I could match thanks to [Agile Feet], but the [Steel Scales] skill was a serious problem.

My [Iron Sword] had shattered when I tried to get through its hide. It wasn’t like I could afford to buy a better weapon either. I was saving up my Coins for skills, and I had no idea how strong a weapon I needed to do any real damage to it.

If sword fighting was out, then what did I have?

Well, there were my fists, but those had the same problem as the sword. Magic, then? Yeah, that could work. I had leveled up [Mana Bolt] to level 3 from hunting naked bears. However, that skill was tied to my [Intelligence] and not my [Strength], so it was weaker than my usual melee fighting, and it couldn’t be empowered by [Weapon Proficiency] or [Forceful Strike]. It was weak enough that the horned serpent had managed to dodge the first attack I had thrown at it.

The solution to that was obvious.

The horned serpent hissed at me again, and I smirked at it, saying, “Invest all <Available Stat Points> into [Intelligence].”

[You have invested 50 stat points into Intelligence!]

[Intelligence Lv. 18 -> Intelligence Lv. 68.]

[Your Intelligence has greatly increased!]

[Your mental capacity is bursting with potential!]

[As you have increased your Intelligence past 50, a new skill has been created!]

[The skill, Mana Affinity Lv. MAX, has been created.]

I almost lost my balance as my senses were overwhelmed. It wasn’t light or sound that nearly knocked me down, but the waves of mana gushing around me. My new skill made me more sensitive to mana and also taught me how to handle it better.

I grinned wickedly at the horned serpent, throwing the broken sword to the ground, and raised my palm at it.

“[Mana Bolt]!”

[Your skill, Mana Bolt Lv. 3, has been activated.]

The ball of energy that shot out of my hand was nothing like the ones I had used against the naked bears. The speed with which it moved was like it had been fired from a cannon. It had grown larger, too. Before, the size of the bolt was close to an orange’s, and now it was closer to a beach ball’s.

The horned serpent screeched as the bolt exploded on its face. It hissed at me again, its fanged maw opened wide.

[The bestial spirit, Great Horned Serpent, has activated the skill, Poisonous Breath.]

A foul cloud of toxic gas escaped from the serpent’s mouth, filling the space around me.

[You have been afflicted by a poison.]

[You have lost 110 HP.]

[Your speed has decreased by 10%.]

[Your physical attack power has decreased by 10%.]

[Your durability has decreased by 10%.]

The giant serpent battered me with its horns, and I was sent flying, smashing into the trunk of a tree.

[The skill level for Physical Endurance has increased!]

[Physical Endurance Lv. 7 -> Physical Endurance Lv. 8.]

[You have lost 537 HP.]

I covered my mouth and nose to avoid breathing in the poison, but it was no use. I began to cough, retching and reeling from nauseating fumes.

“[Mana Bolt]! [Mana Bolt]!” I yelled as I ran out of the poisonous gas.

[Your skill, Mana Bolt Lv. 3, has been activated.]

[The skill level for Mana Bolt has increased!]

[Mana Bolt Lv. 3 -> Mana Bolt Lv. 4.]

[Your skill, Mana Bolt Lv. 4, has been activated.]

I shot another two beachball-sized balls of energy at the face of the serpent, this time hitting it in the eyes. The monster gave another scream of agony as it wiggled in the mud, and I could see burn marks where I had hit it.

The horned serpent hissed in fury at me, its left eye bleeding. The crystal on its forehead shone, its body began flickering, and it disappeared from view.

[The bestial spirit, Great Horned Serpent, has activated the skill, Invisibility.]

“Hey, that’s cheating!”

The puddles where the horned serpent was standing splashed around as it moved unseen, diving into a tall patch of grass and completely disappearing from my view.

I stood still for a moment, my eyes closed and my ears open. I couldn’t see the snake, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t find it. No concealment was perfect, so all I needed to do was zone out the background noise and focus on what didn’t belong.

[You have detected bloodthirst.]

[The skill level for Detect Bloodthirst has increased!]

[Detect Bloodthirst Lv. 3 -> Detect Bloodthirst Lv. 4.]

From my left!

“[Mana Bolt]!” I yelled, parrying the head of the snake with my hands and shooting a bolt of energy down its throat.

[Your skill, Mana Bolt Lv. 4, has been activated.]

[You have scored a critical hit!]

The horned serpent gave a shrill shriek as the ball of energy exploded inside it, its HP dropping to zero, and turning into a cloud of smoke that quickly dissipated.

[The bestial spirit, Great Horned Serpent, has been slain.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[Final Blow: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have received 11,210 XP.]

[You have dealt the final blow to the master of a dungeon for the first time!]

[You have earned 1,000 Coins as an achievement reward.]

[The clear conditions for the hidden quest, Snake Hunt, have been fulfilled!]

[You have earned 3,000 XP.]

[You have earned 9,000 Coins.]

[Your level has increased!]

[Level 15 -> Level 16!]

[You have earned 5 stat points!]

[Your HP has been replenished!]

[Your MP has been replenished!]

[Your level has increased!]

[Level 16 -> Level 17!]

[You have earned 5 stat points!]

[Your HP has been replenished!]

[Your MP has been replenished!]

As expected from a raid boss. Hunting the horned serpent had granted me two levels. I laughed and raised my fist into the air. The levels that seemed to stop at 15 shot up to 17 from a single fight. I had started the day at level 9, and I had leveled up like crazy since then.

However! The true prize from a boss raid was never measly XP. When it came to bosses, items were king!

As I looked over the mud where the horned serpent had died, I saw three items lying there. There was a snakeskin belt, a crystal like the one the horned serpent had on its forehead but smaller, and a snakeskin-bound book with golden letters on its cover written in a language that I couldn’t read.

I picked up the snakeskin belt.

+

<Item Information>

Name: Horned Serpent Skin Belt.

Grade: Somewhat Special.

Lore: A belt made from the skin of a Great Horned Serpent. Snakes have always been seen as unyielding guardians of sacred sites and are often associated with mystical powers.

Effect: Magic Resistance increases by 10%.

Effect: Mental Resistance increases by 10%.

Effect: Poison Resistance increases by 10%.

Effect: MP Recovery Rate increases by 20 per minute.

+

“Sweet,” I said, smiling as I changed my regular belt for the [Horned Serpent Skin Belt]. The boost to my MP recovery wasn’t 20%, but a flat 20 every minute. That certainly helped with my issue of exhaustion.

I then picked up the crystal, which was about the size of an apple.

+

<Item Information>

Name: Horned Serpent Jewel.

Grade: Legendary.

Lore: A precious jewel with some of the Great Horned Serpent’s powers inside it. It grants the user the power of invisibility, but only so long as MP is provided. Try to stay out of women’s changing rooms, alright?

Effect: Become invisible while providing 10 MP per minute.

+

I blushed as I read the last part of the description. Who the hell was writing this shit? I placed the jewel in my <Inventory> and picked up the book, already imagining myself breathing out poison like the horned serpent had done during our fight.

[Would you like to learn the skill, Way of the Restorative Venom?]

[Yes / No]

“What the…” I said in shock. “Is this… a healing skill?”

Going by first impressions alone, it appeared to be that way, but I hadn’t seen the horned serpent use this skill while I was fighting it, nor had it appeared in its <Status Window>. Of course, there was also a chance that this wasn’t a healing skill at all, and was some sort of weird venom attack instead.

“I really want to learn it, but I just wish I knew what this skill did beforehand.”

[Checking the Skill Window.]

+

<Skill Window>

Name: Way of the Restorative Venom.

Type: Active.

Level: 1 / XP: 0.00%.

MP: 50.

Description: Serpents have been associated with medicine for as long as history has recorded. This skill is for recovery. The medicine men were the healers of their tribes, and they used the gifts the spirit world gave them to restore balance and health to their communities. With this skill, you can heal yourself and others.

Effect With Spirit Stone: 50 HP and 50 MP recovery. Abnormal conditions and disease recovery.

Effect Without Spirit Stone: 50 HP recovery. Abnormal conditions and disease recovery.

+

“What?! There are skill windows?!” I screamed in outrage, glaring at the cavern's ceiling in fury. “Seriously! Who the hell designed this system?! And why the FUCK did they decide to force the user to figure everything out by themselves?!”

I held the book high, ready to chuck it into the dark pond out of sheer spite, but stopped myself. I took a deep breath and then sighed heavily.

“Oh, forget it. I’ll just check the shop after I get out of here. Maybe there’s something helpful there.”

I clicked ‘Yes’.

The book disappeared in a sparkling light, dissolving into nothing.

[The skill, Way of the Restorative Venom Lv. 1, has been learned.]

Well, that was that. I had no more business left inside this instant dungeon.

“[Escape Instant Dungeon].”

[Your skill, Escape instant Dungeon Lv. 3, has been activated.]

[You have exited the Midtown Manhattan Dungeon.]

The marsh inside the cave shattered as I was returned to reality, and I found myself standing in the middle of an empty subway platform. Looking at the signs, I appeared to be in Grand Central Station.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

Ripples

*

The girl called Raven woke up with a start.

Raven lay flat on her back, breathing hard as though she had been running. She had woken up from a vivid dream with her hands pressed over her face. The birthmark on her forehead, which was shaped like a kite-cut gem, was burning beneath her fingers as though someone had just pressed a white-hot wire to her skin.

She sat up, one hand still on her birthmark, the other covering her mouth to hold back the vomit, which she could feel gathering in the back of her throat. She ran out of her bedroom, lit by the bright morning light that was filtering through the curtains from the New Mexico sun outside the window, and dashed straight for the bathroom.

Raven pushed up the toilet seat and spewed last night’s dinner. She flushed the toilet and wiped her mouth, sitting down on the bathroom floor as she watched the contents of her stomach go down the drain.

“Get a hold of yourself, girl,” she told herself.

Raven ran her fingers over the birthmark again. It was still painful. She scrambled out of the bathroom, went back to her room, opened her wardrobe, and peered into the mirror on the inside of the door. A copper-skinned girl of sixteen looked back at her, her bright brown eyes shining under her braided black hair. She examined the kite-cut birthmark of her reflection more closely. It looked normal, but it was still stinging.

Raven tried to recall what she had been dreaming about before she had awoken. It had seemed so real… There had been a cloaked man she didn’t know… He had been fighting some giant monster… She concentrated hard, frowning, trying to remember…

The dim picture of a darkened cavern came to her… There had been a giant snake with antlers like an elk… a ball of light exploding… and a cold, mechanical voice… the voice of <The Gamer> system. Raven felt as though an ice cube had slipped down into her stomach at the very thought, as if that knowledge was forbidden…

Raven closed her eyes tightly and tried to remember what the cloaked man had looked like, but it was impossible. All Raven knew was that at the moment when the cloaked man had shot a ball of light into the mouth of the snake, she had felt a spasm of energy, which had awoken her… or had that been the pain in her birthmark? It was all becoming confused. Raven put her face into her hands, blocking out her bedroom, trying to hold on to the picture of that dimly lit cavern, but it was like trying to keep water in her cupped hands; the details were now trickling away as fast as she tried to hold on to them…

Raven took her face out of her hands, opened her eyes, and started to get dressed before going out for breakfast.

By the time Raven arrived at the picnic table her grandfather liked to have breakfast on, the New Mexico sun was high in the sky, illuminating the whole of the Ramah Navajo Reservation. Her grandpa looked up from his sandwich as she walked towards him.

“Morning, Raven. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, hey, Grandpa… Nothing – I’m okay.”

Her grandpa smiled as he put down his cup of coffee and patted the spot on the bench next to him. “Come,” he said. “Sit with your old granddad.”

Raven smiled as she went to hug her grandpa and sit next to him. She always felt better after a dream when she hugged him.

“You can’t lie to me , Raven,” he reminded her as he hugged her back. “I can see it in your face. You dreamt again.”

Raven sighed as she pulled away from the hug and held his hand. “...Yeah,” she said. “Weird one. A man was fighting a monster – he was talking a lot, but I can’t remember what he looked like or what he said. What do you think it means?”

“Don’t really matter what I think. They are your visions, Raven.”

“Visions? You know I don’t believe all that old Navajo stuff, Grandpa!”

Her grandpa chuckled as he cupped her cheek and brushed aside the stray hairs from her face. He said, “I’m an old Navajo, girl. You should believe me. I know what’s what. Besides… I was like you.”

“Was?” Raven asked, leaning into his touch.

“Visions stopped coming to me the day you were born. It’s your turn now.”

“Yeah, but my turn for what?”

Her grandpa pulled back his hands and gestured to a murder of crows flying away. “I think it’ll be your time to leave this place soon. Follow those dreams, no matter where they take you.”

*

Felix Faust was not the great man he once was, or, at least, he claimed he once was.

He had long been a colleague to the greatest dark magicians of history, yet there were nippers still wet behind the ears who dared call him a mere apprentice and second fiddle. Second fiddle indeed. The Homo Magi played the melody with effortless ease, but he wrote the concerto. They built their legends on his shoulders, growing fat on his hard work spanning civilizations. But not anymore. He spent a thousand lifetimes serving others, and now he served only himself.

"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!" came the cry from below where Faust floated.

Glancing at the Antarctic tundra below him, a grin came over Faust’s ghoulish face when he saw another of the dark blobs he had come here to find.

It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster than any automobile — a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and un-forming as pustules of greenish light all over its amoeba-like body.

“Yes, come to me,” said Faust, his decrepit body excitedly shaking.

He was familiar with this abomination, though he had never expected to encounter it in his waking life. It was called a shoggoth. Faust remembered the creature well. He first heard of it after lending the Necronomicon to his dear friend Howard and reading the ever-horror-filled nightmares he wrote down.

“Perhaps you were not the lunatic I took you from, Howard,” said Faust fondly as he watched the shoggoth battle his animated gargoyles. “It may be the case that you were a seer all along. But still, your visions don’t compare to what I will accomplish with the bizarre monstrosities that haunted your mind.”

Faust alone discovered these pocket dimensions hidden in the Antarctic, these illusion barriers, and the treasures he found there had given him more power than any magician of the modern age. None other could understand the subtle intricacy of the strands of magic woven into the fabric of these shadows of reality, where evil thoughts gathered. No one else was worthy of harnessing their power.

Making an intricate hand gesture that couldn’t have been easy with his ancient, ghoulish fingers, Faust summoned a red ceramic jar into his hands. This was the Red Jar of Calythos, and was particularly useful for catching and containing beings made from magic.

Faust aimed the mouth of the jar at the crying shoggoth being pummeled by the gargoyles, and said, “ Cogitationes malas colligentes .”

A flash of red shot from the jar’s opening, covering the shoggoth with its light, and turning the abomination to smoke before sucking it into the jar. Faust laughed as he sealed the jar. Though its weight had not changed, he could almost feel the mass of evil thoughts inside it. It wasn’t as good as a living soul, but no demon would ever turn away from such concentrated magical energy.

“At this rate, I’ll be able to start paying back my debts in no time,” said Faust, flying away to find the next shoggoth hidden in the snow, his gargoyles flapping their stone wings behind him.

*

Jim Corrigan had always been and would always be a New York cop. That’s how he lived, how he died, and how he… Well, he didn’t know exactly what to call his current condition. He was no longer amongst the living, but no longer was he amongst the dead. Perhaps the closest word would be ‘existed’. Yeah, that sounded good enough.

For the better part of the last century, Jim Corrigan had walked the Earth as the embodiment of God’s Wrath, bringing divine punishment upon those who would otherwise escape it.

I bring divine vengeance! screamed the voice inside Jim’s head. Sinners must pay the price. All fees collected by THE SPECTER!

Jim groaned as he rubbed the temples of his head.

Just listening to that voice always gave him a headache. One would expect that he would get used to it after 85 years, but he never did. The Specter was unwavering, unrelenting, and unforgiving. Some days, it felt to Jim that the only thing that stopped The Specter from destroying the whole of creation to ensure that every sinner was punished was Jim himself, balancing out the fire-and-brimstone with his own human morality. It was exhausting.

The copilot door to the squad car opened, and a young man entered, quickly putting on his seatbelt.

Jim sighed as he stared at his new partner: a rookie fresh from the academy.

He wondered why the commissioner of the NYPD, the only living person who knew about The Specter, would assign him this person as a partner.

His soul is pure, The Specter spoke in his mind. He is fit to punish evil alongside me.

Jim didn’t say anything out loud or in his mind, simply drinking his coffee as he waited for the rookie to stop fidgeting. He wasn’t willing to agree with The Specter, but he could at least acknowledge that stopping The Wrath of God from killing a corrupt cop was much more difficult when sitting next to one all day.

But his new partner, Detective J. Percival Popp, was the complete opposite in that spectrum.

Jim had read his file shortly after the commissioner told him the news, and he wasn’t much impressed. The kid had gotten average marks throughout his training and had been fast-tracked to detective after just one month in the force, thanks to his father, an alderman, pulling some strings. As far as Jim could tell, Percival was a mumbling fool, likely to get himself shot, which made Jim his babysitter rather than partner.

Percival tried very hard to look anywhere Jim wasn’t, but he kept stealing glances at him. There was a strange mixture of awe and fear in his eyes when he looked at Jim, as if he were some sort of war hero holding a loaded gun.

Well, Jim was a war hero (from more than one war), but Percival had no way of knowing that.

“Take a picture,” said Jim, unamused. “It’ll last longer.”

“S-sorry, sir,” stuttered Percival, quickly fixing his head forward, yet still stealing a glance from the corner of his eye.

Jim sighed and rolled his eyes. Not saying another word, he started the car and began driving out of the precinct's parking lot.

As he drove, Jim began reciting his welcome speech. It had such classics as “You’ll find no greater cesspool of depravity and perversion,” “The hours are long, the danger is constant, and the pay is laughable,” and “The public is about as likely to help you as they are to spit on your face.”

Percival nodded attentively throughout the whole lecture, never interrupting once. He even took out his phone and wrote down some of it. However, he was still giving Jim that look.

Having had enough of it, Jim pulled over and parked the squad car.

“Alright, out with it,” said Jim, his gaze fixed on the fidgeting Percival. Even as his human self, his gaze had an intensity and strength behind it that frightened anyone unlucky enough to be at the end of it.

Percival seemed to shrink into his seat under his gaze. He swallowed and said, “Ou-out with what, sir?”

“You keep looking at me like I’m about to pull a knife on you. If you’re this afraid of a fellow officer, you’re not lasting a week in this city. You’re better off packing your bags and following your dreams of transferring/retiring upstate.”

“I… never said anything about moving upstate,” Percival declared uncertainly.

“You didn’t have to,” said Jim, leaning back on his seat, never breaking eye contact. “Even if you don’t know it yet, that’ll be what you want. That’s the dream end for most of us here,” Jim remarked with some bitterness. “Have you ever been in a fight, kid? I mean a real fight.”

“Not really? I worked as a security guard before signing up for the academy. Then it was five months of that, and then Captain Holt needed more beat cops in the 99th Precinct.”

“I bet he did,” Jim murmured. “So why do you keep looking at me like a dangerous animal at the zoo?”

“It’s just that, well, you’re James Corrigan — the James Corrigan! The instructors in the academy told the cadets legends about you! You’re the third — wait — fourth generation of your family to guard this great city with honors! You got more arrests in your first year as a detective than most get in their whole careers!”

Jim cocked a brow at his response.

Jim wasn’t the fourth of his family to serve and protect, but rather the first. The only reason people thought so highly of his family was because Jim had formed a habit of disappearing every few decades, only to later return as his own son. Legally speaking, his full name was now James Brendan Corrigan IV. He wasn’t about to reveal that fact, but something else was wrong with that statement.

“Almost everything you said was correct.”

“Almost?” Percival questioned with interest.

“There’s nothing great about this city,” Jim corrected with cold eyes.

“I’m not sure I follow,” Percival stated with a furrowed brow. Jim popped open the glove compartment and tossed something from in there at Percival. Frantic to catch it, Percival scrutinized it oddly once in his grasp. “Is this a police report?”

“It's a case file. It got buried under a mountain of paperwork and red tape, and I’m one of the few cops willing to work it,” Jim declared, taking on a very disgusted look. “There’s been a spate of inactivity by high-profile criminal organizations throughout the city.”

“Is this supposed to be blank, sir?” Percival asked as he flipped through the pages.

“No. But do you know why it is?”

Percival paused to consider his wording. “Because the police don’t care about the lives of gangsters if they aren’t breaking the law?”

Jim gave the rookie an amused look. “That is a very naive thought. If the police wanted the case to disappear, they wouldn’t make a file at all. Someone went out of their way to gather information and reported back absolutely nothing.”

“Sir, I know about police corruption,” Percival assured him, a bit annoyed.

“Go to the last page, read it,” Jim instructed, ignoring the comment.

The newbie raised a brow but did as he was told. He promptly stopped moving and did not say a word.

“51 names,” said Jim, glancing out the car window at the endless sea of cars and pedestrians. “Each belonging to one of the many crime bosses who have gone utterly silent in the last two weeks. And each boss…”

“Controls their own kingdom in New York City,” Percival finished, taking a breath. “They each have hundreds of men working under them.”

“Thousands,” corrected Jim. “Some have tens of thousands, if you go high enough up the criminal ladder. No matter how many times they drill those numbers into your head in class, it never really… dawns on you what those numbers mean until you’re here. Half a hundred mob bosses, each having carved out their slice of The Big Apple, many dethroned and replaced as time marked on… all now docile.”

“How can something like this just happen overnight?”

“I don’t know,” confessed Jim. “No one has made any moves, communicated with anybody, received any new supplies, or arranged any meetings. It’s almost like every organized crime group in New York simply decided to go on vacation at the exact same time.”

“But-but isn’t that a good thing, sir?” asked Percival warily.

“Kid, think of it this way: something made the entirety of New York City’s criminal empires come to a standstill in less time than it takes me to clean my apartment. Just how much control over them do you figure that something holds?”

Percival stared at Jim for a moment before looking back at the list of names. “Not exactly what I signed up for, sir.”

“Trust me, kid, that’s what we all say,” Jim assured him in a weary voice. “I try not to sugarcoat it for rookies. You need a good idea of what you are up against, but you just… can never appreciate the size of the problem until you’re close enough to it.”

“You’re not very good at motivational speeches, are you, sir?” Percival remarked dryly.

“I’ll let you know when I try giving one.”

Jim knew his role wasn’t to inspire or comfort. The Specter’s purpose was to ensure that the guilty didn’t escape their punishment. However, so long as Jim Corrigan had a say in it, The Specter wouldn’t punish every sinner; only those who would otherwise escape justice. That’s why he indulged himself with the badge and job — to bring justice rather than vengeance.

*

It was a very common trend amongst sentient species to think that their world was at the center of the universe, especially when young and primitive, but only one world could truly claim such a title. The world that lay at the center of the observable universe was Oa, home of the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians of the Universe.

In this world, on Oa, stood the Citadel of the Guardians of the Universe. As the name implied, this Citadel was the stronghold of the Guardians of the Universe, acting as their headquarters. Deep within the Citadel was the meeting hall of the Guardians, a circular chamber in which the Guardians could discuss and debate the course that they, and therefore the universe, would take forward.

At that moment, a holographic projection was in the middle of the chamber. While a holographic map of the universe, which allowed the Guardians to locate disturbances and track Green Lanterns, was commonly shown, there was now an image that originated just outside the universe, though barely. The image was a live broadcast from within a dimensional anomaly on the primitive world of Earth, and resembled a mountain range with tall trees. In the middle of the projection stood a vaguely humanoid figure, its form blurred and distorted beyond recognition.

Now, it’s worth mentioning that the Oans, half of which became the Guardians of the Universe, were amongst the oldest and most advanced races and were quite possibly the first intelligent lifeforms in the universe. Thanks to this, they possessed supremely advanced technology, which they used to monitor the entire universe. The fact that the figure couldn’t be seen by their instruments was an oddity of the highest rarity. None of the Guardians knew why this was, or even why the dimensional anomalies were being spanned.

As they saw the blurred figure run through the mountain range, searching for more creatures to fight, the Guardians watched and waited, trying to understand. It wasn’t any of the Guardians who broke the silence, but their Protocol Lantern, Salaak, who served as something akin to their secretary and assistant.

“What is wrong with it?” asked Salaak, staring at the projection.

“What makes you think there is something wrong with it, 1418?” asked Sayd, one of the few female Guardians.

“I do not know,” said Salaak, still staring at the blurred figure. “It simply feels weird.”

“This image has had that effect on all Green Lanterns who have seen it, 1418,” said Scar, another female Guardian and the Science Director, sounding like she had tasted something foul. “916 and 1416 reported similar emotions . They claimed that this image made them want to ‘run and hide’, like it was forbidden.”

Salaak kept staring at the blurred figure, clenching his four hands, not letting fear claim him. “Apologies,” he said. “Please proceed, Guardians.”

Scar nodded and began her explanation. She said, “We tried analyzing this being, using every device imaginable. But according to our instruments, it doesn’t exist. It weighs nothing. It doesn’t age. No heat, no radiation, and has no atomic mass. It is absent.”

“That is not possible,” declared Appa, a member of the Guardians considered overly serious even by their standards. “Nothing in existence should lie outside the reach of our perception.”

“Then that means that this being is not part of existence,” said Ganthet, a kindhearted Guardian, with fascination. He looked very attentive as the blurred figure shot a large ball of energy at a gigantic avian creature with copper plumage flying above it. The ball exploded upon impact, but the immense avian covered in metal feathers wasn’t affected much. “They are… something else.”

“Could these anomalies be related to the Starheart?” asked Herupa, the youngest member of the Guardians, though still several billion years old. “I find the energy manipulation capabilities of this being oddly reminiscent of the mystical forces the Empire of Tears once wielded.”

Pazu, a mild-mannered Guardian, shook his head and said, “The Starheart remains contained within the second universe, and is currently in possession of an Earthman calling himself by the moniker of Green Lantern. Our counterparts in that universe have made no move against us, so we cannot assume their involvement in this matter. Whatever this being is, it is something entirely unknown.”

Appa frowned as the blurred figure gathered energy into the shape of an arrow, forced it to spin rapidly, and then shot it at the gigantic avian creature with copper plumage. The spinning arrow of energy pierced the gigantic avian’s wing, breaking its bone, and forcing it to plummet to the ground. “This lack of information is unacceptable,” he declared. “We require the Green Lantern assigned to that sector to travel to this planet at once so that they may thoroughly evaluate the true nature of this being and dispose of it should the need prove necessary. The protector of that sector would be 2814, Abin Sur, if I am not mistaken.”

“Indeed,” said Ganthet, nodding. “I concur with your proposal of performing reconnaissance, Appa Ali Apsa, though I find your idea of eliminating this unknown individual as yet unwarranted. They so far have shown no hostility to anything other than the dangerous beasts within the dimensional anomalies, which are able and willing to kill the inhabitants of their planet.”

“It possesses powers that cloud our sight, Ganthet,” Appa argued back. “Is hiding from the law not a sign of ill intentions?”

“Perhaps, Appa Ali Apsa,” Ganthet admitted calmly. “But, then again, perhaps not.  We remain unaware of the method used to hide the existence of this being from us, hence, we are unaware if it is a voluntary action on their part or if this being is even knowledgeable of their situation. I think this matter is best left to the Green Lantern assigned to the task. I trust wholeheartedly in the judgment of Abin Sur. Do you not, my fellow Guardians?”

There was a small chorus of agreement amongst the Guardians. It was widely acknowledged that Abin Sur was one of the greatest members of the Green Lantern Corps, if not the greatest of them all. There wasn’t one Oan amongst the Guardians of the Universe who doubted his capabilities.

Appa pressed a button on his console and said, “Green Lantern of sector 2814, report immediately to Oa. Priority one.”

“ I’m already on my way, sir, ” responded Abin Sur. “ I am currently leaving planet Nok after delivering a prisoner by ship. Travel time is estimated to be 44 minutes. ”

“Acknowledged, 2814,” said Appa, cutting the communication and dismissing the holographic projection. The blurred figure was now fighting the fallen avian with more of those energy arrows, but the guardians needed to watch no more. “While we wait for the arrival of 2814, I think it best we continue with the next topic on the agenda.”

“That would be the development of the prototype vehicle, the Interceptor, sir,” Salaak said after checking his many screens.

“Oh, that,” commented Ranakar, a Guardian with a hobby of composing intricate poetry. “Yes, I am very much interested in hearing how that project of yours is coming along, Scar.”

“I can report much progress, my fellow Guardians,” said Scar with what on any other species would have been called smugness; but the Guardians of the Universe were forbidden feelings, so it couldn’t be. “I have upgraded the nav-computer of the Interceptor with an artificial intelligence to compensate for the speed at which it travels and the sophistication of its design. So far, all simulations have proven most promising, and I expect construction to begin in no less than 27 months.”

*

It had been nearly seven weeks since Patrick O’Brian had been hospitalized.

He had been lying on the same hospital bed ever since he tried to rob some random Latino guy on the street, and said random guy beat the lights out of him, then robbed him back. His chest, legs, and arms were covered in bandages, so he had been unable to leave the hospital for weeks. The only part about being bed-bound that he could even remotely like was the nurses, the pretty little numbers who took care of him.

“Mmm, nurses,” Patrick said with a grin, letting his mind wander.

He had always been more of a blonde guy himself, but there was something about redheads and brunettes that was hard to pass up. They might try to hide it under those nurse scrubs, but Patrick would bet good money that those curves of theirs had caught the eye of many a man, and he would go as far as to say women. They had treated Patrick amazingly so far, sharing lunches with him, bringing him his stuff from storage, laughing at all his dumb jokes…. And the way their hands moved when they gave Patrick his sponge baths… He shivered at the memory.

Patrick looked up and chuckled as he heard the voice of one of the nurses, a fiery redhead with legs for days called Ramona, coming from the other side of the door. He couldn’t catch what she was saying or who she was talking to, but he heard her giggling when the guy said his name.

Leaning as close to the door as his bedridden body would let him, Patrick heard her say, “Mister O’Brian is right there. He hasn’t gotten no visits so far. You a friend?”

“More like an acquaintance,” said the other person. He was a guy, but Patrick couldn’t put a face to his voice, and it didn’t sound like he was from New York. “I’m the one who called the ambulance for him, and wanted to see how he was doing.”

“Aww, well, ain’t you sweet.”

Patrick frowned. This guy had been the one who called him an ambulance? He had passed out after that Latino punched his lights out and took his stuff, so he hadn’t known how he had gotten to the hospital. For a moment there, he had been worried that he was part of one of the mobs he owed money to.

“Is it alright if I just go in?” asked the guy.

“Oh, sure,” said Ramona. “Visiting hours don’t end till 9. Take your time, sweetheart. Mister O’Brian could use the company of a nice young man like you.”

“Thank you, Miss. You’re a real pearl.”

“Aww,” Ramona said with a giggle, which gave Patrick a goofy smile. “You sure know how to make a girl blush. I’m going on my break, but feel free to call me if you need anything.”

Patrick heard Ramona’s dainty footsteps as she left for her break. A moment later, the door swung open, letting Patrick see the backside of the guy she had been talking with. His gaze must have been fixed on Ramona’s nice ass as she walked away, because he kept leaning to catch a better look.

Patrick saw his face as the guy leaned to the side to watch Ramona. He immediately backed away in terror. It had been almost two months since he had seen him, but Patrick had had nightmares about this guy that whole time. It was the Latino guy who had beaten him up.

“Only in a comic book reality,” murmured the guy with a smile, shaking his head. “She could give Jean Grey a run for her money.”

He walked backwards into the hospital room, his head out the door, and his gaze still fixed on Ramona.

“Hey there, Mister O’Brian, remember me?” he asked with a goofy grin, his back turned to Patrick as he closed the door. “Sorry to come so late in the day, but I got stuck fighting a Tlanuwa on my way here, and let me tell you, that sucker was tough as nails. Literally! Anyway, I wanted to… check up on… you…”

The guy froze as he turned around after closing the door, staring at Patrick, who was panicking, with wide eyes and a hanging jaw.

“You’re Plas… Patrick O’Brian,” he said in a shocked whisper.

“Y-yeah,” stuttered Patrick.

“Patrick ‘Eel’ O’Brian?” he asked, his eyes zooming over Patrick’s body, looking at him with complete surprise, and glancing at his folded-up red suit and sunglasses on the stand next to the bed.

“Y-y-yes.”

“Oh my Presence. How the fuck didn’t I recognize you in that alley? I mean, you even looked just like the pictures — the hair, the chin, the glasses, the red and yellow suit, everything! Is it because of my increased [Intelligence]? My memory is better than before, so maybe that’s it.”

Patrick crawled back on his bed, trying to get away from the guy, but his body screamed in pain after moving less than an inch.

“Look, man,” Patrick said, terrified. “I dunno who told you about me, but I swear I’m not worth your time. I’m just a thug, a petty thief — I’m nobody! I’m sorry I pulled a knife on you, I just needed the money. Please don’t finish the job!”

“Huh?” said the guy, snapping out of his shock. “What? Dude, I’m not here to kill you. In fact, I think that I may just do the opposite.”

The guy reached out a hand towards Patrick, rolled his eyes when Patrick tried to crawl off the bed, and gripped Patrick’s wrist, saying, “[Way of the Restorative Venom].”

A flash of light came from the guy’s hand, and Patrick gasped as he felt the pain from moving his body banish.

“What the – crap!” hissed Patrick. He had tried to sit up on the bed, but his ribs still hurt like hell when he wasn’t leaning back.

“Huh, that’s weird,” said the guy, letting go of Patrick’s wrist and letting him fall back on the bed. He walked to the front of the bed, picked up the medical chart hanging there, and gave it a once-over. “Partially fractured right arm, broken right femur, 2 broken ribs, and a whole lot of internal damage. I guess it takes more than one use to heal all this crap. Again, sorry for beating the shit out of you, Pla… uh, pal, buddy, bro.”

Patrick wasn’t listening. He was lying on his back, staring at the wrist the guy had taken hold of. It had been the arm with the partial fracture, but he no longer felt any pain in it at all. It was still broken, sure, but… less so.

“How did you…?”

“Like this,” said the guy, placing down the chart and again grabbing Patrick’s wrist. “[Way of the Restorative Venom], [Way of the Restorative Venom], [Way of the Restorative Venom], [Way of the Restorative Venom], [Way of the Restorative Venom], [Way of the Restorative Venom], [Way of the Restorative Venom].”

More flashes of light came from the guy’s hand every time he said those words. With every flash, Patrick felt his pain lessening and his wounds improving. The guy must have repeated those words for almost five minutes, but Patrick still couldn’t get off his bed.

“Okay, what the fuck?” the guy said, annoyed. “The skill already reached level 4 just from me healing you, but you’re still bed-bound. I don’t get it, the skill’s supposed to get rid of abnormal conditions. Is there something I’m missing? Show me the <Skill Window>.”

“The what?” asked Patrick, now staring at the guy with as much shock as when he had been looking at Patrick.

“Wasn’t talking to you,” he said offhandedly as he stared at something in the air, his eyes darting back and forth as if reading. Patrick turned to look in the direction the guy was staring at, but there was nothing that way except a blank wall.

“Well, this is new,” the guy said after a moment. “There’s additional information.”

“Additional information?” repeated Patrick, not understanding a word the guy was saying.

“Mmhmm. It says, ‘Using spirit stones in conjunction with this skill, low-level abnormal conditions and diseases can be completely recovered. The power of this skill depends on its level, the level of the spirit stone, and the [Intelligence] of the user.’ Is it showing me this because I leveled up the skill? Well, I guess it’s worth a try. <Inventory>.”

The guy reached his hand out and pulled a fistful of small purple crystals out of thin air. Patrick could only guess those were the “spirit stones” the guy was talking about. The guy’s sleeves were too short for him to be hiding them there, so Patrick had no idea how they had just suddenly appeared.

The guy pushed Patrick down on the bed, completely ignoring his wince of pain, and placed the spirit stones on his chest.

“Stop squirming,” said the guy with a glare. “Do you want me to heal you or not?”

Patrick opened his mouth to say something, couldn’t think of anything, and closed it, giving the guy a nod.

“Good,” he said. Once more, the guy began repeating those words over and over, “way of the restorative venom”, but now the effect was different, more potent. Every time he said those words, one of the crystals flashed brightly and then vanished into thin air.

“Holy mama!” Patrick gasped and jolted to his feet as he felt the last of the pain completely leave his body. He took in a deep breath and could no longer feel the stinging in his chest. “I’m… I’m healed!”

“Hallelujah!” said the guy, laughing as he raised his hands to the heavens. “Tear down your false idols and recognize!”

Patrick stared at the guy, his jaw hanging low. He looked down at his body and began unwrapping the bandages on his right arm. “This is amazing,” he said. “How did you do it?”

“Magic,” the guy said with a casual shrug.

Patrick laughed as he continued taking off his bandages. “Seriously?”

The guy just smirked and raised a brow at him.

Patrick froze and stared back, his face going pale. “Seriously?”

The guy gave him a nod, his smirk growing into a grin.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” said Patrick, backing away from the guy until his back hit the wall of the hospital room. “Did… did I…”

“Did you what?” the guy asked, amused.

Patrick gulped and said, “Did I just sell my soul to the devil?”

“...The fuck?” the guy said, taken aback. “Dude, I’m not Lucifer, and neither of us has any interest in your soul; well, maybe the New 52 Lucifer would buy it, but we’re in Rebirth, so that’s besides the point. I mean, what would I even do with your soul? Where would I put it? Do I just carry it around in my pocket?”

“Then who the hell are you?!”

“Oh, I’m Leo, Leo Lázaro,” said the guy, offering his hand for a handshake.

Patrick stared at Leo’s hand for a long moment, his fast breathing the only sound in the hospital room, and then gingerly shook his hand.

“There we go,” said Leo, again grinning. “See? I don’t bite.”

Patrick nodded as he pulled his hand back, slowly unwrapping the bandages on his arm. “You really just came here to check up on me?”

“Pretty much,” Leo said with a shrug, leaning on the wall as Patrick worked on his bandages. “I felt kinda bad for the state I left you in, and now that I can heal people, I figured that I could try it out on you.”

“Even after I mugged you?”

“Attempted to mug me,” Leo corrected. “And why not? That fight was an eye-opener for me. I discovered my powers thanks to you. It sounds kind of silly, but I wanted to buy you a gift basket as an apology for trying out my skills on you, for putting you in the hospital, and for taking all your stuff.”

“I forgot about that last part,” murmured Patrick, freeing his right arm from the bandages. “Can I have my phone and the rest of my shit back? Uh, please?”

“Oh, no. Those are mine now. Besides, I blew through half the money you had on a big dinner after I called you an ambulance. I just got about 40 dollars left; that’s kinda why I couldn’t get you that gift basket — too expensive.”

Patrick sighed.

He knew that asking for his stuff back was too much. At least he still had his wallet with him, even if no money was left in it. The knife and phone weren’t a big loss either; they were cheap enough that he could always get others. For some weird reason, not getting that gift basket felt like the worst part.

“You tried looking in the expensive places, didn’t you? For the gift basket, I mean.”

“I guess?” said Leo, sounding unsure. “I’m not really a New Yorker, so I’m still figuring my way around town.”

Patrick chuckled and sat on the edge of the hospital bed, facing Leo. “No kidding. I could tell just by the way you speak. Let me guess… L.A.?”

“Long Beach,” said Leo, embarrassed.

“Close enough,” Patrick said with a laugh. “You gotta know where to look around here. I know a shop in the Bronx where I can hook you up with some fine gift baskets… so long as you don’t mind the occasional stale cheese.”

Leo became still and stared at Patrick, his eyes fixed on his.

“A shop…” Leo whispered. “Hang on… It can’t possibly be that simple, can it? <Gamer Shop>.”

“The what shop?” asked Patrick.

Leo ignored him and pressed a point in the air, again staring at nothing. “Gift basket,” he said clearly. His eyes began to move like he was reading something, even though there was nothing there.

A sparkling light gathered next to Patrick on the hospital bed.

“Holy mother of God!” Patrick exclaimed, springing to his feet. “Where’d that come from?!”

The most extravagant gift basket lay on top of the bed. It contained cheeses, fruits, chocolates, wine, pastries, and so much more. Nothing in the basket was from any brands Patrick recognized, but it was all obviously of the highest quality.

“I just bought it in the <Gamer Shop>,” said Leo, staring at the basket with bewilderment. “It was just 200 Coins.”

“Gamer shop?” said Patrick, his eyes darting between the basket and Leo. Just when Patrick thought he understood Leo, he surprised him again.

Leo sighed and explained the shop to Patrick, having to repeat himself a few times so that Patrick could wrap his head around the idea.

“So you are some sort of wizard, and you can buy anything in that shop of yours with cash you earn from killing monsters?” asked Patrick, snaking on a chocolate bar from the basket.

“Pretty much.” Leo shrugged as he took a swig from the wine bottle. “I’ve found everything I’ve looked for in the <Gamer Shop> so far.”

“Are there diamonds?”

Leo pressed the search button on the invisible screen no one but him could see, and said, “Diamonds… Yep, there they are. Huh, and not too expensive either.”

“Suits?”

“Suits… I meant formal suits, not suits of armor… There we go. Hmm. There’s a guy called Weaver selling custom-made silk suits for 390 Coins. Imma add this to my shopping cart.”

“Oh, this is awesome,” Patrick said with a grin. “What about sports cars? Please tell me there are sports cars.”

“Sports cars… There are and then some. I’ve never even heard of some of these — guess they must be from different universes. These are a bit more pricey, but I could totally buy one of the cheapest if I wanted.” Leo ran a hand through his hair and took another swig of wine. “I could barely afford some armor with a mediocre enchantment bonus, but Acolyte of the Winds can sell a luxury Satomobile for just 1,800 Coins. Just how rich are these guys that they can throw away Coins like that?”

“I think you got that backwards, bud,” Patrick said with a smirk, biting off a piece of his chocolate bar. “You say that these guys are throwing money away, but I’ve worked, uh, allegedly worked for enough gangsters to know that people just don’t do that. If someone sells something for cheap, it means they either want to get rid of it or it’s not worth much to them.”

Leo rolled his eyes and snatched the chocolate bar from Patrick’s hands, taking a bite himself. “Well, if you’re so smart, enlighten me.”

“How much was that magic armor you could barely afford?”

“Err, around 2,000 Coins.”

“And you said this basket of delicious goodies was 200, right? We’ve been eating from it for a while, and neither of us has swollen into a blueberry, so there’s nothing magical about it, right?”

“Of course not. The gift baskets with magical food were way more… expensive.” Leo facepalmed. “Oh, you’ve gotta be shitting me. Only magic items are expensive in the <Gamer Shop>.”

“Supply and demand, baby,” said Patrick, taking back his chocolate. “You’re a wizard, so how hard would it be for you to snap your fingers and make all that junk appear?”

“For me? About as hard as it is for you. For people with the right skills? Not at all, I guess. Hehehehe. I guess this means that I don’t need to use real money ever again.”

Patrick laughed as he took a small creamy pastry from the basket. “You could probably get that in your shop, too. Oh, and gold bars!”

Leo stared at him for a moment. “Buying money… It didn’t even occur to me.” He then pressed the search button again, saying, “I need U.S. currency.”

After a few seconds of scrolling, Leo fell back on a chair next to the hospital bed and gawked at the invisible screen.

“There’s a guy called King Cash selling newly-printed hundred-dollar bills,” he said, dumbfounded. “They are just a Coin a pop, and it says they’re good in all modern USAs.”

Leo clutched his head in pain as he dismissed the invisible screen.

“Uh, owwwwwhhhhh, uh, ohhh…”

“You okay, Leo?” asked Patrick, putting down the half-eaten pastry.

“Yes, just… just an aneurysm out of sheer stupidity…”

“Wow!” said Patrick. “Didn’t think you were that stupid, Leo.”

Leo clutched his hands into tight fists and suppressed a scream of absolute rage.

“A month,” Leo grunted as his knuckles turned white. “A fucking month I wandered New York like a hobo, and that whole time I could have just bought money…”

Patrick stood up and took a step back from Leo. He had worked with enough mobsters to recognize a man about to lose control when he saw one. Just as Patrick was about to get the hell out of the room, Leo sighed heavily and unclenched his fist, letting his body rest limply on the chair. Patrick could tell that Leo wasn’t holding back his rage; it was more like he had suddenly lost all of his anger.

“Whatever,” said Leo, sounding almost bored. “One more thing for my complaint list to the devs. Seriously, how hard is it to make a user’s manual? Even the SAO players got a guidebook.”

Patrick had no idea what a dev or an SAO was, but he wasn’t about to ask. He would just file them with all the mind-blowing things he had learned today and move on.

Leo sighed again, standing up from the chair, and giving Patrick a pat on the shoulder.

“I best get going, dude,” said Leo, still bored. “Thanks for everything, and sorry about the whole putting-you-in-the-hospital thing. I’ll pay the bill on my way out since I can afford it now, so don’t worry about going bankrupt. Just focus on taking better care of yourself in the future, man. ‘Cause, seriously, one of these days you could end up mugging the wrong person, and they might not call an ambulance like I did. Please try finding a legitimate job.”

It wasn’t the first time someone had said those words to Patrick, but hearing Leo say them somehow felt different. Maybe it was because he had healed him, but Patrick felt a small debt to Leo, and this seemed as good a way to pay it as any.

Patrick nodded. “I’ll try.”

“That’s all I’m asking,” Leo said with a smile as he raised his hands in surrender. “Enjoy the basket.”

“Will I be seeing you around?” Patrick asked as Leo began walking away.

“I’ve still got your phone, so you can call me if you want,” Leo said, chuckling. “Maybe we can go to a bar or something. Until then, see ya.”

With those words, Leo left the hospital room, closing the door behind him. Patrick watched him go until the end of the hallway, then he sighed and lay back on the hospital bed next to the open gift basket.

“Going legit, eh?” he mused, snaking on his creamy pastry. “I’ve got a few buddies who owe me big time and can definitely get me a job. Which should I pick… FBI? Not with my record. Lex²? May as well keep mugging. Kord Omniversal? No, can’t go back to Chicago; Angel hates my guts. Hmm. I think I know a guy who runs a chemical plant in Cole City… Yeah, that scrawny kid I kept safe from bullies… Cyrus Van something or other… I can definitely cash in a favor or two with him.”

Patrick chuckled as he launched a chocolate truffle into the air and caught it with his mouth. The way the truffle melted on his tongue was fantastic.

“Look at me,” he said smugly after swallowing the chocolate. “Just made friends with a wizard, and I am about to get a legitimate job at a chemical plant. Things are looking up for good old Eel O'Brian. Oh, yes, they are. Nothing but clear skies ahead for this guy. And if trouble comes a-knocking? No problem. I’m nothing if not flexible.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 6

The First Main Quest

*

I complained a lot about being stranded in the DC Universe, but honestly, doing magic was fun.

“[Binding]!” I shouted, aiming my hand at the jiangshi hopping towards me.

[Your skill, Binding Lv. 6, has been activated.]

Ropes made from mana exploded from my open palm, flying towards the jiangshi and tying themselves around it, completely restraining it.

[<Hopping Vampire>

Lv. 26: Jiangshi]

I grinned as I saw the jiangshi fall to the marble floor, unable to stand up. It had greenish-white skin, a long braided ponytail that reached past its waist, long nails and teeth that were yellowed from rot, and was dressed in Qing dynasty official garments, with a paper talisman on its forehead. While it was strong, my [Binding] skill was stronger. That thing wasn’t going anywhere as long as my skill didn’t run out of time.

I had been shocked to find a natural instant dungeon with a Chinese theme in Manhattan, but it sure was a welcome change of pace. My [Create Instant Dungeon] skill had been upgraded after defeating the horned serpent, and now a master would appear after I had hunted a few hundred mobs in an instant dungeon, but hunting the same Native American monsters over and over again had gotten old about two weeks ago. This was new, and I couldn’t wait to figure out why a dungeon modeled after the Forbidden City had formed, though I suspected it had something to do with it being in the middle of Chinatown.

“[Spinning Mana Arrow],” I said, forming four piraling arrows of pure mana, and shooting the restrained jiangshi in the head. Originally, I could only create one arrow, but I got the ability to form another one when my skill reached levels 3, 6, and 9. I couldn’t wait for the skill to hit level 12 and get a fifth arrow. Just one arrow was enough to one-shot any monster below level 15, but I had multiple arrows. Naturally, my monster-hunting speed increased exponentially.

[Your skill, Spinning Mana Arrow Lv. 11, has been activated.]

[The life-stealing undead, Jiangshi, has been slain.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have received 5,570 XP.]

I had created the [Spinning Mana Arrow] skill to pierce through the metal feathers of a Tlanuwa, and it had quickly become my favorite skill. That’s not to say this was my only new toy. No, sir. I had worked hard since meeting Plastic Man and was quite pleased with the results.

Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong.

I turned around from where I had killed the restrained jiangshi, and saw another one just like it, banging and slashing with brute force and clumsy violence at the transparent forcefield bubble surrounding me.

This bubble was my [Mana Shield], another skill I had created.

I gained the ability to instinctively handle mana after receiving the [Mana Affinity] skill, and I used that to create a few more skills of my own design through experimenting. There were also the skills I earned from killing monsters, but those were fewer and not always useful. I was becoming a character based on [Intelligence], so it was natural for me to fight using magic.

Thanks to all of that, I now had a well-rounded toolkit under my belt. My skill list was now quite long, too long for me to mention everything. However, the standouts were an offensive skill in [Spinning Mana Arrow], a defensive skill in [Mana Shield], a restraining skill in [Binding], a travel skill in [Flight] (from defeating Whirlwind, the boss of a Flying Head dungeon), a movement skill in [Agile Feet], a healing skill in [Way of the Restorative Venom], an enemy detection skill in [Detect Bloodthirst], a damage reduction skill in [Physical Endurance], an information gathering skill in [Observation], and a stunning skill in… Never mind. Please forget that last one.

Just thinking about that skill made me go red in the face.

Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong.

“Oh, right. Chinese vampire. Forgot about that. [Spinning Mana Arrow].”

[Your skill, Spinning Mana Arrow Lv. 11, has been activated.]

That was one of the drawbacks of having a high [Intelligence] stat. I tended to get lost in thought.

[The life-stealing undead, Jiangshi, has been slain.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have received 5,646 XP.]

Now that the last of the jiangshi in this area was dead, I deactivated my [Mana Shield] and began to pick up the loot around the courtyard.

[Your skill, Mana Shield Lv. 8, has been deactivated.]

Unfortunately, no skill books this time, but there were plenty of spirit stones, about a dozen sealing talismans, a few rotten bones, some rolls of silk thread, and a sword called the [Imperial Bodyguard’s Peidao].

+

<Item Information>

Name: Imperial Bodyguard’s Peidao.

Grade: A Bit Special.

Lore: A typical weapon of the Imperial Bodyguards during the Qing Dynasty. It is very durable and balanced, making it useful for damaging objects and creatures. It is not only a weapon but also a symbol of rank and status.

Effect: Attack Power increases by 20%.

Effect: Critical Rate increases by 10%.

+

This curved saber was pretty strong, and much better than my old [Iron Sword] — I was definitely testing out this new weapon later in a fight. What I really needed was some new armor, though. It had been over a month since I bought [Civilian’s Defense], and it was starting to become worn out. Perhaps I would search through the shop for some armor once I had sold all the drops from this dungeon. I had been saving up my Coins for skills, but I was sure I could also afford some decent armor.

With my new sword strapped to my waist, I called out my <Inventory> and dropped all the loot inside. Unlike a month and a half ago, when I first discovered it, the grid was no longer empty but full of little knick-knacks and trinkets I had been collecting. There were spirit stones, fresh clothes, weapons, potions, food, crafting material, one or two skill books I hadn’t bothered to learn yet, and other junk I hadn’t sold for various reasons.

Closing my <Inventory>, I said, “<Status Window>.”

[Checking the Status Window.]

+

<Status Window>

Name: Leonardo Diego de Jesús Lázaro

Occupation: The Gamer / Gender: Male

Job: Clinical Psychologist / Title: Bear Slayer

Level: 24 / Next Level: 92.71%

Age: 27 / Race: Human

–

HP: 1350/1350

MP: 1286/1942

–

Strength: 23

Dexterity: 12

Constitution: 20

Intelligence: 70

Wisdom: 12

Charisma: 10

Luck: 10

–

Available Stat Points: 37

+

The stats buff from the [Warrior Starter Pack] was gone because I was no longer under level 20, but after increasing my [Constitution] to 20 and [Intelligence] to 70, I felt like I didn’t need it anymore. My level was now the same as Zatanna’s and above Zack’s, so I felt confident in my strength. Zatanna was easily the most powerful magic-user in DC Comics, so I shouldn’t be getting too much wrong if I was the same level as her.

My skills weren’t on my <Status Window> either, but that was more my doing, if indirectly. As it turned out, once my number of skills got high enough, a new window, <Skill List>, was created. This one didn’t display the information of just one skill, but rather, it displayed a lineup of all my skills. I wasn’t sure why the change, but I didn’t really mind.

“Just a bit more until I level up,” I said happily.

It might have been arbitrary, but level 25 had been the short-term goal I had set for myself. Once I reached that level, I would officially have a higher level than any human I had met.

“Well, not counting Giovani,” I reminded myself. “I have no idea what his level is.”

That was a worry for another day. At the moment, I had a master to fight.

It had been a while since I entered this dungeon, and my XP gain had slowed down, so I should be heading out soon.

This dungeon was a replica of the Forbidden City in Beijing, and I had cleared out most of it. There was, however, only one place I hadn’t gone to, and I was certain that was where the master was waiting.

“Well, I guess it’s time to storm the Palace of Heavenly Purity.”

*

Willie liked to work on a street corner of the South Bronx. The people there knew him well enough to leave him alone, and his clients appreciated being away from prying eyes when buying his merchandise. It wouldn’t do for the fat cats on Wall Street to hear about their employers OD’ing, now would it?

Willie didn’t give two shits either way. The only thing about his clients he cared about was them handing over the money; anything after that wasn’t his fault. For example, did Willie care about the nagging suit and tie before him? Absolutely not. Did he care about the stack of bills in the guy’s hand? Fuck yeah he did.

“Take it or leave it, asshole,” said Willie, dangling the bag of heroin in front of the guy’s face.

“Where do you get off charging this much?” said the man, gripping the stack of bills tightly. “I have needs.”

“Well, good fuckin’ luck finding anyone else that can give you the good shit. It seems like every lab in the city is closin’ shop. Supply and demand, baby.”

The man in the suit growled at Willie. However, it would have been a whole lot more intimidating if he wasn’t eyeing the bag of heroin like the junkie he was. Not saying anything else, the guy handed over the stack of bills to Willie, who took it gladly.

Willie pocketed the money, threw the bag at the man’s face, and turned to leave, flipping him off as he walked away. He went to a nearby alley to count the money, ensuring it added up. He hadn’t exactly been lying when he said that all the labs were closing down, just exaggerated a bit, but it really had been harder for him to get good merchandise lately.

Just as he was almost done counting, he heard someone say, “Hi, Willie. I’ll be taking that.”

Willie looked up from his money and saw a woman beside him, confidently leaning against the alley’s wall. She looked hot in a weirdo sorta way, with her skin painted red, a pair of horns on her forehead that disappeared into her long, flaming, red hair, and a tight leather outfit that covered almost nothing above her waist.

Willie sneered and placed the money in his back pocket, discreetly pulling out his knife. He said, “And in return, you’ll be givin’ me…”

“Maybe your life, if you bow to my master,” she said as she strode towards him. “He’s the new power in the city.”

“Last thing I need tonight, a delusional crack whore!” he shouted as she swung his knife at her. “Move along, skank!”

The broad dodged the knife disturbingly easily, giving Willie a grin that practically screamed she had hoped he would do that. “That’s not very warm, Willie,” she said happily, closing the distance between them and capturing his head with her hands. “I’ll show you how it's done.”

She gripped his head in place as she planted her lips on his; her hot, burning, searing lips. A second later, she breathed down his throat, making Willie scream his lungs out.

It burned! Hotter than any fire! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt!

Just as Willie began to feel her breath actually burn through him, he passed out from the pain, never to wake up.

*

[The life-stealing undead, Jiangshi Emperor, has activated the skill, Qi Suction.]

[Your HP Maximum has been temporarily reduced by 54.]

[Your MP Maximum has been temporarily reduced by 68.]

[Your skill, Mana Shield Lv. 8, has been forcibly deactivated.]

My force field bubble shattered as the boss absorbed all the mana around it.

“¡Puta madre! Again?!” I screamed as I ran to the other side of the throne room and hid behind a broken pillar. The massive undead dressed in the yellow robes of a Qing emperor hopped around the debris of broken pillars and cracked marble floor, searching for me with its blind eyes. From my hiding spot, I could see the wounds across its decayed body closing themselves. It had no hope of finding me thanks to my hooded cloak, the [Hide of the Wild Guardian], making it nearly impossible to follow my tracks, but hiding would only get me so far.

[<Master of the Chinatown Dungeon>

Lv. 42: Jiangshi Emperor]

I groaned and punched the marble floor.

This game of cat and mouse had been going on for a while now. The master was easy to harm since it wasn’t fast or sturdy, but no matter how much damage I did to it, it would just steal my qi and heal itself. Worse of all, it was slowly draining my HP and MP without even needing to land a direct hit on me. So far, I was down 608 HP and 712 MP, even though I was near full capacity.

I reached into my pocket and drew out a [Lowest-Grade Spirit Stone], clenching it tightly. I had sold most of the stones I earned in the <Gamer Shop> but kept about a hundred for myself.

Glancing back at the Jiangshi Emperor, I double-checked that it wasn’t blocking the way I would need to go through the moment it noticed me. The instant I used any amount of mana at all, it would sense exactly where I was, and I would have a brief window of time to get away.

“[Agile Feet]. [Way of the Restorative Venom].”

[Your skill, Agile Feet Lv. 13, has been activated.]

[Your skill, Way of the Restorative Venom Lv. 6, has been activated.]

[You have regained 300 HP.]

[You have regained 300 MP.]

[The abnormal condition, HP Reduction, has been removed.]

[The abnormal condition, MP Reduction, has been removed.]

[The skill level for Way of the Restorative Venom has increased!]

[Way of the Restorative Venom Lv. 6 -> Way of the Restorative Venom Lv. 7.]

I ran as fast as a horse the instant my skills activated, hiding behind the Dragon Throne at the end of the room.

RAWWWRR!

Not a second later, the Jiangshi Emperor roared and ripped up one of the broken marble slabs from the ground, throwing it at the pillar I had been hiding behind. The pillar shattered as the boulder hit it, and the part of the ceiling it was supporting began to crack. If the Jiangshi Emperor kept that up, it would only take a few more hits for the whole place to collapse on us.

My eyes went wide.

“Oh. Oh, that could work.”

[You have had a moment of deep reasoning and thought.]

[Your Wisdom has increased by 1!]

[Wisdom Lv. 12 -> Wisdom Lv. 13.]

Still as fast as a horse, I drew out the [Imperial Bodyguard’s Peidao], ran to the nearest pillar, and smacked it with all my strength.

“[Forceful Strike]!”

[Your skill, Forceful Strike Lv. 9, has been activated.]

The pillar shattered into a thousand splinters. The Jiangshi Emperor threw another marble floor slab in my direction, but I just ran on to the next pillar and hit it with my sword. I shouted again, “[Forceful Strike]!”

[Your skill, Forceful Strike Lv. 9, has been activated.]

Then the next pillar.

“[Forceful Strike]!”

[Your skill, Forceful Strike Lv. 9, has been activated.]

And then one more.

“[Forceful Strike]!”

[Your skill, Forceful Strike Lv. 9, has been activated.]

[You have scored a critical hit!]

I ran out of the hall just as the roof began to collapse, and I could hear the Jiangshi Emperor roar in fury as it was crushed under the weight of the wood and stone.

[The life-stealing undead, Jiangshi Emperor, has been slain.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[Final Blow: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have received 14,110 XP.]

[The clear conditions for the hidden quest, Dethrone the Emperor, have been fulfilled!]

[You have earned 4,000 XP.]

[You have earned 7,000 Coins.]

[Your level has increased!]

[Level 24 -> Level 25!]

[You have earned 5 stat points!]

[Your HP has been replenished!]

[Your MP has been replenished!]

“Level 25!” I shouted in joy, pumping my fists into the air. I now officially had the highest level I had seen in the two-ish months I had been in this world.

I laughed as I began clearing out the fallen roof. I had lost count of how many times I had defeated masters inside instant dungeons, and there hadn’t been a single time when they didn’t drop at least some loot. It wasn’t always good loot, but it was loot nonetheless.

I had to use [Forceful Strike] a few times to break down some of the bigger pieces, but I was eventually able to find the shining items the Jiangshi Emperor had dropped. There was a scroll, a fan, and a large, purple, uncut gemstone.

I picked up the fan.

+

<Item Information>

Name: Bashō-sen – Replica.

Grade: Wondrous.

Lore: A banana leaf fan belonging to Princess Iron Fan of the Jade Cloud Mountain. When MP is provided, one swing of this fan can extinguish any fire and send a grown man flying for thousands of miles. A replica.

Additional Information: Requires 40 [Intelligence] to use.

+

“Cool. I love Journey to the West,” I said, now picking up the purple gem. 

+

<Item Information>

Name: Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

Grade: Useful.

Lore: A crystal made from quite a lot of concentrated mana. Useful for many things.

+

“Better than a lowest-grade, I guess,” I said, picking up the scroll.

[Would you like to learn the skill, Life Drain?]

[Yes / No]

Well, that was interesting. This was the first time I had seen a skill scroll rather than a skill book. It was really on brand with the whole Chinese theme this dungeon had going on.

“Show me the <Skill Window>.”

[Checking the Skill Window.]

+

<Skill Window>

Name: Life Drain.

Type: Active.

Level: 1 / XP: 0.00%.

MP: 30.

Description: A skill possessed by some middle rank or above undead. This skill manipulates life force.

This skill absorbs the target’s life force and adds it to the user’s. With training, it is possible to transfer the user’s life force to others.

+

I clicked ‘Yes’.

[The skill, Life Drain Lv. 1, has been learned.]

“I’ll level up this one later,” I said, dismissing the holographic screens. “Open <Inventory>. Show equipment slots.”

The information screen showing my <Inventory>’s grid appeared floating like a hologram, with a second screen next to it. This screen showed a silhouette of my body with little slots displaying which gear I had on.

I placed the spirit tone and fan into my <Inventory>, and next I dropped my new [Imperial Bodyguard’s Peidao] inside. I couldn’t very well wear my battle gear outside the instant dungeons, now, could I? It had taken me exiting a dungeon wearing my [Hide of the Wild Guardian] and being asked directions to Comic Con to realize that.

I dragged a spare change of clothes to the second screen with the slots and changed the ones I had on. My body was covered in sparks, and my sweaty, dirty battle gear was changed for cleaner clothes.

“[Escape Instant Dungeon].”

[Your skill, Escape instant Dungeon Lv. 7, has been activated.]

[You have exited the Chinatown Dungeon.]

I was returned to reality as the pile of rubble that used to be the Palace of Heavenly Virtue shattered, and I found myself standing inside an empty laundromat.

“你是怎么进来的? 商店关门了!”

I turned around and saw a small, angry, old Chinese woman with a broom, yelling at me in Mandarin. I didn’t speak Mandarin.

“Sorry, sorry,” I said, raising my hands defensively. “Is this your place?”

“你非法侵入,” she yelled, hitting me on the side of the head with her broom and pointing at the door. “出去!”

“I’m going! I’m going!” I screamed back, running to the door and dodging her broom. She slammed the door behind me and locked it. “Nice lady,” I said as I walked away. “Reminds me of my abuelita.”

*

Hector Falcone lit up his cigarette as he waited on the docks. The sea breeze was blowing cold against his face. He took a deep puff of his cigarette as his eyes scanned the bay again.

“What’s taking them so long?” he asked as he exhaled the smoke.

The cargo ship was supposed to arrive ten minutes ago, but there had been no sign of it so far. They had called to report a small delay some hours ago, but had gone silent since. This sort of thing wasn’t unusual for smuggling ships, but it was rarely a good thing.

Hector inhaled from his cigarette again and checked his watch. He would assume the worst and call off the whole thing if he didn’t hear anything in another twenty minutes. From the beginning, Hector knew receiving the shipment in New York was risky. Still, they just couldn’t deliver the weapons directly to Gotham, not anymore, not since that monster started hunting down criminals in the night.

“Hiya, Mister,” said a kid’s voice beside Hector. “I’m Teddy.”

Hector blinked in surprise and turned to his right. He saw a little blonde boy in a blue T-shirt and shorts smiling at him. He was carrying what looked like a beat-up wooden jewelry box, holding it like a precious toy he wanted to show off.

“You lost, kid?” Hector asked, dropping his cigarette and putting it out with his shoe.

“No, Mister,” said Teddy, still smiling at him. “The boss dropped me off here.”

The boss? thought Hector, raising a brow. It couldn’t have been Hector’s boss, so the kid probably meant whatever other brat was in charge of his would-be gang.

“Good for you,” said Hector, glaring down at the boy. “Now, how about you get out of here?”

“I can’t do that, Mister,” said Teddy. His smile was beginning to piss off Hector. “The boss doesn’t want me to.”

Hector pulled back the front of his coat and showed his holstered gun to Teddy. He said, “I don't care what your ‘boss’ wants.”

Instead of being afraid, Teddy seemed delighted to be threatened. His fingers itched closer to the lid of his wooden box.

“The boss told me to come see you,” Teddy said happily. “He wants you to give him all the guns on the big boat you’re waiting for.”

Hector snarled at Teddy, drew out his gun, and pointed it at Teddy’s head. His eyes began to dash around the docks, searching for whoever was accompanying Teddy, since there was no way anyone would send a kid by himself.

 “I dunno how your ‘boss’ knows about this shipment, but the Falcone family made a deal with Winslow. These weapons are ours.”

Teddy’s smile exploded into a massive grin, looking as if someone had just asked him if he wanted to go to his favorite amusement park.

“Hey, Mister, wanna see a bug?” asked Teddy, opening the lid of his box.

“What are you — AAAAAAHHHHH!”

A thousand little bugs flew out of the box, swarming around Hector. He fell to the ground and began to roll around, trying to squash the bugs. He could feel maggots eating his flesh, centipedes crawling under his skin, grasshoppers jumping down his throat, mantises slashing his muscles, and hornets stinging his eyes.

The last thing he saw before his head exploded was Teddy smiling down at him.

*

This wasn’t, insofar as Percival Poplaski had had any expectations, what he had imagined his first murder scene would be like in his career as a detective.

Looking from the restaurant’s entrance, Percival had to cover his mouth to stop himself from barfing. Some victims were turned to ash, or were nailed to the ceiling through trees that had grown out of nowhere, or had their top halves exploded, or had something eat its way out from their chest, or were as withered as mummies — there were also animals which had been dressed as people and slaughtered. And those were just the mild ones that Percival could at least tolerate looking at.

“Here,” said Jim, handing him a bucket. “It’s never easy the first few times, but you get used to it.”

Percival took the bucket and buried his head in it, coughing up his lunch. “Thanks,” he muttered to Jim.

Jim didn’t say anything in return and just strolled into the restaurant. Some of the beat cops working the scene tried to get his attention, but he ignored them all. He stopped in front of an overturned table and pulled off the tablecloth.

“Per favore! Per favore! Non uccidermi!”

A waiter had been hiding under the table and had probably been there since the murder went down. Percival approached the panicking man and placed his barf bucket on the ground.

“It’s all right,” said Percival, pulling out his badge. “We’re the police. You’re safe.”

“Sei della polizia?” asked the waiter.

“Uh…” said Percival, not understanding the waiter. He leaned closer to Jim. “I don’t think he speaks English.”

“Il pericolo è passato. Nessuno ti farà del male,” Jim said to the waiter. “Puoi raccontarci cosa è successo?”

“You speak Italian?” Percival asked.

“I speak many things.”

“È stato orribile! Ho visto il diavolo! Mi sono nascosto sotto il tavolo e ho pregato tutti i santi di salvarmi!”

Jim kneeled and placed a hand on the waiter’s shoulder. He stared deeply into the man’s eyes. After a moment, he got back up and signaled for the medic team to approach.

“Let’s go,” he told Percival as he walked away.

“Huh?” Percival asked, picking up his bucket. “We’re done here?”

“I got the information I needed. The victims were all top members from the Five Families. They were gathered here by an outside party. You won’t find his mugshot on most databases, but he has been a big player in the San Francisco mystic underworld for decades. It was he and his three subordinates who mystically dispatched the victims. He started small, victimizing an innocent bystander to get attention. That alone would have been enough to instill terror and inspire obedience. But he wasn’t here to recruit allies. He wanted to eliminate the competition. He is expanding his criminal empire to New York, and he started by doing an act that left no question as to who runs the game. He probably left the waiter alive on purpose so that someone could tell the story.”

“Jesus,” muttered Percival, holding his bucket close at hand in case he needed it again. “You’re saying all that stuff was done by magic? I… I just can’t believe it.”

Jim unlocked his squad car and got inside. He waited until Percival had emptied his bucket into a street gutter and joined him in the car. He said, “There is a man flying around Metropolis, a giant bat haunting Gotham, and a red blur running around Central City. Are mystics really that out of the question?”

Percival didn’t know how to answer that. He was aware of Superman, but the protector of Metropolis claimed to be an alien. As for the other two, Percival would be much quicker to believe that some scientist had genetically engineered a giant bat and lost control, and that some crazy technology could allow someone to move faster than the eye could see, than he would believe magic was involved.

“So who did it?” asked Percival. “The man you said is expanding from San Francisco, who is he?”

“In the late ‘60s, he was known as Eldon Peck. These days, however, he goes by the name of Brother Night.”

*

Some days, I missed owning a car. This wasn’t one of those days.

The whole street was flooded with sewage water from a burst pipe. The police had taped off the area to anyone and everyone, and the only people allowed to cross it were those who had been inside their cars and were now being escorted out. It had been a little hard to make out what the police officer had been saying over all the cursing and shouting from the mob of people, but I got the feeling that the water had flooded nearly a mile.

Now, normally, I wouldn’t have cared. Since I didn’t have a job or a house, I usually didn’t have to go anywhere in a hurry. But not tonight. Tonight, I had made a reservation at a really fancy Turkish bathhouse in the Upper East Side. It would be the first time in over two months that I could enjoy a true bath instead of rain, and I would be damned if I was going to miss it just because some plumbers didn’t do their job right.

I pulled out my phone and checked Google Maps. Most of the East Village was taped off, but I could cut through 5th Avenue. Clearing the Chinatown Dungeon took longer than I would have liked, so it would be a tight squeeze, but I could do it.

I pocketed my phone and began jogging.

It was such a shame that I couldn’t use my powers outside instant dungeons without drawing attention. If I were to simply fly there, I could skip the flooding entirely and arrive at the bathhouse ahead of schedule.

*

Percival yawned loudly as he placed the box of files on Jim’s desk.

“Here’s everything the FBI’s got on Peck, sir,” he said tiredly. “It goes all the way to ‘69, just like you said.” He yawned loudly again. “Don’t you ever sleep, sir?”

“Sometimes,” lied Jim. He opened the box and began taking out files, some of which hadn’t seen the light of day since before disco died. “But not when I get a case like this.” He glanced up at Percival and took out a twenty-dollar bill. “How about you get us some coffee before we begin grinding?”

“I’ll get us one heck of a coffee, sir. Pardon my language.”

Percival took the bill and walked out of their shared office, his steps a little wobbly from lack of sleep. Once he was sure Percival was gone, Jim opened the files and began reading. He didn’t need a pick-me-up, not being alive and all, but that errand would buy him a few minutes alone. Percival was a good, honest man, but if Jim was being frank, he only slowed him down.

Jim read the files with inhuman speed. The memories he had seen in the waiter’s mind had shown him what had happened, but that didn’t mean he knew everything. He had seen the three accomplices who had accompanied Peck, but these files let him know who they were. The red woman was Ember, who was reported to be a pyromaniac who burned her victims alive, and seemed to have fire magic of some kind. The cloaked figure wearing a mask was Romalthi the Shaper, who had a long history of animal abuse and appeared to have the power to transform his victims into whatever his mask depicted. The young boy with the box was Teddy, who… Jesus Christ.

Jim’s anger grew with everything he learned about Eldon Peck and his crew. The Specter was no doubt responsible for his impulse to hunt them down, and Jim was just about ready to agree.

“He seems like a nice young man. You shouldn’t treat him like a busboy.”

Jim snapped shut the file he was reading and wheeled around to see who had spoken to him. It was a man wearing a blue fedora, an overcoat, and black gloves. His hat made a shadow that ended just above his silver necklace, making it impossible to see his eyes.

“Oh. It’s you,” said Jim, giving the Phantom Stranger a friendly smile. “Dear me. Haven’t seen you since…”

“O.J.,” answered the Stranger. “April, 2024.”

“Ah, yes, Las Vegas,” said Jim, nodding at the memory. “Metastatic prostate cancer. Was that one of mine or one of yours?”

“Can’t recall. We played golf,” the Phantom Stranger said fondly.

“Well, if you’ve come for another round, I’m afraid I’ll have to pass, Stranger. I’m working on a case that requires my full attention.”

“Unfortunately, as much as I… appreciate your company, I have not come for a social visit, Specter. I have come to tell you to stay your hand and not act against Eldon Peck.”

“What?” said Jim, his gaze growing cold as he glared at the Phantom Stranger. He could feel the ire of The Specter burning within him, demanding punishment. “Do you not know what he has done? In 1969, he was responsible for the killing of 13 innocent children whose bodies were dumped on Mount Diablo as an offering to the Lords of Hell. Ever since then, he has run a magical criminal organization in San Francisco, trafficking living souls as a way to extend his life and grow his power. Now, however, he has set his eyes on New York, killing off crime lords and endeavoring to claim the local criminal underworld in the wake of the recent calm that’s come over this city. He deserves to be sent to the Hells with which he bargained. You, however, would dare command Divine Vengeance to ignore this man’s sins?”

“I command nothing,” the Phantom Stranger said calmly. “The Presence Himself orders you, Aztar, to restrain yourself. This man is for neither of us to claim.”

“The Presence?” repeated Jim, his eyes wide. The raging fire within him grew cold, not fearful, but cautious. “You’ve been many things, Stranger, but you’re not a liar… But why?”

“I’m afraid I do not know,” responded the Stranger, turning around and walking to the office’s window. He pulled up the curtain and stared at the bright night of Manhattan. “He gave no explanation for His decision, as He is so prone to do, but solely told me that a third party has everything well in hand, and that it is not our place to intervene here.”

Jim sighed and got up from his chair, walking to stand next to the Stranger, and looking out at the cityscape. “You know, sometimes I get really tired of His ‘mysterious ways’ shtick.”

The Phantom Stranger chuckled. “You have been His servant for less than a century, James Corrigan. Try two millennia and then you can tell me you’re tired.”

Jim didn’t say anything right away, having no way to answer that, and just stood beside the Phantom Stranger, admiring the city lights. After a minute or two, he said, “You know, there’s one thing about this whole mess I don’t understand.”

“Just one?” the Stranger said, amused, still looking out the window. “You must have wisdom greater than Solomon’s, for not even he understood so much of God’s plan.”

“Wasn’t talking about that. I meant Eldon, Brother Night. He’s been ruling San Francisco’s mystic underworld since the '60s, and suddenly he decides to pack his bags and move to the other side of the country? It just doesn’t add up. Why not first expand his criminal empire to include San Francisco’s human half?”

The Stranger looked at Jim with genuine surprise. “Do you truly not know?” asked the Stranger.

“Know what?” Jim asked back.

“For the last two months, there have been dimensional pockets forming around the world, with the vast majority concentrated in Manhattan, sucking in the surrounding evil thoughts and transforming them into pure idea power. From what I’ve gathered, these pockets seemed to be called illusion barriers, though I have heard the name instant dungeon being used recently. They apparently are as imperceptible as a drop of water to a cosmic entity such as yourself, but these illusion barriers might as well be endless oceans to the likes of Eldon Peck. I suspect he wants to claim New York as his because he plans to harness these natural magical energy reservoirs for his own gain.”

Jim stared at the Phantom Stranger silently, thinking deeply about this new information.

Eldon Peck’s powers were mere parlor tricks on the grand scheme of things, while The Specter was an aspect of God Himself. As a servant of God, his powers were a cosmic force in their own right, requiring no outside aid. Jim didn’t notice when magic gathered naturally, simply because he had no use for such things. He was sure he could find the illusion barriers if he looked for them, but he hadn’t been trying.

“So, these illusion barriers,” said Jim. “Them sucking in all the bad thoughts of the city is why people are getting nicer, right?”

“Not quite. The concentration of evil thoughts alone wouldn’t be enough to ameliorate the city’s population. In fact, if left unchecked, the evil thoughts would pollute the people around them, and could even spawn monsters capable of exiting their illusion barriers and wreak havoc on the real world. The wicked tendencies of this city are diminishing because for the last month and a half, someone has been going inside the illusion barriers and, well, cleaning, for lack of a better word.”

“That third party you mentioned,” said Jim, giving the Stranger a raised brow, “the one who’s going after Peck. Are they the ones cleaning the illusion barriers?”

“So it would seem.”

Jim nodded as his body turned hazy, being covered by a green mist before transforming into the cloaked form of The Specter. He turned his pale face to look at the Phantom Stranger with a mischievous glint in his glowing green eyes, saying, “You said that God told you we couldn’t intervene, but did He mention anything about watching?”

The Phantom Stranger looked back at The Specter, a small smirk on his lips. If his eyes had shared that mischievous glint, it remained well hidden under the shadow of his fedora. “I do not believe He did, Specter.”

*

Brother Night was growing fond of the city that never slept. He could see himself setting down roots here, though leaving behind his beloved Club Bewitched would be a shame. It was the temple he had owned for fifty-six years, after all, but New York had much more to offer.

Dressed in his ceremonial robe, Brother Night walked through the Washington Square Arch, his underlings close behind him. Ember snarled at the people taking pictures of their group, but Romalthi and Teddy stopped her from doing anything foolish. Brother Night just smiled for the cameras, letting them capture the image of him escorted by his three underlings and a dozen of his most faithful followers.

“It seems only fitting that this becomes my new sacred site,” Night told his troupe, continuing his walk into the park. “Two hundred years ago, this land was used as a hanging and burial ground, and nearly 20,000 victims are buried under our feet. And while the graves have long been vacant, tonight they will contain new sacrifices.”

Brother Night’s masters would look favorably upon this offering and would reward him with aid in the destruction of their enemies.

“Let me make a burnt offering of their bodies,” said Ember, growling at some drunk college students catcalling at her.

“Not tonight, baby,” he said calmly, stopping his walk in front of the Hangman’s Elm, the oldest living tree in the whole city. “It must be done according to ritual… with steel and blood.”

Brother Night took a deep breath. He could sense the many souls who had long ago perished on this ancient hanging tree. He turned around and looked at his dozen faithful. “My hour has come, brothers. You faithful few bearers of my mark will now have the honor of bearing me to glory.”

With those words spoken, Night began chanting in ancient tongues. He stretched his arms wide open, letting tendrils of dark magic extend themselves from him and towards the men encircling him. The flesh disintegrated off their bones as the life was zapped out of them. The people around the park screamed and ran away as the bones of his faithful started to orbit Night, but he didn’t stop chanting. With one deafening clap, Brother Night harnessed the life he took from his faithful, sent their bones flying through the air, and formed a dome around the park that would prevent anyone from interfering.

As Brother Night continued chanting, reveling in the screams of terror from the people fleeing from him, a man shouted, “The hell do you think you’re playing at?!” The man was holding a gun and was pointing it at Brother Night. “Get your hands in the air and your ass on the ground!”

Night smirked at the man. He could have easily killed him with a single wave of his hand, but he had no need to do anything.

“Wanna see a bug?” asked Teddy, opening his box.

“AHHHHHH!”

The man screamed in excruciating pain as countless fire ants flew into his mouth, eating their way out from his stomach, and a swarm of maggots devoured his hand holding the gun.

Brother Night smiled at Teddy, much like a doting father would upon a favorite child. He could see Romalthi handling another would-be hero, turning him into a slug with a touch of his hand, and then squashing him under the heel of his boot. Ember had restrained herself and hadn’t burned anyone to death; she merely gave third-degree burns to a woman who tried to rush at Brother Night.

Finishing his chant, Brother Night gave a grin. He then frowned. Night felt something puncture the barrier he had just placed over the park. Someone had gotten inside, though that shouldn’t have been possible. His spell should have stolen the lifeforce from anyone who tried to cross it, but someone had managed to survive it. The barrier felt different somehow, as if something had changed its foundation.

At that moment, Night saw something appear in front of him. He didn’t even know what he was looking at.

[You have entered the Necromantic Dungeon.]

[The first main quest has arrived!]

+

<Main Quest #1 – Light in the Darkness>

Category: Main.

Difficulty: A+.

Clear Conditions: Defeat The Gamer before he stops your ritual, and make a successful debut as Brother Night.

Time Limit: 30 minutes.

Reward: 10,000 XP, 10,000 Coins, the fear of the people of New York.

Penalty for Failure: ???

+

[The Main Quest #1 – Light in the Darkness has begun.]

“S-sir,” said Romalthi, staring into empty space from behind his mask. “I’m seeing something weird. Some sort of blue screen.”

“I’m seeing it too, Master,” said Ember.

“And me, Boss,” said Teddy.

So it wasn’t just him, then? Brother Night didn’t understand what was happening, but he wouldn’t let this Gamer person stop his ritual. If he didn’t do it tonight, he wouldn’t get another chance until the next stellar alignment, which could take years.

Brother Night pulled out his ritual blade and cut off the head of the man who had pulled a gun on him. Teddy had made his bugs eat the man from the inside, but the little rascal always left his victims alive long enough to enjoy their suffering. Utilizing the energy from the man’s death, Night began chanting again.

The ground beneath the headless corpse erupted into a geyser of dirt, forming the huge form of a stone giant. He was many times taller than a man, with his body covered in rock-hard scales.

“There’s an intruder,” Night told the creature. “Find The Gamer and kill him.”

*

The first thing I noticed was the screams.

I stopped jogging on the corner leading into Washington Square Park, watching the mass of panicking people run for their lives. There was a deafening clap, and a wall of energy rose around the park, forming a dome over the whole property. The unlucky few who hadn’t managed to get out before the barrier formed tried to cross it nonetheless, and were turned into withered corpses.

A moment later, a message rang out.

[The first main quest has arrived!]

A small window emerged in front of my eyes.

+

<Main Quest #1 – Light in the Darkness>

Category: Main.

Difficulty: B+.

Clear Conditions: Defeat Brother Night, Eldon Peck, and make a successful debut as The Gamer.

Time Limit: 30 minutes.

Reward: 10,000 XP, 10,000 Coins, the acclaim of the people of New York.

Penalty for Failure: The death of the captives.

+

[The Main Quest #1 – Light in the Darkness has begun.]

“A… main quest?” I asked, stunned.

So far, I had only seen side and hidden quests, never a main one. This one didn’t have an option to refuse, and didn’t acknowledge it. It seemed mandatory. Well, not really. I could ignore it if I wanted to, but the consequence of doing so was clear. Whatever entity was responsible for <The Gamer> system wanted me to rescue the people trapped inside the park, but not just rescue them — it wanted me to present myself as a hero, to declare myself as The Gamer. It wanted me to introduce myself to the world and proudly say, “I am here!”

This was precisely what I had been trying to avoid.

“I didn't cause any of this,” I told myself. “It’s not my fault. It would have happened no matter what I did. I know all that, so why am I not running away?”

It would have been different if I just hadn’t been aware, but now I couldn’t ignore it. If someone were drowning, I couldn’t just turn my back on them, especially when it was something I could fix.

“Brother Night,” I read, my hands clenched tightly. “The hell’s he doing in New York?”

I knew who Brother Night was, even though he was a pretty minor character in DC Comics. I would even call him D-list. He appeared only in the 2010 Zatanna series and was the main antagonist for the first arc, with some teasing of future plots in later chapters before the series was cancelled. He was a narcissist cult leader turned sorcerer who gained power through deals with demons. However, he operated solely in San Francisco, on the other side of the country.

“No time to think about that,” I told myself, staring at the withered faces of the people who had tried to escape the park. “I have to… ugh, save the captives.” I hated saying that. “[Observation].”

[Your skill, Observation Lv. 14, has been activated.]

+

<Item Information>

Name: Necromantic Barrier.

Grade: Unusual.

Lore: A barrier made by Brother Night, Eldon Peck. It steals the vital energy of whoever touches it to power itself.

Effect: Deals 1 damage with 10 mana.

Current Mana: 50,938.

+

“The damage ratio is one to ten? That’s… incredibly inefficient.”

My main attack was [Spinning Mana Arrow], which cost only 6 MP and formed four projectiles, each dealing damage in the high hundreds. Not counting damage reduction skills or critical hits, I could do over a thousand points of damage with a single use of [Spinning Mana Arrow]. I knew Brother Night wasn’t that powerful of a magician, but wasn’t this barrier too weak?

“<Inventory>.”

I dragged my gear into my equipment slots and was covered in a sparkling light. I was now wearing my battle wear: [Civilian’s Defense], [Hide of the Wild Guardian], [Horned Serpent Skin Belt], [Imperial Bodyguard’s Peidao], and [Brawler’s Gloves]. That last one was a pair of black leather gloves that gave me a 20% accuracy bonus to my unarmed strikes, which I usually had no use for, but better safe than sorry. Luckily, everyone around me was too busy running away in terror to notice my sudden wardrobe change.

I pulled up the hood of my cloak and said, “Triplicate, [Mana Shield].”

[Your skill, Mana Shield Lv. 8, has been activated.]

My protective bubble formed around me, then another bubble formed around that one, and yet one more formed around that one. After this skill had reached level 3, I could form multiple layers of protection around me. Unfortunately, creating more than one layer increased the MP consumption rate by as many layers as I created. Originally, the MP per minute for [Mana Shield] was 50, but it decreased by 2 with every level-up. Now that the skill was level 8, it required 36 per minute, or 108 per minute if I wanted three layers of protection.

I took a deep breath and steeled my nerves. Completely ignoring the very sensible approach of the people running away from the danger, I instead ran at the barrier.

The first layer of my shield shattered the instant it reached the barrier, and the second layer shattered almost as quickly. I was nearly through when the last layer broke, and I took the remaining damage.

[Your skill, Mana Shield Lv. 8, has been deactivated.]

[You have taken 214 damage.]

[You have entered the Necromantic Dungeon.]

I hissed in pain when I cleared the barrier. The lore might have said that the barrier stole vital energy, but it felt more like being electrocuted. I was even smoking, and my clothes were a little singed.

I touched my chest and said, “[Way of the Restorative Venom].”

[Your skill, Way of the Restorative Venom Lv. 7, has been activated.]

[You have regained 350 HP.]

I sighed as my HP returned to maximum.

“Thank God for [Gamer’s Body],” I whispered. “Pain only lasts a few seconds at most.”

Now that that was over, I looked around. There were a few bodies on the ground at the edge of the barrier, just as withered and mummified as the ones who had crossed to the other side. I couldn’t see through the barrier to the outside of the park, but I hadn’t been able to see inside from the outside either.

”Okay, I can do this. I can do this. Just get in, put on a show for the public, beat Brother Night to the ground, and get out.”

I had read more than enough comics to know how to act like a superhero. If the quest wanted me to make a successful debut as The Gamer, then I would have to play the part. I put my fists on my hips, planted my feet wider than my hips, and gave a big smile.

[The skill level for Foolish Act has increased!]

[Foolish Act Lv. 1 -> Foolish Act Lv. 2.]

I immediately dropped the pose. My face was as red as a tomato.

“Good one,” I growled, glancing up at the sky.

This was the stunning skill I couldn’t even think about without being embarrassed. It was one of the skills I had created during my experimentation. Originally, I had been working on finding glitches or cheat codes in <The Gamer> system, perhaps something that could teleport me to the other side of the world. I had made many poses and complicated hand movements to try finding the right way to cheat the game, but had gotten this literal insult of a skill instead.

“Well, it did just gain a level. Perhaps the effects improved. Show me the <Skill Window> for [Foolish Act].”

[Checking the Skill Window.]

+

<Skill Information>

Name: Foolish Act.

Type: Active.

Level: 2 / XP: 4.54%.

MP: 5.

Description: Makes the enemy doubt the mental state of the user.

Effect: Has a chance to confuse the target for 3 seconds.

+

“It’s still the same!” I screamed in anger. “The duration increased by a second, but that’s it! ¡Maldita habilidad de mierda!”

I punched a nearby tree, letting out my frustration. The ground trembled at the force of my blow, but then it continued trembling. No, it became stronger.

My eyes went wide as the realization hit me.

Something was coming my way. It was something big enough for the ground to quake with each step it took.

The canopy of trees parted as it approached.

*

“[Flight].”

[Your skill, Flight Lv. 5, has been activated.]

“[Spinning Mana Arrow]!”

[Your skill, Spinning Mana Arrow Lv. 11, has been activated.]

I shot up into the air, reaching the top of a tall redwood tree in a matter of seconds, and fired four spiraling arrows of pure mana behind me. “Deactivate [Flight],” I said as I wrapped my arms around the top of the redwood tree.

[Your skill, Flight Lv. 5, has been deactivated.]

I truly loved being able to fly, but that skill consumed 184 MP per second. Thanks to my [Horned Serpent Skin Belt] and [Mana Affinity] skill, my MP Recovery Rate was 50.53 MP per minute, meaning I couldn’t keep the [Flight] skill on for too long, at least not if I wanted to use other skills.

I grabbed the [Horned Serpent Jewel] in my pocket and activated it, turning invisible. At that moment, spending 10 MP per minute was a much better strategy since the cost was lower than my MP Recovery Rate.

I opened my <Inventory> and pulled out a fistful of spirit stones.

“[Way of the Restorative Venom].”

[Your skill, Way of the Restorative Venom Lv.7, has been activated.]

[You have regained 350 HP.]

[You have regained 350 MP.]

“[Way of the Restorative Venom].”

[Your skill, Way of the Restorative Venom Lv. 7, has been activated.]

[You have regained 350 HP.]

[You have regained 350 MP.]

“[Way of the Restorative Venom].”

[Your skill, Way of the Restorative Venom Lv. 7, has been activated.]

[You have regained 350 HP.]

[You have regained 350 MP.]

I repeated this process until my HP and MP were back to full. That skill took 38 MP to activate, but combining it with a spirit stone also granted 350 MP, completely canceling out the MP cost.

Remaining invisible, I stared at the creature I was currently fighting.

There was a giant nearly two hundred feet tall, as tall as the redwood tree I was using to hide. His body was covered by rock-hard plates of armor. He held an uprooted tree in his hand, which he used as a war club to beat the earth, making a noise like an enormous drum.

[<Stone Giant>

Lv. 26: Stonecoat]

As the Stonecoat kept pounding the ground, trying to find me, he sang a terrible war song in a voice as loud as a hurricane. I couldn't understand a single word, but I got the gist of it.

[You have detected bloodthirst.]

The Stonecoat was big and strong, but also very slow and stupid. The only ranged attack he had was picking up something and then hurling it at me. So long as I didn’t reveal my position, he had no chance of finding me.

None of my attacks are making a dent on this guy, I thought, but I can’t just keep running away.

[The earth elemental, Stonecoat, has activated the skill, Stone Giant’s Saliva.]

The giant raised the uprooted tree to his mouth and licked it from top to bottom. Then he struck the trees still rooted to the ground, splitting them in half.

I gulped as I saw the giant bringing down tree after tree. He wasn’t coming my way, which was good, but he could always get lucky.

I glanced at the corner of my vision. Next to my HP and MP bars was a new display.

[Time remaining until the end of the quest: 18:41]

I had been fighting the giant for over ten minutes, using [Forceful Strike] and [Spinning Mana Arrow], and had made absolutely no progress. The Stonecoat had the [Rock Hide] skill, which made him immune to damage under a certain threshold. All the attacks I had been using until now weren’t able to get through that thick skin.

“Small attacks aren’t leaving a scratch on this guy… I need something bigger…” My eyes went wide, and a grin exploded on my face. “I’ve got it! [Flight].”

[Your skill, Flight Lv. 5, has been activated.]

I pocketed the [Horned Serpent Jewel] and rose into the air, losing my invisibility. As I positioned myself over the giant, I fixed my gaze on him and raised my hand above my head.

I had acquired [Mana Affinity] by raising my [Intelligence] above 50, which gave me the ability to manipulate mana instinctively, essentially letting me cast basic spells. Later, I had created [Spinning Mana Arrow] by condensing my mana into a single, piercing shape and then making it spin before releasing it.

I again drew mana into my hand, but this time I didn’t condense it into a single shape. The energy kept gathering and growing as a ball of mana, becoming even bigger than the attacks I had used against the horned serpent, but it wasn’t enough. This was sure to cause an explosion, but that would be it. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the giant ball of mana, commanding it to spin.

The air around the ball became like a whirlwind, and my cloak flapped wildly behind me. My MP was going down like a lead balloon, but I didn’t care.

“The pressure’s amazing,” I said with a wicked laugh. “Let’s see you tank this, you jötunn wannabe! [Spiral Mana Bomb]!”

[The skill, Spiral Mana Bomb Lv. 1, has been created.]

I released the spinning ball of mana, shooting it in a spiral at the stone giant’s head.

[You have scored a critical hit!]

The spinning ball of mana drilled through the [Rock Hide] and exploded with a boom more thunderous than the giant beating the ground with the tree. His HP bar dropped to nothing, and the giant turned to smoke.

[The earth elemental, Stonecoat, has been slain.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have received 10,457 XP.]

I grinned as the giant’s smoke dissipated into nothing, but I couldn’t yet rest. This quest wasn’t over just because I had killed the Stonecoat. I needed to keep looking for the people inside this dungeon. The penalty for failure of this quest was the captives' death, which I could only guess meant that Brother Night would sacrifice them if they weren’t rescued in time.

I floated down to the ground, deactivated [Flight], and saw a cluster of glittering objects lying where the Stonecoat had died. There was a round wooden mask with round holes for eyes and a small triangular hole where the mouth would be, five potion vials, and a book with a stony texture and a carved title I couldn’t read.

“Err… I guess I do have time for loot.”

I picked up the mask.

+

<Item Information>

Name: Medicine Man Mask.

Grade: Very Rare.

Lore: A mask meant to be worn by medicine men, the intermediaries between the spiritual, physical, and natural worlds. This mask was carved out of a living tree, which makes it not simply an object, but the living representation of a spirit. Make sure to treat it with the respect it deserves.

Effect: Magic Attack Power increases by 100%.

Effect: MP Consumption Rate decreases by 50%.

Effect: You can perform ceremonies and rituals to drive away sickness, disease, curses, and evil spirits.

+

“¡No mames!” I said excitedly. “Now I’m a full-on curandero!”

I pulled back the hood of my cloak to put on the mask, but stopped myself. It was one thing for me to hunt monsters, and it was true that I was trying to rescue people, but putting on a mask? That was dangerously close to superhero territory.

It is a pretty good item, said a voice inside my head. And you’ve got to pretend to be a hero just for today.

That was true enough. After this was over, it wouldn’t matter what I wore.

“Sweet, sweet denial,” I said with a sad chuckle as I put the mask to my face. The mask had no string to go around my head, but that didn’t seem to matter. The mask stuck like a magnet as soon as it touched my face. I had expected my vision to be obscured by the holes of the mask, but I could see just as well as if I weren’t wearing anything at all.

I picked up one of the vials.

+

<Item Information>

Name: Lowest-Grade Recovery Potion.

Grade: Normal.

Lore: A recovery potion that tastes like strawberries.

Effect: Recovers 200 HP.

+

I placed the potions in my <Inventory> and then picked up the stone book whose cover I couldn’t read.

[Would you like to learn the skill, Summon Lowest-Grade Elemental?]

[Yes / No]

“Show me the <Skill Window>.”

[Checking the Skill Window.]

+

<Skill Information>

Name: Summon Lowest-Grade Elemental.

Type: Active.

Level: 1 / XP: 0.00%.

MP: 50.

Description: A skill to summon the lowest-grade elementals.

Since long ago, human beings have recognized the existence of nature spirits and have always been trying to interact with them. Through sacred rites, humans were able to contact nature spirits and could summon them at will.

The power of the summoned elementals depends on the [Intelligence] of the spellcaster, the level of this skill, and the level of the respective elemental affinities.

You can summon the following available elementals: Lowest-Grade Earth Elemental.

Maximum number of elementals you can summon: 1.

+

I clicked ‘Yes’.

[The skill, Summon Lowest-Grade Elemental Lv. 1, has been learned.]

[A new status, Earth Elemental Affinity, has been created.]

Taking a deep breath through my new mask, I let the knowledge of my new skill flow through me. Just a second ago, I knew next to nothing about this skill, but after learning it, I felt like I had always known it.

“Hmm. Let me see… In order to summon an earth elemental, I have to perform a contract ceremony… I’ll need tobacco, buffalo hair, teonanácatl, corn mush, and a hearth.” I sighed and shook my head. “I hope I can find all that stuff in the shop.”

To summarize, I had just learned how to create and train affinities for various elements, draw the symbols of the elements, form contracts with elementals, and a few abilities that the summoned elemental could use.

I gained [Earth Elemental Affinity] through the skill book, but I could also train on my own to gain affinities in other elements. This would let me summon any type of elemental I wanted and form a contract with them.

“I think I’m going to love this skill,” I said with a smile. “Too bad the whole contract ceremony takes hours. I guess I’ll just have to do it after getting out of here.”

I pulled up the hood of my cloak and began walking in the direction the Stonecoat had come from. There were people I needed to save.

*

I stealthily approached the northern part of the park, invisible with my jewel in hand.

Close to a flowerbed, there were around fifty people bound in ropes, with Brother Night’s henchmen standing guard. Looking farther down, I could make out the figure of who I guessed was Brother Night, preparing some sort of sacrificial table.

I quietly walked next to the captives and examined them. Most of them were unharmed, at least physically. There was terror written on their faces, clearly having witnessed the death or torture of other people unlucky enough to piss off the villains.

[<Brother Night’s Underling>

Lv. 18: Romalthi Dini]

[<Brother Night’s Underling>

Lv. 19: Ember]

[<Brother Night’s Underling>

Lv. 16: Theodore Crawley]

Their levels were lower than mine, so I was sure I could defeat them with little effort. The problem would be fighting them while keeping the captives alive.

Ember growled at a mother comforting her crying daughter, snorting out flames from her nostrils. She said, “Quiet your spawn or I’ll do it for you.”

“Ember,” said Teddy. “The boss told you not to kill anyone.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” she replied, her mouth blazing like a furnace. “I’ll make sure to keep her alive.”

[The unborn fire dragon, Ember, has activated the skill, Flame Breath.]

“Expand, maximize, [Mana Shield]!”

[Your skill, Mana Shield Lv. 8, has been activated.]

[The skill level for Mana Shield has increased!]

[Mana Shield Lv. 8 -> Mana Shield Lv. 9.]

I dropped my invisibility as a thick dome formed around the captives, protecting them from Ember’s fire. This dome was much larger and denser than my usual bubble, and while the MP cost to sustain it was brutal, I had managed to keep everyone safe.

“Who do you think you are, worm?!” roared Ember.

“I am The Gamer!” I said proudly. “And these people are under MY protection!”

“You ain’t welcome here, warlock!”

I scoffed at Ember. I said, “[Spinning Mana Arrow].”

[Your skill, Spinning Mana Arrow Lv. 11, has been activated.]

I shot the four arrows at their feet, not directly at them, but as a warning shot.

“Leave this city now, and I’ll let you be,” I told them confidently. “There is no need for blood to be spilled tonight. <Inventory>.”

I dropped the [Horned Serpent Jewel] inside and pulled out a heap of healing potions and silver daggers. The daggers were beautifully designed with Native American carvings, but were pretty weak in a fight. I only kept them for their weight in silver. Dropping to one knee, I took one of the daggers and began cutting the restraints from the captives.

“Here,” I told a freed guy, handing him one of the daggers. “Pass these around and use them to free the rest of the people. If anyone is hurt, make sure they take one of the healing potions. Once you can all move, go to the opposite end of the park.”

“What’re you gonna do?” asked the man, taking the dagger and cutting the ropes from someone else. The others who were also freed followed his example, taking from the pile of silver daggers and getting to work.

“I’m going to deal with the ones responsible,” I said as I got back up, walking to the edge of the [Mana Shield], “and I’m going to put an end to their ritual.”

“We’ll stop you!” shouted Ember, black smoke fuming from her mouth. “We won’t let you interfere with our master’s plan!”

“Those are some big words, coming from Brother Night’s bedwarmer.”

“Careful, mortal,” she growled, violently forcing flames from her nostrils with a loud, harsh sound. “Challenge Brother Night and you could get burned.”

I glanced back at the group of captives. Thankfully, there weren’t that many of them, so about half were already freed. I did some quick math in my head. My [Mana Shield] now consumed 34 MP per minute, but I had maximized its thickness, so that was 306 per minute, but my [Medicine Man Mask] halved my MP consumption, so 153 per minute, but I had expanded the area, so 459 per minute. I had a maximum of 1995 MP and regained 50.53 MP per minute, so I couldn’t continue stalling much longer. If I kept the shield up, I would run out of MP in under three more minutes. I would have to act even if a few captives were still tied up.

“Everybody run at my signal,” I told the people behind me. “Take the ones still restrained with you. There isn’t much time.”

“Yes, sir!”

The strongest amongst the freed captives began carrying the ones who remained bound by the ropes, draping them over their shoulder, or holding them in their arms. The whole group moved to the opposite edge of the [Mana Shield], ready to run. In front of me, the three villains looked ready to fight.

“Ready?” I said, unsheathing my saber and holding it with one hand. “One… two… three… Deactivate [Mana Shield]! [Spinning Mana Arrow]!”

[Your skill, Mana Shield Lv. 9, has been deactivated.]

[Your skill, Spinning Mana Arrow Lv. 11, has been activated.]

The protective dome around us disappeared, and the captives made a break for it. The three henchmen leaped at them, but not sooner than they moved an inch that I shot the ground they were standing on. I knew they would have avoided my attack had I been aiming at them directly, so instead I chose to distract them for just a few seconds.

“We won’t let them walk away unharmed!” cried out Ember. “Teddy!”

“I have something special just for them!” said Teddy, grinning at the retreating crowd.

“Eyes on me, vato!” I screamed, running at max speed at Teddy, and swinging my sword at the box in his hands. “[Forceful Strike]!”

[Your skill, Forceful Strike Lv. 9, has been activated.]

[You have scored a critical hit!]

There was the high-pitched clang of metal scraping against wood as the box flew out of Teddy’s hands and out of sight. I was astonished that the box didn’t break with a critical hit, but I quickly focused back on the fight. One mistake could cost me my life.

The now disarmed Teddy fled, probably going to find his box. That at least bought me some time with the other two.

[You have detected bloodthirst.]

From my right!

“[Spiral Mana Bomb]!”

[Your skill, Spiral Mana Bomb Lv. 1, has been activated.]

A smaller version of the energy sphere formed in my empty hand. I hadn’t put as much mana into this one, so it was less of a Genki-dama and more of a Rasengan. Without hesitation, I threw the [Spiral Mana Bomb] to my right.

BOOM!

The sphere exploded against Ember just as she was about to breathe out a torrent of flames in my direction. She was a dragon, so I doubted she would take much damage from the explosion, though the force of the blast did hurl her unbelievably hard at a tree.

“Hey, Mister Gamer, wanna see a bug?”

Well, that was quick.

“Triplicate, [Mana Shield]! [Spiral Mana Bomb]!”

[Your skill, Mana Shield Lv. 9, has been activated.]

[Your skill, Spiral Mana Bomb Lv. 1, has been activated.]

My three protective bubbles formed around me just as Teddy opened his box. The disgusting insects swarmed around me but were unable to reach me. Not missing a beat, I formed another sphere of mana and threw it at Teddy. This attack still wasn’t as strong as the one I had used against the giant, but it was more than enough to incinerate the insects and knock out Teddy.

[The character, Theodore Crawley, has been defeated.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have received 9,316 XP.]

“You insolent bastard! Now you BURN!” roared Ember as flowing flames started pouring out of her mouth.

[The unborn fire dragon, Ember, has activated the skill, Flame Breath.]

The heat was enough to sear my skin despite being so far away. If my shield hadn’t been activated, I would have been destroyed.

“<Inventory>,” I said, quickly sheathing my sword and pulling out the replica of the [Bashō-sen]. This was a fan that could extinguish any fire, even that of a heavenly bracer, so the flames of an unborn dragon shouldn’t be a problem. Hmm. Curious that I got this item just earlier today. Could the system have known about this beforehand? A question for another time.

[The item, Bashō-sen – Replica, is reacting to your mana.]

I stood my ground and began channeling my mana into the fan. I kept building up energy inside the fan as I waited for my [Mana Shield] to break under the force of Ember’s fire.

[Your skill, Mana Shield Lv. 9, has been deactivated.]

Giving it a wave with all my strength, I fanned Ember. A great wind rose from the fan, much stronger than I had expected. The wind blew her fiery breath away, but it didn’t stop there. The wind continued blowing, throwing Ember around in the air and right out of sight. She was like a dead leaf in a whirlwind or a fallen petal carried along by a torrent.

“AHHHHHHHH!” she screamed as she passed through the necromantic barrier, getting the life zapped out of her.

[The unborn fire dragon, Ember, has been defeated.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have received 12,110 XP.]

“Okay… Perhaps that was a bit overkill.”

[You have detected bloodthirst.]

My eyes went wide at the warning.

From behind me!

The strength of the fan had blown my mind, so I was too slow to move away in time, and Romalthi managed to place his hand on my back.

[The character, Romalthi Dini, has activated the skill, Metamorphosis.]

[Your skill, Gamer’s Body, has been strongly activated.]

[You have become immune to the effects of Metamorphosis due to your skill.]

My eyes shone as I read the message. Oh, this was rich. Dropping the fan in my <Inventory>, I turned around and gave Romalthi a wide grin from behind my mask.

Romalthi cocked his head and looked down at his hand in confusion. He placed his hand on me again, and I didn’t even try to dodge.

[The character, Romalthi Dini, has activated the skill, Metamorphosis.]

[Your skill, Gamer’s Body, has been strongly activated.]

[You have become immune to the effects of Metamorphosis due to your skill.]

“What the hell’s happening?” asked Romalthi, stepping back in fear. I hadn’t expected him to have an Italian accent. His voice reminded me of Romano from Hetalia. “No one has ever resisted my magic!”

“It’s called [Gamer’s Body],” I said with a chuckle. “It makes my body experience reality like a video game. As far as I can tell, my body is indestructible. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can alter it.”

“Oh… well I’m right fucked, aren’t I?”

“Like a bride on her wedding night. [Forceful Strike].”

[Your skill, Forceful Strike Lv. 9, has been activated.]

[You have scored a critical hit!]

I closed the gap between us and gave Romalthi a powerful blow to the abdomen, aiming for his liver. He gave a grueling howl as he fainted from the pain. Some of his bones were probably shattered.

[The character, Romalthi Dini, has been defeated.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have earned 10,287 XP.]

“[Binding].”

[Your skill, Binding Lv. 6, has been activated.]

Romalthi fell limply to the ground, but I tied him up with my skill anyway. I grabbed him by the foot and dragged him next to Teddy. “[Binding],” I said again, tying them together.

[Your skill, Binding Lv. 6, has been activated.]

“[Mana Rope].”

[Your skill, Mana Rope Lv. 1, has been activated.]

A long rope made from mana sprang out from my palm. One end tied itself to the ropes around the two, and the other tied itself to a tall branch of an elm tree, hoisting them like a piñata. This was another skill I had created on my own, and was the basis for the [Binding] skill.

“I’ll be taking these,” I said, ripping the mask from Romalthi’s face and picking up Teddy’s box, then placing them in my <Inventory>. I was sure to get a lot of Coins for them in the <Gamer Shop>.

“The Gamer,” said a man's voice from behind me. “You have quite the knack for causing trouble.”

Turning around, I saw the man of the hour grinning down at me from the air.

[<Brother Night>

Lv. 41: Eldon Peck]

He had a weird look about him, looking like a ghoulish figure, but still retaining the charisma of a gang leader.

“[Observation].”

[Your skill, Observation Lv. 14, has been activated.]

[Your skill is not powerful enough to view all of the information about this character.]

[Converting Status Window to Status Summary.]

+

<Status Summary>

Name: Eldon Peck.

Title: Brother Night.

Alignment: Lawful Evil.

Level: 41 / Next Level: 11.37%.

Overall Stats: [Strength Lv. 23], [Dexterity Lv. 25], [Constitution Lv. 38], [Intelligence Lv. 59], [Wisdom Lv. 26], [Charisma Lv. 56], [Luck Lv. 43].

Abnormal Condition: [Tether to the Lords of Hell (High)].

Overall Evaluation: A charismatic crime lord and trafficker of souls. He’s a small fry on a cosmic scale, and was lucky enough to get the attention of powerful demons he could sell souls to.

Emotions: Rage, Joy, Greed.

+

Brother Night was level 41, making him 16 levels higher than me. Even with that, there shouldn’t be a reason why I couldn’t win. I had defeated monsters of that level before, after all.

“It’s late, and time is of the essence,” said Night. “I had expected my dear friend Johnny Zatara to insinuate himself in my business, but you are a surprise. I’m hoping you, at least, will be reasonable. I’m taking control of crime in this city, on both the mystic and mundane levels. Soon, everyone from the lowliest pimp to the highest dark wizard will be paying tribute to me. You can’t stop this, but you can profit.”

Brother Night gave a wave of his hand and chanted under his breath. There was a green light, and a young woman appeared under where he was floating, lying seductively on a bed of money. She was the very definition of hot, wearing only skimpy, black lingerie over her perfect, ample curves, and her big blue eyes gorgeously framed by her golden curls.

[<Lesser Succubus>

Lv. 3: Alleata]

“A gift. An obedient servant to satiate your lust and riches to indulge your greed. Need I say there could be more where these came from?”

“Keep your monstrous women, Night. I’m in a bit of a dry spell, but I’m not desperate enough to fuck a demon.”

“Please, The Gamer,” said Night, unsummoning the succubus and the pile of money. “Don’t let some misguided sense of morality cloud a mutually beneficial working relationship. You are powerful, much more than my underlings. A man with your abilities would be of value to me.”

“Yeah, nah. That’s a hard pass for me. [Binding]! [Spinning Mana Arrow]!”

[Your skill, Binding Lv. 6, has been activated.]

[Your skill, Spinning Mana Arrow Lv. 11, has been activated.]

Just as I fired my attacks, Night raised his defenses, conjuring a spherical shield that reminded me of my own. He said, “I don’t need underlings to ensure your destruction!” Lowering his shield, Brother Night extended his fingers and sent an arch of blue lightning at me.

“[Mana Shield]! [Spinning Mana Arrow]!”

[Your skill, Mana Shield Lv. 9, has been activated.]

[Your skill, Spinning Mana Arrow Lv. 11, has been activated.]

I managed to block the attack and strike Brother Night with two of my four arrows, the other two being blocked.

BOOM!

Brother Night created an explosion that knocked me off my feet, and it took me a second to regain my bearings.

“We could go on throwing blasts at each other all night,” he said, floating away. “However, I have a ceremony to perform.”

“The hell do you think you’re going? [Flight]!”

[Your skill, Flight Lv. 5, has been activated.]

I shot into the air like a bullet, tackling Brother Night. We tumbled through the air, smashing against the trunks of trees and crashing to the ground.

[You have lost 42 HP.]

[Your skill, Flight Lv. 5, has been deactivated.]

Taking advantage of Night’s momentary disorientation from the crash, I touched his back directly and said, “[Binding]!”

[Your skill, Binding Lv. 6, has been activated.]

“Stay away from me, worm!” screamed Brother Night, struggling to break free from my ropes of mana. “It is futile to fight me!”

“I disagree, Brother Night!” I shouted back, pinning him down in a bear hug with one arm around him, squeezing him. “You are playing against The Gamer, and you’re gonna lose! [Forceful Strike]! [Forceful Strike]! [Forceful Strike]! [Forceful Strike]! [Forceful Strike]!”

With my free arm, I started whaling the stuffing out of him.

[Your skill, Forceful Strike Lv. 9, has been activated.]

[Your skill, Forceful Strike Lv. 9, has been activated.]

[Your skill, Forceful Strike Lv. 9, has been activated.]

[Your skill, Forceful Strike Lv. 9, has been activated.]

[Your skill, Forceful Strike Lv. 9, has been activated.]

I kept bringing my fist swinging down through the air, pummeling Brother Night with enough strength to break stone. I had no way to be sure, but given the fact that he wasn’t dying, he probably had some passive defence enchantment. Once Brother Night was covered in bruises, I got up. The guy was beaten to a pulp, so why wasn’t the quest over?

He’s still alive, said a voice in my head.

I looked down at my hand. It was bloodied from the beating I had given Night. To complete the quest, did I actually need to murder him? I had killed Ember, but that had been more of an accident. Even then, I hadn’t felt any different – just surprised at how strong the wind was. How come I wasn’t even taking murder seriously? I should have felt bad or, at the very least, repulsed at the very idea. That would have been normal. That’s how I had always been. I felt nothing like that at all. Why? Why could I think of it as ‘just murder’?

Brother Night began chanting, “Shurq anā lā ntā min ḥashqā–”

“[Binding]!” I shouted, snapping out of my train of thought.

[Your skill, Binding Lv. 6, has been activated.]

The ropes of mana formed around his head, acting like a gag to stop him from completing his spell. I glared down at him. He must have known he had lost the battle, so he probably had been trying to escape.

“Eldon Peck,” I said coldly. “I know you. Fake hippie mystic turned murderer and soul trafficker. You must think of yourself as top dog in the magical world, but let me tell you, you are nothing.”

“How dare you!” he screamed, his voice livid and somewhat muffled by the ropes.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” I said, crouching down to stare directly into his eyes. “As far as this world is concerned, you truly are a powerful crime-lord. I am talking about your role in creation. I know everything about you. I’ve seen your pictures, I’ve read every single aspect of your existence. And here’s the fun part: when it all comes down to it, you’re just a figment of two fat guys’ imagination.”

“You’re dead!” he screamed through the gag.

“You’re never going to win, because you were never meant to win. Your only purpose is to make the heroes look good, yet you trounce around like a god. Renounce the pathetic powers you cling to and I’ll let you be.”

“Never!”

“Very well,” I said firmly. “If you won’t break your contract by your own volition, then I’ll just exorcise the contract right out of you.”

Brother Night’s eyes went wide. “You can’t!” he screamed against the mana ropes.

“The hell I can’t,” I growled, placing one hand on his head and the other taking out a handful of spirit stones from my pocket. “[Way of the Restorative Venom].”

[Your skill, Way of the Restorative Venom Lv. 7, has been activated.]

[Your skill, Way of the Restorative Venom Lv. 7, has failed to remove the abnormal condition, Tether to the Lords of Hell.]

[The abnormal condition, Tether to the Lords of Hell, has been lessened.]

Brother Night began to twitch as his connection to Hell became thinner. He had relied so heavily on his magic for so long that his body couldn’t function properly without it.

I took a deep breath and clenched my hand holding the stones. The skill must have failed to remove the contract because it was too low-level. If I had known this would happen, I would have focused on [Way of the Restorative Venom] a lot more. However, I couldn’t stop trying. In the original comic, Zatanna had magically forced Brother Night to break his contract, but I had no way of manipulating his mind and forcing him to renounce the powers of Hell. Since there was no way I was becoming a murderer, healing the contract out of him was my only true way to defeat him.

“[Way of the Restorative Venom],” I said again.

[Your skill, Way of the Restorative Venom Lv. 7, has been activated.]

[Your skill, Way of the Restorative Venom Lv. 7, has failed to remove the abnormal condition, Tether to the Lords of Hell.]

[The abnormal condition, Tether to the Lords of Hell, has been lessened.]

Brother Night flinched as if someone had punched him in the gut. He was looking at me with genuine fear. He tried to say something, probably to plead for mercy, but his speech had become unintelligible babbling.

I groaned as I closed my eyes, concentrating on my mana while healing Brother Night. Although the effects of my skills were instantaneous, I could feel myself and my energy when I used my skills. I could understand the effects of my skills the moment I got them, and I only learned to use them more effectively with each level-up.

With every use of [Way of the Restorative Venom], I could feel the dark aura that emanated from Brother Night’s body. This aura was so integrated into his being that it would have been easy to mistake it as his own, but I could recognize it as a sliver of Hell — a very small one, at that. His true aura, on the other hand, was frighteningly weak; I would have even said that it was atrophied from lack of use.

[The item, Medicine Man Mask, is reacting to the mysterious power coursing through you.]

That’s right. This mask was meant to drive away evil spirits, wasn’t it?

I stopped my repeated use of [Way of the Restorative Venom] and began channeling my mana through the mask, pushing back the dark aura within Brother Night, cleansing him of everything that shouldn’t have been there. Finally, I reached the sliver of Hell. It was lodged in his heart.

“I’ve got you now,” I laughed, wrapping my mana around the sliver. Although there was no sound, I could feel the sliver of Hell screaming in agony as my mana engulfed it. “I’ll take you out!”

I drew my hand back, yanking the sliver out of him as if by a chain.

[The skill, Remove Curse Lv. 1, has been created.]

[The abnormal condition, Tether to the Lords of Hell, has been removed.]

Brother Night fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Just like in the original comic, he was now little more than a vegetable, being tormented by infernal previews of what awaited him once he finally died. He was truly defeated.

[The character, Eldon Peck, has been defeated.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have earned 20,645 XP.]

[You have successfully fulfilled the clear conditions of the first main quest!]

What came out of Brother Night’s chest was a fiery spark of a particularly disturbing shade of orange. It was Hellfire. I didn’t need to have read the comics to know that a spark from the Inferno itself was invaluable. Now that this spark was mine, earning those quadrillion Coins would be ridiculously easy. There was so much I could do with it, so much I could earn, so much I could accomplish, so many who could bow down to me, so much I could conquer, so much I —

[Your skill, Gamer’s Mind, has been strongly activated.]

[You have become immune to the effects of Hellish Temptation due to your skill.]

I blinked.

The moment my mind cleared, the feeling of hopeless selfishness diminished. I now understood just a tiny bit more of how people like John Constantine could get addicted to demonic magic.

I brought the orange spark encapsulated within a small bubble to eye level and stared at it. There was no denying how powerful even a single spark of Hellfire could be, but it would do me no good if it drove me too insane with power to go home.

“[Spiral Mana Bomb]!” I shouted, throwing the spark of Hellfire into the air and blasting it with my new skill.

[Your skill, Spiral Mana Bomb Lv. 1, has been activated.]

The spark exploded with an earth-shattering wail. Hundreds upon hundreds of harrowed voices thundered across the sky, crying out for help, for forgiveness, for vengeance, for mercy, for death, and for so many other things that could end their suffering.

[The item, Hellfire Spark, has been destroyed.]

[You have achieved a non-existent achievement.]

[You are the first in the server to destroy a piece of Hell.]

[You have earned 10,000 Coins as an achievement reward.]

[Mysterious entities from the Sphere of the Gods have noticed a change in the world.]

The wailing of the damned faded into silence, and the spark’s light died out.

After that, I dragged Night’s body away from the battlefield and to the hostages. It seemed they had all managed to free themselves with the daggers I gave them. They must have used the potions I gave them as well, because they were all healed.

I tossed Night’s limp body in front of them.

“His name is Eldon Peck,” I told them. “He is also known as Brother Night, a kingpin in San Francisco’s magical criminal underworld. He was planning to sacrifice all of you in a ritual to the Lords of Hell. It wouldn’t be his first time either, since he’s been doing it since the 60s. Two of his underlings are tied up in a large tree at the edge of the park, but I’ve taken their stuff, so they should be harmless. Unfortunately, the third one was… She got away. Tell all of this to the police, and they should be able to confirm it.”

“Wh-what happened to him?” a woman said, trembling and glancing at Brother Night.

“I severed his connection to the Lords of Hell. Unfortunately, that also left him in a catatonic state. If I am correct, he should get better eventually… I think.”

“How are we supposed to get out?” someone else asked.

“Huh? Oh, give me a minute.”

I glanced at the barrier surrounding the park. From what I could tell, it was a pretty simple spell. It might have been strong enough to zap the life out of any average person who tried to cross it, but I had managed to do so just fine — my clothes were barely singed. The instant dungeons I could create were way better than this barrier.

I closed my eyes and began releasing mana from my body. I had tried this method before, when I tried to escape the dungeon of the Great Horned Serpent. However, back then I lacked the [Mana Affinity] skill, and had a much lower [Intelligence]. I now understood that the key to destroying a barrier wasn’t to concentrate my energy on a single point, but to freely release my mana and have it collide against the barrier.

The people gasped as my mana burst from my body. To them, it probably looked like an anime aura. I couldn’t help but smirk under my mask at the thought of looking like a Super Saiyan.

[The skill, Barrier Destruction Lv. 1, has been created.]

Cracks began to form on the barrier, first on the weakest points, but they quickly expanded. Not a second later, a web of cracks covered the entire surface of the barrier. With one final push of my mana, the barrier fell apart, dispersing into mist.

[You have exited the Necromantic Dungeon.]

The crowd of people looked at me with baffled curiosity. Then they started glancing at Night’s body, some still holding the silver daggers I gave them.

I could step in if I wanted to. I could use [Binding] and stop them from killing Brother Night. I could, so why wasn’t I? Because it would have been the wrong thing for the right reasons. These people were traumatized from what they had just gone through, and forcing them into anything right now would only make things worse for them in the long run. They needed to feel safe again. It had to be their choice.

I stepped closer to the first man I had freed and had given the silver daggers. Not saying anything, I extended my open hand to him, silently asking him for the knife.

He looked at me with uncertain eyes, then looked down at the vulnerable body of Brother Night. He clenched the knife’s handle so tightly that his knuckles turned white. I didn’t need any skill to recognize the rage and fear coursing through him.

He closed his eyes and handed back the silver dagger. Then someone else stepped up and handed over their dagger, and then another and another until everyone was unarmed. I quickly placed all the silver daggers in my <Inventory>.

Holding back tears, some people dropped to the ground and stared at Brother Night. They would probably stay there until the authorities came to rescue everyone. Speaking of which, I could faintly hear the approaching sound of rushing footsteps, probably from a SWAT team. They could finally enter the park now that I had destroyed the barrier.

”I did what you wanted,” I said, looking up at the night sky. “Just end it already.”

[The Main Quest #1 - Light in the Darkness has ended!]

[Main contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have earned 10,000 XP.]

[You have earned 10,000 Coins.]

[The people of New York begin praising your heroic actions.]

I sighed as I dismissed the messages and pulled out the [Horned Serpent Jewel], turning invisible.

I walked away.

*

“In the end, The Gamer made the right choice,” said the Phantom Stranger. “Ultimately, he chose to spare Brother Night’s life and inspired others to do the same.”

“Not what I would have done, had I been in his place,” said The Specter.

“Then Eldon is lucky that The Gamer and not you faced him.”

The Specter turned to face the Phantom Stranger, glaring at him. He said, “Funny how The Gamer just happened to be outside the park when trouble started, wouldn’t you say, Stranger?”

The Phantom Stranger smirked as he readjusted his fedora, giving The Specter a sideways glance. “Oh, I’m sure I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 7

Beware My Power

*

I had never believed I would be bored playing video games, but that was before my life turned into one. There was this cybercafe I found, where I could use my newfound riches to play games for as long as I wanted, and though I was much better at games than I had ever been before coming to this world, I quickly grew bored. Still, only MMORPGs seemed slow and dull, so that left other options such as real-time strategy and puzzles. At least I could still scratch that itch through grinding in my instant dungeons.

I sighed in disappointment when the computer screen showed yet another perfect victory.

This was supposed to be a pleasant distraction from the intense training I had been doing lately, but I could barely stay concentrated even as I kicked virtual butt. Ever since my public debut five days ago, I had been grinding my skills inside my instant dungeons in an almost religious manner, preparing myself for the next time I would have to risk my life fighting a madman supervillain. I hadn’t slept, eaten, or rested in that entire time, only trained. Come to think of it, I hadn’t slept since coming to this world nearly three months ago. Would I go to the Dreaming if I did? Was Morpheus even out of his basement prison yet?

I sighed again as I got up from the computer and walked to the cafe’s counter, ordering a ham sandwich and a hot chocolate.

On the TV screen hanging from the wall, I could see a talk show hosted by Bethany Snow (a fairly minor background character in DC Comics). She was interviewing one of the people I had saved from Brother Night, giving a tear-jerking look at the victims, their savior, and the lives tragically lost during the attack. It was actually interesting.

Normally, Bethany reported on the mistakes of superheroes, running their reputation through the muck, but for some strange reason, she was actually putting some respect on The Gamer’s name. I had no way to be sure, but I suspected that this was part of the reward for the first main quest. The system had announced that the people of New York were beginning to praise my heroic actions, and that was all everyone had been talking about lately.

As the talk show’s live audience clapped at the guest’s retelling of the incident, I got a message that I had received a lot lately.

[The people of New York are telling your story.]

[Your affinity for the people of New York has increased.]

[You have received 1,500 Coins.]

I took my sandwich and hot chocolate and went back to my computer. I pretended to watch a video of another news report about The Gamer while eating.

The fact that I could earn Coins by growing my fame was as wonderful as it was infuriating. On the one hand, it would be an easy and safe way to earn those quadrillion Coins, since I would steadily gain more wealth without needing to put my life at risk clearing dungeons or fighting villains. On the other hand, I needed to keep fighting villains and playing superhero for people to keep talking about The Gamer. It didn’t matter if you were the most interesting person alive, so long as you didn’t stay in the minds of the masses, you would eventually be forgotten. For example, how many of us still thought about the murder hornets?

I frowned and took a bite from my ham sandwich. Whoever designed <The Gamer> system knew precisely what they were doing, and I hated how impressed I was by it.

“<Skill List>,” I murmured through a mouthful of sandwich.

[Checking the Skill List.]

+

<Skill List>

* [Gamer’s Mind / (Passive) / Lv. Max]

* [Gamer’s Body / (Passive) / Lv. Max]

* [Observation / (Active) / Lv. 14 / XP: 33.31% / MP: 1]

* [Physical Endurance / (Passive) / Lv. 10 / XP: 78.24%]

* [Forceful Strike / (Active) / Lv. 12 / XP: 89.45% / MP: 5]

* [Agile Feet / (Active & Passive) / Lv. 16 / XP: 5.47% / MP: 6 per minute]

…

+

I scrolled down through the screen until I reached the bottom, where my newest skills were shown.

+

<Skill List>

…

* [Suggestion / (Active) / Lv. 1 / XP: 0.00% / MP: 200]

* [Lion’s Heart / (Active) / Lv. 1 / XP: 0.00% / MP: 100]

* [Fear / (Active) / Lv. 1 / XP: 24.19% / MP: 50]

* [Confusion / (Active) / Lv. 1 / XP: 0.00% / MP: 200]

* [Friendship / (Active) / Lv. 1 / XP: 41.13% / MP: 100 per minute]

* [Psychic Crush / (Active) / Lv. 1 / XP: 15.71% / MP: Variable]

+

My fight with Brother Night, while a victory, had shown me a glaring weakness in my own capabilities: I had no mind-related skills. I had gotten lucky and found another way to defeat Brother Night without killing him, but healing the powers out of my enemies wasn’t a tactic I could realistically rely on. In order to correct this problem, I used my hard-earned Coins to buy a rudimentary mental magic bundle from the <Gamer Shop>. It had cost me a whopping 50,000 Coins, and I was once again broke, but it was worth it.

[Coins Possessed: 9,440 C]

Considering that most of the good magic skill books started at around 100,000 Coins, I had gotten a pretty good deal out of it. That’s the bargain bin for you. While not all-encompassing, these skills covered my bases.

[Suggestion] was used to give a reasonable order to someone, which they would have to follow if the skill wasn’t resisted.

[Lion’s Heart] was used to calm fear and inspire courage in a person. It was essentially useless to me since I had [Gamer’s Mind], but it came with the rest of the bundle.

[Fear] did exactly what the name suggested. It caused a sense of fear in the target, making them think that I was a mortal danger they should try to escape from. Of course, someone with enough willpower could just shrug off the effects, but it had worked well enough so far against the few monsters I had tried it on.

[Confusion] was used to disorient a target and could even make someone believe something that wasn’t true if their minds were susceptible enough. It was kind of like hypnosis without reaching the level of mind control.

[Friendship] was used to make myself more approachable and appealing to others, giving them a sense of familiarity and trust towards me. It didn’t make others believe that we were old drinking buddies, but it was more like they would think I was a guy they really wanted to get along with.

[Psychic Crush] was an offensive skill that targeted the mind directly, leaving the body unharmed. The more mana I used, the more potent it became. Unfortunately, the amount of damage I could cause was also tied to my own [Intelligence] stat, which was pretty high, but not enough to make this a go-to attack skill.

While all of my new mental skills were intended as a backup, my bread-and-butter skills had now reached a much higher level. Individual skill levels were just as important as character level, so I hadn’t been hunting monsters in favor of training my skills. Training skills progressed quickly until they reached level 10, after which the pace slowed drastically. The level of a skill being 10 was probably enough to use against a normal person, but it wouldn’t be for my purposes.

I took another bite of my sandwich and washed it down with my hot chocolate, watching as a national news network aired a segment on the rising number of superheroes across the country. They had just finished talking about the many sightings of Batman, though they still didn’t seem to know him by that name, and were showing Washington Square Park’s security footage of me fighting the Stonecoat. Even though I hadn’t been wearing my mask yet, my face couldn’t be seen. Everything about my appearance was distorted beyond recognition, appearing as an unidentifiable blur that showed no features whatsoever. The news anchor speculated that this was my true appearance or possibly even one of my superpowers, and that I hid my appearance with the mask and cloak to put people at ease.

I pulled out my phone and took a quick photo of myself, finding my face not distorted at all. It would seem that I had found yet another mystery about my powers that could easily be explained in a user’s manual. I mean, I’m just saying.

Doing some quick research on the computer, I investigated what had become of Brother Night and his underlings. Romalthi and Teddy had already been tried and convicted, given that their case was pretty open and shut, what with the literal hundreds of witnesses and all that. Ember was officially still at large since I had said that she got away, and no one had found her body, wherever it had ended up. As for Brother Night himself, given his coma-like state, he couldn’t be put on trial; however, he was being held in a high-security psychiatric hospital (thankfully not Arkham) until he regained consciousness. If events were to unfold according to canon, it would take months for him to wake up, although I had absolutely no idea how, since the 2010 Zatanna series had been canceled before that plotline was resolved.

Finishing my meal, I paid my tab and left the cybercafé.

[The item, Hot Chocolate, has been used.]

[You have regained 10 MP.]

[You have become immune to despair for one hour.]

[The item, Ham Sandwich, has been used.]

[You have regained 29 HP.]

Playing video games was a bust, so I needed something else to entertain me before I went back to grinding inside my instant dungeons. Fortunately, I knew just the thing.

Standing on the edge of the sidewalk, I raised my hand and gave a loud whistle, calling a cab.

[<Chatty Driver>

Lv. 5: Tyrone Jackson]

“Where Imma dropping you at, chief?” asked the driver once I was inside.

“The Metropolitan Museum of Art,” I said, sitting right behind him and putting my seatbelt on.

“Oh, you gonna see that new show they got going on?” he asked as he began to drive.

“Yeah,” I said. “The Treasures of the British Museum. Those Brits have the largest collection of historical artifacts in the world, and the greatest of them will be here for just a few months. I want to see it all. I can’t pass this up.”

“Sounds like you really into that sorta thing. You’s one of those academic types?”

“Well, yeah, but I’m a psychologist.”

“No kidding? You’re a shrink? I don’t envy you, having to treat crazy nutjobs. So why are you so excited to see a bunch of dusty old statues?”

“History is a bit of a hobby for me. It’s just amazing, you know? Learning about those ancient times and how people used to be, used to behave, and what they used to believe. Understanding people’s behavior has always been a fascination of mine. I just love it. Traffic isn’t going to be an issue, right?”

“We should get there in about 20 minutes, so get comfortable, chief.”

“Thanks. I think I’ll do some reading, so you let me know when we get there,” I said, making sure that the driver couldn’t see what I was doing, and then whispered, “<Inventory>.”

I reached discreetly into my <Inventory> and pulled out a thick book. It was titled Instant Dungeons and You: Illusion Barriers for Beginners, and it was written by a person calling themselves Librarian of New Alexandria. I bought this book from them at the <Gamer Shop> a few days ago and had already learned a lot from it. Ever since discovering the existence of instant dungeons, I had been wondering what they actually were, and this book had some helpful answers. It had even told me about the <Settings Window>, which I used to turn off my automatic dungeon entry. Now I was actually asked if I wanted to enter an instant dungeon.

According to the book, an instant dungeon, or illusion barrier, was a shadow of reality where idea power could gather. Now, what was idea power? That turned out to be the psychic residue of people going about their lives, thinking about anything, and doing regular old living.

This idea power would disappear if left alone, but could be collected as a great source of energy. However, collecting unrefined idea power was banned in most societies familiar with the concept, since powerful entities could be created according to the thoughts that formed them. That was fine if you collected idea power from good people, but evil begets evil, and insanity begets insanity. If the idea power were to be improperly collected, it would be impossible to know what sort of being would be created.

Evil entities were still manageable, but the problem was the insane ones. There was a tabletop game called Dungeons & Dragons, and within it were beings known as fiends. There was a never-ending war between the two main factions of fiends, the devils and the demons. Both represented evil, but opposite sides of the spectrum. Devils were lawful, always abiding by the letter of their deals, but demons were chaotic, being fueled by horrific madness. Care to guess which faction was considered better?

The DC Comics multiverse operated on a not-too-dissimilar set of rules. I couldn’t remember in which version of the multiverse it was said — it might have been New Earth or Prime Earth — but I did remember that Hell only existed because people believed it existed. It was the same for gods, as they needed people to worship them and offer prayers so that they could continue to exist; otherwise, they would fade into nothingness and return to the Dreaming from which they came.

Anyway, as it turned out, my excursions inside instant dungeons were a good thing. Since the monsters inside them were formed from evil idea power, someone had to eliminate them to prevent them from becoming too powerful and escaping their instant dungeons (I had nearly fainted the first time I read that could happen). With every monster I hunted, I made New York just a little bit less of a miserable hellhole.

I turned the page to the next chapter, How Beliefs Influence Dungeons, but couldn’t concentrate on what I was reading. I placed a bookmark on the page and then looked at the live podcast on the touchscreen display on the dashboard, which was starting a new rant.

“This is your queen-babe of all media, your mistress of the airwaves. The one, the only, Leslie Willies, coming to you alive and wired from 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It’s the first week of summer, which means… Ah, it’s time for my annual list of things I want a vacation from, and this year’s list is only one item: The Gamer. The indescribable abscessed tooth in the otherwise gleaming smile that is New York City! How much do I despise, I mean loathe, his whole, ‘look at me, I’ve got the power of God and anime on my side’ thing. And that hideous, like, rejected-from-Comic-Con cosplay outfit he wears? I mean, a wooden mask, snakeskin belt, and dirty bathrobe? Puh-lease. Seems like overkill, especially since no one can even take a picture of the guy.

“I’m sick of him! You hear me? Sick, sick, sick! I wake up this morning, and I’m in a fairly good mood. But then I turn on the TV, and there he is, on every lousy channel! I almost puked on my cornflakes. And then, big surprise, there he is again on the cover of Time magazine! Helloooo. Helloooo. Am I the only one who’s physically ill from this town’s pathetic obsession with that phony magic goodie-goodie? No one’s that nice for free, people. The Gamer is playing you. Don’t buy that act of his. Just say no to The Gamer. Hmm. Looks like the natives are restless. Line three, speak your tiny little mind.”

The rant stopped, and a new person started to talk, obviously one of the live listeners. She sounded like a mature woman, but not old. I would have guessed she was in her late 30s, possibly approaching her 40s.

“You’re darn right I will, little missy,” said the woman. “Because I do not appreciate your crude remarks about the man who rescued my daughter and me. The Gamer is a hero and deserves your respect.”

“Ugh, get a load of this old hag,” said Leslie, disgust clear in her voice. “What’s the matter, granny, got a little crush on your knight in shining armor? Maybe you’d like The Gamer to screw you like your limp husband hasn’t in years?”

“Why, I never!” the mother screamed in outrage. “Now, you listen to me, young lady. I do not think —”

“No, you don’t think, do you, you dim-witted crone!” exclaimed Leslie, cutting off the mother. “This Gamer is nothing more than the world’s most popular con man.”

“Can you please turn that off?” I asked the driver.

The driver pressed a button on his steering wheel, silencing the podcast.

“Thanks,” I said with a sigh as I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “I couldn’t hear one more word from that brain rot. A little longer and I worried that I would do something stupid.”

The driver chuckled as he came to a stop at a red light. He said, “A fan of The Gamer, are you?”

“More of a fan of not listening to people rant about things they know nothing about; at least not without them making an appointment first.”

“Don’t blame you. I only had her on because so many people were asking for her. She’s about the only person who’s bad-mouthing The Gamer,” scoffed the driver. “That Leslie Willis sure is something else, huh?”

“Oh, she is, and if she isn’t, she’s sure to become.”

That was worrying in completely different ways, and none of them were good. The host of the Live Wire podcast, Leslie Willis, was the supervillain known as Livewire (shocking, I know), and she was an enemy of Superman. At least, she was supposed to be. For some reason, she lived in New York instead of Metropolis and was gaining fame by slandering me, The Gamer, instead of the Man of Steel.

Oh, Presence, I thought dejectedly, please, please don’t let her turn into one of my villains. I shouldn’t even have villains!

*

Abin Sur was often asked by the other members of the Green Lantern Corps why he always insisted on traveling by spacecraft. “Isn’t your ring faster?” they would often say. And while it was true that he would be able to travel at above lightspeed by that method, he would always refuse to do so.

It wasn’t that he thought that traveling by craft was better, but that he believed that traveling by ring was more dangerous.

During the early days of his career as a member of the Green Lantern Corps, Abin Sur was forced to violate one of the Guardians of the Universe’s direct orders and traverse the banned world of Ysmault in order to save the passengers of a crashed spacecraft. None of the Green Lanterns had known why the planet was restricted by the Guardians, just that the defeated members of a dangerous empire rested there. During his visit to the planet, Abin Sur didn’t discover the reason for the ban, but he did learn something far more dangerous.

While there, Abin Sur had made the mistake of speaking to the Qull of the Five Inversions, a seer who saw the future through blood rituals. Abin Sur had asked him to answer many questions about the future, and amongst matters of cosmic importance, it was prophesied that Abin Sur’s death would come when his ring failed him at a critical moment, but would be succeeded by his successor, who would be the greatest amongst his contemporaries. His response was to take the craft on long voyages so that his charge wouldn't run out.

Abin Sur firmly believed that the prophecies given to him were true, and ever since that day, he had made every possible attempt to leave the universe ready to face the coming threats once he was gone. When the Blackest Night fell from the sky, the Brightest Day would be prepared to face it.

Abin Sur was taken out of his train of thought as the instruments of his ship reported his entry to the Sol Star System and automatically initiated the stealth protocols. There was only one life-sustaining planet left in this system, and if its inhabitants were to take notice of Abin Sur’s vessel, they would not react positively. It had been many years since his last visit to Earth, but he remembered that world well. Primitive by most standards, but developing at an accelerated pace. It would probably be less than a few of their decades before humanity began exploring its own star system.

At the moment, Abin Sur was only interested in a single human rather than the whole species. Actually, he wasn’t sure if the individual the Guardians tasked him to investigate was even human, but that appeared to be the most likely option. All Abin Sur had to go on were some recordings of the insides of dimensional anomalies that didn’t reveal any physical characteristics of his target, and the location of a human settlement in which the target resided.

WHAM!

The entire craft shook as something struck the hull. Normal asteroids and other common debris were deflected harmlessly by the onboard shields, so it had to be done deliberately and with great effort. Something was latching onto the outside of his ship.

Abin Sur placed his ring on the control interface and, with a mental command, swiftly scanned the outside of his starship, pinpointing the stowaway. It was a large, metallic humanoid with its outer body painted red and silver. Its face was emotionless, with glowing red eyes, and it was staring directly at the camera Abin Sur was using. There were many dents, burn marks, and other signs of damage across its surface. In one of its hands, it held a thick staff that seemed just as damaged. The creature reminded Abin Sur somewhat of the Guardians, if bigger and made of metal.

With another mental command, Abin Sur opened a communication channel and said, “This is the Green Lantern of Sector 2814. Do you require assistance?”

The large, red creature didn’t show any noticeable signs that it had heard him. Its metal face remained just as emotionless. After a moment, it took its staff with both hands and held the end of it against the camera, firing a yellow blast that destroyed the device and cut off the visual feed.

Through the communication channel, it said in a synthetic, emotionless voice, “No man escapes the Manhunters.”

*

[You have gained entry to a hidden dungeon.]

[Would you like to enter?]

[Yes / No]

I held the admission ticket for The Met in my hand as I read the messages. They had appeared the moment I paid for access to the museum, almost as if I were also buying admission for the dungeon.

“Sir,” said the man on the other side of the ticket booth. “Can you move along? You’re holding the line.”

“Huh? Oh, right, sorry,” I said as I walked away from the booth. I continued to look at the ticket until I got to the side of the entrance and stood with my back against the wall.

What was I supposed to do now? I had come here to distract myself from instant dungeons, not to get into one. But could I really just ignore this? From what I had read, it took a while for dungeon monsters to get powerful enough to escape, so time wasn’t really an excuse to enter at that moment. On the other hand, it wasn’t like I was in any true hurry to go see the exhibitions either. The real question was, which of the two did I want to see more?

“Fuck,” I whispered as the answer came to me. “I truly am a game junkie, aren’t I?”

I pocketed my ticket and walked to the nearest bathroom in the museum. After getting inside the toilet stall and making sure there was no one around to see me, I pressed ‘Yes’.

The world around me seemed to pixelate as I entered the dungeon, and I now found myself in a tall cavern with the ground covered by a thick layer of snow. There was the mouth of the cave behind me, but it seemed to be sealed off with a huge boulder. The light of fluorescent mushrooms illuminated the darkness, with the bright fungi growing on the walls at regular intervals.

[You have entered the Human History Dungeon.]

[The time ratio is 10:1.]

[You have discovered an instant dungeon.]

[You are the first to discover this instant dungeon.]

[You have received 1,000 Coins as an achievement reward.]

[A new hidden quest has arrived!]

[The hidden quest, Knowledge of the Ages, has begun.]

+

<Hidden Quest – Knowledge of the Ages>

Category: Hidden.

Difficulty: F~S+++.

Clear Conditions: Defeat the master of the Human History Dungeon.

Time Limit: 10 months.

Reward: ???

Penalty for Failure: ???

* This dungeon can be entered multiple times.

+

[You have entered the first floor, Stone Age Department.]

[Your speed has been reduced by 10% since you do not possess cold-related abilities.]

[Your attack power has been reduced by 10% since you do not possess cold-related abilities.]

[Your endurance has been reduced by 10% since you do not possess cold-related abilities.]

[Defeat the king of the first floor to advance to the second floor.]

“No way,” I said with a smile. “An actual dungeon crawl? Took long enough.”

From the special information at the bottom of the quest window, it appeared to be the case that I could enter and exit the dungeon as I pleased, but I could only advance so long as I defeated the king of the floor I was on. Naturally, each floor was sure to be more difficult than the last, and the master at the very end would be even more powerful than all the floors before it.

Given my current level, I doubted that I could reach the last floor on my first go, but I was excited to find out how far I could get with my current abilities.

As a side note, it appeared that time inside this dungeon went by ten times faster than it did outside, so I could take my time and explore freely. I wanted to learn how to do that for my own instant dungeons. The amount of training I could do would be insane.

“So, I have ten months of real time to make my way through this dungeon, eh? That’s precisely how long the Treasures of the British Museum exhibition is going to last. I wonder, was this dungeon created by the idea power of the event? There are hundreds of people coming in and out of the MET daily, so it’s not out of the question.”

[The master of the dungeon is looking at you.]

[The master of the dungeon welcomes you to his exhibition.]

[The master of the dungeon is looking forward to your historical reenactments.]

My eyes went wide, and I quickly looked around me, trying to find the place where the master would be. Just as before, there was nothing else in this tall, long cave except the snow, mushrooms, and me. None of my skills were going off and warning me of an attack, and there was little chance of me being ambushed at what was essentially the welcome area. Despite all that, there was no denying that the master of the dungeon, not the system itself, had sent me a message.

“This… is new,” I said uncertainly, not feeling comfortable knowing that the master of the dungeon had spotted me as soon as I had entered. “<Inventory>.”

Using the <Settings Window>, I had changed the default for the <Inventory>, and now the equipment slots were always on display. Equipping and unequipping gear was now a simple matter of dragging the icons between the grid and the slots.

Doing exactly that, I switched off my common clothes for my battle gear, though I also threw in a sweater due to the sheer cold on the floor, not that it helped much. [Civilian’s Defense] was incredibly worn out by now, so much so that I had gotten a message warning me about it. There were tears, burns, smears, and rips. Perhaps I needed to buy a sewing kit later and try to fix my clothes. I would probably gain a skill from it if I did.

Now that I was ready, I began walking into the cavern, my pace slowed down by the thick snow on the ground. It wasn’t even after two minutes of walking that I came across something interesting.

[<Nomadic Hunter>

Lv. 11: Neanderthal]

[<Nomadic Hunter>

Lv. 11: Neanderthal]

[<Nomadic Hunter>

Lv. 11: Neanderthal]

Three short men were blocking the path. They were shorter than I, with large noses and stocky arms. Their muscular bodies were covered with animal pelts and bone jewelry, and they carried stone spears, which they pointed at me.

[The archaic hominin, Neanderthal, is hostile towards you.]

[The archaic hominin, Neanderthal, is hostile towards you.]

[The archaic hominin, Neanderthal, is hostile towards you.]

“Level eleven, eh?” I said casually, my eyes focused on the front caveman. “Let’s see what you’re working with. [Observation].”

[Your skill, Observation Lv. 14, has been activated.]

+

<Status Window>

Species: Neanderthal.

Title: Nomadic Hunter.

Alignment: True Neutral.

Level: 11 / Next Level: 54.38%.

Age: 22.

HP: 710/710.

MP: 300/300.

Overall Stats: [Strength Lv. 34], [Dexterity Lv. 14], [Constitution Lv. 21], [Intelligence Lv. 11], [Wisdom Lv. 13], [Charisma Lv. 8], [Luck Lv. 19].

Special Skills: Basic Weapons Proficiency (Active), Tracking (Active), Endure Lesser Cold (Permanent), Efficient Sprint (Active).

Affinities: None.

Overall Evaluation: A hunter from the Stone Age. He is closely related to modern humans, but he’s not one himself. It’s not genocide if they’re already extinct.

Available Stat Points: 0.

Emotions: Curiosity, Confusion.

+

I raised an eyebrow at the last line of the evaluation. Seriously, who came up with this shit?

“These guys are weak,” I said with a disappointed sigh. “[Spinning Mana Arrow].”

[Your skill, Spinning Mana Arrow Lv. 27, has been activated.]

Nine arrows shot from my hand and struck the Neanderthals, turning them to smoke.

[The archaic hominin, Neanderthal, has been slain.]

[The archaic hominin, Neanderthal, has been slain.]

[The archaic hominin, Neanderthal, has been slain.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have earned 11,894 XP.]

“Little more than 3,000 XP each, eh? Yeah, I’m definitely not leveling up on this floor.”

From there, I continued going deeper into the cavern. I encountered a few more Neanderthals as I went along, but a single use of [Spinning Mana Arrow] per group was enough to take care of them. The loot they dropped wasn’t even that good — a few stone tools and weapons, some shell and bone jewelry, one or two HP recovery potions, a couple of spirit stones, and the like. There were also a couple of suspicious-smelling pelt clothes, but I decided not to take those with me. It was probably after some fifteen minutes of mindless hunting that I came to a large open area inside the cavern and encountered something new.

It was a huge creature with a substantial coat of dark fur, a pair of large tusks with a strong spiral twist, small ears compared to those of an elephant, and a long trunk that trailed on the snowy ground.

[<Ice Age All-Star>

Lv. 15: Woolly Mammoth]

“Now we’re talking,” I said with a smile as I admired the mammoth. This particular prehistoric animal had always been one of my favorites, right up there with the Quetzalcoatlus, the biggest thing ever to fly. “[Observation].”

[Your skill, Observation Lv. 14, has been activated.]

+

<Status Window>

Name: Zhenya.

Species: Woolly Mammoth.

Title: Ice Age All-Star.

Alignment: Unaligned.

Level: 15 / Next Level: 68.22%.

Age: 16.

HP: 1,620/1,620.

MP: 500/500.

Overall Stats: [Strength Lv. 46], [Dexterity Lv. 20], [Constitution Lv. 66], [Intelligence Lv. 4], [Wisdom Lv. 25], [Charisma Lv. 19], [Luck Lv. 17].

Special Skills: Endure Cold (Permanent), Thick Fur (Permanent), Keen Senses (Active), Musth (Inactive).

Affinities: None.

Overall Evaluation: A megafauna that was once dominant in the northern hemisphere during the Ice Age. Humans used to harvest their body parts for all sorts of useful things, so why not resume that tradition? It will defend its territory from any threat.

Available Stat Points: 0.

Emotions: Interest, Distrust, Weariness.

+

“Interesting,” I muttered, watching as the mammoth began circling me. “You’re not the king of this floor, so does that make you a miniboss? Your stats are above average for your level, and you’ve got a name too… I wanna see what you can do.”

If the mammoth was some sort of miniboss, then it wouldn’t attack me unless I initiated combat, but I was worried that any of my attacks would kill it on one hit. I needed to find a way to attack it without damaging it. I looked down at the snow covering the ground.

“Worth a shot,” I said, taking some of the snow and shaping it into a ball.

[The skill, Crafting Lv. 1, has been created.]

[You have 1 registered blueprint.]

“Curious. Haven’t I made anything since getting here? …I suppose not,” I said, staring at the snowball I made. “So that’s what all those crafting materials were for — shit. I shouldn’t have sold them all. Guess I’ll just have to farm them again. Show the <Skill Window> for [Crafting].”

[Checking the Skill Window.]

+

<Skill Window>

Name: Crafting.

Type: Active.

Level: 1 / XP: 5.20%.

Description: A skill used to make an item. Humanity has advanced its civilization through invention. The quality of the crafted objects increases according to the level of the user, the [Intelligence] of the user, and the level of the skill.

Registered Blueprints: 1.

Probability of Failure When Crafting: 50%.

+

“It’s an active skill, yet it doesn’t consume MP at all — weird.”

Crafting skills existed in many games. Simply put, they allowed the player to make an item using different in-world materials. Some games diversified, having various skills like woodcarving or smithing, but it appeared that all forms of crafting had been combined into just one skill. In that sense, it was similar to [Weapon Proficiency], which allowed me to use any type of weapon.

“Well, let’s get to it,” I said, holding the snowball like a pitcher would a baseball. “And a one, and a two, and a…”

I threw the snowball with all my might, striking the mammoth on the side of its head, just below its right eye. It probably didn’t take any damage, but it certainly looked royally pissed at me.

[The bestial behemoth, Woolly Mammoth, is hostile towards you.]

The mammoth rushed at me with ferocious determination. I smirked and planted my feet firmly on the snowy ground, my hands stretched out and ready. I grabbed the mammoth by the tusks, stopping it in its tracks. My feet skidded back a few feet, but I had barely been moved.

[You have lost 163 HP.]

This prehistoric giant was undoubtedly stronger than an unnamed monster, but my level was almost 10 higher than its own, and my stats were amplified by 40% against beasts thanks to my [Bear Slayer] title.

With a firm grip on its tusks, I spun on an axis and dragged the mammoth across the ground. After gaining enough momentum, I let go of its ivory tusks and threw the mammoth far away to the wall of the cavern. There was a resounding crash as the mammoth slammed against the stone, and a cloud of snow rose up around it. A moment later, I heard it trumpeting loudly with its nose as it rushed out of the snow cloud. There was a fiery fury glowing brightly in its eyes, a tar-like substance was secreting from the sides of its head, and I could smell something acidic and pungent penetrating my nose.

[The bestial behemoth, Woolly Mammoth, has activated the skill, Musth.]

“Well, this was fun, but I should get going. [Binding].”

[Your skill, Binding Lv. 12, has been activated.]

The mammoth battered away the mana ropes with its tusks and kept charging at me.

[Your skill, Binding Lv. 12, has failed.]

I raised a brow. “[Flight].”

[Your skill, Flight Lv. 17, has been activated.]

I rose into the air just as the mammoth reached me, skipping its whip-like trunk. Once I was high enough, I said, “[Spinning Mana Arrow].”

[Your skill, Spinning Mana Arrow Lv. 27, has been activated.]

Nine arrows shot rapidly at the mammoth, killing it instantly.

[The bestial behemoth, Woolly Mammoth, has been slain.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have earned 23,410 XP.]

That was a very high amount of XP for a level 15 monster, but it was named, so it made sense. Perhaps there was a chance of me leveling up on this floor after all.

I came back down, deactivated [Flight], and walked to the cloud of dark smoke. As the smoke dissipated, I could see that there was a pile of mammoth hair, a huge ivory tusk, a carved ivory boomerang, and a pair of fur boots. The hair and tusks were regular crafting materials, and the boomerang didn’t have any bonuses, but the fur boots did have an effect.

+

<Item Information>

Name: Woolly Mammoth Boots.

Grade: Uncommon.

Lore: A pair of boots made from the furry hide of a woolly mammoth, an extinct animal that once roamed the world. They are of a good, if primitive, quality and are tailor-made for traversing snowy terrains.

Effect: Cold Resistance increases by 25%.

Effect: [Endure Cold Lv. 1].

+

A twenty-five percent defense boost was pretty good, even if it was only against cold. It also had the [Endure Cold] skill, which I imagined would remove the debuff from not having cold-related abilities, though it seemed locked at level 1 since it came from an item instead of me. I might have to buy the actual skill later.

“<Inventory>,” I said, dropping the boots inside.

[Would you like to equip this item?]

[Yes / No]

I pressed ’Yes’.

There was a flash of sparkling light, and the hiking boots I was wearing were replaced by the fur boots that looked like they belonged in a 60s fashion magazine. Hmm. They were actually quite comfortable — and cozy, too.

[The item, Woolly Mammoth Boots, has offset the negative effects of the first floor.]

I sighed in relief as the frigid air became more comfortable. It was now just a little nippy. With another swipe of the screens, I returned my sweater to the <Inventory> and then dropped the rest of the loot in.

I then began to walk again, but the snow no longer hindered my movement. It felt as if I was walking on cold sand instead.

“Let’s see what else this floor has in store.”

*

As it turned out, there wasn’t much of anything interesting about the first floor. At least nothing I came across. The whole floor was a labyrinthine mess of tunnels and caves, with Neanderthals scattered throughout, and I was willing to bet anything that at some point I started going around in circles. Every now and then, I would come across another miniboss like the Woolly Mammoth — Smilodons, giant ground sloths, Megaloceros, Glyptodons, etc. — but nothing I came across managed to seriously challenge me. Certainly nothing powerful enough to earn me a level, so I was still at 25.

There wasn’t even that much good loot to make the whole thing worth it. I had managed to get a whole bunch of animal-based crafting materials, but the magic items were all pretty much useless. There was a scallop shell necklace that increased my Stamina Recovery Rate by 1%, a pair of leather bracers that doubled my throwing distance, a Doedicurus spiked tail flail which increased damage by 40% but had a [Strength] requirement of 30, a six-sided bone die that I could control which number it rolled, and a pair of ground sloth paw mittens with retractable claws that I could use as weapons. There were plenty more items, but unfortunately, those were the highlights. It would seem that I had lucked out with the fur boots.

[The heroic spirit, Shaman King, is looking at you.]

[You have detected bloodthirst.]

“Finally,” I said in relief, glancing in the direction of the murderous intent. That skill only worked within a certain radius, so the king had to be close by. “Curious that the king of this floor is a ‘heroic spirit’ rather than an archaic hominin. What even is a heroic spirit anyway?”

I walked in the direction of the king, twisting and turning until I came across an entrance surrounded by cave paintings. They were all depicting humans bowing down to some sort of plump, female deity.

I walked in.

[You have entered the throne room on the first floor.]

[You may not leave until you defeat the king of the first floor.]

The entrance led to a vast, cathedral-like cavern, with large stone obelisks arranged in a circle. In the middle, there was a rectangular stone that reminded me of a throne, and on it sat another Neanderthal. She wasn’t as buff as the others, but she was adorned with fang bracelets, a shell necklace, and face paint that might have represented some sort of special ceremony. Her pelt clothing was also more decorative, and she had a jade axe strapped to a rudimentary leather belt.

[<King of the Stone Age Department>

Lv. 20: Shaman King]

“Level 20, eh? Not bad for what’s essentially the tutorial area. Let’s hope you have something fun to back it up. [Observation].”

[Your skill, Observation Lv. 16, has been activated.]

+

<Status Window>

Name: Gibraltar 1.

Species: Neanderthal.

Title: King of the Stone Age Department.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral.

Level: 20 / Next Level: 12.13%.

Age: 26.

HP: 2,100/2,100.

MP: 1,500/1,500.

Overall Stats: [Strength Lv. 11], [Dexterity Lv. 7], [Constitution Lv. 23], [Intelligence Lv. 46], [Wisdom Lv. 62], [Charisma Lv. 38], [Luck Lv. 12].

Special Skills: Basic Granting Magic (Inactive), Magic Capacity (Permanent), Blessing of the Mother Goddess (Permanent), Efficient Sprint (Active), Endure Lesser Cold (Permanent), Basic Weapon Proficiency (Active).

Unique Skill: Gorham’s Cave: Refuge of the Dying Race (Inactive).

Affinities: Fire, Earth, Cold, Holy.

Overall Evaluation: A shaman from one of the last surviving Neanderthal populations. She serves the Earth Mother, being her voice to the tribe and receiving powers from her.

Available Stat Points: 0.

Emotions: Adamant, Devotion.

+

Those stats were high for level 20, but it was a named boss after all. What I found most interesting was the unique skill [Gorham’s Cave: Refuge of the Dying Race]. So far, I had only ever seen special skills, never a unique one. Then again, this was the first time I had seen a heroic spirit, so I had no idea what to expect.

“Can you show me the <Skill Window> for [Gorham’s Cave: Refuge of the Dying Race]?”

[Your skill, Observation Lv. 16, has been strongly activated.]

[Checking the Skill Window.]

+

<Skill Window>

Name: Gorham’s Cave: Refuge of the Dying Race.

Type: Anti-Extinction.

Rank: D.

Description: It summons a Reality Marble that recreates Gorham’s Cave as it was 30,000 years ago, containing one of the last safe places for Neanderthals as they struggled to survive in a changing world.

Normally, only the greatest spellcasters or something beyond normal reality is capable of materializing and projecting a space within their minds onto reality. It comes about as the shared dream of an entire race, desperately seeking salvation.

This unique skill drags the enemy into a terrain where the user has no obstacles for survival against modern humans. It is comparable to a divine miracle.

+

“This is new,” I said with a smile. “I want to see how a unique skill is different from a regular one. Hmm. But you’re not that much stronger than anything else on this floor. Not compared to me, at least. Let’s give you a fighting chance. [Psychic Crush].”

[Your skill, Psychic Crush Lv. 2, has been activated.]

The Shaman King let out a howling scream as she felt her mind being attacked. She couldn’t have taken that much damage from just one hit, especially when I used so little MP, but the skill did give the target one hell of a headache.

Once she stopped looking as if someone had hit her on the head with a hammer, I said, “Your turn.”

In response, the Shaman King got to her knees and looked up at the sky as if praying. In a deep, throaty voice, she began to speak in English. It wasn’t so much that she was truly speaking the language, so much as if she were just reciting something. It would be kind of like if I tried to read out loud something written in Latin or German; I would be able to say it, but I wouldn’t know what it meant. She said, “[Gorham’s Cave: Refuge of the Dying Race].”

[The heroic spirit, Shaman King, has activated the unique skill, Gorham’s Cave: Refuge of the Dying Race.]

There was a blinding flash of light from the king, and I reflexively raised my arms to cover my eyes. The light wasn’t hot, and I wasn’t losing any HP, so it wasn’t an attack. I lowered my hands from my eyes and blinked as I adjusted to the brightness.

The flash of light was gone, but the midday sun was burning in the open sky. A cold, arid wind blew through the landscape. A sandy terrain extended for miles, far further than my sight could make out, with a single massive rock the size of a small mountain serving as the most prominent part of the region.

“Fascinating,” I murmured as I bent down to pick up some of the sand. It felt real to the touch, so this probably wasn’t some sort of illusion. “The description said that it recreated a 30,000-year-old location. That would be during the last glacial period if I’m not mistaken. Checks out, since the king is a Neanderthal. But how is this place more favorable than the throne room? I didn’t even get any messages coming in — no damage, no debuffs, no penalties, no nothing.”

[You have detected bloodthirst.]

My eyes went wide, and I rolled to the side, barely evading an arrow constructed of pure energy.

“[Mana Shield],” I said, peering at where the arrow had come from.

[Your skill, Mana Shield Lv. 21, has been activated.]

At the very foot of the mountain was the mouth of a cave (most likely Gorham’s Cave), and there stood the Shaman King, her hand stretched out in an eerily familiar way. She was perhaps some hundred yards away, but apparently still within range of attack. She didn’t carry any weapon other than her jade axe, so the arrow was likely some kind of magical construct.

“[Observation],” I said, quickly glancing at the arrow half-buried in the sand.

[Your skill, Observation Lv. 16, has been activated.]

+

<Item Information>

Name: Magic Arrow.

Grade: Supernatural.

Lore: An arrow created by the [Magic Arrow] spell that has existed since the Stone Age. It can be formed only by those talented in manipulating mana who understand the magical theory behind it.

+

I gawked at the arrow and then back at the king. No wonder it was so familiar. This spell was almost identical to my [Spinning Mana Arrow] skill. The arrow itself was more refined and solid, but it was basically the same. I tried picking up the arrow, but it disintegrated into energy as soon as I touched it. My arrows disappeared the moment they hit or missed a target, so that was another difference.

“Two can play at that game,” I said with a smirk, holding out my own hand. “[Spinning Mana Arrow].”

[Your skill, Spinning Mana Arrow Lv. 28, has been activated.]

As my ten arrows whistled through the air, the Shaman King took the polished jade axe strapped to her hip and held it high above her head. After quickly saying something that looked like a prayer — I was too far away to hear — the axe began to glow with gentle, blue flames, and she battered my arrows away with unbelievable speed and precision.

[The heroic spirit, Shaman King, has activated the skill, Basic Granting Magic.]

“Now we’re talking!” I exclaimed excitedly, a grin painted over my face. “You’re gonna come at me with your strongest attacks, so I will gladly answer in kind! [Spiral Mana Bomb]!”

[Your skill, Spiral Mana Bomb Lv. 5, has been activated.]

The gigantic spinning ball of energy formed from my outstretched hand, picking up speed as I fed it more of my MP. This skill was the type that didn’t have a fixed MP cost, so it became stronger or weaker depending on how much energy I provided and how much time I gave it to charge before firing. I could only charge it up to a maximum of ten seconds, but it packed a wallop.

“One… two… three…” I began counting just as the Shaman King rushed at me with her flaming axe, sprinting faster than I could run, even if I were to use [Agile Feet].

[The heroic spirit, Shaman King, has activated the skill, Efficient Sprint.]

She swiped her axe through the air, and just as it reached my [Mana Shield], the flames of her axe seemed to melt through my barrier like a hot knife through butter. With a cold sweat, I realized what her unique skill actually did. It removed all obstacles to surviving against modern humans, which meant that it lowered all of my defenses.

[Your skill, Mana Shield Lv. 21, has been forcefully deactivated.]

“Four… five… six…” I said, dodging her slashes as best I could, but the magic she granted to her axe was speeding her up and making it hard to outpace her. With every swipe of her axe, she also conjured more arrows, but they were moving faster than I could react to. Clearly, this was also the effect of her unique skill.

[You have lost 44 HP.]

[You have lost 42 HP.]

[You have lost 33 HP.]

[You have lost 28 HP.]

[You have lost 30 HP.]

[You have lost 39 HP.]

…

Not only did the sharp edges of the arrows sting, but the flames of her axe felt like they were freezing me just as much as they were burning me.

“Seven… eight… ” I counted as I leaped back and put some distance between us. I was sure my new boots were reducing some of the cold damage from her flames, but I wasn’t about to let her chip off my HP little by little.

“Nine…” I said, just as the sphere grew larger than my entire body. I had never made the bomb so big before. The king held the flaming axe high as she made one last attempt at a sprinting attack.

“Ten.”

BOOM!!!

[The unique skill, Gorham’s Cave: Refuge of the Dying Race, has been deactivated.]

[The heroic spirit, Shaman King, has been slain.]

[Cast: Leonardo Lázaro]

[Final Blow: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have received 37,561 XP.]

[The master of the dungeon is pleased with your historical reenactment.]

[You have been gifted 500 Coins.]

There was another flash of light as I was sent back to the boss room. I was standing in the same place I had been before, but there was only dark smoke where the king had been.

[Do you wish to advance to the next floor?]

[Yes / No]

I panted heavily as I read the question. That attack had consumed more than half of my total MP, and I needed to rest for a moment before moving on. If I were to accept, the system would surely take me to the next area of the dungeon. However, I wanted to have a look around this place first.

The king of the first floor hadn’t been as strong as the masters from other dungeons, but it had still been very strong for level 20. If this dungeon followed my expectations, then the king of the next floor would probably be even stronger.

“Next time I won’t panic,” I told myself. “That unique skill threw me for a loop, but now I know to expect the unexpected. Let’s check this place out.”

Having said my piece, I walked around the large cathedral-like cavern, admiring the complex paintings on the walls. They were telling a story without using a single word.

There was a lone figure, a young man, hiding from two other figures. One of those two figures, a young woman, was covered in flames, and the other, an adult man, was accompanied by giant animals. The young man was caught by the adult with the animals and was forced to fight a black blob-like creature. The young man weaved and dodged the attacks of the blob, tearing it apart with his bare hands. Meanwhile, the flaming woman punched, kicked, and burned the giant animals, showing great fighting ability.

The paintings suddenly stopped, but I got the feeling that wasn’t the end of the young man’s story.

“Good for him,” I whispered. “I hope he ended up all right.”

Turning away from the paintings, I continued exploring the throne room. The cavern’s layout reminded me somewhat of Stonehenge or one of those Neolithic stone circles. No one was sure what these types of structures were originally intended for, but there was a general consensus that they served ritualistic or ceremonial purposes. Placing my hand on one of the stone pillars, I could feel the flow of nature coursing through it. This seemed like the perfect place to utilize my skill.

“<Inventory>,” I said, drawing out a pile of wooden logs, a matchbox, a bag of mushrooms, a jar of cornmeal mush, a lock of mammoth hair, and a tobacco tin.

I walked to the center of the circle and used the logs to form a hearth, which I lit with the matches. I had never been good at this sort of outdoor abilities, but the knowledge of my skill showed me just what to do. Once the fire was done, I sat cross-legged on the ground and ate the mushrooms. They tasted like cow shit.

[The item, teonanácatl, has been used.]

[A hallucinogenic poison has afflicted you.]

[Your skill, Gamer’s Mind, has partially neutralized the effects of the poison.]

[You have become more in sync with the spirits of nature.]

I took a deep breath as my vision was assaulted with a myriad of colors. It had been a few years since I had last done magic mushrooms, but at least this time I managed to stay lucid thanks to [Gamer’s Mind]. Hey, don’t look at me like that; everyone experiments in college.

After making sure that I was still sitting before the crackling hearth and not licking the walls (don’t ask), I opened the tin and threw the tobacco in the flames. I sat there and meditated for a long while, letting the tobacco smoke burn through my nostrils as I opened up my senses to the world around me. It felt like just a short few minutes, but it could have been hours for all I knew.

[The spirits of nature are responding to your call.]

There were twinkling lights in the air, illuminating the cavern like fireflies. It might have been due to the mushrooms, but they seemed to keep changing color as they moved around the cavern. They were absolutely stunning, and I could have spent forever just watching them dance around me.

Taking some of the mammoth hair, I also threw it in the fire.

Now, this last part wasn’t exactly as the instructions suggested, but I knew it would work nonetheless. According to the knowledge of the skill, I should have used buffalo hair instead, but I hadn’t managed to get it. The <Gamer Shop> was out of stock, and while I did place an order, it would take over a week to be delivered. It didn’t really matter much, since buffalo hair was just the Native American method of the ritual, while mammoth hair was a more ancient style that wasn’t used anymore for obvious reasons.

[Your heart has begun to beat in unison with the heart of the world.]

I closed my eyes and listened. I could hear my heart beating in my chest, but I could also hear something else. It wasn’t anything that hadn’t been there before, but I had just never noticed it. Placing both hands on the ground, I could feel the turn of the Earth beneath me. How could I have ever missed it? It seemed so present now, so impossible to ignore.

My eyes still closed and my hands still on the ground, I said, “I call upon the ancient contract of ages past to summon thee. Heed my call and appear. Come, spirit of the earth. [Summon Lowest-Grade Elemental].”

[Your skill, Summon Lowest-Grade Elemental Lv. 1, has been activated.]

I opened my eyes just as there was a flash of glittering golden light on the ground, and a small pile of dirt erupted between the hearth and me, quickly shaping itself into the tiny form of a barefooted girl with pointed ears wearing a yellow dress and beret, with a piece of rock on her chest. She was barely as big as a doll.

I. Here. You. Good feeling.

My eyes went wide as I heard the voice of the earth elemental inside my head. I was aware that elementals could communicate both verbally and telepathically, but experiencing it was something else entirely.

[Why did you call me?] she asked out loud.

I shook the surprise off me, pulled back my hood, and removed my mask. The most important part of the ritual was gaining the elemental’s trust, and hiding my face from her couldn’t help. I opened the jar of cornmeal mush and placed it on the ground before the earth elemental.

“I’ll begin in accordance with the ancient laws. I am Leonardo Diego de Jesús Lázaro. I offer you my true name in hopes that you will offer me yours.”

She looked at me for a long moment, her face as serene and unreadable as stone. Taking tiny footsteps to the jar, she scooped up some of the mush with her minuscule fingers and tasted it. Smiling cheerfully at me, she nodded in agreement.

A sudden headache came over me, and I clutched the sides of my head. My vision, still under the effect of the mushrooms, twisted and spun out of control.

I could see a patch of soft dirt with a young seedling sprouting from the dark soil. The seedling grew, nurtured by the rich earth beneath it, and its roots dug deeper into the land.

What was this memory? It wasn’t from the perspective of a human, animal, or even the tree itself… Ah, I got it. It was the memory of the earth.

My vision shifted again, now showing myself sitting cross-legged in the cavern from a reversed bird’s eye view, from beneath the ground. I appeared to be made from dirt.

The headache grew, now expanding to my whole body. It hurt! It felt like my entire body was being ripped apart!

I could see the little earth elemental walking to my dirt body. She placed a hand on me, and the pain disappeared completely, being replaced with a pleasant, jovial feeling. I felt truly happy.

Name. Gnome. I. Gnome. You. Leonardo Diego de Jesús Lázaro?

I blinked as my vision twisted one last time, returning to my normal eyes. I sighed peacefully and said, “Yes. I am Leonardo Diego de Jesús Lazaro.”

[I like you, Leonardo Diego de Jesús Lázaro. Do you like me?]

I smiled down at her. “Yes,” I said honestly. “I do.”

She nodded solemnly.

[We are one, as the ancient contract decrees.]

“Our souls are one,” I continued.

[I am Gnome.]

“I am Leonardo Diego de Jesús Lázaro.”

[Until the soul meets its end…]

“…we will be one forever.”

There was another flash of glittering golden light, and Gnome’s tiny body grew, becoming as tall as a child. She smiled widely at me and said, [Call me often, okay? Call me a lot!]

I chuckled. She didn’t just look like a child, she acted like one, too.

“Alright,” I said. “You can count on it.”

Gnome gave another smile as her body crumbled into a pile of dirt, quickly sinking into the ground, and not leaving a trace that she was ever there.

[Your skill, Summon Lowest-Grade Elemental Lv. 1, has been deactivated.]

I let out a long breath as I allowed my body to fall back limply to the ground. I reached for my chest, placed a hand over my heart, and said, “[Way of the Restorative Venom].”

[Your skill, Way of the Restorative Venom Lv. 15, has been activated.]

[You have regained 750 HP.]

[The abnormal condition, Hallucinogenic Poisoning, has been removed.]

I shook my head again as the symptoms of the mushrooms were removed. Hmm. The cavern had been a lot more interesting when I could see the lights dancing all around me and feel the turn of the Earth. Getting up from the ground, I dusted myself off and collected my things. In my excitement over the paintings and summoning, I had failed to notice the loot dropped by the king. There were two animal bone sticks carved with symbolic markings, which I didn’t know how to read, and a vial with a blue potion.

I picked up the vial.

+

<Item Information>

Name: Lowest-Grade Restoration Potion.

Grade: Normal.

Lore: A restoration potion that tastes like blueberries.

Effect: Recovers 200 MP.

+

So, this potion was similar to the other potions I had been getting to recover HP, except that it restored MP instead? Neat.

I placed the vial in my <Inventory> and then picked up the bones.

[Would you like to learn the skill, Basic Granting Magic?]

[Yes / No]

[Would you like to learn the skill, Magic Arrow?]

[Yes / No]

They were the skills the king had used during our fight. So marked bone sticks were the Stone Age equivalent of books? Would that make them skill bones or skill sticks? A question for another time.

“Yes for [Basic Granting Magic].”

[The skill, Basic Granting Magic Lv. 1, has been learned.]

I blinked as the first bone disintegrated into a sparkling light and the skill information inserted itself into my mind. [Basic Granting Magic] would allow me to infuse objects with low-level magic I knew, and would be useful to improve my weapons and compensate for my relatively low physical stats; however, the effects were only temporary, with a duration of 10 minutes.

I glanced down at the second bone.

From the way the king fought, I could only assume that [Magic Arrow] was similar to my own [Spinning Mana Arrow], and I was curious to see how a skill I created from scratch fared against a real spell.

“Yes for [Magic Arrow],” I said, clutching the second bone.

[The skill, Magic Arrow Lv. 1, has been learned.]

[You have learned two compatible skills!]

[Spinning Mana Arrow Lv. 28 has been combined with Magic Arrow Lv. 1!]

[The skill, Spinning Magic Arrow Lv. 1, has been created.]

“WHAT?!” I shouted, my eyes wide as dinner plates. “How?! Why?!”

I had always assumed that skill evolution was possible, but I had expected it to happen when my skills reached level 100, not just because I learned another similar skill.

I sighed. “Yeah, sure, fuck it. Why the hell not, am I right? I should really stop trying to predict this system. Show me the <Skill Window> for [Spinning Magic Arrow].”

[Checking the Skill Window.]

+

<Skill Window>

Name: Spinning Magic Arrow.

Type: Active.

Level: 1 / XP: 0.00%.

MP: 40.

Description: A new attack magic created by combining the [Magic Arrow] spell that has existed since the Stone Age and the [Spinning Mana Arrow] skill invented by The Gamer himself. The number of arrows has increased due to fully understanding the original magic theory, and the attack power increases as well, according to [Intelligence].

Number of Arrows: 25.

+

“Let’s test it out,” I said, pointing my hand at one of the large stones that made up the circle. “[Spinning Magic Arrow].”

[Your skill, Spinning Magic Arrow Lv. 1, has been activated.]

A barrage of arrows rained down on top of the stone, instantly breaking it apart.

“Not bad,” I said, impressed. “The cost is 8 times more than before, but the damage output increase is even bigger than that. So this is what a true spell is like, huh? I may just need to buy a few more later. Now let’s try it with the mask on.” Putting on my [Medicine Man Mask] back and aiming my hand at another stone, I said again, “[Spinning Magic Arrow].”

[Your skill, Spinning Magic Arrow Lv. 1, has been activated.]

The magic arrows were now twice as big and fast as before, spinning so quickly that they became distorted. As soon as they hit the stone, it turned into a pile of rubble and dust.

“Oh, yeah,” I said with a smile. “I’m gonna love this spell.”

Well, that was that, then. I had nothing else to do on this floor, so I might as well move on to the next one.

“Materialize, [Summon Gnome],” I said, causing the little earth elemental to spring from the ground with another flash of glittering golden light.

[You called?] she asked with a smile.

There were two types of elemental summoning: spiritual and material. Spiritual summoning was essentially borrowing the powers of the elemental, using my own MP to control their element, and making it act only the way I told it to. With spiritual summoning, the elemental would only be visible to me, and nothing else would be able to interact with it, since it technically wasn’t even there. Material summoning was physically manifesting the elemental in the material world, not needing to give it specific orders to act and fight on its own, and having it act as a sort of summoned pet. It took 50 MP just to cast the spell, but the second type consumed more MP than the first, requiring an extra 50 MP every minute to maintain the material body of the elemental.

I had chosen to materialize Gnome for two simple reasons. Firstly, so long as I wore my [Horned Serpent Skin Belt], my MP regenerated faster than the skill could consume it, more so with my [Medicine Man Mask], so I didn’t have to worry about running out of time. Of course, stacking other skills on top of it would increase my consumption rate, so I had to be strategic about which skills I had turned on. Secondly, my summoning spell would gain experience just from materializing Gnome, so it would steadily level up on its own. If I focused exclusively on training a single skill, I could realistically level up that skill to level 10 in a single day, so Gnome was sure to reach a high enough level to be an excellent combat pet in no time flat.

“I would like to advance to the next floor.”

The wall of the cave slid open as a dark passageway appeared. 

“Come along, Gnome,” I said as I walked through.

[Okay!] she said happily, following me closely as we both left the first floor behind, the wall closing behind us as we crossed to the other side.

[You have entered the second floor, Ancient Egypt Department.]

[Your speed has been reduced by 10% since you do not possess sun-related abilities.]

[Your attack power has been reduced by 10% since you do not possess sun-related abilities.]

[Your endurance has been reduced by 10% since you do not possess sun-related abilities.]

[Defeat the king of the second floor to advance to the third floor.]

We were now standing in a hallway of limestone blocks. The walls were covered with hieroglyphs, and lit torches illuminated the way.

“Outstanding,” I said in awe. “It’s like we’re inside the Great Pyramid of Giza… only newer. I can’t see a hint of degradation, damage, or decay anywhere. This is an Egyptologist’s wet dream.”

I took out my phone and began taking pictures of the hieroglyphs lining the walls. I had absolutely no knowledge of how to read Ancient Egyptian, but I couldn’t wait to show this stuff to someone who did. There were translators for this sort of thing online, right?

As I kept walking through the second floor, capturing as much of the script as I could, I came across a group of people. There were half a dozen of them, all dressed in leather armor and carrying shields and bronze swords.

[<Guard of Pharaoh’s Tomb>

Lv. 21: Medjay]

The squadron of Medjay held their shields and curved swords — I was pretty sure they were called khopeshes — and made a formation to block the passage. The head of the formation stood tall, glaring at me, and spoke in a very authoritative voice to me in Ancient Egyptian, a language I had no hope of understanding. My best guess was that he said something along the lines of: “Get the hell out of here or we’ll kill you.”

The whole formation of guards stood waiting for my answer.

“<Inventory>. I see,” I said in fascination as I studied the armed guards, dropping my phone back in my <Inventory>. “So, each floor increases the difficulty by ten levels. Not only that, but you guys seem more coordinated than the Neanderthals. I suppose it makes sense. They were hunters, and you are soldiers. Egypt was one of the very first civilizations to have an organized military caste, so you guys may put up more of a fight. I wonder, can you plan tactics and respond to your enemy’s movements, or are you just an AI following a script? Hmm. Let's find out, shall we?”

I reached into my <Inventory> and pulled out my [Imperial Bodyguard’s Peidao] and a [War Shield] made from the hide of a bison bull and adorned with feathers.

“Gnome,” I said as I adjusted the Chinese sword and Native American shield in my grasp, “stay behind me, and don’t attack until I tell you to.”

[Okay, Leonardo Diego de Jesús Lázaro,] she said happily.

“Uh, can you please call me The Gamer?” I asked, looking at her from over my shoulder. “I mean, just when I’m wearing this mask. Any other time, please just call me Leo.”

Gnome tilted her head in confusion. She said, [The Gamer is acting weird.]

“Thanks,” I told her, looking back at the guards, who had taken me arming myself as a declaration of war. “Now let’s see if all those hours of playing Assassin's Creed Origins paid off.”

Steamrolling through the first floor had been kind of boring, so I wanted to make it a little more interesting this time and use only melee combat… Well, at least until I found something I couldn’t hack to death with a blade.

*

“Warning. The hull has been breached. Power will be transferred from impulse systems to repair systems. Operation will initiate in 30 seconds.”

“Override!” shouted Abin Sur, forming an energy construct around himself to keep him alive as the air was sucked out of his ship.

The large metallic android had broken through the hull and into the ship and seemed to have been searching for something as it made its way through. It was holding its thick staff with both hands, aiming the tip of it as it fired against the energy construct Abin Sur had trapped it in.

“Ring at 25% power,” said the ring.

“Acknowledge,” said Abin Sur. “Give no further audio warnings.”

Abin Sur wasn’t sure how, but the presence of the android appeared to be draining the energy from his ring. There was no other possible explanation for why the charge was running out so quickly. If his charge continued to drop at this pace, Abin Sur was worried he would be unable to maintain the construct he had formed around the robot, or even the one shielding him from the vacuum of space.

“Computer, how much longer until we reach the planet?”

“At current conditions, we will arrive at the destination in 2 minutes and 40 seconds.”

“Marcep,” said Abin Sur, which was a curse in his native language that had no direct counterpart in any other language, and therefore couldn’t be translated by the ring. “That’s barely above light speed.”

If his theory was right and this beaten-up android was draining the energy of his ring, then Abin Sur couldn’t risk charging it with his battery. There was a possibility that that was the reason why it had attacked him in the first place. However, he would asphyxiate if his charge dropped to zero before he reached a planet with a breathable atmosphere, and there was only one of those left in this system.

The red and silver android fired one last blast against the construct imprisoning it, shattering it. Not waiting a fraction of a second, it shot Abin Sur in the chest, sending him flying back against the broken edges of the breach in the hull.

“GAHHH!” he screamed in pain. It hadn’t been the blast of energy that harmed him, but the jagged piece of metal he had been impaled on. It had pierced him through the back and was sticking out of his stomach.

“No man escapes the Manhunters. ”

*

CRACK!

The marble floor fractured into parts as the Emperor of Death punched it with his bare hand. Had I not managed to move away in time, it would have been impossible for me to survive the punch.

“[Flight]!”

[Your skill, Flight Lv. 23, has been activated.]

I whistled up into the air, reaching the window near the top of the Curia Julia, the building where the Roman Senate gathered.

“Deactivate [Flight].”

[Your skill, Flight Lv. 23, has been deactivated.]

From my perching spot, I could see the spiderweb-like cracks decorating the entirety of the building. Standing in the middle of it all was the one responsible for the destruction. He was a tall man with a strong build and an imposing presence. He wore a decorated military outfit of the early Roman Empire, with heavy army boots. His eyes bore a wild and crazed look, reflecting the savagery with which he fought.

[<The Emperor Loved by the Moon>

Lv. 47: Emperor of Death]

From using [Observation], I learned that he was Caligula, the third emperor of the Ancient Roman Empire, famous for his alleged insanity and his desire to make his horse part of the Senate. He was the fifth heroic spirit I had seen on the fourth floor, the Classical Antiquity Department, so that made him the fifth miniboss I had faced here. I just hoped that he dropped some good loot. His gold and black armor would look great on me.

“Golems, flank him! Gnome, spear him with a frontal assault!”

[<Lowest-Grade Dirt Golem>

Lv. 6: Golem #1]

[<Lowest-Grade Dirt Golem>

Lv. 6: Golem #2]

Two short humanoid creatures made of loose dirt rushed at the Emperor of Death, their club-like fists raised high. Their bodies were only faintly reminiscent of human beings, with four thick digits on either hand, short feet on their stubby legs, and only red lights for faces in their hollow, round heads.

Gnome still looked the same as before, but she somehow managed to give the impression that she had gotten stronger. The level for [Summon Lowest-Grade Elemental] was now 19, so it couldn’t be a coincidence. Taking a clump of dirt from beneath the cracked marble, Gnome formed it into a spear and rushed at the emperor.

The emperor continued punching and striking the golems, crumbling their dirt bodies before the dirt pulled itself back together and they reformed themselves. The one thing that I was loving most about this new skill, [Lowest-Grade Golem Creation], was that so long as the HP of the golems I created didn’t run out, they would be able to endure just about any attack. Every golem I made had a set of special skills, including [Lowest-Grade Magic Resistance], [Strong Body], [Flame Resistance], and the most important one, [Average Weapon Immunity], which meant that they ignored damage from weapons that didn’t have any special power or mana behind them. They were essentially very efficient punching bags that also had the ability to punch back.

“NEROOOOOO…!” Giving a loud roar, the emperor gripped the edge of Gnome’s spear just as it was trying to pierce his armor. Gnome tried pulling it back, but his grip was too firm.

“Gnome!” I shouted from on high. “Forget the spear! Chain him down!”

Giving me an adorable nod of approval, Gnome let go of the dirt spear, letting it crumble, and made chains of dirt sprout from the ground. They wrapped themselves around the emperor’s arms and held him tightly in place. The emperor tried pulling the chains, doing his best to break them, but it just wasn’t happening. The golems now had a much easier time landing a punch on a non-moving target.

“Good job, Gnome!”

[I’ve been praised!] she said with a smile. [I feel good!]

I gave a smirk at the cute little elemental. Her cheerful and sunny attitude was a much-welcome addition to grinding in a dungeon. Before forming a contract with her, I had to be by my lonesome, so it was nice to have some company. She made better conversation than the mindless golems, at least.

“NON ES ROMA!” screamed the emperor. He seemed to have given up on breaking his chains around his arms and had now started kicking the golems with his feet. From the resounding impacts, I noticed that his kicks were just as deadly as his punches, though they still couldn’t hurt the golems since they weren’t magical either.

“Golems, get out of the way!” I shouted, holding out the black iron staff I was carrying. “Okay, here it goes! [Light of Ra]!”

[Your skill, Light of Ra Lv. 4, has been activated.]

The golems retreated at my command, and a golden beam of sunlight came from the golden top of my staff. The sunbeam landed over the emperor, engulfing him with the searing heat of the ancient, divine Egyptian sun. Since this skill was still low-level, it took a bit of time to kill a target as strong as the emperor, but people could not survive the scorching heat of Egypt for too long. It wasn’t nearly as powerful as a Kryptonian’s heat vision, but it was still in its early days.

“Ubi est lux lunae?!” shrieked the emperor, almost in a demanding tone, as his body started smoking. For being one of the most insane heroic spirits I had come across, he was also one of the chattiest. He almost made me wish that I spoke Latin — that way, I would know what the hell he was saying. “Dea! Ita deam videre possum! [Flucticulus Diana]!”

[The heroic spirit, Emperor of Death, has activated the unique skill, Flucticulus Diana.]

The Emperor of Death shouted at the sky, and there was a blinding flash of silver light. From what little I could see, a small moon the size of a bus had formed behind the emperor, briefly illuminating the entire Curia Julia with its moonlight before disappearing.

[Your skill, Gamer’s Mind, has been strongly activated.]

[The effects of Flucticulus Diana have been partially blocked due to your skill.]

[Your defense has decreased by 30% for 1 minute.]

[Your active skills have been sealed for 1 minute.]

[Your skill, Light of Ra Lv. 4, has been forcefully deactivated.]

[Your skill, Mana Shield Lv. 33, has been forcefully deactivated.]

[Your skill, Agile Feet Lv. 29, has been forcefully deactivated.]

[Your skill, Bronze Skin Lv. 6, has been forcefully deactivated.]

[Your skill, Basic Granting Magic Lv. 8, has been forcefully deactivated.]

Gnome was unsummoned as well, and my golems went limp. [Summon Lowest-Grade Elemental] and [Lowest-Grade Golem Creation] were both active skills, and while I didn’t have to activate them to control the golems and materialize Gnome, they were also sealed for the time being.

“OH, COME ON!” I cried out in outrage. Seriously, these unique skills were such a hassle to deal with, especially since they were never dropped as loot. Without Gnome to control them, the dirt chains holding the emperor’s arms broke apart, and he was freed.

“Parebo... Fato tuo... Pugna…”

The emperor ran at the wall I was perched on, and he began striking it with his fists. The entire building began shaking as the wall trembled. He was going to bring the wall crumbling down and bring me down from my safe position.

“Crap,” I said, holding onto the window’s edge with one hand and pointing the golden top of my black iron staff at the emperor. “[Binding].”

[Your skill, Binding Lv. 21, is sealed for 55 seconds.]

[Your skill, Binding Lv. 21, has failed.]

“Okay, so only passive skills. Got it. Hmm… I’m about to do either something totally brilliant or utterly stupid. <Inventory>.”

With my free hand, I dropped my iron staff into the <Inventory> and pulled out my [Imperial Bodyguard’s Peidao] from the sheath at my waist.

Taking a deep breath, I readied my feet on the collapsing wall and took the strongest jump I could. [Agile Feet] was also a passive skill, not just an active one, so I received the benefit either way. Unfortunately, even at 29, the passive buff of 33% wasn’t as good as the active version of level 1, which had been 50%. Using the improved movement speed and reaction time, I parkoured off one wall and onto the next, bounced off the other side of the room, and gracefully descended to the floor. Had I been in a gymnastics competition, that move would have surely earned me a standing ovation.

Much like I had done in my first-ever fight, back when I faced the Baykok, I started running circles around the Emperor of Death. The reason for drawing out my saber wasn’t to attack the emperor, but to deflect and parry whatever punch or kick he tried throwing at me. My plan was simple: outrun the clock — metaphorically and literally. I just needed to survive until his unique skill ran out of time, and as long as none of his attacks hit, their destructive power was meaningless.

[The unique skill, Flucticulus Diana, has been deactivated.]

“I’ve got you now!” I said, coming to a standstill and extending my hand out. “[Spinning Magic Arrow]!”

[Your skill, Spinning Magic Arrow Lv. 13, has been activated.]

Dozens of arrows shot from my palm and rained down on the already-wounded emperor, draining him of his remaining HP, and turning him to black smoke. While the cost for this new attack skill was much greater than the cost of the original, the increased damage output made it more than worth it.

[The heroic spirit, Emperor of Death, has been slain.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have earned 412,963 XP.]

[The skill level for Lowest-Grade Golem Creation has increased!]

[Lowest-Grade Golem Creation Lv. 6 -> Lowest-Grade Golem Creation Lv. 7.]

“Yes!” I cheered, pumping my fists into the air. “Oh, please, please tell me I get a third golem. Show <Skill Window> for [Lowest-Grade Golem Creation].”

[Checking the Skill Window.]

+

<Skill Window>

Name: Lowest-Grade Golem Creation.

Type: Active.

Level: 7 / XP: 2.29%.

MP: 1880.

Description: An inanimate creature from ancient Judaic legend. The existence of this magic has been known since even before B.C..

The basis of this magic is enchanting forms of clay and breathing life into them, which creates automatically moving puppets. Due to a long period of development of several magical and alchemical skills, different kinds of golems have been created.

Effect: Create 1 golem that is permanent.

Effect: The golem’s abilities will be based on the caster’s.

Limitation: Control 2 golems.

+

“Damn,” I said in disappointment. “Still only two at once. At least the MP cost went down by another 20. Well, the golems themselves increase in level with the skill, so I shouldn’t be complaining.”

[<Lowest-Grade Dirt Golem>

Lv. 7: Golem #1]

[<Lowest-Grade Dirt Golem>

Lv. 7: Golem #2]

While I could create as many golems as I wanted, it wasn't great that there was a limit on how many I could control, but I supposed that I should have been thankful that they didn’t eat up my XP, since they weren’t technically beings of their own. When I didn’t control the golems directly, they worked just like a robot with AI. It was like the difference between a game character that I controlled myself and an NPC pet.

I acquired this skill on the third floor, the Middle East Department. I had earned it after defeating a heroic spirit called the Extraordinary Practitioner of Kabbalah, whose name was Avicebron. He had fought using golems made from anything and everything, and had been tough to get past, but he himself had been sort of fragile once I sidestepped the golems. Amongst other lesser treasures, that floor had also given me the [Messiah’s Sandals], which let the wearer walk on water, and a legendary-grade bow [Arash’s Bow - Replica], which shot arrows of pure energy and could also increase the potency of an arrow shot by consuming the user’s HP. The main prize had been this magnificent broadsword from the king, King Hassan, the Old Man of the Mountain, but it had a [Strength] requirement of 200, so it had taken a combined effort from Gnome, my golems, and me just to pick it up and place it in my < Inventory>.

On the floor before that, in the Ancient Egypt Department, I had gotten the [Bronze Skin] and [Light of Ra] skills — the first one from a miniboss and the second one from the king, the Sun King Ozymandias. That floor had also gotten me my staff, which was called a [Was] and had been dropped by a heroic spirit called The Queen of Tears, whose name was Nitocris. She had been a summoner much like Aviceron, except that she kept summoning evil spirits and sphinxes.

“<Inventory>,” I said, sheathing my sword and taking out the staff I had been using earlier.

It was a long, straight, black iron staff with a golden forked end and an equally golden-stylized animal head at the top. I didn’t recognize the animal, but the lore said that it represented the “Set animal” — I had heard the name before, but I just couldn’t remember what animal that was supposed to be. However, the most impressive thing about this sceptre was its effects.

Firstly, it increased the potency of my magical attacks by 50%, which was stacked with my [Medicine Man Mask] for a total of 150%. Secondly, it increased my MP Recovery Rate by 120 per minute, which also stacked with the bonus from my [Horned Serpent Skin Belt] for an extra 140 MP per minute. Thirdly, it increased the success rate of my instant-death magic by 100%, which I found somewhat disturbing, even if I didn’t have any skills like that. And lastly, it increased my [Air Elemental Affinity] stat by 20.

In case you were wondering, yes, this [Was] sceptre had created a whole new status. Without it, I just didn’t have any affinity for air at all, but that would change as soon as I could perform the ceremony for [Summon Lowest-Grade Elemental] again and train whatever air elemental I managed to form a contract with. I just needed to gather the materials once more.

While I could train other elemental affinities on my own, buying more items with similar effects would jumpstart the process. They were sure to be expensive, though. However, during the few days I had continuously had Gnome summoned and using her powers, my [Earth Elemental Affinity] had been steadily rising on its own, so something to kick things off could be a good idea.

I groaned and rubbed the side of my head. Having such a high [Intelligence] stat was like having ADHD. My mind kept recalling facts that I didn't need at that moment. I sighed and shook my head. “Screw it. Let’s check out the loot.”

There was a wax tablet with Latin writing and a title that read Gloria in Diebus Praeteritis, which was probably a skill book, and the pair of military boots the emperor had been wearing.

I picked up the tablet.

[Would you like to learn the skill, Glory of Past Days?]

[Yes / No]

“Show the <Skill Window>.”

[Checking the Skill Window.]

+

<Skill Window>

Name: Glory of Past Days.

Type: Active.

Level: 1 / XP: 0.00%.

MP: 40.

Description: This skill represents the four years when Caligula lived as a wise king; these memories don't soften his madness, but they actually accelerate it.

Effect: Mental Interference Resistance increases by 20%.

Effect: Attack Power increases by 30% if fighting unarmed.

Demerit: Deal 500 damage to self. HP cannot fall below 1 from this skill.

Duration: 10 minutes.

+

“Yeah, no. I don’t think so,” I said, dropping the tablet in my <Inventory> without learning it. I had found quite a few skills that had demerits like this one, and now I had a small collection of skills that I had no intention of learning. I had already gotten rid of this floor’s debuff after learning a crafting blueprint from Archimedes, so this skill wasn’t even worth that. Only an idiot would sacrifice their HP for damage output. “Hmm. I wonder how much I can get for it in the <Gamer Shop>. Easily 10,000 Coins, maybe even 30,000. I’ll just put it up for auction later.”

I then picked up the boots.

+

<Item Information>

Name: Sadist’s Boots.

Grade: A Little Bit Unique.

Lore: A pair of well-worn military boots, which once belonged to an aggressive Roman commander.

Effect: Attack Power increases by 30% if fighting unarmed.

Demerit: Physical Defense decreases by 10%.

+

I dropped the boots next to the wax tablet.

[Would you like to equip this item?]

[Yes / No]

“Also no,” I murmured as I sent a mental command to my golems, reawakening them. “Geez, no wonder it was so easy to kill him. The guy had practically no defenses and did damage to himself. Materialize, [Summon Gnome].”

[Hello, The Gamer,] she said as she reappeared next to me, manifesting from the ground in a glittering golden light.

“Are you all right, Gnome?” I asked her with concern.

[I feel good,] she said happily. [I was helpful, so I feel good.]

I sighed in relief. For a moment there, I had been worried that my active skills being sealed had affected Gnome in some way, but that didn’t appear to be the case. I had only known Gnome for a little over two days now, but I had already decided that she was a precious cinnamon roll that I would cherish forever.

“Fine, then. Let’s get out of here and see if there are any more minibosses on the way to the king. I wonder who the king’ll be. There've been plenty of Romans, so maybe Julius Caesar, but there've been their fair share of Greeks, too, so it could be Alexander the Great.”

Gnome, the golems, and I walked out of the ruined senate house, exiting into a recreation of the Roman catacombs. I only knew what this place was supposed to be thanks to John Wick: Chapter 2, though, much like the floors before it, the fourth floor, the Classic Antiquity Department, was recreated in its prime. This floor consisted of a vast system of long, wide, and tall underground hallways made from brick and Roman concrete. Every once in a while, I would come across a door leading to another room, which in turn led to recreations of ancient buildings from the Greco-Roman world, such as the Parthenon, open-air theaters, the Ancient Agora of Athens, Roman bathhouses, and now the Roman Senate House.

As we made a turn on a marked arrow I had carved into a wall under a lit torch, I saw a unit of Roman soldiers running our way, their gladii swords drawn out in one hand and their large, curved, rectangular shields in the other.

[<Ninth Legion Soldier>

Lv. 41: Legionary]

“[Spiral Mana Bomb].”

[Your skill, Spiral Mana Bomb Lv. 13, has been activated.]

I allowed the sphere to form at the top of my staff, providing it with more MP so that it grew larger and faster. The mobs on this floor were reasonably sturdy, so a single use of [Spinning Magic Arrow] was no longer enough to kill multiple of them at once; maybe two or three, but I had nine of them in full armor coming at me. After mentally counting to 10 seconds and using 1000 MP, I released the attack, blasting the legionaries to smithereens.

BOOM!!!

[The ancient human, Legionary, has been slain.]

[The ancient human, Legionary, has been slain.]

[The ancient human, Legionary, has been slain.]

[The ancient human, Legionary, has been slain.]

[The ancient human, Legionary, has been slain.]

[The ancient human, Legionary, has been slain.]

[The ancient human, Legionary, has been slain.]

[The ancient human, Legionary, has been slain.]

[The ancient human, Legionary, has been slain.]

[Contributor: Leonardo Lázaro]

[You have earned 3,191,049 XP.]

[Your level has increased!]

[Level 37 -> Level 38!]

[You have earned 5 stat points!]

[Your HP has been replenished!]

[Your MP has been replenished!]

“Hell yeah!” I exclaimed and pumped my fist into the air. From my right, I could see Gnome giving me an innocent smile as she pumped her own fist high above the beret on her head, though I doubted she understood the gesture. As I went to pick up the low-rarity loot dropped by the Legionnaires, I said, “I might not need to find another miniboss after all. <Status Window>.”

[Checking the Status Window.]

+

<Status Window>

Name: Leonardo Diego de Jesús Lázaro

Occupation: The Gamer / Gender: Male

Job: Clinical Psychologist / Title: Executioner

Level: 38 / Next Level: 05.58%

Age: 27 / Race: Human

–

HP: 2,090/2,090

MP: 2,677/2,677

–

Strength: 26

Dexterity: 12

Constitution: 24

Intelligence: 70

Wisdom: 13

Charisma: 10

Luck: 10

–

Earth Elemental Affinity: 15

Air Elemental Affinity: 20 (+20)

–

Available Stat Points: 107

+

Just as my skill levels had increased, so did my stats. [Earth Elemental Affinity] had gained five points thanks to the constant use of Gnome’s abilities, not just because I had her materialized. [Strength] and [Constitution] had increased by three and four points, respectively, mostly because of the steady yet constant grinding I had been doing inside this dungeon for the last two, almost three, days. After about half a day of being here, I had decided to focus equally on training my skills and grinding my stats, and this was the result.

Additionally, due to all the hunting I had been doing in this dungeon, I earned a new title, [Executioner], which was pretty similar to [Bear Slayer], except that it applied to humanoids rather than beasts. One thing I noticed quickly was that, although I could choose which title to display in my <Status Window>, I would still gain the effect of both, regardless of the choice. Fortunately, the title wasn’t called [Murderer]; otherwise, that would have been awkward.

“I think I’m ready to face the king of this floor,” I mused out loud, the loot now safely stored in my <Inventory>. “It’s not like one more miniboss is gonna get me to the next level. What do you say, Gnome? Feeling up to it?”

[Sounds like fun, The Gamer,] she said with a smile.

“Glad to hear it,” I told her. “Do you know which way to go?”

[Let me check,] she said, closing her eyes and bringing her fingers to the temples of her head. One of Gnome’s abilities as an earth elemental was being able to use my MP to see everything touching the earth within a certain distance, kinda like Toph in Avatar: The Last Airbender, which made finding enemies a cinch. The way she frowned and pouted her lips in concentration was just too precious. [That way,] she said, opening her eyes and pointing deeper into the catacombs with her little index finger. [Someone really strong is that way.]

“Thank you, Gnome,” I said with a smile, patting her head.

She smiled softly and leaned into my touch. She said, [I’ve been praised. I feel good.]

“Onwards, true believers!” I called out as we began marching, Gnome at the lead, me in the middle, and my golems guarding the rear. We were a full-fledged adventuring party now. Gnome was utility, the golems were both DPS and tanks, and I was an all-rounder who could serve as those and everything else, from healer, battlefield control, or support.

I was happy to no longer be alone.

*

[You have entered the throne room on the fourth floor.]

[You may not leave until you defeat the king of the fourth floor.]

The throne room of the fourth floor turned out to be a recreation of the Colosseum, just as pristine and magnificent as the rest of the structures found throughout this dungeon. The arena floor was an oval measuring 83 meters in length and 48 meters in width, and it was large enough to fit nearly a dozen tennis courts. The marble seats surrounding the arena were over 50 meters tall, being able to seat over 50,000 spectators; they even surpassed the height of the Statue of Liberty from base to torch.

We walked through the east entrance, entering the vast sandy pit in the same manner the gladiators did before their combat in ancient times. On my left, resting on the pulvinar, the seat reserved exclusively for the emperor, I saw a muscular, tall man with a rugged, heroic look. He wore no armor, save for a pair of bronze shin guards and a full-face bronze helmet that provided complete protection for the head and neck, with eye holes and a small opening for the mouth, and a crest of flame burning over the helmet, making him more intimidating. In his left hand, he carried a large, round shield made of bronze, featuring a Λ symbol. In his right hand, he held a tall wooden spear, taller than any man, with a leaf-shaped iron spearhead on one end and a balancing bronze butt-spike on the other. He was nearly naked, wearing only a red cape over his shoulders and a loincloth around his waist, proudly showcasing his tattooed body.

[<King of the Classical Antiquity Department>

Lv. 50: King of Flame]

“[Observation].”

[Your skill, Observation Lv. 19, has been activated.]

[The skill, Magic Resistance, has partially blocked your skill.]

[Your skill is not strong enough to view all the information about this character.]

[Your skill will display random information about this character.]

[Converting Status Window to Status Summary.]

+

<Status Summary>

Name: Leonidas I.

Alignment: Lawful Neutral.

Level: 50 / Next Level: ■■.84%.

Age: 59.

Overall Stats: [Strength Lv. 80], [Dexterity Lv. 20], [Constitution Lv. ■■], [Intelligence Lv. ■■], [Wisdom Lv. ■■], [Charisma Lv. ■■], [Luck Lv. 30].

Special Skills: Magic Resistance (Permanent), Rear Guard’s Pride (Inactive), Struggle of the Three Hundred (Active), Warrior’s War Cry (Inactive), White Star Battle Aura (Inactive), Spartan Battle Technique (Permanent), Spartan Discipline (Permanent)...

Unique Skill: Thermopylae Enomotia (Inactive).

Overall Evaluation: Leonidas I was the King of Sparta, the country given praise by Ares, the ■■ of war. In order to hold back the ■■ Persian Army of 10,000 soldiers, he ■■ ■■■ 300 ■■■ Battle of Thermopylae. ■■ muscle-head.

+

“Well, that’s new,” I said, raising a brow at the redacted sections of the <Status Summary>. It wasn’t the first time I had come across an enemy with [Magic Resistance], but it had never been enough to hide their information from me in this manner. “Better start making preparations. Golems, come here.”

I handed my iron staff to Gnome for a moment and then placed my hands on the heads of my golems. I said, “Triplicate, [Bronze Skin]. Duplicate, [Basic Granting Magic].”

[Your skill, Bronze Skin Lv. 6, has been activated.]

[Your skill, Basic Granting Magic Lv. 8, has been activated.]

The skin of my golems and myself now shone like polished bronze under the midday sun over the Colosseum, being under the protection of my spell for the next 55 minutes — it was originally 30 minutes, but the duration had increased by 5 with each level. With this spell, [Bronze Skin], the skin became as strong as bronze, but retained the texture of skin, or dirt, in the case of my golems. I also used [Basic Granting Magic] on the golems, granting their fists the heightened damage of [Forceful Strike], their bodies the durability of [Physical Endurance], and their feet the improved movement speed of [Agile Feet]. I would have loved being able to give them [Flight], but that was beyond my capabilities at the moment. Similarly, [Basic Granting Magic] now lasted for a total of 24 minutes instead of the original 10.

I removed my hands from the golems, took my staff back from Gnome, and turned to face the King of Flame. There were only shadows behind his helmet, but I could make out his eyes examining me critically.

[The heroic spirit, King of Flame, is looking at you.]

Just like the other kings and minibosses, he wouldn’t attack until I did something that actually affected him, but that didn’t mean that I was any more at ease.

“[Agile Feet]. Triplicate, [Mana Shield].”

[Your skill, Agile Feet Lv. 29, has been activated.]

[Your skill, Mana Shield Lv. 33, has been activated.]

The world seemed to slow down as my movement speed and reaction time increased by an additional 330% thanks to [Agile Feet], and three thick, transparent bubbles encased my body. The cost of both [Mana Shield] and [Agile Feet] was now only 5 MP per minute, the lowest a per-minute skill seemed able to go, but the improved durability of even a single layer of [Mana Shield] was enough to block most attacks. Since maintaining Gnome summoned in the material world only cost 14 MP per minute at level 19, that was a total of just 34 MP per minute, or 17, thanks to my mask, which halved my MP Consumption Rate. It was barely a fraction of my MP Recovery Rate.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess,” I said, glaring at the king. “[Fear].”

[Your skill, Fear Lv. 6, has been activated.]

The king stumbled back in his throne, almost falling off, but then he gave a loud battle cry and stood proudly before me, defiantly banging the butt of his spear against the marble floor of the pulvinar.

[The skill, Magic Resistance, has blocked your skill.]

[The heroic spirit, King of Flame, has become immune to the effect of Fear Lv. 6 due to his skill.]

“Well, shit,” I said, holding my magic staff in one hand and unsheathing my saber with the other, ready for the king to attack. “So much for ‘he who strikes first wins’. Thanks for nothing, L.”

The King of Flame again slammed the butt of his spear against the floor, then continued to do it again and again in a way that reminded me of a battle drum. He didn’t move from his spot atop the pulvinar, but the crest of fire sprouting from his helmet had started burning brighter and higher. He shouted from the top of his lungs, “Αυτή είναι η Σπάρτη!!! [Thermopylae Enomotia]!!!”

[The heroic spirit, King of Flame, has activated the unique skill, Thermopylae Enomotia.]

A flash of fire exploded from the king, almost like a wall of flame that expanded in all directions. I turned away to shield my eyes from the brightness of the orange flames, and when I looked back, there was a literal army standing between me and the king. Each one of those soldiers wore Ancient Greek armor, holding shields and spears of the same style as their king.

[<One of the Three Hundred>

Lv. 30: Legendary Spartan]

Each one of those soldiers was higher level than I had been when I entered the dungeon three days ago — or this morning, depending on how we were measuring time — and there were three hundred of them. They were arranged in a perfect phalanx formation, making it impossible for me to get to the king without dealing with them first.

“MOLON LABE!” cried out the King of Flame, banging his spear against the ground once more.

“MOLON LABE!” answered his legendary army, also banging their spears in frightening unison.

[The heroic spirit, King of Flame, has activated the skill, Warrior’s War Cry.]

I gulped and took a step back. Yep, this was gonna hurt.