I put my back up against the wall and take in the carnage displayed before me. I want to be absolutely sure that this time there aren’t any more enemies that’ll come to attack me before I let my guard drop, so I let 30 seconds pass before I even consider relaxing. Once I do though, my adrenaline begins to fade, and my exhaustion gives in to gravity's pull on me as I let my back slide down the wall. I’m beyond exhausted, I’m covered in blood, and I’m in a good deal of pain, but boy oh boy am I happy.

I let my head fall back to rest on the wall and smile to myself. I finally did it. I have my class, and it sounds like that Void lady made it a strong one. Pun intended. After my short respite, I take in my surroundings, eyeing the now burnt out fire the goblins had been sitting around, the pile of loot they dropped, and the nearly faded bodies of the clean up crew. With a groan, I push myself to my feet, collect the loot from the floor, and toss it all into my now bloated front hoodie pocket, tallying it as I go.

I’ve collected 4 more [E- Grade Mana Crystals] that clink against the first three and four more [Goblin Shivs] that follow the crystals into the pocket. Then I get to the loot that’s just appearing from the group that attacked as I was waking up. There are 6 [Goblin Clubs +1] it looks like that’s yet another thing I’ll have to ask James about. What does the +1 mean and how does it help? Six slightly larger mana crystals have also appeared on the ground. While the smaller ones are kind of quartz-like and an opaque white, these ones are a bit clearer, a bit less spiky, and look like there may be a splash of blue in them. They’re still only barely the size of a ping pong ball however, with the lower grade ones being around the size of a marble, but they show up as [E Grade Mana Crystals].

A total of 13 Mana Crystals, ranging from E- to E grade, six +1 clubs, and 7 shivs. Hopefully this will be a decent haul and allow me to gear up and pay down some of my debts. I quickly check my stats to note my health, and realize that even with all the damage I’ve taken, I’m still technically doing better in the health department than I was when I entered the dungeon. Sitting at 303/904 HP is a lot better than 220/226, even if every bone in my body feels like someone spent an hour jackhammering them.

Now that Void lady. She said something about this being only the first wave of the incursion? I’m not sure how much the rest of the world knows about this, so I’ll have to ask James some careful questions to see if this is something the rest of the divers know, or if this is information only I’ve been made privy to. I’ve got to be careful going about it though. I don’t want anyone to think I’ve suddenly gone crazy. All in all, it looks like I have my work cut out for me.

First order of business before I can do any of that however, is making my way out of this cave alive. I wield two of my new clubs so I can stay armed, and also so I can lessen the load my poor hoodie pocket is facing.

I look around to double check that I’ve finally finished counting out the drops, and when I find no further items, I begin heading out the way I came in, luckily, there weren’t any larger off shoots to the tunnel I came in through, so it’s basically a straight shot out. After 15 more than slightly anxious minutes pass, I wind up back at the entrance with no further goblins encountered.

Stepping back through the portal, I make my way into? out of? the entrance portal, almost stumbling into a group of heavily armed, giggling teenage girls making their way in. This new world is weird, I think as I watch them disappear into the portal armed to the teeth with swords, daggers, magical staves, and glowing armor.

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Fuck. I just realized that I forgot to set a good meetup point with James and The Misfits. I make my way toward the food court, eyeing some of the shops along the way. There’s an old skate shop that has swords and shields laying in the window displays. As I go to leave the main hub area, I’m stopped by a slightly recognizable, cold, and accusatory voice. “Mr. Ward,” Thomas says from behind me, “You are aware that you haven’t given The Haul its 50% share of the dungeon drops, as per the contract you signed, are you not?”

“Oh! That’s right, my bad. First dungeon trip jitters, um where do I go to do that?” I ask nervously. Something about this guy just gives me the creeps. It’s like he stares into my soul whenever he looks at me with those eyes.

Turning on his heel, he says, “If you’ll just follow me we can get this sorted.” I soon find myself at the same counter I’d come up to in order to get access to the dungeon in the first place. Thomas returns behind the counter and waits for me to unload my goods in front of him. Once done, he pulls out what almost looks like a metal detector and says, “Mr. Ward, usually we will scan you before you enter the dungeon when you enter a 50/50 contract in lieu of the entry fee, in order to ensure we do not mistake any of your items for dungeon drops, however seeing as this was your first time in the dungeon, that was waived. Please hold still while I verify there is nothing else on your person from the dungeon.”

“Oh wait,” I interject, remembering the [Bracer of Grip], “I forgot I was wearing this, it's like it's not even there once I put it on.” I toss it on the counter beside the rest of the loot. I look up to find a disapproving scowl plastered on Thomas’ face, as he clearly doesn’t buy my story. He waits a second, presumably to see if I have any other dungeon goods on me, before waving the scanner over my body.

Satisfied with the lack of response it gives, he then waves it over the pile of crystals and loot drops. His eyes widen a bit as he reads out, “A 718 MP haul, five levels, and some strange abilities. That’s not bad at all for your first dive, considering your relatively… unique class choice Mr. Ward. That’ll leave you up to 359 MP worth of your choice of the items and crystals here, a cash out of 71 Copper, since it’s policy that we round down, or 89 Copper in store credit valid at any shop within The Haul. Which would you like to choose?”

I think for a moment before responding, “Can I take one item and then have the rest be paid out in copper?”

“I suppose I could facilitate that,” Thomas huffed in response, “Which item would you like to keep?” I grabbed the Bracer and set it to the side where Thomas scans it individually and says, “That item comes out to 70 MP, so subtracting that from your total, we owe you 57 Copper.” He quickly counts it out in front of me, then hands me a pile of coins.

I look up to find a slightly expectant look on his face, so I hesitantly slide two copper toward him, hoping that’s what he’s looking for, before pocketing the rest. With a small smile that barely touches the corners of his mouth, he finalizes our transaction saying, “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Ward, and I hope we’ll see you again.”

Alright, now that that’s finalized and I finally have some copper in hand, I need to see about getting a full stomach. Once that’s done I’ll head to Brocks to see what I can afford. A nice weapon will be a good starting point, but I’ll need some gear to help me cover my weak points. I also need to save as much as I can since I assume James is going to stop paying for my food and expect me to start paying him back pretty soon.

I sigh, “Even the end of the world isn’t a match for capitalism.”