“So, what, this is basically the day before the reset as far as that dungeon is concerned?” Josh struggled to contain his skepticism. It seemed a pretty big coincidence that they just happened to find it on that day.

Darius shook his head. “No, that doesn't fit. That horde was built gradually. There's no way so many were in the dungeon before, and had only just fallen out.”

Hou Zheng sighed. “Unfortunately, here we are far beyond the limits of my knowledge. If I had to put it to a guess, I would say that the whole situation is strange enough that the normal dungeon limitations don't apply. Just as we fell out the bottom of the dungeon, likely so did they. Even though that is the exact thing that the dungeons are supposed to prevent.”

“You think it will fix itself?” Josh asked. He knew the answer was no.

“Perhaps it will,” Hou Zheng said, to his surprise. The big man saw the look on his face. “It's simple survivorship bias,” he explained. “The fact that the world is not overrun with broken dungeons implies that there is a way for the Tower to fix them. Especially since most dungeons in the world are not being raided on a regular basis.”

Josh made an annoyed face at that. There were still so many questions about how magic worked, and how dungeons—or rifts—formed, and how both related to humans. One theory was that there should be no new dungeons forming too far out of range of human habitation. Unfortunately, they never did get a full spread of all the dungeons in the world back when there were humans under every bush. Now, there was no way to be sure if a dungeon out in the untraveled wilderness was new or not.

“My assumption,” Hou Zheng continued, “is that the Tower can only replace dungeons once they finish burning out. Or breaking, or dissolving, or washing away. Whatever metaphor you wish to use. The point being that once this dungeon is empty, a new one will be created on the same rift, hopefully without the same problems.”

“What if we close the rift?” Josh asked suddenly.

Ruth cocked her head at him. “Isn't that a bad idea? My dad used to argue with people on when and where dungeons should be closed. I'm still surprised he sent you to close the one near the Burn Line.”

“It's an economics thing,” Josh said. “Dungeons are a free source of monsters, if you can keep them under control. If you can't, they're just a danger.” He waved his hand in the vague direction of the malfunctioning dungeon. “If we close that one off, it should solve all our problems.”

“If we even can,” Mary said with a scowl. The scowl was pointed at Anna, who was happily munching away on a cookie. “According to someone, there wasn't even an option to close the rift at the end of the dungeon.”

“There are plenty of ways to shut down a rift,” Hou Zheng said firmly. “You don't need System support to manage it.”

“I really don't want to shove a bunch of expensive magical materials into a rift if I don't have to,” Josh said dryly. “I much prefer it the System way.”

Mary rolled her eyes like he had said something stupid. He ignored her.

“What do we get if we close the rift?” Ruth asked. She had found her grin again, and leaned forward on the table excitedly. “I know there's something, but I've never been able to actually see it.”

“Advancement resources,” Josh said blandly.

She blinked at that. “Wait, you mean like bloodstones?”

“Like bloodstones, yes, but not actually bloodstones.” If there was even the slightest chance of getting new bloodstones from dungeons, every single one in ten thousand miles would have been cleared a long time ago. “Other things that you need to advance higher up the tiers. You've got an Improved-tier class, you could do with some extra gems.”

Hou Zheng nodded along. “I know Miss Mary is a Mage Gunner, some rift crystals could push her up to Arch Gun-Lord.”

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Ruth smiled. “My dad uses that class.”

“And an excellent class it is!” Hou Zheng spread his arms wide, and Josh had the strong impression he was grinning under his leathers. “I've never taken that class myself, but I've seen it put to good use more than once.”

Josh sighed. “Look, this is all bright as a button, and I'm happy we're all cheery and smiles. But what were you two even doing around the dungeon?”

Darius nodded. “We checked the roster, no one was scheduled to be heading there any time soon. It seems... odd that you would stumble by just when Mary and Anna needed extra hands.”

Suspicious as all get out was what he meant, Josh knew, but no one could say that aloud. There were too many questions about these two. The timing, Hou Zheng's knowledge of dungeons, and of course their big, concealing clothing. Josh couldn't throw stones about that last one, considering his own mask, but it was still suspicious. Bloody hell, Josh himself was using it to hide an important secret!

Josh was also vaguely suspicious of Kun's supposed muteness as well, though he pushed that one aside. She'd have no reason to hide her voice from any of them, or just randomly know sign language. The much more obvious answer was just that she was, indeed, mute.

Speaking of which, Kun started making quick, agitated motions with her hands. Josh was once again annoyed that he'd never learned sign language. It had been one of the foreign language courses offered when he was a kid, but he had chosen French instead. He'd be surprised if there were a thousand people who spoke French now, and he'd bet his left toes that every single one also spoke English.

Ruth raised her hands, looking concerned. “We're not accusing you of anything!” She glanced at Josh and Darius. Neither of them made any attempt to back her up. She puffed out her cheeks before turning back to the woman. “We're just... worried, about some things.” She gave a shaky smile. “It's been pretty rough for us, since the reset.”

Hou Zheng nodded. “I can imagine. The reset is always hard, and then that world quest following so soon after...” He sighed. “It's been a difficult season for everyone. Did you know, we were actually beset by bandits who thought we were the ones the quest is talking about?”

“Wot?” Josh asked, before he could stop himself. “How? Why?”

“The quest doesn't give many details, but word has gotten around,” Hou Zheng said solemnly. “While there are not many pictures, a basic description has been circulated. The one thing that everyone knows about the suspects is that Joshua Hundredborn is a very large man, and Mary Manganese is tall but skinny.”

Mary's head jerked up at that. She looked between Hou Zheng and Josh, trying to communicate with just her eyes.

Josh kept himself controlled. “You know, don't you?”

Hou Zheng inclined his head. “I do.”

“That only makes you more suspicious,” Josh pointed out. He didn't move for a weapon. He could launch an [Empty Chop] bare-handed. In fact, that was how it had originally worked. He was confident that he could put a dent in this man before he knew what was happening.

“You sure as muck didn't tell me you knew who I was!” Mary said hotly. “You about to tell me that this is why you found us on the mountain?”

Josh understood her fury, but had moved past it. His anger was cold now. He could take a few moments to get all the information before the violence started.

“Wasn't really a mountain, more of a hill,” Anna said. She was grinning that wolf's grin again, and her eyes stayed on Hou Zheng. “Now, mister... whatever you name is, I already forgot it—”

He managed to look offended despite being covered in layers of leathers.

“I haven't known cutie Mary for long.” Mary looked like she was going to leap over and strangle her, but Anna continued without a blink. “I'm all up for a good fight and getting paid for a good fight, so maybe I'd be willing to take out the Crafters myself.” She cocked her head to the side. “Do you know why I'm not doing that?”

“Because you are bound by your word of honor?” Hou Zheng asked. Josh genuinely couldn't tell if the man was making a joke or not.

Anna chuckled. “No. Two reasons.” She held up two fingers dramatically. “First, I actually do think these kids can make something of this town. I was happy to see the old mayor taken down a peg, no one has offered me too much money to betray them yet, and having Crafters sounds like a great way to build up the town.”

Josh looked at her sideways. What was that about people trying to bribe her? Had that actually happened?

“And your second?” Hou Zheng asked.

“My second?” Anna chuckled. “I just want to fight you.”

Then she kicked the table so hard that it slammed both strangers into the wall.