“Well that's… Fuck me.“ Exasperated at his own lack of foresight, Alan palmed his face with an audible slap.
“It's so painfully obvious…” He groaned out from between his fingers. “I can't believe I hadn't even considered the idea of people hunting each other. We really need to hurry up and get out of here…” Alan drug his fingers across the crested ridges above his eyes, attempting to gather his thoughts, whilst silently lamenting the loss of his eyebrows.
He didn't relish the idea of heading out to go babysitting any more than he liked being a hairless, reptilian monster. In truth, he would prefer to find Rexus, and avoid everyone else. Yet he was having a sudden moral dilemma. Because of his rapid accumulation of Stats, Skills and Spells, he couldn't deny that the odds were leaning towards him being the strongest Human left alive. And, at least to him, that came with some serious responsibilities. Being the strongest meant looking out for those who couldn't protect themselves.
Just as that old liar Uncle Alex had always done in keeping guard over the boys.
Regardless of his appearance, and the fact that his Race was listed as a (Variant), Alan still considered himself to be a Human at heart. Whether the rest of Humanity agreed was something they would have to decide for themselves.
From what Gaea had told him, one of the many objectives of the Tutorial was to establish relations, and potential alliances, with fellow denizens. With the initialization of the System having placed Humanity in such dire circumstances, their morality as a whole had unsurprisingly fallen to the wayside. For ten long years, and in cases like Alan's predecessors, much, much longer, survival had been the name of the game. Nothing else mattered.
For the time being, Alan knew that establishing any kind of real Human alliance was little more than a pipe dream. Any way he looked at it, there was virtually zero chance at successfully bringing together a bunch of paranoid strangers. There were simply too few Humans left, and not enough time.
Dealing with the unfortunate realities of their return to a Multiverse that both hated and feared them was going to be hard enough for the average person without having to worry about violent psychopaths and petty infighting.
The remnants of humanity needed time to rebuild their population. To heal, and to grow strong once more. Time that Alan feared their many enemies had no intentions of allowing. That left the Tutorial. Seventy-two days was hardly the time required to build up trust, let alone to establish a united front. Yet there weren't many other options.
Seventy-two days will have to be enough. Alan clenched his fists, but first, someone is going to have to establish a set of ground rules. Humans must not be allowed to kill each other without good cause. We have far too many enemies as it is. Standing on the precipice of extinction, every Human life lost makes our recovery that much more unlikely.
Alan cracked his knuckles.
“I guess I'm gonna have to go out there and murder all of the murderers.“ He growled.
For a few seconds, nobody spoke. Reggie and Su'ong shared a confused glance. Both seemed to be having trouble digesting what Alan had just said.
Mistaking their disbelief for confusion, Alan was just about to clarify what he meant by murdering all of the murderers when Reggie looked right at him. Sticking his hand under his hood, the Wraith scratched the top of his head and scrunched up his face.
“You know Alan,” he said sarcastically, “when Su'ong spoke of the need to make a plan of action, I don't think what she meant was for us to plan out a way to govern the actions of a bunch of ignorant fools.“
Alan raised the bony protrusions taking place of his eyebrows. With how fast the Wraith had offered his assistance in eating Su'ong's Bog Witch cousin Genji, it seemed surprising that he would be the one to have an issue.
“Perhaps I'm mistaken,” Reggie shot Alan a lopsided grin and took it even further, “and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but if you were to go out and murder every one of the murderers, would that not make you the biggest murderer of the bunch?“
“Explain.“ Su'ong interjected, rolling her eyes at what sounded to her like the pointless boasting of a child. “You, personally, are going to descend on the Tutorial Realm like the wrath of the Ten Heavens become manifest, and murder all of the murderers?“
The look she gave Alan wasn't one that inspired confidence.
“Don't get me wrong,” Alan said hastily, “I don't want to kill anyone. But… I will if I have to. Listen… I know it might seem hypocritical and kind of counterproductive to kill my fellow Humans, while simultaneously proclaiming my desire to protect them… But if the rotten apples are allowed to remain, the decay will only spread that much faster. There are far too few humans left for a bunch of random scumbags to be allowed to go around taking out the weaklings for nothing more than a decent Experience boost and some Loot.“ Alan shot back. She might not agree, but this wasn't an issue he was willing to back down on.
“I obviously haven't seen much of the Tutorial Realm, but it seems doubtful that this place has a jail. Or guards.“ Alan tossed up his arms. “Hells, does the Tutorial Realm even have any rules?!“
Reggie shook his head slowly, affirming Alan's concerns, while Su'ong simply stared open-mouthed at Alan like he had just admitted to being hooked on hard drugs.
“Yeah, I didn't think so.“ Alan said, trying not to grin. The utter disbelief painted across Su'ong's face was making it hard to retain his seriousness.
“Look, for the last ten years, my home-world has been a monster infested shit hole. On several different occasions, my uncle warned me that many of the survivors would likely be the worst of the worst. He said most of the good guys have long since died. And all they managed to save, at least for the most part, was a bunch of selfish pricks. There's always the possibility that more isolated communities like mine survived, but I'm definitely not going to risk our lives on that hope.“
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Alan lowered his eyes, “Besides… My little brother is out there somewhere. For all I know, there might not be anyone else in the entire Tutorial worth saving, but he is Gods dammit...“
Alan sighed. This was the reason he'd been purposely avoiding the thought of his brother out there alone. It made it extremely difficult to concentrate on the difficulties already laid out before him. “I have to do whatever I can to keep him safe…”
“I'm sorry my friend,” Reggie said quietly, laying his hand on Alan's shoulder apologetically. “I was only trying to give you a hard time, I didn't realize you had so much on your mind.
“If your brother still lives, we will find him, and keep him safe.“ Su'ong stated confidently, her hands on her hips. “As long as he can make it to the Tutorial Town, he will have similar protections to those we have here in the Safe Zone. Chances are, he has already arrived, and is waiting for you to get there.“
Her face took on a somber expression. “I do not mean to dim your hopes, but if the worst has come to pass, there is also a notice board in the Tutorial Town that lists fallen Denizens, along with their causes of death. Not only will this be the fastest way to determine your brothers Fate, but if you are determined to take out murderers, this would be a good place to start. Simply search the causes of death, and see how many of them were killed by their fellow Denizens.“
Rexus, you'd better be alive, damn you.
It had only been twelve hours on the surface of the Tutorial, and already over one hundred-fifty people were gone. Alan knew that Rexus was capable of handling his own in a one-on-one confrontation, but against a swarm of monsters, or a group of hardened killers? The odds were surely stacked against his survival.
No. Alan refused to believe that his brother had already died. Rexus is smart. He's heard all of Uncle Alex's stories. He knows to consider the risks before making contact with the other survivors. Nobody out there has a Class yet. With minimal Stats, and only twelve hours to gain Skills, it should still be a mostly even playing field between the Humans. Right now, at least until Denizens begin accumulating Levels, the Beasts are going to be his biggest threat…
“Just get your ass to the Tutorial Town,” Alan whispered.
“Alright,” Alan said, pushing his worries down deep and putting on a brave face. “As you already know, the plan is; get the fuck out of this Dungeon as quickly as possible. What is, or isn't going on out there doesn't change anything.“
He opened up his PSA to the Quests tab. After pulling up his Dungeon Quest, he focused on Reggie. “You said if I were to take the Celestial Essence out of that tower, the Dungeon would begin to fail pretty much immediately right? So what would happen to my Dungeon Quest?“ He turned around so his PSA was visible to both Reggie And Su'ong.
***HIDDEN QUEST***
✓ 1/4- Defeat every Dungeon born monster located on the Dungeon's first floor. (100/100) Completion Reward: 250 (Iron Grade) Lotus coins, 5 (F-Stage) Mana Crystals.
2/4- Survive the Trials of the Second Floor and locate the entrance to the Heart of the Labyrinth. (0/5) Completion Reward: 500 (Iron Grade) Lotus Coins and 1 randomly generated (F-Stage) Growth-type weapon.
Reggie took one look at the (Hidden Quest) description and gasped. “The heart of the Labyrinth?! But… but that's where the Celestial Essence is! So the System truly does mean for you to collect that artifact…” The Wraith straightened his spine, his eyes narrowed down to slits.
“System Quests are often open to interpretation. This one says 'Survive the Trials of the Second Floor'. There's nothing about successfully completing them, your only stated objective is to survive. This may be the Safe Zone, but it is still located on the Second Floor. Now that you have both stepped onto the Second Floor, that is one objective met.“ He looked at Su'ong to make sure she was following along with his reasoning.
Su'ong motioned for him to continue.
“Let's just assume you are going to claim the artifact. Were you to do so, the Dungeon would lose the ability to supply the requisite energy to the Second Floor Trials. The Trials would almost instantly shut down… This Safe Zone would be soon to follow. If you break the tower, you break the Trials. In doing so, you would have successfully survived the Trials by default… Probably.” He shrugged.
“Listen, I'm not claiming to be a System expert. What I know has been discovered mostly through second hand information, and many, many years of trial and error. However, what I can say with absolute certainty is that if you can survive claiming that Celestial Essense, which, I might add, I do not believe you can, but if you you could, then we would potentially make it to the Core Room ten times faster than if you were to take the Trials.“
Wanting to make sure Alan had a full idea of what he was signing up for, Reggie laid out the negatives.
“I must add that once the Dungeon begins to fail, the entire dimensional space it is hidden within will begin to collapse. We are going to be in a race against time and collapsing space to make it to the Core Room. The Core Room will be the safest place for us to be. Luckily, that is our target. My only chance at survival will be to enter the Core before the Core Consciousness escapes the trap I've laid out for it.“ He let out a nervous groan.
“My engraving Skills aren't the best.“ He admitted. “Add to that the drastically reduced energy levels, and I really don't know how long I will be able to keep my twinned soul locked away. The Heart of the Labyrinth is directly above the Core Room. Once the Essence is removed, I should be able to open up a pathway directly through the floor. Whether or not you have to contend with the Core Room Boss will be decided by how long my trap lasts.“
“You have just under sixty-one hours to decide our course of action. I will abide by whatever choice you make.” Reggie walked forward a few steps and turned around. Now that he was sure he had his fellow prisoners full attention, he gave them one more thing to consider.
“All I ask is that you keep in mind that time is flowing differently on the outside. Some of the Trials are quite long. However, as long as you survive all five of them, as well as defeat the Second Floor Boss, you should still be able to make it back to the Tutorial Realm before the the first day comes to a close. I understand you both have reasons to be in a hurry… Just, please consider the potential consequences of your actions.“
“Before I go, I've always wanted to do this,” Reggie said, unexpectedly sticking out his hand. For a moment, Alan was unsure as to what he was supposed to do. Having never been one for shaking hands, he was slightly caught off guard.
The Wraith's pulsing blue skin didn't go a long way towards easing his nerves.
Sighting Reggie's hopeful expression, and wary of gaining Su'ong's ire, Alan couldn't bring himself to turn down the offered handshake. Unable to escape, he clasped the Wraith's strangely warm hand, and gave it a firm shake.
Smiling from ear to ear, staunchly refusing to release Alan from his grip, Reggie extended his other hand to Su'ong.
The icy scowl she gave Alan left no question that she meant every word.