Luxury.

If there was a single word that Damien would have to attribute to the current room he was in, it would be just that; luxury. When observing the doors from the hallway one would assume that each room had little to no space between each room, but somehow, stepping within would reveal the large interior. From wall to wall the room was easily a third of the hallway’s length, it was a space that should not be able to physically fit within the given boundaries, yet it stood defiant to reality and existed in all its splendor.

What greeted him was a living space that held a small glass table with two chairs over a very intricate-looking rug. Beyond a half-wall that separated that space was a large white bed, a floor to ceiling mirror was directly to the left of said bed. The lavish dresser to the opposite side was impressive, though a quick peek inside revealed only white clothing, a pattern was starting to form.

But all these things were ignored, there was something that was more important now. He had been worried when he received the familiar core from Admin, but now, if Admin’s words were to be believed, he had true privacy. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the black sphere, the smooth surface was almost slippery in his hands, he raised it up to see it in the light. A dazzle was reflected from the sphere’s side, with the better lighting the room provided, the center was easier to see.

What had once been a formless white mass within, was now beginning to take shape. It was very murky, but it had definitely taken steps to becoming a proper form. He wanted to learn more.

Is there a way to know more about things? Like how the monsters in the last Phase showed their names, did I do that? Or was it the System?

Deciding to put his thoughts to the test, he looked at the trinkets in his room in hopes of making the information from each item appear in a blue box above them. He reached out to the pillow that was on his bed and picked it up over his head, his stare grew intense with each passing second. As if expecting the pillow to crack under the pressure and divulge its information, his eyes developed more and vexed; but it was futile.

Realizing how foolish he would look if anyone were to see him, he dropped the pillow back to the bed. Whatever had happened in the test, it wasn’t going to happen here.

The disappointment at failing to progress in the matter clung to his mind for only a moment, a thought had emerged, pulling out the sphere again he attempted to learn more from it by simply looking at it. To his surprise, a blue box appeared.

Familiar Core (A+): A familiar core personally designed by Admin, the (???) within has progressed into hatching by 1%. Currently bound to Damien.

Relevant information was held within the box, it wasn’t all new, but some of it was. Like the item’s ranking, and the fact that it was bound to him. It was something.

Why can I see this item’s information? And why not other things? Is it to do with the fact that it is mine?

The line of thinking was somewhat solid, and more importantly, easy to test. Taking out the weapon on his hip would resolve the question. Pulling out the silver piece of metal and following through a similar process to the core, a similar blue box appeared over the short sword.

Starter Rogue Weapon (F): A short sword given to starter rogues by the system when they elect the rogue starter class in Level 0. It is not a very good weapon… (This item gives no extra stats).

Extra stats? Does that mean that other items do? Then that girl’s armor likely does as well… I hope it doesn’t give her too much of an advantage. Wait there was that other thing!

The thought of good items brought back the night he had been attacked by his fellow rogues, he had been so concerned and panicked that night that he had failed to remember that Eira had given him an item. It was a pendant that he had stashed into his pocket, reaching into the pouch that hung from his waist the shiny metal was retrieved.

Once again observing the beautiful glistening metal was mesmerizing, the multicolored hue that ran through the silvern pendant was easy to get lost in, but what really caught his eye was the Phoenix which had meticulously been engraved to the smallest details. Even the thick black leather band that was used as the chain looked special, doing the same process for the previous items, he was rewarded by a blue pop up box.

Returning Soul Pendant (S+): Extracting the magic from the heart of a Phoenix Boss-Type monster that had been imbued with S-Class spell Vivify results in the Veritas Mana, which can be used to enchant Argentala metal. Allows the wearer to resuscitate once. Part of the Phoenix Everser set (1/7).

Damien stared at the amazing piece of information for more than a minute after he had fully comprehended what was said by the blue box.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Receiving gifts like this from a stranger is probably not a good idea, isn’t something like this too much? There’s too much information here I don’t understand, like the Argentala metal and the S-Class spell stuff, I probably shouldn’t have this. But it will save me from dying once…

Sorting his confliction regarding the item, ultimately he hid the precious pendant in the drawer next to his bed. Using items that were outside your rank was not allowed through the System’s rules, at least not during tests. Preventing his death would be extremely useful, but incurring the wrath of the System and having Admin ‘Delete’ him would not be in his interests, it was better off staying in this room where only he could enter.

Trusting that the item would be safely tucked away from prying eyes, he headed to bed. The slightly cool air was staved off by the warmth the white sheets provided, the soft pillow under him and the comforting mattress where he laid, all those little things gathered into a familiar feeling of bliss and ease. The thought of his previous life once again came to his mind, the kind of person he used to be, the kind of people he knew, his family, friends, lovers, likes, and even his dislikes; he wondered about it all. Now, none of that existed.

He knew he should care more, he understood that losing all that would be devastating for anyone, he was no exception. Still, despite that, he could not mourn what he did not know. Everyone else was in the same position he was in, there was no point in dwelling on what he could not recover, nobody else was. His thoughts left him as his consciousness faded into slumber.

Waking up to the ding of a blue window was not the best way to start your day, but it served well enough as an alarm clock. Damien’s eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the light in the room, somehow the lights had turned on, likely a feature to facilitate his waking up.

The thing that took his attention, of course, was the pulsing box in front of him.

Day 1 of Phase 2: Have another Climber invite you into their room willingly (50 Points).

Is this what they meant by tasks to earn points? I was worried about what they might ask, but this is pretty high up on the difficulty scale. Admin drove the point yesterday that the only place where you are vulnerable from others is your own room, it will be pretty difficult to convince someone to invite me into their room right the next day… Shit.

Dismissing the daunting task, for now, Damien got out of bed and stretched his body, for now, he should probably head out and see what is going on outside. Admin was not very explicit in regards to where they should go, but it was fairly easy to figure out his next steps. He doubted Admin would go door to door gathering them, she was too dignified for something like that, instead, they would have to gather for her. The only other room where they had been allowed in, was the room they first appeared in.

It was no coincidence that it was also very likely the room where they would be having meals for the week, at the very least he had to check if breakfast was being served there. If it was, then it was a good starting place to launch off from.

After triple checking that the pendant he received as a gift from Eira was still where he left it, he headed out for the door.

The acute hiss as the door opened up alerted the person who was outside in the hall of his arrival, Damien stepped out and was greeted by the figure of a petite elf, the ranger he had met in the Monster Hunter event. She looked surprised to see him.

“You’re that archer girl, right?” he asked in greeting, she still looked not quite mentally in the conversation, whether it was due to the fact that she probably just woke up or a different matter, he did not know, still she managed to nod her head at his question, “That’s awesome, you saved my life at that time, and I didn’t even introduce myself. My name is Damien, it's nice to meet you.”

One of the vestiges of his being was his manners, being courteous was important to him, one of the few things that remained.

“Oh right, my name is Zen,” she quickly replied, she seemed to finally catch on to herself and get into the situation at hand, “I don’t think I did much, but I won’t argue with you,” her argument did not come from any form of self-belittlement or self-depreciation, she simply did not understand how she helped him out.

Luckily, Damien was also not willing to argue in the matter either, he decided that he would pay her back somehow, give back what was given to him.

“So what are you doing out here, waiting for a friend?”

She looked somewhat startled by the question, “What? Oh no… I did make a team back in the Mercenary Guild, but none of them got to this point,” she responded with a low voice.

It was true, while there had been initially a little under two-hundred Climbers who began the test, only 18 had managed to pass into this Phase. It came as no surprise that teams had been broken apart.

“Right, not a lot of people passed,” he tried to speak with sympathy, while some people had not made it due to lacking the score, others had died. It would be distasteful to pry, she might have lost a friend, “Well, I am headed into the room we appeared in, want to go check it out?”

Her puzzled face prompted Damien to elaborate, “I mean, that’s the only other room we were shown,” the realization dawned on her, “Plus I think we might get served some breakfast there, maybe.”

The smile on her face was all Damien needed to know about Zen, depending on what they would do today, he needed to plan out how to go about his day. Zen was waiting outside to see if anyone would come out of their room, she had no friends here so naturally she was worried that something would happen and everyone would leave without telling her about it. That was why she was simply waiting outside her door, so that if anyone would get out she would know about it and not get left out of the loop.

Still, even if someone did get out, it would be pretty strange and suspicious if she simply followed them to their destination. The fact that he had approached her and even asked her if she wanted to come with him was a lifeline to the lonely girl.

As they walked down the hallway toward the room they had been teleported to, Damien’s mind was hard at work.

This is probably my only chance at getting invited into someone’s room, the groundwork was set up by pure coincidence, but it's more than enough. I feel bad, it’s almost as though I’m tricking her, but I need those 50 Points. I need a more concrete plan.