Tyler was the first to appear in Derek’s house, walking into the house with his sunglasses on, texting like mad.

“Alright, I’ve been doing a ton of research, and I think we now have a mostly completed list of all the monsters that—according to canon—are in Torraq’s dungeon hide out.” Tyler placed his sunglasses on his head before handing four sheets of paper to Derek. “It’s according to level, and I already crossed out four zombies and a giant scorpion.”

“How many more monsters are left?” Milo asked from the kitchen. He was working on tempering the pile of goo that was supposed to turn into red mana.

“There are over two thousand monsters, but before anyone freaks out, that’s including a lot of spiders and tarantulas. And rats,” Tyler said.

Derek lifted his hand with the papers to point at the people in the room. “No one tells Evelyn that.”

“Considering tarantulas are more likely to end up in the desert regions of this world, there’s a good chance a lot of them are already here. She’ll see them eventually,” Tyler mumbled.

Derek groaned, looking through the list. “So as long as Clarissa keeps doing… whatever her druid princess self is doing, the creatures can only come in if we can kick their ass?”

“Or at least you won’t have your ass handed to you,” Tyler finished his texting and slipped his phone in his pocket. “Which means Clarissa really needs to be kept alive.” Tyler took off his sunglasses and looked around, the stress he’d been hiding returned full force. “All of you need to be kept alive. Which means I might visit Rafael if he doesn’t show up again.”

There was a knock on the door. Tyler went back to his phone as Derek kept looking over the list as he headed toward the door. Those dragons Torraq had around him were of various levels, but Derek really didn’t want any of those dragons in Elmwood.

Once Derek opened the door, Nick and Evelyn walked in, with Clarissa and Grizzizzik following close behind. Clarissa seemed annoyed at Grizzizzik, but to be fair, she was always annoyed with him.

“Princess! Do you have any more raw mana?” Milo asked.

“Of course.” She reached behind her and pulled out four beakers full of raw golden mana. “It’s the extra after my meditation.”

“I prepared a few healing spells this morning, just in case.”

“How much gold mana have you got?” Clarissa asked.

“Four vials. My heal wounds spell only costs one vial of gold mana, so that should keep us safe if Ezekiel won’t show up.”

“Oh, don’t curse it.” Clarissa looked toward the door. “He better show up! I miss him.”

Grizzizzik rolled his eyes, and Derek realized that the obvious sexual tension was in fact just as obvious to the other characters. But considering Evelyn would more often than not summarize Clarissa’s feelings with hardly two sentences and Nick completely ignored Ezekiel’s feelings, there was a chance that Ezekiel and Clarissa’s relationship was a bit more defined in the game than Derek realized.

There was another knock, and Nick opened the door. “Hey, Alejandra. It’s great to see you,” he said.

Derek snorted, going back to the notes.

“Sorry. Rafael couldn’t make it.” She sounded deflated when she said that.

“Well, thank you for showing up. Hey Hraktar.”

“Hello.”

Alejandra and Hraktar walked in. Tyler seemed to glance at them, and Derek could already see the resolve his friend made about talking with Rafael personally. Tyler’s fall semester was starting Monday. At least he had the time to compile the list.

“Alright. If everyone’s ready, let’s get in the minivan!” Derek said.

There was some shuffling around. Milo had to clean up the mana essence and stick it in his inventory. Grizzizzik was practicing with his new hell hound dagger, which looked gnarly in its own right.

They got outside and Hraktar was once again squeezed into the corner, with Milo and Clarissa next to him and Grizzizzik in the back. Derek finished buckling himself in when he started the car and had the weirdest moment of reflection.

This was definitely not what he imagined his first month of senior high to be like.

“Alright, everyone, keep your eyes peeled,” Derek said as the minivan rumbled down the road. “We’re looking for a tent near José’s restaurant. We don’t know what’s lurking in there, but according to the side quest, it’ll probably start a battle.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Tyler in the passenger seat turned himself around to hold up a finger. “Remember, the best course of action right now is to hear the creature out first. But first… yeah, we got to find the tent.”

“Are you asking us to roll for perception?” Evelyn asked.

Tyler about said something, then paused. “Can I ask that? I think that’s just what—”

Time slowed down, cutting Tyler off. Derek frowned, looking down at the steering wheel. It wouldn’t take his command as time came to a complete standstill. He glanced around, seeing the other cars frozen in place.

Roll for perception.

Derek raised an eyebrow as he looked at the d20 hanging in midair above him. “Yep. The strangest month of my life. But I am not complaining.” He grabbed the dice and gave it a good roll before letting it go. It dropped, landing on an eleven. A +3 appeared as well, the number jumping up to fourteen. It wasn’t bad. It could have been better, but Derek was glad it wasn’t worse.

“—I did as a GM.”

Cars rushed by Derek again. He gasped, forgetting his hands weren’t actually on the wheel. He grabbed it, causing it to lurch. Everyone shouted in surprise.

“Derek!” Nick shouted.

“Not my fault!” Derek tried to remain calm. “I can honestly say I’ve never had time freeze while driving before!”

The passengers in the back all grumbled. Tyler glanced between Derek and the rest of the group behind them. “Wait, did you really all roll for perception?”

“I think time will keep us trapped in there indefinitely if we don’t make the roll,” Alejandra said.

“Really?” Grizzizzik asked, perking up. “Do you think so?”

“There is no way you’re stealing my dice and trying to get me trapped, Grizzizzik,” Nick said. “If I’m trapped in time, you’re not moving, either. No one is.”

Hraktar shot Grizzizzik a glare, who grumbled about something none of them could hear. Derek glanced at Nick through the rearview window. Derek was always fascinated with Milo, and he got the impression Milo was equally fascinated by this new world he stumbled into. But he wondered what it would be like to have an edgy rogue hanging around his house all the time. It sounded like they just caught a glimpse of it from that conversation.

“Alright, well, tell me your numbers so we’re prepared,” Tyler said.

“Twenty-one,” Evelyn said.

“Dirty twenty,” Alejandra said. Evelyn lifted her hand, and the two girls gave each other a high five.

“Fourteen,” Derek said.

“Six,” Nick mumbled, which caused Derek to wince.

“Six? Even with your modifier?” Tyler asked.

“Yeah. Glad I had it.”

Clarissa leaned forward, frowning. “What are these numbers you speak of?”

Evelyn looked behind her. “Remember that bag of dice you gave me that first night? They’re what creates the chance in the game. You could roll high or low. And that’s the outcome of what we’re about to do.”

Grizzizzik was on his knees, his snake head poking up from the side. “Are you seriously telling me that a chance roll of the dice causes me, an experienced criminal, to somehow not notice a tent before a stuck-up princess and a bumbling half-orc?”

Tyler shrugged. “That is how the game is played, yes. It’s odd, but whoever is really over this entire thing will probably think of some way to make it so that they’d be the first to see it.”

Grizzizzik’s nostrils flared. “That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. I grew up in crime, I’ve lived it. Things don’t just escape my notice because this one rolled a small number. What you’re suggesting is utterly—”

“There it is!” Both Hraktar and Clarissa said, pointing out the window as Derek drove past the restaurant.

Milo, who had somehow stolen Derek’s AP biology textbook and was reading it, glanced up and gave a grunt. “Yeah. You’re right!” His nose went right back into the book.

Grizzizzik’s head whipped around, frowning. Derek had seen the tent once Hraktar and Clarissa pointed it out, but he had driven past the restaurant and there were many houses that blocked the tent from view. Grizzizzik turned his head back around as everyone looked at him. His eyes seemed to harden. “That was all coincidence. Nothing more.”

“Not coincidence. Just a choice, a chance, and a consequence,” Tyler said. Grizzizzik grumbled again as Derek drove past the restaurant. “Well!” Tyler clapped his hands before rubbing them together. “I guess the next thing we’ve got to prepare for is—”

Time slowed to a halt again, and the d20 appeared.

Roll for stealth.

This time, Derek kept one hand on the steering wheel as he grabbed his dice with the other hand. It was just like CCNC, except in real life. It would take a bit to get used to, but he had never felt more excited in his life.

Derek found a parking spot while everyone discussed their rolls. Grizzizzik was still perplexed about the numbers. He said he hadn’t thought too much about it while fighting, because there was a reason he might have missed, but with something like stealth or perception, he was still annoyed.

Clarissa was on board with the whole thing until Evelyn admitted she rolled a four for her stealth.

“It’s superstition. Fortune telling. Hogwash,” Grizzizzik said, folding his arms. “There is no correlation whatsoever, and you can’t convince me otherwise.”

“Then you can keep ignoring the numbers I tell you and live your life.” Nick had the slightest hint of annoyance in his voice. “Go on. Check it out.”

Grizzizzik grumbled again before he disappeared into a bush. Derek frowned, specifically trying to look for Grizzizzik, but it was like he had dissolved into nothing. Nick must have seen the bewilderment on his face. “I mean, I rolled a twenty-four.”

“It means nothing,” Grizzizzik said right next to Derek’s ear, causing him to jump.

“Good lord, Grizzizzik. Really?” Derek rubbed the side of his face as though he could almost feel a forked tongue licking his face. He knew for a fact that Grizzizzik didn’t have a forked tongue, but it still messed with his head. The snake man was standing right next to him, with Derek unable to figure out how that was possible.

“Go, Grizzizzik. Princess Clarissa might need your help,” Nick said.

The rogue disappeared again. Milo and Hraktar were far more in the open, trying to tiptoe toward the tent. Clarissa was next to Milo, holding her skirts as she tried not to let them touch the dirt. Derek and the rest of his friends were by the minivan. Derek was trying to figure out what kind of alibi he would need if anyone randomly stumbled onto their group, waiting around in the scorching Arizona sun.

Milo and Hraktar crept closer to the tent. The restaurant was at the end of a road, and the tent was closer to the start of it. It didn’t take long to get there, so he wasn’t sure exactly what Clarissa was going to do to mess up the stealth.

Which is when she slipped on a rock and fell right into the tent opening.