Chapter 59

James headed home with enough time to tidy up before Z and his friends swung by. He’d initially planned to return sooner but had found a sense of comfort in gaming with Alex. Thanks to immersion, most gaming was fully immersive, and made the person a main part of the game. Taking time to relax and play retro card games was surprisingly cathartic, and he saw why Rue found pleasure in playing Magic against the Terminus and other boss monsters.

While on the train, he skimmed his messages, double checking he hadn’t missed anything important, assuming everyone was doing all they could to prepare for the nighttime raid plan. After that, he skimmed through reddit. First, he checked out the reddit for his town’s dungeon, curious to see the main topics being covered.

Candy Dungeon Appetizer?

Sixth Floor Map?

SPECIAL EVENT DICKEN SALE!!!! HALF OFF PRICES FOR ALL RANDOM DUNGEON MEMBERS!

James grinned at the last one, noting the obvious sales ploy. With the increased duration of for this special event, Alex’s family, who ran the Dicken Shack, as well as its, er, competitor, could make a literal killing. Alex may have insisted the virtual world didn’t matter. But based on the currency ratio, what his family stood to make during a 48-hour immersion extravaganza would no doubt dwarf any sales they did in the real world in a similar span of time.

Impressive wasn’t the word for it. Too good to be true, probably, was better. An event like the one being held, if it were just a special event that would happen occasionally, would no doubt make or break entire businesses. A problem circumnavigated though, by the fact there wouldn’t be any real world businesses to be made or broken, if things went according to the governments plans. It was easy to throw precaution out the window, when there wasn’t supposed to be a tomorrow.

Mentally he opened the first reddit thread, started by someone named NotADev69.

Just putting this out there, but obviously the first Dungeon War of this event needs to be against the Candy Dungeon. I don’t know about all of you, but I personally love starting parties with candy. And even more than that, the full course meal of dungeons we will get to smack down, should be started against the Candy Dungeon. Pretty sure it’s the only one that could prove a tasteful challenge to us too.

Also, remember, it’s the dungeon that has that SoulDemon Asshat. Rumor is he nearly screwed us over during the siege. It’s high time we paid him back.

Beneath it, a stream of interaction that James quickly skimmed.

*/Yo_Shiiiiiiiiiiiiii- Your making good points, but you sure you ain’t a dev?

**/NotADev69- You’re*, and pretty sure I’m not a dev, obviously. That’s what my name means.

*** Yo_Shiiiiiiiiiiiiii- uh…huh…

*/TyRANT25- I’m down to see what they can throw at us. With the Mad Mage and White Beast of Chaos, they won’t stand a chance.

**/PurpleKnight1- Have you been over there lately? Their dungeon got so much easier after they lost to us. Pretty sure defeat at our hands made their competitive spirits die.

***/ Yo_Shiiiiiiiiiiiiii- Feel like losing to a dungeon filled with dickens would do that to anyone. Serves them right, cocky bastards

****/PurpleKnight1- Not sure how everything works, but as it stands, I can’t see them holding a candle to us. Especially not considering the Knights reports about the sixth floor. Kind of excited for Dungeon Wars to kick off. Only way I’m getting near those sixth-floor mobs with my current level.

*/SoulDemon- I don’t know who you are, but you can bet I’m going to find you NotADev69. You can go fuck yourself.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

**/NotADev69- Tsk Tsk. You’re proving my point. You’re a dick and someone needs to give you a timeout.

***/SoulDemon- (Message deleted by mods)

James couldn’t help but grin. Was Steve NotADev69? He totally could be. It seemed like a Steve thing to do. Either way, the reddit thread itself had a couple hundred comments already, and over a thousand thumbs up. It left little doubt in his mind that it would ensure the first dungeon they faced off against would be the Candy Dungeon. He wondered what Rachel and Matthew were doing on their end to get their players ready for the battle. His dungeon, and BLANKs, were the only Tier 7 dungeons. That meant they’d get priority in challenging each other for the Dungeon Wars event. Still, the players themselves had to vote to select the targets, meaning, both instances of 10,000 players would need a majority vote to challenge the other, to ensure the battle happened.

Z and his guild were going to rally the players in game even further, to encourage the challenge. Did BLANK’s Dungeon have anyone like that? Or maybe that was why NotADev69 had called out SoulDemon. The Candy Dungeon’s strongest player. And… strongest personality. The antithesis of Z. Both were top tier gamers, but one surrounded himself with friends, and worked hard to make sure everyone was safe and had fun. The other… was a selfish dick.

The second reddit thread, which James skimmed through as he walked back to his house after the train dropped him off at his station, was by the Knights Who Go Ni. It detailed the six floor, and the monsters they’d seen on it. They had also included screenshots of the mobs, as well as noted strengths and weaknesses. The poster, Med Ic, had even included the bit about the J-Kappa’s Sellout perk. With that information, James had no doubt more players would take to his sixth floor once they dove back into the dungeon. And maybe, with the knowledge given to them by the Knights, they could prepare large enough groups, and strategies, to try and gain a few more levels before the Dungeon Wars kicked off.

More importantly, the more players that arrived on his sixth, the more that would discover the seventh. James really wanted to see his seventh floor in action, at least once, before he was needed once more in the real world. He was hoping, actually, to join Z, and possibly the Boss Slayers, on one last jaunt before they decided the fate of the world. It was morbid, sure, but James had begun putting together a small list of ‘lasts’ he wanted to do, before they started their mission. If there was a chance he was going to die, or worse, then he was going to make sure he did all he could, at the very least, to ensure he lived his life to his fullest.

His musing kept him quiet as he got to his house, Dagr trotting along at his heels. He reached his house and held his arm up to the door, which had been repaired since the Cyb3ru5 assault on his house just a few nights ago. The lock read the chip in his wrist and opened. He stepped in, blinking to adjust his vision from the light outside, to the dimer lighting within his house. As he did, a moving shadow in the house caused him to freeze. Fear and panic welled up in him, as his mind told him this was it, he was done for. The government had come for him. He’d been found out. He stepped backwards, and tripped over Dagr, the dog having done nothing in the moment. Wasn’t Dagger supposed to guard him? Wasn’t Dagger supposed to keep him safe?

Was it an enforcer? Had they somehow bypassed Dagger’s sensors?

A hand caught his, and he found his fall halted as thin, strong fingers gripped his wrist and steadied him. He blinked again, and recognized immediately the bright red hair, the mischievous smile, and the skintight outfit that he’d come to associate with the deadliest person he knew in the real world. Alex’s girlfriend. Fel, aka Felecia, aka Crimson Tiered Agent of Phoenix Down.

“Sup nerd,” she said with a laugh, “didn’t mean to sweep you off your feet. And sorry in advance, I’m taken.”

James looked at her, feeling his face go red, as she walked towards his fridge and opened it, pulling out a FitSip for herself, before grabbing a second to toss his way.

“How’d you get in my house?” James asked dumbly, “what are you doing here?”

“I made myself a key, duh.” She said with a chuckle, “well, I was given one when I was assigned guard duty for you, and it was supposed to be temporary, but I made it permanent. We both know you’ve a tendency for trouble, and you can’t say it wasn’t a proper precaution.”

She leaned against the counter, stretching like a cat sunning itself, exposing a midriff toned from an extensive amount of real-world training. She popped open her drink and took a long sip. “As for why I’m here,” she shrugged, “finished up most of my errands, and heard you’re having some visitors tonight anyways. Two birds, one stone.”

James raised an eyebrow, his heart having calmed enough that he wasn’t in danger of a heart attack, as he walked into his house and grabbed a seat at the table. Dagger, who he was more than a little annoyed at for not warning him about Fel’s presence in the house, trotted over to the intruder, and tilted his head towards her for ear scritches. Fel scratched the not dog’s ears, ignoring James’s questioning gaze.

“What are you talking about?” James asked directly. It wasn’t like he minded her being here. But at the same time, he was paranoid. Was this suspicious? Would it be suspicious if she was here when Z and his guild members showed up?

“Need to know buddy,” she hopped up onto the counter, her legs dangling as she continued to drink her beverage. “Just be a good boy for once yeah, and wait patiently?”

James wanted to protest, but something in her gaze warned him against it. He shouldn’t be pressing her, really. After all, who knew if their conversations were being spied on. He decided, therefore, to do the only thing he could. He took a drink of his FitSip and waited.