Sitting on a couch with his wife next to him, Markus was silently watching TV. 

It was an old comedy movie, one he had watched with his parents when he was younger. Ohh the good old times. Those memories flushed into his mind and made him nostalgic for the old days, when everything was still simple.  

In front of him on the floor his 2-year-old Daughter was playing with a green dinosaur toy. 

It was a plushie with an open mouth and an extractable long pink tongue. 

"Christmas is coming up sweetheart. Are you looking forward not having to work for a whole week?" 

Yes indeed. Markus was a construction worker, and as such had to work long and painful hours under terrible conditions like rain, snowfall or in the summer in extreme heat. 

He had often gotten sick and was barely able to move, yet for his family, he still went to work and earned money for their living expenses. 

"I'm more looking forward to spending time with you, my family." 

A warm smile appeared in Markus's face as he looked at his wife. 

She in turn smiled back as well, signaling her happiness. 

Bam, Bam 

Shots could be heard coming from the TV. 

In the movie and old looking man, about 80, was shooting at a cowboy and running around naked, waving his hat.  

"The best part of the movie is coming up." 

Changing his focus back to the movie, Markus watched with an opened mouth, in preparation for the punchline.  

And just like that, the man in the movie fell on the floor and the previously hiding cowboy took a shot at him.  

The bullet flew through the air and with an almost uncapturable speed grazed the naked man's buttcheeks as it continued in its trajectory.  

The man screened out in agony as his hands went towards his now pink and red buttcheeks.  

"Ahhhahahaha"  

Markus burst out laughing, just like he did when he first saw the movie.  

His laugh was so loud it could probably be heard by the neighbors. But Markus didn't care and just wanted to enjoy the movie.  

That was when his elder Daughter came down the wooden stairs.  

She looked quite happy as she jumpily came down, with a cheeky smile on her face.  

"Daaaad. Christmas is coming up. Did you already buy our presents?"  

'What a cheeky question'  

Markus looked at his 13-Year-old daughter with a slight smile on his face.  

"Come on now Melinda you know you shouldn't ask questions like that."  

The mother of the kid answered with a voice filled with sadness and a slight bit of empathy.  

She was sadly aware of the fact that they simply couldn't afford it this year.  

Not wanting her Daughter to be disappointed when the time of reckoning arrived, she wanted to tell her now, to make it easier to understand.  

"Your Father worked very hard this year, but the bills were too much, so there won't be any-"  

As Markus saw the face of his little girl turn to sour, he couldn't stop himself.  

He thought he saw tears coming out of his little girls' eyes, so he had to interfere, he couldn't let this continue like this. 

"Your Daddy will buy you all the presents you want. Don't even worry about it."  

With these words and the reassuring smile he showed to his Daughter, her mood was fixed, and as such Markus was happy.  

He was able to turn the girl that was on the brink of tears, into one that was now happy and full of expectations again.  

This thought made Markus happy.  

After his Daughter went back upstairs Markus's wife started speaking to him.  

"How do you think of getting the money for the presents?"  

The voice of the mother signaled that she was slightly hesitant to ask this, as if she already knew the answer to that question.  

That was because, deep down she did know the answer quite clearly.  

She had been together with her husband for almost 10 years now, and thus knew almost everything there was to know about him. His hobbies, his friends, everything that made him, well him. 

Markus looked at her and with a smile as if saying, what else should I have done in that situation, said.  

"I will go to a Dungeon to earn some extra money for the gifts." 

And that was how Markus got in this situation.  

He was now standing in front of a Gate leaking out blue magical energy.  

The energy made him almost shiver. He got goosebumps and was restless as he awaited the start of the raid.  

Thinking back to the last time Markus was in a Dungeon, he almost had to puke.  

'No, don't think about that now. It won't be like last time. It won't. It won't. It won't.'  

Reassuring himself, he took a stance and was waiting for further orders.  

*** 

The inside of the Dungeon could be described in two distinct words. Dark and Stony.  

The Dungeon looked like the inside of a normal cave, with multiple stone pathways opening up in different directions.  

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'So, this is a normal cave like Dungeon. Just like the rest of them.'  

Karl looked around to see if everything was how it should be, and to no one's surprise it was.  

It was all made of a dark, yet slightly glimmering stone.  

"I propose we continue going as one large group. The Dungeon might not be a hard one this time. But it is still a dungeon and I don't want anybody to die on my watch. So I propose we head in one direction as a group and keep exploring until we find the Boss. Does anyone have any objections?" 

The Leader of the raid turned his head and looked all around at everybody present.  

He quietly waited to see if anyone had objected to his proposal.  

Yet nobody objected.  

'It seems the majority has agreed on how we shall proceed. I myself agree with the leader as well. Splitting up into groups might make it quicker. But the Danger of the Dungeon rises with it as well.' 

Karl looked at the situation with a satisfied look on his face. A small smile and hopeful eyes.  

He was bad when it came to fighting, so the less of it he had to do because of the number of people, the happier he was.  

"Hey you. Do you know how we'll split the loot?"  

A fellow fighter that stood next to him asked this question.  

The man was wearing nothing but a leather piece of clothing on his waist and further below, as well carrying a regular iron sword on his back.  

The iron sword did not carry any magical markings on it, so Karl assumed it to be a regular sword, one every Adventurer would be able to buy in a normal hardware shop in the Favoriten Market.  

"I don't know either, I forgot about that all together. I was so concerned about coming into the dungeon it slipped my mind. Haha"  

A small smile shone on his face, signaling his friendliness to his fellow fighter.  

It was a normal smile one would have when meeting new people. It was supposed to create a nice atmosphere and make a good impression.  

But he just ignored him and walked to a different person asking the same question, with the same unfriendly attitude.  

'Guess he's only interested in the answer.'  

"Everyone gets to keep what they get. That's the only fair method."  

Everyone around him nodded as well in agreement.  

The Leader nodded once as well to confirm the man's words.  

'Guess I'm still unlucky then.'  

Shifting his focus back to the group, Karl and everyone else present began to move.  

*** 

"Ahhhhh"  

Karl screamed as a green colored beast sprang at him.  

The beast's eyes were red, leaking bloodlust. It's mouth hideously deformed, showing it's crooked teeth.  

The beast was using a short sword made from what looked like Iron. The quality of the sword did not matter, as even a simple swing from an iron sword could end the life of an unprotected adventurer.  

And as Karl hadn't had enough money for armor, he had been stuck wearing training suits.  

'How Could this have happened. We were walking in a straight line. Yet they still managed to sneak up on us like this. This is impossible.' 

The group had walked in a straight line on one of the paths. Just like they had decided nobody had split up and they all went on as one big group. 

But the monsters still managed to somehow ambush them from behind. 

Ant that was not all. 

Just as the monsters started their attack from the back, a force appeared from the front as well.  

Meaning they were now surrounded from both sides. 

Ding 

Karl managed to block the swing of the beast, yet due to his fear of the monster, his blocking was not as perfect as intended.  

He lost his footing and wobbled on his feet, whilst his hand had been thrust back due to the power of the goblins slash.  

The hungry creature did not let this chance go to waste.  

And as if he had cornered his prey, he jumped up and landed on Karl's stomach.  

"Ahhhgg! Get off"  

The human screamed as he tried to stand up, but the Goblin let his sword cut downward and penetrated the Adventurers shoulder. 

 "Ahhhggggg!!" 

In turn he screamed out as the pain overwhelmed him. 

His mind was getting dizzy, his thoughts scattered and scarred. All he could think about was his death at the hands of a puny goblin. 

The Monster went in closer with its head, intending to take a bite out of Karl's face. It's fangs now protruding out of its mouth.  

The blade of the young Adventurer however reached the teeth of the beast first, and thanks to his power he was able to hold the goblin back from taking a bite. 

All his eyes could land on now were the insides of the goblins mouth. His stench reaching Karl's nose almost immediately. 

"H-help" 

Karl screamed doing his utmost to hold the monster back. 

However, the monster was slowly overpowering him. 

The energy and power Karl possessed were slowly fading the longer he had to hold the beast back. 

His arms started aching and twisting in pain and fear. Soon after the uncontrollable shaking gripped his hands. 

The vision of Karl was getting more and more fizzy as the fangs were approaching his face. 

'This is the end of me' 

He closed his eyes out of fear of the pain. 

Karl did not give up hope until the end. But in his mind, he was finished and not wanting to see the monster finish him off, he closed his eyes. 

Swung 

"Aaahhhhhhh" 

A sound carrying a handful of pain reached the ears of Karl. 

Immediately after that, something fluid landed on his face as well. The fluids were warm as far as Karl could feel it. 

'Am I dead? I didn't feel any pain.' 

"Get up! There are still many of them left." 

Karl opened his eyes, sharply being brought back to his senses. 

He looked up and saw Markus standing there reaching his hand out.

Karl was dumbstruck for a moment, not realizing what to do. 

"Hurry up! We don't have all day." 

Karl shook his head, seemingly coming back to his senses and grabbed Markus's hand. 

After lifting him up Markus looked around once to confirm the situation. 

He saw every member of the group giving it their all. Fighting with all they had against a horde of goblins killing them or incapacitating them in the process. Spells were flying, swords were clashing. The sounds of battle raged throughout the cave.  

However, he came to one realization. 

'We're cornered. There's only one way to survive this situation, and that is to fight through it.' 

He took one look back to Karl and then nodded. 

"Wipe you're face and then help me fight them off." 

Karl nodded once and then proceeded to do as he was told. 

*** 

"Uffffff" 

Karl was bent over, holding his knees as he exhaled heavily. 

The battle had ended shortly before and the only thing he could do was to try and catch his breath. 

He wasn't much of a help in the fight, as he ended up having to be saved multiple times. 

Yet as if God had smiled on them in this day, nobody had perished. Everybody had pulled through and now their motivation was larger than ever before. 

Karl could not help but feel slightly envious of their newfound energy as he barely held his heavy hands up. 

"You did well there Kid." 

A slap landed on his back as he was hunched over. 

It was a light tap, but it almost knocked Karl down. That's how tired he was. 

"Ahh, sorry, sorry" 

Markus apologized as he looked at Karl.  

His look conveyed a slight bit of sadness behind the laugh.  

"Have you ever taught about quitting this job?"  

Markus asked the question with full seriousness, without a hint of the laughter he had before.  

Karl noticed it and looked him straight in the eye as he answered the question.  

"I thought about it many times. To be honest there isn't a single day when I don't think about it."  

"Then why? Why do you keep coming back to it? Even though you know it might be you're end." 

Karl looked at him in silence before he answered.  

"Because this is the only thing I know how to do. I've been doing it for so long, that I can't imagine my life without it. I can't just quit after doing it for such a long time." 

Karl smiled softly.  

"And I need to pay rent for my apartment. I wouldn't be able to cover it if I quit."  

Karl stood up and started walking with Markus towards the leader.  

"Okay, the paths split up again. But we should stay together to stay safe. Is everyone ready!"  

He raised his arms and shouted, trying to motivate everyone else present.  

"Yeah"  

"Let's go kick some ass"  

The people started cheering.  

"Let's head out"  

After hearing the people's cheers, the leader ordered everyone to head on.  

"I need to go back to my position now. Stay safe and walk carefully. There's a chance I won't be able to save you again."  

Karl smiled lightly at that and said.  

"Don't worry. I'll be more careful."  

After walking for about 10 minutes in one direction Karl was starting to get slightly worried.  

'Nothing has happened yet. Why is that.'  

He was getting more and more worried as he looked around frantically in every direction.  

His nervousness was plain to see as he turned his head around, checking out every nook and cranny of his surroundings.  

'Normally, monsters would've attacked already. Yet they are nowhere to be seen.' 

As he was looking around, he eyed a small, yet visible floating blue light.  

The light was there, in the air without anything holding it up. It was rather small, yet it could still be visible if one looked in its direction.  

"Come here. Follow me."  

Karl's eyes widened as 'something' started to talk to him.  

He was scared out of his wits and was about to scream to the other members of his party. He wanted to, but he was so afraid he wasn't even able to muster up any words.  

"Do not worry. I have only come to lead you to your destination."  

For some reason Karl's emotions completely died down in that instant.  

He was barely able to organize his thoughts a second ago. But with a single word, the Light had made him calm down, and put him in a trans state of calmness.  

His eyes soon began to mellow out, as the color seemed to seep away every second. 

His arms fell to the ground out of pure incaution.  

He was gone. It was like his mind had left him.  

That's when the blue light came floating toward Karl.  

The blue light slowly approached Karl, moving through the other adventurer's bodies unnoticed. Until it arrived at its target.  

Karl was no longer himself.  

He had a stupid smile on his face, his eyes looking at the wall undisturbed.  

He looked like an idiot looking at the wall.  

The light entered Karl's body and after a second or two started walking away from the group.  

Karl's body was wearing a thin blue layer on top of his clothes and skin. This layer had appeared only as the ghost entered his body.  

With slow but steady steps the body of Karl disappeared from the group without anyone taking notice.  

This body then walked into the darkness of the cave, with a certain destination in mind.