Steve POV
I had just finished my glass of grumichama mirim wine when the music stopped once more and everyone turned to look at the Jukebox and bathroom. Only no one came out and even though none of them seemed to have liked Twitch, all of them looked somber, even Dave, who had only stuck around to see if Twitch made it out. As the seconds dragged on, I could feel the anxiety of the room grow until Bob spoke in a disappointed tone.
“Seems like that song might be an issue moving forward.”
“Really? Is that all you have to say?” I asked. “If I am right, a man just died.”
“Drop it,” cut in Paul. “Most of those who enter the dungeons die eventually. It’s why those of us who are in too deep to get out try to tell you all to just back off. It’s why I haven’t cleared the level 15 song like I know I should. It is why I am here with Peter every night drinking. From what you have shared about your dungeon, it was one of the simpler ones, and that is more of a trap than anything.”
“Then maybe I will just keep looking for children’s songs to challenge.”
“Don’t assume that just because it is a children’s song that it will be easy,” warned Peter. “Really, I have seen dungeons that I thought would be easy, almost kill me and ones that I thought would be hard, end up being extremely easy. If you’re dead set on diving again, then just make sure you take some time to let those you care about know that you do at the very least.”
“Yeah, I take it that those lost to the dungeon are just become missing persons or something-”
“Or something,” retorted Paul. “While Bob won’t say anything about it, no one has ever come looking for those the Jukebox takes.”
“Stop scaring him more than he needs to be,” Dave cut in. “Look, you saw him before he went in. He wasn’t all there anymore. Not saying that makes it any less sad, but even I know better than to come when I am not at my best and I always research my songs beforehand. This time just worked out as one of my main jams was waiting for me, but really knowing what is in the songs you pick is key.”
“As much as I hate to give you a compliment, you’re actually right for a change,” muttered Peter, before looking back at me. “Look, that last song talks about riding a bike with no handlebars a lot, so if you don’t feel confident in being able to do that, you shouldn’t take a chance on it.”
“Dungeons like that are always the ones to get out of hand,” agreed Paul. “The worst part is that it means that I’ll need to pick up that skill set once it is passed level five, as that is when my timer starts, as that only leaves five new moons at most before it will be level 10.”
“Then why haven’t you taken care of the level 10, 12, 14 and 15 songs that are in there already?” I asked.
“The 12 is for Peter here to reach level 13 when he feels ready in the next week, the ten is my next dive and I don’t feel confident about clearing the 14 or 15. Believe it of not, there are a few others who stop in once in a while to clear anything that is getting close to level 20.”
“What happens if it reaches level 20?”
“Don’t worry about that,” responded Bob. “Just know that it isn’t good and it will start making things around here really dangerous for all of us.”
“Even you Bob?” asked Dave. “I thought nothing worried you.”
“Especially me, otherwise I would just let Peter and Paul drive everyone away from here and let what comes come. Now, I think it’s time to get back to your drinks, dive, or leave.”
As Bob said that, Dave chuckled as he patted me on the back while wishing me luck. Peter and Paul returned to sipping their drinks, and I went back to thinking while enjoying some wine. Like this, the next hour passed as I looked between my fruit and the Jukebox and I wondered just what it would mean to uproot my life and start diving. Finally, I decided that I wasn’t going to find my answer that night as I spoke to Bob once more.
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“Any way that I can get you to hold onto this apple for me?”
“Are you going to come back for it?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I don’t want to have it get mixed up with a normal one as I head home for a week or two to figure things out. Besides, I only plan to eat it if I come back, so if you don’t see me in the next month just assume that I am not coming and give it to someone else who is going to dungeon dive.”
“That isn’t how the fruit works,” cut in Paul. “To me or anyone else, that is likely just a regular apple, or perhaps it is even poison. If you could bring out such fruit and share them, I would be pushing for you to dive more weak dungeons just to get them for others to use. After all, even if it is only a slight boost, anything that could help more divers survive would be big.”
“Are you sure it will only work for him?” asked Bob. “The Jukebox is chaotic and never holds to any rules that aren’t enforced upon it.”
“I think it said only I could use it now that I think about it,” I replied. “I am good with testing it out still, since it could have lied about that as well if it is so chaotic.”
“Just leave it with Bob,” commented Peter. “If you don’t come back in two weeks, I’ll use it to clear my next dungeon, as that is about when I plan to do so. After all, the new moon is still 16 days away, and that means that even if I don’t dive, the song will level up.”
“I wish you two wouldn’t sit on your hands so long,” complained Bob. “After all, you’re about to let a song slip past your abilities.”
“Explain that to me?” I asked. “I get that each song has levels and I do too now, but nothing was really explained about that.”
“There really isn’t anything to say, but as you enter a dungeon, your level will determine part of what you have to work with inside the dungeons,” replied Paul. “The system is always changing and setup can be a real pain as you could have to go through the entire setting everything up for something like a D&D character in some.”
“That sounds like a real pain.”
“Other times it will just auto generate everything for you,” added Peter. “Really, it is a real pain, and that’s why we both wait until the songs we have our eyes on would level up on their own before diving them.”
“Wait, we level up each time we beat a dungeon of our own level, right?”
“Yeah,” answered Paul.
“Then why not try to reach level 17 after the level 14 song hits 15 and the level 15 one goes to level 16 soon?”
“I already said, both of those are bad fits for me,” stated Paul. “Even if your fruits could boost me, I would still not want to risk it as I like living.”
“How often do the higher level guys you were talking about come by?” I asked.
“Don’t assume that they are men, but we usually get one of them every few months,” replied Paul. “So we should see two before either reached level 20, but they won’t touch anything at my level or below. For now, just worry about making your mind up, but I hope you don’t come back and enjoy living life.”
“While you can,” comments Bob.
“Really, you can’t just leave things be,” retorted Peter. “You act as if the world is going to end tomorrow if you don’t trick more fools into diving here-”
“It very well could,” stated Bob firmly. “If you and Paul failed, who would pick up the slack? The fact that I don’t have enough regulars coming here to clear out 20 songs a week is a real threat.”
“Yet you won’t kick us out as you need us,” retorted Paul. “Bob, just let things be-”
“Why do you two care about what I or anyone else does when you’re diving as well?”
“We’re in too deep and have lost too many friends along the way,” replied Peter. “Paul and I are the last of 20 of us that were here a decade ago. Everyone else has fallen to the dungeon and we know that we’re doomed to join them one day, but that doesn’t mean others should too.”
I wasn’t sure how to process that as Bob spoke once more.
“Just hand the apple and sticker you got over and I will give them back when you show up again. Also, I will find another rare fruit alcohol for you to try.”
I gave Bob a smile as I handed him the fruit and sticker before giving Cat one more pet before heading out, my mind a mess as I tried to figure out what I should do. There was something about the situation that just felt right for me, but I knew Peter and Paul weren’t lying about losing friends. So, I knew that if I was going to dive again, I needed to have a plan and a reason to enter the dungeon beyond just wanting to try a new fruit. While hunting for rare fruits was my passion, it wasn’t worth my life on its own. Well, $10,000 was a lot of money and that was just for a level 1 dungeon. Just thinking about how much money Paul was making clearing 12 level 10 dungeons a year was making my mind think of what I could do with 1.2 million dollars a year.