After the commotion of the Ley Line Storm and the unexpected trip through the Rift Gate, I was glad to be back on the other side on board the Conestoga as it made its way through the Whispering Expanse towards the next Server.

I let the Conestoga’s gentle hum lull me into a kind of meditative trance, my eyes scanning over the gear spread across the bunk in front of me. My reflection glinted back at me from the surface of the alien pistol, the greenish hue of the metallic finish contrasting with the black of my techwear.

Name Reaver's Pistol Grade Rare Type Pistol Damage 28; Acid Range 120 meters Ammo 20 Stat Bonus +4 PER, +2 MAN Modifiers +3% Critical Hit Chance Effects Regenerates one ammo every five minutes.

It was a gift from the Riftgate, one of four. The rest: an upgrade to my armor, a health-boosting ring, and a potion of mana. Rewards for making it through that hellish dimension intact. I picked up the new techwear armor, the cool material whispering promises of better protection. It was lightweight and flexible but firm enough to take a hit.

Name Wastelander's Techwear of Fortification. Grade Rare Defense Bonus +7 Damage Reduction 5; All Energy and Kinetic Stat Bonus +2 AGI, +2 STR, +2 RES Modifiers +3 bonus to Stealth, +3 bonus to Athletics Effects Forms a barrier that can absorb up to 20 Psionic Damage. Cooldown: Two hours.

Slipping on the health ring, I felt a tingle spread through my fingers, up my arm, and then throughout my whole body. My health bar, displayed on my Interface, gave a little flicker and then lengthened by a few extra pixels. Not a massive change, but every little helped.

Name Ring of Minor Health Grade Uncommon Stat Bonus +4 END Modifiers +3 Psionic Defense Effects +30 Health

A flicker of unease rolled through my gut as I turned my attention to the mana potion. It was a small, elegant vial filled with a glowing liquid. First time I've seen one in the Nexus—wonder how rare they are? As I was about to uncork it, I noticed the text on it:

Mana Potion: Consuming the potion restores 100 Mana.

A hundred mana was a crazy amount. Personally, I'd rather stock up on these than stimpacks. The more often I could use my abilities, the better.

My focus then landed on the acidic bolt pistol. I picked it up, the weight comfortably heavy in my hand. I ran my thumb over the trigger, careful not to squeeze. The display on my Interface marked that it recharged its ammo on its own, a steady tick tick tick that I knew could make all the difference in a tight spot.

Right, now that the gear was in order, I figured I should check my stats and the new Umbrakinesis ability the rank-up gave me. A soft sigh escaped my lips as I opened my status screen. My stat point was there, waiting for assignment. I let my eyes roam the stats, considering my options. But I already knew where I was going to assign the point.

Resilience.

I selected it, and an extra point joined the others, a bit of assurance, a promise of surviving just a little bit longer in the next fight. A subtle warmth spread through me. A resilience boost wasn't flashy, but it could be the difference between life and death.

My Interface then led me to my new Umbrakinesis ability, Blackened Regeneration. It seemed I could heal my wounds using energies from the Umbral Plane. Man...haven't seen that place in what seemed like ages.

I frowned slightly, the implications were both fascinating and unnerving. I’d seen wounds heal in Nexus, the skin knitting itself together with a soft light. But this... the idea of my injuries being enveloped in inky darkness was eerie. And the warning about the alien-looking scars was a disquieting footnote. Yet, I couldn’t deny the practical utility of it.

The knowledge of its use bloomed in my mind, like a new concept taking root. A pulsing darkness, patient and timeless, waited at the edges of my awareness. I reached out with my thoughts, and it responded, flowing into me like cold silk. It was an odd sensation, not quite painful, but uncomfortable.

I tried to manifest the ability on a small cut on my arm, watching as the wound was shrouded in darkness before sealing itself, leaving a faint, strange-looking scar behind.

"Woah..." I flexed my arm, testing it. It felt as good as new. I ran my fingers over the scar, tracing the unusual pattern.

I leaned back, the events of the day catching up to me. My room felt a little smaller, the silence a bit louder, the gear on my table more real. There was a certain permanence to these things. I was going to have to do this again and again. Get to a new Server. Find out what lay at the end of the Nexus. Then what? I had no idea.

A part of me just wanted to leave all this behind—find a cozy corner of the Nexus to settle in, maybe build a little shelter to keep the cold, the danger, all the possibilities at bay. It wasn't a bad life, certainly safer than the other way.

I reached into my pocket, feeling for my wallet that still had my driver's license. They were useless here, but sometimes I just wanted to see it, hold on to the scraps of my past life. I felt something else inside—a thin rectangle, like a credit card. But I didn't remember having one outside my wallet.

I pulled out the object, turning it over in my hands: a silvery keycard with a digital pattern etched into its surface. Wait...now I remember. This was the last reward I got from the Rift Gate. It wasn't flashy like the gear or as tangible as a new ability so I didn't bother the inspect it closely through my Interface. Wonder what this could be?

It shimmered as I picked it up, the ghostly circuitry embedded within the translucent material giving off an otherworldly glow. It was light, practically weightless, but it felt heavy in a way I couldn't quite explain.

I examined it closer. It felt warm to the touch, and I couldn't help but let out a low whistle. Not because of the warmth, but because of the resilience of it. I pressed my finger against it, testing the material, and found it to be almost indestructibly firm. Huh...wonder what made this so special?

As if in answer to my unspoken question, my Interface pinged with a status screen of the item:

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

World Key Unique Item (1 of 8) World ID x0byj73pw95

A soft gasp escaped me. This World Key, it had my World ID embedded within it. I remembered it from when I first arrived, how the System had assigned me an ID, a unique code to represent me and my original world. I ran my fingers over the shimmering circuits, my mind spinning. What could this mean? I read on...

A key embedded with the unique identifier of your home dimension. This item is incredibly rare, indestructible, and cannot be duplicated. This particular World Key resonates with your World ID. Collect all eight World Keys to form a complete set. With a full set, you can open a gate to your original world. Rift Gates, when cleared, offer a small chance to reward a World Key to a Player. Completing a World Quest has a higher chance of awarding a World Key to participating Players.

For a moment, my breath hitched, my eyes scanning the words over and over again. A portal back to my world? Back home? My pulse quickened at the thought. So there was a way to go back! Go back to my friends, my family, my city, and my life before all of this madness happened.

I stared at the screen, unable to tear my eyes away. My mind raced. Eight keys, each one locked away behind a Rift Gate. Each gate a challenge, a test of skill and strength. The danger was real, the stakes high. But this was proof—tangible evidence that going back was possible.

I held the World Key up, letting the artificial light of my room refract through its surface. As the soft glow illuminated my face, I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face. Only seven more to go. Sounds like It's better to rush for the Rift Gates in the Servers before other Players complete them.

Suddenly, a realization dawned on me. Aubrey. She had trained me, prepped me for life in Nexus, but she had never mentioned the World Keys. Why? Maybe she just didn't get around to it before we split up. I shook my head, dismissing the thought. It didn’t matter why. What mattered was the key in my hand and the potential it held.

Tucking the key into my pocket, I stepped out of my room and made my way towards the driver's cabin where Dipton was busy piloting the Conestoga.

"Dip, got a minute?" I asked, leaning against the doorframe as he manned the steering wheel.

Dioptan glanced at me, an eyebrow raised. "Something on your mind, Connor?" he asked, then quickly turned his attention back to the screen in front of him.

I took a deep breath, pulled the World Key from my pocket, and held it out to him—the faint glow illuminating his bearded face as he looked at it. The mixture of reverence and melancholy in his eyes gave me pause, but I barreled forward, unable to contain my excitement. "Dipton, this thing...it's like a ticket home. Look, it's got my World ID—"

He held up a hand, cutting me off mid-sentence. "Hold it right there, son," he said, shaking his head. "There’s some things you gotta learn before getting ahead of yourself. First off, never blurt out your World ID like it's your favorite meal. Anyone ever taught you know about Player etiquette and World IDs?"

"Etiquette?" I asked, frowning. "No, Aubrey never said anything about that. Why is it a big deal?"

"Well, first off, read that fine print on the World Key screen." He motioned to the Interface, his tone carrying a weight that suggested he already knew what it would reveal. "You'll have to dig around and make the System show you the hidden menu."

I furrowed my brows and turned my attention to the screen. I skimmed through the information, but it seemed like I had already read everything it had to offer. But then, in a lower corner, my eyes caught a series of dots as if to indicate a collapsible menu. I tapped it, and a series of new information unfurled:

World Key Acquirement Rate: Upon clearing first Rift Gate: 100% chance. Upon clearing subsequent Rift Gate(s) with 1 World Key already acquired: 10% chance. Upon clearing subsequent Rift Gate(s) with 2 World Keys already acquired: 1% chance. Upon clearing subsequent Rift Gate(s) with 3 World Keys already acquired: 0.1% chance. Note: This rate decreases with each World Key obtained.

My mouth went dry as I read it. The reality of my situation was beginning to dawn on me. I swiveled my head back to Dipton, who had been silently watching me with a knowing look. "So, what you’re saying is… after the first one, the odds of getting another key drops dramatically."

"Like a rock off a cliff," Dipton affirmed, crossing his arms. "You'd be lucky to have three World Keys after years in Nexus. More than that? It's a fool's hope."

"But... why would the System do this?" I asked, feeling a creeping sense of disillusionment. "It’s like dangling a carrot in front of us and then..."

Dipton interrupted, raising an eyebrow at me, "Now, recall what I said about Player etiquette, World IDs, and all. Try to piece it together, son."

I thought hard, my mind tracing back to the conversation. World IDs... drop rates... A realization started to form. Players hiding their World IDs, the impossible odds of getting all eight World Keys... I sucked in a breath as realization hit me. No way...no fucking way!

"People can steal your keys, can't they?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Dipton nodded grimly. "Now you're getting it. The System didn't exactly make it easy for us to leave. The World Keys you get are tied directly to your World ID so there's no point in trading keys that you can't use. If it's practically impossible for you to get all eight keys by yourself, the only way for you to get more is to take it from a Player that you know came from the same world as you." He paused for a moment, then glanced at me, his eyes intense as he continued. "You pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?"

A knot formed in my stomach. This was getting deeper and darker by the second. I told Aubrey my World ID when we first met, and she told me that we were from the same world. A sickening realization dawned on me: her reason for saving me and training me...maybe it wasn't out of the goodness of her heart. Maybe it was to set me up for success so that she could get her hands on the keys that I manage to get, so she could leave the Nexus.

No way...

No way...right? She wouldn't do that. She's not like that. But the way she acted, and the timing of it all...was it all a set-up?

I clenched my fist, anger building up inside me as the pieces finally came together. "This is why she told me not to trust anybody, right? Why she wanted me to fight my way out?"

Dipton let out a long sigh, nodding as he ran a hand through his hair. "You got a good head on your shoulders, kid." Then he leaned against the steering wheel and gave me a grave look. "Listen, Connor, this is just what we know—from what I've gathered in my time surviving in Nexus. Whatever your deal is with this Aubrey girl, be it a partnership or a friendship or whatever you two got going on, just know that the golden ticket is only for one person. One."

I stared at the keycard in my hand, the words echoing in my mind. If I really wanted to go home, it meant taking the keys from someone else that was from my world—taking away their chance.

"Wait, so if someone stole this key from me? Can't I just get another one at a hundred percent chance? Is that a loophole we can exploit?"

Dipton chuckled, letting out a bitter laugh. "You're not the first one to come up with that idea," he said, shaking his head. "It don't work like that. Even if you drop it, lose it, or give it away, the fact that you had acquired it is logged in the system. Your chances don't reset just because a key is not in your possession anymore."

Fucking shit! "So that's it, then?" I asked, the words coming out harsher than I had intended. "I'll have to steal keys to get home?"

"Shit, Connor, I know it sounds bad, but that's just how Nexus works." Dipton leaned back, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. "This world is built on the idea of 'survival of the fittest'." He paused and glanced my way again. "And just so we're clear on this, all the crew here come from different worlds. We never mentioned our World IDs to each other—wait, scratch that, Darcey and I know each other's IDs but they're different—but the rest of us know that we're from different worlds."

"How did you guys realize this?" I asked, more than a little shocked at the revelation.

Dipton let out a half-hearted laugh. "Simple social deduction, obviously. If each world is unique in some way, you'll bound to realize that the person you're talking to might not be from the same place based on the things they say about their life or their world." Then he shrugged and looked away, "And when we realized that, we decided to keep the knowledge to ourselves."

I nodded, understanding their point of view. It made sense, really. But man, this System still sucked. I clenched my fists, feeling the cold touch of the World Key in my pocket. "Still, it’s not fair," I found myself saying, my voice a low whisper. "Why would the System do this? Why set us up to steal from each other?"

Dipton took a deep breath, leaning back against his seat, his eyes distant. "Fairness is a human concept. The System is probably indifferent. It doesn't care about our individual struggles or our morals. Maybe we're just cogs in a machine here."

I let the words sink in, not knowing what else to say. I turned around, making my way back to my room, the silence of the cabin following me as I closed the door behind me. I plopped on the bed, staring at the wall across the room. I thought I was a step closer to home, but now it seemed like everything was just going to be harder than ever.