1:53pm, The Twenty-Fourth Day

  “Now!”

  Svite shouted a command as he perfectly parried a swipe with a [Waterfall]. Running forward with Kyo and Artel on my right I jumped up on an [Air Ward] and slammed my new dagger into the boss’s head, narrowly missing the weak point. Wrenching the dagger from the wound to begin casting I threw down a [Trap Glyph] and jumped away as Artel and Kyo unleashed skills.

  Steelshoe finally fell to his knees in defeat, hostile clicks dying in place. He faceplanted into the ground, finally separating into a multitude of white cubes while jewels, coins, and equipment materialized around his corpse. At the bottom of my vision, a short red sentence appeared.

Glyphwork Level Up: 16

Skill Choice Available

  From the other end of the cavern a swift cold breeze swept into the room as a massive stone gate opened in the rock face to reveal a smoothed tunnel leading to the outside world. The light in the room dimmed as all of the crystals embedded in the walls faded to a soft white, giving the cavern a wintery air.

  For a moment we waited in silence, waiting as if a new Steelshoe was about to raise from the ground at any moment. Svite and the mage watched the cubes float into the air while Kyo and Artel held their weapons aloft. Even I stayed in my crouched position as I waited for any sign that the fight wasn’t over.

  The cubes popped, one at a time in sudden stillness, each one releasing a small sound like a large bubble. The last one finally sounded, relieving us of our tension.

  Only then did Svite raise his sword into the air with a cheer, rallying us to do the same. The mage fired off a flare into the sky along with some lesser spells while Artel cheered besides him. I high-fived Kyo and shouted in cheer, enormous relief pumping through my veins.

  That was it. I finally made it to the end of this nightmare. There had always been a great fear sitting at the back of my mind, that I wouldn’t make it out, that I would breathe my last in this dungeon. With that dropped I felt my heart soar, finally liberated from the shackles of the stonepit. Within a week I would finally be stepping back into Paelgard, a man free to explore the world.

  And then, we might even have some new information on the game situation. Maybe I might even be waking up back home on the same Christmas night I went in.

  We gathered around Svite as he stood on the pile of gold and valuables, his hands on his waist.

  “We finally did it.” Svite declared. “There might’ve been a few hiccups, and a few close calls, but we did it. All I can really say is that I’m proud. Of all of us.”

  He cracked a wide grin. “And who knows? Maybe with our success, and with luck Nathan’s and Ahti’s groups’ successes as well, we’ll be one step closer to getting out of this game. This isn’t just a victory for us, this is a victory for everyone too scared to venture out, and everyone else in Paelgard!”

  We gave another cheer for that, though I noticed Kyo’s sounded half-hearted. Before I could ask however, Svite declared something that instantly switched my focus.

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  “Now let’s divide the loot!”

…

  The upbeat cheer of Svite’s violin rang through the air as we sat around the fire. His bow flew across the neck, building up before cascading down, filling the cavern with melodic sound.

  Kyo played around with a new throwing dagger, tossing it up into the air and catching it over and over again. The mage napped against the wall with his hands above his heads, looking no less stoic than when awake. Artel simply stared out at the snow falling outside, her face betraying her happiness.

  My menu was open in front of me to the inventory tab where I admired the large number of Soler sitting there. Svite had divided two hundred coins to me and Artel, who had me carry her share. Combined with the money left over from the beginning of the game, we were up to two hundred and twenty four soler, which was roughly equivalent to two and a half thousand USCAM dollars in purchasing power. Not much for almost a month of work, but it was the largest amount of money I’d ever held in this game, even including my time in the beta.

  I was already thinking of what weapon I would get when I got back to Paelgard, and the current candidates were either a long shortsword or a short longsword. I wanted something with some range after using the dagger, but also something I could use two hands to draw glyphs effectively. Definitely iron or steel for the material as well, for the durability buffs those materials conferred. I never wanted to be caught without a weapon again.

  Kyo sat down next to me, startling me from my thoughts.

  “How ya holding up?”

  “Just dreaming about the blade I’m gonna get when I get back. Oh, that reminds me…” I began to pull Kyo’s dagger out of my sheath only for her to stop me.

  “Don’t worry about it, think of it as a gift, ya know?”

  “Speaking of getting back to Paelgard actually, I kind of wanted to know what your plans were.” Kyo threw the dagger up again, catching it by the blade. “Ever thought about staying with us permanently?”

  I leaned back and looked up as I thought about it. I’d wondered about doing that myself a few times over the last few days, but I still wasn’t sure if I wanted too. On one hand Artel and I valued our freedom as players above most else, but things were much easier with others. I knew I wanted to do dungeons and raids with the future for sure, especially now that I could consider them all friends, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tie myself down just yet.

  “I don’t know.” I replied truthfully. “You might have to wait on that answer until after we get back to Paelgard.”

  “That’s kind of what I expected.” Kyo chuckled. “It’d be a great boost to have ya on the team though.”

  Now it was my turn to chuckle. “You’d be better asking most people on the streets. I had the worst dps here.”

  “I wouldn’t say that.” Kyo said. “You stayed alive just fine, and you were only equipped with a dagger and one combat support skill. I’m sure you’d match us with proper equipment.”

  She grinned. “Or you’ll match Svite at least.”

  I dismissed that with a wave. “We’ll see once I get back. Maybe then I’d be able to contribute.”

  “Don’t be like that.” Kyo punched me. “We’d always let ya on the team. Svite’s just too shy to ask ya outright. Those glyphwork moves you pulled against the boss were just way too flashy.”

  “Then I’ll definitely consider it.”

  The thought that I had finally gotten some reliable in-game friends was strangely comforting. I’d had friends in the real world of course, but ever since I’d gotten trapped in the dungeon I’d felt increasing loneliness, even despite my sister being by my side. Having the invitation stand open brought me just a little closer to calling this place home.

  “Thanks Kyo.” I finally said. “It means a lot.”

  She looked bewildered for a second before breaking into a laugh.

  “Now don’t be getting sappy with me now!” Kyo teased. “I won’t ever forget how you were eating golem crap before joining up.”

  “For the last time, it was animation cores!”