“Man, there are like no monsters around.” Shana says with some disappointment. They had run across a few groups who were fighting battles and also a few corpses; both human and the insect-like monsters. But they have yet to find a battle of their own.

“Let's go just keep going deeper. We brought enough supplies for a few days so it wouldn't hurt to travel further.” Darren suggests as they continue forward.

“Unless the monsters are stronger down there.” Charlie says as his body shrinks into itself slightly. Rose glances at him from the side and Charlie lets out an awkward chuckle before walking straighter with his chest puffed out. You’re a man, Charlie! You have to protect Rose no matter what! He thinks to himself as he begins to walk with more confidence.

“How bad could it be? I have a gun, Rose has a gun, and we have two meat shields to take the hits from the front.” Shana says casually, disregarding the frown on Charlie’s face.

“You forgot the corpse guy.” Darren says with a smile. “Hey, so do you participate in the battles or are you here solely for corpses?” Darren asks the guy who was dragging a wide wagon behind him. He was dressed quite nicely for a corpse disposal guy.

“Strictly corpses. To be honest with you, I’d rather not be in a dungeon in the first place. I applied for a government position precisely because I don’t like dirty work. But now I carry corpses…” The young man says with a sigh.

“All work is dirty work, my friend. I doubt your previous position was any cleaner than your current one.” Shana says with some prejudice.

“I was a clerk. How dirty could that be?” The young man asks with a tired voice; he wasn’t quite in the mood to argue.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“First of all, you facilitate a dirty system, so you’re dirty by association. Second of all, you’re attitude for this type of work is already pretty dirty.” Shana says dismissively.

“Boom. Roasted.” Charlie says with an amused smile.

“Hey, at least I’m not playing dungeon heroes with a bunch of kids. How old are these guys anyways? Like 16?” The young man says, unimpressed.

“Darren and I are 17, if you must know. Rose, how old are you?” Charlie says before smoothly dropping his question.

Shana lets out an amused smile. “Why are you so focused on the age, little guy? Do you have an age preference? Is it young girls or mommies for you?” She asks before letting out a laugh.

Charlie’s face becomes red at the question. He very much wanted to quip back but his embarrassment kept him from speaking.

“Definitely mommies.” Darren says as he gives Shana a daring smile.

Shana looks at him and couldn’t suppress a blush. “Since when did you get so brave? Were you hoping for a treat after this dungeon exploring session?” She asks, somewhat nervous at his possible answer.

“Oh, I’m definitely expecting something.” Darren replies, his smile like that of a young wolf.

“And she’s a pedophile too. That settles it, one point for the corpse carrier and negative ten points for the female predator.” The young man says with a amused smile.

As they got deeper inside the cave, more monsters began to appear. The group dealt with them in a practiced manner and they were able to assist Rose with enough kills to become Level 1. She planned to put her points into Dexterity like her sister, but a sword dropped from the last monster before her level-up. Rose took it as a sign and split her points four points into both Strength and Dexterity; also, out of curiosity of what it would feel like to be smarter, she put two points into Intelligence. Darren impression of her was that she was quite whimsical, but he did not dislike that in a person.

As the group had brought supplies this time around, they planned to stay for as long as they could handle while they explored deeper into the cave.

A couple hours later, the corpse guy switched out with a corpse girl.

The lady waved hello and promptly followed after the group.

“How’d you track us back here?” Darren asks out of curiosity.

“Your walkie-talkie has a tracking transmitter.” The lady says politely. “If you had any other questions feel free to ask.” She says with a smile.

“She’s nice. It’s refreshing considering the company we keep.” Charlie says, implying a certain comparison with another lady in the group.

“Shut it.” Shana says with a frown before giving the new girl a mean look. Why do I hate other women so much? She couldn’t help but think to herself.