Kai’Lenal loses his worried expression at my words, instead shaking his head. He speaks, but I’m already focused on using the spell that Isis taught me.

  I can already feel the beginnings of another sleep spell, but Isis’s spell does its work and I feel as the sleep spell loses its lock on me.

  Kai’Lenal looks at me expectantly.

  “Did you say something?” I ask him.

  “I am confused. Are you alright?” He asks.

  I look down to see the tight grip the lizardman has on his sword.

  “I’m fine.” I say, giving the poor guy a wink. “Someone was just looking for me.”

  I move to my feet and stretch my back like a cat. How much more time is there left in this hour anyway?

  At that thought, a helpful little blue screen pops up.

  I don’t have to wait too much longer then. It’ll be nice to get away from all of these things trying to kill me.

  Which brings me back to the question; who is casting a sleep spell on me?

  Isabelle doesn’t seem like the type, and I can’t think of anyone else who could have put the spell on me. Unless Hans is somewhere nearby?

  I glance over to Kai’Lenal. I believe the lizardman when he says that he wasn’t the one casting magic, and I didn’t see any signs of it in the first place.

  He stares back at me with a puzzled expression.

  I’ve noticed a lot of people look at me like that. I wonder why?

  A question for another day.

  I consider for a moment, then drop the spell Isis had taught me and prepare my own psi.

  There.

  The sleep spell tries to take hold, but I grab onto the spell and follow it towards its source. My psi accelerates through me in excitement as I get closer and closer.

  They cancel the spell and my psi dissipates into nothingness.

  “Craps.” I curse. They must have noticed my plan somehow.

  I know the general direction they’re in, but in the- I glance at the helpful little clock -five minutes I have, there’s no way I’m going to be able to catch them, whoever they are.

  “Are all humans as… confusing as you?” The lizardman interrupts my thoughts, bringing my attention back to him with his question.

  “I hope not.” I answer, then taking a moment to consider his question, I continue, “Definitely not.”

  “This world is very perplexing.” Kai’Lenal says.

  I give him a smile, “It certainly is.” I take one last glance at the clock. “Well, it was fun meeting you Kai. Let’s do this again sometime, without the whole killing giant spiders thing.”

  A flurry of blue screens appear in front of me as the timer runs out.

  I wait a few seconds before another blue screen pops up.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  That’s a lot of information, some of which I really don’t want to process right now.

  I press the yes button.

  A normal wooden door appears out of thin air on top of the subway tracks. I happily walk towards it.

  “A moment, Beta Tester?” Kai’Lenal calls out.

  I stop in front of the door and turn to him, tilting my head in curiosity.

  “If it won’t be a bother to you, I would like to travel with you through the door.” Kai’Lenal nods towards the door I’m about to step through.

  I look him up and down, “Sure, I already have a fairy, a lizarmand won’t hurt.”

  I open the door, revealing my room and hold it open for him.

  Kai’Lenal steps through, and I follow him inside.

  His mouth opens as he looks at the door to The Shop.

  “A Beta Tester with a Shop entrance.” I hear the capital in the word Shop clearly. “It seems that I have underestimated you, Elena.”

  I close the door behind us, and it disappears into nothing. I give a small smile to the lizardman in response to his statement.

  “Elena! You’re alive!” A small winged creature crashes into my nose, giving my face a hug. “When I heard that there was an event, I was so, so worried. But you’re back now, so everything is okay.” Dee pulls back from my face, and looks me up and down. “You have a lot of holes in your clothes.”

  I chuckle, “I’ve noticed.”

  “And this is?” Kai’Lenal asks, his eyes glancing back and forth between me and the fairy.

  Dee finally takes notice of my guest, and her expression instantly shifts into a serious one. “I am the guardian of this home. I take it you are a Chat’Kai.”

  He bows his head, “You may call me Kai’Lenal. Thank you for protecting this home, guardian. It is a noble task.”

  Dee opens her mouth to respond, but I interrupt her. “I know that you both want to talk, but I have had a very long day.” I look at Dee, and remember to not use her name at the last second, “Guardian, if you would be so kind as to show Kai’Lenal the way to the shed, he can stay there. I need to get some sleep.”

  Dee nods and motions for Kai’Lenal to follow her. He does so without any resistance.

  I fall into my bed and look at the blue screens I’d read before passing through the door. Twenty two thousand Beta Testers killed by other Beta Testers. Twenty two thousand people killed because of greed.

  I sit up in my bed and say a small prayer for all of the people that have died because of this “game” the gods are playing.

  That done, I search through my notifications until I find it again.

  That means Isabelle, me, and probably Hans lived through the event.

  A realization hits me and I immediately check the mark I’d placed on Rose. A tense breath leaves me when I realize that she’s safe in her home. I had felt [Danger Sense] trigger on her more than once, but there was nothing I could do.

  My gaze travels to the blue window that says, “you have almost completely stopped the infestation.”

  We didn’t kill them all, which means there are still giant spiders in Korea.

  “This stupid fucking system.”

  I take a deep breath, then turn my gaze towards my reward, the [Dungeon Core].

  “What is a Dungeon Core?” I ask.

  I study the description for a long moment, thinking. When I think of the word dungeon, the prison in a castle comes to mind, but I have enough experience with videogames to know that the word means something else in the gamer world.

  I also vaguely remember reading a novel online about a dungeon that would fight and kill heroes.

  “Ele… Elena… Can you hear me Elena?”

  I blink in surprise, recognizing the voice of the woman who had guided me through the tutorial.

  “Sheyla?” I ask.

  “Oh good, I was worried that I had missed the chance to talk to my newest student.” Sheyla says, humor in her voice.

  “No one can let me sleep, can they?” I mutter.

  “That’s a pretty ungrateful thing to say to someone trying to save your life.” Sheyla responds.

  “I can be a pretty ungrateful person,” I say with a snort. “I would appreciate it if you could get to the point. I’ve had a long day with little sleep.”

  “Of course.” Sheyla continues, her tone chipper. “Despite my warnings, at the first opportunity you got, you decided to align yourself with a god.”

  “What can I say? It’s how things ended up.”

  “I wouldn’t be so nonchalant if I were you. You chose a side, and that means you’ve made enemies, as you no doubt have found out.”

  My hand goes to the spot Isabelle had stabbed me.

  “Isis is not as powerful as she once was. In fact, she has very little power left in the major worlds, and only the protection of her son, Horus, keeps her alive.” Sheyla continues in a serious tone, “this protection does not extend to you. You have made yourself a target of those who wish to keep her weak, for Beta Testers like you are her only hope of returning to power.”

  I think about Sheyla’s words for a long moment, then a small grin makes its way to my face. “A lot of things make sense now, thank you.”

  “You don’t sound as worried as you should be.”

  “Don’t worry my esteemed instructor. I’m sure that I can work everything out over a nice cup of tea.” I pause tilting my head to look at the entrance to the Shop. “The tea probably won’t be poisoned.”