Around the same time Myles opened his first Instance Dungeon, a different scene could be seen taking place. Ignoring all traffic, a fancy supercar, likely custom-built and appeared very sleek, tore through the streets as if nothing was blocking its way. It would pass by a car along the way as it headed into downtown LA.
Two familiar figures could be seen inside this car. It was as if time had briefly slowed down. The figure seated in the passenger seat raised their eyebrows, not expecting what they were currently observing. In the park in the near distance, this person had caught a glimpse of something otherworldly.
"Hey Happy, slow down for a sec, will ya?", The man requested.
"You know I can't do that Tony. We're already late as it is. You just had to spend all night at that party. What are the shareholders going to say when they see you at our quarterly review?", The man at the wheel responded, frowning.
"What is a measly point or two going to do in the market right now? I'll tell you. Absolutely nothing.", The second man said, scoffing at him. "I own the entire damn business. If they have a bone to pick with me, then they can tell it right into my face. I'm not one to back down from a challenge."
"Just make sure the rest doesn't hear you say that...", The second man said, sighing this time. "But what's this about stopping?"
"Ah, right. Stop the car. Something caught my eye you see.", The first man said, looking back toward the window. "I don't know if it's something that came out of the corner of my eye. It shouldn't hurt to take a minute to check it out."
"Fine, fine. Just don't take too long.", The man named Happy said. He placed his foot onto the pedal, causing the custom-built car to come to a screeching halt.
"You're the best Happy.", The second man named Tony said. "It won't take long."
Seeing the man named Tony step out of the car, Happy sighed again.
"Seriously, why do I always let him do whatever he wants...", Happy sighed, while eyeing the drive-through order he had picked up along the way. It was a few burgers, something that Tony loved. "Might as well have an early lunch. It's going to get quite busy later."
Happy began to enjoy an early meal while taking a short break in the car he was driving.
As for Tony, he could now be seen strolling through the park. He garnered some surprised looks from a couple people who were still out dog-walking. He simply ignored the stares. He was used to it at this point. That's because this man just so happened to be Tony Stark!
It would seem he was currently en route to Stark Headquarters, which was still a distance away from LA, further down south. He had crossed through San Fernando Valley and was going about his own business until he spotted something that interested him.
"Say Jarvis, are you picking up any interference at all?", Tony uttered, asking a question to his personally-developed Artificial Intelligence. While he has yet to own the Iron Man suit at this time, he still has access to Jarvis.
"None that I'm detecting, Sir.", Jarvis responded.
"Then what in god's name is this supposed to be?", Tony cursed, seeing something incredulous before him. He had crossed through the park, and wandered toward the same area where Myles attempted to open the Instance Dungeon.
"That seems to be a portal, Sir.", Jarvis answered, seeing the starry-like tear in space present before him.
"I can tell that with my own eyes, damn it!", Tony cursed. "I'm asking, what is it doing here in the middle of nowhere?"
"Shall I dispatch a drone for continued observation?", Jarvis decided to ask.
"Yeah, you go do that.", Tony nodded. "I'm going to scope the place out. Catch ya on the flip side."
"Sir, I would highly advise against tha---", Jarvis attempted to say, before he saw Tony enter the Instance Dungeon.
The moment Tony did, any feedback got cut off. Unbeknownst to Myles, it would seem Tony Stark not only discovered the location of the Slime Tunnel Instance Dungeon he had just made some moments before, he even had the ability to both see it, and enter it!
Once Tony finished entering the Instance Dungeon, he saw that Jarvis's communication system got cut off. But that wasn't what he was surprised by. Tony's mouth went agape seeing that he was now in some random tunnel.
"Holy shit...", Tony cursed again. "Jarvis, are you getting this? It looks like whatever that thing was transported me to a different location."
And yet, all Tony was greeted with was silence. Jarvis was completely offline.
"Tch. Of course. The signal must not reach this place, wherever this is---?", Tony tried to guess. He couldn't even finish his train of thought before he heard a voice he wasn't familiar with. It came from further inside the tunnel.
"Heh. It's three of you bastards this time. I'm beginning to see a pattern here.", The voice spoke. "It's all the same to me. You're nothing but experience. Let's see what this new Skill of mine can do. Leg Sweep!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The noise suddenly grew louder for Tony.
"The hell?", Tony responded, not expecting to actually hear another person.
So Tony did the one thing he could do. Turning around, he saw the portal close behind him with no exit in sight. That meant he could only press onward. He sprinted inward, quickly arriving to where the source of the voice came from.
What appeared before him was a man, who was eighteen years old sporting messy and short brown-hair with a hoodie on, striking with his leg out. He then launched a powerful sweep of his leg to attack what appeared to be three...jelly-like creatures? Tony felt a strange sense of familiarity seeing the three slimes before they all struck the wall head on. He even saw the three damage numbers appear above their bodies before the three slimes fell over, only to perish shortly after.
After the three slimes vanished, he saw the name tag above the person's head change. It went from Level 2 to Level 3.
"Yosh. I leveled up!", The man said, only to get an uncomfortable feeling. It felt like he was no longer alone, and that bothered him. Turning around, he came across a person. Someone who shouldn't be there.
"Who are you?", Tony called out to the man. It was clear he hadn't seen this guy before.
"I could say the same thing to you. What are you doing in here!?", The man asked back. It was clear he was surprised to see Tony standing before him.
"You left the front door open so I just let myself in. Was that not supposed to happen?", Tony replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"No, it wasn't!", The man exclaimed, obviously shocked now. "You being in here defies all logic! Wait a minute..."
"What now? You're going to tell me what this place is, exactly? I tried leaving, but there was no exit.", Tony replied.
"Just let me think for a moment, alright?", The man asked again. "There was that...wasn't there?"
Of course, that man was me. Right now, I'm currently seeing something that shouldn't be happening right now.
I mean, why is THE Tony Stark standing before me in the Instance Dungeon I made!? It makes absolutely zero sense. And I'm not blaming my LUK stat for this one. It's still low! But this does confirm one thing. I'm not alone when it comes to the Gamer System. And now that I think about it, that makes sense.
This particular System has one cool function that other Systems in other stories that I've read don't have.
A function called Party. In The Gamer, you get to see Han Jihan invite other people and create a Party. As long as one is in the Party, they get the full benefits of the Gamer System.
And are you telling me Tony Stark just happened to wander into this place?
I could attempt to explain this properly, but Tony Stark is one smart cookie. He may act like a condescending jerk a lot of the time, but he has a firm grip of what goes on the world. He's one of its leading figures. Not in terms of governmental or military affairs, but that of technology. He owns Stark Industries. Right now, this should be an arms manufacturer that supplies weapons and other goods directly to the US Military, while dabbling into technology on the side. It wouldn't be until Iron Man I that he developed the Arc Reactor, the first major step to clean energy.
After letting my shock die down, I simply observed Tony Stark for a moment.
"So kid, are you going to tell me where exactly we are?", Tony asked.
"One thing at a time. And I'm not a kid. I just so happen to be an adult, thank you very much. The name's Myles, by the way. Before you start firing off question after question at me, isn't it polite to tell me who you are?", I said, introducing myself.
"Wait. You're being serious?", Tony replied with something I wasn't expecting to hear. "There's someone out there who doesn't know who I am?"
"Haha.", I laughed. "Fine, fine. I was just putting up a facade. You're Tony Stark, right? Owner of Stark Industries? I can't believe such a famous person is in front of me right now."
"Well, consider yourself lucky. I don't let many get in close proximity with me like this. Happy is usually the one to persuade the media away. You're not the media right?", Tony asked.
"No, I'm not. I'm just me.", I said, and shrugged my shoulders. "And I'd love to spend all day talking about this, but I've got a dungeon to clear. They say actions speak louder than words, so you'll have no choice but to follow me on this."
"Alright then.", Tony replied. "Show me what ya got, kid. There isn't much that can surprise me at this point. I've seen a lot of shit go down."
"Heh. Wanna place a bet then?", I replied, smirking at Tony.
"You're on. But I highly doubt you'll impress me.", Tony said.
"Then have a look at this.", I said, smiling.
Now it's beginning to make sense as to why I was greeted with those Gamer Notifications just now that came after the battle prompts. I won't bore you with the details like the first couple of battles. I killed the three slimes, and it was enough to level up once. Thanks to that, Point Doubler triggered, and it gave me twelve Points that I can now use. But what came next I didn't think would happen so soon.
The Party function!
This particular function is one of the key defining abilities of the Gamer System. It isn't like Solo Leveling or other stories like that where it is just you who has it. You can, in fact, invite other people and create what is called a Party. Once they're in, they receive full benefits of the Gamer System. They get assigned levels, they can level up, earn Quests, and even use loot drops!
The only logical thing I can do right now is send a Party invite to Tony Stark. My initial shock has already vanished by now. Considering it is 2006 and the fact I was in Los Angeles, it was only a matter of time I would encounter him, whether it be through a source like the media, or at an event. But somehow, I earned a favor from lady luck, and he wandered into this Instance Dungeon.
And they say two is better than one. With Tony Stark added, victory is secured!
It was also funny seeing a surprised pikachu face in Tony's eyes the moment he saw it. It wasn't hard using the Party function.
[Ding! You have been invited by Gamer Myles.]
[Ding! Would you like to join the Party?]
"What's this supposed to be?", Tony asked, seeing a holographic screen hovering before him.
"It's as exactly as you see it. You've been invited. You're not blind, are you?", I asked with a grin.
"I'm trying to believe what I'm currently seeing, kid. Trust me. It defies all reason.", Tony sighed.
"I've been there pal. And guess what I did? i got used to it.", I replied, shrugging my shoulders. Let's just not say that it hasn't even been a day since I came here. I was still trying things out when Tony Stark came knocking on my doorstep!
"No tricks?", Tony asked.
"I wish, but nope. You in?"
"Fair enough. I'm game, whatever this Party thing is. This isn't exactly a Party that I'm used to enjoying haha!", Tony laughed, before reaching his hand out. He pressed [Yes].
Immediately after, I was greeted with another Gamer Notification.
[Ding! Tony Stark - Lv1 has joined the Party.]
[Ding! You can now adjust the ratio of obtained experience points.]
[Ding! Experience cannot be earned if a member leaves the Party.]
'Sweet', I thought. It actually worked.
Tony's in the Party now. He's starting out at Level 1 too, which makes sense. Anyone prior to joining the Party hasn't received any benefits of the Party. That means they haven't experienced any level ups. Will it limit their strength, I wonder?
"Hey kid, catch.", Tony suddenly called out to me.
"Hmm?", I replied, only to see Tony do a quick motion of his hand. He flicked a thin, green bill my way. My eyes turned wide seeing a one-hundred dollar bill fall into my hands.
"You win. Now, what comes next?", Tony asked.
[Ding! You have deposited $100 USD into your Wallet.]
[Ding! Wallet: $130 USD.]
"Simple. We beat the crap out of these slimes and live to see the day. You aren't against fights, are you?", I asked.
"I prefer not to lay my hands on someone that's outside the bed, but so be it. I may not look the part, but I know a thing or two about professional boxing.", Tony smirked. Ahh, there's his ego. "Oh, and before I forget, I hate being handed things. I'll make an exception just this once. My intrigue in this place hasn't faded. But...What is it that we are fighting, exactly?"
"Didn't I tell you? Monsters. Slimes, to be specific. I already defeated six of them. Got fourteen more before this space vanishes.", I explained. Tony paused hearing that.
"Monsters? You're joking.", Tony said, frowning.
"I'm being as real as I can be, Mr. Stark. It's up to you to believe it or not. You joined the Party. That should be enough to put your trust in me, right? It's exactly as you see it. You're practically in a video game right now.", I said, while keeping all the technical jargon to me.
"...Inside a video game? Is that why Jarvis can't reach me?", Tony mused. So he has access to Jarvis, huh? That makes sense. He isn't Iron Man yet, but Iron Man isn't what defines Tony. He tossed a hundred-dollar bill my way like it was a piece of trash. He's one of the richest guys on this planet. Perhaps one day, I'll have amassed enough funds to be on his level.
"I can neither confirm, nor deny that, since I do not know what this Jarvis is that you're speaking of.", I said, telling a white lie. I knew very well what Jarvis is, but in Tony's eyes, it's likely I don't know him.
"I see. It did sound like you were fighting something when I wandered into...whatever this is.", Tony nodded.
"I call it an Instance Dungeon. You ready?", I asked.
"I see no other way around this. After you.", Tony responded.
To my surprise, the future Iron Man suddenly teamed up with me, and joined my Party. Let's finish and because of that, I earned another hundred bucks. I can safely head into LA now. Score!
Since my third battle finished and I'm Level 3, the rest of this dungeon should be easy-peasy. I have fought Level 1 Slimes, and I haven't found any Level 2 ones yet. Let's see if we find any.