Chapter [X]: Return
The field went still except for heavy breathing and blood dripping onto grass.
Finn knelt down with his axe and used the ground as support. His chest heaved as he inhaled deeply. Blood covered him completely, dried and hardened on his skin and penetrated through his clothes.
James covered his wound with one hand while the other hand held his sword. The wound stung like fire and his legs felt weak beneath him, fatigue and blood loss weighing him down.
Ciara silently looked at Liam's corpse twenty meters away. Tears began to roll down her face without sound. She didn't make a noise but the tears kept coming, cutting clean tracks through the blood and dirt on her cheeks.
Aiden looked at the body and his face went white. He bent over and vomited into the grass again. This time nothing came out except bile. When the heaving stopped, he started crying with quiet sobs that shook his shoulders.
The System countdown appeared across all their visions.
[INITIATING RETURN TO THE WAITING ROOM] [RETURN IN: 60 SECONDS]
They just stood there, surrounded by the corpses of goblins and one dead teammate, and nobody spoke. The countdown ticked loudly in the silence—fifty seconds, then forty, then thirty.
James looked at Liam's body one more time. The broken skull, the chest torn open, the spear still jutting from the torso. He knew forgetting this memory would be impossible.
The countdown continued—twenty seconds, then ten.
The area dissolved around them in white light.
They found themselves in the grey void of the Waiting Room.
The featureless space stretched in every direction with no walls or ceiling or floor that James could actually see. Everything was just endless grey. The four of them stood in a loose cluster, still covered in blood and dirt and goblin gore.
The System chimed immediately.
[TUTORIAL COMPLETE - DISTRIBUTING REWARDS] [BASE REWARD: 300 TOWER COINS] [PARTY EXP POOL: 750 EXP DIVIDED AMONG 4 SURVIVORS] [EACH SURVIVOR RECEIVES: 187 EXP]
James watched his EXP bar jump from 45/200 to 232/200. The bar filled completely and kept going past the threshold.
[LEVEL UP!] [YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 3] [ALL STATS +1] [YOU HAVE RECEIVED 5 STAT POINTS]
His status window updated automatically. Strength increased from 8 to 9 (+1), Agility from 12 to 13 (+1), Intelligence from 15 to 16 (+1), Endurance from 10 to 11 (+1), and Luck from 7 to 8 (+1). His HP maximum increased from 180 to 198 while his current health remained at 69, and his Mana capacity rose from 200 to 210 while his current mana stayed at 90.
He had ten unallocated stat points total now—five from level 2 and five from level 3.
James dismissed the window. His stomach wound had healed in the Waiting Room but the memory of the agony was still fresh and sharp.
The System chimed again.
[CLASS-SPECIFIC SKILL BOOK AWARDED]
A black book appeared in James's hands. It was small, maybe twenty centimeters tall, with a leather cover. A silver skull was embossed on the front. The title read in flowing script: "Corpse Explosion - Necromancer Skill."
James stared at it while his hands trembled slightly. Liam died and he got a book about exploding corpses.
Around him, the others received their own skill books.
Finn's book had a red cover with an axe embossed on it. He caught it without looking and let it drop to the floor beside him. His eyes were empty.
Ciara's book was black with twin daggers crossed on the cover. She held it between her palms. Tears still ran down her face silently.
Aiden's book was blue with arcane symbols spiraling across the cover. He stared at it like he didn't understand what it was or why he was holding it.
Nobody looked happy.
Liam had died and the System just treated it like some video game. Kill the enemies, collect the rewards, move on to the next floor.
James wanted badly to throw the book away but his heart wouldn't let him. This was what he'd chosen. This was what being a Challenger meant. People died and you took their share of the rewards.
The System announced again.
[TUTORIAL COMPLETED] [NEXT DESTINATION: FLOOR 1] [EXITING TOWER IN 30 SECONDS]
The countdown began immediately.
James, Finn, Ciara, and Aiden stood apart from each other in the void. None of them moved closer. None of them spoke or looked at each other. They were strangers who'd survived something terrible together and now they just wanted to leave.
The numbers ticked down in their visions.
[10... 9... 8...]
James gripped the skill book tighter.
[5... 4... 3...]
His mother would be waiting for his return. Three days had passed on Earth while he fought for seventy-two hours in the Tutorial.
[2... 1...]
White light filled everything and they vanished.
James appeared in his bedroom.
He stumbled forward and caught himself on his desk. The familiar peeling wallpaper surrounded him along with water stains on the ceiling and cracked window glass covered with tape. The tiny room had barely enough space to turn around.
He looked down at his body. The leather armor was gone and replaced by the tracksuit and hoodie he'd been wearing when the transport took him. He lifted his shirt and found the stomach wound healed completely. Only a pink scar remained, thin and straight across his abdomen.
He was home.
James dropped the skill book on his bed and rushed out of the room. His feet pounded on the cheap linoleum floor as he ran through the tiny flat, checking the main room, the kitchen, and the bathroom—all empty.
His mother wasn't here.
A note sat on the kitchen table in her handwriting. James picked it up with shaking hands and read it.
"James, if you come back and I'm not here, I'll be home soon. There's food in the fridge. I love you. Please come back. - Mum"
Three days. She'd been working and praying for three days while he fought goblins and watched Liam die.
James walked to the fridge and opened it. A shepherd's pie sat inside, wrapped in cling film with a note taped to it: "Your favorite. Heat for 15 minutes." His mother had made it before he left, hoping he'd survive long enough to eat it.
He took the pie out without bothering to heat it. The ceramic dish was cold in his hands. He sat down at the small kitchen table and peeled back the cling film. The food was three days old and had been sitting in the fridge the entire time.
James picked up a fork and started eating it cold.
The first bite tasted like potatoes and meat and his mother's cooking. The second bite tasted like survival. By the third bite, tears were pouring down his face.
He cried while he chewed. His hands shook so badly he could barely hold the fork but he kept eating. Tears dripped into the food and he didn't care. Salt mixed with cold gravy and mashed potatoes.
He survived.
Liam died screaming but James made it home.
He ate the entire shepherd's pie while crying at his mother's kitchen table in their cramped flat in Dublin's worst neighborhood. When the dish was empty, he put his head down on the table and sobbed until his throat was raw.