The knight collapsed to the floor and turned to smoke. Even the piece of armour I had been ripped from its leg disappeared along with its body. Despite the fact my ‘cool’ pose had only been seen by a summoned knight, it was still left me a bit embarrassed.

I tested my inventory skill, but the voice warned me yet another limitation.

**You can only store items owned by yourself or unowned items in your inventory. All other items require express permission from the owner to be stored.**

I guess it makes sense, otherwise, I would be able to just steal anything with a thought. I wonder what ‘express permission’ means?

My disappointment didn’t change the fact I had defeated the knight in a handy time. It had been slower and weaker than when we fought it as a group, but it was still a formidable foe. Silence reigned in the arena as I waited for the pillar of light to pull me back to the guard's desk.

Maybe he’ll be surprised to see me back so soon?

As that thought crossed my brain, the dungeon teleported me back to the entrance. I walked to the guard and dropped my token on the desk. He barely gave me a glance before he waved me away. The lack of reaction hurt a little, but maybe it was to be expected.

It was possible that people beat the dungeon this fast on a regular basis, after all.

The sun was low in the sky, so I made my way back to the guild. There wasn’t much else I could get done with the time left in the day, so it was high time to get to bed. Several vendors tried to call me aside as I walked through the streets, but their wares looked tacky compared to those Karen had stocked. Maybe it was rose-tinted glasses, but they just seemed desperate.

The receptionist greeted me as I walked in. There were a few people in the guild, but its lively atmosphere still hadn’t returned. I picked up a meal from the counter and went to my room. It was only a messy sandwich, but it filled a hole at least. After I had finished the chewy disaster, I jumped into bed and drifted off.

I woke in a gentle manner the next day. This was my second ‘first’ night on this world and, compared to the previous one, this sleep had been of my own accord. Rose hadn’t knocked me out with a book, and she wasn’t present to snark at me for doing something stupid.

The door opened and revealed Bryan, who grinned across at me. Before I could greet him, he strode into the room followed by two people I knew just as well. Susan and John gave me a wave and moved to sit at the desk. John hovered beside Susan, but she gave him a glare which made him back off. Bryan leant against the wall beside the door and grinned at the pair.

“Hey, Rook. Long time, no see.” Susan smiled at me from the desk. Her dull grey robe had been replaced for a deep red outfit with the same exact design. Compared to her, John wore the exact same outfit as when we had last met. If anything, his leather armour was more ragged than it had been before.

“I didn’t believe Bryan when he said you were back. How did you pull that one off?” John raised an eyebrow at me. “You’ve really got to teach me that trick.”

“Calm down, John. It’s impossible, remember?” Bryan tapped his foot against the wall. “We spoke about this already.”

I swung my legs off the bed and faced my friends. It was nice to see them again, but there seemed to be someone missing. The others noticed my downcast look, so they quickly moved to cheer me up.

“Come on, Rook. This is a happy time.” John jumped over to me and pulled me to my feet. Before I could react, he had pulled me into a bear hug. “It’s good to see you again.”

“It is.” Susan watched with a faint smile from the side. “We thought we’d lost you. Bryan blamed himself ever since.”

I turned to face Bryan, who twisted awkwardly under my gaze.

“And me, you idiot.” Rose piped up. The others didn’t react, which proved they couldn’t hear the disembodied voice in my head. That was a positive for the current me. They’d think I was possessed otherwise.

I technically am, I guess. Maybe I should get an exorcism?

“Oh, nice. Kick a girl while she’s down.” Rose tutted at me. “Remember who’s holding you together, boyo. Don’t want me to slip, do you?”

“Of course not.” I muttered quickly. John pulled back and gave me an odd look.

“Your as strange as ever, Rook.” He patted my shoulders and stepped back. “So, Bryan says you have a plan and you might need our help?”

I gave Bryan another look, though this one was a bit more intense. I hadn’t mentioned any such thing to him, and he had spread the rumour around already. Bryan opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted him before he could start.

“I have a plan, but I need to move alone for now.” I waved the trio into silence as they looked ready to speak up. “I need to find the bandit king. You three are well known to them, right?”

“And so are you, remember?” Bryan growled. “That was a big problem for you before-”

“Before I died, you mean?” I grinned at Bryan as his mouth hung open. “I doubt they are hunting for a dead man, right?”

“It’s still risky.” Susan folded her arms. “What if they see through it? I don’t like this.”

“If you three come along, what're the chances of it working? Do you really think you can hide from them?”

It was clear that was impossible. These three were the most prominent members of the guild who had fought for the town on multiple occasions. They were the literal idols of many low-level guild members, and would likely be high on the target list for the bandits and cult alike.

But they weren’t ready to let me go. Bryan glanced at the pair but remained silent as John and Susan had a hurried discussion. The fact they weren’t ready to back down proved their determination, so all I had to do was prove that mine was stronger.

“What Susan means is you shouldn’t go alone.” John moved beside Susan and stared at me. The pair of them matched one another blow for blow as they waited for my next move.

“Don’t you trust me?” I appealed to their consciences. It was a dirty move, but it just might work.

“Tell you what, prove you’re skilled enough.” Bryan grinned as though he had come up with the smartest idea ever. “It’s pretty simple. You do one thing we ask, and we’ll trust you.”

Susan and John shared a glance and nodded in unison. It was clear this was something they had planned beforehand in preparation for a situation such as this. there was no option other than to go along with it, otherwise, they would just follow me like bloodhounds and ruin my plan as they tried to help me.

“Go on, tell me your idea.”

“Oh, it should be easy. You just need to beat the basic dungeon. By yourself.” Bryan raised a hand to stop my response. “Do that, and we’ll trust you to go into the forest alone.”

Before I could say anything, a knock echoed from the door. Bryan shushed us before he pulled it open carefully and peaked out. After he had confirmed the visitor, he pulled the door open.

“Oh… Hello, Bryan.” The receptionist nodded to him. “I need to see Rook, is he here?”

Bryan waved her into the room. The receptionist gave the other two a glance before she turned back to me with a practised smile. It worried me that she had come here so quickly. Was it possible she had spread the knowledge I had returned around already, and I had been summoned to explain what had happened?

“Well done, Rook. You set a new record.” She pulled out a small, round medal and passed it to me. “I wanted to check what reward you wanted. There are a few choices, so it's up to you.”

“Wait, what?” I stared at the medal she had passed to me. It was engraved with a large S, which had a time scratched into the surface below it. I smiled as it became clear what this was about. “Oh. Perfect timing.”

“For anyone who sets a new dungeon record, they get a reward based on the time under the par-”

“Wait, he set a new dungeon record?” Bryan interrupted the receptionist. She gave him a glare before she turned back to me.

“-which is up to your discretion. It can be items, money or favours. Once you select your desired reward, we will officially announce the achievement to the town.”

“Can I skip that part?” I shout out the question like a bullet. She gave me an odd look, as though I had just asked her to tap-dance out of the room.

“No. Why would you want to?”

“If I can’t, then can you ignore my time for now?”

“… I guess so. We can always reward you later, as long as no one else beats your time.” The receptionist frowned at me. “Is there a problem with the rewards?”

“Can I get some skill books?” I asked after the thought had The receptionist glanced at the others before she nodded softly.

“If you have the coin, you can buy the ones we have. We only have a few, so they aren’t worth as much as the reward.” She glanced awkwardly at the group. “We normally wouldn’t offer this to a low-rank member of the guild, but because Claire trusted you…”

“It’s fine. Claire was his friend too, she’d be happy you’re helping him.” Bryan smiled as he waved off the receptionist. “Don’t worry about it, just do what you can to help him.”

“Then that’s fine. Do you want to select them now?” The receptionist turned back to me with a smile.

“No, I’ll pick it up later.” I answered as I pushed her gently out of the room. “I’m sorry, I have something urgent to speak to my friends about. Please, keep this to yourself for now. Thanks.”

The receptionist shook her head and walked off down the corridor. This was possibly the first time someone had refused such an honor, but the side effects of such a reward were past what I could handle. Her interruption had solved my other problem, however.

John, Susan and Bryan stared at me as though they had seen a ghost. They knew I was still level six, and the basic dungeon allowed people up to level twenty-five to attempt to beat its record. It was possible the Supporter record had been a slow time, but the chances of not one successful attempt in the town's history were low.

“So, you guys happy now?” I waved my medal in their faces. “I did what you asked, right?”

“I guess so.” Susan grimaced and pushed herself to her feet. John held her arm, but she brushed him off irritably. “We’ll be here if you need us.”

“Yeah.” John nodded in agreement, though he didn’t look pleased with the outcome. “Just call and I’ll come running.”

“We’ll all come running.” Bryan flicked my shoulder. “Don’t think you can chuck us aside. Claire would come back and beat us to a pulp if we let you get into trouble by yourself.”

“It’s fine.” I slammed my chest with my fist. “I set a new record, right? I’m the strongest Supporter in town. Who could hurt me?”