“Did anyone level up?” Mike asked while Jay looked over his Attributes. Good timing.

“I did it twice,” Jay said.

“Me, too.”

“Once,” Frank admitted.

“Once as well,” Dennis said. “[Fighters] don’t level up slower, do they?”

“Let’s use Jay’s case,” Mike said, sliding his glasses up as he sounded like a professor. Two angry monster snake toys occupied his backdrop, but that didn’t stop him. “From the start of the encounter, Jay’s contribution had been major. He spotted the first ambush; then, he occupied what would’ve been ambushes two, three, and four. And he tied these two up behind me.”

“To add on top of that, I can see why Mike received more levels,” Frank said. “He was the main damage dealer on both snakes, running himself dry on mana to whittle those monsters down. So, if I understand this correctly, we earn levels in our Classes based on our contributions.”

“Good to hear, dudes,” Dennis said glumly. “I’m starting to see that I don’t belong.”

“Without you, I wouldn’t have laid on so much damage,” Mike said. “I do remember how you swatted the snake every time it dove for you, me, and even Frank.”

“Do you think I’ll be able to do more damage if I put my AP into Strength?” Dennis asked.

“Yes,” Mike answered. “But that’ll sacrifice all the other Attributes. That sort of commitment works best for the early levels. But you’ll need your other stats in the later levels, I imagine. It’ll be a good strategy to try. For two to three levels. But no more.”

“Nah,” Jay chimed in. “Make it five levels of stronk-only focus. You can catch up with everything else you need later. Be One Punch Man, but with a big ass sword.”

“He’ll be vulnerable, though,” Mike said.

“Then he better make his hits count,” Jay replied. “I, on the other hand, gotta have a solid spread that covers magic rogue sort. Can’t recall what all the Attributes do, though.”

“Oh, yeah, you were knocked out when YoAnna explained some of it,” Mike said. “I’ll recall it for you, starting from top to bottom:

“Resilience covers physical defense. Poise for magical defense. Together, they add to your Health.

“Strength lets you hit harder or lift more. Agility’s good for dexterity and speed. Both add to your Stamina.

“Perception enhances your six senses, especially the one touching on intuition which is good for magic. Intellect sharpens the mind, also good for magic. Mana is centered on these Attributes.

“Then you have Conviction, which is akin to faith and determination. Behind that is Discovery, the luck stat that’ll nudge unlikely outcomes. These two are interesting because they introduce Chance, a strange stat that covers destiny, and more widescale providence, which influences things, people, places, and more.

“You’ll notice that Health, Stamina, Magic and/or Mana, and Chance are not visible on our Profiles. That’s by design, apparently. It works in the background, and we can feel it if we concentrate on it. So, we’ll instinctually know if we’re low on any of those Stats, except for Chance. That one works differently, but YoAnna didn’t go into detail why.”

“I feel smarter already,” Jay said with a cheeky smile. “Good, I don’t have to invest in Intellect.”

Mike gave him a flat look.

Jay returned to studying his profile. With 16 Free Attributes to play with, his options were plentiful. But if his first introduction to fighting monsters was anything to go off of, having more speed was a must. With a dash of hardiness to survive his own mistakes.

Starting from the top, he put +2 in Resilience and +5 in Agility. Then he inserted +5 in Perception and +1 in Intellect. Lastly, he pushed +1 in Conviction and +2 in Discovery. The last Attribute probably got more than it should’ve, but it was the luck stat. How could Jay not feed that one a little more?

“There, that’ll do.”

“What are your Attributes looking like?” Mike asked.

Jay told him, and Mike shared in return.

“Intellect heavy, huh?” Jay asked,

“The better to melt monsters,” Mike replied.

“Don’t forget to absorb the Attribute Crystals,” Frank reminded.

Oh, yeah, that.

Jay dug around his knapsack and pulled out three shimmering white crystals. A blue box appeared asking him if he wanted to absorb the crystal’s contents, and he selected Yes.

The crystals puffed into glittering white motes of light and seeped into his body.

With little thought, Jay pressed +1 to Agility and +2 to Perception. Both Attributes evened out at 18, which was good. He needed both to maneuver effectively while feeding bursts of mana to his Gravity Skills.

Mike also absorbed three crystals. Dennis got two of them. Frank only absorbed one.

Hm. For a guy who would win Lord of the Flies no matter what, he tended to put others before himself. Or maybe that was his personality when in the real deal. He was less hostile and more supportive here. Jay found that interesting.

When the glowy stuff disappeared and everyone finished looking at their profiles, Frank nodded at the remaining snakes.

Dennis gulped nervously. Mike was calm since he only needed to gesture his wand, say a phrase, and shoot. Like a sniper, but magical. Jay drew his swords, ignoring the itch in his right hand.

Frank spun his poleaxe around, drawing the serpents’ gaze with the movement. “I can tell you don’t have formal fight training. I’ll admit that I don’t have formal training against monsters, either. But I think certain basics translate well. So, this is a simple lesson. Get in and hit. Het out without getting hit. Don’t give up your back or lose your footing.”

To emphasize his point, Frank walked into range for the snakes to lash at him. They were tied up heavily by the maze, so they could barely budge their bodies. Their heads could still reach out beyond their enclosure.

Frank waited for one snake to strike down, followed by the other. He moved out of the way with space and time to spare, keeping the closest snake between him and the other. His poleax swung out at the same time. No motion wasted. At the same time, Frank shouted [Surging Strike]!

He slammed the hammer side of his weapon under the snake’s jaw with a resounding crack. The monster swayed into the other snake, knocking them around and keeping them off balance. Frank darted out before they could attack him in return.

Mike readjusted his glasses and walked around close to the snakes’ range. He took one step in. Then he backed off just as quickly. The snakes lunged ineffectively, colliding with each other. At the same time, Mike invocated a lengthy and unique chain of spells.

“[Manapusher], [Mana Manipulation], Star Shot.”

He flicked his wand out, and a streaking beam of condensed starlight scorched a hole through both snakes. Both screeched in pain and anger. They went berserk, thrashing about, rattling their cage.

“Uh, your turn, Dennis,” Mike said with an apologetic look.

“Thanks,” Dennis muttered as he watched the snakes thrash randomly. He breathed deeply, became very still, almost statue-like, and just when the snakes slowed a smidge, Dennis exploded to action.

“[Mountain Leap]!” He roared, shooting up with his sword cocked back like a batter. He was flying with more power and speed than last time, too. Just when it looked like he might’ve overshot, Dennis swung with every ounce of muscular might he’d cultivated throughout his life.

He nearly beheaded his target, getting his sword stuck a little past halfway. He dangled from his sword as the near-dead snake started to fall. The other snake aimed to lash at Dennis while he looked vulnerable. Jay and the others tensed up, ready to intervene, but there was no need.

“[Mountain Leap]!” Dennis stomped his legs down on his wooden-snake platform and rocketed up. He took his sword with him in a shower of splinters, wood chips, and uncanny blood-like goo. His flight path sent him right to the mouth of the second snake. Dennis drove his sword up tip first.

He skewered the weapon through the top of the snake’s mouth. It wasn’t a deep thrust, but it was enough to stun the creature badly. At the same time, Dennis was dangerously close to the venomous steel fangs. As the second snake swayed left and right, Dennis did the darndest thing.

He grabbed one of the snake fangs, yanked on his sword with all of his might, and pulled free. He crashed down in front of the party, landing hard enough to hurt himself.

“Wipe the venom on the carpet,” Frank ordered. “And drink these just in case, numbskull.”

“Nice moves, by the way,” Jay said, looking up at the heavily wounded creatures. “I’ll tidy up from here.”

Jay darted forward before he changed his mind, feeling the change in his body instantly. He was faster. His balance was better. His sight, hearing, and other physical senses were sharper. Then there was this other sense that was far weirder. It didn’t seem like intuition like Mike described. It was like perceiving something nearby without his main five senses, and it seemed like the larger and heavier snakes stood out the most to him.

This new sense also told him he wasn’t in too much danger. This fed him confidence. A lot of it. The type of confidence that made Jay flip into a double-stab like it was no big deal. He slipped his goblin swords into the neck wound Dennis had landed on the first snake. Goo splashed Jay’s arms, chest, and face.

You’ve slain a Monster Toy Snake, Level 8!

Jay’s hazy sixth sense perceived the second snake diving at him from behind. The weight of danger made his spine tingle a bit. Jay spun, his feet tapping lightly without needing his Skills. The snake crashed down where he’d been, missing him by a whole foot.

Seeing an opening, he plunged a curved sword into the creature’s eye. Monster goo came out. The snake hissed in pain, rearing back up, but not by its lonesome. Jay used [Moonwalker] to lighten himself and got pulled up easily. He returned to his normal weight as he swung onto the snake’s head and stabbed his second sword into the other eye.

At that point, Jay ran out of tricks and effective strikes. So, he kept thrusting his short curved sword into one of the eyes until he got shaken off. [Moonwalker] helped him roll with the landing without getting roughed up.

“Mind if I finish it?” Frank asked politely.

“Be my guess,” Jay replied.

The superagent darted in and showed his stuff. He landed a [Surging Strike], then he darted out just enough to avoid being struck while staying close. That way, he could retaliate with his Skill again and again. Efficient. Minimum wasted movement. Uber graceful even while being straightforward. It was like watching a master waltz across the ballroom.

Jay felt his stomach cool, realizing that Frank could be a better dancer, parkour runner, and everything else that made Jay who he was. Once Frank pummeled the blind snake’s skull to bits and slain it, Jay tried to shake off the uncomfortable revelation. It helped that he had a nice system-focused distraction pop up in front of him.

Lesser Freak leveled up to 4! +8 Free AP delivered.

He wasn’t leveling alone.

Dennis whooped. “I leveled again!”

“Same,” Frank.

“Me three!” Jay cheered.

Mike’s expression soured. “I didn’t level this time. But I guess I’m not too far behind, Jay.”

They were going to settle down, distribute Attribute Points, and wait for the loot to appear from the melting guts of freshly slain monsters. But a System message appeared that was vastly different compared to the others.

Your party has successfully cleared Zone One, Toyreveler Living Room. Due to abnormal difficulty for first-time dungeon crawlers, additional awards will be distributed.

Jay Luckrun: +2 Agility, +2 Perceptions, +2 Discovery, Mana Kick Skill Book. Michael Zhou: +2 Agility, +1 Intellect, Good Amulet of Wise Kumat. Franklin Stronghold: +1 Agility, +2 Intellect, Weapon Conflagration Skill Book. Dennis Miller: +2 Strength, Good Ogre Hunter Colossal Curved Sword, Good Skullbash Helmet. Good Party Treasure Chest–all items remaining in the treasure chest after successful completion of the dungeon will be delivered to recipients outside of the dungeon. Serves as storage. Good Patron Mystery Gift Box–to be delivered upon successful completion of the dungeon to recipients who share a supportive Patron.

The Toyreveler Living Room will be a Safe Zone for 8 hours. Conquering Zones and creating Safe Zones extends the destabilization collapse timeline of the dungeon, keeping the core and its corrupted mana contained in the pocket dimension and the local area connecting the dungeon to your home dimension. Do keep in mind time dilation is in effect here. The Toyreveler Dungeon experiences time faster by a factor of eight compared to your home dimension.

In conclusion, these rewards are both to celebrate your unlikely victory and encourage you to crawl further. You will now be expected to clear this dungeon competently without extra rewards other than the loot that’s already present in the dungeon.

Adventure on, dungeon crawlers.

-A Pre-Release System Junior Admin

Jay looked wide-eyed at his party after scanning the system message.

Without warning, loot rained down. A thick black book slammed down in front of Jay. It had bronze etchings displaying a leg radiating magic.

Mike caught an emerald amulet out of the air.

Frank watched a book slam in front of him.

“Look at this thing!” Dennis bellowed happily, hefting a ridiculously massive hunk of iron over his head. It had a curved edge and blade-like frame that would barely register it as a sword. The crossguard was covered in dirty-looking fur. The handle was wrapped in stained rags.

As for the helmet, it was bone-white with ram horns curled along the sides. Dennis swapped his old open-face helmet for the new one. His blue eyes looked gleefully through the skeletal eye socket-like gaps. “I barely have enough Strength to use it. It requires +20, but it gives back +15 Strength when using it!”

He looked down at his old greatsword pitifully. “Sorry. I don’t have enough hands for you anymore.”

“Maybe if we try to stuff it in the treasure chest, it’ll come back with us,” Mike said, pointing at the chest box that hadn’t been there a minute ago.

Oh, more mysterious goodies! That was an attention grabber for Jay. Scooping his new Skill Book up, he frolicked over to the treasure chest.

“How’s the amulet looking?” Jay asked as he sat comfortably in front of the treasure chest. He set his Skill book aside.

“My amulet’s description is pretty good, really,” Mike explained, looking over his item. “It has a few features. I can channel extra mana into it, banking power for later occasions. I can also trigger a mana explosion to knock away enemies with me safe at the center. It’ll exhaust all of the stored mana. The explosion’s maximum power is reliant on the amulet being at full capacity, too.”

Mike hummed.

“This item can be super clutch if I use it wisely, as the name suggests.”

Jay nodded along, waiting for Mike to finish. Frank joined the treasure chest reveal with his Skill Book tucked under his arm. Then Mike with his new bling hanging from his neck and the colossal sword toting Dennis huddled behind Jay.

With the whole party paying attention, Jay rubbed his hands eagerly. Like a kid opening Christmas presents. He reached for the lid and flipped it open for all to see.