Chris and I just stand there. It’s weird. Without that pile of blue plastic on her head, she doesn’t look like a walking video game ad anymore. She just looks… dangerous. She ignores us and twirls her knife like she was born with it.
Grrrroooowl.
Chris’s stomach protests again, even louder. “Uncle Ben… you really got nothing to eat? Not even some old gum?”
I dig through my pockets. Nothing but lint and my empty flask. “Nada. Gonna have to wait for the next loot drop.”
Kim looks up from her dagger. “No need to wait. Didn’t you look at the tab in the bottom right? We can buy food through the Cosmic Shop.”
“The what?” I ask, confused.
I open my interface. Sure enough, a small icon shaped like a golden shopping cart is pulsing. I click it.
An avalanche of items appears, sorted by category.
[SYSTEM STORE] Current Balance: 34 Cosmic Gold (CG)
[Food]
- Dungeon Ration Bar: 5 CG
- Bread: 2 CG
- Purified Water (50cl): 3 CG
- Monster Steak (Raw): 15 CG
[Equipment (Entry-level)]
- Iron Sword (+2 Attack): 1,000 CG
- Reinforced Wooden Shield (+2 Defense): 1,200 CG
- Minor Mana Potion: 150 CG
I almost choke on my own spit. “A thousand Cosmic Gold for a plus-two sword?! This is highway robbery! We earned a hundred coins for killing an entire army and clearing a floor from hell! At this rate, we’ll have to grind ten floors just to buy a damn toothpick!”
Kim shrugs. “It’s apocalypse inflation. But at least we can afford to eat.”
I look at my 34 coins. I’m rich in calories, but poor in power. “Fine. We’re getting protein bars. But nobody touches the weapons. We’re gonna have to make do with my trash lid and your dagger for a while.”
“Alright,” I say a minute later, chewing on my protein bar which tastes like wet cardboard. “Stomachs are mostly full. Let’s see how deep in it we really are.”
I reopen the [Tower Rankings] tab.
I’m expecting the worst. We slept for six hours. In a race against time where billions of people are playing for their lives, a six-hour nap is suicide. I’m expecting to see a number flashing in blood red, telling us we’re ready for the purge.
I look at the number. I blink. I tap the screen like it’s glitching.
[Tower Rankings]
[Current Position]: 1,856,745,741st
[Time Remaining]: 29 Days
[Status]: SECURE
“What?” Chris blurts out, reading over my shoulder. “We… we dropped below the two billion mark?”
Kim frowns, her eyes glued to the rankings. “That’s impossible,” she says, her voice barely a breath. “We slept. We were out for six hours. How do we jump a billion spots by doing nothing? Did they… did they all die?”
I look at the Floor 2 exit door, the one we just walked through. Then I think about the tall grass. The 152 Kobolds. The infinite respawn mechanic.
I shake my head. “I don’t think they’re dead, Kim. If we gained spots while sleeping, it only means one thing. The pack is at a standstill.”
I point at the wall behind us. “Floor 2 wasn’t just a level, it was a bottleneck. They aren’t necessarily dead. There might still be three billion people alive behind us. But they’re stuck.”
I shrug. “Maybe they turned back to farm Level 1. Maybe they’re trying to cross, failing, fleeing, and restarting in a loop. Either way, nothing says they’re all dead yet.”
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
I shake the thought off and pull up my personal menu for a quick check before we head out.
[PLAYER STATUS]
Identity: Beno?t de Balzac | Race: Human | Age: 40
Class: Garbage Man | Rank: None Global Ranking H(Human): None
[Attributes]
HP (Health): 210 / 210 (+80)
MP (Mana): 0 / 0
Attack: 18.3 (+10)
Magic: 0
Defense: 16 (+7)
Magic Defense: 0
Speed: 7 (26 km/h)
[Skills]
Observation of the Useless (Level 1)
Recycling (Level 1)
Public Nuisance (Level 2)
[PROGRESSION REPORT]
The body adapts to the trial.
+80 HP (Kobold combat)
+10 Attack (Kobold combat)
+2 Defense (Shield)
+5 Defense (Kobold combat)
I close the window with a flick. Not bad for a day’s work, even if the pay is trash.
Suddenly, a new column of light hits the center of the room, greener and more intense.
[System]: Tier Two Guide spawn.
The light fades to reveal… a small blue thing. Pointed ears. Wrinkled face. Holding a stick.
I stand there mouth agape. Chris’s eyes go wide. “Is… is that him?” Chris whispers.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I mutter. “They actually went there.”
The creature lifts its branch toward us, its large eyes blinking slowly. “Questions about your destiny, have you? On Classes and Skills, instruct you I must.”
I smack my forehead. “And the inverted syntax too… They stop at nothing! This is pure, unadulterated copyright infringement!”
The little blue man completely ignores me and begins his lecture. “Listen well. One class only, the soul can bear. To change paths, impossible it is. To transcend this law, some have tried. Powerful beings, deities even… Succumbed, they have. Their souls, torn apart they were. For inferior beings like you… automatic destruction, it would be.”
“Great, so we’re stuck with our jobs,” Kim summarizes.
“Frozen, your class is not,” the Guide corrects, raising a finger. “Like a seed, it is. Evolve, it can. To higher ranks, rise it must. A simple Swordsman, into a Dark Swordsman change can, and his rank will increase.”
Chris raises his hand, full of hope. “And for… for the Porter class? What can I evolve into? ‘Mountain Bearer’? ‘Atlas’?”
The Guide looks at him, eyes narrowing as he lets out a long, weary sigh. “Alas. New and Trash, your classes are. In the archives, no trace there is. If possible evolution exists… see it, I cannot.”
“He just politely told us we’re dead ends,” I translate. Chris’s shoulders drop.
“But how do we trigger this evolution?” I ask. “Is it automatic?”
“No. Through skills, the path is forged. What you learn, you become. If a Swordsman many Holy skills learns, a Holy Swordsman become he will. New skills linked to this new rank, receive he will.”
He taps his branch on the ground to emphasize the struggle. “Harsh, the path is. To reach Common Rank, a rule there is. Three skills of the same nature at Level 3, possess you must. For you, Trash Rank, your first goal this becomes. Then, for the next rank, four skills at Level 4, require it will. Then five at Level 5. Difficult, leveling a skill is.”
He takes a solemn pause. “Know the price of change. Once evolution is acquired, your old skills will vanish. New ones, linked to your new rank, assigned to you they will be. And at 1, their level will restart. Power, an eternal beginning it is.”
I do the math in my head. It’s exponential. A total hardcore grind.
“Know this finally, two types of skills, there are. Class Skills, and Cross-Class Skills. Your evolution, this choice will dictate.”
He raises three fingers. “If three Class skills to level 3 you raise, your pure nature will remain. Your rank will increase. ‘Porter’ will become ‘Common Porter’, and your current powers will evolve toward strength.”
He lowers those fingers and raises three on his other hand, shrouded in a dark shadow for the sake of the example. “But if three Cross-Class skills of the same nature you master, then your Class will mutate. For example, three Dark Arts, into a ‘Shadow Porter’ of Common rank you will transform. And for this new form, unique skills the System will offer you.”
“Can we learn anything?” Chris asks, looking at Kim and her rifle. “Could I learn to shoot?”
“All Cross-Class skills, learn you can. Limit, there is none. But only those that resonate with your soul will make your class grow.”
He begins to fade, his mission complete. “Patience, you must have.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get the lesson,” I cut in. “You don’t have a blue lightsaber to give me instead?”
“May the Fff… Luck be with you.”
He vanishes completely.
“He almost said ‘the Force’, I’m sure of it,” I snicker. “Seriously, this dungeon is a Cease and Desist order just waiting to happen.”
Silence falls over the safety zone again. We don’t feel the fatigue anymore because everyone’s busy thinking. This info just changed the game. We aren’t doomed to stay trash forever. There’s an exit, even if the price is a total skill reset.
“Three skills at level 3,” I mutter to myself. “That’s the price to stop being a Trash-tier Garbage Man. I’ve already got Disturbance at level 2. The grind starts now.”
I turn to the others. The vibe has shifted. We’ve got a goal.
Beside me, Chris tightens the straps of his leather chestpiece. Kim took advantage of those six hours of sleep to fully regenerate her mana. She’s tucked her dagger away and is holding her sniper rifle firmly, finger on the trigger, ready to light up the first thing that moves.
This time, there are no wisecracks. Floor 2 taught us a lesson. The Tower doesn’t follow a logical progression curve. It’s bipolar. We’re scared to see what’s waiting behind that wooden door.
“Ready?” I ask, my hand on the cold handle.
Chris nods, looking pale. Kim racks her rifle with a sharp click.
I push the door.
The groan of the hinges sounds like a warning. We cross the threshold, every sense on high alert, ready for war.
Kim steps forward a few paces, looks at what’s standing in front of us, and freezes instantly. The girl who was popping headshots without blinking turns white. Her hands start shaking on her weapon. She backs up, her face twisted by a terror I’ve never seen in her before.
“Oh my God,” Kim says, her voice choked by absolute panic. “It can’t be. Not this.”