It was nearly midnight when Ian made it back to the campus. He had reached the metro station before he realized Claire was probably already asleep. No matter how excited he was, he figured the poor woman still deserved to be left alone during her off hours. He knew he had already cost her too much of it over the last couple of days.
More pressing concerns took over his thoughts, as he had missed all three meals of the day, leaving his stomach growling. On a whim, he swung by the cafeteria building to check the hours and discovered they had a night shift meal that was available from two hours before and after midnight.
Mentally showering praise for whoever had originally set it up, he entered and followed the signs. He had to do a palm check with his alias, similar to what he had to do for dungeons. Once it turned green, he went through the line and piled his first plate high with chicken and steak before grabbing a second and adding rice and half a dozen types of vegetables prepared in different ways. It was more food than he probably ate most weeks outside of his fast-food job in the past year.
Just like the reception center lobby, tables were set up in semi-circles up around ceiling-mounted viewing stations. He was surprised to find that the place actually had quite a few people in it, but it only took him a moment to realize the cause. Apparently, the place doubled as a bar in the evenings where adventurers could come and relax.
“Well, that’s a pleasant surprise. Free beer and all I can eat food? I think I’m in heaven.” Ian muttered to himself as he went to drop his plate off at a curved table in front of a few screens.
He had chosen this particular table because there was only one person sitting at it, eating their meal.
“Sorry to bother you, but do you mind if I sit here?” Ian asked.
The man looked away from the screen and glanced his way, “Feel free. I’m just sitting away from the crowd because the other tables make me feel old.”
Now that Ian got a good look at him, the man was powerfully built. However, Ian could see the early signs of wrinkles, and the man’s short hair had a slight receding hairline with a touch of gray in his beard.
“They are just a little rowdy for me,” Ian said, the smile coming through in his voice. “I’m going to go grab a mug. Do you need a refill?”
The man smiled as he reached over and finished off the last bits of his mug before handing it over, “The free beer and good food is the main reason I’m here.”
Ian just gave him a nod and was back a minute later with fresh mugs. The man thanked him as Ian sat down and began to tear into his food with a vengeance.
The man looked over and chuckled, “Miss a few meals?”
Ian finished chewing and answered, “That’s an understatement. Besides, I haven’t had food this good in a long time.”
That last statement got the man’s attention, and his eyebrows rose. “Fresh blood?”
Ian nodded as he cut up his perfect medium rare steak, “I just moved in today. I’ve been living off fast food and ramen noodles for the past couple of years, but I finally got to a point where I can support myself adventuring.
“Though, if I knew the food was this good, I would have put more effort into it. I’ve never been good at cooking steak, but this looks like a masterpiece.”
Ian brought a bite to his mouth and froze for a second as the juices washed over his tongue as he bit into it. It had been nearly two years since he ate beef in any other form than a cardboard-flavored patty. Chuckling from the man brought him out of his personal nirvana.
“I swear I’m not laughing at you,” the man said as he continued to chuckle. “Okay, maybe a little. But it is only because I’m old and you remind me of a different time. The name's Jason.”
“I’m Zero. It’s good to meet you.”
Jason held up his mug, prompting Zero to do the same and join him in a drink. Jason quickly finished the last few bites of his food and started messing with a display in front of him. When Ian looked at the screen, he realized it was a listing with names. He was just finishing up the last bite of his steak when the man spoke again.
“Did you just hit level 100?” the man said, breaking the silence.
“About two hours ago, I ended up getting it from the dungeon bonus from the Turen Crevasse. If it wasn’t for the dungeon teleport, I would have missed this amazing meal.”
“Hell yeah! Congratulations, Zero,” said the man with a huge grin. “Anyone else from your party hit it at the same time?”
Zero paused for a second before putting his fork back down. “Actually, it was a solo run. I haven’t had the opportunity to work with a party yet.”
“Hm,” the man said, giving him another appraising look. “Not sure if you know this or not, but there are two leveling leaderboards for the novice tier that track how fast someone levels. The first is for everyone, so it is dominated by parties. People who earn 95% of their levels solo get placed on an exclusive leaderboard, due to it being harder. Unlike the low, mid, high, and ultra leveling tiers, the novice leaderboards only track how many hours in the dungeon it took you to level. It updates as soon as you hit level 101 and the dungeon starts automatically updating your status as you dive.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“I had no idea. How long does it usually take a solo player to level compared to a party?”
The man leaned forward and clicked a few buttons to bring up the solo novice leaderboards and overall novice leaderboard.
“As you can see, the top spot is by an adventurer by the Alias of Absolute Solo with 141 hours in the dungeon to reach level 100,” Jason said, pointing to the solo leaderboard before turning his attention to the other. “The fastest party run was by a group of six that stayed together for years. They went by the party name of Broken Wolves and managed to hit 100 with a mere 47 hours in the dungeon.
“It’s weird to see a party name show up in a slot range like this on taking up slots one through six. This is just the nature of adventurers because most parties level up at different times through soloing and moving between groups. Broken wolves had specifically trained for this leaderboard, and they only entered the dungeon with their full group. Nearly all of the members are retired now, though, but they have held that number one spot for nearly fifteen years. Absolute Solo, on the other hand, has held her solo spot for nearly thirty years. She never managed to break through to the mid-tier before she decided it was too dangerous and retired.
“When people talk about the leaderboards, they usually only mean the top 1000. This isn’t just our local branch, mind you. It’s comprised of every adventurer in the world. That’s why you’ll find names on here in all sorts of languages. Most people on that list get courted by the clans, even if they are primarily solo.
“Soloing can be dangerous if rushed, so a lot of soloists take it really slow…well, the ones who usually survive that is. The solo list goes all the way up to over a dozen full days in the dungeon to break out of the novice tier. Do you think there is any chance you made it on that list?”
Ian nodded and gave him a smile, but he was internally losing his mind. Depending on the way the dungeon calculates his leveling time, he is either going to be the slowest solo leveler ever, or he was going to be the fastest. He wasn’t sure how much dive time he had racked over the past couple of days, but he hadn’t even had his Alias for 47 hours before he hit level 100.
“I honestly can’t tell you what it is going to say,” Ian said, deciding to not elaborate. “But I definitely need to talk to my Keeper before I head back into the dungeon. There’s just so much I still don’t know.”
“That feeling never really goes away. As soon as you learn what you are doing, it’s time to move on to learning something new.”
Nodding, Ian picked up his mug and downed the last little bit. Standing up, he nodded at Jason, “Thank you for taking the time to explain all of this to me. It was great meeting you, but I’m absolutely exhausted and about ten minutes from a food coma.”
The man laughed as he got up and patted Ian on the shoulder, “Anytime, and congratulations again. I’m sure I’ll see you around if you don’t get snatched up by one of the clans in the next couple of weeks.”
Ian dropped his dishes off at the correct counter and headed towards his room.
~*~*~
Ian had woken to a momentary sense of panic. It took him a moment to remember he was in his new dorm room and lying in the most comfortable bed he had ever used in his entire life. He didn’t remember what time he had gotten back to his room, but sleep had claimed him as soon as his head touched his pillow. Surprisingly, the rest had left him feeling refreshed and ready for the day instead of sore and groggy like he was accustomed to the morning after a dungeon run.
Getting out of bed, he stretched and looked out the window. The sun was peaking over the horizon, but most of the campus was still bathed in shadows from the walls and buildings. Looking at his phone, he discovered it was still a few minutes before seven. He honestly hadn’t expected to wake up before midmorning.
Beth had taken to sleeping less and had more energy as she leveled, but it wasn’t something he had ever personally experienced before. Intellectually knowing something wasn’t the same as feeling the firsthand effects. It was as if he hadn’t spent all of yesterday hiking through a dungeon and fighting for his life. He had previously needed the week to recover from his weekend forays when he learned he could level through the dungeon bonuses.
As he turned on his shower, he started talking himself through the plan for the day, “Gotta talk to Claire as soon as she gets in today. Oh, but I need to grab breakfast first! When was the last time I had a real breakfast? Pancakes, eggs, orange juice, and some deliciously crispy bacon would be absolutely amazing right now...”
With the thought of food, Ian quickly took care of his morning needs and dressed. Even if he was going to be cloaked in shadows, he took the time to properly shave the shaggy beard that he had let go wild. It didn’t grow very thick on the sides, but he thought his mustache and goatee looked decent when trimmed, so he decided to keep them.
“New name, new me?” Ian said to the mirror before he went to put on his shoes. He ran his hand over his face as he took a moment to really see how his body had changed. He was over six feet tall now. It wasn’t much taller, but it was a big enough change to be noticeable. His face had thinned a bit, and it looked like he spent an hour or more in the gym every day.
“Walter had mentioned a ‘tank growth spurt’ as a joke, but I do kinda resemble one now. I really hope I don’t spend the next few years getting the shit kicked out of me though. Being a tank really seems counterproductive to soloing.”
Ian chuckled at the thought, but the image couldn’t derail the joy seeing himself in his current state brought him. He hadn’t been out of shape when he started adventuring, but he had never been this buff. Unfortunately, his poor diet and overall lack of calories had pushed him to slowly lose muscle mass over the past year and a half. His mood lost a little luster when he wondered what Beth would have thought of him now, but he shook that thought away.
When he went to grab his shoes, he was met with a surprise. The boots were perfectly spotless, which led to a larger shock when he looked at his armor. Sure, the monster blood disappears when it is taken out of the dungeon, but the damage and dirt stayed, along with any human blood. Instead of a dirty set of armor, the leather was perfectly clean and looked as if it was brand new and freshly oiled.
Confused, he began to put the armor on when he saw the engraved plate attached to the ‘chest’ of the armor rack. He quickly read it, then reread it out of shock. The rack itself was enchanted to clean leather, chitin, and metal armor placed on it. It would also polish and oil items as needed.
“What I wouldn’t have done to have one of you that worked with that fry machine…” Ian said before shaking the silly thought away.
He quickly donned his armor, stored his weapons, and turned on his conceal skill before walking out the door.
He made his way to the cafeteria and smiled at the absolutely beautiful sight of perfectly prepared breakfast foods. Even listening to his table mates' crush on his ex while they watched reruns of her latest dives couldn’t ruin his mood as he ate fluffy pancakes and half a dozen pieces of perfectly crisp bacon.
When he was almost finished, he pulled out his new phone and sent a text to Claire. Dinging a moment later, he looked at her reply before scarfing down the last couple of pieces of bacon and carrying his plate to the counter.
