Pepe walked through the door behind his cousin. Josh had already gone ahead. Bobby, Erin, and finally Michelle came in last. The locker room looked the same as the one they had been in, but the extra uniforms and the dress were gone. Their clothes, which they had left in a locker, were still there. There was yet another door where the changing rooms had been before. A sign above it read “Dining Room.” Pepe’s stomach rumbled, reminding him that he needed food.

  Aside from the lockers, there were also sinks and towels. They all went to the sinks and took turns cleaning up. Pepe felt cleaner after washing his hands and arms, wiping away the grime and sweat from his face and the back of his neck. He wanted a bath or a shower, but this would have to do. Michelle was still in a bad mood about the armor she had gotten, so Pepe and the rest of the boys left her alone. There was little to no conversation as they cleaned themselves up.

  They went through the door with the “Dining Room” sign. As before, the Floor 1 door had simply disappeared shortly after they had all returned to the locker room. Pepe saw round gray tables in the room, surrounded by round seats, cafeteria-style. There were what looked like plastic trays and a roll-up metal cover. They got in line, picking up a tray each.

  The roll-up cover came up as the last one picked up his tray and got in line. Pepe saw metal serving trays full of food. He wasn’t sure what the food was, but it was food. Behind where the kitchen and serving area were, there were two floating nodes. They had chef hats on, one with the “1337” label and the other with the “1” label to differentiate the two nodes. Oh, those two were going to get it shortly. He wouldn’t want to be them when Michelle was done with them.

  “Welcome! We hope you enjoy the food. We would give you a hand,” 1337 said, cracking jokes—bad ones, but he was trying. From 1, you heard the sound of a cymbal. “But we don’t have any. Please serve yourselves as much as you want.” They started to move through the line. Pepe was hungry, so he didn’t care what they were serving. How they had made the food, he was unsure, as they joked that they had no hands. But it was food, and he was hungry.

  He heard Michelle talk to the nodes. She was nice and polite. “Hey, you two, how’s it going? Could we have a word after we’re done eating? I have some questions and concerns.”

  “Yes, of course, Miss Michelle. We will come out after we close down and you all have had your fill of food,” they replied. They sounded happy. They wouldn’t be so happy after she was done with them.

  He got through the line with his food. It smelled great. The main dish had the consistency of meatloaf, with a little salad and mashed potatoes on the side. And for dessert, they had two options: what looked like cheesecake and carrot cake. He took one of each. There were cups and what looked like some form of dispensers—four of them, to be exact. He picked one at random, and out came an orange, bubbly drink. The smell of carbonation and orange wafted his way.

  He sat down; his cousin was already there, digging into his full plate. He had piled a ton of food on the plastic tray—twice as much as what Pepe’s tray held. He had earned it, after all they had been through; they all had. Just like in the locker room, no one said anything; they just all ate their food. Pepe felt ravenous; he was eating fast. Then he recalled his breakfast with Michelle and slowed down.

  After they finally started to slow down and just pick at the food, they started to talk among themselves. Since Bobby was next to him, he wanted to check in on his friend. “How are you feeling, Bobby?” he asked. That hit he had taken had been hard, taking a lot of his HP down.

  “I’m a little sore, but I should be fine. We’ve got a long way to go; I’ll just need to be more careful,” Bobby replied. Pepe didn’t think it was about being careful or not. They all needed to pay attention to what was going on; otherwise, any of them could get hurt. It wasn’t just on one person in the group; it was on all of them. They had to think quicker, react quicker. He would do that; he didn’t want to see his friends hurt.

  “Cool. We all have to look out for each other; we’re a team.” Eh, he had nuggets of wisdom, like superheroes said, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ And while they might not have great power, they had great responsibility for themselves and the team.

  Pepe saw the two nodes come out from the kitchen. They had replaced their chef hats with the red and green ones they had at the beginning. Michelle saw them come out, got up, and made her way to them. It was time. He and the rest of the guys just glanced over but didn’t want to make it seem like they were staring at what was about to play out.

  Michelle started out really nice, her voice normal. “Node 1337, I have some concerns about what we experienced on Floor 1. My concern isn’t so much the difficulty or what we faced; it’s the end reward—specifically, the end reward for the girls.” Her voice had gone up in volume at that last part—not much, but it was noticeable.

  “Miss Michelle, I’m not sure what you mean. Our choices were based on our extensive research. We created the rewards with the appropriate stats for the various job roles,” 1337 replied.

  “The stats are not what concern me. Josh, if you can bring out the guy version of the armor we got, please,” Michelle requested. He quickly obeyed; she had turned slightly toward him when she asked, and her face was as red as it had been when she originally saw the bikini armor.

  She took out the bikini version as well. “This thing you gave the girls—it’s called a bikini. It’s used at the beach, the river, places with water. It is not armor!”

  The two nodes backed up a few feet. “But our research—”

  “IT IS NOT ARMOR!” Pepe felt for the poor nodes. He really liked Michelle, but she had a bit of a temper. Though she was cute when she was mad, too—again, not something he was going to tell her. Thinking about it, she kind of reminded him of his mom that one time with his dad. He shivered at that memory.

  They didn’t say anything—probably the smartest thing they could have done. The nodes turned to each other, and lights started to flash between them, then back to Michelle. “Our apologies, Miss Michelle. Our research seems to have been limited. Before you move on to the next floor, if you could help us with the research and how we can fix this mistake, we would appreciate it,” 1337 said.

  They led her to one of the far tables away from the group, and they started to talk about the research and fixing the identified issue. After twenty minutes, she came back over to the group. “Are we ready?” No one met her eyes. While she had calmed down from earlier, there was still something in her voice. No point in poking the bear, Pepe thought. They nodded to her. “All right, then, let’s get the show on the road,” she said.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  They were back in the locker room, and, as before, a loudspeaker came on. “Congratulations on your successful completion of the first floor. We will now move on to the second floor, where the challenge will be even greater. We appreciate your participation as we improve the facilities for future use. Enjoy the next floor. In order to help you we have provided some additional items.”

  Pepe opened the locker he had decided was his and saw a leather poncho, some sturdy leather boots, and what looked like a stick. Pepe wasn’t sure what the items were for, but he took off his silly shoes and gloves, deciding he probably didn’t need those items for this new floor. His friends doing the same and getting rid of the silly items.

  A new door materialized. Pepe saw an old door, rounded at the top, with a metal knocker. No actual doorknob was present, just a ring that you pulled to open it. The wood on the door was old and worn, as if it had been exposed to the sun for many years. It was gray instead of the brownish color you would expect a nice, new wooden door to be.

  Josh opened the door, and they looked inside. What they saw was a road with trees on either side, old wooden posts, and beams along the road. There was a light drizzle of rain, and Pepe hadn’t brought an umbrella. Guess we’re going to get wet. The Poncho and boots would come in handy here. He wasn’t looking forward to this dungeon as much as he usually liked dungeons; he didn’t like the rain he saw.

  They filed through to the rainy road. At least it wasn’t cold rain. Pepe felt the water running down his back; within minutes, he felt soaked through. It may not have been cold, but it still sucked. He looked around and saw his friends were also miserably wet. They started down the road.

  The road was wide enough to be a two-lane road. No wagons of any kind were present. They heard no birds or animals; it was a desolate place. Pepe only felt the rain coming down and his wet clothes. Still in the plumber outfit, he felt the water even in his boots, between his toes—not very comfortable. From time to time, in the distance, he saw lightning flashes in the sky and the shadow of a large building. He pointed this out to his friends; they looked up and saw it.

  “Looks like we know where we have to go,” Josh said.

  They walked, getting soaked the whole time. They had caps on, but they did little to protect them from the rain. The road came to a bend, and a small house stood there to the left of the road. Pepe looked up and saw that the roof was in poor repair, likely letting lots of water in. While it might have more holes than Swiss cheese, they could probably find an area that was covered from the rain.

  They walked in. They had knocked, in case it belonged to someone, but it was highly unlikely, as it seemed abandoned. He looked around. What might have been a table and chairs was now falling apart on the ground. Only one of the table’s legs was attached; the others were lying on the ground. One chair still looked whole, but he doubted it would hold his weight.

  There was dust everywhere, spiderwebs in the corners, but he saw no spiders. A fireplace that hadn’t been used for a very long time sat cold, but it wasn’t cold enough to need an actual fire. Various holes in the roof allowed rain in, with puddles forming in various locations on the floor. None of it was very inviting. Pepe looked around and felt like it was all staged, like something you see in a movie.

  Five minutes passed, and some noise was heard outside. Pepe heard a horse stop outside and the sound of metal as a rider dismounted. He wasn’t sure why that came to mind, as he had seen neither; it just felt that way. Again, it felt staged, but what was he going to do? A knock came at the door; he knew it was coming. They all looked at the door, then at each other, and shrugged. If it was something bad, why would it knock?

  They took out their weapons—better prepared than sorry. Josh opened the door. Standing there was a tall figure wearing a leather raincoat of sorts with the hood up. “Thank you, kind strangers. Would you be amenable to allowing a traveler out of the rain? I would be happy to pay you for the stay,” the figure said. The voice had a weird sound to it, as if the person were talking through a tin can.

  What was this? They weren’t expecting to meet a person in the dungeon. Josh turned to allow the figure in. “My thanks. It has been a miserable day of rain. But it is the rainy season, so it is to be expected,” the tall figure said, removing the raincoat. Pepe was amazed to see that the person was wearing a full set of armor—the whole getup: helmet with a slit so he could see, breastplate, gauntlets, and greaves. Not that he actually knew what any of the pieces were called, but now he understood why the voice sounded like it did.

  The figure carried a shield behind its back and a sword in its scabbard at its hip. The sword was a lot longer than what Manuel carried. “I have traveled many days in this dreary weather. The countryside is empty of people. I was surprised to find someone here. Are you also fellow travelers by chance? And, by your looks, adventurers, maybe? If so, I have need of your aid, for I am on a quest.” And there it was, Pepe thought. The knight was a non-player character. Or what did you call it here, since it was like a game but not a game?

  Josh looked at his companions before answering, probably thinking the same thing as Pepe. “Yes, to both. We are travelers and adventurers,” Josh replied. He went on to introduce them to the knight. Pepe nodded as he was introduced, the rest doing the same.

  “Ah, excellent! Glad am I to meet you. My name is Sir Urthor of the Court of Daford,” he said. He bowed, which looked awkward in the suit of armor he was wearing. Though he pulled off all the movements perfectly, it was as if he had been born in the armor or had many years of practice. “Aid was requested by concerned citizens. The Court sent others before me, but none have returned. I and my retinue were sent; unfortunately, an accident with our wagons has left my fellows days behind.”

  Good setup, Pepe thought. He would need to tell the nodes they had done well. Sir Urthor continued his story of how he had been riding nonstop until tonight and how lucky he was to find them there. Right lucky. It was like the nodes had seen some movies or maybe read it in some kind of book and just made their own version.

  Throughout all this, the knight hadn’t removed his helm. They couldn’t see any eyes through the eye slit on the helm. It was dark due to the clouds outside, so little light was actually present—enough to see, but not a lot.

  Pepe found it interesting that the knight hadn’t commented at all about the weird uniforms they had on—the hat, the green and red shirts, and the overalls. The weapons they wielded might have given away the adventurer vibe, but then again, it felt scripted, so maybe it was just that.

  “If you could give us a little time, I’d like to confer with my friends about this,” Josh said, moving over to the other side of the room and picking a spot that didn’t have a hole above them.

  “Thoughts?” Josh asked.

  “Feels like a movie or something,” Pepe said. He knew he wasn’t the only one who had thought that. Erin had come to the same conclusion; the rest just nodded in response.

  “Since it’s part of the dungeon, let’s just agree so we can move on to the next part,” Manuel said. So he, too, wanted to continue with this. They had all had their rest, so it was time to get this dungeon run on the road.

  They moved back over to the knight. He had just been standing where they had left him. It was weird because it felt like he was a statue. “Sir Urthor, we have all agreed to help in your quest. Can you tell us more about it?” Josh asked.

  “Most excellent! There will be a reward for your time, of course…” Sir Urthor began. Pepe listened as the knight went into his spiel about the other two groups that hadn’t returned. There were some unknown monsters attacking citizens, and he was there to stop them. With their help, they would get to the bottom of this and end the threat to the remote area they were in.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Frank, or as Pepe would call him, Francisco, found himself in front of a round, floating metal ball. It had introduced itself as a Registration Node, or Regi, as it said to call it. It had gone over something to do with roles and all this and that—none of it made sense to him. What was he doing here in a forest? He had been sleeping in his bed, and then he had been here.

  After he had been told about these roles, it was like one of the stupid games his brother and his friends played. He had chosen Wizard. He wasn’t sure why he had chosen that one, but it was the only one that appealed to him. It seemed interesting to be able to use magic and stuff.

  He had been wearing a black shirt, black pants, and his lace-up black boots when he had fallen asleep, and they had come with him. Good thing he had been wearing his boots; while not the most comfortable shoes to wear for a long hike, they were good, sturdy boots.

  He, like his brother and friends, had been given a map. For him, a black backpack had appeared to carry his things. He had brought up this GUI thing and had been greeted by the HelpNode. It had given him much more information than that Regi fellow. None of it made sense to him, though. He started his walk to Starter Town—what kind of name was that? More silly game things.

  He had arrived at Starter Town and just gaped at the guards. They were not human. The giant one didn’t say anything, but the little one next to it started to talk. “Oh, look at that, another one, a bit older, kind of reminds me of that little one Pepe. We haven’t seen others arrive for a few days. So, kind of late, I would say. Welcome to Starter Town.” It was a female voice. He looked up at the big one, and it smiled, its canine teeth quite long. What were these two?

  They had said some things, but he was still in shock about everything that was happening, so he didn’t pay much attention. He had been told to read some rules, go to the inn, and get a room. He had done that, meeting another little person who had checked him in. They had fed him and then taken him to a small room with a small bed. He sat down to gather his thoughts—all so confusing. He left his things and went out to this Adventurers Guild place he had been pointed to.

  He went in and saw some people around his age, some younger, who had been talking to the person who worked there. When they were done, he went up to the lady. She was all smiles and told him what they did, saying she was happy to have so many new guild members. So he had joined to make money while he wasn’t ready to accept this as reality. It must be a dream, and he’s actually back in his bed sleeping right now.

  The days continued, and he hadn’t woken up from the weird dream. He had seen his brother and his friends, but he had hidden in an alley as they passed by. He had heard something about a dungeon that they were going to. A girl was with them, a redhead with curly hair. He wasn’t sure who she was, but she was walking and talking with them.