PLAYER DEATHS: 1

  KILLED BY: LAUNDRY MAGGOT

  FLOORS CLEARED: 0

  LAST CLASS AND LEVEL: ADVENTURER - LEVEL 1 (SMUCK)

  The pain had stopped, but the memory of dying kept my nervous system screaming.

  The transition back to life was sudden and shocking. I woke up gasping on my bed back in my apartment, my back arching and my hands grabbing onto my throat where the creature had ripped into it.

  It took a few seconds to regain some sanity, for my consciousness to snap back into place and for me not to be driven by pure primal instinct. I lay there, staring at the ceiling with my chest heaving, trying to suck in as much oxygen as possible.

  After calming down a little, I removed my hands from my neck and stared at them, expecting them to be covered in blood and viscera from where the creature had torn into me. Dry.

  I put a hand back to my neck, checking for any sign of injury, and found... nothing.

  I gave myself a few calming breaths, letting my brain catch up to what had happened.

  Just before what I can only describe as having my soul violently stuffed back into a living body, a message had appeared in the black void. There was some information, but PLAYER DEATHS: 1 had burned itself into my brain the most.

  “Shit,” I said, unbelieving. That count could mean a lot of things, some very terrible things, none of which I had answers for right now.

  I looked around. My apartment bedroom looked the same as it had when I had awoken when this whole thing had started. I looked over to the stool and found my cellphone sitting there like it had been when I had woken up earlier.

  Or was it earlier? I looked at the time on the cell, which still read 8:07 AM.

  There was a new notification on the phone.

  YOU HAVE DIED! THE DUNGEON HAS BEEN RESET! Management

  There it was again. Management. Who, or what, was management in this case? Were these automated messages, or was somebody monitoring me? Were they responsible for putting me in this situation?

  I finally worked up enough courage to pull myself out of bed. The memory of dying lingered, and I placed my hand to my neck again, trying to rub away what I can only describe as a phantom pain. I padded over to the window and pulled up the blinds, hoping that things had gone back to normal, only to be met with the grey fog pooling itself against my bedroom window.

  I had to think about this. Any hope that this had all been some sort of dream or prank was gone now. Seems like death will sober you from any delusions real quick.

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  What would happen if I tried to stay in the apartment? I remembered the force that had pulled me through the doorway into the corridor and the feeling of impatience that had washed over me when that happened. I got the sense that if I didn’t leave my place on my own, I’d be pulled into the dungeon one way or another.

  Could I buy time? How long could I stay here until that happened? How much food did I have? I knew I had the basics, but I hadn’t bought groceries since the previous Saturday, so there wasn’t much left in terms of perishables. I had to take stock.

  I went to the kitchen sink and turned on the tap. I felt relief when water came from it, so at least the plumbing was still working.

  I then turned to the fridge and pulled open the door. The light flicked on, and I was greeted with nearly bare shelves. Groceries were nowhere to be seen.

  There was one thing inside. It was something that looked like a protein bar, but I didn’t remember buying any. Like what had happened with the fork, a set of blue brackets flashed around the item.

  RATION BAR - UNPERISHABLE

  I reached out to pick up the bar. As soon as my fingers touched it, I was greeted by a message with two options.

  TAKE INTO INVENTORY?

  YES / NO

  The moment I thought yes, the bar disappeared.

  Okay, so that meant a couple of things. One, there was some sort of inventory system that I would have to figure out. Two, unless I could find food in the dungeon, I was probably going to starve.

  I opened the cupboards in the kitchen to check for any non-perishables. I knew I always kept a few cans of stew on hand in case of emergency, but they seemed to have disappeared as well.

  What was interesting was that the various pots, pans, and cooking utensils remained untouched. That was interesting.

  I tried grabbing a cast-iron skillet, but once again a force kept me from handling it.

  You are bound to the weapon: fork. Your weapon inventory is maxed out, and you may not equip an additional weapon until level 2. You may only unbind weapons with a wish spell.

  Guess I was stuck with the fork for now.

  Before I was able to investigate my apartment any further, I felt a cold chill forming at the back of my neck. There it was again, that same feeling that had pulled me into the corridor. The impatience.

  I decided to get dressed and put on some shoes. If I was going to be forced back into the dungeon, I wanted to be a little better prepared. At least this time my feet would be somewhat protected.

  As I reached for my shoes, I paused, looking over at the pair of broken-in steel-toed boots I had “forgotten” to turn in when I had left the military. A pain to lace up, but they would do a much better job protecting my feet.

  As I reached for them, the information bracket popped up.

  COMBAT BOOTS - COMMON - FOOT ARMOR - ARMOR LEVEL 0.5

  I paused, looking back and forth between my normal shoes and the boots. The info bracket disappeared when I looked at the shoes and reappeared when I looked at the boots. All I could think was that everyday clothes and items didn’t get noted by the system.

  Encouraged by the fact that the boots had stats, I put them on and began to lace them up.

  The chill on the back of my neck continued to grow, and I fumbled with the laces, my fingers growing unsteady. Suddenly, the hearts were back in my vision, but this time there were only two. The third heart that had been there last time wasn’t even greyed out. It was completely gone.

  A message flashed in my vision.

  TIME LIMIT AT SPAWN POINT REACHED. HEALTH PENALTY INFLICTED. Management

  I fumbled with the laces, rushing to get them tied. Just as I finished, another heart was removed.

  TIME LIMIT AT SPAWN POINT REACHED. HEALTH PENALTY INFLICTED. FINAL WARNING! Management

  Cursing, I sprinted toward my apartment door.

  Just as I reached for the knob, the final heart flashed away in my vision.

  I froze at the feeling of dread washing over me and a sudden pressure in my chest.

  The last thing I felt before the blackness overtaking me was my heart exploding.