Author's Preface
As the team entered the gate, Aaron stopped and stared at the four tunnels of the cave. "Well, I guess we each pick a tunnel and find what we can?"
Blue shrugged his shoulders. "Sounds good to me."
"I agree," Yuki said. "After gates break there aren't normally monsters left inside."
"Regardless, you two be careful." Aaron clicked a button on his watch. "We will meet back here near the entrance in two hours."
Yuki and Blue nodded. Blue walked toward the far right tunnel as Yuki and Aaron disappeared down other tunnels. Blue put his hand against the cave walls as he walked. "Yo, this isn't stone." Blue punched the wall. "It's wood? Are we inside a tree?" He continued down the path, stopping at small rooms as he walked along. Each room was empty. No treasure. No pendant. After an hour and a half of searching, a light started to shine through the dark tunnel. Blue ran down the corridor to the light and stopped the moment he entered the room. It was a massive room. On the walls were mana stones that lit the space up. To his left were three other entrances that led to the other tunnels. On the ground in front of Blue was everything shiny Aaron had mentioned. Piles and piles of junk, jewelry, coins. Anything from spoons to gold chunks stared at him. "Well, my system hasn't told me the pendant is here." Blue cracked his knuckles. "But let's see what we can find anyway." Blue began rummaging through the piles of junk, looking for anything of value. He pocketed a few mana stones, some gold coins, and anything that could be sold. "Oh shit, a Rolex." Blue bent down and picked up the watch. The face was cracked but the hands still ticked. He started to put it on when he heard footsteps. Blue instinctively put his hand with the Rolex behind his back as Aaron walked through the other entrance to the room and stopped and stared at Blue.
"Watcha got there, buddy?"
Blue smiled. "It's a broken Rolex." Blue lifted his arm in the air as the Rolex dangled from his fingertips.
"You looked like you were hiding something much more valuable."
"Yeah, I heard footsteps and, well, I felt like a kid suddenly who was stealing stuff, and I thought I was about to get in trouble."
Aaron walked up and inspected the watch. "It is a nice piece. Useless now, but maybe when the world goes back to normal some collectors may pay a fortune for it. Any luck with the pendant?"
"It's not here. But my goodness." Blue lifted his arms and spun. "There's so much shit here."
"Yeah, not much can be useful to us though, except the mana stones on the walls."
"Gold is a girl's best friend." Yuki appeared behind Blue and whispered in his ear.
Blue jumped and turned, staring at Yuki. He handed her a few gold chunks from his pocket. "I like my best friends to talk, but whatever floats your boat." Blue turned and started gathering as many mana stones as he could. Aaron did the same. Yuki stood staring at Blue with a few gold chunks in her hand. She shook her head and joined in gathering mana stones buried in the pile of junk.
"I think we've wasted enough time in here. Let's head back with what we have. Blue, there are still two more dungeons on that map I gave you. They are too far out to head there today."
"Yeah, I figured."
The three headed out with their shirts and pockets stuffed with mana stones. Each of them had quietly stuffed other items they found, things they simply took because they wanted them. They walked through the gate and returned to the real world. Aaron stopped as soon as his feet touched ground. He stood there scratching his chin, looking left and right. Yuki tapped him on the shoulder and pointed. Aaron smiled. "Of course. Let's go!"
Blue jogged up to Aaron as Yuki trailed behind. "Seriously, are you just unable to tell directions, or what? You'd have been lost already if you were alone."
"You're one to talk, Mr. I-like-my-best-friends-to-talk. Come at me for being clueless about directions." Aaron put his arm around Blue's head. "I'm bad with directions. You're terrible with women."
Blue turned his head and looked back at Yuki, who lifted her hand and waved her fingers with a smile. "Ugh."
Aaron laughed loudly. "Oh man, this is going to be entertaining to watch."
"Why?"
"Yeah, you have no clue, do you? You really are the dumbest smart person I know. This is going to be better than the Real Housewives shows."
"Ohhh, my mom watched those."
"Yeah, you may need to find that pendant quicker than I thought."
"Why?"
"So you can go back to Murim for your own safety." Aaron released Blue's head as the three walked in silence back to the Humvee.
As the three reached the Humvee, Aaron grabbed the door handle to open it and froze. He heard it first, then he turned slowly and saw it. A massive explosion sent a mushroom cloud several miles into the air.
"What the hell is that?" Blue asked.
Silence. Aaron stood completely still for a moment and didn't respond.
"EARTH TO AARON. ANYONE HOME?" Blue knocked on the roof of the humvee.
Aaron turned to Blue. "Get in. We have to go. Right fucking now."
Aaron, Yuki, and Blue got in the Humvee as Aaron slammed on the gas and tore through the fields toward Columbus. In the distance, more explosions erupted and smoke billowed into the air.
"Seriously, what the fuck is happening?" Blue's eyes were wide as his legs bounced up and down.
"I don't know, but I have an idea."
"Mind sharing with the classroom?"
"Midnight." Aaron looked at Blue, who sat in the passenger seat. "You remember the meeting, right? The intel about a coordinated attack?"
"I mean, yeah, but how is that possible?"
Aaron pulled out his phone and dialed a number while he drove.
"Hey, Aaron," a voice answered. "I'd love to chat, but we have a problem here right now."
"I know. We have one in Columbus. I was just verifying."
"You mean that it's—"
"Yeah. It's definitely Midnight."
"Well, we are doing our best here. Monsters are pouring through the holes in the wall these bastards blew open. Stay safe, Aaron. I'll contact you when this is over." Aaron out his phone back in his pocket and gripped the steering wheel tight with both hands until his knuckles turned white.
Blue looked out the window toward the explosion. "This is crazy. How can they do this? I thought they were just some black guilds and gangs?"
"I don't know, Blue, and right now that doesn't matter."
The three finally reached the outskirts of the stronghold. They could see explosions left and right. As they drove towards the wall something massive landed on the hood of the Humvee. The front end collapsed from the impact, and the Humvee flipped over the monster that had crashed down onto it, rolling over and over for two hundred feet before coming to a stop. The Humvee was upside down as Aaron crawled out of the driver window. "What the fuck was that? BLUE, YUKI, ARE YOU GUYS OKAY?"
Blue kicked the Humvee door off its hinges and pulled Yuki out from the back seat. She was unconscious. "I'm okay, but Yuki isn't. She's knocked out cold."
Aaron walked toward the open trunk of the Humvee. Everything they had gathered from the dungeon was now scattered on the ground. Aaron looked for the medical bag and pulled out an elixir. He tossed the elixir to Blue. "Give that to her. It'll wake her up. You drink some too. I'm sure you have some injuries. Now's not the time to try and be a badass."
Blue nodded and popped the top off the elixir, pouring it into Yuki's open mouth as he braced her head with the other hand. He took what was left and drank it himself. As he did, he saw a huge monster standing behind Aaron. "LOOK OUT!"
Aaron turned and caught a massive axe swinging down at him with both hands. "You the one who wrecked my ride?" From behind the monster, four red greatswords materialized and stabbed through its chest. It let out a wail and fell to the ground. Aaron turned to Blue. "When she wakes up, we move out."
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