A scream of anger echoes through the room. “What are you doing? Stop that!”
The masked man must have guessed my intent because a spray of bullets comes shooting forth from the darkness. Several rounds hit me, but the podium shields me from the worst of the attack. The respawn crystal only has a little durability left, and I swing my hammer again at it. The cracks widen even as another spray of bullets cuts through the air.
The man in the mask must have adjusted his position because this time a majority of the bullets hit me and I see dozens of 5s and 6s float away from me. I fire another ball of flame in the direction of the attack and am glad to see it hit something man-shaped. The man in the mask is briefly illuminated as his clothes catch fire and I’m briefly tempted to attack him directly. I’d love nothing more than to give him some of the pain he’s visited on me this day.
Shaking my head clears away the foolish thought. If I did that and died, I’d just respawn right back here. Only I’d never get another chance like this one. I focus on the task at hand and put every ounce of anger I feel into a final blow to the crystal. As the hammer impacts, a bright flash of blue light explodes outward. Then the crystal breaks apart with a loud crash and crumbles to dust.
A shout of frustrated anger comes from the dark. “NOOOO! You idiot. You haven’t changed anything! You’ve only delayed your final death. I still have other dungeons I can create.” Then with a sinister shift in the tone he continues, “But first I think I’ll pay a little visit to the Tinoco household.”
There’s a small popping sound and then silence. I scream in anger and toss fireballs around the room until my mana runs out. I hit nothing, and no one answers to taunt me. The man in the mask has really left.
Knowing that he’s heading towards my house right now, I know what I need to do. I open my inventory and grab the single high-yield grenade I was able to craft. With only a quarter of my health left, the grenade should be enough to kill me. I pull the safety pin and cradle the grenade close to my body so that I take the full damage. There’s an ear-splitting boom a moment later, and the world disappears.
Chapter 40
Anthony Tinoco has killed you.
Respawn in 3...2...1.
You’ve respawned at your default location, your home base.
You lose 1920 XP. XP needed to level 9: 12800
I wake up, looking at another series of system messages, and for a moment I think that I’m still trapped in the dungeon. But the sight of the popcorn ceiling beyond the messages assures me that I have indeed respawned back in my room. Sitting up, I breathe deeply and try not to cry. It worked. It actually worked. I wasn’t sure if destroying the respawn crystal would reset my respawn point to its default location, but it did.
As I appreciate that my plan worked, I also recall that the danger isn’t over yet. If anything, it’s greater now.
I rush to my feet and run out of the room yelling. The hallway is dark, but the kitchen light is on, and I head there. My mom is standing in the kitchen holding a mug of hot coffee. She’s wearing a pink bathrobe, and she looks quite angry to see me.
“Where have you been? Your boss called and said that you missed your shift at work. Why did you skip work? I called you, but your phone just kept going to voicemail.” Then as if realizing where I came from she looks confused and asks, “Were you in your room this whole time?”
I don’t know how long I was in that dungeon, but it’s good to know someone noticed I was gone.
“Mom, I didn’t skip work. Someone took me before I got there. I just escaped.”
My mom looks at me incredulously. “But…”
“Mom, I know I don’t look it, but some man in a mask kidnapped me…” I hesitate to tell her, but she has to understand how serious the situation is. “… And he hurt me, Mom. He hurt me a lot. Please believe me. He said he was going to come here to hurt you and Marie.” I feel a tear slide down my cheek as I speak. I need her to believe me.
Before I can say anything else, I hear clink as my mom’s mug is placed on the table and she walks over and hugs me. “Oh, sweetie. Of course, I believe you.”
Her hug is like a salve for my wounded soul. My mom believes me. Just like she’s always believed me. I feel blessed to have a mom that would believe a crazy story like that without question. But I need to get her and Marie out of here.
I push my mom away and ask, “Where’s Marie? I need to get you and her to a safe place. That psycho is on his way here now. He knows where we live.”
“Mijo, we should call the police. They can—”
“No!” I don’t mean to yell, but I know that the police couldn’t help us against a System User. I lower my voice at my mom’s annoyed look. I don’t think I’ve ever yelled at her before. “I’m sorry I yelled, Mom. But we don’t have time to wait for the police. This guy has a gun, and he said he’s going to kill you and Marie.”
It only takes her a moment to decide to trust me. She walks down the hallway and opens Marie’s bedroom door. I hear her groan as the bedroom light goes on and wakes her up.
My mind spins, thinking about what to do next. Can we escape out the backyard? Maybe run to the police station? Or hide at the convenience store? I’m sure Mr. Smith will help us if I explain.
Unfortunately, the time to plan is over. There’s a crashing sound from the direction of the front door, and I hear a familiar voice yell out, “Knock. Knock. Anybody home?”
My mom is just pulling a confused looking Marie out of her room, her arm protectively around my sister’s shoulders. Their eyes are wide with fright.
I quietly motion for them to go into my room and the three of us silently go into the room. As I lock the door, I hear Marie ask, “Who’s breaking into our home?”
My mom hushes her and asks me in a whisper, “What now? My gun is in my bedroom.”
My head snaps as I stare at my mom. She has a gun? Well, I guess it makes sense when you think about the neighborhood we live in.
“I know someone is here. There’s hot coffee on the table. Anthony? Are you already back? If you show yourself, I promise to kill your family quickly.”
I ignore the taunting voice of the masked man, and I decide what to do next. I don’t think I could fight this guy and protect my family at the same time. The two of us might even burn my house down if I do. Instead, I pull up the System window for my home base and tap on the portal screen.
The door to my bedroom glows as the portal connection is established. I grab the door handle and am about to open it when my mom grabs my hands.
“No. You can’t surrender to that madman.”
It takes a moment to realize what she means. She thinks I’m going outside to the masked man? Then it clicks. Her and Maire can’t see the System windows or the portal. They aren’t part of the System yet. I remember Lillian telling me that only a small percentage of all humanity can see the dungeon doors normally. The same must apply for the all the System stuff.
I take my hand off the doorknob and place it on my mom's hand that’s gripping my arm. “Mom. I’m not going to surrender. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I’ve made a special portal to a safe place.”
The bedroom door shakes as someone jiggles the handle from the outside. “I know you’re in there! Come out, or I’m going to come in and get you!”
My sister stares at the bedroom door and tries to back up but falls over the bed. She looks at me and says, “You’re right, doofus. You sound crazy.”
I ignore her and look down into my mom’s worried eyes. I muster every ounce of sincerity and strength I can. “Mom. It’s too hard to explain right now. I need you to trust me. If you and Marie walk through the bedroom door, you’ll be taken somewhere safe.” She looks at the door and back at me. There’s a ghost of doubt there. I squeeze her hand and add quietly, “I promise, Mom.”