One second, they were all frantically clicking Yes… the next, they were back.

The familiar skill-choosing room greeted them — the massive dice exactly where they'd left it, the doors to each chamber yawning open as if they had never left. Within moments, the group drifted back together in the common space, voices low, movements hesitant.

The first thing they noticed was that they were all fully healed. Not just patched up, but whole again — as though the battlefield and its blood had been nothing more than a bad dream.

The second thing was the glowing messages waiting for them.

As everyone turned inward, pulling up their menus and considering where to place their newly earned stat points, Tarni slumped down onto the only bench in the room.

"Well, hit me with a wizard's rod with a knob on the end," he muttered, scrubbing at his face. "That was way too close."

"Yeah," Kai agreed, still pale. "Three seconds left until we apparently failed the quest."

Bell exhaled sharply through her nose. "That extra quest at the end — saving those people — that seemed to give us a massive reward."

Lily nodded. "Yeah. Honestly, I would've thought the quality-of-life upgrades were something we'd only get for clearing a whole floor."

Zane, leaning against the wall, scrolled back through his System history and read aloud:

SYSTEM NOTICE Dungeon at the End of the Beginning — Floor Four Biome: Quintessential Beginner's Village (Summer) Dungeon Monster Level: 10 Time Limit: 24 hours Option to Exit Without Completion: OFF Completion Criteria: Everyone in the party must level up Completion Reward: Soul Bond Companions are granted to 1 in every 100,000 people added to the System during full initialisation. (To make it easy for poor old Tarn, 95,000 people will start with Soul Bond Companions.)

Zane frowned. "So yeah. The reward for this floor wasn't ever going to help us. Not until the System finishes full initialisation anyway, and only if we get ridiculously lucky."

"Is it just me," Lily said, tilting her head, "or does the Dungeon monster level on these notices always lie?"

Before anyone could answer, a new message appeared across all their vision:

SYSTEM NOTICE Temporary Classes and Skills have been removed.

Tarni groaned. "Well, dragon balls. I really wanted to do more brewing."

Lily stepped lightly across the stone floor in a fluid, dance-like motion. Nothing happened — no shimmer of water, no surge of magic. The look of disappointment on her face was almost comical.

"Well," she huffed, shoulders slumping, "that's depressing."

Kai smirked, leaning back against the bench. "Don't worry, Lil. You've still got your devastating good looks. That's gotta be worth at least +2 Charisma."

She threw a pebble from the floor at him — where it had come from, no one knew — and he yelped as it pinged off his shoulder.

Zane chuckled softly. "At least you two are back to normal. I was starting to think we'd never get Tarn to shut up about potions."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Hey!" Tarni protested, sitting forward. "I was a genius brewer. Best the System ever saw."

"Uh-huh," Zane said dryly, arms folded. "And yet your one experiment still managed to explode. Twice."

The others laughed, but the sound didn't last. Slowly, like a candle guttering out, the mood dimmed.

Bell was the first to voice it. She lowered her bow across her lap and stared at the floor. "Those villagers… especially Nora. Did you see her face when she thought she had survived but her husband was gone?"

Lily's smile faded. "Yeah. That kind of pain doesn't just… go away. Even when she found out he was alive, it was like she didn't know if she was allowed to believe it."

Kai nodded quietly. "I kept thinking… what if we'd been too late? All of it — her, the others — would've been for nothing."

Zane pushed off the wall, pacing a slow line across the room. "And that's the part that bothers me. We fight, bleed, nearly die… and for what? To be yanked back here the moment it's over, like they weren't even real?"

"No." Tarni shook his head firmly. For once, there was no joke on his lips. "They were real. Nora was real. You saw those tears. Doesn't matter what the System is — she mattered."

The silence after that was heavy.

Bell finally straightened, her voice quiet but steady. "Then we remember her. All of them. Whatever this Dungeon throws at us next, we need to remember it isn't just about us. Because what we unlock and how far we go is going to matter to everybody on Earth."

The group exchanged glances — weariness etched into every line of their faces, but something harder, too. Something resolute.

"So," Tarni finally said, clapping his hands together, "what's everybody going to spend their points on?"

"Well donkey balls! I forgot to spend my three points that I saved from the last level up," he admitted.

Zane replied, "I tried to spend them when we were in the swamp collecting frogs. They were there at the top but greyed out, and I couldn't use them."

"Well, that makes me feel better. I had completely forgotten about them," Tarni said, wiping the back of his hand across his forehead.

A quick check confirmed the points were available again.

"I've got six points to spend," Zane said. "I'm taking my Dex to 20 and my Con to 25."

Dexterity: 16 → 20

Constitution: 23 → 25

Tarni couldn't help himself — he stood up and waggled his butt. "Oh, look at me, I'm Zane with an extra point for all my stats and six extra ones."

Zane put his hands on his hips and quoted, "Why, you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder!"

Tarni didn't miss a beat. "Who are you calling scruffy-looking?"

The laughter this time was real — bubbling up, lingering, cleansing.

When it finally settled, Tarni sighed and considered his points. "One in Strength, four in Dex, and one in Wisdom. That one Wisdom point might help me remember the next time I've got extras to spend."

Strength: 19 → 20

Dexterity: 26 → 30

Wisdom: 12 → 13

Bell was next. Having not taken any damage on their incredible journey to another world, she chose carefully. "Two into Strength, one into Dex. Stronger draw, sharper aim."

Strength: 16 → 18

Dexterity: 17 → 18

Kai followed, frowning thoughtfully. "Two into Intelligence, one into Constitution. Less mistakes. More endurance."

Constitution: 16 → 17

Intelligence: 23 → 25

Lily nearly bounced as she dropped two points into Charisma.

Charisma: 13 → 15

She hesitated with her last point, then decided to keep it unspent to keep all her stats at fifteen.

A new message appeared:

SYSTEM NOTICE Title Unlocked: Keeping It Even! All your stats at an equal value, you will receive +1 to all stats for every 10 levels. Your current equal level is 15, so you will receive +1 to all stats.

Lily gasped, checked her sheet, and gasped again. "They're all sixteen! All of them!" she cried, spinning on the spot before grabbing Kai's hands. They spun together in a dizzy circle, laughing.

Ding!

SYSTEM NOTICE I've got a kink in my neck from watching your mood shift so fast. Unfortunately, this title does NOT stack. You can get +1 to all stats again at 25, and at 35, etcetera Also, sucks to be Tarn — he'll have to get all his stats to 30 for the first +1.

Lily slowed, breathless, still grinning but now sheepish. She explained quickly.

Tarni threw up his hands. "Oh, come on! Of course the System singles me out again."

Zane scowled. "And I'm sitting on 25 Con. There's no way I can balance all my stats to reach it."

They debated, voices a mix of excitement and frustration, but eventually Zane and Tarni agreed it wasn't worth stretching for. Bell and Kai were undecided.

Lily, still glowing with her equal-sixteen sheet, looked down at her stats one last time. Her smile wavered. "Still feels strange… celebrating numbers while people like Nora exist."

Bell put a hand on her shoulder. "That's why it matters. We push forward, we grow stronger — so next time, we don't come that close."

The words settled over them like a vow.

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