11

"We're setting up a temporary base of operations in this hotel," he frowned at me, "This opportunity just allows you access to the dungeon. We pay you for the drops you gather, but we are not responsible for your safety. Personally I wouldn't allow anyone like you in this operation, but the awakenings has changed everything. If you fall behind then we'll kick you out of our operation without hesitation. We can have a room prepared for you if you don't live in the area."

"My commute is pretty long, and I'm pretty sure it's only going to get worse," I stood up. 

Taking the packet he offered. I knew it was just legal technical nonsense, and I would need to sign it if I planned on getting anywhere near the dungeon. My mind was in a whirlwind as I headed back home. Traffic was even worse heading north. Packing everything up didn't take very long.

I didn't have much. I convinced the neighbor kid to take care of my rabbits for a few days while I was gone. The tutorial dungeons were a jump on what was to come. That was what tutorials were meant for. I needed the extra XP so I didn't complain. 

The more of a leg up I hand on XP the better off I would be when the shit really started hitting the fan. I needed to get started on my manual stat gains. I would come back for my rabbits, and I was glad that I could borrow a truck from my little brother since moving out meant I was going to need it sometime in the near future. Once they decided on a location that the awakened would be living from here on out I planned to bring my rabbits along with. I was both excited, and terrified about what tomorrow would bring. 

The hours passed in a blur. All my clothes fit into a mid sized suitcase. My blankets, and games fit in a big garbage bag. My whole life was reduced to so little that I could fit it all in my car. I looked through my wallet to confirm I had cash before setting out. 

My rabbits had enough food, and my own food was mostly frozen or dry so it didn't take long for me to pack all of that up as well. I wasn't planning on cancelling my lease yet. Just because they were housing me now didn't mean they would continue to house me. I did leave behind a few things I didn't want to bring along. About half my food, my dress shoes, fancy clothes, and what little furniture I had. 

Then I set off. I was really hoping I hadn't made the wrong decision. I looked at my survival chance again, and nothing about that tiny number gave me hope that I would make it through this. I needed to change something or I was going to die. I'd always been stuck. 

My entire life I'd been stuck under one obstacle or another. I never thought I could step beyond those boundaries I'd made for myself. Now something unbelievable had happened, and if something this unbelievable could happen then why couldn't I step outside of my boundary. I'd colored within the lines my whole life. If I was going to change that then now was the time. 

Once I carted my stuff up to my room, and plugged in my gaming system I knew it was time to get to work. Sure I was tired, and I'd uprooted everything, but that didn't mean I was allowed to fall back into the comforting habits I'd developed. It didn't take me that long to drive to a park. Granted the one I wanted to go to was still closed because of the dungeon. Speed seemed like the easiest stat to increase to start with so I set to it. 

I sprinted until I was out of breath. Waited for my heart rate to calm down, and then did it again. I kept at it well past dark. Sprinting my little heart out until I couldn't keep it up any longer. After all that I tiredly climbed into my car. 

Locking the doors to make sure no one bothered me while I was sitting there catching my breath before looking at the counter, and finding I'd only sprinted a grand total of 312 feet. I looked at my phone, and found that it was already nearly midnight so I wouldn't be doing anymore today. I just flashed my room key so the men at the door would leave me alone as I headed to the elevator. There were several drunk awakened that managed to get in the elevator with me. They were singing their own praises, and bragging about how famous they were going to be once they leveled up. 

My only thought was that these morons were going to die. I brushed past them once I got the opportunity, and went straight to my room. Thankful that I was, for the most part, nondescript. I still couldn't sleep once I got to my room so I started doing crunches on the floor while a movie played through one of my streaming services. I was actually kind of surprised it was even working. 

Even if the world was falling apart people were still expected to do their damn jobs. I wondered how much longer that would last. I was both annoyed, and surprised to find that the system didn't accept anything less then a proper crunch. I had to touch my elbows to me knees for it to count, and my feet couldn't come off the ground while I was doing it. I used a pillow, and wedged my feet under the heavy dresser. 

The pillow protected my feet from the heavy wooden dresser, and the dresser helped my feet stay down so I could get my crunches in. Even after I was dead tired I realized the room light was still on, and I couldn't sleep so with my abdominal muscles screaming, and my legs about dead I drug myself over to the switch, and shut off the lights. I set my alarm for six thirty, and pulled the covers over my aching body. I knew I would be frowned at for not getting down to the lobby by six thirty, but if those drunk idiots were anything to go off of then I wouldn't be the only one that was late. I knew that being late wasn't a good idea, but I couldn't just reset the way I was used to sleeping in one go.