14. Safe Zone

The notification box stayed there for some time. He guessed it took a little while to convert this place into a Safe Zone, whatever that meant. He started to think back on the fight, on that crack in the world he'd looked through; on how abstract everything seemed all of a sudden, on the sense that something greater, immaterial, lay beneath the surface.

It was gone now. The ground felt solid under his feet. He saw no cracks. It felt like he'd woken from a very good dream. It felt like a eureka moment, something he couldn't force. That insight felt fragile. He had this gut feeling it came to you when you, and it, were ready.

He shook his head, frowning. What? The more he listened to himself, the sillier he sounded.

𝕊𝕒𝕗𝕖 ℤ𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕕!

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕒𝕗𝕖 𝕫𝕠𝕟𝕖 [𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕕]

𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: [𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕕]

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝔼𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥: ℝ𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟙𝟘%

Nothing changed that he could see. The ground wasn't terraformed nor cleaned. The heaps of ash was still there. But a blue dot had popped up in the middle of his mini-map, right at the intersection of the Forest's three regions. He picked his way toward it.

He found the other survivors already there, even Brad and his grunts, still tied up and gagged. They stood amid a grassy plain, huddled around this stone pillar straight out of the Old Testament. It was carved with script from a language he'd never seen.

Beside the blue dot on his mini-map—that pillar—was a fat yellow dot—a treasure chest spawned next to it, the size of a small shed. It wasn't opened. The survivors seemed nervous to get too close to it; they were looking at him, waiting.

"Is it done?" said Raj, one of the techies. His eyes were red-rimmed.

"Yeah. All dead," said Zane. "And I saw no Monsters on the way here. Did you?"

They all shook their heads.

"I'm guessing they don't spawn in Safe Zones," he said. It makes sense. The Bosses were all dead.

They seemed less relieved than he expected. Liam, the pre-med, piped up—"So," he croaked. "Err—when is this—" he gestured around. "When's it over? Can we—I don't know—I just want to go home." His voice was strangled at the end.

Zane didn't, but he didn't say that. "We may have to accept," he said slowly. "That's no longer a possibility."

Even little Annie looked upset at that.

He saw it now. Maybe they thought after the Dungeon was cleared, everything would be back the way it was and all this would fade like a bad dream. But though they were out, this world, with its mad game logic, was still there. There was no going back.

If he was their leader, he'd probably have to dredge up some inspirational speech or something right about now. But he wasn't, and it was a good thing too—he was shit at speeches.

"What's in the chest?" said Zane.

They looked at one another. "Well… we thought you should be the one to open it," said Cale, scratching his head, sheepish.

Zane had told them he didn't want to be their leader, but they seemed to be subconsciously deferring to him anyways. Eh.

He walked up and pried it open. His face was bathed in yellow light. They looked like those crystals in the Highlands but clean cut, and stuffed brighter with essence. There must be dozens of them in there.

Still, probably not enough for him to clear a Level. But it was definitely something.

The rest of them gathered round, gasping. "Guess this is the reward for clearing the dungeon," muttered Zane.

"They're yours—take them, man. They should be yours," said Cale, nodding earnestly. "Without you, none of us would be here."

Zane thought about demurring, then shrugged. "Sure."

"There's more," said Cale, pointing to the beacon. "Take a look at this thing!"

Zane did. A box popped up.

𝕎𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕊𝕒𝕗𝕖 ℤ𝕠𝕟𝕖?

"None of you claimed it?"

"Well… we thought it'd be best if we waited for you," said Cale.

"You don't have to. Cale, you're leader, remember?"

"Yeah, but…" Cale fidgeted. "I think you should claim it. It's only right."

Everyone else nodded in agreement: Old lady Mara, the athlete Elena, Liam, the high schoolers, Raj, Annie and her mom, even Sophie… they were all looking at Zane like he was their last hope. He wasn't sure how he felt about it.

He sighed. "Sure, sure." He didn't much care either way.

He willed himself to accept.

𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪?

𝕀𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕒𝕪.

Zane frowned at it. "We need a name. For our faction, whatever that is. Anyone got one?"

Silence. "Okay, fine," he said. "Luminous Faction it is." It didn't really matter.

Then—

𝕊𝕒𝕗𝕖 ℤ𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕕!

𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: 𝕃𝕦𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

𝕄𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣𝕤:

ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣

𝔻𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕒 𝕏𝕦

𝔸𝕟𝕟𝕚𝕖 𝕏𝕦

ℝ𝕒𝕛 ℙ𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕝

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕒 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕟𝕨𝕒𝕪

ℂ𝕒𝕝𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕟𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕜

𝕊𝕠𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕖 𝕃𝕠𝕨𝕖

𝕃𝕚𝕒𝕞 𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕣

𝔼𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕥 ℂ𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕖𝕝𝕝

𝕂𝕚𝕞 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕜

𝔾𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℝ𝕖𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕤

𝔹𝕣𝕒𝕕 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕟

ℝ𝕒𝕝𝕡𝕙 ℕ𝕖𝕦𝕓𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕣

ℤ𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕆𝕝𝕤𝕤𝕠𝕟

A menu popped up before him:

𝕊𝕒𝕗𝕖 ℤ𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝔽 𝕥𝕚𝕖𝕣

𝕌𝕡𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖

𝕊𝕙𝕠𝕡

𝕄𝕒𝕡

𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕚𝕟

He scratched his head. "It's giving me a menu," he said. "Hold on."

He tried 'Upgrade.'

𝕎𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕦𝕡𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕗𝕖 𝕫𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝔼 𝕋𝕚𝕖𝕣? 𝕌𝕟𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕟𝕖𝕥𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜: 𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝔼-𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕜 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕗𝕖 ℤ𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤. ℂ𝕠𝕤𝕥: 𝟙𝟘𝟘𝟘 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤.

If the stuff in the chest were essence stones, they had nowhere near that.

He went to the next. "There's a shop here," he muttered. "Hold on, can you all see this?"

They squinted at the Beacon, then let out gasps of surprise. Apparently so.

The shop had all sorts of goodies—there were basic necessities, like food and water, but they seemed tailored to the local cuisine. The food was salmon, Dungeness crab, apples, pears, kale, wild mushrooms, venison; the drinks coffee, clam chowder. All of them cost essence stones. Then there were materials for shelter: stone, concrete, something called 'spirit steel.' There were picks and axes and other such tools to make them. They all cost essence stones too.

Most intriguing, though, was what you couldn't buy. Beneath a section marked Locked were—

Skill Books. Treasure Areas. Training Zones, Teleportation Gateways, Defensive Wards, Resource Generation, Interstellar Teleportation Gateway...

Hold on. Interstellar?

The implications were a little mind-boggling.

"Has anyone found a phone? Can I buy one?" It was one of the teens, a freckled brunette girl. She held up a phone with a cracked screen. "Mine hasn't worked since the change..."

"Mine hasn't either," mumbled another teen.

"I've got to call my mom—it's been like four days, she'll be worried sick!"

No one answered her. Zane sighed.

He directed his attention to the map option, and it unfurled something like a mini-map but much bigger—a macro map? It looked like one of those political maps that showed the counties. Washington State, split up into dozens, maybe hundreds of little puzzle pieces.

And he was smack dab in the middle of one near the very southern edge—'Luminous Forest — F grade.' But his was green while everything around him was red; almost all of the zones on the map were red. He supposed green meant safe zone... were the rest dungeons?

The majority of them seemed of F-rank. But he did spot an E tantalizingly close by. They seemed to cluster around cities... no, that wasn't right—if you had to guess, their size was according to population density. And these huge barren forests, a dungeon could stretch hundreds of miles. Up there in the Seattle area, though, they were much smaller; you could fit several to a city. He saw a few D-ranks there. Up near the Canadian border, there was even a C-rank.

He was surprised to find he wasn't the only safe zone either. Several yellow dots cropped up near Spokane, Vancouver, the Tri-Cities area, and shockingly, almost half of Seattle was a safe zone. Maybe it shouldn't have been so shocking; there were so many people living there. They could probably handle most dungeons by virtue of sheer numbers. Meanwhile, he was stuck here pretty much by himself.

There was still a C-rank dungeon right in the heart of Seattle—a red dot surrounded by green. He wondered if there were teams of fighters throwing themselves at it even now. There must be whole organizations by now dedicated to going around clearing dungeons. They must have been at it for days already.

He wondered how strong they were. The thought tickled him. Somehow, the thought of others growing stronger out there… it made him want to get going himself.

Luminous Forest was one green shard surrounded by F-rank red shards. But go a little farther and you'd start finding E-tier shards, shards named Sunken Harbor and Shattered Mountains. He wondered what sick treasures and monsters lurked there.

Something about this map—the possibilities of it, the Monsters, but the humans too, working just as he was… he was getting antsy, itchy. He couldn't sit still any longer.

The dungeon right under the Luminous Forest was a long strip of an F-ranked dungeon called 'Snaring Thickets.' If it was anything like this dungeon, at his current strength he could wipe it in a day—and be on to the other ones, the E ranked ones, the dangerous ones.

"I'm going for a hike," he announced to the group. They seemed quite dismayed at that.

"Uh. Cool, man. Take care!" said Cale. "…What should we do?"

"Learn to answer that yourself," said Zane. He sighed. "Look, this is your life now. You can either stand there and deny it, and let it roll you over. Or you can accept it, and bite down, and do the shit that needs to be done. I can see you're scared. But you don't have to let that feeling own you. It'll keep you weak. I don't know much about this new world, but one thing's clear—if you want to survive you'll need all the strength you can get. Got it?"

Slowly, Cale nodded. The rest of them were staring wide-eyed at him. They seemed to hang on to his every word.

"Tell you what," he said. He pointed to the treasure chest. "Take it. All yours. They're just stones and at my level, they won't make much difference. Buy what you need, build shelter, absorb their essence. Train. Make something of this place. Make something of yourself. Can you do that for me?"

He felt like he was talking to a frightened child—like he was talking to Annie again as she was curled up in a ball, cringing from those wild Boars. Strangely, it was the little girl who seemed to take his words most to heart. She nodded vigorously; her eyes were shining. "I won't let you down!"

"Yeah, you can count on us, Chief," said one of the teens.

Zane groaned. "Look, I'm not your—just Zane is fine. Cale's your leader. I plan on spending my time out adventuring, clearing dungeons… I'll use this place as a home base every once in a while. If I have to be something, I guess I'm your… I don't know…guardian spirit?"

Even that sounded a bit much. He had no desire to be their hero or leader or whatever, but he couldn't just leave them out to dry. They seemed like decent people. If he saw a wounded critter by the side of the road, he couldn't just walk away. He didn't mind offering this little bit of help; it wasn't like it messed with his plans. Who knew? In return, maybe they'd give him a place to come back to.

They seemed okay with that.

They were bustling, unloading the treasure chest, trading with the Beacon, sitting down to train when he set off. He wondered what he'd find when he came back.

For now, though—off to the next one!