Everyone stopped and held their breaths as the portal groaned, and some of that warm pinkish hue returned, but nothing happened for a long moment, and Luke glanced at the countdown timer in his interface.

  "There are still 15 minutes remaining on the item," he said.

  "That is some ominous crap," Ray said, pushing the undead mage’s head away before standing up.

  Luke watched it roll over a few times and then come to a stop, eye sockets staring up at him. "So you were the one who killed one of them."

  "Yeah," Ray said. "Its friends almost fried me, but I got away. Got a full level out of it, too."

  "Too bad you couldn't get the other ones," Hannah said.

  Ray nodded to her. "Who's the girl?"

  "This is Hannah. She saved me earlier," Luke said, gesturing to Ray. "Hannah, this is Ray, an old friend. I'm sorry."

  "You're sorry?" Hannah asked.

  Luke gave Ray a look. "You'll see."

  "Lovely," Hannah said, snorting.

  Luigi reached his hand out for Ray to bump. "I'm Luigi, brother."

  "Look at you making friends, Luke," Ray said, glancing back at the portal. "So, what do you want to do?"

  "What do you mean?" Luke asked.

  "Well, do you want to stay and die, or do you want to run away?" Ray asked.

  "I'm not running anywhere," Luke said.

  "Such a brave boy," Ray teased.

  "If we run, the undead will take over. There isn't anyone else around to deal with this. We're not running."

  "The cops are coming too," Hannah said, nodding toward where Kirk and a handful of other Integrated were handing out swords to the riot police.

  "We don't know if that's going to work," Ray said. "Why would their swords work if their guns didn't?"

  "So you're going to run?" Luke asked.

  "Hell no," Ray said with a grin. "I can go invisible. I'm not dying, no matter what. It might get a little lonesome with everyone else gone, but I'll manage."

  "How nice for you," Luke said, watching the cooldown tick down.

  People were getting back to their feet. A few made to leave, but others were joining too. Not many, but some stragglers trickled in from all directions. Kirk and the cops returned, and everyone arrayed themselves near the portal on Kirk's orders. It was imperative to stop the undead from surging out through the portal unhindered. Kirk explained. If they could hold them back right outside the portal, perhaps the mages wouldn't even be able to emerge.

  With two minutes left on the clock, Ray entered stealth and became invisible.

  Liza, Hannah, Luigi, and a few other support classes spent the last moments buffing the Integrated and placing barriers and other protections everywhere.

  "Doesn't work on the cops," Hannah muttered.

  "That's not a good sign," Luke said.

  "No," she sighed. "It's not."

  "How much time left?"

  "50 seconds," Luke said, looking up at the towering, now fully pink portal stretching upwards over their heads. Monsters would come spilling out at any moment now. They waited as the clock ticked to zero and the swirling patterns picked back up to the levels from before Luke used the item.

  Only then did Luke realize he'd forgotten about his 2 level-ups. With no time to think, he threw all 10 points into Wisdom, going from 10 to 20. Doubling the stat would do wonders for his mana regeneration. At least he hoped it would. He'd need it in the fight to come.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Checking his available skills, he found nothing new to choose from. So, he selected the two he hadn't prioritized when reaching level 5.

  The Healer's Moment [Active. Mana Cost: Moderate]: A mere moment can cut through the chasm between life and death.

  Weaver's Will [Passive]: The resources of healing are the Weaver's to command.

  Without experimentation, he wouldn't even know what they did. But he'd have the opportunity soon enough. Very soon indeed. With the portal restored and Luke's item no longer suppressing it, they expected monsters to come pouring out through it again, but the silence over the park didn't break, except for the occasional pigeon crooning in a tree somewhere.

  They waited 5 minutes, then 10, with no change whatsoever. The Integrated and the riot police shuffled and turned, muttering and talking.

  "I guess the undead just stayed home this time," Liza said, walking up to stand with Hannah and Luigi.

  "Did your item do this, Luke?" Hannah asked.

  "I don't think so," Luke said. "The description said nothing about monsters being held inside the portal afterwards. Someone should go in and check, maybe."

  "What if you get stuck in there?" Luigi asked.

  "Maybe Ray can go in," Hannah suggested. "He's invisible, after all."

  "I am not going in there," Ray's disjointed voice said.

  System Message: New Quest: Clear your first dungeon. Reward: A profession.

  A groan ran through the Integrated crowd, but Luke nodded to himself. "The system wants us to go in then."

  "What if there are even more of them inside?" Hannah asked. "We could be walking straight to our deaths."

  Luke shook his head. "If Guide is behind this somewhere, somehow, it wouldn't make sense to kill all of us right away. He wants us to grow stronger, doesn't he?"

  The question was received with blank stares.

  "What guide?" Luigi asked.

  "The being that talked with us when we picked classes. The one who spoke on the television."

  "I didn't get to speak to anyone," Hannah said. "It was all just text menus in a blank void."

  "Same," Luigi said.

  Liza nodded in agreement.

  Ray withdrew from stealth, and the dagger he'd been holding disappeared into his inventory. "Why did you get to talk to him?"

  "None of you spoke to Guide?" Luke asked.

  They all shook their heads, including Ray.

  "That's weird," Luke said. "Well, I got the impression that he wants us to grow stronger, like he said in the transmission. And if we die, we can't do that."

  "Several people died today already, right here," Hannah said. "I don't think he minds culling the weak a little."

  "So you're not going?" Luke asked.

  "Of course we're going," Liza snorted. "All these brutes are going to get themselves killed if we don't join."

  Luke grinned and turned to shout over the heads of the crowd in front of them.

  "Go on then! Enter the portal! Let's go!"

  Those closest to him, far in the back lines, turned and glared at him.

  "What the hell is your problem?" asked a hawk-nosed woman in her forties with dark hair, buzzed short at the sides.

  "Who knows what’s inside?" another cried out. Several more complained.

  "Look," Luke said, doing his best to keep the exasperation out of his voice as he spoke to and over the complainers to reach as many as possible. "We need to clear the portal dungeon, or those undead might come storming out again and destroy half the city, if not more."

  "It could go away on its own," someone with a shrill, nasal voice said from within the crowd.

  "And what if it doesn’t?" Luke replied. "I’m going, anyway!"

  He shouldered his way through the crowd. Fighting inside that portal meant levels, items, credits, all things he needed. Luke just needed to make sure enough people joined. Ray followed, hunching in on himself under the gazes of the crowd. Luigi, Hannah, and Liza joined them as they approached the portal.

  Kirk was up there, near the swirls, his face taking on a pinkish hue from the light streaming from within the portal.

  "You’re going inside?" Luke asked.

  "Of course," Kirk said, turning to face the crowd. His voice boomed. "What are you waiting for, you sad sacks? Let’s go before they come to us. We will bring hell to them!"

  A half-hearted cheer broke out, and a few shuffled out of the crowd, toward the portal. More of them joined in, and then even more. Kirk turned, waved for people to follow him, and then stepped into the portal. Luke drew in a deep breath and followed.

  A message box appeared in his interface:

  System Message: Only one party may enter a Portal Dungeon.

  Kirk emerged, raising his hands over his head. "New plan," he said. "We need a party of six to enter. All volunteers, come to me."

  People froze in their tracks, and Kirk leaned in toward Luke.

  "You’re coming, right?"

  "Of course," Luke said. "If only six people can enter, that means six people can clear it. I wouldn’t miss it. I want Ray to come too, if he wants to."

  Luke turned to Ray. "Coming?"

  Ray threw a nervous glance up at the portal, squeezed his eyes shut, and then sighed. "Yeah. I’ll never hear the end of it from you if I don’t, right?"

  "Right," Luke said.

  "Hold on a moment," Kirk protested. "We’ll need an optimal party composition if we’re going to see this through."

  "We’ll need damage," Luke argued. "And Ray took down an undead mage by himself."

  Kirk’s gaze moved to Ray, and he looked at the assassin, weighing him. "That true?"

  Ray stood a little straighter. "Sure is."

  "Fine then. I don’t think we’ll have too many vying for spots."

  Luke looked at the crowd of apprehensive faces around him.

  "I’m coming too," Hannah said. "I want a profession."

  "You don’t even know what that is," Luigi said.

  "A job, right?" Hannah said, shrugging. "I’m unemployed. Beating a dungeon will probably be easier than getting hired with an English degree."

  "Great," Luke said, turning to the crowd. He formed a funnel with his hands to amplify his voice. "Three slots remaining!" he shouted. "The group has a healer and a support class, along with the one who killed the undead mage! We need three more, and we don't have all day!"