You have entered a Dungeon: The Halls of Refuse (F-Grade Spawning Dungeon).

  Time Differential: Local x 11

  Bonuses: None.

  Penalties: None.

  Restrictions: Dungeon Portals will be available on the second, fourth, and fifth and final level of the Halls of Refuse. Once used, should you return to the Dungeon, you will have the choice to enter at any exit point you unlocked or go back to the beginning. Once you leave the Dungeon, all Dwellers, traps and obstacles will start re-spawning at a rate of 25% per hour.

  Special Features: Due to Party member Roland Webb’s Titles and Bloodline, Dungeon difficulty will be increased at certain areas and challenges. Rewards (including Quest Rewards) will be scaled up accordingly. Proceed with caution.

  Dual-Path Ascendant Roland Webb has formed a party with 5 non-inducted humans. They will be treated as Level One Ascended for purposes of determining dweller and trap strength. With great risks come great rewards.

  Quests or Challenges will be offered on each level of the Dungeon.

  Roland frowned at the floating wall of text. He noticed the rest of the gang had come up behind him and could also see the notification, mainly because Barton read it out loud.

  “We’re all going to die,” Barton said.

  “No,” Roland told him. “Well, yes, we’re all going to die...”

  “That’s just what I said!”

  “But not today,” he finished. “My helmet’s special ability has given you decent stats, better than you’d get at first level. Fewer hit points, yes, but we’ve got good weapons, armor, three guys with military training, and we can nerd our way out of any problems that firepower won’t solve.”

  “Hooah!” Josh grunted.

  “Go Army!” Bob added.

  “Military nerds are still nerds,” Dahlia said, rolling her eyes.

  “Are we doing this or not?” Roland said, turning around as he spoke. “If you want out, the exit is...”

  The glowing portal that had been there until Roland activated the Dungeon was gone.

  “As I was saying,” Roland said, turning back to the glowing entrance. “If you want out, the exit is on the second floor.”

  Everyone had turned around and realized that they were trapped in the dungeon.

  “The next exit is on the next floor. If things are too tough, we can all leave then, and whoever wants to finish off the Dungeon can come back with me.”

  “What if we stay in here and let the overpowered elite-class guy clear the dungeon?” Barton asked.

  “I don’t think you’ll get any XP – well, Essence – if you do that. And I don’t think the Dungeon...”

  A notification cut Roland off.

  WARNING: The Dungeon Threshold will shut down in 5 minutes. Anyone inside when the countdown is over will be ejected to a random level of the Halls of Refuse.

  Time to Shut Down: 4:59, 4:58...

  “That answers that question,” Roland said as Barton looked at the notification with a stricken expression.

  “Once you’re in, the only way out is through,” Bob agreed, clapping Barton on the back.

  “Actually, the actual quote by Robert Frost is, ‘the best way out is always through,’” Barton corrected in a small voice. He looked like he wanted to cry.

  “Cheer up!” Bob told him. “Think about the type of character you want when you get a Class.”

  “It won’t be a character,” Barton said, wheezing out the words. “It will be me. And if it dies, I die.”

  “What was that line you quoted during my Sunken Temple campaign? ‘A brave man dies but once, the coward a thousand times.’ Or something like that.”

  Barton couldn’t help himself. “‘Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.’ William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar.”

  Bob grinned at him. “See? You’re our personal Wiki. You’re the only one who beats me at Jeopardy.”

  “Sure, but – ”

  “But nothing. Keep your thinking cap on and get ready to Tase them at forty feet or poke ‘em with that pig-sticker I bought you if they get close enough. We’ll shoot most of them before they get to you, I bet.”

  “Okay,” Barton said. He didn’t sound convinced.

  “Yeah, pure hero material,” Dahlia said as she walked past the two, following Roland in.

  A path had appeared as soon as Roland officially entered the Dungeon, a dirt road strewn with garbage, everything from crushed beer cans to soiled underwear and used prophylactics, plus a heap of rotten food, some of it still inside MacBurger or Los Pollos Hermanos wrappers. The smell got worse with every step they took.

  “I’ll be back,” Raven said in a flawless impression of the famous Austrian cyborg before taking flight and disappearing into the night.

  “Is your bird going to be all right?” Bob asked.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Roland nodded. “I don’t think he’s got anything to worry about.”

  “Unlike us,” Dahlia said.

  They kept going, sticking to the road. The forest on both sides of the path looked sickly, polluted. Trees with twisted trunks leaned drunkenly in random directions, all looking like they were about to topple over at the first opportunity. The forest floor was muddy and had hints of unnaturally bright colors: greens, yellows and whites that were distinctly unnatural.

  Here and there, Roland spotted pools of fluorescent milky blue goo that bubbled up every few seconds. Whenever any of those bubbles popped up, they all got hit with a whiff of something like burning rubber mixed in with human waste.

  “I thought the Dungeon was Vermin-oriented or whatever,” Dahlia protested.

  “Attuned, but yeah.”

  “This looks more like a pollution dungeon.”

  “It’s called the Halls of Refuse,” Roland said. “That can cover all kinds of crap.”

  “Crap is right,” Bob said, holding his nose. “This is worse than that time a rat died between the walls and stank up the whole house until we figured out where it was.”

  “Do you think sticking to the road is a good idea?” Josh cut in. “We’re just a big target, out in the open with potential ambush sites on both sides.”

  “Normally, I’d agree,” Roland said. “But I don’t think Dungeon critters think that way. Besides, do you really want to go off-road into that?” Roland asked, pointing at the dead or dying trees and the toxic sludge surrounding them. “I don’t think even the rat people want to move around in that mess.”

  “Yeah, I can see that,” Josh conceded.

  Everyone kept looking into the forest, back and forth and up and down, NVGs firmly seated over their eyes. Thanks to his Perception, Roland could see just fine without them but was glad everyone else was covered. The cloudy sky – he figured it was an illusion – provided some illumination but didn’t go far into the surrounding forest. The NVGs were only good for four hours, but Bob had bought extra batteries.

  What’s gonna happen to the first bunch of idiots that go into a Dungeon like this and forget to bring lights?

  He knew the answer and didn’t like it one bit.

  The path crested a rise and revealed a cleared area some four hundred feet ahead and below them. At the bottom was what looked like the ruins of a landfill. A wire fence, torn down for most of its perimeter, surrounded the property. The cloud cover was lighter over it, and what looked like moonlight made the area stand out.

  Piles of trash rose up inside the open plot, except in places where crude pits had been dug out. A central mound stood out; it appeared to be a filled-up pit covered by dirt. A rusted crane and an equally dilapidated bulldozer were half-buried next to one of the open pits. The stench wasn’t worse than what they’d been smelling while on the road, but it wasn’t any better, either.

  The road led directly to the landfill.

  “Guess this is where we’ve got to go,” Roland said.

  Barton made a disgusted noise, his fear momentarily on hold.

  “So far, I’m giving this dungeon a zero out of five. Ambiance literally stinks, and we’re being forced to follow a single path with no options to explore. Talk about a linear dungeon. We might as well be on a railcar at an amusement park. Garbage tier.”

  “Garbage is right,” Bob agreed.

  “Save your reviews for Yelp. Meanwhile, watch your side of the line,” Roland told them. “We’re going in, but I doubt garbage is the only thing we’ve got to worry about when we get there.”

  A caw overhead and a flutter of wings announced that Raven was back. The bird landed on Roland’s shoulder. “Good to see you. See anything useful?”

  “Nothing,” the bird said out loud before using telepathy. The landfill is the goal. This is where the first challenge will be.

  What kind of challenge?

  If I had to guess, a Wave Challenge or an Entrance Boss. Either way, expect a tough fight.

  “Raven says to expect some action at the landfill,” Roland announced. “I’m point man. Josh next, then the rest. Bob, you got rear security.”

  He got back two ‘rogers’ from the ex-military and a few mumbled ‘sures’ and ‘okays’ from the others. Roland wasn’t crazy about having a bunch of people with guns behind him, but he was the one person who could survive even if one of them went crazy and mag-dumped an AR-15 on his back.

  It was a small risk, and worth it to find out if his team was prone to accidental discharges or itchy trigger fingers. Bob was just as much a gamble: his Army MOS had been 25H, signals something or other. His rifle-toting days in the military had come and gone during Basic Training.

  The dump’s gate wasn’t just wide open; one of the double doors was on the ground, knocked off its hinges, and the other looked just about ready to join its twin. There was a small building near the entrance, a one-floor structure with maybe enough room for an office and a bathroom. Its door was gone and a peek inside revealed a burned-out husk filled with more refuse.

  Roland didn’t linger, moving steadily and checking all possible angles of approach. He had sent the shotgun to his inventory; the naginata and his Reaper’s Dash Skill were better than a gun at close quarters.

  The central mound of dirt was the highest ground available, about thirty feet higher than the surrounding terrain. Three empty pits surrounded it, leaving one clear point of entry. He put his foot on the packed dirt of the mound and found it firm enough to walk on.

  He made it to the top of the artificial hill while the rest of the party milled about the bottom. There was probably tightly packed trash underneath. The elevation provided a clear field of fire all around.

  There were no signs of life so far. The only change was that Roland’s sense of smell had finally given up and died, so the stench wasn’t quite so bad. He gestured at the group to come up and join him.

  “We shouldn’t be here,” Barton whispered. “We’re going to catch Hepatitis A through Z just from breathing in the air.”

  “Don’t sweat it,” Bob told him before turning to Roland. “What’s the...”

  A System Screen appeared in front of everyone’s faces, and the cheerful voice Roland had come to hate began to read it as it scrolled down.

  A Challenge Must Be Overcome: King of Trash Hill

  In five minutes, Sunnytown’s landfill will be beset by waves of Vermin monsters of diverse types and strength. Each successive wave will be stronger than the last.

  When each wave is released, a ten-minute countdown will start; when it runs out, the next wave will be sent your way. If you kill all the attackers of a Wave before the countdown is over, you may use the extra time for rest and relaxation, perhaps grab a meal or catch up on your reading. The choice is yours.

  If you don’t, you will have to contend with any survivors from the previous wave as well as the new arrivals. Kill them quickly and live.

  Rewards: For surviving the Challenge: 180 Unbound Essence or System Induction and a Path and Class of your choice (any unspent Essence will be given to you); 25 gold and 1 Rare Item suitable for your Class (this award will be delayed for non-inducted party members until a Class is selected).

  Bonuses: Additional Essence, Titles, Achievements, gold, and items will be awarded based on your personal performance during each wave. Do well and win valuable prizes!

  Time to Wave 1/6: 5 minutes.

  The clock counter began its countdown.

  Roland looked around. “This mound is our best spot. We can make our stand here. We have empty pits on three sides. At worst, the obstacles will slow them down a lot, at best they’ll only come from the clear area in front.”

  “Besides, look at the name of the quest,” Barton said. “This is Trash Hill.”

  “Not much cover,” Josh said.

  “Most of the critters I’ve met don’t use ranged weapons, except some wands with shorter range than a pistol.”

  “If we had an hour, we could dig us some fighting holes,” Bob said. “But we don’t.”

  “We should be okay,” Roland told them.

  They should, as long as the System’s idea of ‘waves’ was in the handfuls or even dozens, rather than the hundreds.

  If I could use my Art, I could hold the entire front gate just by burning down the monsters with my aura. Hell, if I had access to my Daos, I could use my Revenants to hold the line, Roland groused before concentrating on what he could control.

  The minutes ticked down slowly. Roland had people drink some Gatorade and run through some warmup exercises. No sense to risk pulling a muscle if they had time to limber up. Bob and Josh had picked firing spots and had their AR-15s ready. Roland had borrowed the Ruger SFAR from Bob; the heavier round combined with his attributes would let him play sniper for the team.

  Unsurprisingly, Roland was the first to spot movement from far up the road, coming from the direction they had come from.

  “Eyes on target, coming from the road!” he called out.

  The fun times had begun.