"T--lor… ay--or… Tay--r… Taylor. Taylor!"
The sound of a human voice reached me again, and with that, a hundred more sensations.
I could feel my butt against the wooden floor, my skin sticky with sweat, my hands holding the spandex suit covering my chest. "Char--?" I began to speak, but the blurry silhouette in front of me gradually transformed into Steve. Watching his concerned expression filled me with joy. I needed to hug him. "You're real!"
"Are you okay, Taylor? Are you--?"
I quickly embraced him, and began to cry, all over again. "I'm so sorry, Steve! For getting mad at you! And you were right! I was the one that started this 'give me gold crap'! I just needed validation that I was desirable and…"
"Pretty?" he whispered to me.
"Y-yes…"
I opened my eyes, looking at Grace exiting the kitchen, fully dressed, and something peculiar happened. I thought that her sight would only make me angry. I thought for a moment that in a fraction of a second I would realize that I despised her, that I hated her… But instead, meeting eyes with hers, made me realize how happy I was that everyone was alright.
"Taylor," she breathed before rushing to embrace me too. I hugged her back and sobbed. "We're alright, T. We're all fine."
As she held me in her arms, the rest of the group got closer.
"What the hell happened?" Dan asked faintly.
"It happened to everyone, right? Not just me," Charles asked. "It was as if…"
"The system failed," Steve hoarsely said. "For a brief moment, the system froze. We were all witnesses of it."
"Yes, I suppose there is no other explanation."
"It freaked the hell out of me!" Dan cried. "We can fight against scary monsters and withstand pain, but as soon as reality gets into play…"
"It reminds us that this is not real… And that it could end at any moment," Grace added in a soft voice.
Wow, everyone is having such a deep moment.
I wonder if this frightful event will be relevant in the near future…
+++ IMPORTANT NOTICE! +++
Probably not…
"Are you guys reading this?!" Charles cried.
Another red system screen popped up in front of me, and after peeking at everyone's gazes, I could notice that all of us had received it.
+++ Due to an unexpected error, Count Dylak's Manor will be shut down and enter emergency maintenance. Safely exit the dungeon to prevent the loss of any current reward in your account. Apologies for the inconvenience. +++
Then, a grim timer.
+++ Dungeon closing in 19:53 +++
"Apologies my ass!" Dan shouted at the wind around him. "You should compensate us for this! We worked really hard to get to this point, dammit!"
"What shall we do, Charles?" Steve asked calmly. "Do we continue?"
"I don't think we can kill the last boss in this short amount of time!" Dan replied.
"What are you talking about? Our fights don't last more than five minutes. We can do this."
"But if we act rashly, it may be our downfall. We would end up losing half of our gold. We should go out, spend our gold, and come back tomorrow. We already know how to deal with each boss, anyway."
"I won't come back to this place ever again!" Grace shouted. "Do you hear me? It's today or nothing."
"What's with that attitude? What's the hurry? Do you have somewhere else to go, huh?"
"What happened just a moment ago opened my eyes, you idiot! This virtual world could end at any time, so I'd rather spend my time having new experiences every day than grinding and farming this shithole!"
"We should vote, then!" Dan gave everyone a concerned look. "The ones in favor of coming back--"
"Shut your trap," Charles finally said, turning his back. "As Grace said, it's today or nothing. We could die and lose our treasures, yes, but if we succeed, we'll be the first to clear a dungeon in the entire region." He then peered at us over his shoulder. "Clock is ticking. You can equip yourselves on the road. Let's go!"
Steve was the first to rush to Charle's side, while Dan's mouth trembled, trying to find the words that could deter us from following them.
Grace exhaled and tapped Dan's shoulder before passing him by. "What's life without some little risk? Are you coming, T.?"
I wiped my face before standing up. "Yes!"
***
While climbing up the stairs to the first floor, many questions echoed inside my head:
'Would we be able to do it before the timer ran out?'
'What would happen if the boss was stronger than the rest combined?'
'What if I died?'
But once I thought about it, my anxiety calmed down. First, just as Grace said, our battles never lasted more than 5 minutes, so we had plenty of time, in theory. Second, it was unlikely for the boss to be many times stronger than the rest. It didn't make sense for this dungeon to suddenly throw us something we could not beat. And third… If I died… There would be nothing I could do. It was that simple.
"Listen up!" Charles said while leading the way. "Our positioning has not changed at all! Steve and I will remain in the front lines. Dan, try to distract the boss as much as possible. Use the environment to your advantage if you can. Grace, you'll be our main damage dealer, so keep yourself away from harm's way and wait for the best opportunity to attack. And Taylor, protecting Grace should be your main priority, but if you see an opportunity…" He glanced at me. "When the time comes, you'll know what to do, like always. Did you get all that, team?!"
"Yes!" we replied in unison.
Since we had already dealt with the butler, we left the first floor behind and rushed to the next one unchallenged. But as soon as I took a step forward, a sudden feeling of discomfort hit me. "G-guys? Can you feel that?" I quietly asked, but no one seemed to hear me. They were too occupied searching their surroundings.
There was something odd around us. A feeling of despair I had never felt before. After swallowing hard, I applied mana into my pendant, letting me see through the walls. There was a glowing silhouette nearby. Waiting.
"There," Steve said, pointing to a double door, thirty feet ahead of us. "That must be the boss' room. No doubt about it."
"Are you done gearing up?" Charles asked aloud.
"Wait!" Dan cried, while clumsily manipulating his User Interface. "I haven't read what all these things do."
"Did you get the Master's First Shoes? You can move at double speed if you apply mana to them," Steve said in a hurried voice, but once Dan looked him in the eye, he shook his head.
I didn't get those, so it meant that everyone got different boss rewards. It was pointless to explain what every single item did.
"Time is running out, Dan!" Charles shouted. "Hurry up!"
"Screw this!" Dan cried, exasperated, and I saw him rushingly tap his screen, making a bracelet appear on his right wrist, and a red cloak materialized on his back. "Done, let's go!"
Before we could dash forward, the place got warmer. I turned where Grace was and found her already casting a spell. "Fire Crafting…" she whispered while making a ball of fire sprout from her staff, getting bigger by the second.
"Grace?" Charles called, meeting her gaze.
"We're in a hurry, right?" Grace smirked. A drop of sweat ran down her forehead. "Once you open those doors, step aside so I can launch this."
Charles and Steve glanced at each other, nodded, and positioned themselves beside the room's entrance, waiting for Grace's sign.
"What if it doesn't work?" Dan asked while preparing his bow, making Grace chuckle.
"Then I lose a lot of mana, that's all," she said, before exhaling. "Ready!"
The boys opened the doors, and for a brief moment, I could see a pale man dressed in black, sitting on a chair, legs crossed, and a smirk on his face. "Foolish, fools! So you have defeated my--"
"Spitfire!" Grace cried, releasing the magic ball at a tremendous speed. The Boss could not even react.