I walked over to the new storage chest, running my fingers along the grain. A trade menu popped up showing my player inventory and the storage chest inventory. Both had ten slots.

  Ten’s better than nothing, I guess.

  I’d be able to build more once I got the materials.

  Now that I had both of my hands, I could use Skullcracker again. Which meant the rock was redundant. And while my boots looked a bit worn, they had plenty of miles on them.

  I transferred the rock, farmer’s boots, and my tattered jacket into the storage chest. All I kept on me was a to-go meal.

  I’d already pulled the hearthrune out of my inventory to examine it. I turned it over in my palm. It felt solid. I highly doubted it was meant to be crushed by hand.

  “Dick, there an incantation or something to use this thing?” I asked.

  “Drop it.”

  I shrugged and chucked it at the floor. It shattered on impact.

  [Exiting your Lair. Please wait…]

  Just like using my gravekey, everything went black during the transition.

  [Welcome to Safe Harbor.]

  I appeared in Safe Harbor’s hearth, surrounded by flames that nearly came up to my nipples. Just as Dickhead had warned, the fire gave only a second before ramping up.

  “Oh, shit,” I said, leaping out of the fireplace as my clothes started to smoke.

  Patting myself down, I managed to save what remained of my jeans and shirt. The same drowned girl as before tended the bar as I approached. She asked me what’ll it be and I ordered another hearthrune to replace the one I’d used.

  A loot notification popped up after the transaction.

  [You’ve spent: 100 gold. Total gold: 490.]

  “Until next time, darlin’,” she said with a wave as I left the bar.

  Dickhead spoke up as I exited Safe Harbor.

  “I almost forgot. We’ve got to unlock the town waygate.”

  That sounded like a mighty important thing to do. At least he remembered before we left the damn town.

  I stepped to the side of the road, eyeing the other players as they came and went. “Where and how can I do that?”

  “It’s in the center of town. A giant porcelain arch, four tiles high; you can’t miss it. And it’s just like the hearth—just give it a touch and You Know Who will handle the rest. Eventually, we can upgrade the Lair with one, so we don’t have to use as many hearthrunes.”

  I made my way through the glowing mycelial streets toward the center of town. Cutting through a side street, I found an open area with dozens of empty stalls.

  “Dick, what is this place?”

  “One of several player marketplaces.”

  There were plenty of players in the city. I wondered why none of them had opened a shop.

  “Why are they all empty?”

  “It’s only day two of the World Dungeon. Even alien speed runners need more than a couple of days to set up a supply chain. Once you’ve got one, then you need to find and hire a Broker, one of the rarer Freelancer jobs. After you unlocked and built a Merchant Stall in your Lair, the Freelancer will appear in a marketplace just like one of these.”

  Delegation sounded way better than wasting time selling shit myself.

  “Although,” Dickhead added. “I guess you don’t need to set up a supply chain first. You could have the Merchant just sell whatever you’ve looted.”

  I found my way to the center of town. Dickhead hadn’t been kidding; the porcelain-white arch stood out against the dark and colorful mushroom backdrop. It was tall, about twenty feet if my tile-to-feet ratio was correct.

  Dark curiosity crossed my mind.

  Is it indestructible? Wonder what happens if someone smashes it.

  Only an asshat would do such a thing, but I usually saw the worst in people. Unfortunately, they rarely disappointed.

  I swam through the packed crowd of monsters to touch the waygate. It reacted the same as the hearth. A quick flash of a highlight was the only sign anything had happened.

  I watched the other players as they used the waygate.

  A liquid pane of silver rippled in the event horizon of the arch. A steady stream of monsters stepped out every few seconds; sometimes individually, but mostly in groups of up to five.

  The back portion of the waygate worked a bit differently. An honest to goodness line had formed. It was almost comical to see shadow creatures, centaurs, firbolgs, minotaurs, and ratfolk all lined up like the Tutorial’s most well-behaved kindergarten class.

  They all waited their turn to stand on one of the five inlaid circles behind the arch. Up to five players could take a spot on the pads, and then they dematerialized like a goddamn science fiction show.

  If they get beamed up, why are they walking out? I wondered but didn’t sweat it. Eventually I’d find out.

  “Dick, where are they all coming from?”

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Nearby Instances would be my best guess,” Dickhead said. “I can’t imagine any of them have explored far enough to discover any other player towns yet. Not unless they had a trait like yours to run forever. I guess being able to fly would work too.”

  That reminded me of the golden dragon I’d seen earlier today. Speaking of the asshole, there he was, off to the side, surrounded by a bunch of players and standing next to some kind of bulletin board.

  How the hell did he fit down the tunnel? I wondered.

  “Alright, Frank. Just two more things and we can be on our way.”

  I was getting antsy for some action. Building shit in my Lair was cool, but I really wanted to work on my achievements to earn some credits.

  “And they are?”

  “You’ve got a map. We should find a few players who don’t, form a group for the Instance, and go do it together. It’ll help make some friends.”

  That sounded like the world’s shittiest idea.

  I crossed my arms and shook my head. “Not here to make friends, Dick.”

  “That’s…” I could hear the frustration in his voice. He took a beat to collect himself, trying again.

  “Frank, you’ll need to work with other players eventually—”

  “No, I won’t,” I said, cutting him off. “I’m not a friendly guy.”

  “So I’ve noticed.”

  “I’m serious—no groups. I don’t want anyone stealing my kills or loot.”

  “Well… at least grab a few players who don’t have maps and take them with you,” he said like a broken record.

  “It’s an opportunity to earn some easy goodwill. They have PvP disabled, so it’s not like anyone can actually screw you over. You don’t even have to party up. Only people in the same party will share an Instance. As long as you enter alone, you won’t be sharing kills, loot, Freelancers, or experience.

  “It won’t cost you anything, Frank. This is a win-win for native players. Come on, it’s the right thing to do.”

  Frank other players, I thought. It was every monster for itself as far as I was concerned. Doing the right thing almost got to me, though. But I stood my ground.

  “Yeah, not doing that. What’s the other thing I need to do before heading out?”

  Dickhead sighed.

  His voice lost its normal enthusiasm as he said, “We should check the notice board. There might be a few quests we could do on the way.”

  Now he had my attention. Quests meant achievement points, which meant credits.

  “Where can I find it?” I suspected it was the bulletin board surrounded by all the players that I’d seen earlier.

  “It’s close. Here’s a marker.”

  The pillar of light landed exactly as I’d predicted. I frowned.

  The beacon’s beam illuminated the damn golden dragon, like some divine spotlight on the Tutorial’s biggest asshole.

  “Frank it…” I muttered and made my way toward the stupid notice board.

  Their conversation spilled over as I approached.

  “Fifty gold each?” a creepy-ass looking drider asked.

  I thought the eight legs were bad, but adding a human torso to the mix was nightmare fuel.

  “You’re free to go find it on your own,” a female voice came from the dragon.

  I hadn’t expected him to be a her. But that didn’t matter; asshole was one-size fits all.

  “And that’s on top of a fifth of our gold from the Instance?” the drider asked.

  She faked a yawn and flared her wings as if she grew tired of haggling.

  “Fifty gold, plus 20% is the price. If that doesn’t suit you, step aside.”

  Who the hell does she think she is?

  Doesn’t matter, I reminded myself. I was just there to grab some quests. Nothing more.

  Once I was close enough, a new menu opened.

  Weekly Quests

  Bounties

  The Executioner’s head.

  Terrible Timmy’s head.

  Moaning Lisa’s head.

  Deliveries

  Goods from Player Town 111 to Player Town 76.

  Goods from Player Town 111 to Player Town 81.

  Extermination

  Kill 30 humans.

  Gathering

  Hand in 1 shipment: chunks of iron ore.

  Hand in 1 shipment: logs of wood.

  Hand in 1 shipment: bundles of cotton.

  Refining

  Hand in 1 shipment: planks of wood.

  Hand in 1 shipment: ingots of iron.

  Hand in 1 shipment: bolts of cotton.

  Crafting

  Hand in 1 twin bed.

  “Uh… what should I take?”

  Dickhead ran down the list.

  “Grab all the bounties; they’re usually Instance bosses. Ignore the deliveries for now. Take the exterminations.” He paused. “That’s odd; there should be a lot more. I guess it doesn’t really matter. Leave the rest; we can look into crafting and gathering after we get some Freelancers.”

  I tapped on all the ones Dickhead said and got an avalanche of notifications.

  [New Quest Started: The Executioner’s Head.]

  [New Quest Started: Terrible Timmy’s Head.]

  [New Quest Started: Moaning Lisa’s Head.]

  [New Quest Started: Kill 30 Humans.]

  I exited the menu and was ready to head out.

  “I have fifty gold,” a kobold said.

  The dragon looked down at the pitiful creature and sneered.

  “Pass,” she said. “I’m looking for players who can contribute meaningfully.”

  The poor little bastard looked like he was about to cry. I couldn’t help myself. I never could when it came to bullies.

  “Wait, you’re charging people to run the Instance for you?” The pair on this asshole… She was a goddamn dragon for Christ’s sake.

  She turned to assess me. “Yes, why? Are you looking for a spot?” Her scrutinizing gaze went up and down. Before I could tell her to go frank herself, she added, “You still look human, but the stitches on your shoulder suggest abomination. Or a frankenbeast, perhaps?”

  “Zombie,” I corrected.

  She let out a pretentious little grunt. “Also pass.”

  Her pompous-ass attitude grated on my nerves. If I could’ve punched her in her smug dragon face, I would’ve. I had to settle for the next-best thing.

  “Listen up!” I yelled, spinning around so all could hear me. “Anyone who wants to tag along to the Instance can follow me.” I turned to look the conniving bitch right in the eye. “For free.”

  She glared at me incredulously as I grinned. Three players were already demanding their gold back.

  The crowd surged with questions.

  “Free?” the kobold asked.

  A furry minotaur spoke up. “You expecting our loot?”

  “What about a party?” another asked.

  “Can only take four with you,” a booming deep voice said.

  I held my hands out to quiet them.

  When that didn’t work, I shouted, “Shut the frank up!”

  That worked.

  “I’m going in solo. But you’re all free to form groups on the way there. I don’t want your gold or your loot.”

  “What do you want then?”

  I glanced over at the golden dragon as she fumed at me.

  “Nothing…” I said with a half grin. “Already got what I was after.”

  I didn’t wait for them to organize or spread the word. I simply walked my ass through the city with an entourage of monsters in my wake. Players either stepped aside or joined the growing group behind me; regardless, nobody got in my way. I reached the tunnel to the surface and started up the ladder.

  [Your Climbing skill has increased to level 1.]

  The climb dumped me out into the open air. It was just as dry as when I’d first arrived. The early morning sun drifted in and out of thin clouds. Half a mile up was one hell of a climb, but Dickhead said I wouldn’t have to do it very often once I unlocked a few more waygates. Of course, the System charged gold to use them, but it was much cheaper than hearthrunes.

  A few players tried breaking the ice with me, but I wasn’t interested in small talk or their backstory. They got the hint when I didn’t respond and just focused on reaching that white beacon on the horizon.

  * * *

  By the time we reached the Instance, they’d formed about a dozen groups. Good for them. They didn’t need a goddamn dragon to kill humans. We were all monsters now.

  I touched the nearby waygate, adding it to my available teleport network. It stood tall, marking the Instance entrance.

  Many of the players thanked me just before they entered through the shimmering vertical disc that’d take them to the Instance.

  I could see everything just behind the portal to what looked like a whole other world. Land surrounded me on this side entirely, but an ocean shore awaited me on the other.

  This Instance made me think of Alcatraz. A crumbling fortress loomed just behind the portal. Thick walls of gray stone jutted up from the rocks, scarred with cracks and streaked black from salt spray. Towers leaned at uneasy angles, their battlements broken like teeth.

  I could almost smell the briny air on this side. All that was missing were the crash of ocean waves and cawing of seagulls.

  I stepped through the portal and started my first Instance.

  [Exiting the Tutorial. Please wait…]