Alex sat motionless, staring out the window of his small room at the wall of trees behind the residence. Ever since moving in, he had loved that view. He found it inspirational when he sat down to write his group's campaign every day.

  But now it just felt dark and strange and lonely. He reached over and pulled the thick orange drapes closed. The curtains didn’t quite meet in the middle. They never did. A strip of light always cut through, a jagged orange seam that landed across his desk like a spotlight. He hated it. He’d tried taping the fabric, pinning it, but somehow the gap was always there.

  He sighed and watched the strip of light for a while, counting the dust motes drifting through it, tiny particles suspended in air currents.

  His father would have yelled at him: “Snap awake! People don’t stare at dust.” But they should. Sometimes. Just for a few minutes. It really was something else. The way the light hit them sometimes made it look like little sparkling universes, minding their own business, just passing through our own.

  He rubbed his temple and turned away – Focus.

  The glow of his laptop screen cast the dorm room in pale blue light. Piles of textbooks leaned against the wall, unopened, like they were judging him. The Dungeon Inc. website filled his screen, showing highlight reels of past “adventurers” swinging swords and ducking under claws and fangs.

  On his phone, the cursor blinked up at him insistently from the first field of the open application form.

  Alex slouched at his desk, cheek resting against one palm, staring at the plants marching across the deep windowsill, feet propped up on the radiator. Res was quiet this time of day; people were at the dining hall, or the library, or getting ready for a night at the bars.

  He should have been one of them. Or at least he should have been working on his history essay or going over the encounter for tonight’s campaign.

  Instead, he was moping. Again. Maybe ‘moping still’.

  The breakup replayed in his head for the hundredth time: her tired face, the sharp finality in her voice. You don’t connect. You don’t… try. The way she’d paused, like searching for the least cruel phrasing. He’d nodded, said he understood. He always said he understood. He always seemed to be the most agreeable when he didn’t want to be.

  The truth was, he didn’t understand why it had ended. Marissa had said “you don’t connect,” but he had connected – in his own way. The problem was actually that she couldn’t meet him half way wasn’t it?

  He remembered every detail of their last dinner, down to the pattern of sauce swirled on her plate. He remembered the exact sequence of notifications buzzing on her phone while she told him it was over. He remembered how she laced and unlaced her fingers under the table. Wasn’t that connection? To pay attention? To see someone so clearly you could reconstruct the night in frame-by-frame precision?

  But that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted warmth, presence, and easy laughter. He could imitate those things, but all too often, they slipped off like ill-fitting costumes before the scene was done.

  The truth was that he could never quite put down the ‘normal guy’ mask around her. He knew it, but had done his best to convince himself it was ok. It was never really okay though. Eventually the truth always came through, or they saw in.

  Now, with hindsight, the silence in his room was heavy and the word ‘understood’ tasted bitter.

  He said he understood, but he didn’t, not really. He had tried to be a good boyfriend, he thought he had made her happy. They had laughed together when they hung out and had plenty in common. But she wasn’t a gamer and didn’t understand the time he had to put into his campaign. Maybe that was it. Maybe he hadn’t really done anything wrong.

  He glanced back at his phone, anything to distract his spiraling thoughts. The Dungeon Inc. application was short, almost ridiculously so. God he hated going through job interviews with their stupid questions and expectation that he had to talk about himself for 10 straight minutes.

  >> What motivates you to adventure?

  He thought of half a dozen answers, ranked them by probability of “acceptable corporate branding,” then discarded them one by one. Too nerdy. Too bleak. Too honest. The cursor blinked, patient and taunting.

  >> Describe a challenge you’ve overcome.

  Did they mean real life or in a job setting? There were so many. The social anxiety? The breakup? Or did they mean in a dungeon? He had plenty of stories about kobolds and cursed dice, but somehow he doubted that was what they were after..

  >> What makes you different from everyone else?

  He froze here the longest. The obvious answer was: autism. But he knew better than to write that down. He had learned to not lead with it. Still, the word ghosted through everything, an invisible watermark on every answer he could give to this stupid application full of too-broad, too-open-ended questions designed to be filled with bravado and half-truths.

  His fingers hovered over the screen. Slowly, awkwardly, he began typing answers. Honest ones. Too honest, maybe. About how games had always been his anchor. About how he struggled to connect with people. About how, when he was running a campaign, he felt seen and understood. About how he didn’t seem to fit in with the normal world and fantasy was his… escape? No: His Calling.

  By the time he reached the bottom his chest was tight. He had probably way-overshared. His thumb hovered over the Submit button. It didn’t really matter anyway, did it? It’s not like he would get the job. Who cares what other people thought. He’d never actually have to meet the people who read his answers.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Just press the button and… what? Exciting adventures would follow? Building sets and writing adventure hooks and dialogue for someone else's campaign’s was more like it.

  Everywhere he went today, everyone was talking about the interviews. And the rumours!

  Dungeon Inc. was going to pay recruits six figures

  Dungeon Inc. was secretly military training

  Dungeon Inc. had “real wizards” from another planet on the payroll

  He’d dismissed it all of course. It was just a lot of noise. But the noise was everywhere. Even one of his project group chats had turned into a string of memes about what classes everyone would pick if chosen. He hadn’t joined in. He never did.

  His thumb twitched above the submit button. He almost pressed it just to end the suspense, but then the math started. One in a thousand applicants, maybe one in ten thousand. Even if he was lucky enough to get an interview, the chance they actually wanted him was smaller still.

  He let out a long breath and shook his head. “Nope.” He set the phone face down on the desk, chair scraping as he pushed himself up. Enough of this. He needed to go to the dining hall, get some food, maybe pretend to be normal for a couple hours or he wasn’t going to be in any sort of shape to run the campaign tonight.

  He grabbed his student card and keys and had the door handle half turned when his phone chimed. The notification tone, a sharp little ding.

  His heart skipped. Marissa?

  He hesitated. Would she email him? He turned the handle a little more, then let go and, turning back, crossed the room and snatched the phone. The screen lit up as he flipped it back over. There was a new email notification. But not from her.

  It was from Dungeon Inc.

  Thank you for your application.

  We are pleased to inform you that you’ve been scheduled for an on-campus interview.

  Date: Tomorrow, 1:00 PM

  Location: The Agora, Lakehead University

  Alex froze, phone trembling in his hand.

  “Shit, I pressed it after all,” he whispered.

  He opened up his email app and clicked on the full email confirmation.

  ───────────────────────────────────────────────

  Subject: Your Application Has Been Received – Interview Scheduled

  ───────────────────────────────────────────────

  DUNGEON INC.

  Where Fantasy Meets Reality?

  Dear Potential Adventurer,

  Thank you for submitting your application to Dungeon Inc.

  We are excited to inform you that you have been selected for an on–campus interview.

  Interview Details:

  Date: Thursday, September 25th

  Time: 1:00 PM (local time)

  Location: Lakehead University – The Agora

  Please arrive 15 minutes early and check in with our Recruitment Coordinator at the registration desk.

  Bring a valid student ID and be prepared to discuss your skills, experiences, and motivations for joining the world’s leading adventure entertainment initiative.

  What to Expect:

  ? A brief, friendly interview with our recruitment team

  ? Opportunity to showcase your creativity, problem–solving, and teamwork potential

  ? An inside look at the next chapter of Dungeon Inc.

  We look forward to meeting you and hearing your story.

  Sincerely,

  Dungeon Inc. Recruitment Division

  “Step Beyond the Portal. Become Legend.”

  This email and its contents are confidential and intended solely for the recipient.

  Attendance at a recruitment event constitutes acceptance of Dungeon Inc.’s standard applicant agreement.

  Dungeon Inc. reserves the right to film, broadcast, and/or use recruitment activities for promotional purposes.

  Alex read the email twice.

  His eyes snagged on the fine print. Recruitment activities may be filmed.

  So it wasn’t just a job interview. It was content. He pictured a camera lens hovering just outside the room, recording his awkward pauses, the way he twisted his hands when nervous. He imagined the thousands of strangers laughing at him from behind the safety of their phones.

  The thought made his chest tighten instantly.

  But there was another part of him too – the storyteller. And that part lit up with the idea. Wasn’t this kind of what he’d always wanted? For people to hear his stories? To see him, even if through the filter of a screen?

  He scrolled back up. Where Fantasy Meets Reality?. The slogan stared back like a dare. He let his thumb hover over the glowing screen.

  His stomach knotted, tight and electric. He could hear his pulse in his ears – a hot rush of blood that made the room feel smaller.

  “I didn’t even hit submit, did I?” he whispered. Saying it out loud didn’t make it less true. His thumb trembled against the phone screen, almost like he expected the message to dissolve into pixels.

  The room was quiet. The textbooks still leaned in silent accusation. His D&D notes sat open, maps half-scribbled, encounter ideas dangling unfinished. All the plants watched on in silent solidarity. But the only thing he saw was his phone and that email, stamped with corporate certainty.

  He sat heavily on the bed, the springs groaning beneath him, and stared at the glow of the phone.

  Tomorrow. 1:00 PM.

  His lips pulled into a shaky smile that wasn’t quite amusement, wasn’t quite fear. “What the hell…”

  The words lingered in the air and in his head he felt like he could hear the click of a lock closing.

  I get it. I was sitting where you are just six months ago, thinking I wish I was an actor on this show. I mean: monsters, portals, loot drops—come on! Honestly? Signing up was the best decision I’ve ever made.

  Dungeon Inc. gives you structure. Purpose. You wake up knowing exactly what you’re here to do, and every day you get a little stronger, a little sharper. You’re tested—really tested—but that’s how you know it matters.

  And the team? Incredible. You just can’t survive this alone. Your team becomes like your second family and the Dungeon Inc. staff always has your back when things go sideways.

  Sure, it’s intense. Some days don’t go the way you plan. But that’s growth, right? You adapt. You push through.

  I used to worry about wasting my life.

  Now I don’t worry about that anymore.

  Excerpt from Dungeon Inc. Recruiting Tour Promo Reel

  — Active Adventurer Testimonial

  Hey everyone!

  Thanks for taking the time to check out my crazy little mashup of a story. I'll be dropping chapters all day until I hit 20k words, after that It'll be 1 chapter per day.

  I am a new writer here on RR, so your reviews and ratings and especially follows mean a ton - please consider taking a moment to help if you like my story!

  In fact, I think I'm legally obliged to tell you to SMASH that follow button at the very least and don't forget to comment and let me know what you think!

  ─────────────?─────────────

  DUNGEON INC. // RECRUIT DIV.

  ─────────────?─────────────

  ? ━━━? THE STORY CONTINUES… ?━━━ ?