Penelope didn’t pop open the bag of peanuts.
Rather than wait for the large man to back into her, she slid around him, then continued moving through the active crowd while trying not to let the building noise or fights encourage her heart to beat any faster.
The older woman from before was in her path this time. Penelope thought about saying something, but the words caught in her throat. Her mouth refused to open, but she slowed long enough to watch as the blonde woman moved through the crowd like water.
A middle-aged woman in a red windbreaker backed into her from behind while she was watching the other woman move.
“Excuse…”
Penelope didn’t wait for the other woman to finish; she bolted through the last few people and ran through the portal.
Once in the safe zone of the Dungeon, she turned left, walked to the southwest corner, and put her precious food items down. Once her food was safe, she selected Light from the menu and then walked over to the middle of the barrier and stuck her right arm through. Her green eyes scanned the ceiling, which was dark, but she could see something inching its way towards her. It was the farthest away and moving towards her the slowest, so it wasn’t what she was going to focus on.
She let out a deep breath to try to calm her nerves and then focused on the four Demonic Ants and fired off her spell eleven times.
“Light Pulse!”
DING!
Experience +30
Last time, she missed almost the same amount of shots that she made, not counting the last four. This time, she hit seven times and missed four, but she only killed one Demonic Ant. Once she was out of mana, Penelope walked over to her corner and sat down.
Her mana had almost recovered when the first group walked in. They didn’t notice her hunched in the far corner and went into their normal square to fight. Penelope sighed as she watched them enter. They were all decent, but it was six on three, and the Demons had the level advantage. There was no way that they could win without outside interference.
The second group was also talented, but last time, the deaths of the first group rattled them enough for their Tank, Patrick Heard, to miss a block. Once he died, the other three didn’t last long.
There was a little nudge in her mind telling her she needed to do something to help, but she also knew this wasn’t her last loop. She was still learning about the monsters and the Dungeon, and Penelope wanted to learn all she could before she tried to help anyone who would be alive again as soon as she died.
Once her mana was recharged, Penelope ran to the other end of the square. She took her time positioning herself and braced her right arm as she aimed.
“Light Pulse!”
DING!
Experience +30
DING!
Experience +30
DING!
Experience +30
You are now Level Two
Stats increased: Defense +1, Magic +1
You have learned: Light Arc
She had fired seven times and missed twice, which gave her four more spells. Instead of backing out, she changed her target to the Demon and fired all four.
DING!
Experience +60
Penelope stood up inside the safe zone. The level had given her three more mana, so she had another cast she could use, but she doubted the Ceiling Creeper would die to just one hit. She looked up at the caterpillar monster crawling towards her. She had plenty of time to kill it once her mana recharged.
There was one thing that she noticed: she hadn’t gotten the same stat increases when she leveled up this time.
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“Jer–-”
“Excuse me.”
Penelope turned around to see the second group standing in front of her. Her palms began to sweat as she swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Y-yes?” Penelope focused on the warm smile the older woman gave her.
“We watched you take down that whole group on your own and were wondering if you’d want to party up.” Ula Ramirez smiled wider.
The fifty-five-year-old grandmother was going gray, but her tanned skin spoke of how much she enjoyed being outside. Her brown eyes were inviting, even if Penelope couldn’t look directly at them for more than a moment. Her arms were thick, as were her waist and legs, which left no doubt why the older woman had received the Power starting class.
“Um…” Penelope was trapped in the northwest corner of the safe zone. There were people to her south and east, the Ceiling Crawler was in the square to the west, and the party that was going to die in a few minutes was behind her to the north. She bit her lip as it felt like spiders were crawling all under her skin.
“It’s okay if you’d rather go solo.” Ula laughed. “I just thought we’d ask.” She jerked her thumb at the pile of smoking gear. “Do you mind if we borrow that gear since you’re a Caster? We don’t have any gear, and Patrick would be able to tank a lot better in some actual armor.”
The forty-five-year-old former professional gamer stepped into the square and picked up the helmet. He started to slip it on over his graying brown hair, unaware of what was about to happen.
“NO!” Penelope stepped into the square and pointed at the monster. She only had enough mana for two casts, but that would at least let the other two Casters do something.
“Light Arc! Light Arc!”
DING!
Experience +24
You are now Level Three
Stats increased: Recovery +1, Magic +1
You have learned: Light Ball
The slimy monster fell on top of the unsuspecting man, startling him, knocking the helmet out of his hands, and him to the floor. The barrier between the safe zone and the square vanished.
“AHHH!!!” Patrick thrashed as he squirmed to get out from under the monster.
Penelope was breathing hard for the first time this run as she rested her palms on her knees. She looked at her stats.
“How did you…?” Ula looked from the monster to Patrick to the ceiling, then at last to Penelope.
“You can take it all.” Penelope winced as the screams started behind her. She tried to hurry past them now that she had more space to move.
“Not everything.” Jeru appeared in front of her. “There’s a pouch on the monster’s waist with stuff in it you need.”
“Wait!” Penelope suppressed a shiver as she knelt down next to the pile of armor and rooted through it until she found a strap that held three glass vials as long as her index finger that somehow hadn’t been crushed. “I need this.” She didn’t bother showing them what she was taking; she just shoved it into her jeans pocket and started to hurry away but paused and pointed east without looking at them. “Monsters closer to the wall are weaker.”
“Thanks!” Ula’s sweet voice followed her as Penelope fled back to where she had left her peanuts and soda.
“I’m not happy with you.” Penelope opened her soda and took a swig as soon as she reached her stash.
“I help you get free potions, and you’re not happy with me?” Jeru tried to look innocent.
“You didn’t tell me about the worm—”
“Ceiling Creeper.” The blue Elf wagged his finger.
Penelope huffed. “You didn’t tell me about the Ceiling Creeper, and I died again! How many times are you going to let me die when something simple would have let me avoid it?!”
“If you plan on clearing this place?” Jeru shrugged. “A few hundred.”
“UGH!!!” Penelope clenched her fist. “Do you have any idea what that’s like?! Do you have any idea what that’s going to do to me mentally to—?”
“Yes.” He silenced her with a single pain-filled word.
Penelope folded her arms in front of her as she waited for him to explain.
“You’ve died three times. That’s three runs. This is my 7,544th run. I’ve seen what the loop can do to people dying over and over again. In the end it’s been too much for them, so yes, I get it.” He shook his head. “But do I feel bad about it? No. If this problem isn’t solved here, then in seven years, the Demons coming through this incursion are going to spread throughout the entire universe. You think you dying a few thousand times or me spending one and a half millennia trapped with people who keep failing after I’ve invested time and effort is too steep?”
He shook his head. “It’s not. Because these Demons don’t kill thousands or millions or even billions. Trillions die at their hands.” He jabbed his finger at her. “So if this is too much for you, then you can tap out and let someone else try, because you are going to die a lot in the deeper floors to things that even I don’t know about.”
Jeru vanished before she could respond.
It wouldn’t matter if Penelope couldn’t see him; they were tied together, and Jeru heard everything she did regardless of if he was visible to her or not.
With a sigh, she sank down and watched the other group head east this time. Patrick had on most of the armor, and Ula was carrying the longsword. While she let the Elf’s words sink in, she wondered if she had just accidentally saved their lives.
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