As Zane started organising the watch roster, Max immediately stood up straighter.

  “I can do a watch!” he blurted, chest puffed with determination.

  But before Zane could even turn his head, Lily cut in with startling speed.

  “Nope!”

  She winced at how forceful that sounded, I'm just like mum she thought, then quickly softened her tone. “I mean—thanks, Max. Really. But we’ve got this. You need to sleep. Big day tomorrow, remember? Summoning, stat spending, shocking everyone with your Companion-and all your level nonsense.”

  Before Max could argue, she practically herded him out of the house like an overeager sheepdog, guiding him toward the ladder.

  “Goodnight, Max!” she said brightly, almost shoving him down the rungs.

  By the time he reached the ground under the stilted house, Lily was already halfway back inside, calling, “Don’t overthink things! Just sleep!”

  Max half expected her to toss a blanket after him. That was until he saw Mrs Rider was indeed following him down the ladder with a blanket.

  Under the elevated house, lantern-light flickered across a spread of tarps, blankets, and pillows. His parents stood up and walked over to Bell as she followed Max into their little section of sleeping space. After checking that all was well, Bell started to explain to Max’s Mum and Dad all about their discussion upstairs.

  Max spotted Kaitlyn and immediately flopped down beside her, still buzzing with too much energy to sit still. He grabbed her hand.

  “Kaitlyn! You won’t believe what I found out!”

  She blinked, startled as he tugged her a few steps away from the adults.

  Max didn’t wait. The words exploded out of him.

  “Did you know Mr Walker and the Riders have been in the System for over a week already?!”

  Kaitlyn’s mouth opened, but Max bulldozed right over her attempt to respond.

  “And they’re all over level ten—some of them way higher! And they have classes! Like actual job classes! And Lily’s class is soooo cool! And their skills—Kaitlyn, some of their skills have the weirdest names ever and—”

  His twin sister grabbed his shoulders and shook him lightly.

  “Max!”

  She laughed, trying to steady his runaway enthusiasm. “Slow down. You’re talking faster than Dad after three coffees. Start at the beginning.”

  Max inhaled deeply, like he was preparing to dive underwater.

  “Yeah, okay. Sorry. It’s just… I’ve got so much to tell you.”

  Kaitlyn smiled, pulling him down to sit beside her on the blankets.

  “Good. Start from the beginning,” she said, leaning in eagerly. “I want to hear everything.”

  And under the dim glow of lanterns and moonlight, Max began recounting it all—the Riders’ early system awakening, their classes, their levels, their insane skills, the dungeon, the goblin chief, the titles… every revelation pouring out one after another as Kaitlyn listened with wide-eyed fascination.

  Tomorrow would bring more chaos, more danger, and more decisions…

  But for now, the twins whispered excitedly into the night, sharing hope and wonder in a world that had changed forever.

  _________________________________________

  The morning was bright and painfully clear, as if the sky itself hadn’t gotten the memo that the world had ended yesterday. The sunlight spilled over the safe zone’s boundary like a mockery of the earth’s new situation—cheerful, gentle, and completely at odds with the fear, exhaustion, and uncertainty that clung to the three hundred refugees camped beneath and around the stilted house.

  Cooking fires crackled everywhere, most of them being used to rescue whatever food wouldn’t last another day. The smells were strangely comforting—bacon, sausages, onions, damper, all mingling into something that almost felt like a normal camping trip.

  _______________________________________________

  Zane Rider was not happy.

  Which was impressive, because the morning had been going extremely well before this.

  The weather was perfect.

  The safe zone still held strong.

  People were fed, calmer, sleeping in shifts, and—most importantly—not in immediate danger.

  Then he walked down toward the black cube.

  The cube he had specifically told everyone to stay away from.

  And found a crowd of people scattered around it, clutching sticks, pipes, bits of fencing—makeshift weapons, makeshift armour, and the unmistakable posture of people waiting for something.

  Or someone.

  “What are you lot doing?” Zane barked, hands on his hips.

  Dozens of heads snapped toward him. Not one of them looked him in the eye. A few shuffled backward. A few tried pretending they hadn’t heard him. Someone kicked dirt over what was definitely a half-disassembled wheelbarrow shield.

  “Well?” Zane demanded. “Out with it!”

  It was June—the young woman from the servo who’d helped pass out water the night before—who finally stepped forward.

  “We, uh… saw five people go into the cube,” she said. “They… um… they all walked up to the white part on the front. And when all five touched it, the cube opened into this tunnel thing. And they walked inside. Then it closed again.”

  Zane stared at her.

  Then he took a slow breath.

  Then another.

  “Is that all that happened?” he asked carefully.

  Seeing that he wasn’t about to start yelling this time, June’s friend Tash spoke up.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “Well… after that we… might’ve tried putting our hands on it too.”

  Zane’s eye twitched.

  “We got a message,” Tash continued quickly. “Something like ‘Floor One Occupied’ and that only one team can enter at a time.”

  Zane’s anger evaporated, replaced by something worse—cold calculation.

  They had gone into the dungeon.

  And a group of idiots—armed idiots—had gone inside without intel.

  He blew out a breath.

  “June,” he said, “can you please go find Tarn, Bell, and my kids? Tell them to meet me here.”

  “Um—yes, Mr Rider.”

  “Just call me Zane,” he corrected automatically. “Tash, can you help her? They’re probably not all together.”

  Tash gave a weird half-salute. “Yes Mr—uh—Zane! On it!”

  The moment they jogged off, Zane turned back to the crowd.

  “Alright,” he said, voice low and serious. “Who can tell me who the five people were?”

  The group murmured among themselves until someone near the back called out:

  “I think one of them was called Barry!”

  Zane didn’t even need to ask. His expression turned sour.

  “Did they all wear uniforms? Like a SWAT team?”

  A ripple of nods.

  A few groans.

  One man muttered, “Yeah, the police guys. They were arguing last night about being ‘in charge’.”

  Zane scrubbed his face with both hands.

  “Those bloody police,” he muttered. “They think they’re better than the rest of us…”

  He turned back toward the cube, staring at its blank, seamless surface.

  Whatever happened next…

  It was going to set the tone for everything that followed.

  And the Riders needed to be ready for it.

  ___________________________________________________________

  Max slept terribly, excitement colliding with nerves until he’d been the second-to-last person to actually doze off. But the moment he woke, bleary-eyed and stretching, that bubbling excitement came roaring back.

  He bolted upright.

  “Kaitlyn!” he croaked, still half-asleep.

  His sister was already prepared for him. She waved him over, scooting to the side of a log she’d claimed as a makeshift seat. Next to her sat a large plate of food—mostly meat—hidden behind her leg like it was some secret treasure hoard.

  “Took you long enough,” she teased, pushing the plate toward him. “Eat. You’re gonna need it.”

  He devoured half a sausage before managing words. “Where’s Tarn?”

  “Probably already at the black cube,” Kaitlyn answered. “Aren’t we meant to meet up to summon your companion there?”

  Max was already checking his system map, grease still on his fingers. The moment the icon lit up, he grabbed Kaitlyn’s wrist and started dragging her away from the fire.

  “Come on!”

  She stumbled after him, half laughing. “Can we walk? Max, it’s not going anywhere!”

  “But Tarn is! And everyone’s waiting! And I finally get to name my wallaby—”

  “Yes, yes, wallaby, big moment, world may explode, I know.”

  He didn’t even argue. He just sprinted harder.

  _______________________________________________________________

  Max could hear Zane talking—well, ranting—to his party, apparently about a group who had done something stupid.

  “Why would they? Didn’t we tell Barry and the rest of those bloody drongos about the dangers?”

  After Zane’s rant-slash-question, Bell had taken over.

  “OK, we need a guard on this place, and a list of everybody who’s gone in and everyone who thinks they want to go in. Also, Lily, I want you to put together a dungeon guide from your notes and our experiences.”

  Lily interrupted her mum.

  “That’s a great idea, but what happens if the dungeon has changed now that the system is fully initialised?”

  That gave Bell pause.

  “That’s a good point… we’ll have to get more information.”

  Kai, who had been talking with some of the nearby onlookers, spoke up.

  “We could make it a rule of the dungeon: everybody who enters has to write a report about their experiences.”

  “That’s a great idea,” replied Zane and Bell at the same time.

  It was at this point that Max—who had come up to the group with Kaitlyn’s hand still in his and had been staring at the large black cube—finally spoke up.

  “Um… guys?”

  The group—what Max privately thought of as the heroes—turned toward them. Tarni was the first to speak.

  “Good morning, Max, Kaitlyn.”

  Then, after giving Max a quick once-over, he continued, “Max, did you get any sleep, mate? You look half dead on your feet.”

  Max just nodded before Tarni continued.

  “Great. Um, we’ve got a bit of a small situation going on here… but I’m going to go on record and say your thing is more important right now.”

  Zane frowned at Tarni and raised his hand like he was going to object—because keeping people safe and away from a dangerous dungeon was a pretty important thing. But Tarni just pointed at him and snapped:

  “NOPE!”

  Zane tried to speak anyway until Tarni cut him off again.

  “Look, MATE, you have BEEN NOPED.”

  Zane stared at him for a moment, then just gave up and turned to Max.

  “Alright, Max. Let’s do your thing.”

  And with that, Kai, Lily, and Tarni started moving people back, clearing a large space. Zane and Bell stayed with Max and Kaitlyn, asking questions.

  “Do you know how to bring up old messages?”

  At this question, Max, Kaitlyn, and Bell all rolled their eyes at Zane.

  “Yes, Mr Rider, I got lots of practice last night,” Max managed to say without sounding smug.

  Bell continued with her questions.

  “Do you know what you’re going to call your companion?”

  Max nodded furiously. “Yep! I’ve been thinking about it all night.”

  The three of them waited for Max to continue, before Zane finally prompted, “Well?”

  “Sorry, Mr Rider, it’s a secret.”

  This earned him a punch in the shoulder from his sister and groans from the other two.

  “Just call me Zane, Max.”

  With a single clap of her hands, Bell took over again.

  “OK, I think we’ve got a big enough space for you to do your thing, Max.”

  Then Kaitlyn, Zane, and Bell stepped back from him, all giving encouraging smiles.

  With trepidation, Max opened his system messages and found the one he needed.

  ________________________________________

  Please Name Your Soul Bond Companion

  You must name your Wallaby companion before it can be summoned.

  (A Safe Zone is recommended)

  ________________________________________

  Max selected the message and opened it with his thoughts. The message changed.

  __________________________________________________________

  You must name your Companion before it can be bonded to you.

  Soul Bond Companion: Wallaby

  Companion Skill: Basic Shadow Walk — Your companion can cloak your movements for 30 seconds, as long as neither of you is in direct sunlight and you don’t move faster than a walk.

  Please type Surname: ___________

  Family Name: Smith

  ____________________________________________________________

  Everyone waited with bated breath as Max tried to think the name he wanted into the empty space.

  Nothing happened.

  He thought harder.

  He even tried imagining each letter one at a time.

  Finally, he gave up and turned to Bell, frustration and a small edge of fear creeping in.

  What if he’d waited too long? Would it still work?

  “I can’t input the name!” he half-explained, half-pleaded.

  “Don’t panic, Max. Share the message with us so we can see it.”

  So he did, showing Zane, Bell, and Kaitlyn his system message.

  ____________________________________________________________

  You must name your Companion before it can be bonded to you.

  Soul Bond Companion: Wallaby

  Companion Skill: Basic Shadow Walk — Your companion can cloak your movements for 30 seconds, as long as neither of you is in direct sunlight and you don’t move faster than a walk.

  Please type Surname: ___________

  Family Name: Smith

  ______________________________________________________________

  There were some chin scratches and repeated suggestions—ones Max had already tried.

  “Did you try to think each letter?”

  “Yeah, I tried that,” Max confirmed, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

  It was Zane who pointed out the wording: Please type.

  Then he asked Max a question.

  “Max, have you spent any of your points yet?”

  With a confused look, Max replied, “No, I’ve been keeping them until I’ve summoned my companion. Why?”

  Zane smiled, then explained, “When spending points, you have to use your fingers to press the little plus buttons next to the stats. Just thinking it won’t work.”

  With a tentative smile, Max raised his hand and poked the line next to Please type Surname:

  To Max’s complete surprise, a full QWERTY keyboard appeared in front of him.

  To his annoyance, it only had letters and an ENTER key. No shift, no numbers, no symbols. But once he got over the lack of extra keys, his smile grew as he started typing:

  S, k, i, p, p, y.

  He noticed the first letter was auto-capitalised.

  Before pressing ENTER, Max looked up at his sister and the Riders. Their faces were a mix of horror and weary amusement—they could all see what he typed.

  Kaitlyn started, “Don’t be a dork, that’s a—”

  But before she could finish, Max—smiling as wide as he could—pressed ENTER.