Too Stubborn to Die

“Do you see that?” Aaron said as he stared at the leaderboard hovering before his eyes.

“Mmhmm,” Talia murmured, cupping her mouth. “Not good.”

1. Talia Rhineheart
2. Aaron Dober
3. Zero
4. Hegemony Blanc

“Okay, this complicates things a little. Then again, I do owe them some payback,” he said, cracking his knuckles. “And there only being one of them certainly makes that easier.”

Updating leaderboard!

1. Talia Rhineheart
2. Aaron Dober
3. Zero
4. Hegemony Blanc
5. Jigsaw Tyrant

“Ohh, ff. Of course. Why’d I have to go opening my mouth?”

“Dober. Safe.”

“Oh yeah, good point,” Aaron said. “If they’re here, Dober is safe. For now, at least.”

“Yep,” Talia gulped.

Incoming System Message!

Welcome to the first communal stage of the dungeon!

Dungeon Global Chat has been activated!

Would you like to send a message?

“A message? Why would we want to message those two?”

“Uh-ah,” Talia shook her head.

Aaron turned to Talia. “Besides, it seems like it’ll mostly be a distraction. I can’t see any good coming from messaging anybody we don’t know.”

Talia nodded, still cupping her mouth.

That said, we should probably keep an eye out for them. Even if I have gotten stronger, probably not wise to underestimate them.

Aaron looked around and couldn’t see the ants anywhere. Or anybody, for that matter. This floor mightn’t be quite as large as the previous one, but it was still huge. The trash went on in all distances, disappearing into fog. And he had a feeling it would take a while to find people, even on the surface. Let alone within the tunnels below, and just based on the number of entrances he could already see, it was obvious there would be a lot of them.

“We’re good. I don’t want to message anybody,” Aaron said, waving to the air.

He didn’t usually try talking to the System, but since its message was asking him a question, it came naturally. The window faded, but moments later was replaced by another one.

You have been tagged in a message in Dungeon Global Chat!

Hegemony Blanc: @Aaron Dober, @Talia Rhinehart, @Zero tell us your location so that we may find and kill you.

Would you like to respond?

“Ha!” said Aaron. “No thanks.”

Would you like the System to formulate an automated response?

“Automated response?”

Confirmed. Generating automated response based on user’s affinity with tagger…

“Hey, wait, hold on!”

Aaron Dober: Suck my dick, @Hegemony Blanc. I’m gonna cripple you, then force you to watch me eat your mother’s corpse!

“Wait, what the fuck?!” Aaron exclaimed.

Talia Rhinehart: The darkness within me is more than enough to black out your light, @Hegemony Blanc. Don’t test me.

“Son of a bitch!” exclaimed Talia, momentarily forgetting her nausea.

Zero: @Hegemony Blanc even if we told you where we were, you wouldn’t be able to find us, you pea-brained insect. And even if you did find us, we would tear you apart like we did your mother!

Zero barked and wagged his tail, seeming quite pleased with himself.

“Hey! What the actual fuck? I said I didn’t want to message anybody! What’s up with that? Since when did I ask for an automated response?”

You have been tagged in multiple messages in Dungeon Global Chat!

Hegemony Blanc: @Aaron Dober@Talia Rhinehart@Zero Why you! You will suffer for such insolence, human scum!

Jigsaw Tyrant: @Aaron Dober@Talia Rhinehart@Zero You dare!

Would you like to respond?

“No!” Aaron shouted. “And no automated response either!”

Talia didn’t speak, but she must have given a similar command to the System. A few seconds later, a new set of messages appeared.

Zero: @Hegemony Blanc you are really showing your intelligence right now. How else could you mistake me for a human? Idiot. Dumbass. Retard. Did your mom never teach you about the differences in species? Oh wait! She’s dead!

Zero: @Jigsaw Tyrant I bet you like feet.

“Zero!” said Aaron and Talia at once.

Zero barked happily and spun in a circle. A moment later, more messages appeared, and all Aaron and Talia could do was watch, dumbfounded.

Hegemony Blanc: @Zero You filthy mutt I am going to skin you alive!

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from NovelFire. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Jigsaw Tyrant: @Zero what is that supposed to mean, you mangy curr?

Zero: @Hegemony Blanc You’re so dumb you couldn’t skin me even if you had a Profession for it.

Zero: @Jigsaw Tyrant Deez

Hegemony Blanc: I will make you suffer.

Jigsaw Tyrant: @Zero Deez what?

Zero: @Jigsaw Tyrant Deez nuts! Gotem!

They waited a few more seconds, but thankfully, the ants stopped responding. Zero seemed a little disappointed by this, but Aaron let out a sigh of relief.

“What the fuck just happened?” asked Aaron.

“Come!”

Aaron felt Talia tug on his hoodie, but it took him a moment to register.

“Well, at least we weren’t on friendly terms. Okay, System. Just no more auto responses, okay? Zero, you too.”

The System didn’t respond. Zero barked. Talia tugged on his sleeveless hoodie again.

“Huh?”

“Let’s–go!”

She was pointing at one of the trash tunnels.

“Oh, yeah.”

He knew that she had a point. Even if they weren’t in as much of a rush anymore, It was best to get moving. The royal guards might not be an immediate threat to Dober, but standing around wasn’t helping anybody.

Besides, delving into this thing provided the potential for loot and levels. And as much as Aaron wanted to score some vengeance against the two royal guards, he had to admit that the smart thing to do was to use any opportunity he could get to grow stronger.

After all, what if they managed to split him and Talia up again? Sure, he was far stronger than before, but was he strong enough to take the two of them?

“Yeah, let’s keep moving.”

Being at a lower level meant that he and Talia would benefit more from these floors for doing the same things as the royal guard could. And so it made sense to push themselves, even if they were already strong enough to take them. There was no real advantage to rushing into the fight right now.

Entering the trash tunnels, the trio rushed down, zigzagging through the passages as they descended deeper into the foul pits of this toilet world.

Aaron smiled wildly as their pace picked up. He was excited over what they might possibly find. What gains and treasures might await in the bowls of this disturbing place? Meanwhile, Talia stumbled forward, falling into her steps with the help of momentum, and almost puking several times. But he was proud of her. This was no easy task for those without an ogre gut.

And the descent only got worse the further down they got. Eons of trash were caked into the walls, and one could only imagine what might be hidden within. However, they didn’t actually find much along their path. Not yet, at least.

As they marched on, all they found were more scavengers picking at the rubbish. And the scavenger creatures they did find just took flight the moment they spotted Aaron and Talia. Many of them escaped down into tiny holes that littered the walls.

And a short moment later, Talia stumbled to the side and buckled forward. In an instant, she finally lost her battle with her stomach, and it all came pouring out.

“No, Zero! Don’t eat it! That’s gross,” Aaron shouted.

Talia glared at Aaron as she wiped her lips, and Zero licked her vomit up.

“Oh, Come on. What’s that look for?”

“You don’t know?”

Aaron shook his head. “Don’t give me that. I’m not that bad! I wouldn’t eat that. I’m not that gross.”

“Honestly, I don’t even know what you would or wouldn’t eat at this point.”

“Hey! Talia, you’re talking more,” Aaron noted.

“Yeah, you’re right. Maybe that was necessary,” Talia coughed. “I still feel a little woozy, but much better than before. Out is better than in, sometimes.”

“Well, at least you’re feeling a bit better. It would have been a long journey, otherwise.”

“Yeah. I think I can handle it now. Let’s keep moving,” Talia said, and down a potion of rejuvenation.

There was no doubt that Talia’s sickness had slowed them down. She had been moving slowly, and then they had stopped for a while as she gathered herself. So it was nice to see her moving more quickly afterward.

They continued further down until reaching a rather large, but very much empty chamber. There were eight massive doors lined around it, but they were all closed. Aaron did as he did and marched straight over to the closest one. Unfortunately, a punch proved the sheer force wasn’t going to open them. And a soul-shattering strike confirmed that he couldn’t just drain whatever energy was empowering them.

He had no idea how trash could possibly form such a powerful barrier, but he figured there was some kind of System bullshit behind it.

Had they come across this before seeing the leaderboard, he would have been at least a little stressed. But knowing the royal guards were in here with him, they could take their time and figure this one out.

“Alright. Let’s see what this is all about.”

“I’m counting on you to figure this out, Mr. Trial Champion.”

*Rogues*

The battle had been long and very violent. But that was exactly what the two rogues dressed in hardy leathers and armed with daggers and crossbows lived for.

Thomas and Arthur wiped their brows and panted as they got done looting the corpses. There were hundreds of them dotted around the place, all many of gruesome wounds opening them up.

The weak locals that had begged for their help, and they had been close to answering their prayers. Unfortunately for them, the System had been rather clear with its instructions: either kill the monster terrorizing these people, or deal with the settlement itself.

Arthur and Thomas were practical men. They didn’t go out of their way to slaughter unnecessarily, but when additional rewards were granted for doing the morally reprehensible act, they did just that.

If the reward had been worth it, they’d have happily killed the monster. But their goal was clear. Grow stronger and climb the ranks. Make a name for themselves, and caring about some strangers in the multiverse just wasn’t going to see that goal through.

Also, they had already detected the treasure room in the human settlement, which cemented their decision.

“Eh, all that just for mediocre loot? What a disappointment.”

“Yeah,” grunted Thomas. “Barely worth the effort. Oh well, we completed the quest and opened the exit. Good enough.”

“I suppose,” Arthur groaned and kicked a corpse. “Dumbasses. Why’d you gotta go being so poor?”

“We’re done here,” Thomas said, straightening and cleaning his hands on a cloth. “Should we move on to the next floor then? Maybe it has something more worth our while?”

“Might as well. These poor bastards aren’t getting any richer. Way to suck ass.”

The two rogues cleaned their weapons on the corpses and made their way toward the exit, following the marker that had appeared. Not long thereafter, they stepped through and were transported to another world.

“Fucking hell. What is this place?” Arthur coughed as things oozed under his boots.

“A trash world? Utterly disgusting,” Thomas blanched and held a handkerchief over his nose.

Every time they moved, the ground squeaked around them. Luckily, they had been in their own fair share of disturbing situations. And while they hadn’t been completely prepared for this, they quickly got over it.

“Hey, hey!”

“What?”

“Check out the leaderboard, Thomas!”

“Huh?” Thomas’ thin brow perked. “Wait, I know those guys! Those names… they’re from.”

“Yep, top rankers. Both of them are in the top ten,” Arthur said, and began to lick his lips and go cross-eyed. “Oh, this is good. I want those rankings.”

“I know you do. So do I. But don’t get too excited.”

Arthur began to snort and huff excitedly. “What do we do? I can taste it already.”

“What do you think we do, you savage? We go find them, and we kill them. That’s what we do. And when we’ve done that. When we’ve killed two of the highest rankers on our world, people will tremble when they hear our names.”

“Hahah! So good. You always got the best plans!”

Incoming System Message!

Welcome to the first communal stage of the dungeon!

Dungeon Global Chat has been activated!

Would you like to send a message?

“System message?” Thomas perked. “Oh, that is just perfect, isn’t it? Oh, and it lets you tag people, too!”

Thomas Goldberg:@Aaron Dober, @Talia Rhinehart, where are you? We’re humans looking to team up! Let’s help each other through this floor and win the dungeon for Earth!

“There we go, perfect.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Arthur bobbed excitedly like a hyena, licking his lips. “This is gonna be good. Real good. Tasty good. Yum, yum, yum!”

“Calm down now. You’re gonna get yourself too excited, and we both know what happens when you do that.”

Arthur nodded, his face going a little white as he held his breath. He was trying, but it barely looked like he had regained any real control of himself.

You have been tagged in a message in Dungeon Global Chat!

Aaron Dober: @Thomas Goldberg Get rekt, nerds.

Would you like to respond?

“Huh? What?!” Thomas’ face reddened.

*Aaron*

With a frustrated growl, Aaron shoved a mutated rat corpse off his arm. It wasn’t a tough battle, but it was just distracting enough that he had accidentally sent another automated response.

“Dammit! Seriously? What the hell is up with this thing? How the hell do you turn this auto-response off! Quick, you message them, Talia!”

“Me?” said Talia, wiping blood off her sword. “I thought we weren’t messaging strangers?”

“Oh…”

She was right. They had just agreed to that, and it made a lot of sense. After all, who the hell was Thomas Goldberg anyway?

But Aaron couldn’t help but wince and feel damn embarrassed. Maybe he was just a good guy looking to help each other out, and the damn System had gone and provoked him.

Also, what was next?

“Okay, maybe we don’t message them. But I still need to turn this auto-response off somehow!”

“Maybe this is the System getting back at us for killing the assistants?” Talia shrugged.

“Wait, you think that’s a possibility?”

“Maybe?”

“Oh, for fucks sake!”

Aaron groaned. It didn’t really change anything, but he didn’t want to get a reputation as some kind of multiverse troll that shit-talked everyone.

“Whatever. Let’s just figure out how to get through these doors.”

Maybe there wouldn’t be a messaging System on the next floor… but what if there was? Aaron puckered up at the thought. It was one thing to have the rogue System shit-talking Earthlings on his behalf, but this dungeon would include the entire hundredth and first universe at later levels.

This isn’t good, is it?