Dungeon Hunter: Act I

What Next?

The rest of my watch passed without comment, and I woke Jye for their turn. As soon as I closed my eyes, I was unconscious. That slumber was exhausting with dreams of people I loved dying without me being able to do anything. Again and again, I watched as my beloveds breathed their last breaths while I sat by their side, simply witnessing it, eyes blank and empty.

When Jye shook me awake, I felt more tired than I had before sleeping, but it looked like my stamina had regen'd to almost full. That was good at least. They seemed to restore faster with rest. It made sense. Axel had recovered faster when sleeping as well. Now we just needed to master actually falling asleep. It was something I was bad at even before all the Gates appeared.

Wren was already awake, and was chewing idly on some jerky.

"So. I guess I should explain," she began as everyone gathered around.

She passed the packet to me, and I took a handful before giving it to Jye.

"That would be nice," Axel oozed.

Rolling her eyes, she said, "By now you guys have guessed that I'm not just a Scourge."

We all nodded. She had healed Axel, which definitely wasn't a debuff.

"And that I'm also a Synergist."

Again, we nodded. This much we all knew from the party information accessible via the status window. I'd mentioned it to Jye and Axel in passing whilst Wren was still unconscious. Axel hadn't seemed surprised. Jye seemed delighted that there was another glitch character like them.

Wren cleared her throat. "All right, well. How to explain... I can swap between the two classes. I was originally a Synergist, but..." Her hazel eyes darkened.

"But?" I prompted, intrigued.

"But everything was so confusing when it started. I felt such a strong need to enter the CBD Gate. I didn't even think about it. I crawled out of my bed, and went into it. There were a bunch of people in it already. Maybe seven of us?"

I guess I hadn't been wrong when I thought she'd been through the gauntlet. However, this was far more complex than I'd been imagining. I thought maybe she'd lost her parents to the Gate, and then got separated. This was so much worse. Jye's eyes were wide as they listened, but Axel had crossed his arms over his chest. There was a sceptic tone to his stance. Axel didn't believe her? Why? What would she gain from lying to us?

Wren shivered. "It was like the arctic in that Dungeon, none of us were prepared. But it wasn't like this one. The entrance was still there, the same Gate but inside the Dungeon. We could've all left. We could've all lived."

"What do you mean?" Axel asked sharply.

Her eyes shot over to him, lips quivering. "No one wanted to leave except me. They..." She took a deep breath, "They demanded to know my class and abilities and threatened to hurt me. I didn't know what else to do."

Understanding of the situation was beginning to dawn on me.

"They made you join their party?"

She nodded softly, and her voice broke as she continued, "I told them everything I could see on my screen. We went further into the Dungeon. Eventually, we got into a fight with some sort of monster. It was big and furry, with sharp teeth. People got hurt. They screamed at me to help them. When I couldn't heal them quick enough, they..."

It didn't need to be said.

"Then what?" Jye asked, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"The remaining party members blamed me. Said I was the reason everyone had died. I did my best!" She was crying now, sobbing. Snot trickled out of her nose over her blubbering mouth.