Graq turned back to him. “Only if you–”

  Jin-woo raised an eyebrow.

  “Oh fine,” Graq huffed, throwing his arms up. “We’re a team now.”

  “An adventurers team,” Jin-woo corrected. “We need to figure out an appropriate name.”

  Graq smiled, showing oddly human teeth that didn't seem to fit for some reason. “The Ratlings! No! Rat and…”

  “How about we shelve the name for another time,” Jin-woo shook his head. He turned around and began to tug on the knot he tied around the treasure chest. It was on tight. “Help me out here. Grab the solid items that won't shatter.” He pointed at one of the piles of loot he had collected.

  Graq grabbed much of the smaller items including the Rare Earth Crystals (Basic). Using his robe as a makeshift bucket to hold the large number of items. “Why not the vials? I can carry more.”

  “You’ll find out soon enough.” Jin-woo smiled. He remembered his own first experience entering the dungeon. If he was right, Graq would go through the same exact thing. He wouldn’t be the only person that had to suffer extreme nausea and vertigo. All he could hope for himself was that his legs were sturdy enough to keep him standing as he grabbed all the vials pinned between his forearm and body. The other hand held the bandage rope tied to the treasure chest.

  He nodded towards the portal. Graq whimpered, large ears drooped slightly. But he moved forward anyway.

  Jin-woo received a system notification as soon as he reached touching distance of the portal.

  [DUNGEON EXIT OPTIONS:]

  1 - LEAVE DUNGEON

  2 - ADVANCE TO THE SECOND FLOOR

  [PLEASE SELECT AN OPTION]

  Second floor? No way. Jin-woo knew there had to be more levels, after all there was a Rat King. Not just a Rat Lord. But he didn’t intend to find out if he were being honest. Get packed and prepare to leave as soon as possible. Maybe after he finished the Earth Power Stone and worked on Graq’s own one. Together they could be a formidable team, if they were a team that fit together nicely.

  "Right," Jin-woo selected the first option. He could feel his heartbeat out of his chest, this was it. Finally back into the real world after what could have been an entire month of constant fighting and suffering. The portal's surface rippled more violently at his choice. He dragged the treasure chest with him as he stepped through with Graq in tow.

  The familiar sensation of reality bending around them followed. A peculiar feeling of being unmade and reassembled, though intrinsically he figured that wasn’t the case. Just moved what he assumed were great distances. This time, Jin-woo was ready. His enhanced body weathered the transition with stubborn resilience he had developed in his time in the dungeon. Even then his stomach protested at the transition. Angry growels and rumbling echoed in the darkness as he was spat out of the portal.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  He landed on his feet. Wobbly but steady. Eyes surveying the familiar weathered stone of the abandoned hospital. There was a fear in the back of his mind he would find himself elsewhere. But, it was only a thought. Not in depth enough to weigh the pros and cons of that happening to him. Now, he no longer needed to muse about it after being ejected at the same exact spot he entered.

  [ENVIRONMENT TRANSITION COMPLETE]

  [LOCATION: Hospital Interior]

  [WARNING: No Threats Detected]

  [RECOMMENDATION: Return to Secured Position]

  Graq crash landed in a heap a few moments later. The Ratkin was sprawled on the floor, body trying to process the spatial displacement. He curled into a ball, retching and shivering just like Jin-woo had the first time he entered the dungeon. Jin-woo felt an odd mix of both sympathy and amusement.

  He reached down, patting the Ratkin. “Breath. It’ll pass,” he advised. Voice calm and more confident than he felt. “The world stops spinning. Eventually. Mostly.”

  Graq grunted.

  Jin-woo couldn’t hold it anymore. He laughed. Picking Graq up and helping him find his feet on solid ground. Graq bristled, straightened his ripped robes, fixed non-existent collars, brushed tufts of dust from his ancient clothes, and stood straighter. His head tilted up. It was an attempt to collect what remained of his dignity from the floor. Except he was covered in dirt, grime, and did not smell all the best.

  Jin-woo scrunched his nose. The odor had not been apparent in the dungeon for some reason. Might have been more magic bullshit in there. But out here, in reality, there were no convenient little comforts he could take advantage of.

  He smelled himself. Gagged.

  Graq’s whiskers twitched. “Yeah. the malodorous odor wafting from you…” He shook his head, covering his large nose. “Offensive to say the least.”

  Jin-woo laughed again. Loud and boisterous.

  “Why are you laughing?” Graq said. “Mr…. What is your name?”

  It dawned on both of them that Jin-woo hadn’t as much as given Graq his name. Much less any information about himself other than being another ‘experiment’ whatever that was supposed to mean.

  “I’m Jin-woo Park. Previously Jin-woo Park,” he extended a hand. “Not sure what my name would be now after, you know…”

  Graq nodded. He grabbed and shook Jin-woo’s proffered hand. “Graq Vrorritt. Son of Scrit Vrorritt. Educator.”

  “With the introductions over, let’s get you situated,” Jin-woo eyed their surroundings. The dungeon entrance at the basement door was behind them. The massive destroyed double door to the outside world on the other side of the small hall showed it was dark and night outside. Pitch black other than the little sunlight rays that filtered from the canopy of the forest. It was terrifying being so low and close to whatever called the forest home. On his floor, even in the room he woke up in, he had been above the trees, the moons shining without any buffer between them.

  Jin-woo began to walk up the familiar set of stairs. Heading towards their safe house.

  “With what?” Graq jogged to catch up.

  “First and foremost! We need to clean up. The both of us,” Jin-woo turned on the stairwell looking at Graq. “Clothes another one. Food. And maybe a weapon or two until I figure out the Rat Lords Power Core.”

  Jin-woo purposely forgot the taste challenged military-grade biscuits for now. They were outright awful, even if they were the only source of food they had.

  “Weapons? Figure out Rat Lord Dhaz’s core?”

  Jin-woo eyed the diminutive stature of the Ratkin. Small frame, much shorter than he was. Just a tiny human in size. Perfect for the majority of all the scavenged armors and weapons he found, even if they would be slightly too big on him. They would certainly fit better on Graq than himself. Maybe even the surgical knives would fit his tiny hands as large daggers.

  [PARTY MEMBER STATUS: GRAQ]

  [CURRENT EQUIPMENT: Insufficient]

  [SURVIVAL PROBABILITY WITHOUT UPGRADE: 3%]

  [SURVI–]

  Jin-woo ignored the stream of blatantly obvious system notification. They had much to do before their eventual plan to leave this hospital towards civilization. Much to prepare. He wondered if Graq knew how to make backpacks from scratch. Jin-woo didn’t enjoy the idea of leaving much of anything behind, at least the valuable stuff they could sell to keep themselves afloat.

  But that was for tomorrow. Right now was dedicated to a long cleaning session.

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