The Heart System

Chapter 854: Chapter 854

I was on fire today.

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Dungeon Cleared (50 DEXP)

Level 2: 3/5

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Finally completing the third stage, I was now on Level Two, Stage Four. I had reached 157/198 DEXP from all the monsters I’d slain so far.

Though, this part of the dungeon had opened into a really, really, really massive area. That was scary. Normally, these dungeons were tight, and you’d have a pretty good idea of where you needed to go. Even if something was waiting around a corner, at least you knew there was a corner.

Here, there was nothing. Just a massive open space stretching farther than I could see.

"Alright." I exhaled and nodded. "Let’s see what this has in store for me."

The only light source came from the torches mounted along the walls. Their flames flickered constantly, making my shadow dance behind me whenever the fire moved.

I held my sword tightly and continued walking, not knowing what kind of monster might lunge at me from somewhere in the darkness. Damn it, even though I knew dying here wouldn’t mean anything permanent, I still couldn’t stop my heart from beating faster.

Knowing I could respawn didn’t exactly make getting killed feel pleasant. "Right... I’ll just respawn. It’s fine. This is fine."

A roar suddenly shook the ground beneath my feet, and I stumbled backward in fear before falling onto my ass.

"Fuck!"

Almost instantly, my survival instincts kicked in. I scrambled back to my feet and looked toward the direction the roar had come from.

My left.

Then I heard footsteps.

They were slick and slow, almost as if someone was walking through shallow water. I could hear something dripping occasionally from somewhere in the darkness, and with every step, whatever it was seemed to come closer.

"What the..."

Then everything went dark.

When I opened my eyes, I realized I was back at the starting area for Stage 4/5. Wait, I just died? Whoever that sticky monster was had actually killed me?

My suspicion was confirmed when I checked the penalty and saw that a good amount of DEXP had been deducted.

"Okay... that’s enough for today, I suppose."

After confirming with the system that I wanted to leave, everything went dark once again.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying in bed with the morning light shining through the open curtains. Nala and Jasmine were already awake, and I could smell breakfast drifting through the room.

"Nothing like starting the morning by dying," I muttered with a tired exhale. "Damn."

"Hey, sleepyhead."

"Huh?"

Jasmine entered the room and looked over at me. "Finally got up."

"Yep."

She grabbed her purse from beside the wardrobe and headed toward the door. "Come on."

"Yep. Getting up... in a bit."

"I can see that."

She scoffed and left the room.

I stayed there for another few seconds before finally dragging myself out of bed with a groan. I shook my head and walked over to the window before pulling the curtains fully open.

Rain was pouring outside.

I swear, this city’s weather was trying to kill me. Just a few days ago, we had been at the beach, then a snowstorm had practically buried the city, and now we had heavy, nonstop rain.

"What a shit-ass, dog-butthole weather." Tessa entered the room with an exhale, apparently hearing me complain from the hallway.

"Yeah... that’s one way to describe it. Or two." I glanced back at her. "Morning, by the way."

"Minne is too shy to ask you," she explained while crossing her arms. "But she wants a day off. Her mother wanted to meet with her. Shopping. They will do mother and daughter shopping together for the first time in a very long time."

"Yeah, sure. I already told her, Tessa. She doesn’t need to ask permission from me."

"Yup. I’ll let her know. Now carry your ass and let’s have breakfast."

"Alright. Give me a minute."

Tessa left the room, and I headed into the bathroom. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and took a few minutes to wake myself up properly before finally leaving.

By the time I reached the dining room, everyone was already gathered around the table.

Jasmine was sitting near the window with a warm cup of coffee between her hands, her hair tied loosely behind her head. Nala was beside her, already looking through something on her phone while eating breakfast. Kim was sitting across from them, quietly working her way through her food while occasionally glancing toward the rain outside.

Tessa had taken one of the seats at the end of the table, and Minne was sitting beside her. From the smile on Minne’s face, I could tell Tessa had already told her about the day off.

"Look who finally decided to join us," Jasmine said.

"Yup." I smiled. "Sorry."

Kim smiled and continued eating.

I pulled out a chair and sat down. The table was already packed with food, including scrambled eggs, sausages, crispy bacon, toast, pancakes, fresh fruit, and a bowl of hash browns sitting in the middle. There were also several different spreads and sauces lined up along the table because apparently having only one breakfast option was unacceptable in this house.

I grabbed a plate and started serving myself.

"Careful," Jasmine warned. "You’re going to eat everything."

"I just woke up." I replied.

"That doesn’t explain the mountain of food you’re putting on your plate."

"I’m hungry."

"You’re always hungry." She said.

"That’s because you girls keep feeding me."

Minne picked up the syrup and poured some over her pancakes.

"You’re really going shopping with your mother today?" I asked.

She nodded happily. "Yes. We haven’t done something like this together in a very long time, Master."

"Then you should enjoy it. You don’t have to worry about work either. Just have fun."

"Thank you."

Minne smiled and returned to her pancakes.

Nala put her phone down. "Speaking of people who don’t need permission, Carrie is coming back later."

I looked at her. "Today?"

"Yes. She wants to talk about everything properly. Yesterday was more of an introduction."

Jasmine immediately smiled. "Oh, this should be interesting."

"Yeah," Nala replied. "Carrie wanted to apologize properly and discuss a few things with me yesterday. We’ll probably go through some business matters today."

I took another bite and looked around the table. For some reason, the whole scene felt unusually peaceful. Rain was falling heavily outside, tapping against the windows and making the entire house feel warmer by comparison. The dining room smelled like coffee, toast, bacon, and syrup, while everyone talked over one another and occasionally laughed.

It was nice.

There wasn’t some crisis happening, nobody was yelling, and nobody was trying to kill anyone. I could just sit at the table and eat breakfast with everyone.