Number 821. I scroll through the list of the Top 1,000 Rankers while Kati begins excavating the boss' corpse. #822 is a C-Ranker, so that puts me at the very bottom of the B-Rank list. But still, that's quite a shock. Meanwhile Kati is now nearly the top-rated B-Ranker in the region.

  I'll check out the rest of the rewards ter. For now? Well, I reek of piss, for starters. And my adorable bunny hoodie is in tatters and covered in blood. I should probably get changed and shower before Jake gets back.

  [ will dissipate in 2m29s]

  “U-umm,” I start. The greatsword Gruk’thral had been wielding ended in my inventory, so I summon it and hold it out to Kati. “Th-thanks for saving my life back there. Th-this is the b-boss loot I got.”

  She just ughs. “I have no use for a sword. Keep it! Think of us as even. I saved you, and you saved me and all those kids.”

  Okay. Neat. The sword is pretty cool.

  “Although…” she gets a mischievous glint in her eye and she rummages through her pockets. “If you really want to make it up to me, then let's exchange numbers! It would be fun to do a dungeon together again… perhaps not a B-Rank one though.”

  I don't feel like telling her how much I don't want that, so I begrudgingly type my number in her phone. I can already feel my daily social energy disappearing from 50 texts a day. At least she seems nice enough.

  [ will dissipate in 0m15s]

  “Oh, and one more thing,” she says, after she acquires my precious number. She pulls out a tube of silvery liquid from her inventory and hands it to me. “I'm guessing you don't want all the attention from the parent mob when the dungeon vanishes, so drink this. It'll hide you long enough to get away.”

  I finish the potion in a single gulp before the ornate dining room, now smashed beyond recognition, dissolves, putting the two of us in the stairwell. The commotion from downstairs rings down from above.

  [HP:1/20]

  [You are under the effects of the ]

  [Status: Stealth]

  [You are hidden from sight for 1 minute]

  [Status: Angelic Slumber]

  [Cannot regain HP for 4m36s]

  I rush up the stairs, my strength making it easy to take 3 at a time. I have to make it back to the apartment before the time runs out, otherwise there will be too many annoying questions from people.

  “Tchh, useless Rankers taking forever to fix these problems.”

  “Mummy, the power's back! I wanna go home!”

  “Hey, why didn't you go back in to get rid of the portal? You useless c–”

  The angry mob of parents are still at it, still harassing Andrew, far too privileged to be even the slightest bit thankful he brought their kids to safety after they rudely shoved him through a portal well beyond his skill. His cheek is bruised and he is pinned against the wall.

  My blood boils.

  Humans are trash.

  I shuffle onwards, stick to the wall to avoid the crowd. My side burns where Gruk'thral hit me, the adrenaline slowly wearing off.

  A hand strikes out at Andrew again, and I don't know what comes over me, but the next thing I know, I'm between the two of them, the woman's wrist cracking under my grip.

  [ has been cancelled]

  Whoops.

  I shove her away–perhaps a bit too forcefully–and she nds on the floor with a yelp. The group backs off a bit, but any fear they had quickly turns back to yelling.

  “Who do you think you are?”

  “I'll have you sued for this!”

  “Mummy! That's the scary dy from the dungeon!”

  My head aches even more. Why won't they just shut up? The portal's gone, so just go home already!

  “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” I scream. I can feel a vein in my head throbbing. The yelling dies down, some people scrambling for extra distance. A distinct bob of red peeks out from the stairwell, her eyes wide. I should probably stop, but at this point my instinctual gamer rage kicks in. “I didn't clear this fucking dungeon just for some brain-rotten fuckwits to throw a tantrum because their precious little vermin shat their pants!”

  A couple of the kids turn beet red, and the boy who was probably Timmy bursts into tears. A man who was likely one of the fathers, looking like he was in his forties with a balding Homer-Simpson haircut, steps forward.

  “Now listen here you–” he starts, his attitude exuding one of those pompous dad auras.

  “Or WHAT?” The spit that would have flown on his face instead sticking all over the inside of my face mask. Ewwww. “I'm covered in orc blood after beating the boss to death. You wanna throw hands with me? I. Fuckin. Dare you!”

  Humanity is lucky that looks couldn't kill, otherwise this entire common area would be a crime scene.

  I brush my hands on shredded pants. The man flinches. “Now. I'm going to shower. Piss right the fuck off!”

  The crowd quickly disperses, with much displeased grumbling and someone saying they'll report me to the building manager. I feel a pang in my chest: hopefully this doesn't get back to Jake.