James charged. That sounded brave, heroic, almost. The reality was he came running, hit the giant on a stone and the sword didn't break, as he'd feared, but of course neither did the stone. Then he had to scurry rolling between that thing's legs to avoid ending up dying crushed by its club. This was madness. He didn't want to back down, but objectively what did he think he could contribute? He had no special skills, he had nothing more than a shield and sword fresh from the oven, beginner equipment he hadn't even had to buy, so he supposed it wasn't the best. Even if there was good equipment to control dungeons, without a doubt the three explorers fighting at his side had better equipment, they could literally use magic, and still they were desperately fighting against this thing. What did he think he could do? Hero? What the hell did he think he was doing playing hero?

  The giant tried to crush him again, first with a foot, then with the club, but no matter how powerful it was, no matter how big, it wasn't especially fast. That's why he managed to avoid both blows by running and rolling. Not on purpose, but he fell, so he had to roll. There would have been a third attack if it weren't for the other more dangerous explorers attracting its attention right away. Well, "dangerous" in quotes, no attack so far had done visible damage, at least. James took a deep breath. This was very strange. What was this monster doing in a Quest whose suggested level was two? These three guys, who clearly weren't newbies like him, by the equipment they had and the skills they'd unlocked, couldn't handle this monster either, so how was a true level two explorer like him supposed to do it? It didn't make sense.

  Okay, like in an important match, he had to keep his head cool and think well. Well, assuming something hadn't gone catastrophically wrong or it wasn't some kind of trick, then there had to be some trick, right? A hidden victory condition, so to speak. James was a gamer, he was good at these things. This was a new game, in quotes, but that didn't mean he couldn't handle it, it couldn't mean that. If he managed to think about something other than the fear he had of dying, he'd finish off this thing, he was convinced.

  "Don't just stand there!" one shouted, bothering him despite the fact it should be obvious his sword couldn't do anything at all.

  James ignored him, kept thinking, trying to block out everything else. There had to be an answer, games were designed to be beaten. This was a life-or-death game and not exactly a game, but better to think that way, better that would clarify things. And in the end he reached an answer. It was dangerous and he wasn't sure if it would work, but he had to try. It would be a shame if he didn't try.

  James ran toward the giant, despite the fire, earth and water flying around him and other attacks. The giant felt attracted, since there was an ant to crush so close to its foot, but James scurried rolling between its legs and, as he'd hoped, the giant turned around to chase him.

  "Don't attack!" he shouted. "Let it follow me!"

  It was a bit dangerous to say that, since he wasn't clear if the monster was completely brainless or could understand human language to complicate things more, but well, what could he do, he hadn't had time to share the plan in secret. Fortunately they listened to him, they stopped attacking it, diverting its attention. All he wanted was to lure the giant to a point he'd seen near the edge of this platform, a point where the ground was cracked, where several tiles must have already fallen into the void.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  James reached the destination and turned around facing death, which without a doubt wouldn't support its weight.

  "Come here, you son of a bitch!" And he thought: And what about me? Am I going to fall too? How am I going to save myself?

  James licked his lips. The giant, apparently eager to kill him, broke into a run, although it was more like it was playing soccer, because the beast wasn't very fast. The image would have been ridiculous, if it weren't for its shadow swallowing him, if it weren't for the moment approaching that would decide whether he lived or died. It was as simple as jumping at the right moment so the giant would fall and he wouldn't. As simple as that, and as complicated as that.

  "Don't underestimate me, you son of a bitch!" he spat.

  Then the giant finally stepped on the point where the ground began to crack. It turned out to be too much weight after all. Everything started to come down. James didn't jump. With a cool head, no matter how difficult it was, he knew that if he jumped too soon, the giant could escape the trap.

  "What are you doing? Are you crazy? Jump, jump!"

  And he jumped, indeed, but not because they'd shouted at him, because he decided it was time. Even so, his soul fell to his feet. He'd jumped, maybe a second too late. He knew his hand couldn't even graze the edge with his fingertips.

  Fuck, I'm going to die, he thought absurdly. What a letdown. Maybe from shock, he accepted it with surprising ease. He looked down, at the abyss that awaited him, the abyss that would swallow him. He didn't die. He felt a hand closing around his, catching him, bringing him back to the world of the living. James raised his head, his eyes popping out. One of those guys, of course, one of them had caught him just in time.

  "Fuck, that was close!" said one.

  The other two helped, pulling the one who had him grabbed. All four reached solid ground.

  Fuck, that was close, he thought, that was close, fuck this shit.

  Then he saw a portal opening in the center of the plaza, right where they'd been fighting the giant. Boss dead, the dungeon exit opened.

  [BOSS DEFEATED: Stone Colossus][+1500 XP][LEVEL UP!][You are now Level 3][NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: Stone Skin][Stone Skin: Transform your body into stone for 5 seconds. Greatly increases defense. Cooldown: 60 seconds][QUEST COMPLETED: Sky Castle Dungeon][Rewards: 1200 Credits, Iron Sword, Iron Shield, Steel Plate Armor]

  "Good, everything went fucking great!" said one of them.

  I did everything, he thought. We didn't win thanks to me, none of this plural, I won. But there was something that bothered him even more, so he responded:

  "You talk like you're much older than me, which I doubt."

  The guy laughed.

  "Okay, you got me there."

  They introduced themselves: Bruce, Brian and Christopher. The one who saved him was Christopher, by the way, blond with very light blue eyes. But to be honest, he paid more attention to the notification screen invisible to others, telling him he'd leveled up again, and what's more, he'd unlocked a skill by killing the giant: Stone Skin. Basically, he could transform his body into stone for a few seconds, stone as hard as the giant's. That would surely be useful to him in many ways.

  "Well," Christopher said, "it's been a pleasure meeting you, we'll see you around."

  Saying goodbye, they went through the portal first.

  I almost hope not, James thought.

  He stood there for a while, recovering his internal balance, recovering control of his breathing, but in the end, of course, he went through the portal and realized that never, never had he felt so fulfilled in his life.

  Twenty-five years and he'd never felt anything like it.

  The euphoria he felt from defeating the giant, from being solely responsible and, why not admit it, from his brush with death, vanished quickly and he even felt like crying. Why? Why had he been wasting his time? When it had been so easy to feel...

  Well, full.