3 An invasion

"Nothing perverted, that's for sure!" Claudia protested, covering her cleavage with her arms. She squinted her eyes. "I know this is a huge bet, but on that, I won't compromise!" the girl added in a definitive tone.

"I'm not sure what men you meet so far," Tom said while shaking his head in disbelief. "But I'm not interested in your charms. You might be pretty, but that's it."

Tom turned his head to the security. A group of three burly men in suits were watching the situation, awaiting its outcome. As for Tom's school bully?

He was lying on the ground, whining because not only of his injuries but also the handcuffs eating into his thick wrists.

"Stop trying to flatter me and just tell me what you want," Claudia said. She squinted her eyes as she looked at Tom's face with suspicion.

"Sure. If I win, you will be my slave for a single raid," Tom announced while putting an empty smile on his face. "I think that's a reasonable bet to have."

"Its," Claudia said as she looked away, hesitating for a moment before she regained her wits. "It's fair. Gentlemen, since the membership of that man is in my hands now, bring him to the hospital and keep his card." Turning around, Claudia instructed the security before looking at Tom once again. "Let's go."

From there on, the events took a faster turn. Tom was lucky to finish his meal before the entire ordeal started, as Claudia didn't waste any time bringing him to the playroom's counter.

"We wish to register a challenge party." Claudia placed her own membership card on the table before giving Tom a meaningful look.

"Don't worry, I know the procedures," Tom answered while rolling his eyes and passing his own card up the counter.

The entire desk flashed with dim light as soon as both cards touched it.

"Party registration now completed. Challenge accepted and scheduled. Please proceed." The AI's said in its metallic, monotone voice.

"Good. See you in the lobby," Tom said, turning around and leaving for his capsule. Their cards were now locked on the counter. 'If I recall right, there is even a funny animation over it,' Tom thought, sinking into his memories for a bit.

Without further ado, he repeated the lengthy process of logging in. One animation later, he was standing in the same white room as before.

But this time, amidst the sea of naked, sexless mannequins, a colorful character stood.

"You are here," Claudia's avatar said, quickly noticing Tom's appearance.

"Let's cut the small talk," Tom replied, turning his steps towards the gate.

"What's the type this time?" Claudia asked as she rolled her eyes. Crossing her arms on her chest, she stopped before the gate.

"An invasion," Tom said in a bored voice.

The two of them then pushed through the gate.

Tom went in first. As soon as his legs touched the floor of the specific dungeon, he rocketed forward.

'Hasten,' Tom whispered in his thoughts. The skill took effect in an instant, pushing Tom's avatar beyond its natural limits. His body, covered in a grey, tight robe, fluttered through the emptiness of the enormous cave.

'With the entrance to the back,' Tom thought, looking around in search of the clues. 'Oh,' he thought when he saw a small tunnel leading to yet another cave. 'Most likely, it's an entire system!' This discovery was greater than it sounded.

Tom pushed his avatar to its limits. Despite dashing forward at a break-neck speed, he forced his breath down. Tom then landed on a huge stalactite protruding from the floor, looking to learn more about this place.

Contrary to the normal dungeon that remained the same, as long as one would stay in the same Online Hub that is, the invasion-type dungeon was never the same.

Dropping players in a random landscape, it would then fill the place with waves of monsters of different levels. In this kind of world, one could pick between easy areas and those who would be attacked by powerful opponents. In the end, though, not only there was a limit to how strong a monster would be, the dungeon itself would stop the invasion in case of the players losing.

That's why it was used as grounds for the challenges. Its random nature and optional difficulty turned it into the dueling grounds between the players.

'Nothing comes without a cost, though,' Tom thought, finally reaching a desirable location. He turned his eyes towards the passages leading to this particular cave. 'Even when dealing with this level of the enemy, the rewards are pretty measly,' Tom thought.

Standing in the middle of the cave, it was pretty simple to sense the amount of energy hanging in the air. Thanks to that, even before the invasion started, Tom knew what level of monsters he would meet here.

'It's starting.' Suddenly, the quality of the air changed. As if the air turned much heavier, Tom's breathing turned haggard. The momentary discomfort passed after only a moment.

'Everblaze, Casino, Guard,' Tom invoked all three of his avatar's passive skills. Fire exploded around him, covering the surroundings with a liquid blaze. He lowered his body on his knees, pushing his chest forward.

His gray clothing made him near-invisible in the dim lighting of the place.

'Here they come,' Tom noticed, pulling out a dagger and conjuring yet another spell in his other hand.

"Incinerate!" Tom shouted, adding the attribute to his standard explosion spell. The small wisp of fire dancing on his head vanished. Then, a ball of plasma nearly the size of the entire passage dawned at the swaths of goblins rushing Tom's way!

The ball of raging heat blocked nearly the entire passage. But some goblins slipped past it. With his haste still active, Tom took a step forward.

Out of all his wondrous skills, it was the ordinary haste that turned him so strong.

Especially in this type of dungeon.

Tom followed his instincts. He pushed through the dense air as if he was swimming. The world around him slowed down.

Tom aimed his knife. He floated forward in the still air.

The necks of his enemies didn't slow the advance of Tom's knife at all. Offering no resistance, all those who stood in his path died in a flash.

'I still can't believe how unlucky I am,' Tom whined in his mind, when a surge of power suddenly filled the cells of his body.

The rapid part of the Casino spell was Tom's greatest treasure. Not only it allowed him to temporarily steal a huge portion of the power of anyone or anything that his avatar would slaughter, but it would also assimilate a small part of that power. Just by killing monsters in the dungeon, even without raising its level, Tom's avatar was growing stronger!

'So unlucky… If only the rewards of this place were better,' Tom complained as he rushed forward.

'Reinforce!' Tom thought. For an agile avatar like his, he had a surprising amount of self-protecting spells. But it wasn't a problem. Tom's right hand exploded with light, before said light condensed into a massive glove.

Then, Tom struck the ball of plasma that still blocked the entrance of the tunnel to the cave!

As if he was in an arcade, Tom could swear he heard the sound effect of a jackpot. But no such thing happened. Even with an entire army of goblins annihilated by this micro sun passing right through their dense ranks, it was only the beginning of the invasion.

Because it would never end. Not until one of the players would drop out.

In this perspective, choosing potent opponents as Tom did didn't seem to be in the best interest of the betting players.

And that was because one rule decided the outcome of the challenge.

'Let's see how many points you will get!' Tom encouraged himself, finally pushing through to the other side of the tunnel. It was surprisingly empty.

'I guess I need to go to the higher areas.' Tom turned around, traversing through the place as if its time was stopped.

"What a quick fellow!" Claudia said, stomping hard on the dungeon's floor. 'Nowhere near, huh?' she thought as she squinted her eyes, before opening them up with a new determination brimming in them.

"Let's go!" By the time Claudia shouted, Tom wiped a single drop of sweat from his avatar's body, clearing the seventh cave full of monsters.