[7]

"All I really want is for you to outlive me, son."

Dante grimaced, not liking the sound of that. However, the boy understood what his father was attempting to convey, as much as he didn't feel comfortable with the concept.

It was the day after the mission, and not too long after Dante had woken up, his old man suddenly confronted him for some reason. It turned out to be centered around him coming home late last night, as his loving father began to list off his worries about what direction his life might be taking in a relatively straightforward manner, as he stated that he was really starting to worry for him.

His actions must've aroused suspicion, especially since he was still supposed to be in his resting phase after being hospitalized for a few months. He still remembered how the doctors spoke of his recovery, like it was inhuman.

At that point, while the boy understood everything the man was saying, it still didn't really faze him even though he appreciated the fact that there was someone out there constantly thinking about him while he was doing these things for their sake. It got much more serious, however, once his dad pointed out a possibility that he didn't think would've been touched on.

"I just don't want you to lose yourself in the process of seeking revenge." The man exhaled through his nose, his shoulders slumping in a downcast manner. "Your life is precious, Dante. I wouldn't waste it if I were you, especially when there are people out there that love and care about you."

Dante couldn't help but take an involuntary step back, his father's words ringing in his ears. With a shaky nod, the boy left the house shortly after that, and nobody tried to stop him either.

The message was received, loud and clear.

…And now, it was up to him on what his next move was going to be.

----------

Vespucci Beach.

It was a fairly decent place to just sit and relax, with the sun beaming down on him. He had done it a few times, after all. This time around, though, it was somewhat gloomy, as the sky hung over his head in a gray and white mixture of clouds.

There were still some people roaming around the area, either simply taking in the sights or purchasing something from a nearby stand. He was in the latter group for the most part, as he stood in front of a place called Slice 'N' Dice Pizzeria.

It was a small building, which had two white plastic-looking tables and four chairs for each. Once he got his order, he simply took the plate and began to walk around, glancing at the stand next to the pizzeria that held a bunch of movie masks in interest, thinking about returning to it eventually in order to grab one for when he continues to do those jobs for Devin.

----------

Bored out of his mind, Dante looked out towards the ocean with a full stomach.

Since the boy was pretty sure it would take a while before Devin or Molly would get back to him about the job he did last night, he was unsure on what to do for the rest of the day.

However, that's when he eventually remembered something that he had originally not thought much of at the time, which was mostly because of how he felt after sneaking into some random dude's house and stealing a bunch of his shit. The quest that accompanied it, as well as it's rewards.

Quest Completed!

[Shady Business]

Objective: Sneak into Chad Mulligan's house and obtain some blackmail material on the man, and get out of there without being caught in the process.

Reward(s):

[ID Create] - [$8,000]

With furrowed eyebrows, Dante focused on the rewarded skill as another popup quickly appeared in response to his mental commands.

[ID Create] - Lvl. MAX

The ability to create instant dungeons.

Stronger Instant Dungeons may be created at higher levels.

Currently available ID list:

1. Empty ID

2. Human ID

3. ?

4. ?

5. ?

It didn't take very long for Dante to grasp the concept of what he was reading, as this newfound skill of his was essentially a place to grind levels. The thought of that excited him, especially since he didn't have anything else to do.

Taking a curious glance around to see whether or not there were any people nearby that might spot his disappearance, the boy quickly tapped on the second one before he seemingly popped out of existence, and subsequently found himself within a replica of the world that he had just been in.

However, now it looked even gloomier than before, since his surroundings were practically covered in a grayscale-like appearance. Everything seemed incredibly dull, from the looks of it.

After walking around for a bit, it wasn't hard to tell that it felt like the planet had been abandoned. That only lasted for a little while, though, once he was caught by surprise by what sounded like a cry for battle. It was in that moment that he instinctively reached into the hem of his pants for his gun, only to realize that he had stowed it inside of his inventory on the way back home last night.

Turning in the direction of where he heard the noise, Dante's eyes widened at the small group of people running towards him. They resembled angry cavemen, all while bearing thick wooden clubs and rocks in their calloused hands as a loincloth was the only thing that stood in the way of concealing their dignity.

As the Neanderthal was about three seconds away from crushing his skull into mush, the thick wooden club raised in the air like a baseball bat, his gun suddenly popped into existence within his free hand, before the boy pressed down on the trigger.

Repeatedly.

Feeling a certain type of adrenaline rush course through his body as he watched the first guy's head jerk back, his eyes widening as he spotted the newly-made hole dripping blood from the mob's forehead before it dropped to the ground like a mannequin and faded into motes of white energy, Dante had no choice but to keep shooting in order to keep them away. The group simply kept coming, however, which eventually forced him to start hauling ass out of that area.

The downside to this was that he was now low on ammo though.

Now, it felt like he was simply delaying the inevitable.

Unwilling to just give up and die in this situation, though, the boy ran towards the Del Perro Pier located too too far away as quick as he could, feeling somewhat out of shape due to the inactivity his body had gone through due to his hospitalization.

Once he made it, Dante was eventually able to lose them, allowing him a small window of time to sneak around the public bathrooms behind the Visitor's Center, as he made sure to stay crouched low while tightly clutching his gun.

Out of the fifteen that had initially rushed him in the beginning, about nine were still left alive, and were now roaming the area in search for him. Peeking around the corner, Dante spotted two of them nearby, as he started preparing himself for another bout of violence. However, that's when he remembered that this was the perfect time to utilize a skill he had recently received from the system.

Just then, for the next three seconds, the world began to move in slow motion from the boy's perspective, and by the time a bullet was launched towards the head of his first target, he was already firing another at the chest of the other, which is when three mobs came running around the corner in an alarmed state. With their weapons raised, and the same dumb looks on their faces as the last time, Dante felt himself quickly acclimating to his newfound environment.

…It was in that moment, that it truly felt like his life had officially turned into some weird, twisted version of a videogame, and Dante instinctively found himself feeling like he was stuck within the center of it all. It was an incredibly surreal experience to realize and go through, but one that he didn't really allow his mind to linger on for very long, as the dungeon seemed relentless in constantly bombarding him with it's primitive and violent natives.

Not only that, but as unfortunate as it was, he appeared to have finally ran out of ammo. With eight of the mobs shot dead, and seven more left alive that still needed to be eliminated, the boy was at a loss.

If he used his switchblade and tried fighting it out with them that way, he was pretty much as good as dead. They would undoubtedly overwhelm him with their numbers, and he had never considered himself to be that blatantly moronic, anyway.

It would've been nice if the system was capable of lending him a hand every once in a while or something, at least. However, with how strict it seemed to act when it came to it's behavioral patterns, his hopes weren't particularly high on that ever occurring. The boy had enough of an understanding of the interface, though, to discern why it was most likely created to be that way.

Wasn't the fact that him possessing it in the first place already considered to be enough of a blatantly-overpowered cheat at life, at least in comparison to everybody else in the world? How or why would it ever make logical sense to go even further beyond that, and by giving him an autonomous version of the system no less?

Now, that would just be unnecessarily pointless, wouldn't it?

Quest Completed!

[N/A]

Objective: N/A

Reward(s):

[TG Grenade] - [150 SC] - [Molotov Cocktail (x2)] - [Special Carbine]

Dante barely even had a split-second to react, as the boy pulled one of the rewards out of his inventory that he had just unexpectedly received from a quest he had never seen before. One of the mobs lunged towards him, a manic grin plastered across it's ugly face, only for it to end up dead moments later when a slew of bullets were sent out in retaliation.

However, Dante was speechless, as his mind continued to linger on what just happened from seemingly out of nowhere. It was as if the system had suddenly answered his call for help, and in all honesty, it had left him somewhat disturbed even though it ended up saving his life.

The boy just stood there for a while, ignoring the popups beginning to appear and hover across his vision, as he continuously made futile attempts at trying to comprehend the intentions of his strange interface-like ability.

------------------------------

Now, I've written a couple gamer stories before, but I had always refused to utilize the dungeon aspect of things up until this point. There's a first time for everything, I guess. I'm gonna try and make the flow of it feel smooth and natural, but we'll just have to see what happens.