*Boom.*
Tratex's body exploded with blinding light. His body became nothing but pieces that slowly dissolved into nothing. Diaman panted, sweat beading on his forehead. He held his arm still, aimed where Tratex's body had been.
He couldn't believe it. He had just defeated his first SSS dungeon.
"I did it."
His legs trembled, but he kept himself standing.
[CONGRATULATIONS!]
[HOST HAS SUCCESSFULLY CLEARED FIRST DUNGEON]
[CALCULATING REWARDS...]
[PARASITES CREATED IN DUNGEON: 6]
[+30 EXP (6 × 5)]
[TIMES TARGETS INFECTED: 57]
[+570 EXP (57 × 10)]
[ENEMIES DEFEATED WITH PARASITES: 25]
[+625 EXP (25 × 25)]
[DUNGEON COMPLETION BONUS: +100 EXP]
[TOTAL REWARDS: +1,325 EXP]
[CURRENT EXP: 1,335/100]
[PARASITES CREATED (TOTAL): 6
[LEVEL UP? ]
Diaman gasped he didn't fancy the kills, "Not now."
"He checked the system again staring the levelup screen."
'I'm leveling up and I don't even have a Carness yet. I shouldn't be able to enter dungeons or gain experience until after graduation.'
[HOST IS SPECIAL CASE]
"So I'm breaking their world's rules just by existing here?. Great. Now get us outta here."
[AS YOU WISH!]
Diaman dragged himself back to the tick still leeched to the ground. He disengaged Tickeete and wore Paracace back. 'Is everyone okay?'
Around the bus, the passengers huddled in corners. They were all scared, but as they saw Diaman's face, their fear slowly subsided.
Diaman's chest expanded. They were okay.
"Excuse me..." A young lady gathered courage to speak. "Are we safe?"
Diaman smiled and nodded. "Yes. Everything is okay."
The passengers murmured, but this time they were more relieved.
'Open the gate.'
[...]
[Opening...]
The gate opened behind Diaman and the bus drove out quickly.
Diaman looked back as the landscape began dissolving before walking out the portal.
As he stepped through the gate into the busy street, they were where the gate had appeared. Diaman paused. He looked around—they had secluded the place. Medics attended to the passengers onboard while some hunters fired rapid questions about what happened inside.
Then a hunter noticed Diaman as he walked through the portal. His eyes widened. He alerted the other hunters and they got their guards up immediately.
"What's that?" They didn't leave their eyes off Diaman.
"It has to be from the dungeon... kill it." He drew his arrow. It flared, coated with mana.
Diaman didn't flinch.
Before he realized it, the arrow shot into the air.
Their eyes widened. "Where did he go?" They looked around—no trace of him.
Diaman jumped from building to building, using rooftops to avoid detection.
He sighted his home from afar.
"Mom will be worried."
It was already seven in the night. He had spent two hours in the dungeon without knowing it. He couldn't use the front door.
With the way he looked—his mom would freak out. So his window was the only way. But his greatest problem: tomorrow was school.
And his uniform was tattered.
"How will I even explain to Mom?"
He slipped into his room through the window. His room light was off giving him more stealth. Swiftly he pulled off his uniform and hid it.
Diaman opened his door and moved downstair once dressed.
He peeked into the kitchen. No one was there—just a kettle on the gas, whistling. "Mom?" He scanned the kitchen. He had imagined his mom would probably be in the kitchen, maybe making dinner.
"Maybe she's in her room."
He fixed his scattered hair and took a step, and the door swung open. His mom walked inside.
"Diaman. Oh my God." She ran to him and embraced him tight. "You got me scared."
"Where were you?"
She withdrew, looking into his eyes. Her worried brown eyes looked into his.
His words stuttered as he tried to make up a lie to tell her.
"Umm, I... I saw a group of people get sucked into a dungeon, so I waited to see if they'd rescue them. And luckily they did."
"Don't do that next time. You made me worried. I went looking for you everywhere."
"I would have gone insane if I lost you."
Her fingers brushed his cheeks, then she kissed his forehead.
Diaman smiled. "I promise I won't."
One more hug, then they had dinner. Diaman talked about his first day at school and his new friend Shira.
She listened to everything with a smile on her face, joyed that her son wasn't confining himself anymore.
After their dinner, Diaman took the responsibility off his mom and did the dishes himself.
While washing the dishes, he kept his hands under the running water, feeling the coldness. His eyes half-lidded.
Despite being fully healed, the fight had exhausted his body.
With the dishes done, Diaman dried his hands with the kitchen rag. His mom was seated in the living room watching a show.
"I'm done with dishes."
"Thanks, sweety."
He continued up the stairs.
"Are you going to bed now?"
Diaman yawned. "Yeah, I'm tired."
"Okay, goodnight."
"Goodnight, Mom."
He halted, remembering—no uniform for school tomorrow. "Mom, do I have an extra uniform?"
"What's the reason?"
"Something happened to my uniform. It ripped."
"Oh, I'll help you mend it." She stood up from the couch and got her sewing kit.
"Umm, no. It can't be sewn. It's beyond repair."
She crossed her arms. "Show me."
*Hell nah. I can't show you a bloodied uniform.*
Diaman shook his head.
"Is that why you came home late? Did anyone bully you?"
"No... no one did. Just help me—do I have a spare uniform?"
"You have an extra uniform, but I'm not giving it to you till you show me what happened to your old uniform."
"Come on, please."
"Nope" She sat back to the couch and continued watching her show.
Diaman kept pestering his mom with "pretty please," but still she didn't fall for it. Her answer was still firm. But Diaman couldn't show her the uniform without giving her a heart attack.
Finally he resigned with no choice but to show the uniform. He picked it up from where he had hidden it.
It looked even worse.
Diaman held the school uniform up.
His sleeves were ripped, his trousers tattered. Both stained crimson.
First thing he did before showing her—he washed the clothes. The water was ice-cold. He wanted to change the water temperature, then stopped.
"I think I have an excuse."
Downstairs, he presented his uniform to Mom.
"Geez, what happened?" She snatched the uniform from his hands and studied it. "How did this happen?"
"Promise me you won't get angry."
"That depends on your answer."
Diaman took a deep breath. "Fine. So it's my friend Shira—he's still learning to control his powers, so he froze me by mistake."
"What!"
"And please don't be mad. It was a mistake, and I don't want him to get in trouble."
"That's why the uniform is cold."
Diaman nodded.
She paced around. "Where was your teacher?"
"It happened outside when school was over. Teachers weren't around. So please don't report him or he'll get expelled."
"Only if it didn't hurt you."
"It didn't. See." Diaman removed the jacket he wore and did a three-sixty. "No scars."
"Have you been working out?"
"Uhh, yeah. Boy things. Can I get the uniform?"
She sighed. "Fine, you can."
"Thank you." Diaman wore his jacket back and hugged her one more time before returning to his room. He settled into bed, feeling fulfilled.
[HOST—
"Please let me sleep!"